Who Knew Tasmanian Tigers Eat Apples! - John Martin

    2017; 194 pages.  Book 6, despite being a prequel (out of 9) in the “Windy Mountain” series.  New Author? : Yes.  Genres : Humorous Fiction; Australia; Urban Comedy.  Overall Rating: 6½*/10.

 

    G’day, mate!  Welcome to Tasmania and to our quaint little town of Windy Mountain.  My name is Moose Routley, and I’m here to help you enjoy your stay.

 

    No doubt you’re here to visit Mayor Jimmy Northan’s famous apple orchard, where our aptly-named Tasmanian Tigers are rumored to come to feed on the fruit there.  Yes, it’s true, the world thinks the Tasmanian Tiger became extinct close to a century ago, but one of our town’s citizens, Wish-Wash swears he’s seen one, and even patted it on its back.  Yes, Wish-Wash is the town drunk, but that doesn’t mean he’d make the whole story up, does it?

 

    I would advise against visiting the orchard during the daytime, since it would technically be trespassing and Tasmanian Tigers are known the feed only at night.  But I also recommend you don’t visit the orchard at night, since then you’ll run across the ghost of Colonel Richard Northan, an ancestor of our esteemed Mayor.

 

    In short, stay away from the orchard.  But when you get back home, be sure to tell everyone you know that while you were staying in Windy Mountain, you came very close to seeing a Tasmanian Tiger!

 

What’s To Like...

    Who Knew Tasmanian Tigers Eat Apples! is both Book 6 of a 9-book series and the series' prequel.  I have not read any other books.  The setting is Tasmania, which is where the author, John Martin, was born and raised, although he has since moved to Canberra, Australia..

 

    The book is written in Australian, and includes a bunch of Aussie words and phrases, including: sheila, sand-shoes, dunny, arvo, hoon, boil the billy, fair dinkum, and sozzled.  I always love learning bits and pieces of a foreign language.  Here, instead of minimizing the use of the “local lingo”, John Martin revels in using them.  It significantly enhances the “local feel” of the story.

 

    Despite the book’s catchy title, there is no overarching storyline.  Instead, at least eleven more-or-less equally important plot threads work their way into the 18 chapters of the tale.  The storyline jumps from one plotline to another, but I didn’t find this confusing at all.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Yakka (n.) : hard, strenuous work

Others: Dunny (n.), Arvo (n.), Hoon (n.).

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 3.4*/5, based on 73 ratings and 16 reviews.

    Goodreads: 3.12*/5, based on 68 ratings and 15 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    She kissed him goodbye outside The Applecart and continued on to the Catholic Church for mass.

    The Applecart didn’t actually have a licence to open on the sabbath, but they got around it by calling the session Sunday School.  As long as you were over 18, you were welcome to worship a few glasses of cider, play poker with the blokes and unwind ahead of another hard week of yakka.  (pg. 23)

 

    “Have you actually seen a Tasmanian Tiger yet?”

    Moose reached over and turned the recorder off.  “You can’t really expect me to answer that!  Poor old Wish-Wash lost all his credibility when he claimed he had seen a Tasmanian Tiger.  Who’s going to take seriously a Tasmanian Tiger hunter who says he hasn’t seen one?  This is my livelihood, mate, and it’s in my professional interests to keep people guessing.”  (pg. 128)

 

Kindle Details…

    The Who Knew Tasmanian Tigers Eat Apples! e-book goes for $3.99 right now.  Book One, Lie of the Tiger, is free.  The rest of the books in the series vary in price from $2.99 to $4.99.  John Martin also has a three-book series, “Funny Capers DownUnder”, similarly priced. 

 

“Trust you to look a gift mountain oyster in the mouth.”  (pg. 22)

    There is only a small amount of cussing in Who Knew Tasmanian Tigers Eat Apples!  I noted just six instances in the first 33% of the book.  Later on, a part of the male anatomy gets mentioned.  I only saw three typos: one misidentification (Reg/Rog), one grammar (rule/rules), and one misspelling (starred/stared).

 

    More than half of the plot threads do not get resolved.  I’m guessing this is deliberate and that they are actually the main plotlines in the books that follow.  We shall see.  I’ve snagged the first book in the series, Lie of the Tiger, and hope to read it soon.

 

    Who Knew Tasmanian Tigers Eat Apples! was a fun read for me.  The pacing was good, the characters were fascinating, and the wit was plentiful.  Since I’ve never been to, or read about, Tasmania, becoming acquainted with the island was an enlightening pleasure.  Hey, maybe I'll take a trip down there and look for Tasmanian tigers myself!

 

    6½ Stars.  One last thing.  Australian Rules Football plays a significant role in Who Knew Tasmanian Tigers Eat Apples!  The implication is made that Rugby is a wussy’s game compared it.  I’ve watched both.  The Aussies are right!