BOOK REVIEW

BILL MCCARTHY A dish best eaten cold. This is a collection of short stories with the theme of revenge by Bryan Brown. Who knew he was a talented writer? He has a keen eye for typical Aussie behaviour, language and location. The plots are humorous, imaginative and clever. The stories are quite varied, ranging from drugs, love, theft, etc and there’s a slightly Tarantinoesque connection between the first and last stories which is neatly done.

This delicious collection of literary morsels will keep you amused. Another bow in the armoury of one our best-loved actors.

MARY BARBER Bryan Brown tells good stories. You get to know the characters quickly. There are no wasted descriptions of who’s wearing what or what the streetscape is. His words are all about motivation, action and revenge. As you’d expect from someone who has worked with scripts, the dialogue is crisp. The stories are well-structured.

They tie off nicely at the end with some unexpected revelations.

I can thoroughly recommend this book either for dipping into when you have time for just one story, or for reading from cover to cover.

It will appeal to anyone who likes crime stories.

SUZI HIRST I love Bryan Brown as an actor and now he has proved himself a talented author. I don’t usually enjoy short stories, but this is very different and written in an honest, humorous gritty fashion that is not often seen. This was a quick easy read that proved to be a page turner. Brown’s characters are so well captured you are thrown immediately into each story and in the end, he manages to marry them together. I hope he has a novel up his sleeve and not too far into the future. Great read 8/10

SWEET JIMMY SWEETJIMMY By Bryan Brown

Actor Bryan Brown makes his first foray into publishing with a collection of seven short stories that in his typical larrikan style capture quintessential Australia. Set in Sydney, the crime stories from drug running and theft to bashings and murder, are funny and sad, violent and gritty while bubbling with character and black humour. They could well be based on real characters. Using short, sharp sentences and sometimes just a collection of words, his writing style is so much in the tone of narration that the reader can almost hear him speaking. TONY HARRINGTON These seven short Aussie noir crime stories are written by Australian actor, director and now author Bryan Brown. The stories are set in and around Sydney and suburbs and explore dark real-life characters and themes.

While reading you can hear the voice of the author from the written words and sentences.

I think the audio book voiced by Bryan Brown himself would be an excellent listen as Bryan has a distinctive style and a great knack for storytelling. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and hope for more like it. 9/10

JOHN KLEINSCHMIDT I have enjoyed Bryan Brown’s acting in movies and on TV. However, I am far from convinced that he will make the grade as a crime writer. Sweet Jimmy is readable and sometimes amusing but lacks believability, cohesion and rhythm.

The plot/s of the stories in this book are simple and made less than intriguing by a lack of definition of a multitude of characters that are similar in each story. I found the author’s style of writing in short sentences very different and passable at first, then they became a distraction. One critic suggests that the uniquely Australian humour of Brown will not find favour in the US or other countries and I agree with that. JO BOURKE What an absolute hoot of a book. Despite not usually being attracted to short stories I loved it and happily hope it becomes an Aussie favourite. Bryan Brown has never lost his Aussie accent and jargon and this came through loud and clear in his writing. Not sure how it will be received internationally but we Aussies love to barrack for the underdog – whether it’s the silly old coot duped into being a drug mule or the Aussie couple stuck overseas with a useless credit card and no cash.

All seven stories are rough and believable and definitely close to home for those of us who have had our lives enriched by encountering similar characters. Crime really can happen to anyone and how sweet is revenge!!

I am tempted to give myself 4 hours 46 minutes to listen to Bryan Brown read this book!

That would be the icing on the cake. In the meantime, I look forward to more writing by our talented Bryan Brown.

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