by Garry Disher
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Product Description
"A first-rate piece of crime writing."-The Washington Post Book World "A straightforward police story with a terrific plot, nuanced characters and solid procedures, served up on refreshing new turf."-Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review "A police procedural of a very different kind. . . . A 'down under' atmosphere that most American readers will find unique."-The Plain Dealer "Colorful. . . . Disher has literary talent and imagination." -Chicago Tribune "Disher makes his characters as interesting as his plot." -Portsmouth Herald "The American debut for Australian crime writer extraordinaire Disher is as complex and dark as anything by Ian Rankin or Michael Connelly."-Las Vegas Mercury A serial killer is on the loose in a small coastal town near Melbourne. Detective Inspector Hal Challis and his team must apprehend him before he strikes again. But first, Challis has to contend with the editor of a local newspaper who undermines his investigation at every turn, and with his wife, who attempts to resurrect their marriage through long-distance phone calls from a sanitarium, where she has been imprisoned for the past eight years for attempted murder-his. Garry Disher is the author of over 40 books for adults and children. His crime fiction includes numerous anthologized stories and the Wyatt novels, including Kickback, winner of the 2000 German Critics Prize for Crime Fiction. The first in his Detective Inspector Challis murder mystery series, The Dragon Man won the German Critics Prize for Crime Fiction in 2001.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
A nice vacation from other procedurals, 2008-05-25
This has been sitting on my "to-be-read" shelf for ages. I remember reading a very positive review and buying on that basis but it never jumped into my hand when I was looking for something to read until recently. I'm glad I finally opened it because it is an enjoyable little mystery involving a serial killer on the peninsula south of Melbourne, Australia. The change of venue from the usual American and British procedurals was refreshing and the writing in this book is good. As a personal plus, I've spent some time near the area where most of the action takes place and I found it true to my memory. The killer is actually easy to spot but the characters are so well written that the journey is everything in this book. Detective Inspector Hal Challis is a study in contradictions, as are most such literary, policemen, but he has some original angles as well. I was especially taken with the development of the two awful juvenile delinquents who leave a path of destruction throughout the book. They are truly our worst nightmare.
I believe this is Garry Disher's fist novel and I look forward to more of his work. It is a nice change of venue.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 Down-under on top, 2006-07-31
Garry Disher has brought a colorful, atmospherically dense, thriller
to the bustling world of books of that genre.
The description of police procedures, everyday life in Victoria, combined with the haunting presence of a serial killer who seems to be breathing down everybodys' necks, distills down to a gripping read.
My first Australian thriller, my first Disher, and, on both counts, certainly not my last.
Great book !
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Rich and complex, but no whodunit, 2005-06-14
The beachside town of Waterloo, Australia (just outside Melbourne) is in fear due to a rash of abductions and murders. Inspector Hall Challis and his band of stalwart, or rather somewhat self-seeking and leaning toward the corrupt, coppers must try to find the killer. Meanwhile, a rash of fires and burglaries complicate matters. This is not so much a police procedural as an ensemble piece, with rich, fully realized characters and strings of interconnecting plots and subplots. Each character, criminal and cop, has his or her own motivations and musings, and Disher creates a community that draws the reader in. As I said, it's not so much a whodunit - if Disher thinks the killer's identity, "revealed" abruptly in a two-page chapter, is meant to be a surprise, he's a bit off. But my pleasure in reading this book was not abetted one whit by the easy and early deduction of who the killer was; the real strength of this complex, captivating crime novel is its setting and sympathetic characters.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
 Good sense of Australia, but too much coincidence, 2004-11-12
When a woman is abducted from the side of the road, Detective Inspector Hal Challis is called in. Another woman, a hitchhiker on the same highway, had recently been found murdered and Challis suspects a serial killer may be on the prowl. But the man is being careful, using gloves, condoms, and being careful to use no physical evidence behind him. Challis has little to go on, and a police force that seems filled with problems.
Although the murder(s) occupy much of Challis's time, everyday police work continues. A pair of firebugs who also burglarize homes becomes part of the plot as does a convicted sex offender who just might be the man they're looking for.
Author Garry Disher does a fine job setting the scene--in the Peninsula area of Australia, near Melbourne. Girls talk back to their mothers, female cops take surfing lessons and lust after their teenaged surfing instructor, a police Sergeant's marriage crumbles under the pressure of the police job, and a couple of cops decide to become more aggressive, looking at everyone as a criminal who just needs to be pushed to find the crime. His writing is smooth and manages just enough of the Australian dialect to have an exotic appeal to the non-Australian reader without being overwhelming.
The mystery, however, was a bit disjointed. The eventual resolution came about through multiple incredible coincidences rather than through police work, which weakened the story for me. Real-world policing does rely on luck and coincidence, but Disher carried things too far. Oddly, Hal Challis, the primary protagonist, was the least interesting of the major characters. Perhaps Disher would do better having surfer Pam Murphy as the protagonist of his next novel.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
What a Find!, 2004-10-16
This is an excellent police procedural written by an Australian author of whom I'd never heard. His main character, Challis, is the classic haunted, somewhat melancholy, yet very-advanced-in-rank-for-his-age detective. In spite of loneliness, a barren, dry summer, and a milktoast superior, he treats his fellow officers, witnesses, and suspects with respect and understanding.
The setting is different from the NYC- or London-based crime thrillers--and the change in atmosphere is refreshing and adds to the atmosphere as both the summer heat and the townspeople's anxiety over a serial killer in their midst intensifies. The characters are carefully drawn and unique, ignoring the temptation to toss us the usual typecasts in a novel of this kind. Those who enjoy this genre will be happy to discover a great veteran author to explore.
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