Monday 17 August 2015

The genre-mongrel I came to love

Skin Deep - Gary Kemble
Available - July 2015

A brilliant journalistic political thriller with a supernatural twist.

What do tattoos, politicians, ex SAS soldiers and Dreadnot bikies have in common?... Quite a lot, it turns out and the way the pieces of this puzzle are put together are certainly unconventional yet balanced with a suspense that keeps you guessing!

Harry Hendrick is a man without a mission, falling through life like a re-occurring dream, no ambitions or even semi-defined goals. While my initial emotional response was "come on Harry, you're better than this" perhaps what follows just goes to show that just being happy with your lot is a much safer way to exist!

In my humble opinion its the authenticity with which newcomer Gary Kemble writes that makes this book so unputtdownable (yes its a word). Harry as a character is believable and Gary describes Brisbane so perfectly that you can clearly hold it in your mind, you are there - immersed in the story, time and place so that when the weird starts to happen its still relateable and you find yourself swept up in the impossibility of it all. 

This is Australian writing at its best, its familiar,engaging and clever with just a tiny hint of Bogan.  

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