Truth by Peter Temple

I do love a good page turning crime thriller from time to time (hell, I even went through a James Patterson stage in my late teens *shudder*) and before this book blog began, read The Broken Shore, the prequel to Truth, which incidentally won the 2010 Miles Franklin Award.

The fact is, they are practically the SAME book. Slow burning, hard boiled cop married to the job at the expense of his other relationships, crooked pollies and filthy pedos the fodder for what is a fairly grim and ultimately unsatisfying read. You read and you read and you read (then read some more) and it’s all built up until the last 60 or so pages when THE BIG REVEAL happens – but by that stage, I didn’t really care.

Also, this book is so masculine that I’m surprised that a penis didn’t jump out from the page and whack me in the face at some point.

“Vickery gave him the long look. “Yeah, well, the drugs fuck with your brain, my brother-in-law, another prick, he came up with all kinds of shit, incest, you name it. It’s the Super K.’

‘When was it made?’

‘What?’

‘The tape?’

‘Dunno. What’s it matter?’

‘Could matter a lot.’

Vickery turned his back to the bar, glass in hand, looked around the dungeon. ‘Anyway, the problem here’s the wife, bloody Grace’s found God fucking never-never-land shit and she’s sent the DPP the tape.”

Practically smell the beer can’t ya?