Reviewed by Jamie Marriage

Vicious, viscous and Australian to the extreme, Path of Night by Dirk Flinthart is a wonderfully hard-boiled paranormal action story full of mythology and gritty realism.

A week after slicing his finger with a medical phial of unknown content destined for the incinerator Michael Devlin busts in to his professor’s office to complain only to find him in the act of being murdered by a brutish creature of unnatural strength and speed. Waking up later in a morgue, assumed dead, with a powerful hunger and even more powerful questions Michael sets out to find out what is happening to him and why his friends keep being brutally slaughtered.

Meanwhile Detective Senior Constable Jennifer Morris is brought in to investigate the homicide of the professor and Michael, and of the two police officers sent after the murderer, before being taken off the case without explanation. True to her nature Jen cannot just let this go and starts investigating against orders.

In short order both Jen and Michael are running parallel after the same mysterious murderers in a violent game of hunter verses hunted through Sydney’s vast metropolis. There is far more going on than just a medical research deal turned sinister.

Not skimping on grisly detail or cultural references Path of Night drags the reader deep into a gut-wrenching storyline of everything that makes this genre great; fast-paced action, lashings of gore and sexual intrigue, political corruption and characters evolving – figuratively and literally – as the story progresses. A heavy focus of the story is the mythological nature of early horror creatures, the vampire and werewolf primarily, and provides intriguing possibilities into the existence of such horrors.

The novel jumps primarily between four characters; Michael, Jen, political powerhouse Luttrell, and monster hunter, Hellyer. Here and there the narrative will move to minor characters, but given the visceral nature of this tale, they have a habit of not staying around for long. Given the frequency of movement though Path of Night doesn’t feel disjointed or confused like many novels do when given this treatment. In fact the varying perspectives assist in fleshing out the narrative and make it easier to follow.

This isn’t a pretty novel. It’s raw and violent, sexual and powerful, chaotic and mesmerising. It’s also a hell of a lot of fun!

Buy

ISBN: 978-0-9874000-8-6 (ebook)

Print RRP: $14.95 

Ebook RRP $7.99

October 2013

Reviewed by Jamie Marriage

As a kid born around the end of the Cold War I was exposed to a lot of different influences and styles. I missed the 80’s but took the blast of the 90’s full in the chest. Some of my media heroes are far more of my father’s generation and sadly missed, some I got to grow up with as they rose to power in my own generation. One of those that falls between the two though was the musical group the Doug Anthony All Stars (DAAS for short), a comedy trio starring Tim Ferguson (the good) Paul McDermott (the bad) and Richard Fidler (the guitarist).

DAAS was one of those musical comedy groups that was as true to Australian culture as you could get; self deprecating, abusive, obscene and hilarious. This relatively short lived group, at least compared to many that are still touring decades later, was picking up creative steam when I was born and unfortunately scattered upon the winds by the time I was old enough to get my first glimpse of their material.

Over the last decade and a half I have been one of the many cult worshipers of everything that was DAAS; they were a musical force, creative gods (in the Greek Pantheon, getting up to all kinds of trouble kind of way), and had personalities that etched themselves upon the psyche forever.

All that being said there were a lot of questions awaiting answers regarding the fate of DAAS. Most of the stories they themselves planted in the media about their formation and disassembly were false, half out of mischief, half out of mistrust of the media. And who are we to deny them this form of entertainment.

So when I was given the chance to read Tim Ferguson’s new Autobiography, Carry A Big Stick, I put my hand up so fast I’m surprised I didn’t dislocate my shoulder.

Following one individual from birth to middle age is tricky for people that have never read an autobiography before; the only storyline is that of the individual themselves, every scene usually only gets a brief mention, and the supporting characters tend not to get much of a back-story. This isn’t dense space opera, nor is it a grand epic, but it is able to rub emotions raw and draw you in just the same.

Laid out in acts and split into scenes, much like that of a traditional play, Carry A Big Stick follows the life of one gorgeous man from childhood in the 1960s to the present day. With each successive act a Monty Python style separation of one stage of life to another. And throughout the narrative the silent antagonist follows our hero until he can deny its presence no longer.

The rise and fall of the Doug Anthony All Stars, Tim’s television acting and production career, and his later work as a comedy teacher and author are all covered throughout this four act play. Some of it will make you laugh so hard you’ll have to put the book aside, some has the power to drag tears from your eyes, but every scene is memorable. A precious story of its own to be treasured.

This is the book of one of Australia’s true comedic masterminds. His story told his way, and with all the truth a comedian can muster. What more could be asked from such a man?

Reviewed by Jamie Marriage

It’s difficult to find a more skilled master of context than was Iain Banks. With simple flashes of the pen he was able to sketch out the undercurrents of a myriad of stories within a single narrative.

The main focus of the story is upon Kit, a young man with near-autistic social difficulties, as he copes with his father’s impending death from cancer.

Truly ironic then that The Quarry was published not long after Bank’s own death from cancer, a fitting final testament to a prolific career of incredible works, creating a context that renders the nature of the novel that much more relevant.

Set in rural England in a dilapidated house due for demolition to extend the local stone quarry, the narrative brings together the long-time friends of Guy, Kit’s dying father, in one final reunion before he passes.

The rest of the cast, a varied collection of prominent business people and social misfits, arrive with the intention of not only enjoying the last of the companionship their ill friend can provide, but also to locate a possibly incriminating videotape recorded when the group were young and reckless. Hol, almost a stand-in mother for young Kit, seems to be hiding something important from him. Paul is willing to pay for first access to the mysterious video. Ali and Rob are using the time away to explore their fracturing relationship. Haze is the drug addled beatnik he always was. Pris is anxious about how the group will respond to her younger boyfriend. And Guy is emotionally abusive in the face of his terminal illness.

The story evolves to include each character’s personal stories, providing material that fleshes out the history of the house and its occupants. Revealing tantalising hints of hidden agendas and further stories never to be told.

Throughout the novel there are questions constantly on the verge of being answered. Who is Kit’s real mother? What will happen after his father dies? Could it really be a sex tape that everyone is looking for?

In true Banks Style, the writing is immaculate and imaginative; setting vivid scenes and believable characters. Dialogue is rich and realistic, often humorous or painfully realistic. And the plot moves at the perfect pace for such a novel; fast enough not to get bogged down in detail, but steady enough that every element gets its appropriate print time.

There is not much more that can be said about this wonderful piece that could give it justice without spoiling the pleasure. As the last work of a great man it is one of his greatest; not the galaxy spanning epics of his science-fiction work, nor the satirical or depressing worlds of his literary work, but something more important.

The Quarry is Iain Banks’s final footprint on this earth. It will remind us of what a great man can do, even at the very end.