Harpoon

People, place and plot leap to life in this riveting counterfactual thriller set in a war’s end New Zealand East Coast c1945. Hugh Hunter exploits to the full the contrast between the sunbaked somnolent township of Harpoon and an unthinkable-until-it-happened assault landing by an undercover German detachment on a mystery mission. Ranick, Klaske, Tripp, Bluey Totoro, the Weatherby sisters and a host of other characters, German, Pākehā and Māori, lodge in the reader’s mind long after the last page is turned. The assault climaxes with guns blazing and scores settled in a scene worthy of the best thriller writers.
Malcolm McKinnon