The Rules of Backyard Cricket (Paperback)

Jock Serong

ISBN 10: 1925355217 / ISBN 13: 9781925355215

Published by Text Publishing, Melbourne, 2016

About this Item

Paperback. A gripping literary crime novel about Australian masculinity, talent, fame and family, in the vein of Peter Temple's Truth.It starts in a suburban backyard with Darren Keefe and his older brother, sons of a fierce and gutsy single mother. The endless glow of summer, the bottomless fury of contest. All the love and hatred in two small bodies poured into the rules of a made-up game.Darren has two big talents: cricket and trouble. No surprise that he becomes an Australian sporting star of the bad-boy variety - one of those men who's always got away with things and just keeps getting. Until the day we meet him, middle aged, in the boot of a car. Gagged, cable-tied, a bullet in his knee. Everything pointing towards a shallow grave.The Rules of Backyard Cricket is a novel of suspense in the tradition of Peter Temple's Truth. With glorious writing harnessed to a gripping narrative, it observes celebrity, masculinity - humanity - with clear-eyed lyricism and exhilarating narrative drive. In this unusual crime thriller, two brothers share a love of cricket and rise to fame but their character differences divide them. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781925355215

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Rules of Backyard Cricket (Paperback)
• Publisher: Text Publishing, Melbourne
• Publication Date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1925355217
• ISBN 13: 9781925355215
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

LONGLISTED FOR THE UK CRIME WRITERS ASSOCIATION STEEL DAGGER AWARD 2017!

‘Serong writes pithy, pin-sharp dialogue…Expertly plotted, and its noirish climax with its dark drama and its final twists, is devastating. Get out and buy this book; it is the best new novel I've read this year’–Crime Time

(UK)

‘There are moments of sheer delight in the boyhood sequences, where sibling rivalry is painted with unerring accuracy by Jock Serong (winner of the Ned Kelly Award for his novel Quota)…A novel of suspense, I heartily recommend it’–Shots Magazine (UK)

‘A story of the love and hate within families, of the failures of masculinity, in a cricket context rendered with technical precision. Brutal, perceptive, uncomfortably funny, occasionally breaking into poetry.’—Geoff Lemon on Rules of Backyard Cricket

‘Funny, sad and oddly touching…also riveting…Beautifully written and acutely observed, The Rules of Backyard Cricket is a noir tour de force…Original Australian crime fiction of the first order.’—Sydney Morning Herald

'Pitch-perfect dialogue, and a strong sense of place…A very engaging, and extremely realistic debut novel.’—Reviewing The Evidence on Quota

A novel of suspense about family, sport, celebrity, rivalry, masculinity and the high price of getting everything you want.

Darren Keefe and his older brother are sons of a fierce and gutsy single mother. Darren has two big talents: cricket and trouble. No surprise that he becomes an Australian sporting star of the bad-boy variety— one of those men who’s always got away with things and just keeps getting.

Until the day we meet him, middle aged, in the boot of a car. Gagged, cable-tied, a bullet in his knee. Everything pointing towards a shallow grave.

Narrated by Darren from the boot of a car on his way to what's sure to be his own murder, this ambitious literary work is impossible to put down. Reads like literary fiction, grips like a thriller.

Jock Serong lives and works on the southwest coast of Victoria. Formerly a lawyer, he is now a features writer, and editor of Great Ocean Quarterly. His debut, Quota, won the 2015 Ned Kelly Award for Best First Crime Novel.

About the Author

Jock Serong lives and works on the far southwest coast of Victoria. He is an attorney and features writer, and is the editor of Great Ocean Quarterly. He is married with four children. His first novel, Quota, won the 2015 Ned Kelly Award for Best First Crime Novel.