The Fix

Nick Earls is always an easy read. That is not to say his writing is unintelligent; on the contrary The Fix is consistently smart and funny. It's easy because Earls has a natural style which invites you into a story. The Fix is not concerned with confusing you. Instead it's concerned with the slippery notion of the truth. To what length can it be manipulated into a more desirable shape before it just becomes a lie? And when is the lie better than the difficulties truth often brings? Along the way Earls captures many of the absurdities of modern life, particularly that of being a man as Josh tries to scrape together an acceptable 'adult life'.

Lisa, The Nile

Earls has absorbed tropes from contemporaries Garry Disher and Christos Tsiolkas and added rich humour to create a novel that threatens to defy genre classification. It is in the awkward family scenes, however, where his narrative truly excels. Josh's visit to his brother's house for a barbecue is the most genuine portrayal of an Australian family tradition since Tsiolkas rebooted the notion in The Slap. The toneof The Fix is one of quiet confidence, of a writer who is enjoying his work: contemporary, cliche-free Australian fiction that is sure to have a very wide appeal. An important work, then, for Earls, a writer hitting his straps with gusto.

Chris Flynn, The Australian