We See the Stars, Kate Van Hooft

Life in a country town in the early seventies is evoked through the eyes of a young boy called Simon. He has barely spoken since something happened to his mum, several years ago, but he has always had issues that she used to help him with. This includes what he calls his angries, when he loses control. A school he is a weirdo who is bullied and he survives with the help of imaginary friends and a rich interior life. His dad and younger brother do their best to support him, but his grandma thinks he should be sent away to a special school in the city. Life looks up a bit when a girl with her own issues befriends Simon and a new teacher takes an interest in him. But it all goes to shit when the teacher goes missing and Simon is bound by a promise not to tell her secret, which could help find her. This is a deeply sad story of a community beset by ignorance and behind-closed-doors brutality. The voice of a troubled boy rings true and as flashbacks reveal a tragic past, which sheds light on the difficult present, the reader is inexorably led to an even more tragic future.

The Breakerupperers (2018), directed by Madeleine Sami & Jackie van Beek

This low budget New Zealand film had the potential to be very funny but unfortunately is not. Best friends and business partners Jen and Mel do the dirty work of breaking up relationships that people are too gutless to do for themselves. And that’s about all there is to say. Australian comedian Celia Paquola has a nice supporting role. Too often the film goes for cheap laughs and ends up being, at best, mildly amusing and at worst mildly offensive. All in all, disappointing.

Smoke and Iron, by Rachel Caine

Jess Brightwell is back in the belly of the beast, facing off with the Archivist of the Great Library in Alexandria, but this time he is impersonating his twin, Brendan. It is a desperate last ditch effort to combat the tyranny, enacted behind the backs of half his friends and allies. Even if he pulls it off they may never forgive him, which is problematic as he will need all their strengths to pull it off. Teacher Wolfe, general Santi, obscurist Morgan, engineer Thomas and soldier Glaine all have something to contribute, but it is the scholar Khalila who emerges as their true leader as she realises they need a plan for what comes after, should they miraculously succeed in their rebellion. This fourth book of the Great Library series was supposed to be the final one but, like Khalila, Rachel Caine clearly saw another story in its aftermath and there will be a fifth. This is a good thing as a gripping tale has invested us in discovering the future of the Great Library, if only to see if our intrepid eight can survive yet again. Each of the tight team of scholars and soldiers has suffered enormous loss in their quest to free the Great Library. With enemies gathering around the weakened institution how will they and it recover?

The Book Ninja, by Ali Berg & Michelle Kalus

Failed writer Frankie (short for Frankston, the train line on which she was conceived), works in a bookshop owned by her best friend Cat. Her love life is as much of a disaster as her career so she decides to take action and starts leaving copies of her favourite novels on trains, with a message to potential dates near the end. This flawed plan is as fraught as it sounds but miraculously results in a series of dates, which she uses to regain her mojo by writing a blog about it. At the same time she starts to fall for a man who walks in to the bookshop, but has really terrible taste in books. This is a very Melbourne book, firmly located in the hip inner suburbs and loaded with literary allusions, which sometimes become a bit too much – yeah we get it, you read a lot. All the characters are larger than life to the point of caricature, especially Frankie’s mother, Putu, and her potential boyfriend, Sunny Day (yes really). It all seems good fun – a light and easy read that will move fast to its inevitable chick lit conclusion. Unfortunately it starts to drag about half way through and takes way too long to get there, with far too much self-flagellation along the way.

Wind River (2017), directed by Taylor Sheridan

A professional hunter and tracker in the wilds of Wyoming discovers the body of a young Native American woman in the snow, barefoot and bloodied. The find is doubly distressing as it echoes the disappearance of his daughter three years earlier. The FBI is called in to support the ridiculously under-resourced local police but the lone officer who arrives is a young and inexperienced woman based in Las Vegas. She is dedicated and enthusiastic, but woefully unprepared to deal with the extreme climate and the local culture. It’s a powerful story set in a rugged and isolated place, which touches on a lot of issues to do with native dispossession and cultural disintegration, grief, misogyny and violence. A shocking burst of violent action towards the end leads to a form of rough justice. Jeremy Renner and Elisabeth Olsen are totally convincing in the lead roles, although Renner’s tendency to mumble does detract from his performance. Olsen is note perfect as the FBI agent with a lot to learn. Inspired by real events, the film closes with a chilling statement that there are no statistics on the numbers of Native American women who are missing persons, so there is no knowing how often this kind of crime is committed.

Like Father (2018), directed by Lauren Miller Rogan

This Netflix film is in danger of coming across as an extended advertisement for a cruise line. Fortunately the calibre of the cast and a slightly unusual storyline saves it from teetering completely over the edge. Kristen Bell is Rachel, a workaholic ad exec who is jilted at the altar when her fiancé realises she is working on their wedding day. Kelsey Grammar is her long absent father, seeking reconciliation. They wind up taking her honeymoon cruise to the Caribbean, on a ship that resembles a shopping mall. Predictably, they find their way to a relationship, but the route they take to arrive there is somewhat unexpected and is aided by their shipmates, three disparate couples. Seth Rogan adds some comedy in a small role, presumably because he is related to the director. A rom-com that is not one, there are some fascinating musical choices, which match the story well, particularly the closing track.

The Paris Seamstress, by Natasha Lester

Natasha Lester has undoubtedly done her research on the fashion industry for this book. Perhaps it is necessary for tax purposes to ensure that every last detail of it is inserted into the story. The first chapter is a gush of exposition, an almost overwhelming torrent of words in a hurry to set the scene, introduce the characters and explain their entire back stories. What follows is a complicated and convoluted plot that relies on a series of coincidences that defy belief. It took far too much time and a good deal of eye-rolling to get through this totally mediocre book, which needed several more drafts – or better, a complete rewrite - to make it less of a slog. Cardboard characters, an extremely muddy timeline and an almost irrelevant modern thread make it clear little effort was expended on editing. So it is interesting that the novel seems to have received quite the marketing push. Very good writers find it hard to get published, so how does dross like this make it through the slush pile? The publishing industry is indeed a mystery.

Lake Silence, by Anne Bishop

Nature is predominant in Anne Bishop’s world of The Others where humans live on the sufferance of the Terra Indigene, who are red in tooth and claw when those humans forget their place. Stupidity and greed means this happens all too often, making life difficult for smarter homo sapiens who try to live in harmony with nature. Lake Silence references the central place and characters of earlier books of The Others but stands alone. Following a nasty divorce Vicki DeVine has moved to the small town of Sproing, on the Finger Lakes, to run a guesthouse. Although she owns the buildings she is only a caretaker of the land, at the pleasure of the native inhabitants – and the consequences of transgression are fatal. When her ex husband turns up to try to wrest the property from her it takes an alliance of the town’s unusual inhabitants to combat the machinations of the evil consortium behind him. In Lake Silence Bishop takes her urban fantasy into the countryside, but retains the familiar nexus of crime, cops and creatures, along with enjoyable, fully-rounded characters. The underlying theme of environmentalism versus capitalism provides a satisfying depth to the dark thriller, which resonates with contemporary real-world issues.