Alan Carter (6) (1959–)

'Marlborough Man' is all about people and place. The place is beautiful in an austere, "I dare you to survive here" kind of way. The people are complicated and sometimes hard to like but always easy to believe in.

'Marlborough Man' is not a Location Thriller, selling local colour in lieu of a plot or an "I wonder what the cunning solution will be?" puzzle, it's a "waiting for the bad thing(s) to happen and see who will survive" kind of thing. There's a constant threat of violence and a strong sense of isolation that combine into a "You'll either take care of this yourself or you won't be around to worry about it" attitude which reflects the New Zealander "number 8 wire" problem-solving mindset. Add in the main character's blunt Geordie cynicism and some local politics and the story feels muscular and sad.

I didn't find 'Marlborough Man' entertaining, it was too hard-edged for that, but I could see why it won the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel in 2018. It's a couple of weeks since I finished the book and it sits in my memory like a brooding landscape painting.

The main character, Nick Chester, is an English policeman from Sunderland who, as part of a Witness Protection program following two years undercover trying to bring down a Geordie gangster, has been assigned as a Sergeant in a sleepy police station at the top New Zealand's South Island.

The plot is driven by two sets of issues: the threat posed to Chester's life when the gangster he informed on is released from prison and the investigation that Chester kicks off into the deaths of boys who, after being missing for a few days have been found dead.

Most of the story is the present-day narrative in New Zealand but we also get flashbacks into Chester's time undercover.

For me, one of the strengths of the book is that Nick Chester is a deeply flawed man whose time undercover has shown him what his worst self looks like. He is a man who has a hard time liking himself but still tries to do the right thing, at least most of the time.

The two threads of the plot, the investigation into the deaths and the threat from the gangster, run mostly parallelt to one another but both place stress on Nick Chester and on his relationships with the people around him. Sometimes that stress is destructive, Sometimes it strengthens allegiances. There's no sugar-coating here just a bleakly plausible account of a man facing mounting problems.… (altro)

Ngaio Marsh Awards for Best Crime Novel (2018)

Sergeant Nick Chester has made a new home in a small town in the Marlborough Sounds at the top of New Zealand's stunning South Island. He has escaped the UK after an undercover operation made him the target of a vicious gang hellbent on revenge. He knows its only a matter of time before they find him. In the meantime his sleepy town is shocked when a missing boy's horribly tortured body is found. Soon fears for another missing boy has the community on edge and fingers pointing. I really enjoyed reading another book set in my country. The characters were well developed and I connected quickly to the distinctly kiwi feel of the novel. I know the character was from the UK but gosh it grated hearing such bad pronunciation of Te Reo Māori. I knew pretty quickly that I would want to read book 2 so had that lined up ready to go. A great crime thriller and I look forward to reading more from this author.

CW: described sexual and physical abuse of a boy during an autopsy… (altro)

I love a doomsday prepper story and having one set in New Zealand was super exciting! Sergeant Nick Chester is dealing with some pretty aggressive gun-toting American survivalists who are preparing for the end of days in the Marlborough Sounds. There is nothing they are doing to break the law but something doesn't feel right with the facility they are creating and some vandalism happening in the area. I found the story to be really engaging but would have liked to see a different ending. Still really entertaining.

CW: suicide, sexual assault… (altro)

Cato Kwong is has moved to of Perth's Major Crimes Unit ( I have to admit that I haven't read the last two novels in the series), he is married, and has a small child. He is recently wounded while on duty, and close to burn-out. His wife Sharon works with the airport police, and they lead busy and demanding lives. Something's got to give.

This is a novel that keeps you on your toes, with two narrative streams: one for Cato, and one for Rory Driscoll, ex-spook, who is introduced in a prologue with an incident 14 years earlier.

In Perth a retiree is found dead, multiple slash wounds, missing an ear. He is an ex-cop and Cato is convinced the missing ear is a clue. This murder is followed with that of an ex-teacher, eyes gouged out. What connects these two?

Meanwhile a passenger, apparently Timorese by birth, has a meltdown on a plane landing at Perth airport, and comes to Cato's wife's attention.

So, a complex plot, made more complex by the introduction of Rory Driscoll, former spook, aboriginal. His ex-employer, nick named Aunty, Canberra intelligence mandarin, wants Driscoll to make sure three whistle blowers are able to report to a meeting of a committee from the Hague in Darwin in three weeks time. Their names are on a hit list and so is Rory's. Timor-Leste appears to connect the other three, but Driscoll can't think what has put his name on the list.

I think I suffered a little from the fact that I had not read books #3 and #4 in the series, although CROCODILE TEARS works pretty well as a stand-alone. Plenty to think about. Quality Australian writing.… (altro)