Australian Penthouse

Books, music and games from Australian Penthouse… this month, George Pelecanos, Lisa Gardner, Lee Child, Max Frei, Robert Kaplan, Red Faction, Wolverine, Bob Dylan and M. Ward

MEDICAL MURDER
Dr Robert M. Kaplan
Allen & Unwin

MEDICAL MURDER provides an in-depth study of doctors who commit ‘clinicide’—the killing of multiple patients in the course of treatment. Dr Kaplan reveals a detailed history of the lives of disturbed doctors throughout history, including examining how many have a ‘God complex’, and extends this to why these medical professionals become murderers. The concept is intriguing, shocking, and due to the fact that clinicide is still occurring, it is a bit stomach churning.

Dr Kaplan could have easily used his expertise as a forensic psychiatrist to fill this book with medical terms and extensive psychological analysis; however, Medical Murder is set out in layman’s terms, and is therefore an easy read.

THE STRANGER
Max Frei
Gollancz

A REFRESHING take on the fantasy genre by Russian wunderkind, Max Frei (author of the bestselling series, Labyrinths of Echo, starring lead character, Max Frei). Far from the dragons and damsels angle, The Stranger focuses on the concept of escaping from the banality of modern life via a parallel and somewhat similar fantasy world. Max Frei is an everyday nobody who is single, unemployed and without colour in his life, other than his persistent and unusual dreams of odd lands and a man named Juffin Tully. In fact, Juffin is reaching out to Max via his subconscious, where he instructs him to walk to a specific street at a specific time and get on a cable car—which is a portal to a parallel magical world called Echo. Once there, Max begins an apprenticeship as a secret investigator. Wry, fast-paced and unique, it feels slightly deprecatory to describe The Stranger as ‘the airport novel of the fantasy genre’, but we mean so in only the most positive and accessible way.

THE WAY HOME
George Pelecanos
Orion

A SUBTLE, incisive and beautifully weighted story that interleaves a traditional murder mystery with the ever-more puzzling mystery of family, expectation and self-sabotage. When Thomas Flynn leaves his 17-year-old son, Chris, at a juvenile prison, he realises that this is the end of the road for his boy: he will either be lost to the system and an ever-present beacon of failure for him as a father, or he will return a changed man, ready to accept the pressures of life.

Chris is no dummy; he knows his teenage aggression and desire for attention crossed the line and he doesn’t want to be a loser.

A decade later, Chris and his pals are working for his dad and are on their way to going it alone. But when a simple house renovation reveals a hidden fortune, mistrust, betrayal and a seemingly unstoppable return to criminal life sees Chris and his father not only reassessing their beliefs in themselves, but also each other. A bloody good read.

THE NEIGHBOUR
Lisa Gardner
Hachette

A YOUNG mum disappears in the middle of the night from her South Boston home, leaving behind her four-year-old daughter as the only witness, and her secretive husband as the prime suspect. But from the moment Detective Sergeant D. D. Warren arrives at the family home, she knows that something just doesn’t fit. On the surface, Jason and Sandra are a hardworking couple raising a young child. But Jason’s reluctance to immerse himself in the investigation; actively search for his wife or show any apprehension about her kidnapping, is unsettling.

In fact, he seems far more intent on destroying the evidence and isolating his daughter than on searching for his wife. Is the perfect husband trying to hide his guilt—or just trying to hide? And will the only witness to the crime be the kidnapper’s next victim?

GONE TOMORROW
Lee Child
Random House

A GENUINE page-turner that doesn’t skimp on plot or wit by the king of action/adventure, Lee Child. Gone Tomorrow marks the return of popular hero, Jack Reacher. Reacher discovers a woman acting suspiciously on a train—she displays all of the signs of a suicide bomber, but instead of setting off a device, when approached by Reacher, she blows her head off with a gun. The train stops, the cops arrive—and all but one of the nine witnesses remain on the platform.

What happened to the other witness? And why did he disappear? Reacher and homicide cop, Theresa Lee, are left to piece together a puzzle that involves ambitious State senator and ex-military hero, John Sansom, the NSA, FBI, and a secretive group of refugees, led by the alluring yet mysterious Lila Hoth—all of whom seem determined to see that the case remains unsolved. Why would a low-level government employee drive five hours into the city, abandon her car for a train and kill herself? The answers are revealed in a witty, visceral tale.

RED FACTION: GUERRILLA
Publisher: THQ
Developer: Volition
Platform: PS3, X360 & PC

HOT on the heels of the most underappreciated title of 2008, Saints Row 2, Volition are back with a vengeance with Red Faction: Guerrilla.

Moving the series in a new direction, previous liberators, the EDF, are drunk on power, and it’s up to you to stop them. Mars is your playground. The ‘red planet’ has a whole new set of rules to it, from the adjusted gravity giving all your jumps a bit of extra zing, to the Mad Max-style Marauders who raid the colonies you’re trying to protect. Much has been made of the claim of ‘destructible environments’, and we’re pleased to say that Volition delivers, and then some.

With your trusty sledgehammer, you can make an entrance into any structure you can see, or level it if you want to.

With exquisite graphics, ridiculously fun gameplay, massive explosions and mech-walkers at your command, it’s hard not to fall in love with Red Faction: Guerrilla, and it’s our pick for sleeper hit of the year.

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Ravensoft
Platform: PS3, X360, Wii, PS2, PSP, NDS & PC

USUALLY, a licensed movie tie-in elicits the same response as a bowel movement, with most a mishmash of bad ideas churned out to turn over a quick buck. We’re pleased to report that the Hugh Jackman-led Wolverine goes far beyond that, and has become a guilty little pleasure.

How this thing made it through classification is nothing short of astonishing, considering how decapitation and dismemberment are a regular part of play. Not that we’re complaining, mind you. Loosely based on the recent film, you’ll spend most of your time hacking and slashing through guerrillas, mutants and robots of different shapes and sizes. Graphically, there are a few issues, but it’s easy to forget about them as you pummel the movie’s entire cast on your way to a climactic face-off with Weapon 11.

Wolverine has claws!

TOGETHER THROUGH LIFE
BOB DYLAN
SONY MUSIC

DYLAN’S 45th release, Modern Times, went platinum in 2006, selling more than2.5 million copies and earning the legend two Grammy Awards. His 46th effort, Together Through Life, proves that he is still in his prime—after more than 40 years in the business.

Most of the album is extremely bluesy, and virtually every song concerns love—or a lack thereof. For example, in Forgetful Heart, Dylan sings that he “…can’t take much more, why can’t we love like we did before? The door is closed forevermore,” while a mandolin and accordion play gently in the background. But it’s not all melancholic and mushy. At least half of the romantic songs are more like comic tales about distraught husbands (My Wife’s Home Town) and drunks (If You Ever Go to Houston).

Long-time Dylan fans will appreciate the album’s acerbic final track, It’s All Good, which is a satire of modern America, where the kitchens are “all full of flies” and there are “…killers stalking the town”.

HOLD TIME
M. WARD
SHOCK

THERE’S something deceptively simple about Hold Time, the sixth studio album from US singer-songwriter,
M. Ward. The multi-layered instrumentation gives way to uncomplicated melodies that seem to float under the lyrics, and the effect is intoxicating.

Mellow for the most part, there are a few excellent upbeat tracks, such as Never Had Nobody Like You, which features backing vocals from Ward’s She & Him collaborator, Zooey Deschanel. Other highlights include a cover of Buddy Holly’s Rave On; One Hundred Million Years, with its old-time country/gospel flavour; and a dreamy duet with Lucinda Williams on Oh Lonesome Me.

While you can clearly hear Ward’s influences (Cash, Dylan, Beach Boys), he never sounds like an imitator. His intelligent phrasing and laconic style set him apart, and guarantee him the kind of longevity most of his pop counterparts can only dream about.