Reviews

They wish they were us by Jessica Goodman

Razorbill/Penguin Random House, 2020. ISBN: 9780593114292.
(Ages: 14+) A YA murder mystery revolving around a prestigious high school with a not so secret society - the school's elite, called 'The Players'. The story follows Jill Newman in her final year of high school, three years after her best friend, Shaila, was murdered. Shaila's boyfriend, Graham, was convicted of the murder, and Jill and her friends have tried to put that horrid night behind them. This is their last year of high school, they run the school as The Players, everything should be perfect. But Graham's sister contacts Jill making a case for Graham's innocence and Jill starts questioning everything - her friends, her family, her boyfriend and her 'perfect' school life.
Packed with underage drinking and drug use (hence the suggested age of 14 years and up), They Wish They Were Us explores the pressures of fitting in, parental expectations, the complexities of friendships and how secrets can be kept by anyone. Similar in style to People Like Us by Dana Mele, They Wish They Were Us is a good introduction to the teen murder mystery genre. Many teen murder mysteries are well paced with plenty of action, however this book has a moderate pace with numerous flash backs. Readers may find it hard to keep track of the story, though I did read a proof edition and perhaps the published edition distinguished the past and present in a more obvious way.
Themes: Popularity, murder mystery, secrets, ambition, friendships.
Melanie Phillips

A climate in chaos by Neal Layton

Hachette, 2020. ISBN: 9781526362315.
(Age: 6+) Highly recommended. In young reader friendly language, Neal Layton explains how the world got to be in the mess it is in.
We rely on breathing out carbon dioxide after taking in oxygen, and plants take in carbon dioxide, breathing out oxygen. The greenhouse gas layer kept us warm. So it has been for millions of years, but two hundred years ago we started burning fossil fuel to create energy to power machines and the balance became uneven. More carbon dioxide is created, making the greenhouse gas layer too thick and changing the climate around the world. Added to this the animals that breathe out carbon dioxide have been farmed, increasing their number, so creating more carbon dioxide, and human population has increased rapidly, adding to the amount as well. Trees and forests which soak up the extra carbon dioxide are being pulled down and the warmer temperatures are changing our climate.
Animal habitats are being changed as well, making it difficult for them to survive.
So what can we do about it?
Layton lists his suggestions with regard to transport, consumerism, waste, food, energy and forests. Each suggestion has a paragraph of information about how these should be changed for the better. Food, for example, tells us that eating more plants reduces the impact of livestock farming, eating food that is grown locally reduces the need for it to be transported while growing our own is even more beneficial.
The biggest issue of them all is burning of fossil fuels, and Layton advocates a change to renewable energy sources, wind, tidal, geothermal and solar power.
Layton explains what a sustainable house looks like with a drawing and information around it to show where savings can be made. Many children will have heard of several suggestions here and some will be practising some at home, while your school may have solar panels and a garden, but all put together this makes a fascinating reference for a classroom to read about and research to find out more information. Questions will spring up: where do we get recycled loo paper, what is a composting toilet, does it smell, how can we have a garden on the roof? And so on. The double page with the sustainable house will create a great deal of imaginative discussion, and kids will want to know what their school and council is doing to create a sustainable pathway for the area. At the end of the book Layton acknowledges the work being done around the world, and finishes with a list of things we can all do in the home to create a better environment.
A book well worth reading and sharing.
Themes: Sustainability, Climate change, Greenhouse gas, Fossil fuels, Future, Renewable energy.
Fran Knight

The mountains sing by Nguyen Phan Que Mai

As a young girl in the school taught by her grandmother Dieu Lan, Huong wonders why foreign armies keep invading her country, Vietnam: first the Chinese, the Mongolians, the French, the Japanese and then the American imperialists. As the Vietnam (or American) war continues, it is her grandmother's stories that keep her hope alive. Learning that her grandmother has survived the French occupation, the Japanese invasion, the Great Hunger, and the Land Reform, Huong is determined that she will find safety once again with her parents Ngoc and Hoang, both soldiers in the war against the American enemy and the South Vietnamese.

Readers of this novel will learn through Dieu Lan's stories of the horrific ordeals the people of Vietnam have endured. The chapters alternate between the struggles of Huong and her grandmother during the Vietnam war, and the past stories of Dieu Lan's suffering of mass famine in 1945, the brutality of land dispossession and massacres during the Land Reform movement in the 1950s and then the conflict of the Vietnam War. Dieu Lan was the mother of six children, each of whom she had to find some way of protecting, even if it meant actually abandoning them to ensure their survival away from her. It is a heartrending story. When Dieu Lan retraces her steps to find her children again their outcomes are not always what she would have hoped for.

Each of Huong's relatives is affected by the Vietnam War, through separation from family, to beatings and rape, to Agent Orange poisoning, to traumatic amputation. But somehow, the spirit of Dieu Lan survives and even forges a way towards Buddhist forgiveness, peace and calm. It is a harrowing story, but one of the delights of this novel are the Vietnamese proverbs that Dieu Lan passes on to Huong, "fire proves gold, adversity proves men", "soft and persistent rain penetrates the earth better than a storm", and "only through love can we drive away the darkness of evil from this earth".

Millions of people lost their lives during the Vietnam War. This novel tells the stories of some of them, in the hope to learn from the past and prevent future armed conflict.

Themes Vietnam War, Famine, Endurance, Survival.

Pea and Nut go for gold! by Matt Stanton

Harper Collins, 2020. ISBN: 9780733340680.
(Ages: 4-7) Recommended. Matt Staton, author of There is a monster under my bed who farts and the Funny Kid series of books, knows how to make kids laugh. This newest picture book, featuring a chilled-out panda and a hyperactive flamingo is heavy on visual humour and full of silly fun. Pea the Panda is just chilling by the pool when she is cajoled and tricked into having a swimming race with her friend Nut the flamingo. Nut uses Pea's competitive nature to get her riled up for the race: 'Hurry up Fuzzball! You won't defeat me!' Children will laugh at Pea as she gears up for the race in her yellow bikini and settles into her blow-up flamingo: 'I may look like a sinker but under this fluff . . . is a swimmer's phy-sique made of lightning-fast stuff.'
The humour continues as the race gets wackier and wackier, with the friends upping the game each time. Nut is not swimming, he's walking! Pea uses her inflated flamingo as a blaster. Nut puts his flippers on. Pea fashions a windsurfer. But it is Nut who gets the last laugh; his pool noodles are now water skis and he flies over Pea's head to win the race.
This is a fast-paced, rollicking read that will have kids of all ages smiling and giggling with joy. A celebration of friendship and a reminder of the fun of friendly competition. Themes: Friendship, Swimming, Rhyming story.
Nicole Nelson

House of Dragons by Jessica Cluess

Random House, 2020. ISBN: 9780593305447.
(Young Adult). Recommended. Any reader who likes dragons, misfits, intrigue and Game of Thrones will enjoy Jessica Cluess' new novel, House of Dragons. Pivoting away from her previous Victorian-era London fantasy books, Cluess introduces us to the kingdom of Etrusia, a world where humans and dragons coexist. Etrusia's emperor has died and a representative of each of the five royal houses will compete for the throne. However, instead of sending the house heirs who have spent their lives training for this competition, five mistfits and outcasts are called to battle. Emilia, a scholar hiding her dangerous magic, Lucian, a reluctant soldier, Vespir, a servant and dragon trainer, Ajax the thief, and Hyperia, a noblewoman who will stop at nothing - even murder - to claim the throne.
The teenagers and their dragons compete in a series of challenges set to test their skills and knowledge, knowing that one of them will be crowned and the other four will be killed. Despite their initial animosity however, the five eventually begin to work together to try and expose a dangerous plot that threatens Etrusia and all of its people.
While Cluess has clearly been influenced by George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones for the premise of the novel, the story is appropriate for an older teen audience - with a content warning for violence and assault. Each of the five protagonists is given a character arc so chapters are short and the novel's point of view switches constantly. This may be an issue for some readers but extensive world-building and a fast-paced, interesting story will more than make up for it. Themes: Dragons, Magic, Conflict, Royalty, Danger, Friendship.
Rose Tabeni

The other side of the sky by Amy Kaufman and Meaghan Spooner

Wow – I wish that I had picked The other side of the sky up earlier. It had been sitting in my to-read pile for quite a while and once I got started, I couldn’t put it down. It is told in two voices, that of Nimh, the living goddess of her people, and North, a prince of a home in a city high in the sky. Nimh’s world is being overtaken by a terrifying mist and some of her people believe that the Sentinels that guard the villages should be destroyed and a safe haven constructed for the lucky few. Meanwhile North is inquisitive and has found old records of technology that has been lost and invented a glider. When he loses control of it, it plummets to the earth below where Nimh finds him, convinced that he is the Lightbringer, the one who will end the world.

Kaufman and Spooner do a great job of collaborating. The dual narrative ensures that the reader really gets to know North and Nimh, their feelings and their beliefs. North, who believes in science,  really struggles to understand the magic that Nimh takes for granted. He also finds the religious beliefs on Nimh’s world strange and the idea of living gods too weird to be true.

In the teacher’s notes Meaghan Spooner writes that one of the inspirations for the book ‘was the idea of writing a romance between characters who couldn’t touch’ and this certainly has repercussions for the feelings that the two have for each other.

The suspense is kept alive as another young woman, Inshara, claims to be the true goddess and her party try to capture Nimh and North. With a dire murder, betrayal of trust and unexpected twists and a cliff-hanger ending, The other side of the sky is a riveting read, and readers will eagerly wait for the second in this duology. Readers who enjoy books by Laini Taylor and Scott Westerfeld are sure to enjoy this.

Themes Fantasy, Science fiction, Romance, Science, Religion.

Pat Pledger

Country, kin and culture by Claire Smith

Wakefield Press, 2020. ISBN: 9781862545755.
(Age: Senior secondary/Adult) Highly recommended. Dr Claire Smith writes that slowly over the years since 1990, after many visits in a research capacity, she and her husband and son have become a small part of the extended community of the Barunga-Wulgularr people of the Northern Territory. Encouraged by elders to write a history of the group, her book acknowledges the input of Phyllis Wiynjorroc, Petrer Manabaru and Jimmy Wesan.
In telling the story of the Barunga-Wulgularr, Smith has had by necessity to document the many policy changes that applied to Aboriginal people across Australia, and so her book becomes a documentation of the long history of government impact on Aboriginal lives, from colonial violence to the policies of protectionism and then assimilation, the cruelty now known as the Stolen Generations, to the contemporary movement towards self-determination and reconciliation.
The thing that is so refreshing about this book is that it is not just another history book about Australian Aboriginals, it is a book that includes their voice and their stories, sharing their experience, so that readers may begin to understand just how intrusive government control has been and how devastating the consequences for people's lives. That intrusion, that lack of respect, continues today despite the findings and recommendations of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Strait Islander Children from their Families, and the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Aboriginal socio-economic disadvantage continues.
I found Smith's thoughtful examination of the role of alcohol in Aboriginal social life, and her inclusion of Aboriginal comment on it, to be a particularly insightful approach that dispels stereotypical views.
Smith writes that despite all that has gone before, a distinctly Indigenous world view has survived. The culture of the Barunga-Wulgularr has adapted to include respected elders of other groups in their society following the government dispersal of people from their lands; they have developed a unique language, Kriol, to communicate between groups; and they have embraced art as a way of sharing without revealing the secret knowledge within ceremonial painting. Aboriginal culture and Aboriginal systems of knowledge have endured; that's something to celebrate.
Themes: Aboriginal history, Aboriginal culture, Dispossession, Discrimination, Stolen Generations, Survival.
Helen Eddy

The secret life of the Savoy and the D'Oyly Carte family

Headline, 2020. ISBN: 9781472271761.
(Age: Senior secondary - Adult) The author has extensively researched the origins of the Savoy Hotel, London (opened in 1889) and its lasting impact on British customs and the Hotel industry. The book embodies the story of three generations of the D'Oyly Carte family. Richard D'Oyly Carte, an enterprising and enthusiastic musician started the empire by his establishment of theatres and commissioning Gilbert and Sullivan to write shows, making himself a fortune and them famous. Among his clients were Whistler and Oscar Wilde. His son Rupert and granddaughter Bridget continued both theatre and hotel businesses.
At a time when people did not dine outside of homes, the establishment of a luxury hotel with bathrooms, lifts, electricity, excellent wines and food (Escoffier was persuaded to become the Chef and Cesar Ritz the manager) attracted royalty, rich Americans, famous writers and actors, business magnates and politicians (even Robert Menzies was a guest!). Women were able to dine in public for the first time. Most famous people of the twentieth century are mentioned - Churchill, the queen, princess Margaret, Hemingway, Kennedys, etc are just a few. Its luxury and inflexible standards became a part of its lure. The Beatles and the Rolling Stones were apparently denied entry to the Bar as they were not wearing ties.
I enjoyed reading the book. It could be of use as a case study of the establishment and success of a business empire which still exists over a hundred years later. While the book is about the Savoy hotel and theatre, it is more a biography of the Carte family and their personal as well as business problems and achievements.
There are extensive notes and an index.
Ann Griffin

The wild way home by Sophie Kirtley

Bloomsbury, 2020. ISBN: 9781526616289.
Recommended for primary and middle school students. Charlie and friends, Lamont and Beaky have been playing in Mandel Forest since they were small, and while playing a game of hunters and hunted Charlie finds a deer tooth with twelve marks on it. This seems auspicious as not only is Charlie about to turn twelve but a much longed for baby brother or sister is about to be born. When Dara is born with a serious heart condition Charlie runs away from the hospital and distressed parents, escaping into the woods, led by a bird to someone lying face down in a stream. Not stopping to think Charlie rescues the person who turns out to be a long haired boy with a head injury wearing nothing but animal skins. Not only does the boy look and sound strange but the forest has changed and when Charlie tries to find the path to go and get help, it is not there. However, familiar landmarks like Pinnacle Rock and the Spirit Stone are recognisable, suggesting to Charlie that this is another version of the world, another dimension. There is no time to dwell on this as they try to survive in this Stone Age wild world of wolves, bears and lynx, courageously facing challenges and sharing laughter.  They discover that instead of difference, Charlie and Hart boy are struggling with the same fears for their families. The setting is evocative with all the features of the Stone Age, cave paintings, spears and flint tools and the wild forest with its deep spirituality is the perfect place for an adventure.
Readers will find it easy to identify with Charlie's hopes and fears especially as we are left guessing as to her/his gender and appearance. We can hold our breath at the well-constructed moments of tension, laugh and cry as the adventure unfolds and identify with the characters' need to escape. "If only we could wish things away just by not thinking about them". p. 187.
A lovely first novel with echoes of Stig of the Dump by Clive King and Skellig by David Almond. Wouldn't it be good to have a similar story set in ancient Australia?
Themes: family, Stone Age, adventure.
Sue Speck

Beware! Ralfy Rabbit and the secret book biter! by Emily Mackenzie

Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2020. ISBN: 9781408892091.
(Ages: 3-7) Recommended. This is a follow-on book from the previously published Wanted! Ralfy Rabbit, Book Burglar. As seen in the first book, Ralfy simply loves books. But reading becomes a bit more difficult when his new baby brother arrives. Where can he go that is quiet and peaceful? Things get even worse when he starts discovering holes bitten in his books. Who could be behind the biting?
Emily MacKenzie's stories are quirky and refreshingly original. Her colourful, humorous illustrations are joyful and character-driven with a beautiful fuzzy quality. From the titles of Ralfy's books (Char-lie and the Chocolate Carrot, George's Marvellous Lettuce) to the annoying things his little brother does to interrupt his reading, this story will have the whole family amused. Children with younger siblings will identify with Ralfy's consternation at Rodney's noisy play, constant crying and food throwing. When Ralfy discovers that it is Rodney who has been biting his books Mum explains that it's probably because his teeth are growing and he has sore gums. Instead of being angry Ralfy thinks about what he could do to help and returns with a board book for Rodney that he can both read and chew on.
This is a beautiful story about the sometimes messy nature of family life and how these experiences make relationships stronger. Ralfy is still young but he is learning to be patient and to appreciate his little brother and the fun things they can do together. This will be enjoyed by all young children, but especially those with younger siblings and those who just love to read. Themes: Books, New siblings.
Nicole Nelson

A crocodile in the family by Kitty Black

Illus. by Daron Parton. Hachette Australia, 2020. ISBN: 9780734419507.
(Ages: 3-7) Recommended. When a family of birds decide to take an abandoned egg home with them they don't really know what to expect. They sit the egg up on a gold-tasselled cushion to watch television with them and watch with anticipation as it begins to crack. When a bright green crocodile pops out they are positively thrilled . . . but the other bush animals are astonished. Why would they want to keep him?! He is green! He could eat you! As croc grows his other qualities start to become clear. Do you keep him because he is beautiful?, they ask. Is it because he is helpful or fun? He is all of those things, say the bird family, but that isn't why we keep him. It is 'because he belongs with us, and that's that.'
This is a heart-warming story about families and how people within them can be different in all sorts of ways. A useful starting point for discussions about family diversity that could be applied to adoption, unique characteristics within families and societal perceptions of family differences.
Parton's illustrations are bold, bright and filled with humorous detail. The other Australian animals depicted each have their own distinctive personalities that could also spark further conversation. Themes: Family, Belonging.
Nicole Nelson

The evening and the morning: the prequel to The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

Macmillan, 2020. IBSN: 9781447278788.
(Age: Secondary/Adult) Highly recommended. Follett has set his prequel in Anglo-Saxon England in the years from 997 to 1007. It is a turbulent time for all the population, but even more so for the peasants and slaves. Vikings raid seemingly at will, sacking and burning villages, slaughtering, raping and taking the young as slaves. England has a king but his rule is dependent on the major landholders and the church to support and enforce his rule.
The saga revolves around Edgar the son of a boat builder whose life changes after Viking raiders kill his father and the woman he was in love with. His mother and two older brothers are left without any means to earn a living, but are offered the chance to farm a small plot at Deng's Ferry. They have little option but to try and eke out a living from the poor soil and lack of any livestock. Luckily Edgar's mother Mildred, is a canny hardworking woman who keeps the family together despite the hardships.
The Lady Ragnhild, daughter of Count Hubert of Cherbourg in Normandy, is another main character whose story runs parallel with Edgar's. She encounters Wilwulf, earldorman of Shiring in Cherbourg when he comes to bargain with the Count about the Vikings who used the port as an easy staging post to raid across the channel. She is attracted by this large confident Englishman and he finds the young beautiful Ragna very distracting indeed. After hearing nothing for a month or two his brother bishop Wynstan arrives to ask for her hand in marriage on behalf of Wilwulf.
Ragna travels to England, and after an awful sea crossing and uncomfortable journey to Shiring she marries and finds that life is very different in England. She cannot converse in Anglo-Saxon and her new family speak little French. There is also a power struggle, she must find ways of diluting the power of her step mother-in-law and her sons Wynstan and Wiglem. This is especially important when Wilwulf is away during Viking raids. Who rules in his stead?
Edgar meanwhile has been busy. He is an intelligent problem solver who is a skilled craftsman. He has made a far more useful ferry at the river crossing to replace the log canoe, built a brew house from stone to lessen the chance of it burning down and has ideas for a bridge, has made repairs to the run down church and has ideas to make the transport of goods to Deng's Ferry much more efficient as well as providing extra income for the family farm.
Both Ragna and Edgar are seen by those who hold power as trouble makers and there is much scheming to deny their hopes for the future. When Wilwulf dies Ragna's position and that of her children is in peril. Edgar sees his future in Normandy learning the stonemason's craft. That the two main characters come back together is a given , but as to the how and the tribulations they endure I shall leave to the reader.
Follett's prequel is a weighty tome of 817 pages, but it is a page turner. The insight into the Dark Ages in Anglo Saxon times, the roles of Church, King, nobles and peasants is fascinating. It is a harsh time when life after death was seen by many as more important than the existence in the present no matter how unfair or brutal. The relationship between Edgar and Ragna is rather hard to accept at such a time, when difference in social class was huge and romantic love would have been almost unheard of. However those who have enjoyed The Pillars of the Earth will eagerly devour this addition to the saga.
Theme: AngloSaxon England, Historical novel, Vikings, Power struggle, Medieval times, Stonemasons.
Mark Knight

Diamonds by Armin Greder

Allen & Unwin, 2020. ISBN: 9781760877040.
(Age: 10+) Highly recommended. Greder confronts his audience with the truth behind the diamonds people wear, showing the levels of cruelty and greed which umbrella the industry. From the slave conditions in which men, women and children in Africa dig the gems from the earth working in squalid mines unrestricted by any safety concerns, to those above ground who deal with the diamonds, passing them from hand to hand, trading guns and money, funding religious discord, civil war and unrest, supporting wealthy men to amass more, the diamonds eventually reach the manufacturing jewellers where they are cut and polished, set and sold to equally wealthy men for their wives and sweethearts.
Greder presents his powerful and questioning work through a young girl, Carolina, who innocently asks her mother about the diamonds she is wearing as she prepares to go out for the evening.
Greder wonderfully connects the girl's question about the people working in the mines to her nanny, Amina, also from Africa, and the girl has a nightmare, trailing Amina through the night to the mines where she digs the gems from the earth. Greder distils the wider story of diamond mining to a particular person, Amina, driving the reading audience to feel compassion with this person, seeing her as emblematic for a whole group of exploited people.
The link from Amina to the underground workers passes over several pages as we see their endless toil, digging for the people who control them. The faces above ground are more specific, detailed, hard and cruel as they pass the gems from one person to another, eventually ending up with suited businessmen, hungrily assessing what they have in their hands.
This book is a powerful parable of the corruption that exists, further dividing and undermining any push for equality and justice, the pursuit of wealth by the few being the main driver behind the search for diamonds.
Afterwords by journalist, Francesco Baille and Riccardo Noury from Amnesty International in Italy, set the scene and add more factual context to this already emotionally charged book.
Greder's illustrative technique is distinctive reflecting the chasm that exists between miner and buyer, using his charcoal and pastels to perfection, stressing the disparity between rich and poor, haves and have nots. Teacher's notes are available.
Themes: Inequality, Diamonds, Exploitation, Corruption, Civil war
Fran Knight

Dharma the llama by Matt Cosgrove

Koala Books, 2020. ISBN: 9781760669201.
(Age: 3+) Recommended. The picture of big eyed Dharma on the cover will delight younger readers as they reach out for the next incarnation of Cosgrove's wonderful llama series of books. Dharma is number six of an especially enticing series of stories about this odd creature, introducing a new animal to younger readers as well as a sound bit of advice through the story. This time it is about being yourself, as Dharma has to ignore the sneers and jibes from the herd as they go about their together things, pushing her to join in. But Dharma likes being herself: she likes to pick flowers and read for ages, sleep in after she lies awake at night reading, but above all to read. When reading she can involve herself in a book, being a pirate or adventurer, a witch or an astronaut. One day as the herd passes by jeering, so involved in looking crankily her way, they neglect to see a sign warning them of a cliff. They all tumble over, finding themselves stuck in the mud below.
It is up to Dharma to rescue them. She uses all the things she has found out about in her books to get them out of the mud: she swings on a rope like a pirate, lowers herself like an astronaut to rescue some others, then makes a rope ladder - she also reads non-fiction, to secure the rest.
Everyone is happy to be rescued and throw Dharma a big party, but of course, she is reading and neglects to go.
Cosgrove's rhyming pairs of lines will thrill younger readings, who will eagerly predict the rhyming word, and by the end of the book will have learnt several lines enabling them to join in. Recognising the books she reads will be another adventure for sharp-eyed readers, and finding Dharma in the end papers will add an extra layer of interest to the story.
And dedicated to all librarians 'who share their love of books and spread the joy of reading', what library will be without this book on the display shelf.
Themes: Llamas, Behaviour, Being yourself, Bullying, Self awareness.
Fran Knight

Fair Warning by Michael Connelly

Jack McEvoy Book 3. Allen & Unwin, 2020. ISBN: 9781760877989.
(Age: Adult - Senior secondary) Recommended. Fans of Michael Connelly's journalist hero, Jack McEvoy, will be thrilled at his return in Fair Warning. With very current themes of the use and misuse of DNA and the need for consumer awareness, readers are in for a treat as Jack, a suspect in the murder of a woman he had had a one night stand with, begins to investigate and finds that he may have a serial killer in his sights. As he delves deeper into the case, he finds that there have been several unusual deaths from a broken neck and the one thing connecting them is the fact that they have all had their DNA tested by a small company that sells the DNA to other companies.
This reads well as a stand-alone, as Connelly gives enough background information about Jack, his past and his difficult relationship with Rachel, the woman he still longs for. Jack is now working for FairWarning, a news site reporting on consumer issues (in an Author's notes, the reader discovers that this is a real site and the editor Myron Levin is a real person.) Although a flawed character, Jack does recognise the things that he could improve, and the reader will feel empathy for him. Connelly's depiction of the skills necessary for working as a team member add to the interest in the story as Jack finds it difficult to collaborate with Emily, another member of FairWarning, and also to trust Rachel and her relationship with the FBI.
The misuse of DNA will scare anyone who has had DNA testing done to trace relatives as will the lack of oversight by authorities of the use and on-selling of DNA in the USA. There are lots of twists and turns, a vivid description of the process that Jack and his team go through to find out what is happening, and some scary moments as the serial killer starts to stalk Jack.
This is a compelling mystery that may well find readers who enjoyed it going back to read the others in the Jack McEvoy series, The poet and The scarecrow.
Pat Pledger