Official Review: The Warramunga's Aftermath of War

kislany · Post by **kislany** » 30 May 2018, 13:58

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Warramunga's Aftermath of War" by Greg Kater.]

3 out of 4 stars

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The Warramunga's Aftermath of War by Greg Kater is a crime mystery novel set in Australia right after the end of WWII. This is the second book in a trilogy that started with The Warramunga's War.

Right off the bat, we meet our two main heroes, Jamie Munro and Jack O’Brien (also called Jacko), who, after being involved in intelligence and counter-espionage during the war, are now once again working together, this time as heads of the Darwin office of the Commonwealth Investigation Services (CIS), an organization dealing both with garden-variety and uncommon criminals in the northern part of Australia.

After learning about a distress signal given by a fishing boat nearby, Jamie and Jacko set off to investigate. Much to their surprise, the boat is anything but a genuine fishing boat, and its cargo is a strange one too. When bodies of children are found floating around the boat, and an alive, terrified child is found hidden on the lower deck, they both suspect that the crew is involved in human trafficking. They soon learn that, indeed, the criminals are involved in child trafficking for the pleasure of rich pedophiles. Thus begins their major investigation into the trafficking ring, where both are hell-bent on bringing the pervert criminals to justice.

The central theme of the first part of the book is a straightforward criminal investigation, and I figured out fast who the bad guy were.

What surprised me was what came after, in the second part, when the initial investigation came to an end. In many stories, this would be the end of the book. Not in The Warramunga's Aftermath of War, however. It continued with a gripping adventure story set in the Australian wilderness involving tracking and taunting the enemy. I have to admit, I enjoyed this new adventure way too much. There were moments where I even laughed out loud.

The story was solid, and the characters were well fleshed-out. I could easily warm up to them, even though I haven’t read the first book where they were initially introduced. Jacko is a half Warramunga aboriginal, who possesses some interesting tracking and survival skills, which helped him greatly during the cat and mouse spiel with the bad guys. While Jamie is an interesting character as well, Jacko really grew on me. He and his half-sister, Sarah, literally stole the show once they got their time in the limelight.

I loved reading the descriptions of the various places in Australia and the Philippines (which is where part of the story was set in); these are two locations I will probably never be able to visit in my life. When it comes to descriptions of places and bringing us closer to them, the author has it down pat.

My only gripe is with the dialogue, which is quite abundant in the book. While the descriptions were often breathtaking and engaging, the dialogue was what took me out of the story several times. It felt unnatural, stilted, and too long. Sometimes people would state the obvious. There were also several lengthy explanations when a party was speaking. This doesn’t happen in real-life conversations. People don’t talk like they write, and they don’t express their every thought in words.

Overall, I give The Warramunga's Aftermath of War 3 out of 4 stars. I haven’t found any major grammatical errors, but I can’t ignore the weakness in the dialogue. Besides this issue, however, the book was quite fun to read. Lovers of crime, mystery, and thriller novels will enjoy reading it. People who are fond of adventure stories set in Australia will like it as well.

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The Warramunga's Aftermath of War
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Ginnamassa19 · Post by **Ginnamassa19** » 31 May 2018, 11:12

I've read some other reviews of this book, but yours is the only one I've seen that mentioned anything about the dialogue, so--thank you for being so thorough with your critique!

I've read a lot of terrible dialogue, and I know what you mean by people not speaking the way they write or think--too many authors seem to fall into this trap

Thank you for your review!

isa3030 · Post by **isa3030** » 31 May 2018, 11:14

Recommended to lovers of adventure story found in Australia, rated 3-4stars and founding the dialoque weak but with sound review.The warramunga's Aftermath of war by Greg Kater is a crime mystry novel which took place in Australia after the end of ww11,a second book in the trilogy that started with warramunga's war.Here we met two characters -heroes,Jamia Munro and Jack O'Brien aka Jacko,the two met after engaging in intelligence and counter espionage during the war and met again after the war to work as head of Darwin office of common wealth investigation services [cis] an organization dealing in uncommon criminal in the northern part of Australia and on getting distress signal descovers it was a fishing boat of human traficking there begain their major investigation

kmkline120 · Post by **kmkline120** » 31 May 2018, 15:20

I would like to read this book and am adding to my want to read bookshelf. Your review was really helpful and it sounds like I story I would be interested in. I have had the same experience coming across unrealistic dialogue and I agree that it can really take you out of the story and be a distraction. But, if that is the biggest issue, I am willing to give the book a try. Sounds intense!

NL Hartje · Post by **NL Hartje** » 31 May 2018, 21:01

You're so accurate when you say "people don't talk like they write." It surprises me how many authors fail to grasp this detail. Crime isn't usually for me, but, as always, I've enjoyed your review!

gen_g · Post by **gen_g** » 31 May 2018, 22:46

Thank you for the detailed review! It is a pity about the dialogue, since it would make even the most rounded character seem like a puppet.

Post by **kandscreeley** » 01 Jun 2018, 07:58

This almost sounds like 2 stories in one. It's too bad about the dialogue. I'm not sure I would particularly enjoy this one anyway, so I think I'm going to take a pass on this one. Thanks for the information, though. I always appreciate your reviews.

Jackie Holycross · Post by **Jackie Holycross** » 01 Jun 2018, 23:47

I often have trouble reading books set in other countries. Maybe I need to stretch my boundaries a little.

MrsCatInTheHat · Post by **MrsCatInTheHat** » 02 Jun 2018, 09:16

Human trafficking is a hot topic for me. The story sounds very interesting. This one is making it to my "Want to Read" list.

Rousey-+_[] · Post by **Rousey-+_[]** » 20 Jun 2018, 16:17

The warramunga's war character james&jack ,they were Australian soldiers that fought with the deadly nazi vinchy french in syria and lebanon they were transfered to an insecured location cairo to detect&neutralize agent in contact with Rommel

Gracedscribe · Post by **Gracedscribe** » 21 Jun 2018, 10:10

I just reviewed the first part of the series. Your review has me revving to go for the second part now.

I can totally relate to Jacko growing on you, as well as the bit about wooden dialogue. I had the same experience with the first part of the series.
Thanks for the great review!

Al Chakauya · Post by **Al Chakauya** » 23 Jun 2018, 23:59

Too bad the dialogue wasn't up to scratch on such a solid storyline. Your thorough review is tempting me to grab the book though this is not my kind of read.

bclayton13 · Post by **bclayton13** » 28 Jun 2018, 21:29

It seems like a lot of authors I read lately have forgotten how people actually talk. Otherwise, this sounds like a pretty good book!

Manang Muyang · Post by **Manang Muyang** » 03 Jul 2018, 02:50

Hey, Kislany! It's been a while. It seems you went on an extended holiday for the golden celebration.

I am interested in the book, mostly because some parts happen in my country. (I just hope the dead kids aren't Filipinos!) Jacko seems to be the man to watch out for. Thanks for the exciting review!