When Sydney police department sex crimes detective Harriet Blue is called into her boss’s office, she never imagined it would be to tell her that her brother is the prime suspect in the brutal murders of three women.

Shocked and in denial, Harry is transferred to Perth to avoid the media exposure this case will attract. Harry is sent into the outback – the never never – to investigate the disappearance of mine worker Danny Carter. The mining town is a seedy place, full of money and immoral ways to spend it. As Harry delves deeper into the murky lives of these miners, she finds that Danny isn’t the first to go missing.

My Review

I recently read (well listened to with Borrowbox) The Crimson Lake series, so while Never Never is co-written with James Patterson, I can clearly hear Candice Fox’s voice. But then it’s been years since I read one of Patterson’s books.

Sydney sex crimes detective Harriett (Harry) Blue has just discovered that her brother Sam has been arrested for the kidnap, torture and murder of three women. She’s sure he is innocent though evidence proves otherwise. In order to keep her away from the media circus that is sure to follow, Harry is sent to Perth to assist in the investigation of the disappearance and probable killing of mine worker Danny Carter. Though based in Perth, Harry is sent into the outback known as the ‘never never’.

Her partner is Whit who she believes is spying on her. They even have to share their cramped accommodation. It will take her a while to trust him. I really liked him.

It appears that Danny is not the only one to go missing, but workers come and go all the time and eventually turn up elsewhere. Harry is not convinced.

One of the voices we hear is only referred to as ‘the soldier’ who is picking off the cowards and the traitors. So who is the soldier? Could it be Linbacker in charge of security? The local prostitutes say he shoots and tortures animals. Or Richie who runs the drugs at the mine. Then we have an environmental group who camp nearby and are trying to close the mine.

Harry is a great character – hard, brave and quick-witted. She knows how to fight and can take on any man. I’m not saying I guessed the identity of the soldier – lets just say that – no better not.

I’m looking forward to the next in the series Fifty Fifty which takes us back to Sam in Sydney.

About the Authors

Candice Fox is the middle child of a large, eccentric family from Sydney’s western suburbs composed of half-adopted and pseudo siblings. The daughter of a parole officer and an enthusiastic foster-carer, Candice spent her childhood listening around corners to tales of violence, madness and evil as her father relayed his work stories to her mother and older brothers.

As a cynical and trouble-making teenager, her crime and gothic fiction writing was an escape from the calamity of her home life. She was constantly in trouble for reading Anne Rice in church and scaring her friends with tales from Australia’s wealth of true crime writers.

Bankstown born and bred, she failed to conform to military life in a brief stint as an officer in the Royal Australian Navy at age eighteen. At twenty, she turned her hand to academia, and taught high school through two undergraduate and two postgraduate degrees. Candice lectures in writing at the University of Notre Dame, Sydney, while undertaking a PhD in literary censorship and terrorism.

James Patterson is the most popular storyteller of our time and the creator of such unforgettable characters and series as Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Jane Smith, and Maximum Ride. He has coauthored #1 bestselling novels with Bill Clinton, Dolly Parton, and Michael Crichton, as well as collaborated on #1 bestselling nonfiction, including The Idaho Four, Walk in My Combat Boots, and Filthy Rich. Patterson has told the story of his own life in the #1 bestselling autobiography James Patterson by James Patterson. He is the recipient of an Edgar Award, ten Emmy Awards, the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation, and the National Humanities Medal.