BOUND a book to read in 2011, says SST

In this week's issue of the Sunday Star-Times, one of New Zealand's biggest and most influential newspapers, Books Editor Mark Broatch (who wrote an excellent feature on the rise of New Zealand crime fiction last year) looked ahead to some of the books he thinks will be well worth reading in the coming year.

Along with a list of bestselling international crime fiction authors that Broatch notes will have new books available in 2010, he also singles out modern day Kiwi crime queen Vanda Symon's upcoming fourth Sam Shephard tale, BOUND. You can read the Sunday Star-Times article here.

BOUND is also one of my 'most anticipated' crime fiction releases of 2011. Sam Shephard has become one of my favourite protagonists over the first three books of the series, and I think Vanda Symon has a great writing style. You can read my review of THE RINGMASTER here, listen to Graham Beattie's review of CONTAINMENT here, and read my review of the first Sam Shephard tale, OVERKILL, here.

I'll be trying to get my hands on a copy of BOUND as soon as I can this year, that's for sure.

Here's the publisher's blurb: "A brutal home invasion shocks the nation. A man is murdered, his wife bound, gagged and left to watch.

But when Detective Sam Shephard scratches the surface, the victim, a successful businessman, is not all he seems to be. And when the evidence points to two of Dunedin's most hated criminals, the case seems cut and dried... until the body count starts to rise.

Meanwhile, Sam is in big trouble again…"

You can read an extract of BOUND here, or by clicking on the book cover above. The book is due for release in New Zealand and Australia on 31 January.

Have you read any of Vanda Symon's crime novels? Are you looking forward to BOUND? What do you think of Sam Shephard as a character? Of Dunedin as a crime fiction setting? Thoughts and comments appreciated.