Category Archives: Garry Disher

Pre-orders open for my new novel, Orphan Road

Posted on April 25, 2023 by Andrew Nette| Leave a comment

Just a quick heads up to let you know that you can now pre-order my new crime novel, Orphan Road.

You can order it from the publisher, Down and Out Books. It is also available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

For pre-order information, check out this link. You should also be able to order it through your local bookstore, closer to the date.

Orphan Road is a sequel of sorts to my last novel, Gunshine State.

The pitch is as follows:

Gary Chance is an ex-Australian army driver and nightclub bouncer turned professional thief and
in need of a job. An offer comes from a former employer, once notorious Melbourne social
identity, now aging owner of a failing S&M club, Vera Leigh.

A shadowy real estate developer is trying to squeeze Leigh out of a rapidly gentrifying city. But she has a rescue plan that involves one of Australia’s biggest heists, Melbourne’s Great Bookie Robbery. On April 21, 1976, a well organised gang stole as much as three million dollars, a fortune at the time, from a Melbourne bookmakers club. The money was never recovered. No one was ever charged. And everyone associated with the crime has since died, either by natural causes or violently.

Leigh maintains that money was not the only thing stolen that day.… Read more

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Posted in Australian crime fiction, Australian crime film, Australian noir, Garry Disher, Gunshine State, Heist films

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Book Review: Australian crime anthology and First Nations science fiction

Posted on September 11, 2022 by Andrew Nette| 1 Comment

Is it just me or is there definitely a renewed local interest in short story collections? There seems to be a few more of them being published than is normally the case and I am particularly interested in two that have come across my radar: Dark Deeds Down Under, an anthology of crime fiction edited by Craig Sisterson and This All Come Back Now, a new anthology of first nations speculative fiction, edited by Mykaela Saunders.

First up, Dark Deeds Down Under. The interesting selling point of this book is that it contains 19 crime fiction stories from Australian and New Zealand authors, some well-known, others not so much. As is the case with every anthology not every tale did it for me but there were far more hits than misses, which is unusual. I just want to briefly note the highlights in the collection for me.

Aoife Clifford’s ‘Summer of the Seventeenth Poll’ felt very much in the spirit of TV shows such as In the Thick of It, in its depiction of a political spinner who job sees them stumble across a murder, and the story has a real sting in the tail. No surprises that ‘The Cook’ by possibly my favourite Australian crime writer, David Whish-Wilson, was a terrific yarn about an ex-con speed cook and the troubled relationship he has with his son.… Read more

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Posted in Australian crime fiction, Australian noir, Black pulp fiction, Book Reviews, Crime fiction, David Whish-Wilson, Garry Disher, Horror, Science fiction and fantasy

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Being influenced by your favourite crime writer

Posted on March 16, 2018 by Andrew Nette| Leave a comment

As regular readers of this site will know, my second novel, Gunshine State, has recently been re-released.

To mark the occasion, the fine folks at my publisher, Down and Out Books, asked me to stop by their site and say a few works about the book.

Gunshine State has a number of literary influences. I am a big fan of the Crissa Stone books by Wallace Stroby and Australian writer Garry Disher’s Wyatt books. But my most obvious inspiration—and probably my desert island series—is the character of the master thief Parker, created by Richard Stark aka Donald Westlake.

For my post for the Down and Out Books site, I decided to talk about the very fine line between being influenced by your favourite crime writers and falling into a straight out pastiche or imitation. Doing the former without plunging into latter is something I was very conscious of, as I was writing Gunshine State – my attempt to do an Australian take on the heist gone wrong story – and the follow up, which I am currently in the midst of, Orphan Road.

The piece is available to read in full here.

And, if you are after a good weekend read, Gunshine State is available in all formats here.… Read more

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Posted in Crime fiction, Garry Disher, Gunshine State, Heist films, Jim Brown, Lee Marvin, Parker

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Advance orders (& advance praise) for Gunshine State

Posted on June 20, 2016 by Andrew Nette| 10 Comments

Gunshine StateA quick heads up to Pulp Curry readers that pre-orders are open on Amazon for my second novel, Gunshine State, out through the crime fiction publisher 280 Steps on September 12.

For those of you who are up with things, Gunshine State is a heist thriller set in Queensland, Melbourne and Thailand. Think Richard Stark’s Parker, Garry Disher’s Wyatt, and Wallace Stroby’s Crissa Stone.

Here’s the pitch from the 280 Steps website:

‘Gary Chance is a former Australian army driver, ex-bouncer and thief. His latest job sees him in Queensland working for Dennis Curry, an aging Surfers Paradise standover man. Curry runs off-site, non-casino poker games, and wants to rob one of his best customers, a high roller called Frederick ‘Freddie’ Gao.

While the job may seem straightforward, Curry’s crew is anything but. Frank Dormer is a secretive former Australian soldier turned private security contractor. Sophia Lekakis is a highly-strung receptionist at the hotel where Gao stays when he visits Surfers. Amber is Curry’s attractive female housemate and part of the lure for Gao. Chance knows he can’t trust anyone, but nothing prepares him for what unfolds when Curry’s plan goes wrong.’

For those of you who do such things, review copies of Gunshine State are available from the Edelweiss site here.… Read more

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Posted in Australian noir, David Whish-Wilson, Garry Disher, Gunshine State, Leigh Redhead, Wallace Stroby

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Cover reveal: Gunshine State

Posted on February 10, 2016 by Andrew Nette| Leave a comment

Gunshine StateI’m thrilled to be able to show you the cover for my second novel, Gunshine State, out this September from the wonderful folks at 280 Steps.

Gunshine State is a heist thriller set in Melbourne, Queensland and Thailand. Think Richard Stark’s Parker, Garry Disher’s Wyatt, and Wallace Stroby’s Crissa Stone. Add a touch of Surfers Paradise sleaze and a very dangerous stopover in Asia.

Here’s the elevator pitch:

Gary Chance is a former Australian army driver, ex-bouncer and thief. His latest job sees him in Queensland working for Dennis Curry, an aging Surfers Paradise standover man. Curry runs off-site, non-casino poker games, and wants to rob one of his best customers, a high roller called Frederick ‘Freddie’ Gao.

While the job may seem straightforward, Curry’s crew is anything but. Frank Dormer is a secretive former Australian soldier turned private security contractor. Sophia Lekakis is a highly-strung receptionist at the hotel where Gao stays when he visits Surfers. Amber is Curry’s attractive female housemate and part of the lure for Gao. Chance knows he can’t trust anyone, but nothing prepares him for what unfolds when Curry’s plan goes wrong.

The novel has already had some good advance praise from authors I admire with, I hope more to come:

“A tense, fast-moving, vividly-drawn thriller.”… Read more

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Posted in Asian noir, Australian crime fiction, David Whish-Wilson, Garry Disher, Gunshine State

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