Description
Author: Gavin Strawhan
Format: Trade Paperback C Format
Publication date: 19/03/2024
Imprint: ALLEN & UNWIN
ISBN: 9781991006790
A brilliant debut crime novel centred on a 501 deportee gang, set in a remote coastal New Zealand town
After surviving a brutal attack, Auckland cop DS Honey Chalmers has returned to her hometown to care for her mother. The remote coastal settlement of Waitut? holds complicated memories for Honey, not least the tragic suicide of her younger sister, Scarlett.
Honey is hardest on herself. She let herself get too close to a gang informant. She got sloppy. The Reapers are a 501 gang of Aussie imports, ruthless and organised, and she’s pretty sure the informant, mother-of-three Kloe Kovich, paid the price. But when a couple of gang enforcers turn up in Waitut?, Honey realises they are hoping she will lead them to Kloe. But if Kloe is still alive, can Honey save her this time around?
When Honey catches up with her oldest friend, Marshall, her feelings are complicated. As teenagers they were inseparable, but Marshall was the last person to see Scarlett alive, and there are rumours they were sleeping together, that he broke her heart. Honey fears Marshall is not who she wants him to be. Eventually she learns the awful truth about the events that led her sister to take her own life.
When Kloe arrives in town, Honey and Marshall must work together to try and keep the hapless Kloe out of the hands of those who want her – and Honey – silenced.
Gripping and suspenseful, with a killer ending, The Call propels the reader into the world of a terrifying new kind of gang – and introduces a major new talent in crime writing.
David Hedley, Hedley’s Books –
What a great new talent in crime writing. This is a gripping story with a strong ending. Easy weekend read – big print and short chapters. Topical as set in New Zealand amongst the 501 gang scene. You will relate to the strong lead character DS Honey Chalmers who will clearly feature in more stories. Of its style I give it a five star! Michael Bennett and now Gavin Strawhan building on the success and growth of New Zealand crime writing.