Keep it In Yor Knickers ~ J R Sanders

This was a light and surprisingly enjoyable read about the on/off relationship between 'Judi' and 'George' that spans across the continents.  It was ‘racey’ without being pornographic and I think that there are a lot of women out there who will be able to identify with an erratic roller coaster relationship though perhaps not on this Transatlantic/Pacific level, but may it be a lesson to us all as it smacks of desperation!

Based on actual events Ms Sanders said that the story was embellished a little to make it more exciting so I really hope that she didn’t give ‘George’ all those chances.  Actually I felt that she was a bit of a stalker, not letting go, sending emails trying to keep in touch and asking heartfelt questions after each break up.  It’s easy for someone to send a reply and tell you what you want to hear in an email – he could have been in bed with someone else whilst he was sending it!  I think it would be very interesting to have this story told from ‘George’s’ point of view!!

In some parts it comes across as very naive – I think I must be a bit of a cynic when it comes to men but truly they do love differently from women.  Women invest their heart and soul into a relationship but men (in my experience J) just want food and sex.  I think the amazing Tim Minchin sums up a man's point of view perfectly………….“If I didn't have you, someone else would do”!  Tongue in cheek?  They do say many a  truth is told in jest.

There is plenty of humour throughout however, though I think the story would have benefited from a bit more depth with regards to the travel locations (they interested me much more than the sex) and I think an editor would have been worth the effort (Ms Sanders said she didn’t use one) as apart from some grammar and punctuation errors they would have picked up on the heinous spelling of Cold Chisel’s ‘Khe Sahn’.

I was reading Nine Parts of Desire by Geraldine Brooks in tandem, which could not have been further from the other end of the scale as far as sexual liberation for women is concerned and I found that I was picking up Knickers more often to read than Desire.  So, in summary, Keep it in Yor Knickers is certainly a roller coaster ride of sex, love (?), heartbreak, a lot of travel and a warning of what not to do when trying desperately to hold onto something that is not really there.  Be broadminded or you might be shocked with the opening chapter; it’s a fun read with plenty of aspects within it that one can identify with. However, if I do find myself free and single in my 50s, this story will inspire me to do things much more gracefully than our fifty and fabulous 'Judi'!

Frantic ~ Katherine Howell

Are there things worse than death?  Well Katherine Howell has shown us that perhaps there are.  The plot is a fast paced race against time to find the kidnapped son of a paramedic.  

Having been called out to a birth that went horribly wrong, she believes that the patients husband has taken her son in retribution.  But, there are more elements to this story which Sophie will learn to her peril, and which keeps the reader guessing until the end.

The writing style is simple, with no wasted words or waffle.  The settings and characters are realistic, but I did think that Howell was merciless towards one character and although Sophie's extreme actions show just how far a mother will go to protect her child let's hope in the real world someone with Sophie's training would not really take matters into their own hands in opposition to the police investigation. 

This is a quick read, but if you enjoy the medical-crime genre you will be impressed with this debut novel from a home grown author.

Violent Exposure ~ Katherine Howell

What starts out as an apparent domestic abuse case turns into something much much more.

Howell has crafted a pretty good mystery revolving around the paramedics who attend the initial domestic abuse case to the detectives who attend the subsequent murder.  The prime suspect, the victim’s husband, is not who he seems to be and the detectives find the leads take some unexpected turns.

I liked the snappy dialogue, and the banter between the work colleagues  The paramedic scenes were very realistic and obviously drawn from experience, but the story involving the suspect I found a little hard to believe. 

Having been bogged down with some heavy Classics lately, I found this was a quick enjoyable read.

This novel is Howell’s fourth and although it is good as a stand alone read, you would benefit from reading Frantic first.

The Celtic Dagger ~ Jill Paterson

An eminent University Professor is murdered with an antique Celtic Dagger and with the Professor’s brother James Wearing being prime suspect, the race is on to clear his name. The premise is intriguing but Jill Paterson has presented us with a murder mystery which unfortunately does not deliver. 

The plot itself is workable, but each plot pointer is only briefly touched upon, leaving the reader with no sense of anticipation or drama. The third person narrator is used like a bad director and even worse ‘he’ tells the story and ‘his’ delivery would make Ed Wood proud. Any story is better told via character dialogue, which in turn develops the character; you then get into the characters head and you begin to care about them. The narrator should just gently steer you into each scene. The characters in The Celtic Dagger are one dimensional, and I also had trouble with their names which caused me to recap several times to confirm who I was reading about. 

The narration and dialogue is very stilted and I have now developed an aversion to the phrase “At that moment” along with its variation “At that same moment”. I was starting to shriek every time it was used, which was just about every other page.

There were two scenes that could have contained heightened drama: The Cliff Scene and The Stairwell Scene. But, again they are brushed over with a few lines and then the narrator switches us over to a new scene. I have read short stories that have got my heart pounding and Jill Paterson could have done so much more here to create some excitement level; the lack of it really affected my reading experience.

The love interest concerning the Inspector could have been expounded towards the end, I thought it was a nice touch, although Wearing’s imminent romance was a little corny (but I’m not much of a romantic) and as the novel is set in Australia I would have liked to have had more back story to the locations involved. The characters travel around a bit and if you are not familiar with the area it is very hard to visualise.

In summary, the ideas are there, but the author’s writing skills definitely need some work.

The Riders - Tim Winton

This is a story that asks many questions, the answers to which you will never know. There is no resolution. On searching the net I found an essay that states that the theme explores the expected roles of males and females in modern

Australian society. Despite the fact that you are left wondering at the end of the novel, it is very well written

True History of the Kelly Gang ~ Peter Carey

Peter Carey’s Ned Kelly is an “adjectival” victim of circumstance.

Poorly educated he nevertheless attempts to set down the true version of events for his daughter, so that she will understand that he is not the monster the police accuse him of being.

Life is cruel, under the rule of the Colonial English but under the tutorage of the notorious bushranger Harry Power, Ned learns the secrets of the valleys and ranges which sets him in good stead when he finds himself the leader of the so called ‘Kelly Gang’.

Ned is torn between his commitments to his brother and friends who make up the gang, his pregnant girlfriend, and justice for his wrongly imprisoned mother.

This was wonderfully written, funny without being ridiculous, and no punctuation in the narration except for full stops accentuates Ned’s lack of education,

The final climatic showdown was written as a newspaper report and ends with Ned’s execution.

I had never read anything on Ned Kelly before and this has inspired me to find out more about him, not to mention the fact it has put me on the path to reading Lorna Doone by RD Blackmore.*

The Death of Bunny Munro ~ Nick Cave

Dark but funny, compelling and moving (though pretty vulgar in places) I could not put this novel down.


Bunny Munro is a sex-addicted door to door sales man who sells beauty products to lonely housewives. When his wife commits suicide he decides to take his son Bunny Jnr on the road with him.

Bunny Jnr realises that his dad does not behave like anyone else's father, but he adores him just the same. Armed with his trusty encyclopedia and accompanied by the ghost of his mother, Bunny Jnr must witness the slow demise of his father to his tragic end.

The father/son sequences are wonderfully handled and are the redeeming feature to the storyline. This is Nick Cave’s second novel written approximately 20 years after his acclaimed first novel ‘And The Ass Saw The Angel”.

Whilst I wouldn’t personally recommend it due to the confronting nature of the subject matter, it did appeal to my ‘dark side’ and I liked the way it was written.

And The Ass Saw The Angel ~ Nick Cave

Euchrid Eucrow, the mute son of a vile drunken mother and a hillbilly father, has fallen into quick-mud and is slowly sinking. Faced with his certain death, he tells us of his birth, the death of his twin brother and the fanatically religious Ukulite townsfolk who have banished him to the outskirts of the Ukulore Valley. Euchrid knows what happened to Cosey Mo, the prostitute on Hoopers Hill, which results in his mad angelic obsession with her daughter Beth who has been nursed and raised by the women of the valley.


Partly written in Euchrid’s southern drawl, this striking novel is like many of Nick Cave’s songs ~ darkly beautiful.

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith ~ Thomas Keneally

Jimmie Blacksmith is a half caste Aborigine raised by a Mission family to have white man’s goals and ideals – steady work, land, and a white wife. But white man wants Jimmie to fail by not paying fairly for work that he has done, not giving him a ‘fair’ go and eventually by trying to starve him off the land. After years of injustice Jimmie reaches breaking point and reeks a terrible vengeance.


Loosely based on the true story of Jimmie Governor, it didn’t capture my imagination at first but as the story evolved I found I couldn’t put it down.

Reading a critical essay on the differences between the movie, the book and the real story, it was interesting to note that Jimmie Governor had not been a mission child, but had grown up with his family who liked to keep to themselves. Therefore his work values and goals were those of his family, and were not instilled in him by white man.

In 1972, when this novel was written Keneally believed that Aborigines were comfortable for a white man to tell their stories. However, in an article published in The Age newspaper in 2001, Keneally is quoted as saying that "It would be insensitive to write from that point of view now."

Cloudstreet - Tim Winton

A wonderful family saga set in Perth towards the end of the second world war. Two dysfunctional families set up home in Cloud Street together. One is the landlord, and one is the tenant. The landlord likes to gamble, so the tenants find themselves years ahead in their rent!


The Lambs (Lester & Oriel) – son drowned and revived but now retarded and won’t even acknowledge is mother. She moves out in a tent.

Dolly & Sam Pickles – dolly a hopeless drunk and Sam a hopeless gambler. Their daughter tries to keep it all together, and falls for the son of the lambs.

It is a story of love and acceptance.

Breath - Tim Winton

Tim Winton’s first book in seven years. It is wonderfully written, if a little disturbing in it’s subject matter.


A young boy Pikelet and his friend Loonie are befriended by Sando a lone surfer. He has many achievements in his sport but does not talk about it. His wife Eva has many demons.

This is a story of the test of friendship, lust and the desire to live a life less ordinary and achieve the ultimate thrill. It certainly makes you think.

Skin & Bones - Kathryn Fox

Billed as Australia’s answer to Patricial Cornwell and Kathy Reichs ~ I wonder in whose dreams? These two writers are far superior to Fox’s one dimensional story telling.


A body has been found in the ruins of a fire with a post mortem revealing that she had in fact been frozen before being burned, and that she had also probably given birth.

Detective Kate Farrer has recently returned to active duty after a harrowing kidnapping (previous novel), her new partner is not what he appears to be and her department is under investigation from the fraud squad. All this on top of trying to find a baby and it’s mother’s murderer.

This novel does deal with elements in today’s headlines – pedophilia, date rape and police fraud, however the story itself is very unbelievable and its delivery amateur. We are reminded constantly page after page that Kate must find the baby to the point where you want to scream “I know!” There are contradictory passages on the same page, and I found that reading this (a third book first) made it difficult to relate to character memories which kept cropping up from her previous novels.

Kathryn Fox is a local author and her first novel Malicious Intent apparently knocked The Da Vinci Code from its number one spot in Europe. I have bought this novel to see what the fuss is about and will read it in the New Year, so watch this space!

Malicious Intent - Kathryn Fox

Forensic Pathologist Anya Crichton is asked to investigate the death of Anoub Deab’s sister who allegedly committed suicide by overdosing on heroin in a toilet block. The manner of her death totally contradicts the way that she led her life.


On post mortem a fibre is found in Fatima’s lung that has not been previously catalogued. As other suicides emerge following the same pattern as Fatima – sudden disappearance prior to suicide, a sexually contracted disease and the mysterious lung fibre, Anya is convinced that all women have stayed in the same place and slept with the same man prior to their deaths. All indications point to involvement in a cult.

Trying to balance life as an independent professional woman, a part time single parent to her son Ben, fighting with her ex husband, and learning to play the drums Anya doesn’t seem to have a moment to draw breath. Lucky she has Elaine the wonder secretary who keeps her diary in order, makes the coffee and remembers to buy biscuits for morning tea. Yawn.

I did not expect to enjoy the first novel by this Queensland writer and doctor, after reading her third novel Skin and Bones, but as I had bought the book at a library talk she gave I thought I should read it. As expected the characters were superficial and the dialogue and storyline at times corny and annoying; however, the discovery of the fibre and its investigation was intriguing and I found myself want to know the answer. The plot line developed fairly slowly with a couple of red herrings thrown in, but when we finally reached the climax the conclusion was rushed and silly.

I doubt I will read her second novel Without Consent.

Illywhacker - Peter Carey

Unable to rate, it was well written with interesting characters but I could not relate to it at all.

Harland's Half Acre ~ David Malouf

I’m still deciding if I enjoyed this book or not.


The beginning had me hooked in as I enjoyed reading about the hardship and love of the Harland family. The book lost me with the introduction of the narrator as a boy living in Southport. I had to turn back and re-read the lead up wondering if I had missed something. I didn’t see the point of reading about his dying grandfather and had to flick through the pages to see when I would pick up on Frank Harland again.

I wasn’t interested in the narrator I was interested in Frank and found it increasingly annoying not to be reading about him for large chunks of the novel.

Whilst it was a well written book, the dialogue was great, very natural conversations between the characters, the history of Brisbane and Southport was interesting, but unfortunately it just didn’t grab me and I started to resent reading it when I could be reading something I really enjoy!

Tirra Lirra by the River ~ Jessica Anderson

I wouldn’t consider this a novel, more a novella.


A dark tale of young woman eager to escape to a better life, without truly understanding what she is escaping from. Set at the turn of the century until the late 60’s early 70’s?

On her return to her childhood home when she is in her 70’s and falling ill to pneumonia she reminisces on what has passed.

A restrictive marriage and blame for lack of children, falling pregnant on a cruise when she decides to leave for London following her husband’s request for divorce. An illegal and difficult abortion. She does find success as a dressmaker, but never again love or a relationship.

On her return to Qld she finds out that her old friend went mad and killed her children with an ax and gassed herself. The one child who got away is the doctor who treats her pneumonia.

One would think that after such a traumatic experience he would have moved away.

Is this book based on true events? I find it hard to believe a mother would butcher her children with an ax? If not then I feel a little ripped off that I have wasted my time reading the lifetime account of a fictional character.