Jenny PausackerCríticas

I'm a big fan of Kerry Greenwood's Corinna Chapman mysteries. She mentions books by Jade Forrester in a couple of them, enough that I wanted to get hold of copies to see if I agreed with her.

This turned out to be quite an undertaking, as they were never sold outside Australia. Happily, a nice lady on BookMooch had a copy and was prepared to send it to me if I paid the postage. (Thank you, Julia!)

So, it arrived yesterday. Am I disappointed? No, but it wasn't quite what I expected. The strapline says 'A very adult romance'; it isn't. There are references to sex, but no descriptive sex scenes. You could give it to your mother without embarrassment. What it is, is a standard romance with the genders reversed. The heroine is quite matter of fact about sex and wondering if she is doomed to nerds until she meets the hero. She isn't particularly good looking (her friend tries to make her over for a TV interview). The hero is introduced as a bodyguard and a good looking foil for her, but she knows nothing about him, not even his name. She spends a lot of time worrying if she is being sexist by admiring his looks. Anyway, she falls for him and pretty much drags him to bed, but a misunderstanding parts them and she spends the rest of the book trying to find him. Of course this is the early 90s, so a mobile phone is a thing of wonder.

An interesting trope, and well done. If I can get the other book in the series, I will.½

This entire series is a wonderful way to learn history or teach it to adolescents. I find today's generations seem to recall more when they learn through other people (pop songs, celebrity gossip, etc.), so what better way to teach history than through someone else's perspective? Yes, "authentic" diaries would be "better", but would the language really hold the modern student's attention? Did the diary writer know what WOULD be important in the context of history? Probably not.

Harris Johnston is on a week's work experience at The Forensics Unit in the city. Extremely interested in dead bodies and true crime, he doesn't expect The Unit to be like it is on t.v. but he does expect it to be interesting to him. His friends and family think his obsession is weird and a bit unhealthy. Harris' time at The Unit confirms his belief in the importance of finding out the facts of a death and helping the families understand the whys and wherefores.
This importance is brought home to Harris when a mistake made by one of the pathologists ten years before leads to a tragic series of deaths. Harris gets caught up in the action and is part of the resolution.
It is an exciting and absorbing murder mystery that also gives a more realistic insight to the nature of forensics.½

This is one of the Australian 'My Story' books, and is written in the style of a diary. Jan Packard - our narrator - is a teenager in 1974, watching as change surrounds her family and the family next door. There are many issues here - but primarily the focus is on the Women's Liberation movement and the Vietnam War, with the arguments over the draft and the aftermath.

The joy of this book is how well the facts are woven into an enjoyable, interesting story. Jan is a great character, as are the people around her. The discussions and debates are well handled and several opinions get an airing.

The problem with this 'series' of books is that the quality of each book depends entirely on the author. This one is excellent. Unfortunately others aren't as good - such as the one I will review next. Maybe some of them need a stronger edit, to really make the stories interesting to young readers. Regardless, the books are popular, and it's great to see Australian history being told (though I'd love to see this story set in Brisbane rather than Melbourne under the Joh government)½