Looking for a present for a teen male relative? Acclaimed NZ novelist Ted Dawe’s new release, Thunder Road, could be right up his street. According to The Press, “New Zealand has some excellent writers of fiction for young adults, and Dawe's book brings another strong entry into the market.“ See the review here. Also reviewed in The Press is Patricia Highsmith’s latest elegant blockbuster, Ripley’s Game.

The Sunday Star Times kicks off with Long Journey to the Border: A Life of John Mulgan, by Vincent O'Sullivan. It’s an investigation into the mysterious suicide of Kiwi novelist John Mulgan, most famous for Man Alone. O’Sullivan’s book is due to be launched at Parliament this Thursday, November 6.

Also in the SST is a review of Nigel Hamilton’s Bill Clinton: An American Journey. It records Wild Bill’s exploits with Gennifer Flowers, and concludes that the former US President was addicted to sex, “taking him - like so many drug-deranged pop and entertainment stars of the era - inexorably toward self-destruction.”