REVIEW: Road to Nowhere – Mark ‘Chopper’ Read

 chopper Road to nowhere

Mark ‘Chopper’ Read

MacMillan

2011

ISBN 9781742611457

Mark ‘Chopper’ Read was not widely known to the broader world until he began writing about his criminal experiences and then a television documentary was shot in which he admittedly happily played up to the camera. This in turn helped lead to the feature film ‘Chopper’ featuring Eric Banner as Read.

I had not read much of Read’s earlier work. After skimming through a couple of them, at the time I was left with the feeling that it was glamorising his violent persona. But I was interested to read this particular title as it was the reflection of the now older man on his 23 years and nine months within the Australian prison system. So I finally got around to reading it.

While I could hardly say I understand Read as his experiences are just so far removed from mine, I do understand him better than before.

Read has previously admitted to having been diagnosed with a form of autism that basically means he fears very little. When you’re a big, physically powerful man with that condition, sooner or later it would be leading you into trouble. And so this helped Read toward the prison system at a young age, coming to see that system as his future. He did not necessarily like it as such but it did not scare him. In that respect, prison as a deterrent doesn’t really work if you aren’t scared of it.

What Road to Nowhere shows us is just how alien the prison system is, especially back in the 1970s and 1980s, to what the rest of us have in our generally ‘safe’ ‘normal’ lives. A friend of mine who was a prison warder for a while, had previously told me that there was a lot going on inside that the rest of us never hear about. And Read’s narrative bears that out. This wasn’t just dog eat dog, it was dog bash hell out of other dogs repeatedly with whatever came to hand or with fists and boots. Then maybe kill the dog. Eating it afterwards was probably an optional extra. Incidentally, the ex-warder friend of mine also confided that he didn’t have any real problems with Read, saying the trick was to treat him with a little respect.

Don’t get me wrong. I believe in law and order. But aspects of this account are a real exposè on just how terrible the prison system at least used to be. It was a negative system which just bred yet more negative behaviour. And the younger Read revelled in it.

Ultimately Read became sick of prison. And that conscious decision to actually stay out of prison is what, in his own words, stopped him from ‘being such a violent crook.’

While not necessarily being sorry as such, apart from a touching piece about a younger prisoner who committed suicide and Read clearly sad that he could not recall the youngster’s name, he quite openly admits just how incredibly stupid he was at times as a younger man. Well we all are, but not many of us were in the same position as Read or going to cop quite the same consequences.

The end of the book reveals insight into his overall experience. It is a real indictment on what the prison system has been like and a real display of just how alien it all is to the rest of our society. This account also reaffirms the virtue of finally having a positive influence in your life. I wasn’t a crim but it was the great love of my life who made me sober up and stay that way – just like Chopper Read I think we all need a Margaret in our lives at least at some point.

This is brutal. It is violent. It is uncompromising. And regardless of any fabrications which may or may not have occurred in the writing, it reeks of truth.

I doubt Chopper Read and I would ever be mates. But I definitely now have some respect for the man.

2013? Bring it on!

A Happy New Year to all and may the coming year finally see some true peace in the world. (And me finishing my first best-seller. And becoming a filthy stinking rich playboy – got the filthy and stinking bits in hand already. And kicking arse in the RAW national stand up comedy competition in 2013. And any one of Jessica Simpson, Elle MacPherson, Tyra Banks, Jessica Mauboy or Ricki-Lee Coulter lifting the restraining orders and saying yes to one of the marriage proposals. Just baby steps, people, baby steps).

Review of Fated by Benedict Jacka

Fated
Benedict Jacka
Orbit
9780356500249
Alex Varus 1
2012

BLURB

Camden, North London. A tangled, mangled junction of train lines, roads and the canal. Where minor celebrities hang out with minor criminals, where tourists and moody teenagers mingle and where you can get your ears pierced and your shoulder tattooed while eating sushi washed down with a can of super strength beer.

In the heart of Camden, where rail meets road meets leyline, you might find the Arcana Emporium, run by one Alex Verus. He won’t sell you a wand or mix you a potion, but if you know what you’re looking for, he might just be able to help. That’s if he’s not too busy avoiding his apprentice, foiling the Dark, outwitting the Light and investigating a highly toxic Relic that has just turned up at the British Museum.

REVIEW

As I was doing an end-of-year clear up, boxing up the accumulated piles of books to get ready for offloading to a charity, I realised I had a copy of Fated by Benedict Jacka that I had no immediate recollection of reading. Worse still, it was an advance proof copy and I make a point of trying to read those. So I promptly read it. Once I had started reading, I realised that yes, I had previously read it but for some reason there is no review from me anywhere. So it is time to belatedly remedy that.

This is urban fantasy. What I look for in urban fantasy is how readily my sense of disbelief can be suspended with fantastical elements in an urban setting. If the translation jars then it generally is not going to work for me. I did not have any such problems here.

There were some nice touches in this story. For example with things like ageless elemental spirits, we are more accustomed to them either being evil incarnate or a greater, wiser power. To have the elemental air spirit, Starbreeze, thicker than two bricks with a helluva load of cement in-between was once such nice touch. It also added an element of risk such as Alex recalling the time Starbreeze was carrying him somewhere, became distracted and they ended up somewhere like Rio de Janeiro (or similar) by mistake.

I also liked Benedict’s explanation of Dark versus Light, with the Dark not being so much evil as such but as a particular mindset or attitude which resulted in the Dark approach to matters.

This book was an example of the published blurb not really reflecting the actual story. From that I was expecting something with a greater focus on the activities of the Arcana Emporium but that barely touches the story at all. I felt the story could have been somewhat deeper by coming more from the angle of Alex Varus, renegade seer, making his way by dealing in the magical, rather than quite early in proceedings having him shut up shop to go and meet someone and the Emporium ceasing to have any actual role.

I shan’t lie and say it was the greatest urban fantasy I have read but I still found it catchy and interesting enough to pass my most crucial test – do I want to read more? Yes I do.

star3

My “Next Big Thing”

IMPORTANT UPDATE – Catharina Sheely now also tagged!

IMPORTANT UPDATE #2 – Carol Ryles now also tagged – you’re it!

Thank you to Donna Hanson for tagging me in this Next Big Thing thingynabob. But like any pyramid scheme as time goes on it becomes increasingly difficult to find people interested in being tagged who are actually free to do so. For the time being I only have one person tagged in down the bottom of this but I shall add others in and re-release if necessary. So just what is this Next Bit Thing? The idea is that authors answer a string of questions about their work, describing what shall be their Next Big Thing and name (‘ping’ or ‘tag’) five other authors in your piece. Those authors then also answer the same questions and tag other authors. And so on. And now it’s my turn.

Q: What is the working title of your next book?

I often have more difficulty in coming up with a title than I do with writing the story so I often never get further than my working title. An exception to that was my novella, It Hides In Darkness where the title just came to me but that was definitely an exception rather than the rule.

I have two major projects on the go. While I am usually a speculative fiction author, I have a non-genre novel that is advancing along, examining aspects of the Australian experience on the Western Front in 1916. This is part of a thesis I am working on for a Masters Research degree at the University of Canberra. It has a working title of The Front.

My other project is an urban fantasy which has a working title of Pawn.

 

Q: Where did the idea come from for the book?

The idea for The Front came together after reading several years ago about the Battle of Fromelles in World War 1. I knew nothing about it despite an existing interest in military history which lead me to reading material in the collection of the Australian War Memorial. Yes, I know, I’m a sticky-beak. Then when I was encouraged by a member of the academic staff of the University of Canberra to return there to do a research degree involving creative writing, this eventually lead to pulling together the story and overall thesis that has become The Front.

Pawn is a more recent idea that came from watching reality programs like Hardcore Pawn and Pawnstars. I had the idea of what if a pawn shop specifically dealt with the occult? While it is no longer directly about the pawn shop in question, the pawn shop and its characters are still an important part of the story that has become more noir in style and approach (so far anyway) but still has the working title of Pawn. And it also gives me an opportunity to use that most beloved line from old Hollywood scriptwriters “And then a shot rang out!”

 

Q: What genre does the book fall under?

The Front – testimonial fiction (don’t know about that? Then wait for my thesis)

Pawn – urban fantasy with overtones of Raymond Chandler-esque noir (if only I could write like Chandler!).

Q: What actors would you choose to play the parts of your characters in a movie rendition?

Curiously enough, usually when I’m developing a story, as part of the character development I go looking for physical models to help build that character and actors/celebrities can be a fertile ground to explore. But with The Front I  have been more inspired by period photographs in building the characters and probably the only actor I could think of for a role would be Sam Elliott for one of the older soldiers (with Elliott being a younger man than he is now, rather obviously).

For Pawn this is still a bit fuzzy. The female character is something along the lines of Marisa Tomei from The Wrestler. I cannot think of male actors for this as yet. I shall leave that to the eventual casting company. :-)

Q: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

The Front – the hell and insanity of the Somme for the first Australian troops fighting there and what it meant.

Pawn – a PI is drawn into a murky, unsuspected underworld of the supernatural.

Q: Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

A publisher has expressed some interest in the concept of The Front.

Not advanced far enough with Pawn to be giving any serious thought to publishing although the experience with It Hides In Darkness makes the greater potential returns from self-publishing an attractive option. Although my self-published poetry collection has yet to even make a ripple as it fell into the pool of published materials. Bugger. (Go and buy a copy, read it, admire my photographs, then marvel that someone can dare to publish such shite.)

Q: How long did it take to write the first draft of your manuscript?

First draft of The Front of about 80,000 words took several months. Revising and modifying are now in progress. Two versions being written; a shorter version within word limits for the thesis and a longer version for going out to the commercial market.

Pawn is still heading towards that first draft mark and I’m looking towards around the 100,000 mark. I have targeted mid-2013 to have an advanced draft to hand.

Q: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I really dislike trying to compare my work to anybody else’s simply because the comparisons are inevitably being made with authors far better than me. For The Front I hope to emulate some of the story-telling aspects of The Middle Parts of Fortune by Fredrick Manning.

With Pawn, I am in a real Raymond Chandler mode with this one but no way am I as good a writer as him but his noir quality is what I hope to achieve.

Q:  Who or what inspired you to write this book?

The Front – a fascination with Australian military history combined with the forthcoming World War 1 centennials which shall no doubt see more recitation of the perennial and inaccurate mythologising, leaving a place for something hopefully telling it as it actually was. Plus there is surprisingly little fiction in existence which deals with this specific subject.

Pawn – watching the pawn shop reality programs gave me the ‘what if’ to draw in the pawn aspect and combining it with an interest in further exploring the urban fantasy – noir combination by using a character from a previously published short story.

Q: What else about the book might pique a reader’s interest?

The Front – exploring the real experience of what the hell the AIF went through in the sheer insanity of the fighting around Pozières on the Somme.

Pawn  - a dark, gritty piece with a different (or at least different-ish) setting.

And now I would like to tag S. M. (Frankie) Blooding (who you gonna call? Paranormal Rescue! – go read her bio) and once I find some other authors who haven’t been quick enough to scream and run away from me, I’ll re-advertise with more tags. But for now, over to you, Frankie.

A Return to the Gothic – guest post from Tara Moss

This post first published at www.awritergoesonajourney.com

While perhaps better known for her series of crime novels, Tara Moss has had a love affair with speculative fiction for a long time which has come out in her Pandora English series. Here, in a blog entry from her website that she kindly agreed to share with us, Tara briefly shares her interest in the weird and the macabre in the writing of the latest in the English series.

skeletonkeytaramossfeatureMy ninth novel, The Skeleton Key, has officially hit the stores as the third in my Pandora English paranormal or speculative fiction series. (Or as I prefer to call it, ‘weird fiction’, the term HP Lovecraft used.)

Pandora’s world is set in a contemporary, alternate New York inhabited by all manner of supernatural beings and figures from ancient mythology and folklore. It is a great pleasure to write, not least because it gives me an opportunity to channel my obsession with all things gothic and delightfully macabre into a fantasy world I can thoroughly immerse myself in.

My fascination with the macabre began as a child when I sat rapt watching Bela Lugosi and his vampire brides in the 1931 black and white classic, Dracula, on our TV in the family room. I was perhaps 6. Over the years that fascination was helped along by Mary Shelley, Poe, Edward Gorey, HP Lovecraft, Stephen King, Tim Burton, Charles Addam’s The Addams Family and more recently Joss Whedon and Charlaine Harris.

One of the things I love most about writing this series is the excuse to satisfy my dark fascinations with research into Victorian ghost stories, necromancy, black magic, nineteenth century spiritualism, supernatural folklore and ancient mythology, all of which play strong roles in the series. (As an added bonus, it also gives me an excuse to share the peculiar antiques in my haunted tea room, or dress up in some of my Victoriana, as I did for The Skeleton Key inside jacket, above, photographed by Elizabeth Allnutt and swathed in my black brocade Midnight Bustle by Kambriel, wreathed in a Spektor-like mist in my wild backyard. The heavy mists at my mountain home inspired Spektor’s supernatural fog in the series, and they came out again just in time for our shoot. Lucky us.)

In The Skeleton Key, Pandora sets out to learn more about her great aunt’s haunted mansion in Spektor – the Manhattan suburb that doesn’t appear on maps – and she gets much more than she bargained for. This third novel contains some significant reveals about Pandora’s world:

By day, Pandora English is a lowly fashion assistant. But by night, she is a supernatural scion.

The Crow Moon is rising and Pandora has a date with Civil War soldier Lieutenant Luke, who will be flesh-and-blood for one night only. When Lieutenant Luke disappears, Pandora must unlock the mysteries of Number One Addams Avenue with her skeleton key and discover the secrets that lie in the forgotten laboratory of Dr Edmund Barrett.

For Pandora has been warned: a powerful force is in the house.

As Friday the Thirteenth looms, Pandora English and the citizens of Spektor are in grave danger. For the dead will rise and terror shall reign.

With the book now on shelves, I am busy researching ancient Egypt for the fourth novel in the series, The Cobra Queen, due for publication in Dec 2013.

Happy reading.

Thanks for sharing with us, Tara

Some free fiction – Triumph of the Scientific Mind

Now there are those who think I’m a miserable git. But just to prove them all completely wrong, here is the first of my Freebie Fiction – giving away some of my previously published short fiction – a small, hopefully amusing short piece previously published in 100 Stories for Queensland and now I have made it available for free in a wide variety of formats from Smashwords.

Triumph of the Scientific Mind

TriumphCover small

 

Book Review: Dominion by C. J. Sansom

first published at www.awritergoesonajourney.com

Dominion
CJ Ranson
2012
PanMacmillan

 

 

BLURB

1952. Twelve years have passed since Churchill lost to the appeasers and Britain surrendered to Nazi Germany after Dunkirk. As the long German war against Russia rages on in the east, the British people find themselves under dark authoritarian rule: the press, radio and television are controlled; the streets patrolled by violent auxiliary police and British Jews face ever greater constraints. There are terrible rumours too about what is happening in the basement of the German Embassy at Senate House. Defiance, though, is growing. In Britain, Winston Churchill’s Resistance organization is increasingly a thorn in the government’s side. And in a Birmingham mental hospital an incarcerated scientist, Frank Muncaster, may hold a secret that could change the balance of the world struggle for ever.

REVIEW

Alternative history is one of those subgenres of the fantastic that are periodically explored by various authors. The most intriguing, in my opinion, are those that focus on an otherwise small event which directs things in a different way than actually happened in order to develop a complete storyline.

With Dominion, Sansom takes one such single point to then extrapolate a potential storyline that greatly differs from the reality of history. That turning point was the meeting in May 1940 between then-Prime Minister of Britain, Chamberlain, with his potential successors, Halifax and Churchill. Chamberlain was being forced to stand down as Prime Minister in order to allow his minority government to continue in power. Churchill left the actual meeting having assumed the leadership and vigorously pursued a policy of complete and continuing opposition to Adolph Hitler’s Germany. Sansom has instead postulated what if Halifix, part of the then-strong movement desiring appeasement of Hitler and ending of the war, had left that meeting as Prime Minister?

In this novel, Sansom has created a very believable social system that may well have resulted from the Halifax situation, set some twelve years after that 1940 meeting. Britain, while not actually conquered, could have become little more than a puppet state of Germany. Facists and their sympathisers, including Mosley and his Blackshirts who were arrested in reality, could have believably become significant political powers. Those opposing the continuing appeasement of Hitler could easily have become an exiled movement, going into hiding and becoming a Resistance. The country would have become quite polarised in opinion, particularly without things like the Blitz of 1940-41 to help bind them together along with the iconic images of Churchill’s V for Victory and his ‘we shall fight them on the beaches’ speech.

While I found the final resolution of the story to be a little too cut and dried (and costing Sansom one star from my rating), albeit with a degree of sadness regarding the fate of a primary character, what really grabbed me by the throat was the degree of believability of the social system Sansom has postulated as the outcome of Halifax assuming the Prime Ministership rather than Churchill. At times I had to remind myself that this was a novel, a work of alternative history. For a work of fiction to have that degree of impact on me, then my sense of disbelief was not just suspended, it was scrunched up like a piece of waste paper and tossed out into the rubbish bin to be forgotten. That is indeed a rare occurrence for me. I was also attracted by the repeated underlying question (intended or otherwise) of what the consequences of nationalistic jingoism may be.

I found this to be an intriguing and thought-provoking work but above all, as a work of alternative history, it really works. Oh wow.

Definitely worth reading.