Review: Sins of the Fathers by John Byrnes

Sins of the Fathers is an epic saga that follows the sons of two men forever at odds with each other.

After reading and loving The Youngest Son I was excited to read John Byrnes' next offering and I wasn't disappointed. 

 

Edwyn Smith is gaoled after a botched robbery. The story starts twelve years later when Edwyn is released from prison and goes home to the slums of Millers Point, to his wife and sons, Tommy now 14 and Billy now 12. But not before he lets it known to all around that he is back on the streets.

Arthur Davies - business owner and underworld figure - lives in the more upmarket Eastern Suburbs. His fourteen year old son Charles attends Scots College. Like his father Charles is a vicious bully.

 

Smith and Davies have history, sworn enemies, and this hatred projects onto their sons. After the death of his father Charles' only aim in life is to wreak bitter revenge on the Smith brothers and a feud fuelled by revenge is born.

 

The story also follows fourteen year old Angeline Dubois who helps her mother run a boarding house across the road from the Smiths. Angeline is determined and hard working. She has a plan to make something of herself. 

 

I simply devoured Sins of the Fathers. It has everything I love about Historical Fiction. Set in my hometown of Sydney all the places, although much changed, were all familiar to me.

 

Sins of the Fathers spans nine tumultuous years from 1910 - 1919 which includes WWI and sees the three boys join up and fight in Gallipoli and Somme. The WWI battlefields come to life on the page. Brynes' battle scenes  are vivid and authentic.

 

Narrated through multiple points of view the characters' lives veer in different directions and reconnect throughout the novel.

 

I cannot stress how much I loved this book! If you like to read stories about the wars, or historical fiction or even family sagas, this book is for you.

 

Sins of the Fathers is a story rich in revenge, bribery, threats, double crossing and blackmail. It is a story about survival from the slums of 1910 Sydney to the battlefields of 1915 Gallipoli. There is never a dull moment in Sins of the Fathers! 

 

My rating 5 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia 

Publication date: 1st July 2025

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 416

RRP: AU$34.99 (trade paperback)

Source: courtesy of the publisher

 

My review of The Youngest Son:

https://theburgeoningbookshelf.blogspot.com/2024/08/book-review-youngest-son-by-john-byrnes.html 

 

  

Review: Best Left Buried by Neil A White

Best Left Buried is the second book in the Matt Latham series by Australian author Neil A White. 

 

Matt Latham is an Australian journalist living in London. He is also a part-time spy for Australia's Secret Intelligence Service.

When strapped for cash Matt takes on the task of writing the biography for an old acquaintance, Bryant Callahan. Bryant is on track to become Texas' next US Senator.

 

Best Left Buried starts at a slow, steady pace however quickly ramps up in tension and danger as Matt, once again trying to help someone out, lands himself in all sorts of trouble when Bryant's Cuban born wife asks him if he could help her find her biological parents. 

 

Neil A White has written a cleverly plotted and intriguing political thriller. The prologue, set in 1986, features a freedom fighters attack on a small village in Nicaragua and I was interested to how this attack would have relevance to a Texan running for Senate in 2022.

 

This plot driven mystery all seemed cut and dried to me until the pace ramped up and the twists started coming which had me racing through the last half of the book. 

Best Left Buried reads well as a standalone. There are a few mentions of events in Shadow Lives but nothing that will make you feel like you missed something crucial but enough to make you want to read it. 

 

In Shadow Lives Matt Latham was a broken man, taking drugs, drinking too much and I enjoyed the character development as the book progressed. However in Best Left Buried I felt he was too in control.

 

Best Left Buried is a riveting tale of revenge, greed and corruption.

 

My rating 4 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

Publisher: Echo Publishing

Publication date: 3rd June 2025

Series: Matt Latham #2

Genre: Political Thriller

Pages: 352

RRP: AU$32.99 (trade paperback)

Source: courtesy of the publisher

 

My review of Shadow Lives: 

https://theburgeoningbookshelf.blogspot.com/2024/10/book-review-shadow-lives-by-neil-white.html 
 

Review: A New World Rises: Tales of a Lego® Future by Jackson Harvey and Alex Towler

You've seen the Relics Exhibition at the Australian Museum, Sydney? Now get the book!

 

Haven't been able to get to the exhibition? Get the book! 

 

A New World Rises: Tales of a Lego® Future is the unauthorised Lego® masterpiece by Lego® Masters winners Jackson Harvey and Alex Towler with children's author and illustrator, Cristy Burne.

The year is 2130, it's a post-human world and Lego® minifigures have risen to build intricate civilisations inside discarded objects. Each new city is inspired by the relics' original use.

 

Through A New World Rises: Tales of a Lego® Future Harvey and Towler hoped to inspire families to get out their Lego® collections and see what their imagination can build.

 

The new minifigure worlds have been built inside everyday items such as an old car, piano, refrigerator, ATM, jukebox, bookcase and many more.

 

The hardcover book features 184 pages of amazing photos with a full shot of the setup and close up shots of each part of the setup, which gives a clear insight into the hours and thought that has gone into each build.

 

Each page includes fun and playful text combining to give a picture of a new world rising from the debris. A world that focuses on recycling and sustainability.

 

A New World Rises: Tales of a Lego® Future is a 'must have' for every Lego® enthusiast, young and old. 

 

My rating 5 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

Publisher: Fremantle Press

Publication date: 5th August 2025

Genre: Fiction / Art

Pages: 184

RRP: AU$44.99 (hardcover)

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

 

Review: The Bearcat by Georgia Rose Phillips

I requested a review copy of The Bearcat thinking it was a story based on the infamous Australian cult The Family. I am fascinated by the premise of a cult. How do they draw people in, brainwash them? However The Bearcat wasn't about The Family per se but about the life of Anne Hamilton-Byrne, the yoga teacher who became the leader of The Family.

 

Inspired by real events however the author has used creative license and prioritised narrative over history to enhance the story.

"The cult started with Anne's women, her chosen ones; them finding each other between the crevices of their private worlds. It started with a loose constellation of bodies scattered across a modest community hall."

 

Georgia Ros Phillips prose are lyrical painting a distinct picture of the setting and atmosphere throughout the book.

 

The story opens in 1987 with ex-members of the cult talking to a detective. The narrative then goes back to 1921 when Evelyn/Anne is born. She cried a lot and her mother, Florence, found it hard to connect with this demanding, screaming baby.

 

The Bearcat explores the idea of nurture versus nature. Was Anne's actions the result of her upbringing or was she predestined to be the charismatic and manipulative leader of women?

We get a picture of a difficult child brought up by a mother with mental health issues and an indifferent father. Anne wasn't so much neglected, as forgotten. 

I did think it strange that there is only a brief mention of Anne's six younger siblings. Having them taken away may have triggered her desire to collect children. 

 

The book jumps around a lot in time, back and forward over a seventy year period. I found it very hard to connect with the story as it kept moving back and forward in time with no real sense of connection.

 

The story delves deep into the characters' feelings. How they feel about each other, how they feel about their current situation in life and their hopes and dreams.

 

Georgia Rose Phillips takes the reader behind everyday activities to relish in the lights, sounds  and movements that surround us.  

 

Whilst I found The Bearcat intriguing it didn't really hit the mark. I would recommend it to readers of literary fiction, anyone interested in the psychology of man and those who like to immerse themselves in lyrical prose.

 

My rating 3 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐

 

Publisher: Picador

Publication date: 29th April 2025

Genre: Literary Fiction / Historical

Pages: 320

RRP: AU$34.99 (paperback)

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

 

 

Review: The Wrong Daughter by Dandy Smith

I loved The Wedding Vow by Dandy Smith. It was addictive and fast paced full of red herrings and jaw dropping twists. The Wrong Daughter is every bit as addictive. I read it in one cold, wet, rainy day.

 

Smith pulls her readers straight into the mystery with a prologue showing how 13 year old Olivia is taken from her bedroom.

 

One plot line follows Caitlin sixteen years after Olivia's kidnapping. Caitlin is now twenty-six and she still isn't coping with the loss.

 

A second plot-line follows Elinor and Heath living on a secluded country estate. This plot has an overriding foreboding feeling that something isn't quite right. I was intrigued to see how these two very different plots would connect.

 

When Olivia suddenly shows up at their parents door Caitlin is ecstatic but as the weeks pass she is more and more convinced this woman is not Olivia.    

 

The Wrong Daughter is an addictive story of manipulation. Filled with adrenaline inducing suspense, a compelling mystery, and a few red-herrings to sift through. I thought I had it all worked out but, of course, I was wrong, and I love that!

 

The Wrong Daughter is definitely a roller coaster ride. It had me gripped right until the thrilling ending.

 

my rating 5 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

The Wrong Daughter by Dandy Smith 

Publisher: Echo Publishing

Publication date: 3rd June 2025

Genre: Crime / Psychological Thriller 

Pages: 368

RRP: AU$22.99 ( B format paperback) 

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

My review of The Wedding Vow: 

 https://theburgeoningbookshelf.blogspot.com/2025/05/book-review-wedding-vow-by-dandy-smith.html

 

 

Spotlight: Behind the Mask by Josh Piterman

Josh is a multi-award winning musical theatre performer who has played Jean Valjean in Les Miserables and the most coveted role in the West End, the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera.  

 

A note from the author:

My intention is not only to give you a backstage VIP tour of my musical theatre world, but also to provide you with some useful tools to help navigate life, find deeper meaning, explore a growth mindset, and ensure it's all done with a touch of humour.

 

Ultimately, I would like to help you step out from behind the masks you wear, the persona you have created. I want to give you the strategies and the confidence to understand and accept who you really are - because until you ditch the distractions and learn to love yourself as 'nobody', you will never truly love yourself as 'somebody'. You need to understand who you always were before you can realise who you might become. 

 

About Behind the Mask by Josh Piterman:

In Behind the Mask Josh covers anxiety disorders, panic attacks and fear of failure in a time where mental health discussion is of the utmost importance and sought out by many.

Behind the Mask also includes guidance gathered from an array of coaches, teachers, gurus, guides, mentors, therapists and philosophers.

 

What people are saying about Behind the Mask:

 

Well written and engaging, I recommend this to his fans, and I'm interested in checking out his podcast now. - Suz (Goodreads)

 

Humour, sound advice and personal triumphant moments coupled with low blows life throws makes this a book that could be picked up multiple times when needed. - Craig and Phil (Goodreads)

 

What a beautiful soul. Written with so much honesty and reflection. Everyone should read this book to connect back with the wisdom of the soul. - Mrs Cricket (Amazon)

 

What I appreciate most is how this book doesn’t just speak to the mind but speaks to the heart. It’s reflective and practical. - Jason (Amazon)

 

Publisher: Echo Publishing

Publication date: 29th April 2025

Genre: Self Help

Pages: 224

RRP: AU$29.99 (B+ paperback)

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

 

Review: The Lies We Tell Ourselves by Maura Pierlot

The Lies We Tell Ourselves is a deeply affecting story about body image, self esteem, grief and friendship. 

 

Maura Pierlot exposes the fragility of the teenage years in this heartfelt story that reflects on the societal perceptions of being thin.

 

When new student Carter starts year 10, Harley decides this is the year she will reinvent herself hoping to catch the attention of the new boy in school.

Harley's nan had always been her confidante and confidence booster. Ever since she died nothing is making sense.

 

Harley makes a new-year wish list; get a job, get a boyfriend, get a life.

But after being relentlessly bullied at school for her weight she changes her wish list to; get skinny, get a boyfriend, get a life.

Harley feels if she was skinny she would be in with the cool girls and all life's problems would be solved.

 

I'm sure we all remember being 15 and how important friendships were in our life, and the ups and downs of those friendships. Teenage girls can be nasty sometimes! 

 

In The Lies We Tell Ourselves Maura Pierlot brings all the angst and torment to heartbreaking life on the page as Harley starves herself, dismisses her true friendship and alienates her family, all in the pursuit of a utopian goal that is undermining her mental health.

 

The Lies We Tell Ourselves is a must-read for teenagers 13+ and the perfect conversation starter for talks on body image, photo sharing and your online presence.

 

I quite often comment about books being overly dramatic however with The Lies We Tell Ourselves I truly think the drama could have been hyped up, especially where Talia's photo sharing was concerned. She seemed to shrug it off too easily.

 

The Lies We Tell Ourselves is timely and timeless: a story that will be relevant as long as there are teenagers.

 

My rating 5 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

Publisher: Big Ideas Press

Publication date: 1st August 2025

Genre: Young Adult

Pages: 352

RRP: AU$22.99

Source: Courtesy of the author