Strange Rain

by Venero Armanno

Am anderern Ende der Welt gibt es kein Entkommen. Nicht vor dem Regen. Nicht vor der Vergangenheit. Nicht vor der Wahrheit und dem Tod. Als Joe sich mit seinem Freund Cliff auf die reise in die Outbacks macht, um dort die Asche seines Vaters zu verstreuen, wird er von der Vergangenheit eingeholt: von seiner eigenen und der seines Vaters ...

265 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Venero Armanno, the son of Sicilian migrants, was born in Brisbane. He has travelled and worked throughout the world. In 1995, 1997 and 1999 he lived and wrote in the Cité International des Arts, Paris. He is the author of Jumping at the Moon, a book of short stories (equal runner-up in the prestigious Steele Rudd Award) and eight novels, including The Volcano, which won the Queensland Premier's Literary Award for Best Fiction Novel (2002) and was short-listed for the Courier Mail Best Book of the Year. His work has been published internationally and he is currently a senior lecturer at the University of Queensland.

Reviews

[Kate Cornfoot · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a long-time fan of Venero Armanno, having read everything he's published since his first book of short stories in 1992. Everything except Strange Rain, until now. I suspect I was too squeamish in my youth to read this novel; the violence, sinister themes and suspense are not for the faint-hearted. Boy this book packs a punch! It sits firmly in the Australian Gothic tradition - masterfully using the stark, oppressive outback environment as an ominous setting for a dark tale of revenge, cruelty, love and redemption. There are some impressive twists and turns I didn't see coming; but it's protagonist Joe Santo's soulful journey that kept me turning the page. Strange Rain is another brilliant book in an excellent collection of novels by a one-of-a-kind writer.

[Drew Sanderson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dreadful. The characters evoke no feelings; you neither love or hate them, like or dislike them. In the end, the only thing I felt was frustration for bothering to read this, and relief that it was finally over.