Reviewed by Harold Bernard
A captive woman, a lover betrayed, an idealistic journalist.
Three women - their fates strangely aligned by a killer obsessed with retribution. Melbourne Spotlight journalist Kim Prescott is promoted to the TV reporting staff after the program's expose of the Tugga's Mob murders in Australia and New Zealand was a ratings bonanza.
The TV show's high profile now attracts stories. One anonymous tip-off will horrify the nation all over again. Despite the scandal that nearly closed the greyhound racing industry, it seems live baiting is still going on. The trail leads Kim and her camera crew to the Victorian gold-mining ghost town of Steiglitz. They find horrific scenes at a trainer's starting boxes - but not at all what they expect.
Meanwhile, production assistant Jo becomes the pawn of an activist with a vendetta, testing whether her loyalty lies with him or her current affairs team. And, most desperate of all, hope finally flickers for a woman who scratches the record of her captivity into a cellar wall..
This story is set amid the greyhound racing scene in Melbourne. It is full of action involving murder with a chainsaw, poisonous snakes, bodies crammed into greyhound starting boxes, the activities of a TV investigative journalist crew, and a prisoner scratching a record of the passing days on the wall of her prison. The scenario is complicated by a protest group seeking to end greyhound racing.
Kim Prescott, a reporter for the Spotlight, receives an anonymous tipoff that live baiting is still occurring in Melbourne, so she and crew go to the old gold mining town of Steiglitz, hoping to find evidence. What they do find crammed into a greyhound starting box is a body savagely butchered with a chainsaw. Other murders take place as the story unfolds.
The book shows the inner workings of a news office in the Melbourne television industry, on one hand and the characters who make up the dog racing fraternity on the other. It shows a close knowledge of the greyhound racing industry, Melbourne and the surrounding district.
The author uses short chapters, rapidly changing scenes, and characters that develop as the story builds to a climax. The story is very fast paced and contains a lot of detail forcing me to pay close attention to the book. I liked the book and would recommend it to all..
This review was first published in FlaxFlower reviews, which focuses on in-depth reviews of New Zealand books of all kinds, and is reprinted here with the kind permission of Flaxflower founder and editor Bronwyn Elsmore.
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