Shooting Star (Temple novel)
{{Short description|Novel by Peter Temple}}
{{Infobox book |
| name = Shooting Star
| image = File:Shooting Star (Temple novel).jpg
| caption = First edition
| author = Peter Temple
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country = Australia
| language = English
| series =
| genre = crime novel
| publisher = Bantam, Australia
| release_date = 1999
| english_release_date =
| media_type = Print (Paperback)
| pages = 259 pp
| isbn = 0-7338-0158-7
| oclc = 45151237
| preceded_by = An Iron Rose
| followed_by = Black Tide
}}
Shooting Star (1999) is a Ned Kelly Award-winning novel by Australian author Peter Temple.{{cite web|title= Shooting Star by Peter Temple |publisher= Austlit|url= https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C1482|accessdate= 30 June 2023}}
Dedication
"For Nicholas - with thanks for all the joy."
Plot
Frank Calder, an ex-soldier whose post-military career as a police hostage negotiator ended after he got into a physical altercation with a sadistic fellow officer, now works as a private mediator. Outwardly a hardened loner, on the inside, he nurtures demons from his military days and is plagued by constant self-doubt. When the novel opens, Frank has just taken a job with the very rich Carson family—they need Frank to negotiate with the kidnappers who abducted 15-year-old Anne Carson on her way home from school.{{cite web|title= Plot summary: Shooting Star by Peter Temple |publisher= SuperSummary|url= https://www.supersummary.com/shooting-star/summary/|accessdate= 30 June 2023}}
Awards
Notes
This novel has also been published in UK by Quercus (2008),{{cite web|title= Shooting Star (Quercus) |publisher= National Library of Australia|url= https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/4364310|accessdate= 29 June 2023}} Germany (2008 by Bertelsmann),{{cite web|title= Shooting Star (German) |publisher= National Library of Australia|url= https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/4353650|accessdate= 29 June 2023}} Poland (2009 by Amber), France (2010), and Japan (2012).{{cite web|title= Shooting Star by Peter Temple, All Publication Details |publisher= Austlit|url= https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C1482?mainTabTemplate=workPublicationDetails|accessdate= 30 June 2023}}
Reviews
On the "AustCrime" website Karen Chisholm had this to say about the Text Publishing reprint of the novel in 2019: "Shooting Star has always been a masterclass in thriller execution. Sparse, cleverly paced, littered with clues that make for many 'of course' proclamations, there isn't a wasted moment in all 232 pages. It's about the cleverness of the observations of the characters, but it's also about the tightness of the plot and the way that the hints are there for the identifying. Temple was never a writer to treat his readers with disdain, so there's respect for those reading, as well as those telling the story. And then there are the little touches, the turns of phrase that show you how his characters, think, behave, interact, never in an overbearing manner, often with dry wit and wry humour."{{cite web|title= Shooting Star, Peter Temple |publisher= AustCrime|url= https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/shooting-star-peter-temple-0|accessdate= 30 June 2023}}
Publishers Weekly called it a "gritty, well-executed tale of greed and vengeance."{{cite web|title= Shooting Star, Peter Temple |publisher= Publishers Weekly|url= https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781921351389|accessdate= 30 June 2023}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Ned Kelly Award – Best Novel}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shooting Star}}
Category:1999 Australian novels
Category:Novels by Peter Temple
Category:Ned Kelly Award–winning works
{{1990s-crime-novel-stub}}