Review, Google Hangout and Giveaway: Hades by Candice Fox

*Copy from The Reading Room for review*

Hades is the debut crime thriller from new Australian author Candice Fox.

Hades owns and lives in a rubbish tip in outer Sydney and is the guy underworld criminals go to when they've made a mistake.  He makes problems and sometimes bodies disappear but his life changes forever when he receives delivery of two bundles for disposal one night.

Despite his vocation and fearsome reputation, Hades is a loveable character, making large animals from scrap metal and watching over those he cares deeply about.

Also joining the cast of characters is Frank, a Detective in the Homicide squad, paired up with Eden who is still grieving the loss of her previous partner in a shooting.  Eden's brother Eric is the office pain-in-the-ass and is a slimy, annoying and dark character most readers will love to hate.  Both Eden and Eric have their secrets and in between chasing a serial killer removing human organs from his victims, Frank is determined to get to the bottom of their dark past.

Hades is a page-turner from the very beginning and the writing feels very sharp and polished.  I later learned from the author (see below) that the manuscript underwent 15 or so edits prior to publishing, and the work really shows.  

I took an odd pleasure in reading about the first crime scene that takes place at Watson's Bay in Sydney, a stones throw from HMAS Watson where I spent many months undergoing navigation training in the Royal Australian Navy.  Turns out Candice Fox also spent a brief time undergoing the same Officer training (many years after me) before leaving the military to eventually become a writer.

Hades can be read as a stand-alone crime thriller although Candice is working on the second in the series to be called Eden and I can't wait to read it.

My rating = ****

Google Hangout with Candice Fox

This week I had the pleasure of participating in a Google Hangout with Candice Fox, hosted and organised by The Reading Room.  Along with three other book bloggers we each took turns asking Candice questions about her book Hades, her writing processes and inspiration.  It was a fantastic discussion and you can watch the clip below or on YouTube here.

Giveaway

I have a (lightly read) copy of Hades by Candice Fox to giveaway, thanks to the folks at The Reading Room.

To enter: Hades is a character who works in a tip in Sydney, and who loves to make animals out of scrap metal.  Which animal would you like Hades to make for you?

Entries close: midnight Valentine's Day, Friday 14th February 2014.

Eligibility: this giveaway is open to those with an Australian postal address only.

Winner: will be chosen by random.org and announced no later than: Sunday 16th February.  The winner has until midnight Friday 21st February to make contact and provide a postal address.

Additional entries: those who Tweet about this giveaway (or RT), sign up to follow Carpe Librum by Google Friend Connect or via email after this post will receive an additional entry in the competition.  (Make sure you mention this in your comment/entry).

Thanks and Carpe Librum!