This is the first novel I have read from this NZ author. The reader is immediately drawn in by the opening paragraph.
'When I was eighteen I came into my anger. It had been buried deep, along with my gun belt, my spurs and my coiled whip. Now, equipped with a long handled shovel I climbed the mountainside, dug, and there it was, as red-eyed as a gila monster. It got its teeth into me . I was shaken as the anger flooded through me; I knew that there was no turning back. I buckled the gun to my hips and stood with my face to the gritty wind.'
From amazon: 'When Chester Farlowe’s father is killed, Chester is forced to leave the vast cattle ranches of New Zealand’s central volcanic plateau for the badlands of urban Auckland. Henry Stroud, proprietor of the I Fry takeaway wagon, takes him under his wing and rechristens him “Mr. Dog.” Still full of anger six years later, Chester sets out to plot revenge on his father’s killer and finds that he must contend with Boss Lennox, the Sultation Kid, and the seductive and inscrutable Miss Peet before he gets to the showdown. This mythical story reconfigures the New Zealand experience with an absorbing coming-of-age tale.'
Indeed I agree that this was an absorbing tale. The writing has pace. The recounting of his escape to Auckland following his father's death was gripping. The tale is peppered with eccentric characters and is far from predictable. I admit to being discomfited by the 'reconfiguring' of the New Zealand landscape i.e. the Central Plateau is like some place in Mexico with cactuses and rattlers, however it is after all fiction.
I found this a satisfying read. (7.5) ( )