Today I have a treat in store for one lucky UK reader. The warmest of welcomes to the blog today bookish friends, and what a wonderful day you have chosen to join me on. And the deeper he digs, the darker the secrets.” But here he learns that everyone – including his murdered friend – is hiding something. Sensing that his ex-wife may also be in danger, Caleb insists they return to their hometown of Resurrection Bay. When his friend Frankie, a former cop, offers to help, they soon discover the killer is on their tail. But he’s profoundly deaf missed words and misread lips can lead to confusion, and trouble.įortunately, Caleb knows how to read people a sideways glance, an unconvincing smile, speak volumes. Tortured by guilt, Caleb vows to track down the killer.

His childhood friend has been brutally murdered at his home in Melbourne. The prizewinning debut thriller from the new name in crimeĬALEB ZELIC IS ON THE HUNT FOR HIS FRIEND’S KILLER Powered by lean prose, this is an interesting, assured, and excellent debut.“Caleb Zelic can’t hear you. She captures the contemporary melting pot of Australian life. Viskic does a great job bringing her entire cast to vivid and authentic life, along with the Melbourne setting-both the city and the rural and small-town areas surrounding. He teams up with Frankie, a tough female ex-cop, to hunt for the mysterious “Scott,” the last word ever sent by his dead friend. There’s a real authenticity, not tokenism.Ĭaleb is stubborn, but an intelligent observer, who reads other people’s body language and perceives nuances others miss. His deafness infuses his personality and story, affects how he sees the world and how people react to him, and feels an organic part of a greater whole, rather than something done to be original. It never feels like Emma Viskic uses Caleb’s condition as a mere quirk to make him stand out in a crowded crime field. “Deaf man investigates friend’s murder” would be the Hollywood tagline, but this tale is about much more than its main character Caleb Zelic’s deafness. What they’ll find is further evidence of the treasure trove of crime writing talent Down Under, just waiting to be discovered by the wider world. This highly original crime debut scooped up five different book awards in Australia in 2016, and now US readers have a chance to judge it for themselves.

Emma viskic caleb zelic