NEW ZEALAND BOOK MONTH - REVIEW
Who says politics is boring?
As New Zealand Book Month makes a welcome return in this election year, reviewer Craig Sisterson takes a look at a couple of political thrillers, one old, one new

As we said in the latest issue of NZLawyer extra (edition 20, 4 March 2011), during the month of March, we will be supporting the celebration of all things books and reading that is New Zealand Book Month by reviewing a variety of locally penned books. After all, if Kiwis won’t hit the bookstores and libraries around the country to support our local writers, how can we expect international readers to? All of us who are keen readers need to do our part to try a few local tales, perhaps in the genres or styles we each prefer, so we can see for ourselves that our writers can match, even better, the quality storytelling we often devour from their international peers.

One genre that’s been wildly popular since the dawn of storytelling is thrillers. As Lee Child told NZLawyer last year, thrillers date back to Greek Tragedies and beyond – in fact, the first stories cavemen told around the campfire were probably of heroic battles with, or escapes from, wild animals and other prehistoric dangers. Nowadays, the thriller genre encompasses a diverse range of keep-you-up-at-night tales, including action-adventure, crime, spy, psychological, heist, domestic, conspiracy, and political.

A Political Affair
By Andrew Porteous (Kinglake Publishing, 2010)
Recently, I read a couple of local novels of the latter flavour; one old, one new. A Political Affair won Dunedin playwright and short story writer Andrew Porteous a UK-based unpublished author competition. Part-Maori detective Lachlan Doyle’s career is already in jeopardy when he’s assigned to quickly and quietly close a high-profile ‘accidental death’ case; an attractive assistant to the Prime Minister is found dead at the PM’s private house. With pressure mounting from many directions, Doyle begins to suspect that the nighttime ‘fall down the stairs’ may have actually been a push, and that powerful forces, political and otherwise, are massing to keep the truth from coming out. But who pushed, and why?

At 118 pages, A Political Affair is more novella than novel, but it’s an enjoyable debut read from a new voice in Kiwi thriller writing. The story flows well, there’s a nice touch of intrigue to keep you wondering, and Doyle is a likeable hero – hemmed in by forces outside his control and understanding – that you want to follow as the pages turn. Hopefully, there may be more to come from Porteous and Detective Doyle.

Friendly Fire
By Michael Wall (Penguin, 1998)
Going back a little further in publishing time is Michael Wall’s Friendly Fire, which is no longer in print, but can still be found in libraries and some secondhand bookstores. As I discovered, it’s a terrific, locally set political thriller well worth digging out. Renowned expat journalist Erin Florian returns to Wellington from Europe to become Press Secretary for the new Prime Minister, after finding her French husband in bed with someone else. She quickly finds herself caught up in the political world, including plenty of intrigue caused by the new MMP system, and the Government’s junior partner undergoing a leadership coup.

When the new leader starts making outrageous demands, Erin has to dampen media speculation that the Government is coming apart at the seams. But why is the new leader so sure that Erin’s boss will eventually succumb to what seems like a poisoned chalice? Erin witnesses a killing, which is covered up, then finds herself under scrutiny from the secretive SIS, and the lesser-known but even more powerful and dangerous GSCB. More deaths, hidden conspiracies, and the country nears the brink of political and economic meltdown.

Before he became a novelist, Wall was himself a Press Secretary for a New Zealand Prime Minister (Jim Bolger in the early 1990s), and he certainly brings all that experience and inside knowledge to bear in what is a fantastic thriller, full of twists, intrigue, interesting characters, and more. Global economics, the Waihopai base and intelligence services, international relations, and the place of the media are all issues canvassed in Friendly Fire, woven into a cracking plot that keeps the pages whirring.

The best political thriller I’ve read in years, set right here in New Zealand.

NZLawyer magazine, issue 155, 11 March 2011

NEW ZEALAND BOOK MONTH - REVIEW
Shaolin Burning
By Ant Sang (HarperCollins, 2011)
Reviewed by Craig Sisterson

Animated storytelling has come a long way since the earliest days of quickly read comic books and simple Disney or Hanna Barbera cartoons. Films such as Shrek and The Incredibles, and prime-time TV shows like The Simpsons have shown that animated tales can operate on multiple levels, layering different types of humour and even wider social issues and themes. Some aspects of contemporary Kiwi life have even been given a humorous animated treatment thanks to bro’Town.

Now one of the creative forces behind bro’Town, Auckland cartoonist Ant Sang, has released a debut graphic novel; an exciting, modern take on Chinese traditions and kung fu mythology that also mixes in youthful street culture. Shaolin Burning tells the twin stories of Deadly Plum Blossom, a feisty young woman rescued at birth, raised by a Shaolin nun, and trained in a new style of kung fu, and a vengeful former monk who has cut a swath of destruction across China after escaping the razing of the Shaolin Temple. Legend has it that only five monks managed to escape when the Temple was destroyed by the Emperor’s forces sometime in the seventeenth century.

However, in Sang’s tale, there is another. Monk Who Doubts rejects the Buddhist path following the massacre, and embarks on a bloody trail of revenge, leading to a brutal showdown with the Emperor’s forces. Elsewhere, Deadly Plum Blossom is determined to prove herself, and sets off to challenge the most dangerous foe of all: the former monk who now goes by the moniker ‘He who has turned his back on all which is bright and wondrous’. Sang’s debut is sprinkled with similarly effusive titles, including ‘The infamous battle of one thousand deaths’, tipping a hat to tradition. The story is an interesting fusion of myth, history, fantasy, and contemporary themes. Tattooed, almost ‘goth’ teen gangs give a lively feel to old China, although the bro’Town-ish dialogue at times (eg “Bro, you guys are pros, you’d waste us”) felt a touch forced, a little contrived, like Sang was trying too hard for ‘modern’.

Despite a few missteps, overall Sang’s debut is very enjoyable, a good book. He weaves the twin narratives of Deadly Plum Blossom and the vengeful former monk into a cohesive and intriguing tale. His illustrations are stark, violent, and evocative – it’s just a shame that they’re greyscale, as in colour they would have been truly glorious. In amongst the battles and action, there are even a few thought-provoking themes.

A well-drawn, page-turning tale.

NZLawyer magazine, issue 155, 11 March 2011