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Shadowrun Novels #59
Shadows Down Under
Someone - or something - is killing nightclub entertainers in Kings Cross, Australia. Striking from the shadows, methodical and heinous, the murderer has wrapped the bawdy, colorful neighborhood in a suffocating blanket of terror.
242 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2016
8 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
About the author
Jean Rabe
220 books155 followersWhen I am not writing, I toss tennis balls to my cadre of dogs. My house is filled with books and dogs, you can smell both when you walk in the front door. It's a good smell.
I have 36 published novels and am currently writing in the mystery genre. My latest mystery, The Dead of Winter, was a finalist for the Claymore Award and is the first in the Piper Blackwell series.
I live in a tiny town in the middle of Illinois that has a Dollar General, a pizza place with exceedingly slow service, a veterinarian (good thing, eh?), and train tracks...lots of train tracks.
I have 36 published novels and am currently writing in the mystery genre. My latest mystery, The Dead of Winter, was a finalist for the Claymore Award and is the first in the Piper Blackwell series.
I live in a tiny town in the middle of Illinois that has a Dollar General, a pizza place with exceedingly slow service, a veterinarian (good thing, eh?), and train tracks...lots of train tracks.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 26, 2025
Ein Serienkiller geht um im Stadtteil Kings Cross, Sidney. Abgesehen hat er es offenbar auf Darsteller*innen der dortigen Varietés. Ein Clubbetreiber heuert die abgehalferte Privatdetektivin Ninn an, den Killer ausfindig zu machen, ehe sein Geschäft ganz den Bach runtergeht. Der Schamane Barega, der Bruder einer der ermordeten Personen, schließt sich ihr an. Handelt es sich um einfache Hassmorde eines intoleranten RighteousRight-Mitglieds oder steckt mehr hinter den Geschehnissen?
Das Buch habe ich vor Jahren mal gewonnen und nun bin ich endlich dazu gekommen, es auch zu lesen. Ich stelle immer wieder fest, dass ich ein Herz für Shadowrun habe. Der Hintergrund macht Spaß (für die Regeln des Rollenspiels hingegen war ich immer zu ungeduldig).
Australien ist mal ein ungewohntes Setting für SR. Ich habe eine Weile gebraucht, um damit so richtig warm zu werden. Gerade am Anfang war die Mischung aus Hintergrundbegriffen, die mir nicht mehr ganz geläufig waren, australischem Slang und Police-Procedure-Talk etwas schwer verdaulich, aber man fuchst sich schnell ein.
Danach belohnt die Geschichte mit einer spannenden Handlung und vor allem einem zunehmend interessanten Hauptcharakter. Die Drogen- und Technikabhängigkeit Ninns ist kein bei netter Gelegenheit erwähnter Charakterzug, sondern etwas, das sie ernsthaft ablenkt und regelmäßig in ihrer Arbeit behindert. Neben der Aufklärung des Mordfalls bleibt es spannend zu sehen, ob es ihr gelingen wird, ihr Leben wieder in gesündere Bahnen zu lenken.
Mir haben besonders die Gespräche mit ihrer eigenwilligen und naturgemäß schießwütigen KI-gesteuerten Waffe gefallen. Mordred macht Laune. :D
Solider Roman, der auch mit sehr angestaubten Hintergrundkenntnissen gut lesbar war.
Das Buch habe ich vor Jahren mal gewonnen und nun bin ich endlich dazu gekommen, es auch zu lesen. Ich stelle immer wieder fest, dass ich ein Herz für Shadowrun habe. Der Hintergrund macht Spaß (für die Regeln des Rollenspiels hingegen war ich immer zu ungeduldig).
Australien ist mal ein ungewohntes Setting für SR. Ich habe eine Weile gebraucht, um damit so richtig warm zu werden. Gerade am Anfang war die Mischung aus Hintergrundbegriffen, die mir nicht mehr ganz geläufig waren, australischem Slang und Police-Procedure-Talk etwas schwer verdaulich, aber man fuchst sich schnell ein.
Danach belohnt die Geschichte mit einer spannenden Handlung und vor allem einem zunehmend interessanten Hauptcharakter. Die Drogen- und Technikabhängigkeit Ninns ist kein bei netter Gelegenheit erwähnter Charakterzug, sondern etwas, das sie ernsthaft ablenkt und regelmäßig in ihrer Arbeit behindert. Neben der Aufklärung des Mordfalls bleibt es spannend zu sehen, ob es ihr gelingen wird, ihr Leben wieder in gesündere Bahnen zu lenken.
Mir haben besonders die Gespräche mit ihrer eigenwilligen und naturgemäß schießwütigen KI-gesteuerten Waffe gefallen. Mordred macht Laune. :D
Solider Roman, der auch mit sehr angestaubten Hintergrundkenntnissen gut lesbar war.
November 5, 2023
I played a bit of Shadowrun back in the day, but this is the first book I have read set in the Shadowrun setting. I'm not sure I will read a lot more, but I did enjoy this novel.
Rabe successfully blends in a number of elements from the Shadowrun setting without overloading readers who may not be familiar with the setting. The story starts slowly, but more and more hidden layers are revealed as the story progresses, and the pace picks up. Perhaps a little too much, as the end of the story is wrapped up very quickly, in just a few pages.
Fun to read and bonus points for getting Australia right, without being too over-the-top.
Rabe successfully blends in a number of elements from the Shadowrun setting without overloading readers who may not be familiar with the setting. The story starts slowly, but more and more hidden layers are revealed as the story progresses, and the pace picks up. Perhaps a little too much, as the end of the story is wrapped up very quickly, in just a few pages.
Fun to read and bonus points for getting Australia right, without being too over-the-top.
March 9, 2018
Get drawn in down under
You might not like her at first. You might not like her in the end but the main character stays true to herself. You can feel her in the words. You come to know her quickly. You are brought to the Cross. The damp. The mana in the air. The topics are current. The tech creative and novel. The environment a character that takes the stage unexpectedly. Often enough to become expected but not anticipated. The shamanism is beautiful and detailed. The tragedies are explored through character interactions and feel like a vase taking form spinning on a wheel. As the mind state of the main character changes you get more of the world outside of herself. As her connection to others ebb and flow her perspective on her past, present, and future grows. Take the run. I hope to see more of Ninn. Thank you to the author.
You might not like her at first. You might not like her in the end but the main character stays true to herself. You can feel her in the words. You come to know her quickly. You are brought to the Cross. The damp. The mana in the air. The topics are current. The tech creative and novel. The environment a character that takes the stage unexpectedly. Often enough to become expected but not anticipated. The shamanism is beautiful and detailed. The tragedies are explored through character interactions and feel like a vase taking form spinning on a wheel. As the mind state of the main character changes you get more of the world outside of herself. As her connection to others ebb and flow her perspective on her past, present, and future grows. Take the run. I hope to see more of Ninn. Thank you to the author.
December 15, 2018
This book does a really good job of representing addiction.
The main character has multiple addictions and constantly lies to herself about how bad or often. She also does the I need to quit, but always has an excuse. She pushes it off and sneaks drugs. She lies to herself that it is only a bit or for an edge to help the case or whatever. Jean does a great job of this.
She also does a nice job of representing LGBTQ+. This might be the only novel in this line that does.
The ending felt really rushed though. She wraps up the ending in one chapter almost as an after thought. As if she hit her word count and was like, "and... finished."
The main character has multiple addictions and constantly lies to herself about how bad or often. She also does the I need to quit, but always has an excuse. She pushes it off and sneaks drugs. She lies to herself that it is only a bit or for an edge to help the case or whatever. Jean does a great job of this.
She also does a nice job of representing LGBTQ+. This might be the only novel in this line that does.
The ending felt really rushed though. She wraps up the ending in one chapter almost as an after thought. As if she hit her word count and was like, "and... finished."
April 4, 2019
Good read
Don't know much about Australia so was nice to have a story outside the u.s. Good main character, liked the spirits, and the shaman.
Don't know much about Australia so was nice to have a story outside the u.s. Good main character, liked the spirits, and the shaman.
August 25, 2016
A fun adventure in Australia. And it had Benzo! A different version of Benzo than I remember though...
July 24, 2017
Pretty good, but it felt like it had a little too much tragedy heaped upon it. I think I might actually be interested in a prequel of sorts rather than where it goes by the final page. Worth reading and good page Turner, but wanted something more.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews