Life or Death (novel)
| Company type | Novel |
|---|---|
| Industry | Crime fiction |
| Founded | 2014 |
| Founder | Michael Robotham |
| Products | Crime fiction novel |
Life or Death (2014) is a crime fiction work authored by Australian writer Michael Robotham. It received the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award in 2015. Notably, this novel does not feature Robotham's regular characters Joe O'Loughlin or Vincent Ruiz.
Plot summary
Audie Palmer manages to break out of a Texas prison just one day before completing a decade-long sentence for armed robbery and second-degree murder. At the same time, Moss Webster, Palmer's acquaintance, is unexpectedly freed from the same facility and assigned the mission to find Palmer and retrieve the missing funds from the armored truck heist, which have yet to be recovered.
Notes
- Dedication: For Isabella
- Epigraphs:
"Life can be magnificent and overwhelming – That is its whole tragedy. Without beauty, love, or danger it would almost be easy to live." — Albert Camus "To be, or not to be: that is the question." — William Shakespeare
Reviews
Jeff Popple of The Sydney Morning Herald called the book "a gripping thriller." Marilyn Stasio, writing for The New York Times, noted that although Robotham "isn't entirely at ease with the Texas vernacular," he successfully portrays cultural nuances.
Awards and nominations
- 2015 recipient of the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award
- 2015 shortlisted for Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) — Australian General Fiction Book of the Year