20backlistin2020 Book Review: Lapse by Sarah Thornton

Another #20backlistin2020 read, I’m not going to make the 20 unfortunately, but here’s one more that I’ve caught up on and it was a really good read.

In the small town of Katinga Clementine Jones is hiding out from something that happened in her recent past. We are fed little bits about this event through the novel, but it isn’t until the end we find out the whole story. But we know that it’s something pretty bad and that is why Clementine wants to stay under the radar.

Clem has taken on the job of coaching the local footy team, a team that has lost for years. Everyone has high hopes she can get them to the finals. While Clem is a hard taskmaster, the guys respect her and she seems to be able to get the best out of them, even affecting them in their personal lives. While I enjoyed this part, the decisions that Clem makes throughout while she’s hunting for answers to why her lead player, Clancy has quit, seem to me to show that it’s all surface-level involvement.

I really did get annoyed with her, many times, for the decisions she makes throughout. Ones that bring danger, not just to herself, but to others around her who haven’t asked to be pulled into her one-woman, one mindset hunt for the truth.

Saying that, she was was persistent once she set her mind to things, no matter who she might upset or what danger might follow.

The corruption she uncovers goes deep and the things people will do to get what they want, make the mind boggle.

While Clem spends her time trying to uncover the truth, she tries to hold onto her own secrets.

Racism is rife in the town, I was saddened by this fact, and the way the indigenous people were treated, knowing this happens often in real-life makes it worse, when will it stop.

This was a fast-paced read where I questioned Clem’s decisions but respected her tenacity to ultimately try to make things right for Clancy. There are some frantic moments where you will wonder, has she gone too far.

I’m currently reading book #2 White Throat, Clem is on the hunt once again to uncover a crime.

Thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for a digital copy of this novel in return for an honest review.

20backlistin2020 Book Review: The Night Whistler by Greg Woodland

Not too much of a backlist novel, but still one I’m glad to finally have read.

What a great crime read this novel was, and surprisingly not set in Tasmania. Instead, this is set in the New England region of NSW in 1966. The cover alone has plenty of sinister feels about it and the author does a great job of depicting the setting.

There was plenty of suspense throughout, as demoted former detective Mick Goodenough (pronounced Goodno) tries to uncover who might be making threatening phone calls to the Humphries’ residence along with trying to figure out who is killing pets and if it’s more sinister than just animals.

Mick is thwarted at every turn by corrupt, incompetent, and lazy colleagues and he really struggled to make headway in the cases.

The star of the story though is young Hal Humphries who finds the body of the dog that’s been killed and who is determined to play Sherlock and figure out who is calling his house, a person they’ve named The Whistler.

There’s plenty of people doing the wrong things in this small town, where racism is rife. I changed my mind several times about who had done which crimes, and it’s near the end where the perpetrator is pushed too far that things become clear.

If this is Greg Woodland’s debut novel, I’ll definitely be looking out for his next one.

Thanks to Netgalley and Text Publishing Company for a digital copy of this novel in return for an honest review.

20Backlistin2020: Book Review: Devil’s Lair by Sarah Barrie

This book has been sitting on both my shelf and my kindle for over a year and after reading Sarah Barrie’s newest book Deadman’s Track, I was keen to finally get this one read.

This was an absolutely brilliant romantic suspense novel. Once again set in Tasmania, we get to meet the characters from Bloodtree River and Deadman’s Track again and this time it is Connor’s turn to find happiness. After what he went through in Bloodtree River, he is understandably in two minds about starting anything new. When he meets Callie, who is trying to fly under the radar after her own traumatic experiences, he finds it hard to stay away from her.

This novel had me reading well into the middle of the night, there was plenty of tension, secrets, and ritualistic murders, alongside romance, new friendships, and new beginnings.

There were so many twists and turns in this story that I just did not see coming, every time I thought I had things figured out, I would have that theory pulled out from under me.

Callie was a very strong character, for someone who had been through what she’d been through, losing her husband in a violent incident and a lengthy court case, the fact she came through it as sane as she did amplified that strength.

The cottage and house that Callie stays in thanks to her friend Paisley’s help, is both beautiful and very creepy, I don’t think I could have stayed there.

The character that creeped me out the most was Paisley’s brother Ned, talk about stalkerish and crazy, I’d have had a restraining order out on him from the start no matter how harmless people were telling me he was. There was something seriously wrong with Ned from the beginning and he was just one of the spine-chilling aspects of the story.

I loved the romance that blossomed between Connor and Callie and their relationship made me smile plenty even when they were having their disagreements.

This novel also deals with the important issue of mental health issues and how support or lack of support can affect people who suffer with these illnesses.

I highly recommend this novel and though it can easily be read as a standalone, I recommend reading them in order: Bloodtree River, Devil’s Lair, Deadman’s Track.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Australia for a copy of this novel in return for an honest review.

#AWW2020 #20backlistin2020