A graphic tale of a paedophilia club, murders and the conflicting feelings of those trying to solve the murders of men who most considered society the better for their absence. Well written but an unpleasant storyline. ( )

Newly promoted Detective Sergeant Jill Jackson of the New South Wales Police force has a deep hatred of pedophiles. When Jill was twelve years old she was abducted, held in a basement for three days, and abused by men who were never caught. Now, over twenty years later, she has recurrent nightmares and panic attacks. She is very security conscious and has also developed techniques for dealing with unwanted memories.

When several men are bludgeoned to death, law enforcement discover the men have all been accused of child molestation at some point. The somewhat reluctant investigation uncovers an entire club of such men who swap photographs, movies and children amongst themselves.

There are some parts of this book that many readers will find disturbing. It is a very dark, with extremely unpleasant subject matter. The plot is tightly constructed, and the action violent. But I really liked the main character and the atmospheric setting of Sydney, Australia. I plan to give the next book in the series a look. ( )

Blech. Well enough written, and quick moving, but when the protagonist's inner voice says not to do something, but she does, repeatedly, well no. The milieu is Sydney police vs pederasts and it's as unpleasant as you'd guess, not to much point as there is so much unreal on offer. ( )

I'm really unsure as to whether to rate this a 4 or a 5. Lets call it 4.5

It was only just over a day ago when I gave up on a book. I found I was putting off reading, a clear sign that the book sucked. So I moved on, moved on and picked up Leah Giarratano's first novel. This book was just what I needed.

I met Leah at the Perth Writers' Festival. Aside from being one of the nicest people you will meet, she is also a very good crime writer. She draws on her background in psychology to delve into the dark corners of the Australian underworld. She spoke of this book being a catharsis from her day job and when you read it (yes you will go out and buy it and read it, I'll wait here) you will notice that in the story.

The first book I read in the Jill Jackson series was the most recent, Watch the World Burn. I can't wait to read the books I've missed in the series. Currently Leah is publishing some young adult books (Disharmony: The Telling, comes out later this month) so Jill may not be having a new crime to solve for a year or so. ( )

This is one of those books. One of those mega-marketed, multi-stickered books that I put off reading because I figured it couldn’t possibly live up to the hype and I’d end up disappointed. Again.

Happily I was wrong.

Not that the book is a happy one mind you. The subject matter is skin-crawlingly awful enough to make any sane person consider the merits of the death penalty and/or becoming an armed vigilante. When several men are brutally bashed to death Police discover the men have all been accused of child molestation at some point. The somewhat reluctant investigation into the murders uncovers an entire club of such men who swap photographs, movies and children amongst themselves for their particular sick and sordid pleasures.

The plot is logical and contains no extraneous material which is an increasingly rare thing in this age of books the size (and weight) of house bricks. There are one or two passages, e.g. the incident at the prison, that almost push the story into “I can’t believe all that would happen to one human being” territory but they’re only short and they stretched my credulity rather than breaking it. Irrespective of them the build-up of suspense is perfectly timed and kept me awake long past my bed time. Besides, it’s all set in one of my favourite places on earth and Giarratano has captured the feel of the beachside suburbs of inner Sydney to a tee which makes up for any slight imperfections.

But it’s the characters in this book that are truly memorable. There’s Jill Jackson: an imperfect but very believable heroine who tackles the things she is afraid of despite her fears. Her white eyed companion is also perfectly written. But Giarratano hasn’t stopped with her main character. She’s written totally credibly in the voice of a kidnapped 11-year old boy, a transvestite and the most disturbing bunch of villains you’ll ever meet. For the record it will be Jamaal Mahmoud with his simmering violence and contemptuous hatred for every person he encounters who will inhabit my nightmares. Every passage in which he appears is terrifying. The kind of terrifying where a reader might close her eyes tightly while humming Walking on Sunshine and imagining pictures of puppy dogs before the dark thoughts consume her (I’m not saying I did that, just that some other, fraidy-cat reader might react that way).

For once the marketing was right: this is a killer read. It's my new favourite book of the year so far.
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