Adventures of a Bookonaut

Booktopia Clearance Sale–SpecFic and Pulp Titles

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Wright) — Sat, 26 May 2012 01:37:00 +0000

Just a quick note to let you know of some books going cheap on Booktopia*.My order is already on its way.

There’s some :

Holly Black, Christopher Priest, Megan Abbott, Margo Lanagan, and George R. R. Martin

just to name a few. Plug your favourite authors name in the search window and any discounted titles will come up under the bargains tab.

*In the interests of full disclosure I am an affiliate of Booktopia.

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Galactic Chat 13 – Deborah Kalin

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Wright) — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:09:00 +0000

Last week I managed to catch up with the wonderful Deb Kalin whose first novel, Shadow Queen, I reviewed here.

Please find for you listening pleasure Galactic Chat 13

Sean interviews Australian Novelist Deborah Kalin. They discuss her Binding Duology and her latest project, an as yet unnamed title from the Twelve Planets Series. Deborah also talks about her experiences at Clarion South and how the workshop was of fundamental importance to her career. The "dominance"by women of Australian fantasy gets a mention and they talk about the single mould approach to strong female characters.
Deborah can be found at her website and on Twitter.

You can download the podcast here

or play it in the player below

Podcast Powered By Podbean

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Examining the Ditmars - Best Short Story

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Wright) — Wed, 23 May 2012 11:22:00 +0000

Next up is the best short story category

Best Short Story

“Breaking the Ice”, Thoraiya Dyer, in Cosmos 37
“Alchemy”, Lucy Sussex, in Thief of Lives (Twelfth Planet Press)
“The Last Gig of Jimmy Rucker”, Martin Livings and Talie Helene, in More Scary Kisses(Ticonderoga Publications)
“All You Can Do Is Breathe”, Kaaron Warren, in Blood and Other Cravings (Tor)
“Bad Power”, Deborah Biancotti, in Bad Power (Twelfth Planet Press)
“The Patrician”, Tansy Rayner Roberts, in Love and Romanpunk (Twelfth Planet Press)

Again this is a highly competitive list. I have read half of it: Bad Power, The Patrician and Alchemy, and the rest of the finalists are all well known for quality work.

Thoraiya won an Aurealis with another short, Livings and Helene are well known and Kaaron Warren is almost omnipresent.

Out of those I have read and that appear above I think Bad Power possibly has the edge(my favourite Love and Romanpunk story didn’t make it).

Your thoughts?

PS Don’t forget to vote

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Book Review–The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bagicalupi

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Wright) — Wed, 23 May 2012 06:55:00 +0000

The Drowned Cities is listed on some sites as the second in the Ship Breaker series. It’s a novel set in the same post climate change world as Ship Breaker rather than a “Book 2”.

So don’t feel you have to have read Ship Breaker to get the full experience. The Drowned Cities shares some locations and one character with Ship Breaker - the half-man Tool.

Quality fiction

The Drowned Cities is published in Australia by Atom, Hachette’s Young Adult brand. To adult readers I would like to stress that this really has no impact on your enjoyment as an experienced or mature reader - it’s just quality fiction.

A future dystopia or comment on current events

With The Drowned Cities Bagicalupi builds upon and expands his vision of a dystopian future. Like Ship Breaker the theme and content mirrors or comments indirectly( I never feel as though Bagicalupi is preaching) upon present day issues. Ship breaker concentrated on a characters whose living was made stripping great containerships – a modern day inspiration, was no doubt something similar to The Chittagong Ship Breaking yards in Bangladesh.

The Drowned Cities’ theme centres squarely on the horrors of low scale internecine warfare in failed states and the sad reality of child soldiers and child victims of war. Bagicgalupi brings the tale closer to home with his setting – The Drowned Cities being the flooded remnants of the eastern states of North and South Carolina.

The Tale

Mahlia and Mouse are War Maggots, orphans or refugees taken in by Dr Mahfouz who administers medical treatment to the families of Banyan Town. Mahlia is a mixed raced daughter of a Chinese Peacekeeper and American/Drowned Cities mother, she’s had her right hand cut off by the Army of God due to this fact.

Mouse is a country boy with a talent for dodging bullets. While their situation isn’t ideal i.e. the town’s folk distrust her, it’s relatively safe. Until that is, Tool,an escaping half-man, a genetic augmentation, draws militia pursuers to their quaint little piece of post apocalyptic hell.

What ensues is part comment on the stupidity and futility of war but also on the strength of friendships borne out of survival.

Good Characterisation

Mahlia is the star of the story and I find her depiction as a strong female character particularly realistic and refreshing. She’s a child of war, a survivor and her strength shines through, in her dedication to her friends and her will to go on.

She displays cunning in her battles against forces that are physically stronger than her and is a refreshing hero in that she doesn’t need a gun or kick-arse martial arts moves to be strong.

We also get a better understanding of Tool as a rare breed of half-man, one that has overcome his genetic tendencies and training to obey his masters.

I also saw the depictions of the various militias in the book as comments on the some of the extremes of current American politics or political ideologies both in terms of religion and patriotism/nationalism. No doubt some American readers might find Bagicgalupi’s future imaginings a little pointed.

Concerns?

The book deals with some fairly mature content. I never felt as though Bagicgalupi was playing to the more violent aspects of the book though. There’s death and dismemberment but is well handled, repectfully depicted and fits well within the context of the world that’s been created.

I can see Ship Breaker and The Drowned Cities as good jumping off points for discussions in a class mixing literature/reading with social studies.

The depiction of sex within the book, such that it is, is handled “off screen”.

Judgement

A good addition to Bagicgalupi’s vision of a world in decline or crawling out of one. There’s violence, poverty and calamity, but there’s also hope. There’s always a sense that the protagonists can prevail - not without consequences mind you, but that it is possible.

This book was provided to me by the publisher at no cost to myself

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eBook Review–The Obituarist by Patrick O’Duffy

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Wright) — Wed, 23 May 2012 02:39:00 +0000

The Obituarist is Patrick O’Duffy’s first crime novella. He’s a multitalented chap though, so check out his website.

The Tale

Kendall Barber is a social media undertaker with a shady past who's returned to the equally shady city of Port Virtue.

Now a new client brings with her a host of dangers, just as Kendall's past begins to catch up with him. Can he get to the bottom of things before it's too late, or will he end up as dead as his usual subjects?

What I liked

The idea of a social media undertaker in itself is quite refreshing. I have heard of companies that will offer a service to repair your online reputation but not one that will, post death notices and remove you digital traces to prevent identity theft. So bonus points for the original concept.

Now Patrick dedicates the novella to his wife Nicole and Raymond Chandler. Its style is a bit of homage to hardboiled detective fiction, I’d say Chandler-esque but then I have never read Chandler. You can read for yourself below:

Jay Moledacker was far more handsome in death than he ever had been in life. Okay, not true, but at least his Facebook profile picture was now a lot more dignified. Not difficult, since his profile picture while alive had been a photo of him drunk and vomiting onto a horse during a racing carnival.
Now that he was dead – of an embolism, rather than being kicked to death – he looked regal, elegant and a good six years younger. That's because I had to use his graduation photo; everything after that point seemed to involve Jay throwing up, getting punched in nightclubs or out cold with FUCKWIT written on his chest in mustard.
A life well lived. Well, a life. Lived.
And it had fallen to me to close it all down.
Which didn't stop my clients – his parents – from dicking me about on the invoice.

I like Patrick’s style and “A life well lived. Well, a life. Lived.” I thought was the single best line in the book.

The humour which is largely self deprecating or at Kendall’s expense endeared the character to me. This guy ain’t no muscle bound hero, he has computer smarts, not street smarts - a fact that is well played to in this novella.

The one’s you don’t see coming

There was only one thing that impacted my enjoyment of the novella and that was the resolution of the subplot(I won’t go into specifics as it would spoil the novella). It was, in my opinion, simply resolved too quickly and stretched my suspension of disbelief too far.

When I have been led to belief that Kendall is largely a reluctant detective (at least in a physical sense) and prone to having his butt kicked, the resolution felt a little out of character. Perhaps I missed some early clues but I was blindsided by this resolution.

The main plot resolution was brilliant though and I only just caught on before the reveal. Very clever Mr O’Duffy very clever.

The Verdict Your Honour

This is funny, and fast paced detective fiction with a modern concept and an Aussie setting. A good couple of hours entertainment. I’ll be watching for more of O’Duffy’s work.

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Giveaway–Salvage by Jason Nahrung

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Wright) — Tue, 22 May 2012 12:33:00 +0000

Twelfth Planet Press in all their generosity have up on Goodreads 3 copies of Jason Nahrung’s Salvage.

You can go here and enter.

If you live in Melbourne and are going to Continuum 8 I believe that Mr Nahrung will be there with copies to sell and sign – details when I know for sure.

But if you are a fan of his work you can put in a pre-order here.

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The Bookonaut is Continuum bound

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Wright) — Tue, 22 May 2012 12:02:00 +0000

I am not sure if I have announced on the blog that I am going to Continuum 8.

I did let it slip in a couple of places online but, hey it’s been a little busy with work (finally) and trying to keep up with everything that is going on in Speculative Fiction land.

I also wanted to wait until I had received notice of the panel I was invited to be on.

I will be participating in the Book Blogs and Reviewing panel running from 9 -10 am Saturday (tentative times, almost set in stone). So if you are going to Continuum feel free to drop in and partake of the wisdom of a diverse range of panellists.

The wonderful Continuum organisers are still organising so I will post the full details shortly.

[edit: The panel times could be wrong. The overworked staff at Continuum have informed me that a technical snafu caused the wrong times to be sent with the notification. Will keep you posted]

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Notions Unlimited Employing Zombies

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Wright) — Mon, 21 May 2012 23:16:00 +0000

Thanks to Mr Mond for this one:

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Giveaway–Through Splintered Walls by Kaaron Warren

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Wright) — Mon, 21 May 2012 12:34:00 +0000

Twelfth Planet Press are running another giveaway comp on Goodreads. This time it’s for Kaaron Warren’s Through Splintered Walls.

You may enter here.

Of course if you are tempted to buy it you can go to the TPP site and put in a pre-order.

What the ~~lucky so and so’s who have read it~~ people are saying:

‘Every Warren story is a trip with no map.’ – Gemma Files
‘Her fiction shifts across genres smoothly and intelligently, never settling for the easy path… she doesn’t flinch.’ – Andrew Hook
‘As with most of the best horror writing … the power of Warren’s strongest stories comes from the mirror they hold up to our everyday practices and prejudices.’ – Ian McHugh

Not sure about short collections? Check out my reviews of other books in the series:

As you can see, I am a bit of a TPP fan.

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Book Review–Wizard Undercover

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Wright) — Sun, 20 May 2012 04:50:00 +0000

Wizard Undercover is the fourth book in the Rouge Agent series by K.E. Mills, the Canadian born, Australian author, also writing as Karen Miller - her real name.

Having not read Mills before, Wizard Undercover was a pleasant jaunt despite the expected turbulence that comes from jumping into a series four books in.

Experienced readers will have no issue settling in to the story as it’s largely self contained. Or you could just start at The Accidental Sorcerer i.e. Book 1.

The Setting

If you can imagine European politics in the late Victorian era, magic, dry English wit and a fantasy setting you'll be right. I am not sure whether I would call it Steampunk, but it will certainly appeal to those that frequent the genre.

The Tale

Gerald Dunwoody, a rogue wizard “janitor” (think MI6) infected with tainted magics is sent along with the Crown Princess Melissande and Emmerabiblia Markham, partners in the unconventional and somewhat feminist Witches Inc., to unravel a plot to disrupt the marriage of the heirs of Splotze and Borovnik.

The (Janitorial) Department’s man in Splotze has gone silent after leaving an incoherent message suggestive of his own demise and heinous plans being orchestrated by players unknown.

Report from Field Agent “Bookonaut”

Wizard Undercover reminded me of a cross between Jane Austen’s work and Black Adder, the manners, formality and focus on personal conversation of the first and the dry wit of the second. Despite the lightness in tone and the bumbling along of its protagonists, Wizard Undercover is suspenseful.

There is a dark undercurrent running through the story, with Gerald always at risk of going to the “dark side” and being changed by the grimoire magic he’s had embedded in him. The conclusion also featured a surprisingly abrupt and clinically violent scene in what is largely a “violence off screen” novel.

All things considered it’s a delightful romp with a little mystery, humour, and romance.

If I had one criticism it was that there was no map or appendices to help get my head around the state of affairs.

This book was provided by the publisher at no extra cost to myself.

This review is part of the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2012. Please check out this page for more great writing from Australian women.

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Understanding Privilege

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Wright) — Sat, 19 May 2012 00:48:00 +0000

Mr Scalzi attempted to reframe the discussion around privilege with a metaphor that SWM(straight white male ) gamer dudes might understand with

Straight White Male: The Lowest Difficulty Setting There Is

An admirable effort, though in hindsight using the Games analogy was always going to bring out those types of people that focus on the minutiae, the rules lawyer types, those that have no idea of what the spirit of the game may mean.

WARNING - Don’t read the comments

Mr Hines having followed the discussion, dug up some statistics to try and help those determined to turn Mr Scalzi’s post into a personal attack on their own poor disadvantaged straight white male lives, realise that its not about them on a personal level.

Can you here the sirens, yep lots of Whaaaambulances.

Anyway here’s Mr Hines post

Facts are Cool

Then I came across this comic book representation the Patriarchy as Matrix, and thought maybe we need to approach the situation visually. Anyway enjoy - you may need to embiggen the gif to rad the matrix script.

[source]

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Cover Candy – Salvage by Jason Nahrung

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Wright) — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:35:00 +0000

‘

Jason informs us that the cover from his novella Salvage, soon to be released by Twelfth Planet Press has been released ---------------------------->

If my memory serves me correctly the artist is Dion Hamill who also did some of the work on Glitter Rose by Marianne de Pierres.

Jason alo informs us that Salvage is available for pre-order in paperback from Twelfth Planet Press for $15 plus postage.

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Revolution by JJ Abrams

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Wright) — Thu, 17 May 2012 09:13:00 +0000

JJ Abrams has a new show coming out. Many are hoping that he replicates his success with Lost ( personally I hope he’s successful but Lost I found to a one season idea strung out over as many seasons as they thought we’d put up with it).

I am not sure its fair to judge from the trailer there has been some criticism regarding racial stereotyping.

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Colosoul features article on Twelfth Planet Press

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Wright) — Wed, 16 May 2012 01:58:00 +0000

Colosoul Magazine features an article on Alisa Krasnostein and Twelfth Planet Press:

On The Twelfth Planet

It could be said that all fiction is essentially speculative, as its very nature is to imagine possible worlds (be they reflections of our own or something entirely new), different lives and the content of other minds – to form conjectures that have no requirement for evidence or rigour. The term ‘speculative fiction’, however, specifically refers to a collection of genres brought under an umbrella of family resemblance, including science fiction, fantasy, alternate history and horror.

Alisa Krasnostein identifies speculative fiction as “the ultimate genre of escape”. The appeal of the genre, she believes, is that “no matter how alien the aliens or how fantastical the creatures, they’re all still reflections of humanity.” Alisa states, “I love the genre because it constantly seeks to understand ‘the other’.

[Read On]

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Guest Posting at Ebon Shores

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Wright) — Wed, 16 May 2012 00:52:00 +0000

David MacDonald of Ebon Shores kindly invited me to guest post at his wonderful blog.

A 21st Century Fan
I love living in the future.
I grew up in a time before the internet, before mobile phones, in a remote town at least 1500 km away from any major city. My first brush with fandom came with the ABC’s running of Doctor Who (until the late 80’s the only TV channel we had). Myself and four friends formed the Dr Who gang, our arch enemies were the Spades – think the Sharks and the Jets but with flowing multicoloured scarves and Men at Work rather than Leonard Bernstein . This was primary school.
[Read On]

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Win a copy of Haven Season 2

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Wright) — Tue, 15 May 2012 05:11:00 +0000

Just go ask the peeps at 13 O’clock – Australian Dark Fiction News & Reviews. It’s a random draw and they have three copies to give away.

While you are there you might like to subscribe.

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Outcast Chronicles are nearly here

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Wright) — Tue, 15 May 2012 02:00:00 +0000

Fans of Rowena Cory Daniells, will no doubt be aware that, it won’t be long until she releases her next trilogy. But for the rest of you, sadly deprived of Rowena’s fast paced, action filled fantasy here’s a taster in book trailer form. The Outcast Chronicles:

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eBook Review – Ishtar (Eds.) Amanda Pillar & K.V. Taylor

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Wright) — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:38:00 +0000

Ishtar is a collection of novella’s written by three of Australia’s top female speculative fiction writers.

Indeed, the collection itself has been nominated for both an Aurealis and a Ditmar, and the individual novellas have picked up nominations in both awards as well.

Published by Gilgamesh press^1. for the rather paltry sum of $5.95 in ebook form, it’s well worth the money.

The Tales

The stories in Ishtar, as the title suggests, centre on the Assyrian Goddess Ishtar, goddess of fertility, war, love, and sex.

The first novella, The Five Loves of Ishtar by Kaaron Warren is set in Ancient Assyria. The story is told by successive generations of washer women indentured to the Goddess as she is wife or partner to 5 great men, beginning with the deity Tammuz.

The story is written in the first person, and the language is somewhat stilted (though not in a negative sense). I think Warren is trying to create a text that feels mythic and reserved, not quite biblical but certainly encouraging more formal tone:

My goddess Ishtar had five great loves in her thousand years of living. Many lovers; so many even I lost count, I, who can tell you the number of girdles in every household in the city. But five men she loved, and five times she risked all for love.

I’ll admit that this tale took me the longest to get into. The repetition of the form , however, the continuity of generations of washer women telling the story, gave me both a sense of history and gradually drew me in.

The second novella was Deb Biancotti’s And the Dead Shall Outnumber The Living and is set in present day Sydney. It’s a police procedural that morphs into a surreal dark fantasy where the goddess Ishtar appears again, flexing her powers.

She crouches and grips the edge of a drain outlet, peering in. The stench is unbearable. Every shitting, vomiting junkie in the city crammed into one room couldn’t smell this bad. The body looks like a sack pushed up against the grate, spread out, blocking nearly the whole outlet. Water rushes around it, making the skin ripple. It’s naked, and the dark hairs on its chest and arms and legs, the dark V of hair around its genitals, are pressed flat by the weight of water. The insides must’ve floated away by now, out to sea.
“Kids thought it was a balloon or a clown suit or something,” Tarling says. “Until the face rolled round and looked at them.”
“Counselling?” Steve asks.
“Oh, years of it, I’d imagine,” Tarling says.

I am a fan of Biancotti’s work in Bad Power and the writing echoes that same beat cop, police procedural with an edge of dark fantasy, only in this instance it’s more than an edge. The ending is…unconventional perhaps, but fits into the whole package beautifully.

The final novella is Cat Sparks’ The Sleeping and The Dead. It gave me visions of a post apocalyptic gothic wasteland - Necromaidens with a fetish for skulls…

She watches nuns dancing in the dust, spinning and twirling as if the stuff’s not killing them. Necromaidens. Fallout wraiths. Praising absent gods for their blisters as well as their dreams. Like her, they have no formal training. Their cult has grown organically, exponentially as the years have dragged. Anna became conscious of the neatness of the skulls long before glimpsing the girls’ demented Tinkerbell antics around the gritty edges of Truckstop’s barbed perimeter. She might have dismissed the girls as ghosts — the barren landscape groans beneath the breathless, phantom weight of them, but no, the nuns are solid. As solid as forty-five kilos of half-starved girl can get.

To pick a favourite

It’s hard to pick a favourite out of these three, viewed as three parts of a whole they are both wonderfully distinct yet dovetail into each other smoothly. We have a mythic retelling, a police procedural and a post apocalyptic tale but it does feel like one continuous tale told from different perspectives.

The Sleeping and The Dead probably edges in front as my preferred story but it’s close. I have a penchant for the post apocalyptic.

Hits the mark

Ishtar fits Gilgamesh Press’ vision beautifully. Here we have three quality writers giving us their take on Assyrian myth, breathing life into a culture that underpins our own. Ishtar steps from the pages; a living, breathing, sensual and violent goddess – come and meet her.

If you like your fiction dark and your women powerful don’t go past Ishtar.

^{1.Gilgamesh Press is an imprint of Morrigan Books. Gilgamesh Press has a vision to promote awareness of the Assyrian people and their history through literature.}^↩

This review is part of the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2012. Please check out this page for more great writing from Australian women.

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The Aurealis Awards 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Wright) — Sat, 12 May 2012 12:12:00 +0000

Below is a summary of the Aurealis Awards compiled on Storify. Many thanks to the attendees that tweeted the results and took pictures. It was almost as good as being there

Galactic Suburbia 59–The educational podcast

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Wright) — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:32:00 +0000

The latest episode of Galactic Suburbia is out. I have been working all day so haven’t had a chance to listen yet. Apparently they explain boob windows¹ and they cover the usual news, awards roundups and culture consumed.

You can download the podcast here

or play from the flash player below

Podcast Powered By Podbean

1. A cut in a woman's top that shows parts of the top of her breasts. It doesn't matter the shape or the size (of the window or the breasts), as long as the window is completely enclosed. It also doesn't matter about the rest of the outfit, as this can be on a bathing suit, a sweater, a Leotard of Power, a Mini Dress Of Power or a grand Pimped Out Dress. [Source: TV Tropes]

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So Avengers…

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Wright) — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:07:00 +0000

Went to see Avengers the other day. Caught the 3D version which is my first since one of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies back in the 90’s. And I’m pretty meh about it actually, not sure that it actually added too much to the movie.

The movie itself was pretty good, considering the cast of heroes - ensemble performances can be a bit tricky.

I was pretty impressed with the every so slightly insane Loki played by Tom Hiddleston. Here he is doing an off the cuff Shakespearean monologue (h/t @becadroit)

And here he is in the Avengers in possible my favourite scene:

Pretty sure that Robert Downey Jr. played himself. Scarlet Johansen was good as the Black Widow and I think Mark Ruffalo was a good choice for the Hulk.

Its apparently smashing box office records, I’m not sure if its THAT good, but a definite improvement over Thor. Probably on par with Iron Man 1.

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Aurealis 50 is out

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Wright) — Thu, 10 May 2012 03:52:00 +0000

I don’t know how I missed this one but I did.

Released on the 3rd of May, Issue 50 features the fiction of Patty Jansen and Jonathan Robb as well as the usual non –fiction goodness by the likes of Macleod and Thorp

You can purchase it through Smashwords for $2.99

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Last Call for Submissions–Blood Stones by Ticonderoga

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Wright) — Thu, 10 May 2012 03:45:00 +0000

Ticonderoga is putting out an Urban Fantasy collection called Blood Stones, submissions close on the 15th of May.

This is the first in a series of anthologies from Ticonderoga Publications that will focus on non-traditional horror. I want stories that are horrific, but that also fit within other genres—let’s look beyond the borders. This year’s anthology will focus on non-traditional urban fantasy. This means that I don’t want stories that feature vampires, witches or werewolves; if you send one, it probably won’t make it through to the final cut….[read on if you're interested]

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Cover Candy–Ticonderoga and Twelfth Planet Press

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Wright) — Thu, 10 May 2012 03:20:00 +0000

First up is Cat Sparks’ cover for her upcoming book The Bride Price from Ticonderoga. If I am reading the press release correctly, Cat has done the cover herself and its kick–arse.

and missed early in the week was Cracklescape from Margo Lanagan and Twelfth Planet Press.

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Tara Sharp gets a make over

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Wright) — Wed, 09 May 2012 23:41:00 +0000

Marianne Delacourt is the pseudonym of speculative fiction author Marianne de Pierres. Marianne writes the Tara Sharp series under that name and with the third in that series, Stage Fright released later this year, the website has undergone a makeover.

The Books

The Tara Sharp books can be best described as humourous crime with a paranormal flavour. The series will be ongoing, featuring the same cast of characters, though each book will be a stand alone adventure mystery.
Comparison’s have been drawn with Janet Evanovich’s wonderful Stephanie Plum novels (of which Marianne is a big fan), and readers of that series will find appealing similarities. But while they are definitely of the same genre, there are some key differences. To begin with, Mariann’e books are set in Australia. Most significantly though, Tara is Tara – not Stephanie! She’s a different type of girl.

Please pop over and let Marianne know what you think.

Click here.

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