Bryan Brown is an actor synonymous in these parts with that sort of dry, pared back, quintessentially Aussie bloke character, much like the ones he's played in THE CHANT OF JIMMIE BLACKSMITH and for those of die-hard local crime fiction fans, the much missed Cliff Hardy in THE EMPTY BEACH. It comes as no surprise then that he's had a bit of a dabble in crime fiction, and the book is a series of short stories steeped in humour, violence, pathos and inner-city Australian sensibility.

Primarily set in suburban Sydney, there are seven short stories in this book, and they vary enough to give the reader licence to pick and choose from favourite to least so. The blurb will give you a real feel for the tone, and style of this collection, in particular I laughed out loud at this description:

"Fell for the sexy and beautiful Sue May from Hong Kong, Frank Testy did. Silly old prick. What price for ego? A huge bloody price it turns out."

All of these stories appealed on some level to this reader, but to be honest, I think it's probably a collection that may struggle in translation overseas. Unless you're looking for something that will tell you a lot about the way that some Australian's see the world. The tongue in cheek here is planted so firmly on occasions you can see the bulge becoming permanent. The depictions of so many of these characters so spot on, you can't help but wonder who Brown's been mixing with.

It was also possible to see a few homages here - there's shades of Peter Corris in the depictions of place, motive and means. There's more than a hattip to Robert G Barrett's sense of the bizarre and absurd. There was something of the Jon Cleary's in the plotting. And to top that off, I saw recently that the audio version is narrated by Brown, which instantly made it into the listening list even as I read the book. The idea of these stories, in his voice, is delicious.

This entire collection was enormous fun - laughed out loud a lot, and finished up hoping that Brown is contemplating a longer form foray into a genre which he must love. He's definitely good at acting in it, and now it turns out, pretty good at the authoring side as well.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/sweet-jimmy-bryan-brown ( )

You’ve probably seen Australian actor Bryan Brown on the big screen, perhaps in Hollywood blockbusters like F/X, Cocktail, Gorillas in the Mist, Breaker Morant, or in any of the other dozen movies he has made an appearance in, particularly if you are of a certain age. Sweet Jimmy, an entertaining collection of crime fiction short stories, is his first foray into publishing.

Primarily set within the streets of suburban Sydney, Brown’s stories combine humour, violence, and pathos. There are seven in all, and include an angry father seeking the man responsible for his daughter’s death, a thief who steals more than he bargains for, a cop investigating a serial killer, and a man hunting for the woman that betrayed him. Vengeance, betrayal, redemption, and survival are common themes, exposing men pushed to their limits. There was actually not a single tale I didn’t find engaging.

I’m not sure Sweet Jimmy would translate well to an international audience, but for me there was a definite sense of cultural familiarity. I feel Brown captures an aspect of the elusive essence of the Australian character particularly well, and it wouldn’t surprise me to learn some of the characters and events are inspired by real people Brown has known.

The writing strongly reminds me of the late Robert G Barrett’s work, it’s spare but still expressive, and perhaps more importantly, honest. The audio version of of the book is narrated by Brown himself, which I think would be a real treat with his distinctive voice.

Sweet Jimmy is colourful, bold, and cheeky collection of suburban Aussie noir stories. ( )