The book blurb:
When budding writer Brent Taylor dies a horrific death in the Auckland University Library, his friend, sex worker Jade Amaro, refuses to believe it is suicide. She seeks help from Sam Hallberg, a former government advisor on terrorism, now working as a mechanic.
As Sam reluctantly agrees to look into the death, a hunt for a lost manuscript leads him ever deeper into a complex case of corruption and deceit. Meanwhile, Sam’s friend, brilliant business journalist Lynette Church, embarks on an investigation of dirty political dealings with major global implications, and with ties to the Iraq War.
It soon becomes clear that something is indeed very rotten…
Beginning in New Zealand, a small, clean and green country at the end of the earth, then winding its way around the globe, this clear-sighted and tense thriller will have you on the edge of your seat. Something is Rotten is beautifully written morality tale with Shakespearean twists and turns.
The author:
Adam Sarafis was born in 1967 in Auckland, New Zealand. He gained his undergraduate degree at Auckland University before completing his post-graduate studies at the university of Copenhagen. He worked as a reporter for various newspapers in Europe and Australasia eventually becoming a freelance foreign correspondent for some the world’s largest agencies. Based in Auckland, Adam also spends considerable time in the Greek archipelagos and Skagen, Denmark. This is his first novel. (Note: Adam Sarafis is the creation of author Linda Olsson and screenwriter Thomas Sainsbury. He has now taken on a life of his own.)
Why I can't wait:
I'm always on the lookout for upcoming New Zealand crime novels, and intrigued by the potential of new authors joining the growing genre here - particularly writers who have been successful in other areas and have decided to dip their toes into the crime and thriller writing deep end. So when I came across word of this soon-to-be published novel over the weekend (thanks Linda Lee of Penny's Bookstore in Hamilton), I was keen to find out more. From the blurb, I'm curious about the characters involved and the story, as well as looking forward to reading the evocation of the setting - given I used to live across the road from the University of Auckland.
I'm also very curious to see how this book, which I found out is a collaboration between two writers working together under a pseudonym, unfolds in style and substance. The two authors are both based in Auckland, and have both studied at the University of Auckland, but on the surface might seem like unlikely writing partners. One is a middle-aged Swedish-born woman with a family who has written novels about unlikely friendships, love and dealing with past, the other an energetic young man who has written dark and subversive comedies for stage and screen (including 30 plays in six years) and alternative work like a comic dance troupe and a Vietnamese children's show. How the two authors blend their styles and voice will be very fascinating.
I understand that SOMETHING IS ROTTEN is intended to be the first book in a trilogy (the Matakana series), so I'm also looking forward to how the series begins, characters are introduced, and where things are left when it comes to ongoing threads and developments.
I really am looking forward to this one!
When it's available:
May 2015 in Australia and New Zealand, from Echo Publishing
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You can read more about the book and the author(s) here:
- Good Reads page
- An interview with Thomas Sainsbury in Craccum magazine
- Linda Olsson's website
- An interview with Linda Olsson
- "Playing for Keeps" - a 2008 interview with young playwright Thomas Sainsbury in the Sunday Star-Times newspaper
What do you think of the blurb and backstory for SOMETHING IS ROTTEN? Would it be a book you'd like to read? Do you like crime novels where local incidents tie into global events? What writing partnerships or author collaborations have you enjoyed?
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