J.R. Carroll

I thought the description of this book was interesting which is why I requested it from Netgalley. However, the start is very confusing as there are just too many characters and too much time is spent on their back story to the detriment of the development and progression of the front story. We zig-zag backwards and forwards in time as each member of the gang is introduced. I know the author is using this device as a means to ratchet up the tension in a story which, in reality has little to none.

Given the time spent on each person’s back story these characters have the characters lack substance and indeed the main characters are less fleshed out as they are meant to be the victims. And we never get to know about Tim’s wife at all.

The plot is not new either and the characters lack substance and depth (even given the amount of time the author spends on each characters back story. Throughout the novel these character make silly mistakes which made we scream at my Kindle.

We also know the person behind the event so despite the twists and turns of the novel, the ending was no surprise. To be honest it was a bit of a let-down and easy to forget. But I don’t want to make up your mind for you … read the novel and come to your own conclusion.

Full Disclosure: ARC received from Netgalley for an honest review.… (lisätietoja)

"Carroll is the Australian writer who has most fully and consistently approached the dark and alienated world of Americans like James Ellory and Andrew Vachss..." Continent of Mystery, Stephen Knight (MUP, 1997).

Sometime in the early 2000's, deeply immersed in an obsession with J.R. Carroll's books (which at the time were very hard to get hold of) coming across that quotation was a nice vindication of the book quest that was occupying a bit of my book buying time. It is, however, sheer coincidence that I'd be re-reading Continent of Mystery at the time that Momentum release some of Carroll's back catalogue, and the latest book - 8 HOURS TO DIE. There were no surprises, however, in the reaction to the news, which I must admit was one of excitement. Carroll writes dark, conflicted, complex characters balanced in the edge world between good and bad. He sets those characters in dark, difficult and very realistic places, and throws plots at them that twist and turn like a corkscrew, slowly dragging the truth out into the murky light.

Needless to say, this reader came to 8 HOURS TO DIE with extremely high expectations. Expectations that wobbled a little at the start. As much as I love dark and conflicted, I've developed a violent gag reflex when evil starts lurking about behind gumtrees in the bush. The symptoms are even worse when the location is remote, completely without outside help. Of course the phones don't work, the generator can be switched off, and the victims are conveniently sitting out in the middle of nowhere with "come and get us" signs welded to the front gate.

But Carroll's a very good writer, and whilst there does seem to be an inevitability about the fate of the cop and his wife, in their remote house, with the lurking threat of outlaw bikies, there are, right from the start, enough questions to hold the reader. Motivation is an immediate intrigue. Despite Fontaine's past as a cop, and present as a lawyer, there's nothing immediately obvious about why 3 bikies would go to all this trouble to attack him. That remains a question in the back of the reader's head for quite a lot of the book. There's less waiting for the results of the house invasion. Once the lights go out, things happen quickly and violently. Interspersed with the current action, there are chapters of background for each of these bikies. They fill in the personal, as well as the circumstances that led them to become not just outlaw bikies, but violent killers. It doesn't bode well for Fontaine and his wife, as there's not a lot of hope in the background of each of these attackers.

For some readers, those interjections of the background might distract from the action in the present. For this reader, they contributed quite a bit to the threat - an understanding of who these 3 are, and how there past informed their current behaviour actually made the whole thing somehow more disconcerting. Particularly as the details of Tim and Amy are less fleshed out, perhaps because are destined to be the victims.

It wasn't long before expectations were firmly back on track, and the way that 8 HOURS TO DIE twists and turns right to the last page reminded me yet again of just how much I love J.R. Carroll's writing. If you've never read any of his books, Momentum have presented everyone with the perfect opportunity to rectify that immediately and that's a cause for much celebration! http://momentumbooks.com.au/authors/jr-carroll/

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-8-hours-die-jr-carroll… (lisätietoja)

Unabridged Australian Audio, 2005, ISBN 0-7320-2987-2
Read by Peter Hosking.

Shaun McCreadie made the mistake of his life when he joined two fellow detectives in a home invasion. George Petrakos is a Greek immigrant who has done well, on the surface by selling used cars, but in actual fact through his association with the Australian underworld. His mansion's strong room is rumoured to hold millions just for the taking.
Sydney detective Mitch Alvarez, who hates all Petrakos stands for, organises his two pals for what looks like an easy heist. In the long run the trio gets away with $2.8 million, leaving in the strong room a huge cache of heroin. But then George and his wife Stephanie are later discovered dead, the getaway van is found, with evidence that points back to young detective Shaun McCreadie. McCreadie keeps stum and takes the rap, going to jail for life.

Eleven years later McCreadie is released, his fellow home invaders are dead, and Shaun is determined to find out how Petrakos and his wife were killed, and to wreak a little vengeance of his own. Within a day, on his visit to Buzzard's Hut in mountains to retrieve the loot, he meets up with Joanna Steer, wife of high profile lawyer Raydon Steer, who becomes his soul mate and sexual partner. Others know that McCreadie is out of jail and guess that he will lead them to the money. Some come looking for him.

When I wrote my progress report a week ago, I said that this book really needs an R rating. Those who have said it is raunchy, violent, and noir are not wrong. It really did get to the stage when I was quite glad that Shaun and Joanna were apart because that meant there would be relief from the graphic sex.

The novel is read by Peter Hosking who did such a good job of reading Peter Corris' APPEAL DENIED that I listened to back in July. His was the voice that I could "hear" when I read Shane Maloney's SUCKED IN. He does again a very good job in BLINDSIDE with more voice variation than I noticed in APPEAL DENIED.

Shaun McCreadie is no innocent. He is a corrupt cop. Admittedly the Petrakos home invasion was the first time he had "crossed the line", but his stint in prison toughened him and he does not flinch from taking a life if he has to. The fiction of BLINDSIDE seems to have a lot in common with the real life drama of Underbelly.… (lisätietoja)