Author Archives: alysonebaker

Tinderbox by Megan Dunn – 2017

Posted on March 9, 2018 by alysonebaker

A memoir, and a book about writing a book, about the future of books, about women in books, about a movie of a book, about selling books – Tinderbox is all of these and is wonderful!  Dunn takes us through her experiences … Continue reading →

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The Stakes by Ben Sanders – 2018

Posted on February 24, 2018 by alysonebaker

“And it’s like: you know on kind of a formal level that there’s laws, but then when you’re actually on the street and see it through their eyes, you realise it’s just dog-eat-dog, same as everything else” – even the … Continue reading →

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The Necessary Angel by C.K. Stead – 2017

Posted on January 24, 2018 by alysonebaker

A group of people in Paris in 2014/15, all literary, all quite objectionable, meander round each other, aloof from events around them. Max Jackson is a Kiwi, although I doubt he would ever describe himself as such – the thought … Continue reading →

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Gabriel’s Bay by Catherine Robertson – 2018

Posted on January 18, 2018 by alysonebaker

Gabriel’s Bay is full of stories, and stories within stories, with everything beautifully woven together.  Gabriel’s Bay is a small New Zealand coastal town with difficult access, economic problems and a small, varied population.  As we read, we get to know many … Continue reading →

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Edge of Truth by Brynn Kelly – 2017

Posted on January 6, 2018 by alysonebaker

Edge of truth is another adrenaline roller coaster ride from Brynn Kelly, the author who brought us the fantastic mash-up of thriller/romance that was Deception Island.  Edge of truth is a story of international conspiracy and war-mongering, played out in … Continue reading →

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Murder on Broadway by John Rosanowski – 2017

Posted on December 31, 2017 by alysonebaker

Murder on Broadway is a rollicking wild West Coast goldfields tale of murder and mayhem.  When the obnoxious Reefton Police Sergeant Mackworth Snyder leaves Reefton in the hands of his new Constable Gordon Trembath, in the days leading up to … Continue reading →

Posted in #yeahnoir, Historical | 3 Comments

Painted by Kirsten McKenzie – 2017

Posted on December 23, 2017 by alysonebaker

Painted is a creepy slow burn piece of horror writing, putting scenarios in your head that play out long after you have finished reading.  At the start of the novel, you find out an artist has passed away and left … Continue reading →

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Heloise by Mandy Hager – 2017

Posted on December 17, 2017 by alysonebaker

“Of all my frustrations with the Christian Church, besides its demonising of women, there are two that most confound me: the preoccupation with unquestioning obedience and the notion of original sin.”  So says one of Heloise’s early teachers – a … Continue reading →

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Iceland by Dominic Hoey – 2017

Posted on December 15, 2017 by alysonebaker

This is an absolutely riveting debut novel.  Told from alternating points of view of two young artists, one a musician and the other a painter, whose gifts are thwarted by drugs, violence and a corrupted world view.  Zlata is a … Continue reading →

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Hot Flush by Rosy Fenwicke – 2017

Posted on December 1, 2017 by alysonebaker

Euphemia Sage has been receiving strange letters over the years – from her deceased aunt, the woman who raised her when her mother ran off.  The letters have been spookily aware of Euphemia’s circumstances at the time she reads them, … Continue reading →

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