The Call

Winner of the Allen & Unwin Fiction Prize 2023 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 Waitutu holds complicated memories for Honey, not least the tragic suicide of her younger sister, Scarlett. And Honey's relationship with her formidable mother is fraught to say the least. Honey is hardest on herself regarding the attack that nearly killed her. She let herself get too close to a Reapers gang informant. She got sloppy. And she's pretty sure the informant, mother-of-three Kloe Kovich, paid the price. But when a couple of gang heavies turn up in Waitutu, Honey realises they are hoping she will lead them to Kloe. This means that Kloe is alive and on the run after all. 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. Marshall was said to have joined the army, to have gone to Western Australia, to have been married or sent to prison - or all of the above. Marshall has worked hard to reinvent himself and he and Honey grow close. But Honey can't help digging into the past, and the more she discovers, the more she 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. Then Kloe arrives in Waitutu and reveals to Honey that she has proof tying the gang to a wealthy businessman with political connections. Honey and Marshall must work together to try and keep the hapless Kloe out of the hands of those who want her silenced. The scene is set for a final confrontation with a shocking outcome. Tautly plotted, with a killer ending, The Call takes the reader into the seedy underbelly of gang culture—and introduces a major new talent in crime writing. Winner of the Allen & Unwin Fiction Prize 2023 A brilliant debut crime novel centred on a 501 deportee gang, set in a remote coastal New Zealand town 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 Waitutu 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 Waitutu, 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.