The Call

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A brilliant debut crime novel centred on a 501 deportee gang, set in a remote coastal New Zealand town.

'The Call will likely be in contention for more awards as it is a deft and accomplished thriller debut.' - Greg Fleming, New Zealand Listener

'A cracking crime thriller that has all the slick polish and depth you expect of a top-of-the-range international offering, but still uncompromisingly Kiwi to the marrow of its bones. It's genuinely gripping and suspenseful yet more layered and nuanced than most genre potboilers. a smart, complex, nuanced story; it's a powerful tale of betrayal and redemption, forgiveness and despair, kindness and love.' Andrew Paul Wood , Aotearoa New Zealand Review of Books

'Strawhan is a pro with a pro's strong instincts for narrative, for story telling. He sets out to excite. Mission accomplished. Strawhan excels in the slow approach, and wrangles all his bits and pieces together as the book climaxes with gun shots and the swipe of an axe ... A book to keep you awake at night, wanting to turn the page for more, definitely.' - Steve Braunias, Newsroom

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.

Reviews

Gavin Stawhan's debut does not disappoint. Muscular, convoluted and compelling, the novel is a valuable addition to the burgeoning crime-fiction writing set on the mean streets of New Zealand. Landfall, Stephanie Johnson

This is a terrific thriller, based in our own backyard and I hope will be the first in a series. Newstalk ZB, Joan's Picks
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Author Bio

Gavin is a creator/writer/show runner and executive producer of many NZ and international shows.

Most recently he wrote Testify, a five-part series for Warner Bros NZ. He wrote Black Hands, a true-life drama, also for Warner Bros NZ. He was co-creator of Bad Mothers for Channel 9 Australia and was co-creator and show runner of Hyde & Seek, an eight-part thriller that also screened on Channel 9. Gavin was co-creator and writer on two seasons of Filthy Rich (winner of best drama at the 2019 Seoul International Drama Awards) for Filthy Productions. He wrote the historical telemovies What Really Happened - Votes For Women and What Really Happened - Waitangi. Gavin co-created the hit television shows Go Girls and Nothing Trivial (for which he won best script at the New York Film and Television Awards) and was show runner and writer of the critically acclaimed mystery thriller This Is Not My Life.