Chris UhlmannBesprekingen

So so political thriller set in Canberra. Probably won't continue with this series.

Australian readers will easily identify the characters here and even though it is a work of fiction, there are many truths in this book. However, best to take it at face value and enjoy the twists and turns. Life in politics is never dull, it seems. Or life as a political journo. Lots of interesting moral questions too, if you want to go deeper.

An enjoyable read, light enough for the plane yet interesting enough to keep the pages turning. Certainly for Australian readers, there will be plenty of moments when you wonder - "did this really happen?"

Couldn't get into this one - too political for me. Would be more interesting to people living in Canberra, who knew the references. A lot of product placement.

I found this a mixed bag. So here goes:
The GOOD: Looking for all the allusions to real people is fun. Some of them leap off the pages: others are very subtle.
The pace is fast. Short chapters. Multiple plots lines, but enough switching so you don't lose track (mostly). Feels made-for-TV.
The BAD: If you have a reasonable knowledge of Aussie politics, it's easy to feel patronised by explanations. Admittedly, this represents a difficult choice for the authors. If they assume greater knowledge, doubtless they make the book less accessible to a wider audience.
It's too long. I reached a point abut 80% of the way through where I just wanted to speed read to the end.
The end then leaves you wanting. A sequel?

Reading the first book in this series - THE MARMALADE FILES - was a laugh out loud experience, what with scheming Foreign Ministers, dumped Prime Ministers scheming revenge and ... well you name scheming in recent Federal Politics and there will be a version of that in these books.

A series that might work best for followers of Australian Federal Politics, THE MANDARIN CODE continues dredging the depths of the ridiculousness laid bare in that first book. Because of that much of the humour is slightly more subdued here - unless you've not read the first book of course. Mind you, it won't require a close following of the Canberra goings on to realise that this Foreign Minister is recognisable, even with locked in syndrome. Despite only being able to communicate by blinking, electronic messaging therefore, that's not going to stop her, rising Lazarus-like, controlling and generally being a pain in the rear for a Prime Minister under pressure from all sides.

Many of the reasons why this Prime Minister is under pressure are of his own making - the sense of desperation and craziness is palpable and the schemes dreamed up sufficiently insane as to be utterly believable. The interference of foreign powers, the likelihood of foreign spies, even the building of embassies with foreign labour, and obviously nefarious intent, well it's funny in one way and rather sobering in another. In fact, that's probably the whole point of these books. Whilst we're giggling away at the sheer lunacy of politics, the idiocy of politician's behaviour and the insanity of their beliefs and missions, we really should also be squirming - a lot.

If you are a follower of politics then there's a strong chance you'll have a lot of success working out who is who and what real-life scenario they're actually talking about. Even with that keen interest, a bit of search engine exercising might be required to double check - some of these events are just crazy enough to make you wonder if you're imagining remembering. Given that all of the elements this reader checked, there wasn't one that the real-life parallel wasn't identifiable really makes you sit back and think a bit. Could it really be that real-life can be turned into a thriller, with events that just seem straight out of the pages of a comic spy novel? Yep. Seems so.

Having said that there are connections to real life everywhere, if you wanted to read this as purely fictional, as one of those mad, crazy political thrillers there's a great sense of humour, of the absurd and ridiculous - it would work as fun fiction as well. Sadly.

Combine the reality of no matter how bizarre you think politics can get, they can do more; with the insidiousness of cyber threats; and it came as no surprise that THE MANDARIN CODE wasn't as laugh out loud funny as the first book. It's certainly as ironic, telling and sharp. Maybe it's because the world it's sending up is a much more sobering place that there's enough here to make you laugh, but more to make you think, squirm and put your head in your hands and sigh a lot.

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-mandarin-code-steve-lewis-chris-uh...

Each of the shortish chapters in this novel is headed with a date, starting with June 16 2011, but the reader soon discovers these chapters are not sequential although there is a logic to them. Eventually this sent me to pen and paper to try to make sure I understood the time line.

We begin with Harry Dunkley, press gallery veteran in the National Parliament in Canberra being given a photo that is about 30 years old. He quickly identifies the Cabinet minister who is centre stage but who are the others? Later on the same day Catriona Bailey, once Labour Prime Minister, but now the Foreign Minister, has a very public stroke on national television.

So Labour's Toohey government, already an unpopular minority government hanging on by a thread, and predicted to lose the next election, begins a downward spiral. Can things get any worse?

THE MARMALADE FILES is political satire rather than strictly crime fiction, although crimes, including a murder, are committed. There's a quirky humour from beginning to end, and certainly connections to current Australian politics, even if events have been warped and names changed.

For me, a fascinating read from beginning to end, although the ending strained my sense of credibility.

I'm not sure that THE MARMALADE FILES will have much appeal outside Australia but in case you do want to look for it, try Amazon (Kindle) or the publisher.

One of the biggest problems with the blanding out of Australian Federal politics and society is that Political Satire seems to have disappeared around the back, probably mugged by some idiot with a bias obsession. Well that is until THE MARMALADE FILES where I cannot begin to tell you how excited I was to finally find something to laugh about coming out of Canberra. In an amused way, not that panicked titter that escapes when you realise that the idiot on the telly who just said what they said may actually be believed by someone out there...

As a political junkie I will admit to being somewhat predisposed to love THE MARMALADE FILES simply because of some of the opening cracks. It really didn't hurt that it's obviously fact wrapped up in fiction, with the names changed to protect the innocent (for the nanosecond it takes for you to replace the fictional name with the true life name). Well, it didn't hurt until there were aspects of the plot that got a bit too real, too feasible for comfort mind you. What with a dumped Prime Minister / Foreign Minister with a control fetish right down to refusing to die when everything physical had shut down.... A Defence Minister in bucket loads of trouble over his relationship with a Chinese Spy... And a Liberal Leader well entangled in a Finance Department plot to down the Prime Minister. There are other characters who are so magnificently real that you just know, somewhere deep in the bowels of Canberra Society, there are some press secretaries and intelligence analysts that aren't going to be buying Uhlmann and Lewis a drink anytime soon... then again, maybe it's a badge of honour to get a gig in a book like this. It should be. It's hilarious.

Whilst THE MARMALADE FILES is definitely more on the satire side than a straight-forward thriller, it sets a cracking pace. You have to wonder whether the authors have gotten themselves caught in the 24 hour media vortex and simply can't let go. Regardless of how or why, or what the book is, this was a fantastic read, although I think those who are less interested in politics as a spectator sport might not see the glorious wonder of some of the in-jokes and references. Now, whenever anything, no matter how normal or how odd, occurs in Canberra's political halls, all I'm going to be wondering is how these two are going to spin that into the next book.

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/marmalade-files-steve-lewis-chris-uhlmann

This book seems to be fact wrapped up as fiction. Something which only Australians will realise or understand. I don't think that it will be a big seller overseas.

An Australian political journalist and a political broadcaster have written this book together and as far as I can see, only the names and sexes of the main characters have been changed in a rather vicious exposé of the happenings in our Federal Parliament during the first (?) term of the Gillard (sorry - Martin Toohey) government.

The book seems to be primarily aimed at Kevin Rudd (Catriona Bailey) and Stephen Smith (Bruce Paxton). The Greens, lead by Randal Wade (probably meant to be Christine Milne as there is mention of an aged and retired leader of the Greens) got a real hammering as well. In fact, in the end the only people to come off with some dignity intact were Martin Toohey and the Leader of the Opposition, Elizabeth Scott (Tony Abbott?).

Once I accepted that the book was almost pure fiction (dear heaven, I hope so anyway) and I had sorted out who was who I enjoyed it immensely but will read it again a bit later on and try to pretend that it really is just fiction.