Alan Duff

The Ngaio Marsh Award are running a competition where readers around the world can go into the draw to win a personally signed copy of the eventual NM Award-winning novel. There are no geographic limits on the prize.

FOUR OUTSTANDING novels have been announced as the finalists for the 2014 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel, which will be presented on 30 August following The Great New Zealand Crime Debate event at the WORD Christchurch Writers & Readers Festival. The Ngaio Marsh Award is made annually for the best crime, mystery, or thriller novel written by a New Zealand citizen or resident.

It is always a good weekend when you get to dip into something unexpected from New Zealand.

From the Blurb:

When Johno comes out of prison, he resolves never to go back again. But his new life is not easy, especially as he soon finds himself in sole charge of his strange young son, Danny. Danny isn't the kind of son he would have chosen, but, in caring for the boy, Johno finds new meaning and new direction.

But what do you do when the world you've so carefully built comes crashing down? Can you ever escape your past?