Category Archives: Book Review

The Murder Trail by Leonie Mateer – 2015

Posted on March 24, 2016 by alysonebaker

This third romp in the Audrey Murders Series is as wacky as the previous two. Audrey is still running her cabins up North in native bush by the beach – and the operation, although improved from the time of The … Continue reading →

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American Blood by Ben Sanders – 2015

Posted on March 10, 2016 by alysonebaker

Want a good old American thriller with cops and killers with ice in their veins and a confusing line between right and wrong? – American Blood is for you, and it is written by Kiwi author Ben Sanders.  Sanders’ new … Continue reading →

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The Invisible Mile by David Coventry – 2015

Posted on March 6, 2016 by alysonebaker

What a breath-taking book!  Coventry has seamlessly inserted a rider into the historical Australia / New Zealand Ravat-Wonder-Dunlop cycling team that took part in the 1928 Tour de France.  The first English-speaking team to take part, they rode in one … Continue reading →

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How to Grow an Addict by J.A. Wright – 2015

Posted on February 15, 2016 by alysonebaker

How to grow an addict is quite an addictive read!  It is written in a naïve tone from the point of view of the ‘addict’, Randall Grange.  Randall is in rehab and the novel tells the story of how she … Continue reading →

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Coming Rain by Stephen Daisley – 2015

Posted on February 2, 2016 by alysonebaker

What a dismal tale!  Set in the outback of Australia in the 1950’s Coming Rain is the intertwined stories of two itinerant workers, Lew and Painter, and of the trials of a pregnant dingo.  The structure of the novel is … Continue reading →

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The Back of His Head by Patrick Evans – 2015

Posted on December 25, 2015 by alysonebaker

The Back of His Head is a novel about writers and writing – about the role and power of fiction and the seduction of fame.  The subject of the novel is Raymond Thomas Lawrence – early adventurer, at the height … Continue reading →

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Bad Seed by Alan Carter – 2015

Posted on December 16, 2015 by alysonebaker

I can review this book here – as Alan Carter now lives in New Zealand!  Bad Seed is the third in Carter’s Philip ‘Cato’ Kwong series.  Cato is a Chinese cop in Western Australia who solves crimes and cryptic crossword … Continue reading →

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Breaking connections by Albert Wendt – 2015

Posted on December 5, 2015 by alysonebaker

I so wanted to like this novel, and when I started it I thought I would love it – but by the end I had mixed feelings.  Daniel is a poet and novelist working as a University lecturer in Hawaii, … Continue reading →

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King Rich by Joe Bennett – 2015

Posted on November 28, 2015 by alysonebaker

It is a little surprising that it has taken so long for the 2011 Christchurch earthquake to appear in literature – but I am glad that the first piece set in the aftermath is Joe Bennett’s King Rich.  It is not a … Continue reading →

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The Pale North by Hamish Clayton – 2015

Posted on October 10, 2015 by alysonebaker

Take a walk through a post ‘Big One’ Wellington, drifting with memories and ghosts.  Ash returns to the devastation, drawn by a mysterious phone call.  Anyone who has once lived in Wellington will ache with nostalgia – anyone still doing … Continue reading →

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