Resurrection Bay
(Caleb Zelic 1)
- Winner – Ned Kelly Award, Best Debut
- Winner – Davitt Award, Best Novel
- Winner – Davitt Award, Best Debut
- Winner – Davitt Award, Readers’ Choice
- Shortlisted – Gold Dagger Award UK
- Shortlisted – New Blood Dagger Award UK
- Shortlisted – Barry Award for Best Paperback USA
- iBooks Australia’s Crime Book of the Year
- Best Books of the Decade, UK Crime Time
- UK Financial Times, Top Crime Books of the Year
- USA Publishers Weekly Best Crime Books of the Year
And Fire Came Down
(Caleb Zelic 2)
- Winner – Davitt Award, Best Novel
- Shortlisted – Barry Award, Best Paperback USA
- Longlisted – Best Novel Dublin International Literary Award
Darkness For Light
(Caleb Zelic 3)
- Winner – Davitt Award, Readers’ Choice
- Times UK Best Books of the Year
- Shortlisted – Barry Award US, Best Paperback
- Best Books of the Year – The Weekend Australian
- Books of the Year – New Zealand Listener
Clever, funny and totally deserving of the plaudits engulfing this antipodean début. Vividly persuasive characters along with fast-paced, gut-wrenching twists leave the reader craving for the next instalment.
CWA Gold Dagger Award Judges’ comments
Set in a beautifully evoked Australia … Exemplary and humane and full of deeply felt anxiety.
CWA New Blood Dagger Award judge’s comments
TIMES BOOK OF THE MONTH
This stunning debut deservedly won every prize for crime fiction in Australia last year. It is original and splendidly plotted with a harshness that nevertheless allows humour to intrude.
THE TIMES
TOP CRIME BOOKS OF THE YEAR
…superbly characterised cast of characters lifts this well above most contemporary crime
FINANCIAL TIMES, UK
Tightly written in often staccato prose that packs a powerful punch. It’s also elegantly plotted, darkly humorous and occasionally very moving.
THE AGE
A superb series… Twisty storytelling pulsing with humanity, carried on prose that sings
NZ LISTENER
Resurrection Bay is an Australian thriller at its finest. A captivating read from first page to last. In Caleb Zelic, Viskic has created a character with depth and heart who will linger long after the final page.
Jane Harper (THE DRY)
Australia’s best crime writer – vivid characters, ingenious plots and a passionate social conscience
Phillip Adams
Viskic just keeps getting better. Her prose is elegant and economical and her storytelling is taut, realistic and full of surprises. Caleb Zelic is the perfect character to explore Melbourne’s diverse culture and all aspects of its society, high and low, ugly and beautiful. Darkness for Light is a winner.
Adrian McKinty (THE CHAIN)
This is a terrific book and the writing is sharp, punchy, visceral and propulsive. The story grabs you by the throat from the opening pages and it never once slackens its hold. But what really brings Resurrection Bay to vivid life is the integrity and humanity of its characters. I love the world that Emma Viskic has created, in all its complexity and in all its truth.
Christos Tsiolkas (THE SLAP, BARRACUDA)
Emma Viskic is a very special writer … innovative, exiting, and very moving
Lynda La Plante
Outstanding… a gripping and violent tale with a hero who is original and appealing.
THE GUARDIAN, UK
Fierce, fast-moving, violent and yet written with a delightful sprinkling of irony
DAILY MAIL, UK
Her writing canters along between subtle and funny, lyrical and action-packed, emotionally moving and absolutely terrifying. There’s gore and there’s tenderness. There are psychological aperçus you want to write down and discuss with your therapist. And the plot twists are heart-stopping.
THE AGE
…a propulsive thriller sustained by a writer with a sharp wit and a seemingly effortless facility for maintaining and building tension… genuine literary delights…
AUSTRALIAN BOOK REVIEW
The writing is gripping, the twists unforeseeable and the denouements shocking.
THE AUSTRALIAN Best Books of the Year
Viskic nailed it from the first book, Resurrection Bay, and DARKNESS FOR LIGHT consolidates and cements her spectacular skill as a thriller writer.
SYDNEY ARTS GUIIDE
…the real delight of this novel, as always, are the observations of people and place. .. another absorbing crime novel by a writer whose way with words is, as always, killingly clever.
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
The tension builds from the very first page…brutal but compassionate…
UK TIMES Best Crime Books of the Month
…a compelling mystery with an even more compelling detective.
US LIBRARY JOURNAL(starred review)
It takes a dose of authorial courage to populate a crime novel with such an interesting mix of fragile, touchingly human characters, yet Viskic does brilliantly in striking the right balance…
THRILLER BOOKS JOURNAL
…outstanding…fast-paced with gut-wrenching twists and an engaging protagonist. Viskic stands out as an author to watch.
DAILY EXPRESS, UK
Viskic conjures up a superb crime tale that moves like a bullet train while never scrimping on character depth or emotional impact.
THE LISTENER NZ
Would I recommend this debut novel? Oh-my-giddy-aunt, you bet your sweet arse I would! Captivating, quirky and absolutely riveting
CRIME BOOK JUNKIE
In addition to crisp prose that conjures up film-quality scenes, Viskic creates a hero who’s a true original and a good person … Resurrection Bay is a stellar read that will appeal to fans of Peter Temple’s Jack Irish series.
iBOOKS Australia
Viskic combines nuanced characters and thoughtful plotting in her impressive sequel to Resurrection Bay…a brilliantly realized flawed lead.
US PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (starred review)
Viskic’s novel is a fine example of modern noir, a dark tale of crime, betrayals, secrets and bad decisions. Caleb is a compelling protagonist, equal parts tenacious, observant, proud and stubborn, but never unsympathetic … a compelling, highly recommended read.
BOOKS+PUBLISHING
A mazey delight of a mystery
Ian Rankin
Pacy, violent but with a big, thundering heart… An outstanding debut
EVA DOLAN (LONG WAY HOME)
Viskic’s characterisation, dialogue and plotting are on par with some of the heavyweights of crime writing.
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
Beautifully understated observations, and the sly, dry sense of humour dotted throughout Resurrection Bay are part of what make this debut novel a joy to read… an outstanding debut.
THE NEWTOWN REVIEW OF BOOKS
Hard-boiled crime fiction is thriving in Australia, and Viskic is one of the reasons why.
BOOKLIST
One of the most intriguing recent protagonists of Australian crime fiction
THE AUSTRALIAN
…a book that has characters of real depth and diversity, like Resurrection Bay, is quite simply a pleasure to read … I was guiltily desperate to skip ahead just to make sure the people I loved were going to make it through okay.
READINGS BOOKS
Resurrection Bay is a tour-de-force excursion into good, evil, and the labyrinth of human motivations. Emma Viskic has created a brilliant protagonist in the profoundly-deaf, and irrepressibly obstinate Caleb Zelic, and has produced one of the year’s best crime novels.
PAGES AND PAGES BOOKSELLERS
Viskic’s character dialogue is a pleasure to read — sharp, dry and attitudinal in all the right places, while mercifully void of hyperbole.
BOOKLOVER REVIEWS
Viskic’s descriptions of place are often so intense you can smell them.
THE AGE
An utterly compelling and thought provoking read
RAVEN CRIME READS
Viskic’s novel is the reason why I love reviewing. … This is a truly gripping debut which feels as though written by a seasoned writer. Mesmerising.
CRIMESQUAD
A high-tempo, engaging read, in which every dialogue, every observation, every situation is sharp, spot-on and intriguing.
THRILLER BOOKS JOURNAL
A breathless urgency that takes hold and simply will not relent. Viskic’s best work yet. Sharp, caustic dialogue, bursts of wild, kinetic action and moments of deep character insight. This novel does it all, and sounds like no-one else, anywhere. There is no Australian crime hero like Caleb Zelic. There’s no Nordic, American, English or French crime hero like him. He lives in a genre of his own: the perfect outsider in an uncaring world.
Jock Serong (Preservation)
… the writing here is characteristically spare, the dialogue terse, the humour dry, the pages quick-turning and the death tally high.
THE SATURDAY PAPER
Viskic’s voice is strong and clear. A darkly beautiful, assured sequel: here’s hoping for more.
READINGS BOOKS
Emma Viskic is a terrific, gutsy writer with great insight into the murkiness of both criminal and heroic motivations.
Emily Maguire (AN ISOLATED INCIDENT)
Emma Viskic makes brave writing choices. Her characters are achingly real – the challenges they face are rarely simple.
BOOKLOVER BOOK REVIEWS
Exquisite and powerful writing.
READING, WRITING, REISLING
…a taut, exceptional thriller. No longer merely a bright star on the Australian crime-writing firmament, Emma Viskic should now be considered a master of the genre, and Caleb Zelic one of its most endearing protagonists…
Simon McDonald, POTTS POINT BOOKS
As much as I loved Resurrection Bay, this book surpassed that one on all counts … Caleb Zelic has to be one of my all time favourite characters.
CRIME BOOK JUNKIE
Regardless of where her plot leads, be it drug-running, police work, Aboriginal family relationships or medical conditions, her research lends authenticity to her work.
ARTSHUB
Bold, uncompromising and starkly beautiful
Ruth Wykes (INVISIBLE WOMEN)
Australian crime writing has produced some world-class and highly successful fiction in recent years… With such a lengthy list of the highest calibre, it is difficult to produce work that is fresh and original. Emma Viskic succeeds on all counts. Her Caleb Zelic is unlike any previous ‘hero’.
QUEENSLAND REVIEWERS COLLECTIVE
I was in awe while reading this book. … Gripping, action-packed and real.
BETTER READING
Viskic has knocked it out of the park with this one: unpredictable, immersive, and wildly original.
Jack Heath (HANGMAN)
‘…beautifully balanced characterisations, action and setting… Its setting is fictional, but feels real – a small town battling drugs and petty crimes; bored teenagers, and undercurrents of deeply ingrained racism while Aboriginal communities struggle for control of their own futures.
NEWTOWN REVIEW OF BOOKS
…addictive and intelligent …utterly intoxicating!
MRS B BOOK REVIEWS
I had to sit and let Emma’s words wash over me for a very long time before I was able to reconcile with myself that I had been reading, and that Caleb was not actually with me … this is a book I will be revisiting and rereading.
CRIME SCENE WA
…the rhythm, the beat, the pulse, leap through the words on the page… fast paced and chilling
GOOD READING
…utterly, completely and immensely compelling
POP ED LIT