Double Take is the first foray into crime fiction for Australian author Kendall Talbot. I didn’t do much reading up about the book before I started, so though I knew it was about a bank heist, I was unaware that it was inspired by an actual robbery. It is set in a branch where a young Kendall Talbot once worked.
The robbery that actually went down was intricately planned, as was the one in Double Take, but that and the branch are the only real similarities.
Talbot asks the age old questions of whether crime really does pay and how far would you go for the one you love. Would you commit a felony for the one you love? But the big question that stuck in my mind was just how far would you go to make good on a promise you made as a thankful teenager.
Double Take is as entertaining as it is intriguing and once I picked it up I had trouble having to put it down.
Jackson Rich has his own business supplying businesses with potted plants for their workplaces. It’s not a lot but it’s all he’s got, he lost his previous job, sold the house and the cars and now he may be just lose his wife as well.
If you find the love of your life and there is a chance you can buy her a reprieve from her terminal illness would you stop at nothing to get the cash for the life saving operation? Jackson Rich is willing to risk it all to save the life of his love but he has it perfectly planned.
Talbot has created characters with depth, characters that make you feel for them and then there are characters that just rubbed me wrong from their very first appearance.
The motivations took a bit to get my head around. I can understand Jackson’s motives, he was getting desperate and out of options. The old gang all have a promise to keep, but that promise was made as teenagers, and now they are well past that and have moved on from their teenage mistakes; they have built lives for themselves that will be jeopardised if anything goes wrong.
I could understand it a little more if the gang had stayed together through the years, or at least stayed in touch, but it seems that apart from Jackson’s brother they haven’t seen each other since the promise was made.
Double Take isn’t all tension and suspense, there are some laugh out loud moments and some characters that I just wanted to slap.
There are multiple simultaneous storylines so there has to be multiple view points though none of them are in the first person. We follow Jackson as he brings the gang together and lays his plans out for them; we follow the two boys in the wrong place at the right time and we follow the bored gold digger trying to find herself some security and then later on we also keep up with police officer Montgomery Steel.
Double Take spans more than a decade to ensure we follow the story from start to finish and it was certainly pitted with twists I hadn’t seen coming.
This book is a must-read for lovers of Australian fiction, it has an undeniable Aussie feel to it that I can’t really explain.
The pacing was good with action right the way through, leaving you always wondering, and for every question answered, another arose.
The gang Jackson brought together was his brother Jimmy, Rachel, Donny, Stubbs and Pete. We learn a bit about Jimmy and Rachel, gaining an understanding of why they got involved and also of their personalities. That wasn’t the case with the others. Donny and Stubbs were part of the old gang from high school and they made a promise but we don’t really learn much more than that. Pete is even more enigmatic. They are only secondary characters and not knowing them doesn’t affect the enjoyment of the story but for my own satisfaction, I would have liked to know them better.
Double Take is a gripping read that will satisfy readers of many genres, this is definitely a crime novel and it is a well written crime novel but it is also about the people and the relationships outside of that.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
I had a beautiful plan when I was pregnant for the second time.
I’d gone full term with twins, so of course I’d be full term with just one. I was going to take mat leave six weeks before he was due, to have a good break; and that was when I was going to start explaining to the two year old about his baby brother, so he had time to understand it but not too long to wait. I had babysitting plans in place for any conceivable time I might go into labour – and back ups. I even had a beautiful ring binder where I had carefully written all this down for my husband, with details like phone numbers, who to call, alternate plans if the first (or even second) plans went awry. I called it his “Panic Avoidance Folder”.
It was the perfect plan, with two perfect backup plans, all perfectly documented.
The day after my mat leave started, my waters broke. There went my plan for six weeks of relative rest, and my plan for explaining it to my two year old.
Then we discovered every hospital in Canberra was full. They airlifted me to Sydney. There went my plan to give birth in a hospital of my choice, with a doctor of my choice. Also, every single baby sitting plan and help-for-my-husband plan was stuffed.
Then we discovered there was a life threatening complication no-one had noticed before. We nearly lost our son. There went my plan for a happy post-labour bonding session.
Then they stuck my son in an ambulance and sent him back to Canberra – alone – without telling me, even though I was still in the same hospital. There went my plan to travel with him, or at least hold him before they sent him.
I have rarely had a plan go so comprehensively awry in quite so many ways.
I should add though, my son came through it ok!
Well my most memorable mishap involves 4wding, a secluded camp spot and me (shocking with directions and general understanding of maps). We had set everything up and organised a camp roast over the fire pit. With a few hours to spare we decided to take a drive round and next thing you know it’s 8 hours later and dark and we are lost as heck. Luckily we were eventually found and led back to our camp site.. which was literally 10 minutes in the other direction. Embarrassing.
Was 2 weeks ago we left my toddler with my mum first time ever. Me and my partner decided to go the AGQUIP festival for the first time ever we were almost there and the traffic was congested we pulled up jut in time but the other cars didn’t and we ended up in a 5 car pileup was so scary I was so sore. Luckily we left my daughter with my mum as she would have been injured in the back.
My memorable moment was getting dressed up wearing hair extensions I was rushing and ran straight into a clear glass door and my hair fell off in front of my date who stood looking on in horror.ooopss.
I always enjoy a good read.
I came home early from 10 months in America but didn’t tell my friends as I wanted to surprise them. Was on a 2 hour train trip out to see them at their house and was texting to see what they were up to, as they thought I was in America still, and then I found out they weren’t even home, so I got off at the next station, turned around and came home and had to come clean about the fact that I was home already. Spectacular fail.
Decided to organize a surprise event for a work mate who was turning 50.
I knew she wouldn’t be in on her birthday and that she had a medical appointment during her lunch break the day before her birthday so organised a morning tea (which she knew about) and some flowers, a card and a gift.
Shortly before the morning tea was due to start said workmate gets up and advises she will be back later, she’s changed her medical appointment to earlier, but we should go ahead and have the morning tea without her.
She leaves and I madly contact everyone invited to advise morning tea is off and we will have a quick get together at lunchtime. Lunchtime comes, and she still hasn’t returned from her appointment, madly cancel lunch event and ask everyone to come back at afternoon tea time.
Workmate returns from appointment and says as her doctor was close to the market she had decided to have lunch there. She then announces that as it is her birthday the next day she is leaving at 3 pm – yep you guessed it – afternoon tea time!
Mad hustle to get everyone back then and there in order to make presentation, at which point she says “oh, I hadn’t realized the morning tea was for me, sorry”
Aaaaaaargh. Last time I try to organise an event at work for anyone!
My Perfect plan went wrong when i booked my 10 year old sons birthday party for the wrong date and had all the guests show up on the wrong date.
I don’t think I can top many of the great (or not so great really) stories written here! Earlier this year I had to go to Melbourne for a medical appointment which I was stressing about, so we also bought tickets to see the Lion King the night after and stay a few days in Melbourne as a “reward”. A couple of days after the booking (which I made only 10 days prior to the trip) I was talking to a friend about how I was excited about the performance, and it dawned on me that I may have booked the wrong date – Yep my subconscious was right – I booked the right day but for a week earlier than we were there. That meant i had booked for a show in only two days time! I was so disappointed as they were expensive and I wouldn’t be able to afford more, and doubted I could sell in time.
Luckily I got a buyer on gumtree (thought I may not as they were printable etickets, and it was hardly time to get a bank transfer) and I only lost $30 overall, and was able to secure tickets for the correct night (even if they were about 10 rows further back)
Is there such a thing as the perfect plan? Me thinks not! I do try though and am called Miss Organisation by my friends. My last flop was organising a work reunion and then having the flu so bad that I couldn’t go. Oh well!