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Comeback (Cliff Hardy #37)

3.42 of 5 stars 3.42 · rating details · 36 ratings · 9 reviews

Cliff Hardy has his PI licence back - but does he still have what it takes to cut it on the mean streets of Sydney?

Cliff reckons the skills are still there, if a little rusty, and actor Bobby Forrest's case looks promising. Bobby's a nice-enough guy, but why is he being stalked by a red-hot brunette? And why did he have to go online to find a date?

When Bobby is murdered, i...more

Paperback, 251 pages

Published January 2012 by Allen & Unwin

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May 23, 2012 Benito rated it 3 of 5 stars

The occasional Peter Corris detective novel is my guilty pleasure. No great works of high literary genius, but enjoyable particularly to a Sydneysider to see stories of murders at Strathfield golf course, trips to Woy Woy for weird Indian prostitutes and underground doctors who ran Rogan Josh restaurants. Beers at The Bank Hotel, Newtown deciphering clues from a dame who runs a shifty acting school in Angel Street. Putting down, and conversely name dropping, local actors and musos, and caricatur...more

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Mar 06, 2012 Angela Savage rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime-fiction

Comeback is the 35th novel Peter Corris has written featuring Sydney-based PI Cliff Hardy since the first, The Dying Trade, was published in 1980. There are also two collections of short stories, ‘Cliff Hardy Cases’.

Comeback opens with a quote from British boxer Alan ‘Boom’ Minter: ‘A boxer makes a comeback for two reasons: either he’s broke or he needs the money.’

The same cannot be said of Corris, a full-time and prolific writer since 1982, known as 'the godfather of Australian crime fiction'.

I...more Comeback is the 35th novel Peter Corris has written featuring Sydney-based PI Cliff Hardy since the first, The Dying Trade, was published in 1980. There are also two collections of short stories, ‘Cliff Hardy Cases’.

Comeback opens with a quote from British boxer Alan ‘Boom’ Minter: ‘A boxer makes a comeback for two reasons: either he’s broke or he needs the money.’

The same cannot be said of Corris, a full-time and prolific writer since 1982, known as 'the godfather of Australian crime fiction'.

In Comeback, Cliff Hardy gets his PI licence reinstated and sets himself up in a new warehouse conversion office in Pyrmont. He is employed by young actor Bobby Forrest who is being stalked by a woman he met on the internet, the woman threatening to harm his girlfriend, Jane. Hardy muses, ‘It was a reversal of the usual stalker scenario, but what could I expect? It was the twenty-first century and we had climate change, an unwinnable war supported by both sides of politics, a minority government and a female prime minister. Change was everywhere.’

When Bobby is killed, shot by someone driving a white Commodore, Hardy is employed by the actor’s father, a former client, to find out who is responsible. The more Hardy investigates, the more possible candidates he exposes—from a Fijian-Indian sex worker, to the kick-boxing standover man of a local high-profile businessman, to a former actor with a grudge—all of whom seem to drive white Commodores.

Reading Cliff Hardy novels is like sitting down with a favourite uncle in a pub and getting him to tell his best stories over a few beers. Corris, like the character he has been writing for over 30 years, has still got it. He knows how to spin a good yarn, seldom stretching it out, keep it fast-paced and tight—though there’s a different energy in Comeback compared with the earlier Cliff Hardy novels. Less violence. Fewer rhetorical flourishes—not that there were many to begin with. There’s the usual political commentary, digs about Melbourne, short-lived bursts of introspection. But Corris keeps it real with Hardy, who must be pushing sixty, and adjusts the pace accordingly.

Corris makes it look easy, and I once heard him say it took him only six weeks for him to write a Cliff Hardy novel. But there’s significant skill in developing a character over 35 outings while allowing readers to pick up any book in the series as a starting point. You don’t need to have read an earlier Cliff Hardy novel before picking up Comeback though, like me, it might make you want to go back and read some of the earlier ones. I've just finished reading A Marvellous Boy (1982) and watching the 1985 film version of the 1983 novel The Empty Beach with Bryan Brown as Hardy (see here for a great review of the film). And it's left me wanting to read more. (less)

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Feb 26, 2012 Brenda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: own-read, 2012-release, aussie-authors

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It’s my first Peter Corris, and it won’t be my last. As this is also #37 in the Cliff Hardy series, I’m very glad they can be read as stand alone, as I had no trouble following the characters.

Cliff has just received his PI licence back, after having it suspended some three years ago, for good. But after receiving some advice from a friend, he re-applied and it was reinstated. A little older, a little wiser, if a little rusty, Cliff sets himself up with the mod con...more

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Jan 04, 2012 Karen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: australian, crime, review-books

Before everything comes across just a bit gushy, there was a point somewhere in the middle of the Cliff Hardy series where I seriously lost interest. Whilst there are some elements of the books that are always going to be the same, somehow the sameness became very obvious, there was something slightly flat about the storylines and, to this reader at least, nothing much engaged my interest. I never totally gave up reading the series, but most definitely didn't shove things aside as each new book...more Before everything comes across just a bit gushy, there was a point somewhere in the middle of the Cliff Hardy series where I seriously lost interest. Whilst there are some elements of the books that are always going to be the same, somehow the sameness became very obvious, there was something slightly flat about the storylines and, to this reader at least, nothing much engaged my interest. I never totally gave up reading the series, but most definitely didn't shove things aside as each new book arrived.

And then, a few years ago, things changed. Around the time that Cliff started to really get in trouble, to lose his licence for real, as his health took a downward turn, somewhere in there, the series got it's fire back. Sure there's still the same basic elements making up the stories, yet somehow or other there's something very engaging happening again. Maybe it's got something to do with some of the aspects of Cliff's life catching up a bit with current day activities - a mobile phone and even a computer have even made a showing in Cliff's life. Maybe it's also that somehow Cliff is now starting to show just the slightest glimpse of aging, that's making the series somehow progress, change, move on just a little.

True fans, however, do not need to worry that Cliff is suddenly going to act his age, get himself a nice little runaround, and leap too heavily into the technology age - a mobile phone and office computer do not, a Private Detective, change that much. The point of COMEBACK is that Cliff is back, he's got his licence back, he's back working as a PI (albeit more because he needs the money and less because of any overt great desire to return to his old life), and he's out and about, old Ford and all, working the mean streets, getting roughed up just a bit and solving the puzzle.

COMEBACK is the story of Cliff's investigation into the death of actor Bobby Forrest. The only love interest in sight is Bobby's girlfriend, and the mystery is why Bobby died and how you're going to work out where one white Commodore came from in a sea of white Commodores.

The plot of this book is actually really good, and whilst there's still a bit of the beaten and still functioning PI stuff going on, all in all, Cliff's investigation style seems to have gotten a bit cunning with age (less prodding of the bear and more teasing it from a distance if you like).

I particularly enjoyed Hardy's "observation" about modern day crime fiction "padded, as a lot of novels are now. I don't know why." One thing you can never accuse a Cliff Hardy novel of is padding! They are sparse, entertaining, tight little capsules of Cliff the Private Detective working the mean streets of Sydney, and have always been thus.

Whilst I'd normally confess to having very little interest in following traditions, the over Christmas read of the latest Cliff Hardy instalment has become... let's call it a rather addictive habit. COMEBACK is really continuing the fantastic resurgence in this Australian crime fiction stalwart.
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Jan 13, 2012 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc-are, blog-reviews, aussie-author

Comeback is the 36th novel in the Cliff Hardy series and while I have recently read the last few Deep Water (2009) and Torn Apart (2010) I somehow missed Follow the Money (2011). A quick read of the blurb and a few reviews had me caught up though and I was ready to join Hardy on his next case.

After losing the love of his life, his PI licence, his health and his money, Cliff Hardy is making a comeback. The first person through the door of Cliff’s new office is Bobby Forrest, the son of a former c...more Comeback is the 36th novel in the Cliff Hardy series and while I have recently read the last few Deep Water (2009) and Torn Apart (2010) I somehow missed Follow the Money (2011). A quick read of the blurb and a few reviews had me caught up though and I was ready to join Hardy on his next case.

After losing the love of his life, his PI licence, his health and his money, Cliff Hardy is making a comeback. The first person through the door of Cliff’s new office is Bobby Forrest, the son of a former client who is being harassed by an ex lover. When the actor is murdered just days later Cliff takes it personally and despite being warned off, he is determined to find the killer. Carefully digging through a web of suspicious security, prostitution and professional jealousy Hardy eliminates suspects one by one – until he finds himself at the wrong end of a pistol barrel.

While the situations Cliff Hardy finds himself in vary from book to book, it’s the characters’ familiarity that is responsible for continuing appeal of the series. Hardy is an old school private detective (despite his attempts at creating a paperless office) and while he has matured over the course of the series he has barely slowed down. The loss of his PI licence certainly never stopped him from sticking his nose into anything but now he is officially back on the job he is a little worried that he might not have ‘it’ anymore. It certainly seems Hardy might be slipping when his client is killed but Hardy soon proves otherwise as he investigates, turning up all manner of secrets in the meantime. The case leads Hardy off into tangents that he dutifully follows up – earning little else but a kidney punch and dire threats for his trouble, but eventually he unmasks the real murderer. The sub plots certainly keep things interesting and while Hardy’s mysteries are hardly brainteasers there are a few surprises in Comeback, particularly since their are so many suspects in the mix.

Comeback is an entertaining and satisfying read from Australia’s Godfather of Crime and I am glad to see Cliff Hardy back in Sydney doing what he does best. May he continue doing so for many more years.(less)

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Jan 26, 2013 Laura Rittenhouse rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: thriller

Peter Corris writes really enjoyable, pared-down crime thrillers. His hero, Cliff Hardy, is a clever but very human Private Investigator who does the typical investigative stuff to solve the crime. In this case he works hard to find out who killed one of his clients. A young man came to Hardy for help because he thought he was being followed. Turns out he was right but Hardy didn't figure it out in time to save the man.

These books aren't full of forensic detail (thankfully) or lots of blood-red...more

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Dec 26, 2012 Balthazar Lawson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A lot of books today have a lot of padding, an observation made in this novel, and try to be overly complicated. This book, however, isn't like that. It's a nice simple straight forward private investigator story with enough twists and turns to make it interesting and captivating. Being set in Sydney makes it feel like an old friend. I really enjoyed this.

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Jan 29, 2012 David rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: aussie-crime-fiction

A typically enjoyable and stripped down Cliff Hardy detective story by Peter Corris. No padding here! It's great to have Cliff back with his newly reinstated PI licence. His investigations have teeth once again and it is great to have him back!

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Jan 06, 2012 Deborah rated it 3 of 5 stars

struggling a bit, but was reading another E-Book at same time.(to be fair)

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Apr 20, 2013 Terry Wheeler rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: corris

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Shelves: crime-fiction

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About Peter Corris

Peter Corris’s first novel was published in 1980 and he has been a full time writer since 1982. Through the 1950s, 60s and 70s, the Australian crime story was in the hands of writers producing mass market pulp novelettes, chief among them being Alan Yates (Carter Brown). Although written in Australia, these stories usually had pseudo American or British settings. Peter Corris is credited with revi...more

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Comeback (Cliff Hardy #37)

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