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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Powerful and well-written, if a little formulaic at times,
By Rachel (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Bright Air (Kindle Edition)
I bought this under the misapprehension that it was the latest in Maitland's excellent Brock and Kolla series. First off, it's not, but a stand alone novel set in Sydney about a group of climbing enthusiast uni friends, three of whom have died tragically in similar climbing accidents - one four years before, two others just before the story commences - and it is left to two of those left, Josh (the narrator) and Anna, to try to find out what really happened, especially to the beautiful enigmatic Luce, Josh's former girlfriend and Anna's best friend, whose disappearance and suspected death has not been satisfactorily explained.
Maitland is a terrific writer. The narrative moves at a decent pace; dialogue and characterisation are genrally believable; and the descriptions of a number of the locations, especially Lord Howe Island, where a substantial proportion of the pivotal action takes place, are breathtaking. In fact, it could be said that Lord Howe Island is almost a central character in its own right. I must admit, I would read the descriptions of the characters' climbing escapades wondering why on earth they'd want to do that in the first place, but it is a testament to Maitland's skill that while a substantial portion of the book dealt with an activity that does not interest me (in fact, scares me), I was not put off, but absorbed in the narrative. It is also a very intelligently written novel, raising all sorts of issues: personal and social responsibility, how actions can shape events in ways that could not be anticipated, as well as containing a powerful message about the environment, which, while central to the novel, never reaches the point of being preachy. ***NOTE: while I don't believe the following examples constitute spoilers, look away if you really don't want to know*** On the downside, the novel suffers from its share of "plucky amateur detectives investigate mysterious death" clichés: the deaths being mysterious, for starters; one of the deceased being the ubiquitous beautiful blonde effervescent enigmatic twenty-something who is incredibly beautiful and enigmatic and whom everyone loves, and who (being incredibly beautiful and enigmatic - yes, our narrator makes sure we're in no danger of forgetting this) is almost fetishised after her death; plucky amateurs engage in a spot of breaking and entering after being warned off, at least once; plucky amateur detectives end up putting their own lives in danger at *least* twice ... etc. While these all-too-familiar tropes were a trifle irritating, the quality of the writing saves the story from being formulaic. Overall, it's an entertaining and thought-provoking read, even if I did have a sense of déjà vu in relation to some of the plot elements. 3.5 stars, rounded up to four. (NB: I am Kindle-less, so my edition was a good old-fashioned paperback - it seems only the Kindle edition is listed on this site at present.)
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