That Empty Feeling: Cliff Hardy 41 (Cliff Hardy series) by Peter Corris (Epub)

Description

One case still haunts Hardy

Legendary PI Cliff Hardy has reached an age when the obituaries have become part of his reading, and one triggers his memory of a case in the late 1980s. Back then Sydney was awash with colourful characters, and Cliff is reminded of a case involving ‘Ten-Pound Pom’ Barry Bartlett and racing identity and investor Sir Keith Mountjoy.

Bartlett, a former rugby league player and boxing manager, then a prosperous property developer, had hired Hardy to check on the bona fides of young Ronny Saunders, newly arrived from England, and claiming to be Bartlett’s son from an early failed marriage. The job brought Hardy into contact with Richard Keppler, head of the no-rules Botany Security Systems, Bronwen Marr, an undercover AFP operative, and sworn adversary Des O’Malley.

At a time when corporate capitalism was running riot, an embattled Hardy searched for leads – was Ronny Saunders a pawn in a game involving big oil and fraud on an international scale? Two murders raise the stakes and with the sinister figure of Lady Betty Lee Mountjoy pulling the strings, it was odds against a happy outcome.

User’s Reviews

Review “The author’s effective humanizing of his sometimes-brutish lead makes Hardy a believable character who engages the reader’s sympathies.” —Publishers Weekly“Perfect for both longtime series fans and newbies.” —Booklist Online”Cracking dialog moves the pace along. A solid choice for mystery buffs who appreciate rough-hewed Australian humor and hard-boiled PI series.” -—Library Journal “A solid choice.” —Library Journal –This text refers to the paperback edition.

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ Peter Corris never fails to deliver with a new story in the Cliff Hardy series. “That Empty Feeling” is now number forty one in a trail that covers several decades.Given that Cliff is now getting on in years, “That Empty Feeling” adopts a new literary technique. It’s a flashback to the 1980s; a time when a younger Cliff cut his teeth in the PI trade. It’s a world where investigating techniques are very different. No internet, no mobile phones, more leg work required and the most cutting edge device employed is a fax. How time marches on.“That Empty Feeling” sees Cliff working a case for Barry Bartlett who would possibly be described in Sydney vernacular as “colourful”. Barry is involved in all sorts of dodgy deals which Cliff largely manages to resolve, but not before encountering a new love interest and personal tragedy. Cliff’s life runs the gamut of events and emotions.Of course, as is always the case, the hidden character in this tale is Sydney itself. The harbour city serves as a wonderful backdrop for events. The city is alternately beautiful and sleazy. The locations are always able to be identified by a local. Sydney, in short, gives any Cliff Hardy novel additional street cred.I thoroughly enjoyed “that Empty Feeling”. I recommend it to any reader of crime fiction.

⭐ Another engrossing and entertaining Cliff Hardy story – interesting characters and plot threads. BUT… the ending was too brief, and unbelievable. After being taken on an enjoyable journey, the destination was a disappointment.

⭐ A return of the great Cliff Hardy. Traversing Sydney in his usual fashion, this tale reals of current times more than the 1980’s. A good mixture of rough stuff and intrigue. Very enjoyable though he did not end up with the girl.

⭐ Rather lightweight but entertaining

⭐ Another good yarn by Peter Corris

⭐ Too predictable. We knew Bron would not see the last page. Villains not made real as they usually are. Only three fifths as good as the usual Corris, but still better than most others.

⭐ The forty-first Cliff Hardy book came out earlier this year. That Empty Feeling is classic Cliff Hardy – stripped down, hardboiled, quintessentially Australian-noir ticking all the required boxes – pace, twists, turns, sex, violence and pitch-perfect dialogue. This time around, the cynicism and world-weariness have a little poignancy attached to them as well. The discovery of the obituary of an old client – Barry Bartlett sets Hardy off reminiscing, harking back to the late 1980’s.Back then, Hardy had taken on a case for Bartlett sorting out a family mystery. Barry’s two children, and their mother, had returned to England many years before and the question now was whether the man who had returned was indeed the son he claimed to be. This is well before Google, Social Media and DNA were available, but even allowing for some old-fashioned checking methods, you’d think it wouldn’t have been that difficult to resolve. But this is a Cliff Hardy investigation, and nothing’s ever as simple as it seems.Setting the action back in the 1980’s has allowed Corris to revisit the time of some of Hardy’s greatest excesses. The stuff that probably gave him his current day heart condition, and a large part of his general demeanour. Taking Hardy back also provides plenty of opportunity to reminisce about the inner-Sydney suburbs as they were – before living there became trendy. It’s not hard to see a certain sense of regret at what’s been lost in those places, along with the sorts of activities that Hardy himself is no longer up for – he might still be able to throw a few punches and drink a couple of glasses of wine, but his days of excessive drinking and hefty brawling are long gone.For long-term fans of this series there are some wonderfully poignant touches, early days in friendships with ongoing characters such as cop Frank Parker and journo Harry Tickener, none of which detract from the story itself – which ends up revealing a lot about Bartlett, and the corporate excesses and shenanigans of the time.Part of the power of That Empty Feeling is that sense of looking backwards to a time when Hardy and his mates were younger, fitter and fearless. It’s also a story very much of that time – a world away from now – where life was a lot less regulated, risks seemed a lot more fun, information was a lot more guarded, and we were all a lot freer because of it. Because of that viewpoint it’s hard not to sense a slightly sadder side to Hardy. He seems to have reached that stage in life where reading obituaries is a morning ritual, and the past has always been a much happier place. Here’s hoping his excursion back in time has reminded him that there were a lot worse things in the 1980’s than big hair and awful taste in clothes.[…]

⭐ Although I’m sure I’ve read Peter Corris before, I really don’t remember much about PI Cliff Hardy. This – the 41st in the series – was probably a good place to start as the entire novel takes place in late 1980s, as Hardy tells his daughter about a job he once did for shonky businessman Barry Bartlett.Setting this novel in the past very much suited Hardy’s gumshoe type persona. Like my fave fictional PI (Spenser… by Robert B Parker), Hardy’s old school so I can’t quite imagine him surfing the internet and tracking down baddies via their online footprints.However he’s at home in boxing halls and around bookies.Hardy stumbles across a federal investigation into his client and half-heartedly partners up, though neither party really trust the other. Hardy is ostensibly just trying to find out if a newcomer really is Bartlett’s son; while the feds are trying to find something on Bartlett in an attempt to dig deeper into his world.There are a lot of players and ‘sides’ and the plot had the potential to become convoluted but Corris deftly manoeuvres around them all. I wasn’t completely satisfied with the ending, but that was from my need for closure as much as anything else. I suspect most people would nod their heads approvingly… happy that Corris is keeping it real.I enjoyed this novel but it isn’t really the sort of book I’d pick up. Corris does a great job at highlighting the excesses of the 1980s and he nails the settings, but the plot itself just didn’t challenge me enough. Again – it’s more because I enjoy (books featuring) psychopathic killers than cashed-up property developers and mobsters.

⭐ THIS NEW RELEASE from the world famous ’Godfather of Australian Crime Fiction’ is the forty first book in the Cliff Hardy series, and surprise, surprise… It’s also one of the best.I must admit that the story starts out a little slowly. Hardy is hired by an old friend to look into the background of a young lad, who appears out of nowhere from the mother country, claiming to be the son of Hardy’s new employer. All immediate points of evidence lead to an early assumption of a verifiable relationship, but then the book comes alive with a cascading series of delicious gifts of delectable noirism that leave the reader feeling truly blessed. Not to mention giddy. And as an added bonus, the bodies start to pile up quicker than you can say, ’Phillip Marlowe’. We also learn how quickly truth can be enveloped and hidden under a multitude of lies and long forgotten memories, as well as various life threatening medical conditions.Peter Corris has long been one of the world’s elite when it comes to writing the classic PI story, and THAT EMPTY FEELING only solidifies that claim. In this wonderful tome, we have plenty of cops, both good and bad. Hints of corruption, massive illegal conspiracy theories concerning the worldwide control of petroleum and oil, an abundance of sexual tension and good old biffo. There’s plenty of poetic writing, too, and some of that’s so good that it is bound to stop you in your tracks. Well, it did for me, anyway. Take a look at KL 1426-21, KL 851, and right at the start, KL 105. Of course there are more jewels to be found, and I won’t list them all here.A major player gets knocked off right at the end of part one and the tables the story is based on are all turned on the their heads. And the assumed background investigation is suddenly a grisly and suspenseful whodunit, so the reader can only assume the two events are not related. Or can they? Its (obviously) not for me to say but the story is certainly a fun and awesome way to spend a few hours of your life finding out.What started out as a mediocre personality check turned into one of the surprise reads of the year. As i said at the top of this review, THAT EMPTY FEELING is one of the strongest Cliff Hardy books ever written. If it (sadly) turns out to be the final volume of the series, then its certainly a great way for the series to end. But as a long standing fan of the incredibly fantabulous genre of New Age Noir, all I can say is that i hope there is at least one more bullet in the Cliff Hardy sawn off shotgun (!)Full marks for this fantastic new release.Bye for now.

⭐ Good read

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