IAIN RYAN The Dream. Reviewed by Ben Ford Smith
Iain Ryan’s latest novel continues his fascination with 1980s Queensland and the tentacles of corruption that captured police and politicians. The Gold Coast, 1982: Queensland is deep in recession and mired in corruption reaching from the premier all the way down to...
MARINA YUSZCZUK Thirst. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Argentinian writer Marina Yuszczuk puts her twist on the vampire novel in Thirst, set amid Buenos Aires’ oldest cemetery. There’s something defiant about how she doesn’t look away when I fix my eyes on her. Her dark hair is a long, tangled mess; she looks like a bag...
MINETTE WALTERS The Players. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Minette Walters’ new historical novel features a consummate spy in the aftermath of an ill-fated seventeenth-century English rebellion. A man of Royal descent stepped ashore this day in our fair port of Lyme Regis. Handsomely attired, he declared himself to be Duke of...
ANN LIANG A Song to Drown Rivers. Reviewed by Amelia Dudley
Ann Liang’s first novel for adults reimagines an ancient Chinese tale of deception and betrayal – and the life of a legendary beauty. Based on the story of one of the Four Beauties of ancient China, Liang’s novel is a gripping tale about love, war, sacrifice and...
EMILY MAGUIRE Rapture. Reviewed by Ann Skea
The author of Love Objects and An Isolated Incident turns to historical fiction to tell the story of a young ninth-century woman whose quest for knowledge will not be denied. Rapture is a romance. Not just because it follows the love and passion of an unconventional...
RODNEY HALL Vortex. Reviewed by Paul Anderson
Rodney Hall has won the Miles Franklin Award twice (Just Relations, The Grisly Wife); his new novel is a panoramic alternative history of the twentieth century. Queen Elizabeth II visited Brisbane on 9 March 1954 as part of her longest-ever Commonwealth tour. A...
BENJAMIN STEVENSON Everyone This Christmas Has A Secret. Reviewed by Naomi Manuell
The author of Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone returns with another witty homage to the Golden Age of crime fiction. There’s a whiff of unseriousness around some whodunnits. Many readers still think of the form as stuck in detective fiction’s Golden Age with...
TIM WINTON Juice. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
Tim Winton’s new novel dives into a post-climate-change world where violence seems the only solution. The opening of Tim Winton’s new novel Juice cannot help but put readers in mind of Cormac McCarthy’s seminal work The Road. A man, possibly an ex-soldier, and a young...
EMILY TSOKOS PURTILL Matia. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Emily Tsokos Purtill’s debut novel ranges across continents to tell the stories of five generations of Greek women. Sia’s quick Greek lesson: µári – máti : eye; also a small jewellery charm, usually blue with a black dot, worn to protect the...
ELIZABETH STROUT Tell Me Everything. Reviewed by Michael Jongen
Pulitzer-winner Elizabeth Strout explores themes of isolation and connection in her new novel featuring two of her most-loved characters. Elizabeth Strout, author of Oliver Kitteridge, My Name is Lucy Barton and Oh William! (among others), has an ability to capture...
HARRIET CONSTABLE The Instrumentalist. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Harriet Constable’s debut novel takes inspiration from a real-life Venetian prodigy who was both a student of and rival to Vivaldi. Anna Maria della Pietà is destined for greatness. At eight, she knows it as surely as string knows bow, as lightning knows storm, as...
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