Over the past few months, it's been fantastic to hear from many people who are now more interested in trying some New Zealand crime and thriller writing. Unfortunately, one of the biggest hurdles to increasing the awareness and appreciation of well-written Kiwi crime, is that the latest books of many of our authors, regardless of quality, are generally a little hard-ish to get your hands on if you're anywhere other than Australia or New Zealand.
Things are slowly improving, with Paul Cleave, Vanda Symon, and Paddy Richardson all now being published in Germany (and Cleave in several other continental European countries), and Cleave being published for the first time in the UK late last year, and in the US mid this year. And now, thanks to Penguin Global, there are some recent Kiwi crime and thriller novels more readily available via Amazon.com.
I mentioned earlier this month that Vanda Symon's CONTAINMENT is now available brand new (and at a reasonable price) on Amazon.com. I've since noticed that later this month Alix Bosco's debut thriller CUT & RUN has now also similarly been made available brand new on Amazon.com - see here. Great news for those of you in the USA, with free shipping etc.
You can read the first chapter of CUT & RUN here, a Weekend Herald review here, a Latitude magazine review here, and my NZLawyer review here.
For those of us downunder, there is some good news on the Alix Bosco front as well. The second in her series starring middle-aged legal researcher Anna Markunas, SLAUGHTER FALLS, will be released in Australia and New Zealand in August. The second book is actually set in Australia - here is the blurb: "When Anna Markunas comes to Brisbane to watch a rugby test, two members of her tour party die sudden, violent deaths. Anna tries to track down the elusive family of one man, but each discovery about his past leads her further into the dark world of Queensland's corrupt underbelly. Soon Anna is running for her life – she has discovered the secrets of those who will stop at nothing to silence her."
I am looking forward to getting my hands on a copy of SLAUGHTER FALLS, and seeing how Bosco handles her sophmore crime thriller.
Have you read CUT & RUN? If so, what did you think? If not, does it sound like the type of book you might like to try? Are you looking forward to SLAUGHTER FALLS? Do you have any theories on who 'Alix Bosco' really is?
Thoughts and comments welcome.
I thought Alix Bosco’s Cut & Run was top quality stuff, in actual fact the best NZ crime story I’ve read to date. I have no idea who she/he is, though I hazarded a few guesses, which I’m not going to reveal here. I’m definitely looking forward to her/his next instalment, and being a Kiwi gal, why the hell is it set in Australia of all places? Hmph!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, thanks for the update and your interesting/informative blog and prolific posting. Thumbs up!
No haven't read this one Craig but it's on my wishlist
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed Cut & Run a lot - a great fast-paced and well-written thriller. I assumed the author was really a woman, possibly because I enjoyed this book as much as some by my favourite female authors like Karin Slaughter and Leah Giarratano.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments. I enjoyed CUT & RUN as well - in a good year for NZ crime and thriller fiction, I think it was one of the better books of the year, and great to see some new voices coming through and strengthening the growing group of great crime/thriller writers here, even further. I'm looking forward to SLAUGHTER FALLS
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