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'You would have to wonder why a Rhodes Scholar, a VC winner and a Commissioner of Police named his son Frank E. R. Stein by way of a ha-ha ‘monstrous joke’… or why he cackled derision every time his eyes lit upon the boy; or why he showered more affection on his adopted son, Costas, the otherwise offspring of a Mr Bigs of organized crime. And as the well is so poisoned such is the quest Frank Stein must make to seek revenge for the gangland killing of his crusading crime-fighting half-brother. At least it is a way to presuppose the kingpins presumably coming for him too; after all, even as a joke, it’s not how you bow out, but how you get stuck in. Rape, assassination, shocking intrusions of a vicious crime world… it’s all there for a tragic and hilarious story to unfold before Frank Stein, assisted(?) by his own side comprising of a woman in search of an international bestseller and an indigenous brother who survives writing sports reports without going to any games when all he needs is a deaf, dumb and blind rich white sort to tide him over. And, yes, haunting over all is a shadowy guardian Chinese toughie, as well as his ubiquitous father from his wheelchair. One has to ask: what have the famous father’s shocking WW1 experiences to do with the resulting mayhem? What has be done to his sons? What did the Nip bullet the old boy finally coughed up after forty years look like, even as a metaphor? Underlying the rich gallery of these and other grotesques, there are the wit and the pace and the bawdry of Crooks. In the real-life crime parlance of ‘a pushover to put down’, this book won’t disappoint crime buffs. ' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Untitled
1989
single work
review
— Appears in: The Good Reading Guide 1989; (p. 229-230)
— Review of Crooks 1984 single work novel -
Crooks and Bombmongers
1985
single work
review
— Appears in: The CRNLE Reviews Journal , no. 2 1985; (p. 22-24)
— Review of Crooks 1984 single work novel ; The Bomb-Monger's Daughter 1984 single work novel -
Intellectual Confrontation
1985
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 70 1985; (p. 21-22)
— Review of Crooks 1984 single work novel -
The Sullen Novelists : New Australian Fiction
1985
single work
review
— Appears in: Quadrant , March vol. 29 no. 3 1985; (p. 77-79)
— Review of The Island 1984 single work novel ; Shallows 1984 single work novel ; Crooks 1984 single work novel ; Milk and Honey : A Novel 1984 single work novel ; Bearded Ladies : Stories 1984 selected work short story poetry ; The Man Who Stayed Below 1984 single work novel ; Last Ferry to Manly 1984 single work novel ; The Chinaman 1984 single work novel -
Novel With a Touch of Eccentric Brilliance
1984
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 8 December 1984; (p. 18)
— Review of Crooks 1984 single work novel
-
Crooks and Bombmongers
1985
single work
review
— Appears in: The CRNLE Reviews Journal , no. 2 1985; (p. 22-24)
— Review of Crooks 1984 single work novel ; The Bomb-Monger's Daughter 1984 single work novel -
The Sullen Novelists : New Australian Fiction
1985
single work
review
— Appears in: Quadrant , March vol. 29 no. 3 1985; (p. 77-79)
— Review of The Island 1984 single work novel ; Shallows 1984 single work novel ; Crooks 1984 single work novel ; Milk and Honey : A Novel 1984 single work novel ; Bearded Ladies : Stories 1984 selected work short story poetry ; The Man Who Stayed Below 1984 single work novel ; Last Ferry to Manly 1984 single work novel ; The Chinaman 1984 single work novel -
Watery Worst Brings Out Best Writing
1984
single work
review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 4 December vol. 106 no. 5445 1984; (p. 77-78)
— Review of The Man Who Stayed Below 1984 single work novel ; Crooks 1984 single work novel -
Novel With a Touch of Eccentric Brilliance
1984
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 8 December 1984; (p. 18)
— Review of Crooks 1984 single work novel -
Intellectual Confrontation
1985
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 70 1985; (p. 21-22)
— Review of Crooks 1984 single work novel
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