Blood Junction

Rating:
Summary: Walkabout With Caroline
Review: "Blood Junction" is two-thirds of an amazingly fine debut. The feel of the desolate, huge Outback is with us every page. Her sense of the country and the Aborigines is right up there with Bruce Chatwin's "Songlines." (yes, that good!). Ms. Carver's characterization of her lead character, India Kane, makes for fascinating reading. India is strong, mysterious, but beautifully flawed. And then there is the plot---to put it succinctly, it lacks continuity. After a fine, tightly written prologue, we are plunged into the main story line wondering what, if anything, the prologue was meant to foreshadow.

India Kane is to meet her best friend in the remote outback town of Cooinda. Her car breaks down, and she receives a lift from a kind young man to her destination boarding house. No friend greets her; she awakens the next morning only to be arrested by a policeman for the murder of the kind young man (who turns out to be a policeman) and her friend. This is a cop from hell, someone who would make the worst of the LAPD look like pussycats. That India has no motive and has never been in this town in her life doesn't seem to bother the detective in charge, nor is her lawyer too concerned with her rights. A kindly Aboriginal policeman protects and shelters her. He is a very well developed character who gets dropped inexplicably never to be heard from again. And so it goes. Sometimes, when I would turn a page, I was convinced I'd skipped a few pages (I had not) because there would be a great leap in time, action, and locale.

You think of Nevada Barr, who has her own problems with over busy plots, when you read some of Ms. Carver's excellent word pictures of the Outback. I do think most readers will enjoy this debut effort in spite of the non-structured plot. She clearly has verve, a sense of humor, and her own sometimes odd take on what makes a decent human being. I am looking forward to further outings with India Kane. 3-1/2 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Walkabout With Caroline
Review: "Blood Junction" is two-thirds of an amazingly fine debut. The feel of the desolate, huge Outback is with us every page. Her sense of the country and the Aborigines is right up there with Bruce Chatwin's "Songlines." (yes, that good!). Ms. Carver's characterization of her lead character, India Kane, makes for fascinating reading. India is strong, mysterious, but beautifully flawed. And then there is the plot---to put it succinctly, it lacks continuity. After a fine, tightly written prologue, we are plunged into the main story line wondering what, if anything, the prologue was meant to foreshadow.

India Kane is to meet her best friend in the remote outback town of Cooinda. Her car breaks down, and she receives a lift from a kind young man to her destination boarding house. No friend greets her; she awakens the next morning only to be arrested by a policeman for the murder of the kind young man (who turns out to be a policeman) and her friend. This is a cop from hell, someone who would make the worst of the LAPD look like pussycats. That India has no motive and has never been in this town in her life doesn't seem to bother the detective in charge, nor is her lawyer too concerned with her rights. A kindly Aboriginal policeman protects and shelters her. He is a very well developed character who gets dropped inexplicably never to be heard from again. And so it goes. Sometimes, when I would turn a page, I was convinced I'd skipped a few pages (I had not) because there would be a great leap in time, action, and locale.

You think of Nevada Barr, who has her own problems with over busy plots, when you read some of Ms. Carver's excellent word pictures of the Outback. I do think most readers will enjoy this debut effort in spite of the non-structured plot. She clearly has verve, a sense of humor, and her own sometimes odd take on what makes a decent human being. I am looking forward to further outings with India Kane. 3-1/2 stars.

Rating:
Summary: A cracking good read
Review: I couldn't put it down. I spent a Sunday buried in it till I had double vision but kept going. I'm amazed that a 22-year-old could do this. It raised so many issues for me as an Australian - Outback attitudes, Aboriginal roots, a sense of place....I've been to places like this and could taste the dust. Diet Simon, Cologne.

Rating:
Summary: An amazingly authentic Australian adventure!
Review: I read this mystery in a paperback edition brought back from Australia by a friend who visited there this summer. I found the author's evocation of the Australian outback fascinating and her use of aboriginal history absolutely riveting. I just had the privilege of seeing the new film, RABBIT PROOF FENCE, which tells the story of the Australian government's program to separate "half-caste" Aborigine children from their mothers in the 1930's. The film immediately revived memories of Ms. Carver's fantastic mystery novel, and I recommend both highly. You may also want to buy the RABBIT PROOF FENCE movie tie-in edition of the book that the film is based on. It would make a great pair of reads: one fiction, and the other non-fiction on the same subject!

Rating:
Summary: An amazingly authentic Australian adventure!
Review: I read this mystery in a paperback edition brought back from Australia by a friend who visited there this summer. I found the author's evocation of the Australian outback fascinating and her use of aboriginal history absolutely riveting. I just had the privilege of seeing the new film, RABBIT PROOF FENCE, which tells the story of the Australian government's program to separate "half-caste" Aborigine children from their mothers in the 1930's. The film immediately revived memories of Ms. Carver's fantastic mystery novel, and I recommend both highly. You may also want to buy the RABBIT PROOF FENCE movie tie-in edition of the book that the film is based on. It would make a great pair of reads: one fiction, and the other non-fiction on the same subject!

Rating:
Summary: A cracking good read
Review: India Kane is looking forward to her reunion with her best friend Lauren in the small Australian outback town of Cooinda. Before she reaches her destination, a good Samaritan who turns out to be an off-duty policeman picks her up. He drops her off at the place where she's supposed to meet Lauren, but her pal is not there. India goes to the place where Lauren resides hoping to find her there.

After waiting overnight, Lauren goes back into town where she is arrested for the death of Lauren and the off-duty police officer who picked her up. She has an alibi but nobody can find him leaving Lauren in jail until a mysterious benefactor posts $250,000 bail. More death's occur connected to the story that Lauren was working on and India, who is also a journalist, intends to discover what is going on or die trying.

BLOOD JUNCTION is the winner of the Crime Writer's Association New Writer's Award and it is very easy to see why. The story line is fast-paced and global in scope yet uses a local homicide to turn the plot into an international conspiracy. The heroine is a strong woman, capable of surviving on her own in the Outback as well as in the city and hopefully India will star in an ongoing series.

Harriet Klausner