New Release - August 2021: Home Truths

I’m stoked to let people know that after two short crime stories and four full novels, my fifth novel will be released by StoryGrid Publishing in the US on 11 August 2021. It’s a story close to my heart and the hearts of many Cantabrians because it’s set in 2012 when my hometown, Christchurch, is trying to rebuild after a devastating earthquake. I know many people who were badly affected including losing loved ones and suffering damage - not just to buildings but to their emotional well-being. It was the latter that inspired me to write this story, particularly the emotional harm suffered at the hands of insurance companies. Despite being a work of fiction, I’ve dedicated this book to those people and I hope for their sakes, I’ve reflected in some scenes, something of what it was like living through those terrible times. Here’s what to expect:

Murder to cover organised insurance fraud - as if making a claim wasn't hard enough!

Detective Sergeant Jonah Solomon is used to navigating the ruins of Christchurch, a city nowhere near recovery more than a year after a devastating earthquake. He’s also used to navigating the prejudice that keeps plenty of doors closed to Maori officers like him. Most of his colleagues think Jonah’s responsible for letting ex-cop-turned-con artist Rachel Trix escape justice with barely a slap on the wrist. He’s got a resignation letter in his desk drawer, signed and ready, should anyone ask.

With a credible new tip on Trix’s exit plan, Jonah has one more chance to make things right—until an ambush turns the operation into a bloody nightmare. He is immediately shaken by aftershocks that reveal lies and corruption at every level of the police force. With fewer and fewer people he can trust, a complex web of secrets puts Jonah and his family at the mercy of ruthless criminals. Can he finally reveal the truths he’s protected since childhood in order to save himself and the people he loves most?

Here’s what one enthusiatic reader (not personally known to me but on my reader’s list) has said:

I wanted to thank you so very much for the fabulous read. I absolutely loved this book!! It was a very good and one i want to start raving about on Amazon, Goodreads, Bookbub. I loved the characters and the storyline. I found it was a very heartfelt written book that had me angry, crying at times throughout reading it. Angry because of the injustices being done to the survivors of the tragedy, angry at the dishonesty between fellow police members and the backstabbing. Sad for what they went through as survivors of a tragedy and then also being taken advantage of by scum buckets, people they were supposed to be able to trust. Sad because of the horrific things that were done to some characters in their pasts.

All throughout the entirety of this book I was so engrossed in the story that I rarely even got up. Lol. Only the occasional bathroom break or to eat or drink something took me to tear my eyes from the pages of your book. All in all I must say this book is going to be a best seller. Definitely!!

Thank you again for the opportunity to read your book and for the fabulous experience of having done so.