57 ratings | 18 reviews | avg rating:4.72

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Gawain Barker

Goodreads Author

Born

in Australia

Website

http://www.thecolourofshadows.com

Genre

Crime, Memoir, Thriller

Member Since

March 2019

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Gawain Barker spent three decades cooking around the globe. A culinary autobiography - 200 Kitchens: Confessions of a Nomad Cook - tells his unique story.

Now retired from the kitchen, he's writing a crime thriller series set in the tropics of Australia. With the noir/private-eye template as a starting point, the books explore the rough-as-guts social mores, endemic corruption, and absolute personal freedoms of an often lawless era - Far North Queensland in the 1970s & 1980s.

Through decades of personal experience, much research, and many interviews, he has created an untold world of epic natural beauty, wild times, raw action, and dirty history.

For more on Gawain's books - https://www.thecolourofshadows.com/

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Combine Editions
Gawain Barker’s books

Average rating: 4.32 · 47 ratings · 9 reviews · 6 distinct works

	200 Kitchens: Confessions of a Nomad cook 4.26 avg rating — 38 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Colour of Shadows 4.43 avg rating — 7 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Weight of Love it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Heaven & Hell 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Heaven & Hell 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Power of Rain 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Gawain Barker…

26 posts
Gawain Barker's Blog

Submarine Cook

I've worked in some sweat boxes - kitchens as moist and stinky as a wrestler's jock strap, but for true hard-core cooking action there can't have been much tougher than a wartime submarine's galley. From the primitive subs of the Great War, through to the ocean-going fleets of the Second World War, the deep-water cook worked in a world of monstrous adversity. In tiny kitchens like metal cells, the Read more of this blog post »

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Published on May 30, 2020 19:53

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Gawain’s Recent Updates

Gawain Barker joined the group Goodreads Librarians Group
Sep 20, 2025 03:10AM · like
Gawain Barker rated a book it was amazing This is How it Ends by Eva Dolan (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A nasty, snakey ride with a cut-up chronological structure that keeps the twists coming. Two well-realised protagonists, a very plausible plot, and a shitload of social observation make for a bleak but satisfying read.
Jan 25, 2025 09:18PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of This is How it Ends by Eva Dolan. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — This is How it Ends by Eva Dolan <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Gawain Barker rated a book it was amazing Iris by Fiona Kelly McGregor	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Wow-wee - this is one of the best Australian crime novels I’ve ever read: a septic love-bite, an uppercut to the heart. A brutal, wonderful slow-burn filled with razor-sharp detail and casual horror; this dense, hypnotic epic transcends the genre. Ab ...more
Jan 25, 2025 09:15PM · like · see review
Gawain Barker rated a book really liked it Strange Days Indeed: The 1970s: The Golden Days of Paranoia by Francis Wheen	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 21, 2024 07:04PM · like
Gawain Barker rated a book really liked it The Ministry of Truth: The Biography of George Orwell's 1984 by Dorian Lynskey	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 21, 2024 07:03PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Ministry of Truth by Dorian Lynskey. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Ministry of Truth by Dorian Lynskey <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Gawain Barker rated a book really liked it Love Me Fierce In Danger: The Life of James Ellroy by Steven Powell	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
The author got the interviews. His subject spilled. Not a literary critique. Or a hagiography. Thank Christ. It ain't long, but it does the job. Nice work Mr. P. ...more
Dec 21, 2024 06:57PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Love Me Fierce In Danger by Steven Powell. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Love Me Fierce In Danger by Steven Powell <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Gawain Barker rated a book it was amazing The Tartan Turban: In Search of Alexander Gardner by John Keay	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 21, 2024 06:56PM · like
Gawain Barker rated a book it was amazing Wanderlust: An Eccentric Explorer, an Epic Journey, a Lost Age by Reid Mitenbuler	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A brilliant account of an incredible life. Definitely a two season TV series in this.
Dec 21, 2024 06:54PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Wanderlust by Reid Mitenbuler. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Wanderlust by Reid Mitenbuler <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Gawain Barker rated a book liked it Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 21, 2024 06:53PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Gawain Barker rated a book really liked it The Red Storm by Grant Bywaters (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Solid, atmospheric P.I tale from 1930s New Orleans with a Black protagonist, who is soon up to his neck in more than the usual shit his skin colour normally brings him. Well done, hard-nosed crime, full of biffo and dirty history.
Dec 21, 2024 06:48PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Red Storm by Grant Bywaters. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Red Storm by Grant Bywaters <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">