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The Jaded Kiwi
The summer of 1976 in Auckland, New Zealand.
There is a severe marijuana drought.
Two couples; a gynecologist and a physicist, together with a violinist and an actress meet by accident in a pub and help a Maori evade the police.
A group of Maori plans to deliver a truckload of cannabis to Auckland.
A Chinese family has harvested four greenhouses of enhanced sinsemilla.
A criminal mastermind plots to start a drug war.
A police Inspector hunts a fugitive Maori.
The war on drugs starts in New Zealand.
There is a severe marijuana drought.
Two couples; a gynecologist and a physicist, together with a violinist and an actress meet by accident in a pub and help a Maori evade the police.
A group of Maori plans to deliver a truckload of cannabis to Auckland.
A Chinese family has harvested four greenhouses of enhanced sinsemilla.
A criminal mastermind plots to start a drug war.
A police Inspector hunts a fugitive Maori.
The war on drugs starts in New Zealand.
314 pages, Paperback
Published March 1, 2016
1 person is currently reading
289 people want to read
About the author
Nick Spill
14 books12 followersNick Spill lived in New Zealand in the 1960s and 1970s. He worked for the Ministry of Internal Affairs as an exhibitions curator at the National Art Gallery and as a contractor. He organized a number of exhibitions including the first traveling exhibition of Contemporary Maori Artists.
Nick Spill now lives in South Florida where he is Chief Investigator of a State Agency. He has published “The Way of the Bodyguard – knowledge not gossip” about his experiences as a bodyguard and edited and released “Reluctant Q,” the story of his father, George Spill, who survived the jungles of Burma in World War II. He also contributed to the best selling NZ compilation, “Grumpy Old Men 2” published by Paul Little Books.
His new novel THE JADED KIWI is a dark thriller set in 1976 New Zealand. More information about THE JADED KIWI here.
Nick Spill now lives in South Florida where he is Chief Investigator of a State Agency. He has published “The Way of the Bodyguard – knowledge not gossip” about his experiences as a bodyguard and edited and released “Reluctant Q,” the story of his father, George Spill, who survived the jungles of Burma in World War II. He also contributed to the best selling NZ compilation, “Grumpy Old Men 2” published by Paul Little Books.
His new novel THE JADED KIWI is a dark thriller set in 1976 New Zealand. More information about THE JADED KIWI here.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 29, 2016
I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway and received my copy within a week of winning. It was signed by the author.
I enjoyed this book a lot. I found myself enjoying the characters from the very beginning. The story is fast paced but logical. Logical in a story kind of way... Not 100% believable, but your caught up in the story so it really doesn't matter. The author was very creative in weaving his story web and adds just enough mystery to keep you wondering. I also found the setting of New Zeland interesting. The author explains a lot about the culture of the time without dragging out details.
I would recommend this book to anyone. it was a quick, fun read.
I enjoyed this book a lot. I found myself enjoying the characters from the very beginning. The story is fast paced but logical. Logical in a story kind of way... Not 100% believable, but your caught up in the story so it really doesn't matter. The author was very creative in weaving his story web and adds just enough mystery to keep you wondering. I also found the setting of New Zeland interesting. The author explains a lot about the culture of the time without dragging out details.
I would recommend this book to anyone. it was a quick, fun read.
March 5, 2019
A crime story set in New Zealand 40 years ago which, at my age, is a time I can relate to. I bought the book new in the NZ author's bookshop in Upper Hutt, NZ.
Matters to do with the characters' sexual activities are dealt with frankly but not gratuitously. The bluntness is refreshingly honest.
The (surviving) characters meet up in an action-filled climax that will be enjoyed by readers who like gore and mayhem.
Professionally written in every respect. Different.
Matters to do with the characters' sexual activities are dealt with frankly but not gratuitously. The bluntness is refreshingly honest.
The (surviving) characters meet up in an action-filled climax that will be enjoyed by readers who like gore and mayhem.
Professionally written in every respect. Different.
November 27, 2017
I won a signed copy of this book during a Goodreads giveaway. I am under no obligation to leave a review or rating and do so voluntarily. So that others may also enjoy this book, I am paying it forward by donating it a local library.
March 8, 2016
I won this book from Goodreads; I entered the giveaway because I was intrigued by the New Zealand setting, and the description sounded interesting. However, this book was so poorly written that it was very hard to follow. Like many self-published novels (and this appears to be that), it is in desperate need of an editor and a competent proofreader. Grammatical and punctuation errors are prevalent, and someone needs to enlighten the author on the proper use of the exclamation mark. At one point the author switches to present tense for a paragraph or two for no reason. One of the more frustrating moments (early on) was when the author had four characters in the same room engaged in two separate conversations (two on two), but the dialogue on the page switches back and forth between the two conversations without identifying the speakers - which made it very hard to follow. Then the author does the same thing a chapter or two later!
There are a lot of very specific references to New Zealand culture and geography, most of which are never adequately explained. There are some end notes in the back of the book (which I only discovered about halfway through) but most of those either a) defined things I already knew or could figure out from context; b) didn't cover things I had questions about; or c) went off on tangents irrelevant to the story. There's also a list of characters in the back of the book - which brings up another issue. There are a lot of characters in this book, not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, but most of them are so ill defined that it was difficult to keep track of who's who. About five different storylines run through the book, intermingling; a complex structure that never comes together (at least for this reader).
If I hadn't won this book on a First Reads giveaway, I would have abandoned it about a third of the way through (something I almost never do), but since I did, I stuck with it until the end. Although by the end, I didn't really know or care what was happening to whom.
There are a lot of very specific references to New Zealand culture and geography, most of which are never adequately explained. There are some end notes in the back of the book (which I only discovered about halfway through) but most of those either a) defined things I already knew or could figure out from context; b) didn't cover things I had questions about; or c) went off on tangents irrelevant to the story. There's also a list of characters in the back of the book - which brings up another issue. There are a lot of characters in this book, not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, but most of them are so ill defined that it was difficult to keep track of who's who. About five different storylines run through the book, intermingling; a complex structure that never comes together (at least for this reader).
If I hadn't won this book on a First Reads giveaway, I would have abandoned it about a third of the way through (something I almost never do), but since I did, I stuck with it until the end. Although by the end, I didn't really know or care what was happening to whom.
April 27, 2016
A gynaecologist, a physicist, a violinist and an actress all walk into a pub and help a Maori leader evade the police. With no apologies to anyone for the pun because really, that's part of what THE JADED KIWI is all about. An absolutely madcap plot, peopled with a cast of seeming thousands and a lot of crazy behaviour.
Heaps of pace where it mattered really helps what's not so much a complicated plot, as a complex execution, scamper along. Many of the rapidly expanding character set are wonderfully engaging, if not slightly over the top. Whether it's the gynaecologist paired up with the physicist who find themselves back in his (the physicist's) home territory, or the bear like violinist with a heart of gold and concern for his musician's hands, who has gone to New York and back to rescue his girlfriend with the Asian background. All of whom meet up with the Maori fugitive from the law, and somehow find themselves at the centre of a drug war / organised crime sort of plot with stolen cars, mysterious phone calls, and much sneaking around in the back streets and byways.
It's a very busy story though, and readers will have to concentrate hard to keep up with what seems like an ever expanding cast, to say nothing of some incredibly complicated connections. For this reader, a little pairing down of some of the byways and offshoots may have uncomplicated some elements, allowing the central themes more concentration - and therefore a little more clarity. However, everything is delivered with great verve, almost gusto, papering over any potential logical cracks with sufficient engagement to make you wonder if you actually saw what you thought you might have just seen. The added bonus is a real feeling of affection for New Zealand and it's people.
All of which makes THE JADED KIWI a debut thriller which shows promise, delivered as it is, with a slightly tongue in cheek, very New Zealander sort of sense of humour, style and language.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/revi...
Heaps of pace where it mattered really helps what's not so much a complicated plot, as a complex execution, scamper along. Many of the rapidly expanding character set are wonderfully engaging, if not slightly over the top. Whether it's the gynaecologist paired up with the physicist who find themselves back in his (the physicist's) home territory, or the bear like violinist with a heart of gold and concern for his musician's hands, who has gone to New York and back to rescue his girlfriend with the Asian background. All of whom meet up with the Maori fugitive from the law, and somehow find themselves at the centre of a drug war / organised crime sort of plot with stolen cars, mysterious phone calls, and much sneaking around in the back streets and byways.
It's a very busy story though, and readers will have to concentrate hard to keep up with what seems like an ever expanding cast, to say nothing of some incredibly complicated connections. For this reader, a little pairing down of some of the byways and offshoots may have uncomplicated some elements, allowing the central themes more concentration - and therefore a little more clarity. However, everything is delivered with great verve, almost gusto, papering over any potential logical cracks with sufficient engagement to make you wonder if you actually saw what you thought you might have just seen. The added bonus is a real feeling of affection for New Zealand and it's people.
All of which makes THE JADED KIWI a debut thriller which shows promise, delivered as it is, with a slightly tongue in cheek, very New Zealander sort of sense of humour, style and language.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/revi...
April 25, 2016
I won this book from Goodread Giveaways. This book was quite different than my usual reading material, but the story was interesting enough to try it. It was indeed a decent enough story. However the writing left a lot to be desired. Throughout the book the author would further the story using the perspectives of different characters. He failed to warn us of the switch in these characters until I was halfway through the paragraph, which I found to be frustrating. I am glad to have made it through to the end, but won't revisit this book again.
March 16, 2016
There were a few interesting parts of this book but I can’t say I enjoyed it --- The New Zealand language, their culture and just way of living was nothing I was familiar with and/or comfortable with. The sex scenes were way too graphic and the language horrible! I did like the ending – the author put a lot of work into the book – and I guess if you know more about drugs, you might enjoy it better than I did --- a lot of sex, violence and I had truly thought that a Kiwi was a piece of fruit!
June 11, 2016
This is an interesting story. The characters are developing. I received this book from the Goodreads giveaway. The story introduced me to a time and place I never ventured to explore. I enjoyed the fast action and the cat and mouse the characters play with the Police. Over all, a good story. I will pass this on to my British friend, I think he will really enjoy this story, as well.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews