Bad Debts: A Jack Irish Thriller, Book 1 Audiobook (Unabridged)

" A world-class crime thriller that just happens to be set in Melbourne and reads like literary fiction interspersed with instances of foul local vernacular. Grimly hilarious. "

" Earthy loner of a character that was very believable. "

" I'm not sure what drew me to this book, I did like the Melbourne feel to it but I often lost interest in the horse racing and the wood making and it certainly had the potential to be a little more steamy than it was. "

" Geeze, Temple is good. I mean, this is no Broken Shore, and has all his usual 'way too many coincidences' problems. And what's with his obsession with street-kid-porn? But damn he writes a likeable protagonist. Is there anyone who wouldn't like Jack Irish? I just love the way Temple writes dialogue and describes things. I'd love to see him write some not-crime, cause really, I don't care much for crime. Anyway, read this in two days. Just couldn't stop. "

" (3.5 / 5) Melbourne noir... that was what I loved most about the book. Set around my old haunts, I felt like I was back there. Temple is very good at evoking time and place, but the mystery itself gets bogged down a little bit in the middle but once that was passed the book picked up again. Definitely moving on to book two. "

" Well written but a very obvious plot and yet another world-weary, crumpled old private eye who happens to attract the sexy woman and solve the case. Yawn. "

" Oh. Delightful! Austrailian investigator/former defense atty. with a rough past. Some hilarious, incomprehensible horse racing / gambling scenes, but great characters, good story, very good writing. "

" This was a good read - Light but engaging. A holiday book. "

" Temple has won all the big mystery prizes in Australia and this book was finally published in the USA last year. An excellent book filled with great Aussie characters. "

" good choice by Mike. right up my street. could hear the local twang in the dialogue and once i figured out what was happening at the races and with the youth club, i couild relax and enjoy. "

" The dry wit in the writing makes this a cut-above crime novel. And, it's even more fun for we Yanks who have gotten to wander about Melbourne, AU where this takes place. "

" Entertaining. Might possibly read others in the series if nothing else interests me more at the time. "

" I really enjoyed this book, the writing style is different from most thrillers/crime/mystery novels I have read. Unmistakeably Australian and brilliant for it! "

" It was pretty boring to read. "

" Australian noir. Sounds good, right? So why was this so dull? Maybe it was me. "

" Decent thriller but not as well written as his later books and the horse racing chapters are boring as hell. "

" Meh. The racing subplot was confusing. "

" I liked it enough to try the second in this series though not immediately. The protagonist, Jack Irish, is good but the references to horse racing and gambling were incomprehensible to me. "

" I love books with a strong sense of place and character. This has both and more. "

" Another classic Temple! Cant wait to read the next Jack Irish books. "

" I love books set in my city and this one does Melbourne very well. A little like a macho Sara Paretsky, the book takes on the corrupt developers and pollies. "

" Set in Melbourne & surrounds. Good pace. Offbeat & likeable character. VERY Melbourne! "

" Great to read a book set in contemporary Melbourne. Peter Temple writes great crime fiction, and I love the dialogue. "

" The Jack Irish Trilogy (This was the first)are are entertaining read. Love that it is set in Melbourne and surrounds....one of those books I lend to people! "

" The first novel of a very well regarded Australian noir writer. Was decent but a bit much discussion by characters regarding exposition. Too much tell rather than show tho I will probably try another. "