My latest Herald on Sunday reviews: IRON HOUSE, LETHAL DELIVERIES, CARTE BLANCHE and THE WRECKAGE

This year I've been asked to provide a monthly crime fiction round-up for the Herald on Sunday, one of New Zealand's most well-known newspapers. I'm very pleased to be able to contribute in my small way to getting crime fiction into the books sections of some local media.

My sixth 'column' was published yesterday, in the new 'Living' magazine supplement to the newspaper. I actually wrote this column a few weeks ago, but a change in the format meant things were delayed for a while - I should be back on a monthly basis from now on, hopefully.

Book Watch

Iron House
By John Hart (John Murray, $34.99)
Lawyer turned author Hart doesn’t write breezy ‘airport thrillers’; his award-winning ‘southern gothic’ tales are multi-layered examinations of human nature, packed with authentic, deeply damaged, characters, throat-grabbing tension, and exquisitely drawn settings. Feared mob enforcer Michael clawed his way up from a traumatic childhood, but is now trying to escape his violence-filled life, for love and his unborn child. Escaping to North Carolina, he finds his long-estranged, mentally disturbed brother is in just as much trouble, and that neither can escape their past. Superior storytelling.

Lethal Deliveries
By Ken Benn (Penguin, $26)
Deservedly shortlisted for the LIANZA Young Adult Fiction Award, this gritty first instalment in Palmerston North teacher Benn’s planned trilogy follows a group of teens facing plenty of tough circumstances and troubling issues; bullying, gangs, drugs, and youth crime. Benn skillfully builds tension as he switches perspectives amongst several intriguing characters, although inline hockey player Rochelle, whose brother Jack is being dragged into his father’s gang, is the main ‘heroine’. Bluntly dealing with realities some Kiwi kids face; a very good read that will leave you on tenterhooks for book two.

Carte Blanche
By Jeffery Deaver (H& S Fiction, $39.99)
This latest 007 novel should please fans of both Ian Fleming and popular psychological thriller writer Deaver, who was tasked with bringing Bond into the 21st century. Intercepted electronic info about an imminent attack that could kill thousands has Bond scrambling from Serbia to Dubai to Cape Town to discover who, what, and where in order to prevent calamity. Packed with pace, action, and intrigue. Deaver brilliantly melds tradition (fast cars, gadgets, repellant villains), modernity (a more reflective Bond, more rounded female characters), and his own twist-filled storytelling style.

The Wreckage
By Michael Robotham (Sphere, $39.99)
Award-winning Australian author Robotham steps away from his usual claustrophobic thrillers to pen a broader tale of global intrigue that intersects the war in Iraq and the global financial crisis. A tale of four people; a journalist who uncovers missing millions in war funding, a US accountant, ex-cop Vincent Ruiz, and a petty thief who stole a notebook from a banker who’s gone missing. Robotham’s most ambitious novel crackles with pithy description, insights and observations in amongst its compelling storyline; he’s added his name to those near the very top of the crime-writing tree.

Craig Sisterson helped establish the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel last year, and is a judge for the 2011 Award.  He blogs about crime and thriller fiction at http://goldenglobenominees.blogspot.com/.

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This column was first published in the Herald on Sunday on 31 July 2011, and is reprinted here with permission.


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What do you think of my mini-reviews? Have you read (or do you intend to) any of these titles? What are some of the upcoming titles I should definitely include in future columns? Comments welcome.

Money, Politics, and Power: Nicky Pellegrino interviews Michael Robotham

"It’s difficult to like Australian thriller writer Michael Robotham when he starts talking about how easily he became a bestselling novelist. Actually Robotham’s entire career is covetable. After a stellar stint as a journalist he turned to ghost-writing celebrity autobiographies and for a while life was all about dinner with Meg Ryan, hanging out at Elton John’s place or roller-blading with Geri Halliwell round her West London mansion. And then, in between working with Rolf Harris and Lulu, he knocked out 117 pages of a psychological thriller called The Suspect that publishers went crazy for and there was a fierce bidding war at the London Book Fair."


Read Herald on Sunday Books Editor Nicky Pellegrino's full interview-based feature on Michael Robotham, who recently visited New Zealand (see my author event photo here) at Beattie's Book Blog here.
 
Scroll down the article for a 'Booklover' interview with Alexander McCall Smith too, where the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency author shares his thoughts on his own reading experiences.

An Anzac crime gathering...

Last night award-winning Australian crime writer Michael Robotham spoke at Takapuna Library (another terrific event run by Helen Woodhouse and the team there). I will write a bit more about the evening later, but for now thought I would share this photo with you, as it's something of an Anzac crime fiction gathering. Going left to right:

• Myself, your humble crime fiction blogger, reviewer, and interviewer;


• Michael Robotham;


• New Zealand crime writer Stephen Ross, who has written several short stories for publications like Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, and who was recently a finalist for both the Edgar Award and the Derringer Award in the short story category; and


• Emerging New Zealand crime writer Bev Robitai (MURDER IN THE SECOND ROW).

It was a great evening, and good to catch up not just with Michael Robotham, but some other crime fiction writers too. Have you read any of Michael, Stephen or Bev's books/stories?

Meet Michael Robotham in Auckland on Thursday

As I revealed back in March, award-winning Australian crime writer Michael Robotham is visiting New Zealand this week. Last year Robotham was due to attend the Christchurch Writers Festival, and be part of a panel at the originally scheduled event for the inaugural presentation of the Ngaio Marsh Award, but those plans of course changed due to the September earthquake. Now Robotham will be appearing at Takapuna Library this Thursday evening.

I will be heading along, and giving the intro for Robotham. It should be another fun night at the Takapuna Library, who've made a habit over the past couple of years of scooping some great crime fiction author visits (eg Linwood Barclay, Gregg Hurwitz, Tom Rob Smith, Simon Kernick, Peter James etc).

I had the pleasure of interviewing Robotham for a feature in the Weekend Herald last year, and I'm looking forward to meeting him in person. You can read my Herald feature, "Ghostwriter haunted by his own characters", online here.

You can also read Robotham's 9mm interview with Crime Watch, here.

Robotham's latest thriller, THE WRECKAGE, was released recently. The new book sees the welcome return of ex-cop Vincent Ruiz, who "rescues a young woman from a violent boyfriend but wakes next morning to find that she's robbed him. It was a set up – an elaborate scam. Setting out to find Holly Knight, Ruiz discovers her boyfriend's tortured body and realises that powerful men are looking for the same girl. What did she steal that was so important?

Meanwhile, two thousand miles away, Pulitzer prize-winning Journalist Luca Terracini is living 'outside the wire' in Baghdad and investigating a disappearance of billions in reconstruction funds. The trail will lead him to London where he teams up with Ruiz and together they investigate the disappearance of an international banker and a mysterious 'black hole' in the bank's accounts.

THE WRECKAGE is an international conspiracy thriller involving clandestine agents and powerful nations who seek to bury secrets and manipulate the truth. It's about the money, politics and power. Who has it, who wants it and who's ultimately going to pay."

You can read the first chapter of THE WRECKAGE on Robotham's website here.

Have you read any of Michael Robotham's thrillers? If so, what do you think? Will you read THE WRECKAGE? Or come along to Thursday's event? Comments welcome.

Michael Robotham to visit New Zealand in May

In some great news, Australian crime writer Michael Robotham will be visiting New Zealand in May. Last year Robotham was due to attend the Christchurch Writers Festival, and be part of a panel at the originally scheduled event for the inaugural presentation of the Ngaio Marsh Award, but those plans changed due to the September earthquake.

Now Robotham will be appearing at Takapuna Library on Thursday 26 May. That will be a great week for Auckland-based crime fiction fans, as Michael Connelly will also be in town earlier that week. A nice quinella of events to attend.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Michael Robotham for a feature in the Weekend Herald last year, and I'm looking forward to meeting him in person. I will certainly be heading along to the Takapuna Library event on Thursday 26 May - Helen Woodhouse and her team there always put on terrific events.

You can read my Herald feature, "Ghostwriter haunted by his own characters", online here.

I understand Robotham may do some other events while in New Zealand. I will update you on any further details as they come to hand.