All the Reviews

Written by New Zealand based author Cat Connor, PSYCHOBYTE is book 8 in the Byte series based around FBI Agent Ellie Conway. Reading this series has always been a mixed experience for this reader - sometimes I find myself really enjoying them, sometimes I'm just not getting it at all. 

The whole series is what you'd possibly call "thriller lite" which seems a bit odd because the subject matter is often big picture, threatening stuff. But then there's the whole psycho-prophetic talent thing that is one of Conway's biggest investigation tools, and there's the breezy style ... Read review

The unaware, vaguely idiotic central character provides a deep mine of material for any type of slightly tongue in cheek story-telling, and UNFAITHFUL UNTO DEATH uses the premises in setting up Dr Cyril Peabody from the outset of the novel. Cyril is perpetually disappointed in life. He has been stymied in his career path, forced to take a (in his opinion) menial job as a country GP, married a woman who is only just satisfactory, and generally living a life that he feels has been affected constantly by the wilfulness of others. Obviously he's completely incapable of seeing that he's ... Read review

Interesting case, with a fair recall of the facts / conclusions left to the reader, not well-served by the authors constant pushing of themselves into the narrative for no apparent reason.Read review

If you’ve read any books at all by this author, picking this title up will be a no-brainer.  They are all consistently written at a higher quality than their market peers. Author Michael Robotham proves his versatility once again and writes with assurance about the intense world of female relationships and in particular, of the point at which women are at their most vulnerable.   Nothing is overplayed and it’s a subtle hand that deals out the enormities of loss, betrayal, deception and entitlement.   It’s a win for readers that Robotham has written a female centric novel of this kind ... Read review

An interesting idea that takes off from page one, involving a talk back radio host. Tongue in cheek in style, there's an unlikeable central character and a tell don't show style - mimicking that idea of talk back. The telling of the tale from a dialogue point of view starts out well, but unfortunately for this reader, that expository style quickly got tiresome, leaving the feeling that the joke's not quite strong enough to overcome an unconvincing portrayal of police attitudes and procedures, the overly convenient insertion of pet-jep and a very transparent no-name game which rang ... Read review

In case you hadn't noticed there's a number of debut novels recently out of New Zealand, often written by authors with a policing or related background, many of them telegraphing potential for interesting things to come. THE STUDENT BODY is Serious Fraud Office investigator Simon Wyatt's first novel, written while on sick leave recovering from a rare, and potentially life-threatening autoimmune disorder. 

The central character in this novel, Detective Sergeant Nick Knight, is a little bit different from current day crime fictional norms in that he's a young, not yet ... Read review

The opening salvo in what's to be an ongoing series, THE AGENCY introduces the character of Dan Calder. Calder has joined the police force in the UK - following in his father's footsteps. His father had a successful public life and career, although the truth of their home life was very different. Ultimately, Calder finds himself on a collision course with authority, leaving the force and his home country behind, hoping to put his past behind him once and for all.

After setting himself up in his new home in New Zealand, he finds himself living next door to a very welcoming ... Read review

There's a particularly interesting idea at the heart of A MOMENT'S SILENCE. A holidaying New Zealander makes a chance sighting out of a bus window, subsequently connecting the dots between the car he saw, and a subsequent bomb explosion. Originally reporting his suspicions in the Cotswolds village he's staying in, it's rapidly escalated to Scotland Yard when the bomber is subsequently identified but not caught. Which puts Martyn and the information he can attest to in the firing line of a very determined serial killer.

The set up of this is very cleverly imagined - the ... Read review

Alan Carter is the author of the Ned Kelly Award winning Cato Kwong series (PRIME CUT won the Best First Award in 2011), but MARLBOROUGH MAN features a new character - UK born, New Zealand based cop Nick Chester and his family.

Chester's had an "interesting" working life - starting out as an undercover cop in the UK, ending up a country cop in Havelock in rural New Zealand as part of a witness relocation scheme when his undercover work goes decidedly pear-shaped. Even with what would seem to be the impossible task of tracking him, his wife and their young son Paulie down ... Read review