Privatising Parts by Richard Meros, Lawrence and Gibson, ISBN 978-0-473-18475-9, RRP $20.00, Available now. Privatising Parts is slim volume of that rare beast, local political satire. New Zealand politics is often overshadowed by the more theatrical-style of United States, but as Meros adroitly proves, the home-grown version can be just as absurdist as anything imported. Meros isn’t as bombastic as Jon Stewart on The Daily Show; the send-up of contemporary politics is more effective for it. It’s themed around the Clark government and the perils – or otherwise – of privatisation. This is an incredibly pertinent topic. For those of you who live outside of New Zealand or in New Zealand and under a rock (or hey , under a rock outside of New Zealand; I’m not here to judge you), the centre-right National Government just won a second term in power, beating out the centre-left Labour party. National has [...read more...]

Kicking Out by Tony Price, Starting Gun Books, RRP $19.99, ISBN 9780473182830, Available now. The ISBN classifies Kicking Out as a ‘super natural thriller’; I think you could equally call it a sweet love story with some terrorism and physic powers thrown in for good measure. When the novel opens, Lily, our hero,  is lying battered and broken on the floor of her office in small town New Zealand. The office has been bombed, IRA style. It soon becomes clear that it’s up to Lily to solve the case – and she’s helped by the sudden appearance of voices in her head… Price is  a New Zealand author, which earns him an automatic +10 using the Patented BookieMonster Reviewing Algorithm (PBMRA). However, the New Zealand setting does throw up some a few inconsistencies – Hawthorne is described as a small town – yet it’s being attacked by a mad bomber, [...read more...]