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Lunch with a Soldier, Derek Hansen
Harper Collins
Reviewed by Lindsay Wright (Courtesy of Taranaki Daily News)

Dining with Derek Hansen is a dependable treat. Lunch with a Soldier is the fourth in Hansen's delectable series: Lunch with the Generals, Lunch with Mussolini and Lunch with the Stationmaster, based around four Australian friends who gather each month for lunch and try to outdo each other with their storytelling prowess.

Each of the books has one level – the story – and Hansen delights in making the plots as unpredictable as possible. On another level, the three friends who aren't telling the story analyse the tale.

Lunch with a Soldier is Neil's story. The hardbitten businessman relates his family's history; grinding a living from a dustbowl outback acreage. One son departs to university, the other to Vietnam. Hansen's sparse style has you spitting dust, dodging dingoes and Vietcong.

One violent man meets a terrifying end but the brothers survive; one a hero, the other an object of loathing. But which is which? You won't put this book down until you've found out.