Reviewed by Kauri Wood
Life in the safe suburbs of Christchurch isn't dangerous enough for Marty. He needs excitement in punk, protest, politics and crackpipes. Marty soon finds Mona, a teenage runaway living in a flophouse of skinheads and goths. The two of them live for drugs and dodgy deals but they are minnows compared to siblings Jade and Shayna. Meanwhile, war has broken out among the bikers Marty and Mona depend upon for dope. Fueling the fight is 'King Kong' Chong, a thug determined to be Number One. Swimming between the sharks is Winston, Marty's baby brother, who has big plans to get himself a big reputation. When he gets in over his head, it's up to Marty to try and pull him out of a neo-Nazi nightmare before their family becomes a target.
This I was not aware of this author before agreeing to review Crimechurch... The language and the references are contemporary and set the scene for a section of society that few want to believe exists, in Christchurch or anywhere in this country. Crimechurch, as the title suggests, is about the underside, criminal element of Christchurch society. Not limited to one culture, the characters involved are South African, Chinese/Samoan/Tongan, Maori – varied ethnic groups and mixtures. Each of the main characters tells his or her story separately, in first person narration, though all are connected.
Marty, 15, intelligent, more privileged than some, is aware he has not made a dent in the world and wants to make the world more aware of him. He’s hungry for something real gritty, something spicy and dangerous. He’s not alone in this. Jade has been broken by a harsh and judgemental upbringing that leads him to see himself as an agent of retribution. Mona, tells the female counterpart of such young lives. “Court honestly sux – and I’m going to change it. God, if you’re listening: that’s a promise.”
Chong, a very hard-liner, is on probation in the care of a Mormon agency. “if I have to pretend to be some kinda Jesus freak to get probation off my back, shit, sign me up.” But not before he tests it to the extreme – “I’ll have to let them know: I’m a new breed.” Winston, acts the good son to gain credit while rebelling against his parents’ upper-middle class way of life. He want to do something big – bigger than his brother, bigger than his parents, “bigger than this whole tight-arse city.”
Mama Ta’a, the “absolute gold” corrections worker for young offenders, is praised for reducing crime in the city, though she is unable to reform her own son. Selling weed fudge is at the very bottom of the scale of offences these young dissidents commit. Drug-dealing, alcohol abuse and the details of personal and gang-violence are not only hard to read about, but enough to shake the stability of the very city. “We’ve made God mad. We’ve bumped the pillars. The temple is toppling.”
When the intensity of Christchurch is too much, there are places of escape – Nelson, Thailand, Australia “where Kiwis go to unfuck their lives” – but they are temporary, the city always calls them back. “This city, man. This island. This country. Like an Alcatraz planted out in the middle of the god damn Southern Ocean. There’s nowhere to go.”
Reading Crimechurch is challenging because of the subject matter, especially so for women, and the sense of hopelessness it invokes. The vocabulary also confronts, but it is always vibrant. It is fittingly colloquial, though more variation between characters would improve the whole.
After the challenges, the last section, Aftermath, is unexpected, though there is an earlier clue that supports the change, and it comes as welcome relief. This reader’s judgement then – Michael Botur proves he can certainly write. Where there could be much improvement is in the quality of the publication itself. The publishing standard is a step or two below professional. It could be improved by layout with wider margins and better formatting, stronger proofreading and developmental editing.
However, hats off to this author for showing us a different view of our country. I am sure we will see more writing from him..
This review was first published in FlaxFlower reviews, which focuses on in-depth reviews of New Zealand books of all kinds, and is reprinted here with the kind permission of Flaxflower founder and editor Bronwyn Elsmore.
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