Great Reads for Great Readers

 

Paper Cage, by Tom Baragwanath.

            Tom Baragwanath’s debut novel is notable for several things:  it is the recipient of the Michael Gifkins prize;  it’s a fast-paced, satisfying thriller that follows all the good crime-story rules – non-stop action, credible characters, and more twists and turns than a pretzel as we move towards WhoDunnit;  and it’s set primarily in the Wairarapa town of Masterton, on the East coast of New Zealand’s North Island – which is bound to give all Kiwi readers a very satisfying buzz of recognition.

            Lorraine Henry narrates the story;  she is a pakeha (European) woman whose life has been blighted by much tragedy.  She has lost almost everyone she holds dear through a series of tragic accidents – except for her beloved niece Sheena, daughter of her late sister, and the apple of her eye, Bradley, Sheena’s little son to Keith, the head of a Mongrel-Mob gang chapter in the town.  Lorraine always worries about Sheena’s association with Keith, for he runs the local Meth business and apart from the huge illegality of his ‘business’, Lorraine fears for Sheena’s will-power around all that poison, not to mention Bradley’s exposure to it and, because of Lorraine’s long-time job as a file clerk at the local police station, the hostility she always faces from Keith whenever she visits.  Which is often;  they don’t live far away.  And she loves them – they are her reason for getting up in the morning.

            And one can never be too vigilant at the moment because Precious Kingi, a young Maori girl has vanished from her home in the nearby town of Featherston;  she comes from a deprived background and her dad is also mixed up in the Meth business – some would say ‘Well, what would you expect?’ but Lorraine grieves for her parents, whom she knows:  how can they bear it?  And the cops don’t seem to be doing anything much about it – until a second Maori child disappears, then a Wellington detective finally turns up from the Big Smoke, one who specialises in the disappearance of children – and wondrously, he thinks that Lorraine’s experience and photographic memory of the criminal files in the basement might be more useful than the Mr Plod tactics of the Police Chief.  Especially when Lorraine’s worst nightmares are realised and Bradley goes missing.

            As if the suspense isn’t wound tight enough, Tom Baragwanath ratchets up the pace some more with two murders and a villain who thinks he is acting with the best of intentions. Most intriguingly, the lines between good and evil become somewhat blurred.  There are no winners in this raw, clever story.  FIVE STARS.