Frank Calder, ex-soldier, ex-policeman, aspiring horticulturist, is employed as a mediator. We first meet him departing from established mediation practice, about to dispense "a solid kick up the arse" to a big man with a neck brace and a wronged wife. It’s an encounter that leaves him (and us) thinking about life, about "how the wide vista of childhood shrinks to a passage in Footscray with a man in a plastic neck brace charging at you".

The story of Shooting Star is at its heart simple, although many twists and complications are wrapped around it which require reader concentration. A teenager, Anne Carson, has been kidnapped from a music store after school. The girl’s family is extremely rich, and eager to comply with the ransom demand in the light of a similar experience 10 years ago, when another woman from the same family, Alice, was also kidnapped. On that occasion, the family turned to the police despite being told not to by the villains, and had regretted it. This time, determined not to mess about, they call upon Frank Calder, an ex-cop and ex-soldier.

Shooting Star is Peter Temple’s fourth book and his second Ned Kelly Award winner from the Australian Crime Writer’s Association. This is his second standalone novel, though Frank Calder shares some characteristics with both earlier (Jack Irish) and later (Joe Cashin) Temple protagonists. His main theme in this novel the corrosive effect of money and power – and, once more, he delivers an emotionally sensitive, credible, edge-of-the-seat read.

It doesn't get much better than this. ( )

As an Australian I'm embarrassed that I discovered this Aussie author only recently. His writing is sparse, tense with interesting characterisations - this is the second book of PT I have read & I find I get drawn into his novels. PT has won many awards as a crime writer. Shooting Star is about the kidnapping of a member of a high profile wealthy family. Highly recommended. ( )

Loved it. Even better than the award Winning Broken Shore. Couldn't put it down. ( )

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/node/... ( )