Saturday, August 29, 2009

Book Launch: Kiwi thriller raises money for charity

A new local thriller, BLOOD BOND by Michael Green, will be launched at the Gulf Harbour Yacht Club on Sunday 13 September at 3pm. BLOOD BOND is the second instalment in Green's trilogy centring on two branches of a family battling to survive in the aftermath of a catastrophic pandemic.

The back cover blurb about the book is: "What happens if your family is the last left alive? The Chatfield family - one half living in the UK, the other in New Zealand - found out the stark realities of survival after a deadly pandemic swept across the world. Now escaping the repressive regime at Haver Hall in the UK, a group sails back to the southern hemisphere. Stopping in South Africa and then Australia, they are faced by unexpected dangers but also the hope that there might be other survivors. What awaits them in New Zealand, though, is even more challenging. And can those left in the UK survive each other? An exciting page-turner that keeps surprising . . . up to the last page."


BLOOD BOND follows on from events in BLOOD LINE (also sold under the title THE CRUCIAL GENE), which has recently been picked up by one of Germany's largest publishers (where it will be sold under the title STUNDE NULL, meaning "zero hour").

Green, a successful computer consultant and professional speaker who splits his time between New Zealand and Europe, lives on his yacht, Raconteur, based in Gulf Harbour, and uses his writing as a fundraising vehicle for the charity LifeLine. He has recently been writing the final part of the trilogy.


Both books will be available for sale at the function, with the author donating all his royalties to LifeLine (which provides free 24-hour phone counselling to people in need). Sales of BLOOD LINE have already raised $12,000. In addition, the book will be able to be bought through the LifeLine website, with $10 of every sale made before 29 September also going to the charity.

You can see Green's explanation for why he donates his book proceeds to LifeLine, at this page from last year's NZ Book Month blog. You can read more about the work of LifeLine at: http://www.lifeline.org.nz/ It sounds like a great event, for a good cause as well as the launch of a new Kiwi thriller (which would be reason enough to attend in of itself).

8 comments:

  1. I borrowed Blood Line from the library last week. It was the most exciting story I have read in a long time. One night I was reading until 2am before conceeding to sleep. I have Blood Bond on order at the library, but plan to own my own copies of the series as Lifeline is such a worthy cause.

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  2. Hello, Very cool blog. I love books. Reading is the main key to learning and we must encourage this since the kids are small ...

    Great blog

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  3. Best books i've read in a long time. Blood line and Blood Bond...trying to see if 3rd installment out soon?

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  4. These books are great! Has anyone heard anything about the third and final book?

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  5. I understand that Michael Green has spent the NZ winter in Europe, as he often does now, and that he may have been working on the final instalment there. Once I know anything about a possible release date, i will let you know.

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  6. hey i have just read blood line and blood bond, in about 3 days, when is the third book coming out??

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  7. Kia ora anonymous. The third book was released in November. Go to www.mgc.co.nz for information on how to order the third title - but get in quick, because they're selling out fast (already into third reprint apparently - and this may be the last, as Green has raised his target for Lifeline)

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