Customer Reviews (1)

Just a Typical Ozzie Battler
2nd in the Les Norton Series. . .
read "The Real Thing" first if you can.
I'm too lazy to review every book in the series, and I don't think the quality is as good in the later books, but the first 4 books in the series rank emeritus in my book-shelf-of-made-me-laugh-out-loud.

For rock-solid,dead-on unblinking observation of the Oz milieu and its mores, for perfect sampling of the unique Oz-english patois, for memorable characterizations, for hilarious Tarentino-ish cartoon violence, these books have no equal.

Les Norton is a former rugby player, now a bouncer at an illegal casino in Kings Cross in Sydney. A simple Queensland country-boy somewhat lost in the sophisticated urbane Sydney, somehow his native common sense, red-haired temper, and fists like two hams keep him clear.

He fights, he loves, he gets involved in amazing, unbelievable "rorts" (scams), he stars in tv commercials with disastrous consequences.

Yes, Les Norton is Everyman, Candide, and Robin Hood all rolled-up into one 17-pound penguin (which is how he looks in a tuxedo at the casino every night).

Murder Mysteries/Crime Novels rely on the realistic ambience created by detailed accurate descriptions and these depictions of the night life down in the Cross will make you homesick even if you ain't never been there. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Do the Mud Crab Boogie!
Extreme Water Polo is the water polo of the 90s. And when Les Norton catches the semi-final on TV he is amazed to see that the man behind Extreme Polo is his old mate, Neville `Nizegy' Nixon. So when Neville calls out of the blue and asks Les to drive the Murrumbidgee Mud Crabs up to Sydney for the final, Les takes him on.

But things are never as simple as they seem and Les finds himself drawn into an hilarious adventure involving the Mud Crabs.

Les Norton serves up fun!
I was introduced to the Les Norton series written by Robert G Barrett during an Australian visit on the recommendation of a Dymocks Bookstore employee.I think I have every book in the series (some of which came from Australia via Dymocks Bookstore - have online site!).
Les is a rolicking fun bloke who generally brawls, eats and sleeps his way through each adventure.
If you want a bit of Aussie lingo and lifestyle and some good yarns in the process then you won't be disappointed in any of the Les Norton books!Good on ya mate!

Boogie Funny
I had never read or heard of Robert Barrett before hearing Mud Crab Boogie on CD.It kept me smiling for miles.The plot unwinds in such a humerous way and there are so many twists that your attention is held all the way through the book.The narrator is so easy to listen.I thoroughly enjoyed the hours I spent with "Les Norton". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Every Typical Beer Drinking Aussie Bloke's Fantasy !!!
In this book the author once again introduces the reader to Les Norton who appears in most of Barrett's books. Les works as a doorman (read "bouncer") in a Casino owned by a criminal. As usual Les finds hismself in all manner of predicaments which he manages to escape from. Les Norton's Life would have to be every Ausralian man's (aussie bloke's) Ultimate Fantasy. He drives expensive luxury cars, always wins whenever he is in a fight, always manages to 'hook up' with the best looking girl and is never impotent in bed no matter how much he has had to drink and of course, he never suffers from a hangover!!! I give this book 5 stars because Mr. Barrett has succeeded in writing about the same guy who is a figment of his imagination and bears no resemblance to any Australian man.Why on Earth Les has Legendary Cult Status in Queensland is a total mystery to me. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

not a Les story but...
an amazing book that digs into the psyche of a serial killer.With graphic details, chilling violence, and dark humour, I believe that this book is an undercover master piece.

brilliant
Davos little something, tells a brilliant story of revenge Sydney style.It leaves nothing to the imagination and shows how Robert G Barrett can still keep you inthuralled.Waiting impatiently for his latest release.

Revenge of gay murder
This is not Bob Barrets best novel, however if you like revenge stories this one is a bloody ripper! It is set in the underworld of Sydney and the Aussie slang is laid on pretty heavy, so if you don't understand what it means to walk into a pub and ask for a frogs eye with dead horse then it may be too intellectual for all you septic tanks. Davo is a boofhead butcher whose gay hair dresser mate is bash to death in front of him, naturally his hate for the killer(s) festers inside and he turns into a lean mean killing machine. Two detectives who dealt with the gay murder start to suspect Davo for a lot of Skin Head murders because thats who killed the gay man. Murder and suspence aside check out Robert G Barrets other books for great Aussie humour. I'll just throw another shrimp on the barbie and what for all of your replies. Chris Gentle (gobruns@om.com.au) ... Read more

Product Description
The big Aussie Rules player hit the roadway in a tangle of arms and legs. His head came up just in time to see Norton come leaping out of the tram and the Cuban heels of his R. M. Williams riding boots land on his chest, with fifteen stone of enraged Queenslander behind them. If the earlier onslaught of punches hadn't done Rick's internal organs much good, the final serve completely destroyed them. Her gave one hideous moan and passed out. Les Norton is back in town!There's no two ways about Les Norton - the carrot-topped country boy who works as a bouncer at Sydney's top illegal casino. He's tough and he's mean. He's got a granite jaw, fists like hams, and they say the last time he took a tenner from his wallet Henry Lawson blinked at the light.Lethal but loyal, he's always good for a laugh. In this, the third collection of Les Norton adventures, Les gets his boss off the hook. But not without the help of the boys from Binjiwanyawunya.Les then finds himself in a spot of bother in Long Bay Gaol then in a lot more bother on a St. Kilda tram in Melbourne...Robert G. Barrett's Les Norton stories have created a world as funny as Damon Runyon's. If you don't know Les Norton, you don't know Australian in the eighties. ... Read more

Product Description
Les Norton in The Godson. From back cover: Barrett's latest Les Norton adventure moves at breakneck speed from the corridors of power in Canberra to the grimy tenements of Belfast, to climax in a nerve-shattering, blood-spattered shoot out on a survivalist fortress in the Tweed Valley. ... Read more

Product Description
Book in the Les Norton Mystery Series set in Australia.All Norton wanted was a quiet coffee and Sacher cake at the Hakoah Club in Bondi, and to be left alone to sort out his troubled love life. How he let notorious conman Kelvin kramer talk him up to Surfers Paradise for five days, Les will never know. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A hard-boiled Australian romp
I didn't think I'd like this book as it is really far out of my genre, but I did enjoy it.I had been told that Australian detective stories were quite different, but worth pursuing.This one was.I understand that this falls somewhere in a series, and I had not met the Norton boys yet, but oh boy! they are something else! There's lots of Australian trivia, and lots of action, as well as blood and guts, but even with all that, the book was hilariously funny!Les Norton is the epitome of laconic, and his brother Murray is a one-man wrecking team. This book deals with diamond smuggling, dirty deeds, and a whole ton of people that live on the wrong side of the law (including Les Norton himself).Good fun. ... Read more

Product Description
Les Norton takes a holiday. ... Read more