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.
Angel Mage–written by Australian high fantasy laureate Garth Nix–introduces readers to the city of Ystara, a land in which angels, demons, musketeers and magicians all live among one another. Throughout the land, skilled individuals enchant and produce icons, which have the power to summon specific angels to aid with daily tasks and civil battles with …
Jakob Wegelius’ middle-grade novel The Murderer’s Ape tells the story of Sally Jones, an anthropomorphic gorilla working closely with a man known as ‘The Chief.’ Together, the two journey all around the coastlines and rivers of Europe and its surrounding areas aboard a grand sailing ship known as the Hudson Queen. When a midnight expedition …
With the arrival of the new Netflix series, now is a perfect time to sink your teeth into Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. This series is unique and one of my favourites; Snicket’s narration is satirical, morbid and hilarious all at once, and although he will warn you many times that the books …
Cally Black’s In The Dark Spaces is an immersive sci-fi thriller that features some incredible aliens and insightful thoughts on human nature. While it’s full of action and danger, the heart of the story revolves around family, morality, communication, and love in all its forms. Exposition is scarce, but this works in the book’s favour. [...]
Melissa Keil’s The Secret Science of Magic is a unique and compelling twist on the typical romance novel. Shift away from the typical “quirky” star-crossed lover archetypes, Keil has created the kind of relatable and complex character that exist in real life, but rarely ever play a starring role in the media. Sophia is so …
April Genevieve Tucholke’s high fantasy novel, The Boneless Mercies, sweeps the reader into a deeply evocative world that grants a feminist take on classic tales inspired by Norse mythology. A retelling of Beowulf, the story follows a band of young women called the Boneless Mercies as they abandon the life they knew and travel the …
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
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