Peter Watt: And Fire Falls

War in the Pacific
Christmas is coming so it is time for the next annual episode from Peter Watt of his gripping Australian historical family saga about the MacIntoshes and the Duffys. This time the saga changes from the war in Europe to the war in the Pacific as Australia moves to the frontline with the Japanese sweeping across the Pacific and into New Guinea as a springboard for an invasion of Australia.

In Sydney, Donald and Sarah MacIntosh battle for the support of their dominant but ailing father to get control of the huge MacIntosh business empire. With the help of some influential "friends" the business is thriving from wartime contracts and Donald is unlikely to enlist or be conscripted to fight for his country. In contrast their cousin David MacIntosh, a part-owner of the family business, has been fighting for years, first in Spain and now in Syria.

The Duffy family are spread across the world. WWI hero Tom Duffy is running his many properties in Queensland and missing his daughter Jessica who is now a nun at a mission in New Guinea which is threatened by the Japanese. Dianne Duffy stays behind in Singapore as the Japanese overrun the famous "fortress". James Duffy, raised by the Barringtons, his very rich US maternal grandparents, has taken his father's name and career as an ace flyer. He finds himself in the thick of the fierce air and ground battle for Guadalcanal. Other Duffy's get involved in the terrible battle in appalling tropical conditions along the Kokoda track to stop the Japanese advance on Port Moresby.

As always the mythical elderly Aboriginal warrior Wallarie still haunts the family members, protecting some and warning others of danger.

I have spelt out a few details of the family history because after a year it is increasingly difficult to remember the main characters and their heritage. A family tree shows the complex relationships between the families but it doesn't show up well on a Kindle so I suggest you load up your Kindle book on your PC to see the family tree properly.

My main gripe is that I may have to wait a year to find out what happens next, by which time I will have forgotten most of what happened before. Watt's latest books in the series have seemed to be too short compared with earlier ones because I am always looking for what happens next. With this book being set in New Guinea I did get a bit confused as the action overlaps with Watt's great Papua trilogy which finished with the THE PACIFIC covering some of the historical ground in this book.

Come what may it is always a delight to revisit Watt's great Australian saga about the MacIntoshes and the Duffys, the goodies and the baddies (who were pretty mild this time) and think about what comes next. Those of you with really good memories may remember the cottage at Manly and what happened there that changed the lives of both families many years ago. The cottage again plays a key role in the relationships between the families - Wallerie hasn't forgotten.

PS Last year on Peter Watt's Facebook I was chosen from his fans to have my name used as one of the minor characters in his next book. Look out for a brave Lieutenant who fought alongside David MacIntosh in Syria and in New Guinea. Thanks Peter for the honour.

Peter Watt: War Clouds Gather

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Peter Watt - master storyteller
This is another great episode in Peter Watt's epic Frontier series saga about the Macintosh and Duffy families and confirms his place as one of Australia's best storytellers. Once I had started this book it was hard to put it down and would have liked it to be longer.

This time the saga covers the era just prior to WWII, from the Berlin Olympics to the start of the war (almost akin to the period covered by the classic Herman Wouk novel "The Winds of War"). Although this is a story of two Australian families, most of the action this time is overseas, from Hitler dominated Berlin, to Dachau and the Spanish Civil War; and from Iraq, to Israel and the US. The focus turns back to Australia at the declaration of the war.

My main critique is that, despite having read all books in the series I still needed to refresh my memory about the background to the complex history of the characters. It would have been very useful to have a "Who's Who" introduction to each major character. So here is something about the background to the next generation of Macintoshes and Duffys that Watt introduces in this book who will undoubtedly be the focus of the next book about WWII.

On the Duffy side twins James and Olivia have been raised in the US by their mega-rich maternal grandfather, with no contact with their father Matthew Duffy. James is keen to meet his father who runs an air freight business in the Middle East but Olivia is still hurt by her father's apparent abandonment.

Donald and Sarah Macintosh have been raised by their unscrupulous father, Sir George Macintosh, after he forced their mother to leave them in his care. Donald is a disappointment to his father as  he becomes a playboy and gambler. He will inherit a third of the Macintosh business when he turns 21, as will David Macintosh, who paradoxically has been raised by Sean Duffy.

George is prepared to take extreme measures through his German contacts to prevent his nephew David from taking a seat on the Board. Meanwhile, he sends Donald to the family station Glen View in Northern Queensland in an effort to change his ways. In North Queensland George meets part-aboriginal cattle station owner Tom Duffy and his daughter Rebecca. Close by Glen View the spirit of the mythical elderly Aboriginal warrior Wallarie still communicates with the grief of his ancestors at their massacre by the Macintoshes fifty years before.

This is very much a transitional novel bringing in the new generation of Duffy's and Macintoshes and along the way they experience pain, tragedy, excitement, love and loss bringing some closer together and others further apart. There are some interesting changes ahead in the Macintosh boardroom as well as unexpected changes in allegiances. As an addict of the Frontier Series I look forward to what happens next.

Peter Watt: Beyond the Horizon

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Peter Watt - you continue to astound me
This is another great book by Peter Watt, one Australia's most talented authors who writes superb Australian "factional" family history adventures. I have read all of Peter's many books - and enjoyed all of them, especially this one.

This is Book 7 in the Frontier Series, a much loved saga of the feud between Duffys and Macintoshes which started with The Cry of the Curlew, but the story line and the characters are as fresh as ever. The setting is the last year of the Great War and its aftermath with the world influenza epidemic. While (part Aboriginal) Tom Duffy fights for his life and sanity in the trenches in France, his cousin Matthew Duffy is with the Australian Flying Corps fighting the Turks in the Middle East. Both of them are fortified by their memories of the women they love. Back in Australia, evil arch-enemy George Macintosh builds his business empire with ruthless drive, fuelled by his hatred of the Duffy family.

Watching over all of them is the spirit of the mythical elderly Aboriginal warrior Wallarie who still communicates with the grief of his ancestors at their massacre by the Macintoshes fifty years before. Wallarie foretells disasters and helps to protect those in need.

Peter Watt's writing is full of well researched historical and geographical detail that envelopes you completely in the terrible times at the end of the Great War. He reminds us especially of the attitudes to Aboriginals at the start of the 20th Century.

On his Facebook page he says that he is already working on the next book that covers WWII - I am looking forward to that book because it will involve a whole new  generation in that terrible conflict . Peter is very sensitive about his work and said that in writing his next book - "I had to kill one of my favourite characters this morning. I almost teared up.."

Peter deserves international recognition but his books only seem to be released in Australia and New Zealand. This book was released on the same day as Ken Follett's "Winter of the World" and I have followed the great interest in the US market for that release by an English author. I hope that Peter's publisher can promote his books in overseas markets so that others they can share our enjoyment of his works.

IMHO this book was far more enjoyable than Follett's "Fall of the Giants" that also covered the Great War. I am so glad that I decided to read Beyond the Horizon before Follett's next magnum opus.

Peter Watt: Flight of the Eagle

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Another great book in Peter Watt's outstanding Frontier Series
Flight of the Eagle is the third book in the outstanding Frontier Series by Peter Watt that follows the Macintosh and Duffy families from the 19th to the 20th Century. The dreadful Aboriginal curse which haunts two families, inextricably links them together in love, death and revenge.

Captain Patrick Duffy, the son Irish Catholic soldier of fortune Michael Duffy, is tracking down his Irish ancestors and meets the mysterious and beautiful Catherine Fitzgerald.  Back in Australia Peter Duffy, working on the Queensland frontier as a Native Mounted Police trooper, is torn between his duty, and the blood of his mother's people - the Nerambura tribe.

Peter Watt is one of my favourite Australian authors who mostly writes historical adventures set in Australia and Papua. I have read and enjoyed most if not all of his books. On his website Peter describes his approach as "putting a human face" on the history of Australia and Papua. He has been described in many places as Australia's Wilbur Smith.

I would recommend all of Peter Watt's books, especially those in the Frontier Series and the Papua Trilogy. I suggest you start reading the first books in both series (Cry of the Curlew is the first in the Frontier Series) - I am sure you will then be keen to read the later books.

Peter Watt: Shadow of the Osprey

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Another great book in Peter Watt's outstanding Frontier Series
This book is the second book in the outstanding Frontier Series by Australian author Peter Watt that follows the Macintosh and Duffy families from the 19th to the 20th Century. The saga continues the results of a terrible Aboriginal curse on the Duffy and Macintosh families after the the violent and barbaric dispersal of the Nerambura tribe in 1862.

Shadow of the Osprey follows the fortunes of these families from the boardrooms and back streets of Sydney to beyond the rugged Queensland frontier and the dangerous waters of the Coral Sea. The end of the 19th Century is a time of sudden wealth for a fortunate few who grub gold from the Palmer River in the harsh and unforgiving Queensland Outback. The fierce Aboriginal warriors resist the invaders in a bloody guerrilla war, impacting  the lives of these families.

Peter Watt is one of my favourite Australian authors who mostly writes historical adventures set in Australia and Papua. I have read (and really enjoyed) most of his books. On his website Peter describes his approach as "putting a human face" on the history of Australia and Papua. He has been described in many places as Australia's Wilbur Smith.

I would recommend all of Peter Watt's books, especially those in the Frontier Series and the Papua Trilogy (his latest book "The Pacific" was released in December 2011). I suggest you start reading the first books in both series (Cry of the Curlew is the first in the Frontier Series) - I am sure you will then be keen to read the later books.

Peter Watt: Cry of the Curlew

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A brilliant start to Peter Watt's Frontier Series
This book is the start of the outstanding Australian Frontier Series by Peter Watt that follows the Macintosh and Duffy families from the mid 19th to the 20th Century.  The violent and barbaric dispersal of the Nerambura tribe (described in brutal detail in this book) is the start of an Aboriginal curse that affects the happiness of the Macintosh and Duffy families for generations. Through the lives of these families the book gives a great insight of life in Sydney in the mid 19th Century and the strength through hardship of the pioneers of early settlement in Far North Queensland.

I read this book when it was first published in 1999 and bought it again recently for my "Kindle classics collection". A couple of days ago I started to re-read the book and got hooked all over again. Peter has woven fact and fiction together to produce a rich tapestry of the times in Australia and a collection of wonderful characters - the good and the bad, the nasties and the really nasties. He shows a great knowledge and empathy for Aboriginals and how their nomadic way of life that was totally changed by the arrival of the first settlers.

Before re-reading this book I had just finished the 7th book in this great series - Beyond the Horizon - covering the families in 1918 and 1919. Wallerie, the old Aboriginal warrior and keeper of the curse still haunts the landscape wherever the Macintosh's and Duffy's are in the world. Kate Duffy (O'Keefe/Tracy), by then a successful rich and retired businesswoman, is still alive and plays a key part in maintaining the Duffy heritage for the future.

Peter Watt is one of my favourite Australian authors who mostly writes historical "faction" adventures set in Australia and Papua. I have read and enjoyed all of his books. On his website Peter describes his approach as "putting a human face" on the history of Australia and Papua. He has been described in many places as Australia's Wilbur Smith.

I would recommend all of Peter Watt's books in the Frontier Series. I suggest you start reading this book first - I am sure you will then be keen to read and enjoy the later books.

Peter Watt: The Stone Dragon

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An amazing historical adventure during the Boxer Rebellion
What is the connection between Australia and China at the time of the Boxer Rebellion at the start of the 20th Century?  In this book Peter Watt explores the relationship between the different worlds of Chinese immigrants who had become Queenslanders who are visiting China and those of native Chinese during the Rebellion. Peter Watt departs from his normal genre of books based in Australia and Papua with a gripping stand-alone tale of rebellion, and survival during that tumultuous time in China. This book shows off Peter's great storytelling skills, and his great affinity to the diverse cultural history of Australia.

I have read most if not all of Peter Watt's books (mostly in print format before I got my Kindle) and enjoyed them all. While I loved all of Peter's books about Australia and Papua, I really liked this book because it was different and gave me a better knowledge a major event in history that I did not know much about. It is a great adventure story, based on the loyalty and love of the main characters.

Peter is one of my favourite Australian authors. He is a natural storyteller and has written 12 great family historical adventures set in of Australia, Papua, China and even Russia.  On his website Peter describes his approach as "putting a human face" on the history of Australia and Papua New Guinea. He has been described in many places as Australia's Wilbur Smith.

I would recommend all of Peter Watt's books, especially the Frontier Series and the Papua Trilogy. I suggest you start reading the first books in both series - I am sure you will be keen to read the later books. Peter has written a few stand-alone books and IMHO this one is the best.

Peter Watt: The Pacific

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A compelling novel about the war in the Pacific on Australia's doorstep
Peter Watt has written another stunning story to complete his Papua Trilogy. This sweeping saga continues the story of the Kellys and Manns, where these much loved families (from "Papua" and "Eden") do everything in their power to protect their country and their loved ones during the occupation of part of Papua by Japanese invaders. They are involved in one of the most devastating conflicts in history on Australia's back-door step.

Jack Kelly, who fought in the Great War (Papua) is leading a small group of native fighters and his son Lukas is delivering supplies by sea to troops fighting in Japanese occupied territory. When they hear that Jack's daughter from an extra-marital affair (Ilsa Stahl, now an American War Correspondent) has been captured by the Japanese they will stop at nothing to try to save her. Other characters and family members from "Eden" are also involved in the conflict.

This book can be read alone but to really appreciate full scope of this great historical action family saga you should read the 2 previous books in the trilogy.

Peter is one of my favourite Australian authors and is one of Australia's best story tellers. He has written 12 great family historical adventures set in Australia, Papua, China and even Russia.  I have read most if not all of his books and enjoyed them all.

On his website Peter describes his approach as "putting a human face" on the history of Australia and Papua New Guinea. He has been described in many places as Australia's Wilbur Smith.