Jonathan Macpherson

Audiobook ARC from NetGalley

"A city lawyer, on assignment in the outback, intervenes in an abduction and becomes ensnared in a world of corruption, billion dollar stakes and murder."

Three lawyers are camping in the outback when one of them comes across a kidnapped boy, and their lives are turned upside down. They are working for a company who is trying to buy up a large parcel of land from the aboriginal elders that is worth billions of dollars to a company that wants to mine the land. What follows is an action packed story that really doesn't let up until its surprising ending.

First off, the narrator was excellent. I felt like he was sitting next to me reading the book aloud. His voice conveyed the frantic pace of this suspenseful story and carried me right along with him.

As to the story itself, I can give you an example of how much I enjoyed it. I listen to my audiobooks when I'm on my morning walk, at 6:30 in the morning, and the mornings have been a bit nippy lately up here in Northeast Ohio. I usually try to convince myself to take a short cut to shave about 10 to 15 minutes off my time, but when I was listening to this particular audiobook, I found myself not only completing the entire walk, but adding on an additional 10 to 15 minutes because I didn't want to stop listening. I kept waiting for a break in the action, but there wasn't one. Every time I thought I had it figured out, it swung way off in another direction, and this kept me hooked. There were a couple of plot points that could have been tightened up, but not enough that it distracted me from the story.

I thought the characters were very well fleshed out and developed, and the world building was on point. I felt like I was in the woods with the guys, and could picture my surroundings without any problems.

In all, I really enjoyed this story and give both the narrator and the story line 5/5 stars.… (mer)

Having been lucky enough to be offered a copy of PRIOR VIOLATIONS for review I was intrigued to see it come with it's own curated Spotify music list. Made for a particularly unusual reading experience although the music would probably mean more to fans of American TV and movies, nearly all of which I've not seen.

PRIOR VIOLATIONS is the prequel novella to BRAZEN VIOLATIONS, both of them are high-octane, action based thrillers in styling, dark and violent with a believable, sympathetic central character. Given the restricted length of a novella, there's no mucking about with PRIOR VIOLATIONS, right from the start you're knee deep in some very dodgy goings on.

Not that Mitch Walker is a dodgy character, he's just down on his luck, jobless, and a bit lost; when his sister and his desperately ill nephew are involved in a hit and run, at the same time that a mildly pissed Mitch intervenes in an armed robbery in progress, and he goes from hero, to a heap of trouble in a very short space of time.

This novella leads onto a fuller story around Mitch in BRAZEN VIOLATIONS, where Mitch is still stepping in to help his family, generating a world of pain and complications for himself in the process. It's a nice balance of high-octane, big bad guys against one good guy in a fight for right style of storytelling. More than enough action, with a touch of a cinematic feel to it, there's also some human compassion to offset the "what the" moments. Not enough to make it a movie script in the reading, just enough to make you think about who would star in that movie should it ever come to pass.

PRIOR VIOLATIONS is a great read if you're a fan of big action, big threat, big everything styled thriller, especially if you don't mind your hero a bit on the flawed but good bloke side of humanity.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/prior-violations-jonathan-macpherson… (mer)

When author Jonathan Macpherson sent me an ebook copy of OUTBACK CREED for review, it slipped a little down the queue as some pressing judging responsibilities got in the road. Having subsequently realised it was somewhere between a novella and novel in size, it snuck back in, as a palate cleanser / head clearing read was required.

Action packed, with a interesting idea at the core, OUTBACK CREED is well worth reading if you're a fan of action packed thrillers. The basic idea is that three lawyers, after a meeting in a small outback town, head out to a remote spot in the Kimberley region for a break before heading back to the big smoke. They certainly did not expect to be confronted by a young, local, Indigenous boy being held captive by a violent man who acts like he will kill anything and everything that tries to interfere.

Despite this, rescue young David these men do, and whilst Tom escapes with the boy, the others go in a different direction, trying to spread the trail to keep them safe and stay away from David's abductor and what turns out to be some unfortunate colleagues of his. It's during this mad scramble to get out of the bush and to safety that Tom discovers the original deal they were negotiating is just the tip of an enormous iceberg of corruption and nasty goings on.

OUTBACK CREED is about pace and action in the main. The threat is high, even in the early stages, as the reasons why all of this is occurring start out reasonably clearly, but become more involved, and more intertwined as it goes. To be fair, plot does get a little ropey in places, but the characters are strong, and the pace unrelenting, and often times, if plot is a little light on, the action will carry you through. Nothing a little editing and a little tweaking of transitions in particular couldn't sort out.

OUTBACK CREED does show a lot of promise though, and it's an excellent choice of subject matter. It's a good thriller tackling what should be a much bigger subject in Australia - local Indigenous peoples fighting to maintain their rights and land in the face of greed, corruption and a lot of breathtaking bastardry.… (mer)