All Book Reviews
Review — The Call by Gavin Strawhan
Author: Gavin Strawhan. Reviewer: Ruth Shaw
Strawhan's crime novel is cinematic, which comes as no surprise given his previous writing credits. The co-creator of Go Girls and Nothing Trivial, he also has form in the TV crime thriller genre, including Bad Mothers and This Is Not My Life. While The Call doesn't read like a screenplay, it could easily become one. The scenes are sharp, ending with an eye to the cut: a wry line and then a clean shift to a deserted beach, a flashback, or a suburban gang house.
March 2024 release
Review — When I Open the Shop
Author: romesh dissanayake. Reviewer: David Hill
“The format is intriguingly diverse: emails, texts, passages of verse are scattered throughout. An immediate, coming-at-ya present tense keeps the plot belting along. Dissanayake knows when to pause, to leave things for the reader. He manages some excellent imagery”
March 2024 release
Review — The Night She Fell by Eileen Merriman
Author: Eileen Merriman. Reviewer: Briar Lawry.
If you're a fan of slow-burn, character-driven thrillers, you will have a great time with The Night She Fell. There may not be any Jack Reacher action sequences but you'll be on the edge of your seat as you reach the end.
March 2024 release
Jade Kake reviews Bird Child & Other Stories by Patricia Grace
Author: Patricia Grace. Reviewer: Jade Kake
This beautiful new collection by Patricia Grace is divided into three sections, each positioned from a different time or context. Fans of Patricia Grace will be immediately won over by this rich and immensely readable collection, writes Jade Kake.
February 2024 release
Best of the year: Aotearoa’s YA class of 2023
In 2023 a cohort of excellent, world-class authors from Aotearoa penned novels for young adults. Here is Kete’s pick of the year based on our reviewers’ insights.
Best of 2023: fiction — the big, the beautiful and the overlooked
2023 has been an astonishingly good year for Aotearoa fiction. From bestsellers to best pandemic novels, best holiday reading, to the best suspense (and more), here are the fiction books that made the biggest impression.