BOOK REVIEWS: Five good reads

IN need of a good read? Here's a selection of the latest fiction, non-fiction and childrens' books, reviewed by our team.

November5reviews

HERE'S a selection of the latest fiction, non-fiction and childrens' books, reviewed by our team.

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CRIMES BY MOONLIGHT

Charlaine Harris (ed)

Gollancz, $29.99

WHO better to edit a collection of American horror-crime short stories than Sookie Stackhouse creator Charlaine Harris?

After an eight-week run at No.1 in Britain's Sunday Times bestseller list with Dead in the Family, she well knows that when Elaine Viets says Grandma has seen a naked woman in her bedroom door and just knows that attractive piece of lipsticked work with the tight body and trendy heels will be dead in three days, things are bound to happen.

But not in the usual fashion. And why is it that everyone who appears in Granny's door ends up on a slab in precisely 72 hours?

Such is the quality of the collection from the likes of Dana Cameron, Lou Kemp, Margaret Mahon and Mickey Spillane, an unsuspecting reader almost certainly never again would contemplate straying too near a pen of contented big pigs, trusting a female best friend with a nubile daughter, or doubting the wisdom of paying to take a recalcitrant family to the House of Horrors, even though right now you would kill for a drink. That's the secret of such a collection - 20 short works testing the limits of what the Mystery Writers of America deems fresh kill. Take the case of Steve Brewer's Limbo: "I snapped awake on a cold autopsy table. A white-haired man with rimless glasses stood over me, a scalpel in his hand, poised to slice my . . ." I don't fancy his chances of making it to the retirement village intact.

VERDICT: HOT THRILLER CHILLER

Graham Clark

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THE MAP AND THE TERRITORY

Michel Houellebecq

Random House, $32.95

THE French version was lauded, awarded and sold thousands of copies and finally The Map and the Territory's English version has been released. The wait was worthwhile.

Michel Houellebecq has crafted a complex, strange novel.

The Map and the Territory is a thriller, a drama and a satire of French society, the art world, law and order and familial relationships. Fictional characters are mingled with real ones or elements of them - including the author himself, who is a self-effacing, not particularly likeable, key player.

The protagonist is Jed, an artist whose career the reader inspects, from intimate photography of man-made things to digital manipulation of maps to portraits of people in modern workplaces.

It is in seeking a writer to provide words for the catalogue that will accompany the much-hyped exhibition of his paintings that leads Jed to cross paths with Houellebecq.

While it would be giving away too much to detail, Houellebecq the character is a catalyst for life-changing events, while Houellebecq the author clearly has a ball with the relationships between art and the world the story endeavours to depict.

This novel delves into the French obsession with culture, its struggle with integrating modern ingenuities and its bittersweet obsession with elements of other cultures. It does it all anchored honestly and objectively in the richness and failings of what it is to be human.

VERDICT: SUBVERSIVE, FRESH, HONEST

-Jane Fynes-Clinton

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STEVE JOBS

Walter Isaacson

Little, Brown, $45

A NEW biography portrays Steve Jobs as a sceptic all his life - giving up religion because he was troubled by starving children, calling executives who took over Apple "corrupt" and delaying cancer surgery in favour of cleansings and herbal medicine.

In Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson also says he came up with the firm's name while on a fruit-and-vegetable diet, and as a teen he perfected staring at people without blinking. The book explores his decision to delay surgery for nine months after learning in October 2003 he had a relatively rare type of pancreatic cancer that normally grows more slowly and is therefore more treatable. Instead, he tried alternative remedies before finally having surgery in July 2004.

He died on October 5, at age 56.

The book also provides insight into the unravelling of Jobs' relationship with Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google and an Apple board member, and

explores the thoughts of a man who was famously secret, guarding details of his life as he did Apple's products, and generating plenty of psychoanalysis from a distance.

Jobs was never a typical CEO. Apple's first president, Mike Scott, was hired mainly to manage Jobs, then 22. One of his first projects was getting Jobs to bathe more often. It didn't work.

Jobs' dabbling in LSD has been well documented.

He also revealed The Beatles were one of his favourite bands, and a wish to get the band on iTunes was realised before he died.

VERDICT: NO SURPRISES BUT PLENTY OF DEPTH

-Rachel Metz, Barbara Ortutay and Jordan Robertson

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AMONG THE ISLANDS

Tim Flannery

Text Publishing, $32.95

THIS is an entertaining and informative account of the author's expeditions to research mammals of the Pacific islands. Writing in a witty, anecdotal, confessional style, Tim Flannery takes us with him on his search for elusive critters in exotic places, and along the way we learn a lot about nature, humankind's devastating arrogance, the politics of the Pacific and, most surprisingly, ourselves.

Flannery is about as close as you can get to a living national treasure: Australian of the Year (2007), ground-breaking scientist, climate change warrior, defender of wildlife and a likeable media celebrity. His disarming immediacy and personal commitment take his work way beyond the ordinary. A dedicated researcher, his drive to observe, catch and interact with spotted cuscuses, giant rats and monkey-faced bats is fuelled by more than just scientific curiosity. All of his searching reflects an immense respect and love for living things.

In some respects, this is an old-fashioned book. Flannery writes revealingly about his attitudes but he is unfailingly polite, keeping many personal details to himself. One can only suspect that he would be pretty good at telling jokes and, faced with the dilemma of crossing a cave waist-deep with soft bat droppings or dealing with a maddened snake escaping from a bag in a tent, he would make an ideal companion.

VERDICT: SOBERING, INFORMATIVE AND AMUSING

-Gillian Bramley-Moore

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CONSPIRACY 365: REVENGE

Gabrielle Lord

Scholastic, $14.99

CAL Ormond thought he had left his nightmare year behind him. He'd solved the Dangerous Mystery of the Ormonds, found buried treasure and returned to his family. A year on the run turned his life upside down and now Cal just wants things to return to normal. That is hard because he is constantly in the spotlight and is chased by paparazzi. To bring some normalcy to his life, Cal invites his friends over for a movie night. That plan is thrown into chaos when Cal finds a letter on his pillow with a mysterious message - you have 30 days. Overcome by anger, he steps out the front door to find the person who delivered the letter and is hit by a poisoned dart and taken prisoner.

Conspiracy 365: Revenge is told from the perspective of Cal's best friend Boges. He leads a team consisting of Cal's girlfriend Winter and twin brother Ryan to track down their missing friend.

Revenge maintains the fast pace from last year's series and allows the reader to see what Cal's life is like from another point of view.

-Simone Zenoni