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Oscar Piastri: The Rookie by Andrew Van Leeuwen
The deafening engine roar, tension-filled passes and incomprehensible speed is the world of Formula One. I was lucky enough to have this unforgettable experience at the Melbourne Grand Prix in my teens and for years, my family would set our alarms for the middle of the night, get up and put on our respective team shirts, and watch F1 wherever it was in the world. After the race, we would return to bed either elated or mad at the world. But that was many years ago.
I was only a few pages into this book when I felt myself being pulled back into the Formula One world.
Andrew Van Leeuwen has been a motorsport journalist for nearly two decades and knows the sport inside-out. He follows promising young Australian driver Oscar Piastri’s racing career to date, mainly focusing on his 2023 debut Formula One season with McLaren. Vivid accounts of each race kept me hooked, while some of the history and stories from each track had me laughing out loud. The infamous Alpine tweet and other behind-the-scenes politics add just the right amount of spice.
Oscar Piastri seems to have all the makings of a legend and is extremely likable to boot. I may not have started setting my alarm for midnight again, but suddenly my internet searches for F1 results are rather high. I would recommend this book for anyone with an interest in motorsport.
Reviewed by Abby Soffe
Breaking Silence By Linda Castillo
Castillo is a prize-winning American author well known for her crime thrillers featuring Police Chief Kate Burkholder. Burkholder was brought up Amish so it seems a no-brainer to get her to investigate a local hate crime against an elderly woman’s farm animals, and what appears to be a tragic accident. Are they separate, or related events?
The incidents ramp up, local Amish close ranks, and Burkholder is getting nowhere.
She also realises the three adults found in the farm manure pit are a wife, her husband and his brother.
Four children are left orphans, with no Amish relatives. What will become of them?
It becomes apparent it wasn’t just a tragic accident that killed the youngster’s family, so what was the cause? Perhaps the mother was trying to save her husband who’d fallen in, or was it something much more sinister? Was it possibly even murder?
What follows is a gripping tale of fast-moving police work to get to the bottom of these events. There are many twists and turns, and the ending is both shocking and distressing, and puts paid to any thoughts the reader may have had about the Amish all being model, God-fearing citizens.
Reviewed by Barbara Leslie
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