PETER TEMPLE was an Australian crime fiction writer, mainly know for his Jack Irish novel series. He has won many awards. He was born in South Africa in 1946. He left South Africa because of Apartheid. He moved to Sydney, Australia in 1980 and in 1982 to Melbourne to become the founding editor of Australian Society magazine. He turned to fiction writing in 1990. He wrote the Jack Irish series and three stand alone novels, An Iron Rose, Shooting Star and In the Evil Day, as well as Broken Shore and it's semi sequel Truth.
It was a very lively and interesting discussion today.
BAD DEBTS
JUDY J: This is the first book in the Jack Irish series. Judy felt it helped to have seen the television series. The story is set in Melbourne. It is very Victorian with AFL references and Fitzroy references. It's a complicated story with lots of things happening. I probably wouldn't read another one.
ED: She found it quite OK and enjoyed reading this book.
PRUE: Once she got into the story, Prue could not put it down. It moved quite seamlessly from one part to the other. It painted Melbourne very well. It was a bit dark, violent and corrupt but it was how it was at the time. There were bits of subtle humour. It was typically Australian.
BLACK TIDE
CLAURENE: This is the second book in the Jack Irish series. It was interesting. It gives you information about lots of different things. The author introduces characters with a few words. Claurene enjoyed the way he writes.
CHARIS: She couldn't understand and follow the dialogue and the way he portrayed Melburnians. When Charis got further in to it she decided to give up. She didn't enjoy Peter Temple.
JUDY D: Judy felt the same as Charis. She couldn't understand a lot of it but said it was OK. She normally likes crime thrillers.
DEAD POINT
LESLEY: This is the third book in the Jack Irish series. Jack has a messy life and he is unlucky in love. There are good descriptions of the Melbourne weather and the cafe life. This story is about a missing person. It's written in the first person and Lesley found it hard to follow. The sentences were complicated. There are a lot of peripheral characters and Lesley found it confusing and unsatisfactory.
WHITE DOG
ROSEMARY: She tried but couldn't get into it.
BEV: Bev said it took a long time to work out who was who. Half way through a woman got killed in an explosion. She finished reading it but had no desire to read anymore Peter Temple.
SHEILA: She loathed it and only read one chapter.
COLLEEN: She tried a couple of times to get into it but didn't like the the story.
KRIS: It took a while to get into the story but I had watched a few episodes of Jack Irish and enjoyed it. The pace was good although some parts were confusing. I quite enjoyed it until about page 289 when Jack got further into trying to uncover information about two deaths and cover ups and more characters were introduced. I got fed up with the constant really bad language and I found the exploitation of teenage girls was too depressing so I didn't read anymore.
THE BROKEN SHORE (2005)
CONNIE: Connie said she persevered and read it all. She thought it would be different. If there was not so much bad language the book wouldn't have been half as long. It was set on the south coast of Victoria. The descriptions were good but she did not like this book.
JOAN: Joe Cashin, a homicide detective is haunted by his last case. He has fled Melbourne for the south coast of Victoria while his wounds heal. In a little country town, a local man is brutally murdered. Joe has decided to live in this little country town and you get the story of the local man being part of a paedophilia ring. Joan had nightmares from the story.
JUDY A: Joe Cashin's partner was killed in a car accident. Judy liked the book and said she really likes Peter Temple's writing.
DIANN: Diann said she really liked it and understood why the detective wanted a new life. This novel is a whodunit. It brings in race relations and politics. It shows a relationship between a man and his dog. It is an easy flow story.
TRUTH (2009)
JO: There were too many different plots and the language was shocking. The language spoiled it for Jo. She doesn't want to read anymore of Peter Temple books.
PAMELA: This is the sequel to Broken Shore. There are unresolved problems in Truth that would have been resolved in the next book. The setting is Melbourne with a bushfire raging. The story is about trying to get justice and how difficult it can be and also the elusiveness of trying to find the truth of things. The main character, Steve is a Police Inspector and a good man who unwittingly gets compromised in a murder and taking money. It is a difficult book. There are large groups of people. The writing is exact, no padding, spare and there is a lot of humour. Pamela thinks it is a brilliant book but it requires very careful reading.
ANNE: Inspector Steve Villani is the head of Homicide. The setting is the Black Saturday Fires in 2009. Steve has three main cases. One is a murdered young woman in a penthouse apartment, three men savagely murdered and tortured and a drug dealer corrupting his daughter. The writing is really good and Anne described it as taut. There is a lot of sardonic humour. It is one of her favourite books.
IRON ROSE
WENDY: The story is about an ex Federal cop in a regional community. Wendy really enjoyed it. She said it was really well paced with short and pared down dialogue. It has dry humour. and the author has a sharp eye for detail. It kept you reading.
THE RED HAND
PAT B: This is a book of short stories. Pat didn't really enjoy his writing but found it interesting that he didn't start writing until he was 50 years old.
Our book for December is the best book we have read this year, excluding any from this year's Bookclub list.
Our book for January will be one we have read over the festive season.
Don't forget our Bookclub meeting will be on the 12th December. Please bring a wrapped gift of a book you don't want anymore.
Also, please bring your own morning tea as we will be having our celebratory lunch after the meeting at Cornerstone Cafe.
It's your chance to wear something festive.
Kris
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