The absolutely electrifying Australian crime novel ‘The Tell’ by Martin Chatterton weaves a wickedly satisfying tale of Raze Tanic, an upper-class Sydney student whose family-run an illustrious crime ring in the heart of the Australian city. Raze has everything he could ever want, except the relationship with his father, who has been jailed in a maximum-security prison for his misdemeanours. When his father manages to escape, Raze is thrown into a whirlwind investigation to track him down, and foil his plans to cause damage to Sydney’s entirety. Along the way, he will come into contact with several of his father’s friends and enemies, all of whom have their own agendas and motives. With his close-knit friends, Tanic takes charge to avenge his family members, and battles with the dilemma of saving his family, or saving his home.
This novel was a pure delight. As a reader, I do enjoy reading crime novels quite a lot (‘The Girl on the Train, ‘Sharp Objects’ and ‘The Woman in the Window’, just to name a few), but it is a rare occurrence to find a crime novel that centres around a child as opposed to an adult. This deviation from the traditional narrator for this genre of the story was as refreshing as it was innovated, and I feel as though its simplistic writing style–which aligns with the mental age of the child–lent itself to the plot in a way that was masterful, to say the least. Raze is a thoroughly likeable character, and has dilemmas that demonstrate this. I felt that this novel aptly explored the dilemma of two deviating parties (in this case, protect family, or the rest of the city), and did so in a way that endears readers to the characters, a feat which some protagonists fail to achieve.
I feel as though this novel will appeal well to Australian audiences. The setting of the novel in Sydney, NSW made me feel a sense of closeness to the narrative because of how familiar I was with the sights and setting. However, I do feel as though the novel’s effect could be lost in translation for international audiences. That being said, I fully commend Chatterton for grounding his novel within the Australian idealisms that Australian literature has adopted over the course of our history. While the story did use colloquialisms and descriptions which are fundamentally Australian, I feel as though the novel would act as a great bridging for younger audiences to be introduced to the medium that is crime fiction because of its centralized adjacency to our everyday lives.
This novel was wonderful, and blended humour with hard-packed action and adventure, while also tapping into much darker themes in increasing severity. With its self-aware writing for the correct target audience, Chatterton’s novel will, hopefully, become a staple in Australian children’s crime.
‘The Gilded Ones’, an action-packed new fantasy series from début author Namina Forna, follows the story of a young female named Deka, who lives in the West-African-inspired society of Otera, …
Acclaimed writer Bill Bennett unearths a new satisfyingly dark and entertaining series in ‘Palace of Fires’. The debut novel in the series–‘Initiate’–follows the story of Lily Lennox, a teenage girl …
GHOST BIRD follows the tale of Aboriginal twins Laney and Stacey, who grew up in their lower-middle-class rural Australian town. Their idyllic life, however, is thrown for a curveball when …
The Wishing Spell follows twin siblings Alex and Conner Bailey, who grew up with fairy tales read to them by their grandmother. But when Alex and Conner are magically transported …
Highway Bodies is the second novel from Australian author Alison Evans after their debut novel Ida, which received a mixed opinion from readers, reviewers and critics. Set to be released …
Take Three Girls is the collaborative effort of YA writers Cath Crowley, Fiona Wood and Simone Howell. It follows the lives of three boarding school girls as they find themselves [...]
Book Review – The Tell by Martin Chatterton
This novel was a pure delight. As a reader, I do enjoy reading crime novels quite a lot (‘The Girl on the Train, ‘Sharp Objects’ and ‘The Woman in the Window’, just to name a few), but it is a rare occurrence to find a crime novel that centres around a child as opposed to an adult. This deviation from the traditional narrator for this genre of the story was as refreshing as it was innovated, and I feel as though its simplistic writing style–which aligns with the mental age of the child–lent itself to the plot in a way that was masterful, to say the least. Raze is a thoroughly likeable character, and has dilemmas that demonstrate this. I felt that this novel aptly explored the dilemma of two deviating parties (in this case, protect family, or the rest of the city), and did so in a way that endears readers to the characters, a feat which some protagonists fail to achieve.
I feel as though this novel will appeal well to Australian audiences. The setting of the novel in Sydney, NSW made me feel a sense of closeness to the narrative because of how familiar I was with the sights and setting. However, I do feel as though the novel’s effect could be lost in translation for international audiences. That being said, I fully commend Chatterton for grounding his novel within the Australian idealisms that Australian literature has adopted over the course of our history. While the story did use colloquialisms and descriptions which are fundamentally Australian, I feel as though the novel would act as a great bridging for younger audiences to be introduced to the medium that is crime fiction because of its centralized adjacency to our everyday lives.
This novel was wonderful, and blended humour with hard-packed action and adventure, while also tapping into much darker themes in increasing severity. With its self-aware writing for the correct target audience, Chatterton’s novel will, hopefully, become a staple in Australian children’s crime.
RATINGS:
Plot: 8/10
Writing: 10/10
Characters: 9.25/10
OVERALL: 8/10
Related Posts
Book Review – The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna
‘The Gilded Ones’, an action-packed new fantasy series from début author Namina Forna, follows the story of a young female named Deka, who lives in the West-African-inspired society of Otera, …
Book Review – Initiate (Palace of Fires #1) by Bill Bennett
Acclaimed writer Bill Bennett unearths a new satisfyingly dark and entertaining series in ‘Palace of Fires’. The debut novel in the series–‘Initiate’–follows the story of Lily Lennox, a teenage girl …
Book Review – Ghost Bird by Lisa Fuller
GHOST BIRD follows the tale of Aboriginal twins Laney and Stacey, who grew up in their lower-middle-class rural Australian town. Their idyllic life, however, is thrown for a curveball when …
Book Review – The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer
The Wishing Spell follows twin siblings Alex and Conner Bailey, who grew up with fairy tales read to them by their grandmother. But when Alex and Conner are magically transported …
Book Review – Highway Bodies by Alison Evans
Highway Bodies is the second novel from Australian author Alison Evans after their debut novel Ida, which received a mixed opinion from readers, reviewers and critics. Set to be released …
Take Three Girls – by Cath Crowley, Simmone Howell & Fiona Wood