Yesterday's Shadow by John Cleary. John Cleary has been a favourite Australian author for decades. His detective Scobie Malone is a favourite of Colin's
Dirt Music by Tim Winton. Tim is one of Australia's great writers and lives in Western Australia. He has just won three prizes for Dirt Music, one being the prestigous Miles Franklin award. Apparantly he re wrote this book which he has been writing for years. Try him he's good.
Acid Row by Minette Walters
The Four Fires by Bryce Courtenay
Fatal Voyage by Kathy Reichs
Adam and Eve and Pinch Me by Ruth Rendell
Isle of Dogs by Patricia Cornwell
All the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling. If your ten year old doesn't like reading offer him one of these, then read it yourself. Really great.
The Pilots Wife by Anita Shreve. Some of her others aren't so good.
The Smoke Jumper by Nicholas Evans
Dying to Tell by Robert Goddard
Red Dog by Louis De Bernieres
and the BIG ONE......Lord of the Rings by Tolkien, always top of any list even when there is no film.
I have just read The Samurai's Garden" by Gail Tsukiyama (born to a Chinese mother and Japanese father) It is the tale of Stephen's year in Tarumi. It is a time of escalating war in the outer world, as well as personal transformation for the characters of the book. I really liked it.