Echo Publishing Archives

ARC review: Nothing Personal by Alex Dook

July 12, 20262 min read

I have to admit I almost put Nothing Personal by Alex Dook aside multiple times as I just couldn’t seem to engage at all. More particularly in the early parts of the book where we’re meeting a stack of not-necessarily-likeable characters. I also wondered if Dook is a pantser type writer as some of the characters felt inconsistent as if they morphed throughout the book. Lola, our lead character and narrator not soo much but some of the support cast certainly. A mobster’s son, Bradley Parker on first meeting, seems nice and wanting something different from his life. Trying to prove his worth to his father, and younger brother Johnny who seems a bit less hinged. In fact, I was expecting him to become a love interest for Lola. But that kinda reverses completely and I wondered if that was a purposeful ploy by Dook, or where the storytelling took him.

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ARC review: Lit by Anna Woods

May 5, 20263 min read

Lit by Anna Woods was a slow burn for me and I almost put it aside several times in the first half. I found the way Wood hints at past happenings without offering explanation until late in the novel frustrating, but I guess it also kept me reading. Ultimately though I was kinda disappointed that the supposedly dire event that set things off here felt a little anticlimactic. I was also disappointed in the ending, but purely from a social justice or ‘what’s right’ perspective.

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Book review: Dark Desert Road by Tim Ayliffe

January 9, 20263 min read

I enjoyed Dark Desert Road by Tim Ayliffe much more than I expected. I’d worried a little it would be centred around ‘preppers’, ‘cookers’ or conspiracy theorists and get bogged down in their beliefs and actions, and though it is a little, it’s not the focus of the book. Rather it’s more a game of cat and mouse as a young woman tries to avoid a death sentence after seeing something she shouldn’t. What I very much liked about this (in addition to proverbial heart-pumping action) is that Ayliffe paints his characters in shades of grey.

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Book review: Twisted River by James Dunbar

December 1, 20252 min read

Twisted River by James Dunbar kicks off in a muted but intriguing way with Cate and Rory, a married couple travelling overseas when they realise their credit cards have been cancelled and they’re unable to access their emails. They figure they’ll sort it out when they get home, but Rory – for reasons not yet clear – is a little unsettled by the events. Things get worse when they get home to discover their bank account has been drained, their dog-sitter disappeared (along with their dog Iris), locks changed and house being used as an AirBnB. When Cate discovers she’s supposedly resigned from her job – going out with a bang and sharing confidential and malicious gossip with the whole company – Rory’s worst fears are realised.

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Book review: The Wrong Daughter by Dandy Smith

June 12, 20253 min read

I really enjoyed The Wrong Daughter by Dandy Smith, particularly relating to Caitlin, the sister left behind… until the end when the book headed in an interesting direction. I’m conscious I’ve said the same things about a few books lately – being disappointed at the conclusion and am starting to think perhaps the problem is me. My expectations… I’m keen for books to go in an unexpected direction but perhaps not TOO unexpected. Suddenly dipping into cult-like territory has been the theme of a couple of books I’ve read recently but there’s been nothing in the lead-up to hint that’s where it’s going. So it feels a little left-field.

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Book review: The Roadmap of Loss by Liam Murphy

February 9, 20242 min read

I must make a confession… I have absolutely no interest in visiting America. None. Zip. So I’m probably not the ideal audience for The Roadmap of Loss by Liam Murphy which is ostensibly centred around a roadtrip around the US. Although… of course however, the book is about more than roadtripping – it’s about a young man coming to terms with the loss of his mother and (belatedly) the disappearance (and loss) of his father from his life two decades earlier.

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Book review: Those Who Perish by Emma Viskic

March 11, 20222 min read

Those Who Perish by Emma Viskic is the fourth book in the popular series featuring private detective Caleb Zelic. I’d missed the first, Resurrection Bay, so it took me a couple of books to warm to Caleb but I’ve certainly done so.

Viskic’s writing is again the stand-out for me. I mean, I really like Caleb but it’s her taut prose that I find riveting.

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Book review: Painting in the Shadows by Katherine Kovacic

December 29, 20203 min read

Painting in the Shadows by Katherine Kovacic is the second in her Alex Clayton Art series. I met Katherine at the BAD Sydney Crime Writers’ Festival in September 2019 and she’d been nominated for a prestigious Ned Kelly Award for the first in that series, The Portrait of Molly Dean.

I bought that book soon after and very much enjoyed it. The Shifting Landscape was released in early 2020 and I assumed it was the sequel, forgetting about the time lag involved in award nominations. It wasn’t until I started that book I realised it was the third in the series and I’d missed one in between. That’s now been rectified and I’m glad I’ve read Painting in the Shadows as it’s probably my favourite in the series to date.

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