I snuck outside the fantasy genre to read Jim Reay’s Catching Legends and was hooked from the beginning.
When Rockhampton high school student Alfredo de Faino attends a Philosophy club meeting to impress the exotic Julia, he has no inkling of the intrigue that will consume the next two years of his life. A challenge to research a family member leads Alfredo to his late great uncle’s mysterious coded diary. As Alfredo and Julia delve deeper in Uncle William’s shadowy past, they are struggle to make the connection between Cold War spies, the disappearance of two children in Scotland, an ancient Malay artefact and Aboriginal caves in Queensland’s Central Highlands.
This book’s non-linear chronology makes for an engaging read. Telling events out of order is a risk, but in this case it was handled masterfully. I enjoyed having a ‘teaser’ from the future and then reading to find out how it linked to events from the past.
Aside from being a gripping mystery, this story illuminates different perspectives on family culture and history. It’s not a story about events. It’s a story about people. People who have lost – or are lost, and those that try to pick up the pieces. And it leaves you to ponder how we all might be judged by generations who come after us.
5 stars