Black Tide

So far I have read The Broken Shore, Identity Theory, Bad Debts, and Black Tide. I enjoyed everyone. Mr. Temple writes well, lays out the story with finesse and is witty to boot. I will keep reading Mr Temples books. He's a cut above the rest.

Another excellent early book by this fine Australian writer. I love finding a new mystery writer as I'm addicted to them - but won't settle for mediocre (or worse) writing. To find a truly good, new-to-me mystery writer is a joy and I have to track down everything I possibly can. I've been able to find all but one so far and I'm hot on the trail of that one. A genuinely good read, plausible plot and action (I'm easily put off by sloppy plotting) and 3-dimensional characters. Give Temple a try, well worth it.

Snappy, slangy, eloquent prose and a smart, complicated, witty narrator makes Australian writer Temple's latest Jack Irish book a standout despite its overly complex plot. A Melbourne solicitor with an ambiguously shady clientele, Jack does elegant cabinetry in his spare time. He's also pining for his girlfriend, Linda, who has taken on a new TV broadcasting job in Sydney and seems to be breaking things off. After helping a client organize an alibi and clear a debt, Jack takes on a favor for Des Connor, an old friend of his father's, mostly in return for stories about the father he never knew. Des, in a moment of weakness, lent his ne'er-do-well son Gary $60,000, money Des had inherited. Now it appears Gary has taken out a mortgage on the house his father lives in (left to Gary by his mother), defaulted on the loan and disappeared. Des is about to be destitute and on the street. Jack soon discovers Gary is not the only one suspiciously missing and he is not the only one searching for him. Whatever Gary was into involves a many-tentacled company with dangerous executives and a pedigree hidden in a tangle of offshore finance. It may also involve the government, or at least some people who want Jack to think they are government, black ops style. In addition to tracking Gary, Jack trails along with another client who is doing something confusing with racing and horses. These two operations take him all over Australia, though he's never gone from Melbourne for long, and provide plenty of opportunity for mayhem, particularly during the prolonged, action-oriented finale. The main plot involves a plethora of characters and tangled knots, which is both the book's strength and its weakness. Strength because the complex plot gives Jack a chance to shine at what he does best, using his brain; weakness because some readers may give up in confusion long before Jack does, thereby missing the bang-up finale. In addition, there is a crowd of secondary characters, from the finicky, mellow cabinet maker (Jack's mentor) to the "Fitzroy Youth Club," a group of ancient fanatical football fans who've lost their team. Then there's his array of contacts new and old, who provide information and opportunities for verbal sparring. Atmospheric, semi-hard-boiled, humorous and clever, Temple's Jack Irish novels (winners of numerous Australian prizes) should win fans among those who like their thrillers literary. --Portsmouth Herald

This is a welcome sequel to BAD DEBTS, the introductory novel to what hopefully will be an extremely long run of books featuring Jack Irish, a suburban solicitor (a lawyer, though it's a bit more complicated than that) with a practice representing some rather dubious but nonetheless likable characters in Melbourne, Australia. Melbourne isn't the first place that comes to mind when one thinks of potential settings for crime fiction, but I think that with the publication of BLACK TIDE and BAD DEBTS, that will change quickly. BLACK TIDE finds Irish involved in a matter somewhat tenuously linked to the father he never knew. Irish receives a call from Des Connors, a rather crusty character who was a friend of the elder Irish and may well be his last surviving pal. In a nice bit of irony, Connors hires Irish to locate his son Gary, who has gone missing, along with a substantial sum of money that Gary had borrowed from Des. Irish starts digging around and finds out soon enough that Gary has some very dangerous folks after him. These same people are soon pursuing Irish, but for cross-purposes; some want him to quit looking for Gary because he is uncovering things that they would rather keep hidden, while others want Irish to keep looking so he can lead them straight to Gary. None are particularly interested in Irish's well-being, and Irish accordingly must rely on his wits as well as his network of friends. The impetus behind Gary going missing and the mad hunt for him, along with Irish's involvement, requires a bit of suspension of disbelief, which the author, blessedly, is well aware of; one of my favorite parts of the novel comes when Irish asks himself how he could have gotten into a situation of such danger and complexity. Temple, however, is a masterful and entertaining wordsmith and storyteller, and one can pick up the meaning behind the occasional obscurity within the context of the narrative more often than not. There is also some wonderful dry humor here --- Temple had me simultaneously laughing and choking by the time I reached just the second page --- and in the middle of a funeral scene, no less. But BLACK TIDE is not a comedic novel, nor is it for the faint of heart. There is a real water cooler moment near the end of the book, for example, wherein one of the bad guys gets his comeuppance in a singularly memorable if gruesome fashion. I've been reading this genre for a long time, and I thought I'd seen it all. I was wrong. In the short space of two novels Jack Irish has shouldered his way toward the front of the pack of crime fiction protagonists. And --- joy! --- there are two additional volumes already in print that American readers have yet to see. It is good to have so much to anticipate. Let us hope the wait isn't long. --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

"Black Tide" is the second Jack Irish novel I have read, and although it is somewhat slower than the first, it still makes for a good read. Irish is a former criminal lawyer from Melbourne who turned into a noirish Aussie man-of-many-trades after a serious bout with self destruction left him down and out. Des Conners, an old friend of Jack's father's, pays our man a visit and it seems he has some serious problems. His son Gary disappeared after borrowing $60,000 from him. Gary, a shrewd and shady character at best, also has the deed to the old man's house, which has been put up for sale. Without the house, Des is on the street. Thus, one of many reasons to find the elusive Gary Conners is to make sure Des, a senior citizen without much capital, continues to dwell in the modest home where he thought to remain for the rest of his life. Irish, of course, offers to help Des, but is soon given cause to question the wisdom of his volunteer efforts. "It crossed my mind, not for the first time, that the pursuit of Gary Connors was getting completely out of hand." This becomes an increasingly familiar refrain as the investigation progresses and becomes more complicated. Jack justifies continuing the search for the missing son by telling himself that his father would have wanted him to help his buddy. When what at first seemed like a cut and dry missing person case turns into something infinitely more sinister, Jack no longer needs the motivation of helping a family friend to stay focused. With his life at stake now, he has no recourse but to go forward. As the narrative develops and the plot gets more complex, many characters are introduced. Parallel to the primary story are various subplots which involve people, places and events that are permanent fixtures in the life of Jack Irish. Unfortunately, there really reaches a point in "Black Tide" when the mystery/suspense aspect of the novel suffers as a consequence of too much going on at once. Many scenarios are extraneous, not action oriented and definitely not crucial to the narrative. Meanwhile the main storyline becomes so intricate that it requires maximum attention to stay with events. This is supposed to be entertainment. I wouldn't want Mr. Temple to "dumb down" his prose for lazy readers, but I was hard pressed to continue at times. I would have given "Black Tide" 3 Stars except that towards the conclusion the author redeems himself with lots of action and salvages what could have been a mediocre book. I like Jack Irish. I like him a lot. Fortunately for me MacAdam/Cage now publishes author Peter Temple's novels in the US. By the way, Irish is not Irish at all, but the great-grandson of I. Reich, a German Jewish immigrant to Australia. In a market chock-full of detective type anti-heroes, Jack stands above the pack as the only Renaissance sleuth. He also gives great Aussie slang! Professionally his moniker reads "licensed criminal attorney," but, as mentioned, he has branched-out into debt colle