Book Review - Shooting Star by Peter Temple

Well I had set a goal of reading 52 books in 2010 and I'm on track just having finished my first, Peter Temples "Shooting Star".

Since I've read this book and I'm trying to run a blog I figured I'd combine the two an include a book review. How I got to Peter Temple is a story first. Frankly when it comes to buying books I tend to be cheap and I'm a huge fan of the Penguin Classics series - after all in Australia books can be so expensive so I'll look for a bargain where-ever I can find one. So when I can get 'great' novels for half the price of average ones from mainstream publishers I'll take every one I can get. Through this series I 'discovered' Raymond Chandler. I wasnt a great fan of crime fiction but since its only a $10 investment I figured it was worth the risk.

I loved the Raymond Chandler novels and found a whole new genre of writing to enjoy.

So with that in mind, driving home, listening to the ABC on the radio a show called The Booksellers came on and each had a chance to name their books of the year, and during that time Peter Temple was mentioned. These things came together and I bought my first Temple novel that afternoon.

I've come to Temple late and I understand that Shooting Star was an early novel from him and is regarded as a bit raw. I would generally agree. Ok, a lightnng synopysis, Frank Calder, ex soldier/cop is hired by a wealthy family to assist following the kidnapping of one of their number. Without giving away the plot, the novel follows the progress to get the child back all the time digging into the family, its dark past and current sins. At the same time the character of Frank is slowly revealed, his history slowing emerging.

That all sounds great but their are a few problems.

I was reminded a little of the "Rome" novels of Colleen McCulloch where the labour of tracking intricate family relationships constantly breaks the flow of the story and it wasnt until I made a quick reference chart to look up as I went that I felt really drawn into the story. Even by the end of the book, Frank is still something of a mystery, thats not entirely a bad thing for a novel thats part of a series but since their appear no follow up to this story I was left feeling I'd sort of met a guy I might like but wasnt sure. Finally, I think the hardest part of any story like this is the ending. And this is perhaps the weakest part of the novel. A great ending to a thriller is one where in retrospect you can say "wow, I should have seen that" while all the time the outcome is
carefully hidden. In Shooting Star in the end I was simply left wondering where the hell had that come from.

So would I recommend the book - if this were the culmination of Temples career I'd probably say no. But its not, Temple has progressed and this book is a great entry into his burgeoning canon.

So, with this my first Temple novel, I look forward to reading my next very keenly.