Killing Juanita: A true story of murder and corruption

Peter Rees, Allen & Unwin. $29.95

On July 4, 1975, Juanita Nielsen – a wealthy heiress, Sydney newspaper publisher and anti-development campaigner – left an appointment at a Kings Cross nightclub and simply disappeared. For over a quarter of a century, the Juanita Nielsen case has remained one of Australia’s great unsolved murder mysteries. Peter Rees, however, has doggedly pursued the case – provoking a federal parliamentary inquiry and, in July 2000, a secret re-opening of the police investigation. Written with all the suspense and drama of the best crime fiction and revealing new evidence and witnesses, Killing Juanita tells the true story of that crime and of the characters involved: Loretta Crawford, drag queen and night club receptionist, the last person to see Nielsen alive; powerful businessman and property developer, Frank Theeman; his involvement with legendary Kings Cross figures James McCartney Anderson and Abe Saffron; and hired hands like Eddie Trigg for whom Juanita Nielsen’s murder was “no loss to society as all”.

Tom Clancy, Red Rabbit. Penguin: $19.95

This latest 944-page doorstopper from the acknowledged master of thriller-writing is set during the Cold War, when America’s principal enemy was the communist Soviet Union. Young CIA analyst, Jack Ryan, finds himself plunged into a world of political intrigue and conspiracy when he debriefs a Soviet defector with an extraordinary story to tell: senior Russian officials are plotting to assassinate Pope John Paul II. The CIA novice must forget his inexperience and rely on all his wits firstly to discover the details of the plot – and then prevent its execution. For it is not just the Pope’s life that is at stake, but also the stability of the Western world . . . Clancy’s latest thriller is all the more believable because so many of its ingredients are based on actual historical events.

The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2004. Griffin/Pan Macmillan. $25

This perennial bestseller – completely revised for 2004 – is packed with information on every subject imaginable. Containing over 1,000 pages of facts and figures, it includes in-depth coverage of the world’s top news stories, as well as two colour photo sections highlighting the year’s most dramatic news, sport and entertainment events.

50 Years of Greatest Hits. Omnibus Press/Pan Macmillan. $49.95

Here, assembled in one volume, are print music and lyrics for classic pop and rock songs from the last 50 years, for you to strum, sing or play on the piano. Hits include The Young Ones (Cliff Richards), Good Vibrations (The Beach Boys), Bridge Over Troubled Water (Simon and Garfunkel), Heroes (David Bowie), American Pie (Don McLean), Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen), You Can’t Hurry Love (Supremes), Angels (Robbie Williams), and many more.

Martin Buckley, The Illustrated Book of Classic Cars. Southwater/Pan Macmillan. $21.95

A guide to the most important and significant models made between 1945 and 1975, with illustrations of each car accompanied by authoritative and comprehensive commentary.

Jeremy Evans, Plain Sailing: how to sail dinghies and catamarans. Southwater/Pan Macmillan. $27.95

This book is aimed primarily at entry-level sailors and is a comprehensive introduction to learning how to sail on small open boats. It also deals with more technical aspects of learning how to sail dinghies and catamarans, including core techniques such as rigging, launching, tacking, gibing, capsize and rescue. Plain Sailing is also an ideal refresher and reference guide for more experienced sailors.

Jason Ryder, The A-Z of the Best Jokes in the World. Pan Macmillan. $16.95

Where do you find a dog with no legs?

Right where you left him. Why did the blond stare at the can of frozen orange juice for an hour? Because the can said “concentrate”.

Stand-up comedian Jason “Rash” Ryder takes readers on a roller-coaster ride of convulsions in his new book. It offers a collection of jokes from around the world. It is ideal for all ages, all walks of life – but avoid reading the material to anyone with a weak heart or a mouth full of hot coffee! There’s nothing too naughty so it will be fine for the teenage market, and there is nothing too politically correct either. No one is safe…

Valerie Ferguson, 500 Greatest-Ever Pasta Recipes. Southwater/Pan Macmillan. $29.95

This recipe book uses wonderful combinations of ingredients to create both classic and new and exciting pasta dishes. All the sauces are easy to prepare, cook and serve, using widely available ingredients.

Daniel Lane, Harrigan. Hodder Australia. $35

Bill Harrigan has long been regarded as Australia’s leading Rugby League referee, with a profile equal to that of the game’s major players. He also works with the police Tactical Response Group. Harrigan is his story, written together with biographer Daniel Lane. It reveals a dedicated and determined professional, whose life has given him a fair number of knocks, as well as great rewards; a referee acknowledged to be one of the best, but often disliked because of the job that he does. Harrigan is often considered to be arrogant and egocentric, yet he has demonstrated great skill and sensitivity in dealing with crisis situations throughout his police work.

Pamela Stephenson, Bravemouth: Living with Billy Connelly. Hodder Headline. $35

Bravemouth is the ultimate insider’s view of Scottish comedian Billy Connelly’s life: his charity works, his 60th birthday party, his film and TV work. It includes personal insight into what makes him tick, and what makes his psychologist wife Pamela Stephenson tick (it’s her year too). It’s a celebration of life interspersed with reflection – on both the inherent seriousness of what she does, compared to the zaniness of what he does. The nature of fame, the challenges of age and the triumph over adversity are all themes underlying the many anecdotes that combine to make this into a must-read for Billy and Pamela’s millions of fans.

Death by Hollywood

Steven Bochco, Allen & Unwin. $29.95

A writer by the name of Merle Miller once wrote that people in Hollywood are always touching you – not because they like you, but because they want to see how soft you are before they eat you alive.

So begins Death by Hollywood, a savvy and streetwise thriller from Steven Bochco, creator of Hill Street Blues, LA Law and NYPD Blue, and winner of 10 Emmy awards.

Bobby Newman, a down-on-his-luck screenwriter, tries to turn a brutal crime into his next movie payday.

One evening, spying on his Hollywood Hills neighbours through his $4000 electronic telescope, Bobby witnesses a beautiful woman turn on her lover, a handsome Latin actor, and appear to bludgeon him to death with his own acting trophy. Instead of rushing to the cops, Bobby decides to find out more about the events that led up to the crime, and to use the material for his next movie screenplay. However, when he sneaks into the actor’s apartment, the discovery he makes changes his life forever. Empowered by his secret knowledge, Bobby embroils the woman, a detective in charge of the investigation and others in a Hollywood fun-house hall of mirrors, where only the most manipulative player will survive.

J.R. Carroll, Blindside. Allen & Unwin. $19.95

Shaun McCreadie was a young Melbourne detective with a bright future – until he crossed the line and suddenly found himself behind prison bars for his role in a brutal home invasion that left two people dead.

Eleven years later he’s out of jail. The first thing he does is retrieve the $2.8 million from the heist, in the process killing the man sent to kill him and confiscate the cash. It seems certain people know he’s out, and want him dead.

Meanwhile, Shaun is determined to find out who set him up. His investigations wind back over the years and bring to light set-ups, murders, drug deals and more. Other threats emerge – the bad guys keep popping up everywhere – and Shaun needs all his considerable detective’s know-how, as well as his brawn and the survival skills learned inside, to get to the truth.

Intricately plotted, tightly structured and intelligent, Blind Side is the latest offering from Melbourne crime writer J.R. Carroll (Cheaters, The Clan, and No Way Back).

Harlan Coben, One False Move. Allen & Unwin. $29.95

It should be a straightforward missing person case – but New York sports agent Myron Bolitar soon finds he’s up against deceit, danger, and the Mob.

Brenda Slaughter is no damsel in distress. Myron Bolitar is no bodyguard. But Myron has agreed to protect the bright, strong, beautiful basketball star. And he’s about to find out if he is man enough to unravel the tragic riddle of her life.

Twenty years before, Brenda’s mother deserted her. And just as Brenda was making it to the top of the women’s pro basketball world, her father disappeared too. A major New York sports agent with a foundering love life, Myron has a professional interest in Brenda, which develops into a personal one. But between them is a chasm of corruption and lies, a vicious young mafioso on the make, and one secret that some people are dying to keep – and others are killing to protect...

Bestselling US crime writer and creator of Myron Bolitar, Harlan Coben (Tell No One, Gone for Good and No Second Chance), was the first ever author to win all three major crime awards in the US.

Kyle Mills, Smoke Screen. Hodder Headline Australia. $19.95

Trevor Barnett, 32, is set to inherit $10 million if he remains with the family cigarette company until he turns 60. He has inadvertently become official spokesman for the tobacco industry just as it’s on the verge of extinction. It is facing a $200 billion lawsuit that it will be unable to appeal.

America’s tobacco companies react by doing the unthinkable – closing their plants and recalling their products. The message is clear: no more cigarettes until the industry is given iron-clad protection from the courts.

As the economy falters and chaos takes hold, Trevor finds he is the target of enraged smokers, gun-toting smugglers, and a government that has been cut off from one of its largest sources of revenue. Soon it becomes apparent that the job he has been given is to bear the brunt of the backlash and shield the men in power from the pandemonium they have unleashed. Abandoned by his friends, his family and the industry his own ancestors helped build, Trevor finds an unlikely ally in a beautiful anti-tobacco lobbyist whom he has secretly loved for years. Together they hatch a plot to fight back.

Highly topical and compellingly written, this new thriller from bestselling author Kyle Mills (Rising Phoenix, Sphere of Influence) features an intriguing protagonist caught up in a fight where there are no rights or wrongs. Mills has been highly acclaimed by thriller writers Frederick Forsyth and Tom Clancy.

Ian Rankin, Watchman. Allen & Unwin. $29.95

Bombs are exploding in the streets of London, but life seems to have planted more subtle booby-traps for Miles Flint. Miles is a spy. His job is to watch and to listen, then to report back to his superiors, nothing more. The job, affording glimpses into the most private lives of his victims, appeals to Miles. He doesn’t lust after promotion, and he doesn’t want action. He wants, just for once, not to botch a case.

Having lost one suspect – with horrific consequences – Miles becomes too involved with another, a young Irishwoman. His marriage seems ready to crumble to dust. So does his home. But Miles is given one last chance for redemption – a trip to Belfast, which quickly becomes a flight of terror, murder and shocking discoveries. But can the voyeur survive in a world of violent action?

Here is a re-print of a classic early spy thriller by Ian Rankin, the bestselling Scottish author of the DI Rebus crime novels.

Special book offer

For your chance to win a free copy of one of the above five thrillers, put your details on the back of an envelope and send it to Book Comp, SA Police Journal (168):

• Steven Bochco, Death by Hollywood.
• J.R. Carroll, Blindside.
• Harlan Coben, One False Move.
• Kyle Mills, Smoke Screen.
• Ian Rankin, Watchman.

Conditions: Limit of one competition entry per person. Entrants must indicate clearly their first and second book preferences.