Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
On the Java Ridge
On the Java Ridge | Jock Serong
6 posts | 4 read | 11 to read
Amid the furious ocean there was no human sound on deck: some people standing, watching the wave, but no one capable of words. On the Java Ridge, skipper Isi Natoli and a group of Australian surf tourists are anchored beside an idyllic reef off the Indonesian island of Dana. In the Canberra office of Cassius Calvert, Minister for Border Integrity, a Federal election looms and (not coincidentally) a hardline new policy is being announced regarding maritime assistance to asylum-seeker vessels in distress. A few kilometres away from Dana, the Takalar is having engine trouble. Among the passengers fleeing from persecution are Roya and her mother, and Royas unborn sister. The storm now closing in on the Takalar and the Java Ridge will mean catastrophe for them all. With On the Java Ridge Jock Serong, bestselling author of The Rules of Backyard Cricket, brings us a literary novel with the pace and tension of a political thrillerand some of the most compelling, heartstopping writing about the sea since Patrick OBrian. Jock Serong's debut novel Quota won the 2015 Ned Kelly Award for Best First Crime Novel. In 2016, The Rules of Backyard Cricket was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Award. On the Java Ridge is his third novel. Jock teaches law and writes feature articles in the surfing media and for publications such as The Guardian and Slow Living. He lives with his wife and four children in Port Fairy, Victoria. Terrifying, compelling. Australian Book Review Taut and impressive. Age You might want to clear the decks before you start Jock Serongs third thriller, because the odds are you wont be able to put it down. SA Weekend With this book, Serong cements his growing reputation as the thinking persons adventure writer. On the Java Ridge is such a strong piece of writing on so many levels. Andrew Bolt would hate it! Readings Expertly written, vast in scope...A compelling literary political thriller and a must-read commentary on the Australian political environment and its treatment of refugees. Better Read Than Dead This is the mastery of Serongs novel, understanding that fictional dystopias are at their most profound when they take the everyday and tilt it towards the darkness...it is a deeply considered novel that steers us to the logical conclusion of an entrenched system rooted equally in brutality and silence. Monthly The best surf-related fiction I have read in a long, long time, possibly everJock Serongs riveting On the Java Ridge. Swell Net The rescue and the scenes that follow it are the real heart of the book, and they are exceptional. Serong invests the chaos and confusion of the wreck and its bloody aftermath with a visceral power that makes for confronting but exhilarating reading. Australian
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
Pick icon
100%
review
Joanne1
On the Java Ridge | Jock Serong
post image
Pickpick

Australia has a turbulent history when it comes to the treatment of refugees. I find the current policies reprehensible but in this novel they are even more so. Despite the very difficult subject it was an utterly compelling story, told from the perspective of a politician, a refugee child and an Australian woman unwittingly caught in the middle. This was recommended by a patron at the library I work at and I‘ll be adding his others to my TBR.

Joanne1 June #bookspin completed nice and early this month. @TheAromaofBooks 4y
CarolynM I've just read the Litsy blurb which includes the line "Andrew Bolt would hate it" . Good enough for me! Stacked. 4y
Freespirit I haven't heard of this..thank you..stacked...I am waiting for Andrew Bolt to follow Allan Jones into retirement🙏🏼 @CarolynM 4y
See All 6 Comments
CarolynM @Freespirit Can't happen soon enough 4y
Joanne1 @CarolynM yes he would absolutely hate it. And I completely agree @Freespirit the sooner he retires the better. I hadn‘t heard of this one either, I love when the library patrons can put me on to something new. 4y
TheAromaofBooks Yay!! Great review!! 4y
43 likes6 stack adds6 comments
blurb
Joanne1
On the Java Ridge | Jock Serong
post image

#bookspin (tagged) and #double spin for June. I started the Jock Serong book prior to lockdown but couldn‘t focus once the world fell apart. Life is still mad but I feel more able to tackle both it and reading now than I did three months ago. Plus they‘re both library books due back at the end of the month.

blurb
Joanne1
On the Java Ridge | Jock Serong
post image

I found myself with absolutely no books on the go this morning having finished my non-fiction and audiobook and bailed on my fiction read earlier this week. Must rectify this situation immediately!! This was a recommendation from a library customer and the start is very promising.