Category Archives: Book Review

Doom Creek by Alan Carter – 2020

Posted on November 7, 2020 by alysonebaker

“Good to have you back, Sergeant. We need a sheriff in town.” Sergeant Nick Chester is once again living up the Wakamarina Valley with his wife Vanessa and their son Paulie, “getting a taste for the simple life.” That is … Continue reading →

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Remote Sympathy by Catherine Chidgey – 2020

Posted on November 2, 2020 by alysonebaker

“My Country, Right or Wrong” – the slogan that sits on the lintel above the gate to Buchenwald concentration camp in Remote Sympathy. But is it a call to blind patriotism? – the harbour for those ‘just following orders.’ Is … Continue reading →

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Kealaula by Kim Cope Tait – 2019

Posted on October 14, 2020 by alysonebaker

Kealaula lives in Vermont, her father calls her Chickadee, a bird with a plaintive call, “the saddest sound I knew” but also with a “trill that sounds like excitement spiralling up a spine.” Through this novel, Kealaula learns what that … Continue reading →

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The Girl in the Mirror by Rose Carlyle – 2020

Posted on September 21, 2020 by alysonebaker

For the love of money is the root of all evil, and the proviso on Ridge Carmichael’s will leads to all kinds of evil. The first of his children to bear a child will receive one hundred million dollars, and … Continue reading →

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The Tally Stick by Carl Nixon – 2020

Posted on September 13, 2020 by alysonebaker

It is the late 1970s New Zealand, a car goes off the road into the dense forest, slipping “between the trunks like a blade”, and plummeting into the river below. Rain takes all traces away. In the car is a … Continue reading →

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The Silence of Snow by Eileen Merriman – 2020

Posted on September 9, 2020 by alysonebaker

Jodi is a new doctor, working at Nelson Hospital, feeling out of her depth: “I keep worrying I’m going to kill someone.” But helping her out is handsome Rory, the anaesthetist with an appealing accent. Jodi’s controlling fiancé, Fraser, is … Continue reading →

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The Murder Club by Nikki Crutchley – 2020

Posted on September 5, 2020 by alysonebaker

Evil “doesn’t always lurk in city centres after dark. It mows your lawns, frequents your local pub, takes its kids to school and contributes to communities.” Journalist Miller Hatcher is back, back in small town New Zealand, where: “Any ambition … Continue reading →

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Over Your Shoulder by CJ Carver – 2020

Posted on August 18, 2020 by alysonebaker

“Things were so topsy-turvy I was beginning to wonder if anyone could be taken at face value anymore”, Nick Ashdown’s world has hurtled off the rails. He was watching TV with his wife, Susie, when they saw a news item … Continue reading →

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Sprigs by Brannavan Gnanalingam – 2020

Posted on August 10, 2020 by alysonebaker

Sprigs is a thoroughly effective, and thoroughly devastating, description of privileged white males in a society created by and for them. A society where they feel entitled and where the pressure on others to fit in creates compliance and, in … Continue reading →

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Clearing of the Mist by Owen Clough – 2020

Posted on July 31, 2020 by alysonebaker

Clearing of the mist is the third part of Clough’s Whispers of the past trilogy. In the first part, best mates Bob, Shane, and Sam, get transported from 2014 to 1863 when they wander into a mist during a DOC pig-culling trip in … Continue reading →

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