Take Three: Action thrillers from Australian authors

Our theme this week is thrillers written by Australians (as we await the next Matthew Reilly, due out in November). Lethal Sky is Barron's third novel and the pace is just picking up. We love that one of his central characters is a woman, intelligence officer Marika Hartmann, tough and smart. While she softens a little here – her relationship the other main character, PJ Johnson, a special forces soldier, takes another step – there's no denying she's a lady not to be messed with. Australia stars in many ways in this book – Canberra even gets plenty of mentions – as the terrorists get set to unleash a biological weapon across the world. There's plenty of action and characters you care for. While at times Barron seems to get bogged down in the detail, this is a story that carries you along at breakneck speed to the very end.

QUICK
Steve Worland
Michael Joseph, $29.99

And speaking of speed … Worland opens Quick with a crash at the Bathurst 1000 and a car chase involving a semi-trailer through the streets of Melbourne before moving the action off shore. The Formula One circuit is the stage for this adventure: robberies are being staged in conjunction with the races, from Melbourne, to Kuala Lumpur Dubai and Monaco. Former driver turned cop, Billy Hotchkiss, is a fun guy to hang around with for this ride, at times almost a caricature in all his Australian-ness but a character you're happy to root for. When the motive for the action is revealed it's a little unbelievable but by that time you're in fifth gear and just happy to be behind the wheel.

HUNTER
By Chris Allen
Momentum, $27.99

Chris Allen has been there, done that himself, a former elite paratrooper for 20 years, who moved into law enforcement and humanitarian aid work. His background makes you wonder how much of his books are based in fact, and that's the scary bit. We've only recently discovered Allen and his protagonist Alex Morgan, Hunter is the second book in the Intrepid series, but he's on the reading list now. Intrepid is the black ops division of Interpol, and here Morgan is on the hunt for Serbian war criminals. In a way it was nice to get away from the War on Terror, different bad guys made this a more interesting read, without meaning to offend anyone. More Ludlum than Reilly; if you like action you have to think about, try Allen.