Bad Debts by Peter Temple

The mountain men of North American history were a breed apart, largely living in isolation in the wildest places of the frontier. Tony Hollihan has written an entertaining series of accounts about some of the most colorful of these high-country heroes. Among them:

· Davey Crockett. This frontiersman was also a fine storyteller and a man happy to share a horn of whiskey. His larger-than-life exploits endeared him to Americans, who eventually elected him to the U.S. Congress.

· James Bridger. A renowned guide who discovered the Great Salt Lake and was instrumental in surveying wagon routes to the West.

· Kit Carson. A trapper and Indian fighter whose bravery and luck became the subject of penny novels.

· Daniel Boone. This frontiersman led land-hungry settlers into Kentucky and fierce warfare with the Shawnee. Boone himself was captured and tortured, although he survived the ordeal.

At the beginning I felt this was a bit formulaic but then I became totally engrossed in the story and and characters and could not put it down until the end. Also, while the plot became a little complex at times it did not dampen my interest and I continued to enjoy it until the last page. Highly recommended.

Crime is not my thing really. Tried it in my youth once or twice but never felt that thrilled about. A few years back the rave was The Dry by Jane Harper, so I thought I might give that a chance on release. It was OK.
Bad Debts by Peter Temple I got after my wife was watching the Jack Irish TV series. What I caught looked pretty good TV wise. Temple had also won a Miles Franklin for Broken Shore, so there was interest there. This is better than The Dry, but then that may be because the banter between the characters to me is typical strine chat in certain circles. I do enjoy this kind of thing occasionally. Quick-witted and quirky, I have worked with a few blokes over the years that made me chuckle as the day went by; such was their use of the lingo. I suspect that Plot wise this is a mash-up of the author's knowledge of the Melbourne underworld and political corruption that as a journalist he would have heard about from his time in the media.

Drunk driver goes to jail for running over a political activist and then years later after release gets killed after he is shot dead by police under suspicious circumstances. Left a desperate message on Jack Irish phone, his once drunk lawyer at the time of his imprisonment and now comparatively sober, who feels a sense of guilt for not helping him in what was a stitch up, follows up what is going on. Let's say Jack has a few adventures on the way to the inevitable conclusion, and that is maybe why crime is not for me.

Be that as it may this is an easy read, it moves along at a good pace and the inbetween stuff such as the footy banter and horse racing betting plunge break the story up in a good way.

Recommended to all the old Roy Boys out there.