A novel set in Australia by an Australian author. 'Sensitive New Age Spy' is a fast paced story which includes the American Navy, the anti-whaling extremists/terrorists, government corruption and Australia's Sensitive New Age Spy.

This book is scattered with light one-liners which gave this reader a reason to smile on more than one occasion. If you like to see deep character development in a novel, then 'New Age Spy' is not for you. Thankfully characters are introduced with a minimum of fuss with their details being on a 'need to know' basis. This formula works extremely well and aids to the pace of the story.

Definitely a recommended read. ( )

I first discovered McGeachin (delightfully read by Peter Hoskings - but then I'm a sucker for the Australian accent) in a book called Fat, Fifty and F**cked. It was a hysterical novel/thriller featuring a one-breasted librarian. (No, I'm not telling.)

In this "spy" novel (Alby Murdoch is a spy only in the sense that he's head of the Australian black ops unit,) Alby is called to the harbor one fine summer morning to discover that someone has anchored an LNG tanker in the middle. Now, LNG tankers are interesting floating bombs. Requiring that the gas be kept at -260F to remain a liquid, they are well insulated and strong. If a tank is breached the liquid instantly turns to gas and the fire that results is sort of like an atomic bomb. For those who care, several of these ships arrive every week at four different terminals in the U.S. (And you're worried about airplanes flying into buildings? A missile into one of these babies and New York would be history.) Now, back to fantasy.

Turns out the ship is there as a decoy only and the real mission was to steal two nuclear-tipped missiles from an American cruiser docked in the harbor. The thieves had inside help on the cruiser and the only thing they had in common was they were all members of the ship's choir. This leads to a very funny interchange between our hero, a combination James Bond and Pink Panther, and the local feel-good-God-wants-us-to-be-rich minister. Won't describe any more of the plot. Very enjoyable. Get the audio.

Refs: http://hormuz.robertstrausscenter.org/lng_tankers ( )

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/node/3952 ( )