The Princess and Curdie: A Pastrol Novel (Mint Editions)

MY THOUGHTS ON THIS BOOK

We hear from Alicia again in this sweet book, Alicia Connected: Tricked with Treats by Derek Fisher. This time Alicia and friends are talking about the party they will have in TullyTown, after all Alicia is getting use to her tablet. But what happens if trouble shows up. The internet can be risky. Alicia and her friends, Megan, Ben and Cathy enjoy a game TullyTown and try to earn TullyBux to buy things with. But their game was stolen because they forgot to me careful and secure their site, they lost everything. I love that this chapter book teaches children the dangers of the internet. There is so much good stuff on the internet we sometimes forget the bad people out there. I love books such as this one telling of valuable lessons, and this one is about being safe and careful when using the internet. If you have children, this book is a must for you. I would also love to see this one in every elementary school and every daycare.

A special thanks to the author/publisher for a copy of this book. I am not required to write a positive review, the opinions here are mine alone. I am disclosing this with my review in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Consolation is the third book in the Paul Hirschhausen series by popular Australian author, Garry Disher. If it was intended as device to remove him from the close contact (and wrath) of his colleagues, Hirsch's demotion to the one-cop station in rural Tiverton has now morphed into something else: he inhabits the role with quiet purpose and an unexpected satisfaction. Hirsch has become part of the community.

During the August chill, Hirsch makes a welfare check revealing a case of child cruelty, swiftly followed by an angry parent terrorising the school principal. Hirsch proves a talent for mediation, but senses resentment simmering.

Follow-ups with victims of a persistent snow-dropper, and of Irish roof-repair scammers are added to his regular patrols, but then a nasty incident puts him also in charge of Redruth Police Station and on the trail of a gun-toting pair seeking revenge. Filled with toxic masculinity, they're not behaving like fugitives, indulging in thefts, intimidation and arson.

This is another excellent dose of Hirsch. Not only does he deal with financial irregularities in the bank accounts of vulnerable elderly, possible undue influence by neighbours or family, and a missing husband, he also gets stuck in the mud, acquires a stalker and is restrained by his own handcuffs. The kidnap of a teen and an armed stand-off provide exciting climaxes.

With his often-exquisite prose, Disher easily evokes his setting: "He'd been formed by a city, its exact delineations of asphalt streets and bricks in orderly rows, but out here the angles were unpredictable. Roads shot off in unlikely directions, buildings decayed at a lean and the endless flatland was neither endless nor flat, throwing up stone reef patches or plunging into gullies. And it was a landscape charged with unheard testimony: an ochre hand stencil in a cave; a stick figure carved into a rockface; a grinding tool laid bare after a flash flood."

Amid a glut of flawed heroes, Hirsch is a refreshing protagonist: comfortable in his own skin; not perfect but certainly principled; not battling drugs or alcohol, not tempted by illegal or immoral activity; an essentially tireless cop, exuding integrity, dedicated to enforcement and protection tempered with the judgement calls essential in rural policing. Fans can only hope this is not the last of Tiverton and Constable Paul Hirschhausen. Brilliant Australian rural crime fiction.

This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Text Publishing.

4.5★s

Purple People is the first novel by British author, Kate Bulpitt. It sounds like a story that would be right up Eve Baxter's alley. She is always on the trail for unusual pieces for boss at Say Fantastique, a New York agency supplying weird stories to news media. The early-morning call from her friend in England is about Purple People. Eve is sceptical: surely too bizarre to be true?

So the family emergency, her dad Vince in the ICU after an attack in a pub, gives her the perfect opportunity come home from New York to check it out. There's plenty of speculation: "Terrorist contamination of water supplies, terrorist contamination of meat supplies, terrorist contamination of beer supplies… and my favourite: alien invasion."

The announcement from Prime Minister Theo Fletcher just adds to the fascination: a scheme to solve the epidemic of anti-social behaviour, where offenders are Purpled, branding "you as visibly bruised as our communities have been by your actions, and illustrates for all to see that you show no respect, that you seek to damage our society."

"So what was this, then, the Purpleness? A diabolical scheme built on a handy foundation of fear, or a necessarily extreme measure to protect the good folk, the decent and deserving? And would Eve despise herself for believing the latter?" The fact that it is done with any sort of trial or appeal is troubling. A cab driver comments: "I'm not going to say judging a man by his colour could be a good thing. Seems backwards. Can't see how that'll help anybody, right?"

Finding out just how it is done, though, is proving more challenging that Eve would have believed possible: everyone in authority is very tight-lipped and the Purpled themselves have no idea of what happens. Bunsen Burner Bob, Eve's scientist friend has a theory, but overt investigation soon becomes punishable by law, so her curiosity needs to be veiled.

The scheme certainly polarises the country, and there is spirited community debates and a protest rally. At the Anti-Purpling rally, one Purpled man pleads with the crowd: "… you can't… you shouldn't define someone by their worst action, the most stupid thing they've done. Because then how do they get past that? How do they have the will to be better, to improve themselves, if everyone's expecting the worst from them?"

But when a bunch of Purpled thugs attack the police at the rally, it doesn't do a lot for their cause. And how effective will this scheme be if those already Purpled have nothing else to lose? Then things come closer to home, Eve has a severely depressed friend on her hands, and still no clue how to improve the situation. Will Eve, too, be Purpled, or will she save the day?

The alternate world that Bulpitt has created has a very Jasper Ffordian feel (and that's high praise) and the novel touches on several important themes, including the deterrence of crime and the mental health effects of stigma. This outstanding debut novel is clever, funny and thought-provoking.

This unbiased review is from an ecopy provided by Unbound