The world of science can be a source of anxiety with its capacity for both evil and good. This month we touch on the applications of science in the military-political and crime spheres and in the natural world.
The Malacca Incident by debut Canberra author Jack Newman delves into the world of military technology, geopolitics and international power struggles. Image: Supplied.
In The Malacca Incident (self-published), debut Canberra author Jack Newman has delivered a pacy action thriller delving into the world of military technology, geopolitics and international power struggles.
A high-tech, top secret American prototype missile malfunctions on its test flight and comes to earth in the desert of Iran. To make things worse, the missile tracking team loses sight of it and has no idea where it is.
Not so the Iranians, ever alert to activity in their airspace, and thus begins a race for discovery and recovery involving the Americans, the Australian team working out of HQJOC near Canberra, the Iranians and the Chinese. Later in offensive and defensive sea actions in the Malacca Strait, the Malaysians also get involved.
The author graphically evokes the tensions of high stakes military and political machinations, the big stage in fact. This is the first in a planned series of Daniel Blackburn adventures, books which action fiction fans will eagerly await.
Petronella McGovern’s The Last Trace is a thriller set in two time frames and geographical locations, with the magic of DNA solving an historic crime. Image: Supplied.
Petronella McGovern’s latest thriller The Last Trace (Allen & Unwin; cover design Christa Moffitt; cover images Elisabeth Ausley/Trevillion Images) is a very clever book, set in two time frames and geographical locations.
The twisting story is startling in its resolution and the author has contrived to drown us from page one in the same confusion as her hero Lachy. He suffers from blackouts, apparently fuelled by excessive alcohol consumption and these become one of the author’s cunning devices to eke out the answers that solve her multiple mysteries.
Lachy and his son Kai are living on the family rural property – he’s hiding away from problems at work and Kai’s been ‘sent to Coventry’ by his mum and step-father because he’s got into trouble with drugs at home in the city.
Lachy’s sister Sheridan and her family come to visit for an Easter celebration but it goes horribly wrong and both Kai and Lachy come under more pressure.
Meanwhile a woman from Lachy’s past life in the United States has contacted him to ask for a DNA sample. Sheridan insists that Lachy go to the US to sort out all his issues.
This is where the story from two decades ago in Philadelphia meets the present. Lachy and Sheridan’s mother, now in care in Australia, comes from a strict religious family, her father a minister of their fundamentalist church, her life painfully constrained by rules and brutality.
When Lachy goes to the US, the magic of DNA eventually leads us to the denouement and the solution to an historic crime.
The Last Trace demonstrates the author’s finessed writing and accomplished storytelling. We care for both the living and the dead in this tale and hope that justice is meted, even if posthumously. How very satisfying when it happens!
Sensational Australian Animals by Stephnie Owen Reeder with illustrations by Cher Hart explains to young readers how animals use their five senses. Image: Supplied.
Stephanie Owen Reeder and Cher Hart’s Sensational Australian Animals (CSIRO Publishing; cover and internal design Cher Hart) is about the five senses; the author has opted to tackle the subject by exploring 145 examples of our unique Australian fauna and the way they use their senses.
This approach is bound to appeal to young readers, because there are some wonderfully bizarre and interesting creatures and their habits on offer. Children will love the Sensational Fact boxes on each double page spread.
This book has just enough on every page to be oozing interest but not so much to feel cluttered. The illustrations are carefully crafted to inform and attract the viewer.
CSIRO experts have fact checked so we are assured of scientific accuracy. This one is a winner on all counts, including a nod to the value of science.
Barbie Robinson is co-founder and a content creator for Living Arts Canberra, a not-for-profit media outfit supporting arts and community in the Canberra region and books worldwide through its website, podcast interviews and a 24/7 internet radio station at Living Arts Canberra.
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