Fallout

Tito Ihaka #5

by Paul Thomas

Tito Ihaka, the unkempt, overweight Maori cop, was demoted to Sergeant due to insubordination and pigheadedness. He investigates the unsolved killing of a seventeen-year-old girl at an election night party in a ritzy villa near Auckland. Ihaka is also embroiled in a very personal mystery. A freelance journalist has stumbled across information that Ihaka's father, Jimmy, a trade union firebrand and renegade Marxist, didn't die of natural causes. The stories weave themselves into an exciting climax in an atmosphere of political maneuvering and intrigue surrounding the United States' confrontation with New Zealand over its anti-nuclear stance.

Genres: Crime, Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller

288 pages, Paperback

First published August 14, 2014

About the author

Paul Thomas is a novelist, scriptwriter, journalist and sports biographer. Thomas has also worked as an editor, public relations executive and a consultant. He is a prolific writer who has written numerous novels, select sports biographies and a collection of short stories. As a celebrated crime writer, Thomas is known for the comedic and satiric qualities of his books as well as an ability to depict crisp realism. Paul Thomas is based in Wellington.

Reviews

[Craig Sisterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sixteen years. It was a long time between the third and fourth drink from the Ihaka fountain for the godfather of Kiwi crime, but thankfully Thomas hasn’t repeated the dose after winning the 2013 Ngaio Marsh Award for Death on Demand.

Tito Ihaka is a fascinating character: an unpinned grenade of a man who regularly rubs both friends and foes the wrong way. Demoted to sergeant for insubordination, Ihaka is charged by his long-suffering mentor with solving a long-forgotten murder – that of a teenager at a ritzy 1987 election night party. Meanwhile a journalist uncovers information that Ihaka’s trade unionist father may not have died of natural causes, and disgraced ex-detective Johan van Roon, Ihaka’s former best mate, is hired by a shady millionaire to investigate the sighting of a notorious political powerbroker who vanished back in 1987.

Fallout showcases Thomas’s talent for mixing wit, action, and brevity. His prose crackles with energy, and like our hero, the story itself has almost a cavalier smirk. Thomas nicely evokes 1980s and modern-day New Zealand as Ihaka comes to term with the lack of black and white in himself and others. Good thrillers need a pacy, exciting plot. Great thrillers have much more. Fallout is superb.

[Jessica - How Jessica Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series. Tito Ihaka is profane, truculent, and completely likeable as a character.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this just as much as the first time I read it. I think Tito Ihaka is one of my most favourite characters. He is such a wag. He is portrayed so well that I can believe he really exists somewhere. Love to meet him.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Maori detective Tito Ihaka is back with another great story! A rougher, tougher version of Harry Bosch, bending the rules even further, and all wrapped up in a fascinating package.
Well worth a read!

[Catsalive · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written & tightly plotted, an excellent read.

I really enjoy Tito's bloody-minded attitude, he's quite straightforward in his thoughts, words & deeds. He's working two cold cases, one for McGrail regarding the death of Polly Stenson in 1987, & one for himself, the death of his father around the same time. Paul Van Roon gets a run in this one, now a private agent after his naughtiness in the previous book, looking for one Eddie Brightside.

You can imagine a lot of political skulduggery going on around that time in the late 80s before the big crash, & imagine the pressure Lange was under surrounding the anti-nuclear stance. There was so much money being splashed about & I can imagine there were quite a few people around who weren't above a bit of terminal justice.

It's a shame there's no more of these because I'd really love to see how he gets on with Ron Firkett & Tony Charlton once Finbar McGrail retires. I've read Death on Demand (#4) & would love to get my hands on the 3 earlier books but so far no luck.

[Bruce Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was with the anticipation of a word feast that I began this book by Paul Thomas. I'd picked up an earlier novel by him in a Kampot, Cambodia second-hand bookstore with no idea who he was. It was riveting, extraordinarily well written and the plotting was exquisite. Unfortunately, I don't even remember what it was called. This one seems to not quite match up with the earlier one, even though it is gripping.
Because he cunningly smuggles truth into, namely former Prime Minister Lange did have an affair with his speechwriter, one wonders just how 'in the know' the author is with all of the other seedy operations going on. My suggestion, read it, but read the earlier ones first.

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

I din't finish it...don't know exactly why. The writing was straight forward but I got bored...

[K.V. Martins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very much enjoyed this novel. This witty writing from an Aotearoa author captures the Kiwi vernacular extremely well. I liked the political background of the 1980s. Pacing was great.

[Sue Bowden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another interesting book in the series with Detective Tito Ihaka.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maori policeman Tito Ihaka dispenses justice in Auckland.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

read my thoughts here
https://bookaroundthecorner.com/2022/...

[Gloria Feit · Rating 3 out of 5]

This sequel to “Death on Demand” brings the reader back to New Zealand and the Central Police Dept. There are a number of cops who alternate in prominence in the plot, among them District Commander Finbar McGrail, who, we are told, became Auckland District Commander and developed an appreciation for wine pretty much at the same time. McGrail is still haunted by a 27-year-old case, his first, when as a new D.I. he investigated the murder of a 17-year-old girl, Polly Stenson. The investigation comes to a halt less than a year later when the police still have no viable suspects in her killing, coming to the conclusion that she was merely at the wrong place at the wrong time. Only a year from retirement, he is approached one day by a man who was present at the murder scene at the time in question, and given a lead as to who might have killed Polly.

We then meet former D.I. Johan Van Roon, and the man who had at one time been his mentor: Maori cop Tito Ihaka, described as “unkempt, overweight, intemperate, unruly, unorthodox and profane” and “the brown Sherlock Holmes,” the latter having been banished to the hinterlands several years ago after a case which he had stubbornly insisted was a murder, not, as everyone else was convinced, a ‘simple’ hit-and-run accident. Now a Detective Sergeant, he is asked by McGrail to follow up on the new lead. Van Roon has left the force in disgrace, now a pariah in the police force and working, when he can find employment, as a private investigator and security consultant. He is hired to find a man who disappeared right after the Stenson murder, for a very attractive fee. Events occur in such a way that both Ihaka and Van Roon reopen the cold case to try to find the murderer.

At the same time, Ihaka starts a completely different investigation, one that involves the death of his father, “a union firebrand and renegade Marxist,” decades ago, thought to have been of natural causes. To make things even more complex, a man with whom his father was involved died in a supposed accident one week later. Coincidence? He thinks not.

The author was born in the UK but has lived for most of his life in New Zealand, which is the setting for his novels. The biggest hurdle for me in this book was with the local vernacular/regional jargon/idiom, as well as the many political discussions, making it somewhat slow reading. But the complex plot was very interesting, and on the whole the book was enjoyable.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Time to travel the world and get outside my traditional Western reads. It’s off to New Zealand and the godfather of Kiwi crime writing. Paul Thomas’ Tito Ihaka is a hulking Maori detective with a penchant for making his own rules.

We’ve got two cold cases. One involving the death of teenaged girl at a swanky upper crust party, the other is no less than the death of Tito’s own father that may not have been the premature heart attack it’s been written off as. Throw in another side plot involving a former best friend and disgraced cop and you’ve got a ripping good yarn.

I’ll take Nesbo’s Harry Hole over Ihaka any day but translated to the screen, Tito would be just the right kind of neither black or white, imposing menace you wouldn’t want be on the wrong side of. This could be a compellingly dark world worth exploring.

[Janine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes when you read a New Zealand based novel, it leaves you with a cringing aftertaste. However in the past couple years, this belief has been unfounded, to my excitement! I adored the genuine familiar-ness of the NZ this book evoked as the characters travelled the country. Comparing the familiar grey light rain to the fine mist of perfume? Stellar.
The storyline rocked and rolled, the characters were conflicting. Did you want the heroes to do bad stuff too? Yes-No, you got it. Detective Ihaka romped through these pages, relentless, intriguing. His colleagues past and present were "good", "bad" and in-between. I wanted to know what happened in the three streams of the stories flow, but then didn't want the end to arrive!

[Martina · Rating 4 out of 5]

We read the first Tito Ihaka book with the Mystery Book Group and the response was from one end of the spectrum to the other. Received end of year votes for most favorite read and least favorite read that year! I really liked the book. Fascinating New Zealand setting, even more interesting Maori policeman, and in Fallout we move on from where the first book left off.

The story moves back and forth in time as Ihaka is tasked to look into a long ago murder which was never solved. During his investigation he discovers that his father's death might not have been as straightforward as they thought. At the same time we learn more about Ihaka, his personal life, and his own code of ethics....

I really enjoyed this. Another gem from Bitter Lemon!

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tito Ihaka is a Maori policeman who believes in getting justice for crime victims. This has sometimes caused him problems in his job. He is currently looking into two different cases, a cold case and the death of his father. This mystery involves the elite of the political, criminal, and labor segment. It is an engrossing story and would make a great movie or tv series.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you've not read the earlier Ihaka books then you really need to address that as a matter of some urgency - full review at Reviewing the Evidence: http://www.reviewingtheevidence.com/r...

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book in the library, they didn't have the first book so I missed out on some character building. Though I found the book well written and engaging enough to read fairly quickly I was not thrilled by it.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book and thought all the characters were especially well rendered. I didn't like the gritty violence that made this book honest to its story. It was a book club pick and I am not sure if I will read another.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

See my full review on my website www.havekidwillteardrop.wordpress.com on 21 April! It will go live then!