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KING OF THE CROSS “Dapin does a fine job of interweaving Mendoza’s reminiscences of past crimes and crimes with a brutal story of current criminal intrigue. Although fiction, Dapin’s no-holds barred history of Kings Cross and the city’s criminal past rings true and his portrayal of modern Sydney is also brutally honest.” “If you’ve ever enjoyed journalist Mark Dapin’s writing over a Saturday morning coffee then you’re in for a treat. If you’ve never read Mark Dapin’s work before, you’re in for an even bigger treat, because as great a features writer as his is, as a novelist he’s amazing. Think Nick Hornby on a meth binge and you’ve got the style. Think Underbelly 2, but so much more real, and you’ve got the content … The novel explores the history of the Cross over four decades and makes quite a few statements about Australian society along the way. But it’s the murders and plots and surprise twists that make this work, along with the relationship that develops between the King and Nick. Fun and compelling and just thinly veiled enough to make it so real.” “True crime has never been as honest as this … There’s a lot to like and engage with here – simply because the thugs are so believable … Dapin has a particular knack for conveying the sense of the godfather character – all charm and nice suits on the surface, with a rabid pit bull simmering underneath.” “A fantastic work of crime fiction .. with author Mark Dapin constructing a brilliantly funny yet violent and intriguing novel … an impelling read … Gripping until the end, King of the Cross provides an insightful view of Sydney’s darker side.” “As magnetic, colourful and terrifying as full-force road trauma.” “As fast, furious and fun as the Cross on a Saturday night.” "Dapin's research is fabulous and his thorough crafting of Mendoza's character, along with lovingly written dialogue, has the ageing entrepreneur almost leaping off the page. Seedy characters (all with hilarious names), humour and plenty of sleaze makes this book an entertaining read." "Will have you rolling in laughter... Dapin’s dynamic and droll and style brings something altogether different to the new wave of true crime books and TV spin-offs. It’s what makes this an outrageously uninhibited account of Sydney’s most infamous nether world." "Mark Dapin’s King of the Cross is edgy and wildly entertaining, salacious and, at times, downright sordid." "... Profane, funny and sometimes confronting... This book is not for the easily offended. Hilarious... outrageous... It’s a wild, macho ride." "Anyone familiar with Sydney’s 'The Cross' and its lowlife highlights will feel right at home in this backstreet brawl of a novel. Names have been changed to protect the guilty and, possibly, the author, but this tale rings as true as a fire alarm. Like a standover man with a hangover, Dapin’s debut demands attention." "Sydney’s Kings Cross is Australia’s most infamous den of iniquity. It breeds sinners, resurrects the odd saint and also gives rise to once-in-a-generation crime lords. Now imagine that of these characters felt to need to reveal the details of their sordid life. Dapin has a black heart short through with slivers of humour, and parallels with a real-life crime boss are undeniable in this cracking crime caper." “...Punctuated by lacerating comic dialogue and scenes of explosive violence, full of the kind of inventive word play and thinly veiled social commentary that make Florida-based crime author Carl Hiaasen so much fun to read – and, as with Hiaasen, there's ample substance beneath the dialogue.” "Violent, funny and poignant by turn; if you liked Underbelly, you'll love this" "I laughed out loud... The publisher’s blurb says the book is 'crime fiction as it’s never been written before', and that is a fair call. For starters the level of sex and profanity makes Nick Cave, in his new novel The Death of Bunny Munro, look like the choir boy he once was. The prose is as colourful as a Sydney racing identity, or Dapin’s heavily tattooed arms, and there are some brilliant linguistic gymnastics. Dapin brings to the book the quirky, insightful turn of phrase that makes his newspaper columns for Good Weekend mandatory reading… a funny, over-the-top, well-written read." "Dapin is a writer who punches with both hands and winks at the crowd while he's at it. His protagonist is part punk, part pug, part poet – an anti-hero who reveals his own back story as he gets the King of the Cross to unravel the eerily familiar tale of his unlikely rise. Truth might be stranger than fiction but in the hardened artery of Dapin's Kings Cross, alleged fiction rings truer than the alleged facts. A cunning stunt that could get him knee-capped." "Explosive, gritty, hilarious and – best of all – truly original. This book detonates while you're reading it." King of the Cross is a dazzling novel that explores the criminal world of Jacob Mendoza: legendary Godfather of Kings Cross and for more than four decades Australia 's most powerful and notorious crime figure. Now in his eighties, Mendoza believes it's time to record his epic life story – although finding a competent writer is never easy. As Mendoza unfolds his seductive story of thugs and drugs, murders and mysteries, bikers, bent cops and girls, girls, girls, it emerges that he's not the only one with a past. And as the memoir takes shape, other more terrifying criminals are circling the kingdom that Mendoza built. |
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STRANGE COUNTRY "Dapin’s description of the Parkes Elvis Festival is a priceless piece of writing. What’s amazing about Dapin is that he meets such characters as the Feral Ute King at the Caboolture Urban Muster and cockroach racers but he might – just – like them." "Hilarious." "This gritty travelogue by one of our nation's funniest writers is packed with riveting characters. If you like Bill Bryson's work, then this will hit the spot." "This is no ordinary travel book… Dapin grasps the stranger aspects of Australian life with insight and humour." "Funny and insightful." "Offers a comedic style not unfamiliar to Bryson fans, but this one is funnier." As anyone who's ever read Mark Dapin in Good Weekend magazine knows, he's one of our funniest, most acute observers of Australian life. In Strange Country, he takes us on a journey through a very different Australia – a country that's eccentric, puzzling, big-hearted, small-minded, nostalgic and sometimes just plain mad. From camel wars to the last travelling boxing tent to women who talk to angels and the annual Parkes' Elvis Festival, his writing illuminates the stranger side of Australian life in a travel book like no other. |
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