Posted on by Simon McDonald

Review: The Way It is Now by Garry Disher

This is another assured and modest crime novel by Australian grandmaster Garry Disher, whose books are so enjoyable precisely because they lack even the slightest glimmer or pretension. In a genre that increasingly demands a killer hook boiled down to a single sentence, Disher’s focus is on character, and scalpel-sharp dissections of his selected themes. 

The title of “The Way It Is Now” denotes the focus of his latest: the evolution of society and its attitudes during the 20 years of Charlie Deravin’s career with the police. When it opens in January 2000 he’s new on the job, managing the fallout of the disintegration of his parents’ marriage, and working in tandem with his brother to evict his mother’s creepy housemate. Soon after, with Charlie embroiled in the police search for a missing school boy, his mother disappears. She is eventually assumed dead, and Charlie’s father is deemed the likeliest suspect, though nothing is ever proved.

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Review: Kill Shot by Garry Disher

9781925773224Garry Disher is one of the most reliable practitioners in crime fiction, and his creation, Wyatt, one of the genre’s most enigmatic antiheroes. Like Richard Stark’s long-running Parker series — the chief inspiration for Wyatt — the joy of these books are the mechanics of the plotting and Disher’s ability to take resolutely unsympathetic characters and somehow make their journeys further into the depths of moral ambiguity (and in many cases, outright corruption) indelibly compulsive.

Wyatt is an analogue man operating in a digital world. In the modern age of high-tech security — keypads, retina scans, CCTV — professional thieves have the odds stacked even further against them. Lately Wyatt has stayed in the black thanks to a series of one-man burglaries, but he needs a bigger job, something with a better payoff. Sam Kramer — Wyatt’s fixer, working from inside prison, using his network of informants, lawyers, police and hard men — has identified just the target. Jack Tremayne is facing jail time for a Ponzi scheme, but has salted away close to a million in liquid assets Kramer’s source is certain he intends to use to skip the country. So the job is simple; conceptually, at least: nab Tremayne’s getaway fund before he has the chance to use it. Trouble is, Kramer and Wyatt aren’t the only ones interested in the funds, and violence quickly ensues as a parade of nasty men close in on the money.

Kill Shot is another winner from Disher, who, as ever, builds suspense without a shred of overstatement. Crisp, unsentimental, and deeply satisfying. If you’re looking for a crime writer to fill the void left by Peter Corris’ Cliff Hardy this summer, Garry Disher is your man.

ISBN: 9781925773224
Format: Paperback / softback (232mm x 154mm x 21mm)
Pages: 320
Imprint: The Text Publishing Company
Publisher: Text Publishing Co
Publish Date: 3-Dec-2018
Country of Publication: Australia

 

Posted on by Simon McDonald

Review: Under the Cold Bright Lights by Garry Disher

9781925498882Garry Disher is one of the most reliable craftsmen in crime fiction, and his latest, Under the Cold Bright Lights, epitomises his talents. This is a smart police procedural, with satisfying twists and turns, and a vigilante cop readers will want to see return.

Alan Auhl has returned to the Victorian Police Department after a brief sabbatical to work cold cases with a team of young detectives. He’s very much set in his ways, the kind of cop who prefers to get off his arse and knock on doors than run computer searches and make inquiries by phone. As such, his colleagues have dubbed him a retread, but he doesn’t mind. With his marriage in tatters, the job gives Auhl focus, and the three unrelated cases he works — four if you count a personal vendetta — demonstrate his unparalleled tenacity . . . and willingness to bend, possibly break, the law he was sworn to protect.

Auhl lives in a large shared-house — he refers to it as Chateau Auhl — which he uses to provide shelter for strays, people down on their luck, in desperate need of aid. Two of those boarders include a battered wife and her ten-year-old daughter, who are entangled in legal proceedings that will determine custody of the girl. Which means Auhl’s private life is as complicated as his professional one, as he juggles the death of John Elphick, and the discovery of a skeleton beneath a concrete slab, and the doctor who has seemingly killed two wives without leaving a trace of evidence against him.

Free of the structural problems you might expect from juggling so many unrealted plots, Under the Cold Bright Lights is a brilliant demonstration of Garry Disher’s artistry. And the doses of vigilante justice add essential pep to proceedings, providing a shot of adrenaline just when you think the book might be gliding. Gripping and intelligent, Under the Cold Bright Lights is a crackling page-turner, and proof that Disher should be held in the same regard as his international contemporaries. Connelly and Rankin fans should devour this, and Disher’s extensive back catalogue.

ISBN: 9781925498882
Format: Paperback (231mm x 155mm x 25mm)
Pages: 320
Imprint: The Text Publishing Company
Publisher: Text Publishing Co
Publish Date: 30-Oct-2017
Country of Publication: Australia

Posted on by Simon McDonald · 1 Comment

Review: Signal Loss by Garry Disher

9781925355260.jpgHis long-running series re-branded “Peninsula Crimes,” Garry Disher’s seventh Challis and Destry novel is a fine police procedural. Its Mornington Peninsula setting makes for a refreshing break from the urban landscapes that dominate the genre, and Disher’s exploration of ice production and addiction in rural Australia is fittingly topical.

In Signal Loss, two plot threads weave around each other like a double helix, never intersecting, just occurring concurrently. The novel starts off with two hitmen being hired to eliminate a seemingly low-level target. They can’t quite understand why they’re being paid $50,000 for such an easy job, but who’re they to argue? It sounds like an easy job, in and out, easy as. But they didn’t count on the bush fire, which leaves both men dead, and the Mornington Peninsula police — Challis in particular — convinced the local ice epidemic has introduced some major big-city players. Meanwhile, Ellen Destry, in charge of the sex crime unit, is hunting a serial rapist who leaves no evidence behind.

The plot has its share of boilerplate elements, as all police procedurals do, but its the colourful cast of well-formed characters, with their distinct personalities, that makes Signal Loss so compelling. Readers who’ve yet to sample Disher’s Peninsula Crimes series shouldn’t be worried about coming in late in proceedings; this seventh book serves as a perfect introduction.

Disher’s crime novels are at the top of the genre’s food chain and Signal Loss is another well-crafted police procedural.

ISBN: 9781925355260
Format: Paperback (235mm x 158mm x 31mm)
Pages: 336
Imprint: The Text Publishing Company
Publisher: Text Publishing Co
Publish Date: 31-Oct-2016
Country of Publication: Australia

Posted on by Simon McDonald

Review: The Heat by Garry Disher

Heat coverThe enigmatic, dangerous Wyatt returns in Garry Disher’s mile-a-minute crime novel The Heat.

Wyatt’s particular set of skills are becoming increasingly archaic. Gone are the days of bank heists and jewellery store robberies; advanced security measures are making it harder, and the goons are getting dumber, strung out on drugs or cocky idiots who hold their pistols sideways, thinking they’re the stars of their own action flicks. Wyatt, by comparison, is a dinosaur; but like everyone else, he needs to work, and thievery is the only profession he knows. So when a reliable contact offers him a job in Noosa to steal a painting for Hannah Sten, Wyatt accepts. It seems simple enough, and he’s done this plenty of times before; case the joint, determine escape routes and failsafes, develop a plan for every potential contingency. It’s a job that requires meticulousness, and that’s what Wyatt does best. But there’s more than one player in this game – and things go wrong very quickly.

Like the best Donald Westlake / Richard Stark Parker capers, Disher plays within the confines of the traditional heist story, and his muscular, hard-boiled prose with a distinct Australian flavour makes The Heatsomething to savour. Packed with nefarious characters, all with their own agendas and secrets, Disher weaves his tale with an assured hand. This is a fast-paced, taut crime story, rife with sharp dialogue and brutal violence. And while Wyatt’s not a character to be admired, he makes for compulsive reading.

With its high body count and intricate plotting, The Heat is perfect beach reading for the summer. Just make sure you pack sunscreen, because once you start, you won’t stop until you’ve turned its final page.

ISBN: 9781925240412
Format: Paperback (234mm x 155mm x 19mm)
Pages: 272
Imprint: The Text Publishing Company
Publisher: Text Publishing Co
Publish Date: 21-Oct-2015
Country of Publication: Australia