Meh.... ( )

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book pre-publication in exchange for a fair review.

The second Caleb Zelic novel picks up the story of the deaf detective from Viskic's debut Resurrection Bay. I strongly recommend reading these books in order, as the second book totally assumes that you've read the first.

In this outing, Caleb is accosted in the street by a frightened woman who is seeking his help. Pursued by a mysterious stranger, she steps into the traffic and is killed. Caleb has no idea who she is, or why she sought him out. Haunted by her desperation, he is driven to investigate, which eventually leads him back to Resurrection Bay.

The Bay is in the grip of a heat wave and seething with seemingly race-motivated attacks. In true style, Caleb stomps around this minefield and brings down a world of trouble, both for him and for others.

Caleb is one of those crime novel heroes that I warm to; comprehensively messed up and struggling to deal with life as well as crime-solving. I probably did not enjoy this one quite as much as Resurrection Bay, mainly because Viskic had Caleb doing a few extraordinarily stupid things, which didn't ring true. That said, it had a very pacy plot with an ending that surprised me. I'll certainly be sticking with this series. ( )

The mark of a good detective novel for me is the characters - they have to carry the story and not just solve the crime. Caleb Zelic and the small town community of Resurrection Bay are written so well that I feel like I know them, even after a reading gap of three years between books! The dialogue is excellent too, with that classic dry Aussie wit, especially between Caleb and his brother Ant.

Someone sends a young woman to seek Caleb's help in Melbourne but before he can find out the cause of her obvious fear, she is chased into the road by another man and killed. The only clue to her identity is a train ticket bought in Caleb's hometown of Resurrection Bay, where he finds more trouble brewing - could the young woman's death be connected to the vandalism and arson in the Koori community?

'You ruin everything you touch.'

I love Caleb, as I said, but he is ridiculously foolhardy! He spends half of the story walking straight into trouble, or risking the lives of others. His antics further the plot, of course, but crawling through a dog door into a thug's house, breaking into a meth lab and then fronting up to a biker gang just left me shaking my head while reading. No wonder estranged wife Kat tries to call off their tentative reunion. I'm not sure I really followed why Caleb was constantly throwing himself into so much danger either, until the plot was wrapped up in the final chapters.

The 'hook' of the series is that Caleb is deaf and needs to lip read when talking to witnesses or suspects, who either talk too fast, cover their faces or have physical impediments like beards or Botox! I really enjoy the insights into the deaf community and also the Koori 'family' in Resurrection Bay, which Caleb is linked to through Kat. Emma Viskic fills the story with lots of believable detail that really brings the characters to life.

I will definitely return to the Bay in book three, and hopefully soon! ( )

Caleb hat seine Joggingrunde fast hinter sich, als eine verzweifelte Frau seine Hilfe sucht. Doch Caleb versteht sie nicht richtig, da er seine Hörgeräte nicht dabeihat und er in der Dunkelheit nicht von den Lippen lesen kann. Wenig später ist die Frau tot. Caleb will wissen, warum sie sterben musste und stellt Nachforschungen an.
Dies ist bereits der zweite Band um den gehörlosen Ermittler Caleb Zelic. Den Vorgängerband habe ich allerdings nicht gelesen, aber dennoch konnte ich mich gut in die Geschichte hineinfinden.
Da es gleich heftig losgeht und damit die Spannung aufgebaut ist, hat mich dieser Thriller gleich gepackt.
Caleb Zelic ist ein sympathischer Ermittler, der mit seinem Handikap meist gut zurechtkommt, aber natürlich gibt es dadurch auch Probleme. Aber Caleb lässt sich dadurch nicht beirren und verfolgt seinen Weg weiter. Damit bringt er aber nicht nur sich in Gefahr, sondern auch die Menschen, an denen ihm viel liegt. Mir gefallen auch die Dialoge mit seinem Bruder sehr gut. Dadurch kommt eine humorvolle Komponente in diesen Thriller.
Australien hat es mir sowieso angetan und ich habe mich schon viel mit den Hintergründen beschäftigt. Daher sind mir auch die Konflikte der Aborigines mit der weißen Bevölkerung nicht unbekannt. Allerdings ist dieses Thema noch vielschichtiger, als hier dargestellt.
Es gibt immer wieder Wendungen, die dafür sorgen, dass die Spannung hoch bleibt.
Mir hat dieser spannende Thriller mit einem ungewöhnlichen Ermittler gut gefallen. ( )

And Fire Came Down by Emma Viskic is the second in the Australian crime series featuring Caleb Zelic. Deaf since childhood, Caleb is still recovering from the events in Resurrection Bay. His private investigation business is a mess, his relationships are strained and he's struggling with nightmares and flashbacks. Then a young woman tracks him down and begs for his help.

He begins to investigate and with a little help from Tedesco (my favourite character in the series) he stars to uncover a string of crimes in his hometown of Resurrection Bay.

Occasionally the second in a series can fall short of the first, but this definitely isn't the case here. In fact, I'd go so far as to say And Fire Came Down was better than Resurrection Bay. The plot was more engaging and complex, the tension was tighter, the danger was greater and the writing was better.

Caleb's hearing difficulty and use of sign language with several of the characters is my favourite part of this series. Caleb's relationship with his brother Ant was another aspect of the book I really enjoyed and I hope they work things out.

I'm really glad to have caught up with the series and look forward to following Caleb into recently published Darkness for Light. Highly recommended for fans of Australian crime.

* Copy courtesy of Echo Publishing * ( )