Book Review: One Single Thing, by Tina Clough

Available in bookshops nationwide.

Journalist Hope Barber disappears two weeks after returning to New Zealand from an assignment in Pakistan, leaving her front door open and her bag and phone in the house.

Hope’s brother Noah contacts Hunter Grant and his partner Dao, to investigate her disappearance as the New Zealand police are reluctant to become involved. The reader is soon drawn into the mystery with the author cleverly incorporating details about Hope’s time in Pakistan which seems to raise more questions.

When I received One Single Thing, I was intrigued by the cover, a plain black background with a white wheelie bin on the front cover, but it was soon revealed within Hope’s blog why this simple design was used by Tara Cooney Design.

This is the first book by this New Zealand-based author I have read and I found it a thoroughly absorbing read. Hunter had appeared in a previous book by Clough, The Chinese Proverb, when he used his front-line Army experience to save Dao.
I soon picked up the background to the earlier book as Clough recaps key facts at intervals in the early chapters of One Single Thing, so I did not feel at a disadvantage picking up the story at this stage.

The novel highlights a number of modern global issues, such as ‘honour killings’ which Hope Barber had been investigating in Pakistan; and Clough skillfully incorporates how surveillance can affect someone’s life without them being are of what is going on.

The story moves along at a steady pace, the chapters are short and I enjoyed Clough’s descriptive style: ‘The rain starts as we drive on to the Harbour Bridge; within minutes it is a downpour of tropical proportions. The windscreen is a blur of running water, cleared for only a fraction of a second by each sweep of the wiper blades.’

Anyone who enjoys crime/ mystery novels will find this an engrossing read and I am wondering if Tina Clough will find another assignment for Hunter Grant, Dao and their dog Scruff, as she has established solid characters which will appeal to not just New Zealanders but a worldwide readership.

Reviewed by Lesley McIntosh

One Single Thing
by Tina Clough
Published by Lightpool Publishing
ISBN 9780473469139

Book Review: The Chinese Proverb, by Tina Clough

Available now in bookshops nationwide.

‘If you save somebody’s life, you are responsible for them forever’. This is the Chinese proverb at the centre of this gripping, very readable action thriller. Hunter Grant, retired army veteran at the age of 38, looking for the peaceful life after a bruising time in Afghanistan, finds himself back in a conflict zone, taking on the responsibility of saving, then looking after, the life of another.

A single man, he lives in Auckland, and also has a cabin deep in the bush north of the city. While staying at his place in the bush for a few days, he and his dog Scruff stumble upon a young woman, almost dead, exhausted, hypothermic, malnourished, terrified, and clearly abused. This is Dao, the one whose life Hunter saves, and whom he becomes totally responsible for.

The writer skilfully reveals the bare details of Dao’s story while Hunter does his best to give her immediate care, warmth and food. She has been held captive by a brutal man called Bram on a remote coastal farm – chained, beaten, abused, threatened, alone, in a constant struggle for survival – her mother having died. The real person in charge however, is a sinister and frightening character called the Boss, who turns up from time to time at the farm wearing a Darth Vader mask, thus unrecognisable, calling the shots.

Even though she has escaped, Dao is still in danger, Hunter in turn now also finding himself the target of the bad guys. The story takes place over 15 days, with Dao and Hunter trying to stay alive, while Hunter tries to find out Dao’s history, where she came from, her real name, and ultimately, uncovering exactly what has been going on at the farm. Everything around Dao is scary and unfamiliar, thanks to her having been hidden away for so many years. Even though the reader is familiar with city life, shopping malls, driving, eating out, for Dao this is all very unfamiliar. We see this through Dao’s eyes, giving a slightly sinister undertone to the urban/suburban scenes, threatening and a little unsettling, this view contributing perfectly to the evil brewing.

The main focus of the story is on the relationship between Hunter and Dao. It could easily become exploitative, with Hunter having the position of power, especially considering what Dao has come from, what is normal to her. But not once is there any hint of impropriety, taking advantage or exploitation. This Hunter is one heck of a guy, taking his position of guardianship very seriously, at all times aware of the peculiar and compromising position he is in. He has some great women in his life – his two sisters Willow and Plum, and his best friend Charlie, who was in Afghanistan with him. These three women help him in his care of Dao. As Dao’s confidence, trust and self-worth blossom, the nature of the relationship between Hunter and Dao changes, but it is never sleazy, uncomfortable or weird. Perhaps because the writing is by a woman?

I doubt if the plot would move so fast in a real-life situation – this is one very damaged young woman, still in considerable danger – but it is a great 15 day ride. Plenty of action, great characterisation and very believable characters. This is a thriller, a whodunnit, at times scary and violent, edge of the seat stuff but constantly tempered by the relationships between Hunter and Dao, Charlie and the two sisters. So much packed into 300 pages. It is a great story, which deserves to be widely read and publicised.

Reviewed by Felicity Murray

The Chinese Proverb
by Tina Clough
Published by Lightpool Publishing
ISBN  9780473379261

Book Review: Fallout, by Paul Thomas

Available in bookstores nationwide. 

I was a bit peeved that dark gore-author Ian Rankin got to review this, the second of Thomas’ Ihaka stories, before I did. However, I got over it. After all – it’s Rankin! And I’d have to agree with him: “Violent, funny, profane”, he said “Ihaka is a terrific maverick cop.” And indeed he is.

If you think Jake the Muss, with a conscious and an inquiring mind, then perhaps you might be halfway there. Sports writer Paul Thomas has been dabbling vicariously in a life of crime for a while now, and this time around you really get the feel that he’s been sleeping on a few police station doormats. The accuracy and genuine presence is really there. This could easily be Victoria St Station (in Wellington, that is).

His plot follows several characters as they intersect, depart and reconnect around an unsolved murder, linked to anti-nuclear politics. Over-layered are the tidbits fed to Ihaka about the suspicious circumstances that led to his unionist father’s death. Add to that an unsolved crime of a 17-year-old society girl, which preys on the mind of Ihaka’s boss immigrant cop Superintendent Finbar McGrail, who miraculously ‘chances’ new evidence at a posh club event and finds the wounds of 25 years hence opened like a festering sore.

The final component to interlace this little web is Ihaka’s disgraced former colleague Johan Van Roen who somehow finds himself hired up by a PR man to look for a political power broker who went AWOL back in ’87, paid for by a shadowy millionaire. No, his name’s not Kim but you do wonder, don’t you? In fact if you look carefully virtually every character is somehow related to recent and past headlines and the character that feature within. And I like that. I also like that Ihaka, early in the piece finds himself in the middle of domestics with his jealous girlfriend, and political shenanigans with his boss. It’s all kin of real. No surprise, Thomas is a journalist by daylight. I also love the wee references to Wellington locations, streets I’ve walked and houses I’ve probably visited or flatted in or even bus routes I’ve travelled.

There are a few clunky moments in the prose, where Thomas tries to capture the Kiwi vernacular, best left to oral interpretation, but the voice is genuine and easy to identify. It’s a strong house that rests on the foundation that his first, Death on Demand, built with Ihaka, who’s slowly growing into a two dimensional character – perhaps with a slight shadow. I look forward to further fleshing of the character in book three.

As crime stories go, I’ve often wondered why we as Kiwis soak up so much overseas drama – English, Norwegian, Swedish, American –  but haven’t paid enough attention to the delights of the genre down home. Here’s your chance to support a local writer and investigate our recent historical underbelly at the same time – don’t pass it up.

Reviewed by Tim Gruar

Fallout
by Paul Thomas
Published by Upstart Press
ISBN 9781927262016