Here's a snippet from Maggie Rainey-Smith in Wellington about Chris Else's new book - we received it a week or so ago but also haven't read it yet. Hopefully either our Chris or I will be able to review it very soon. Thanks Maggie:

'I was lucky enough to be at the launch of Chris Else’s new novel Black Earth White Bones (Random House, $27.99) on Wednesday evening at Unity in Wellington. For those of you who missed out, it was a veritable who’s who starting with Tilly from Unity. Harriet Allan was down from Auckland representing the publisher. Marilyn Duckworth launched the book and commented that Chris was one of our most intelligent writers. There was Barbara Else (of course), Dame Fiona, Nelson Wattie, Norman Bilbrough, Jane Westaway, Renèe, Sarah Gaitanos, Pat Quinn, Jane Parkin, and possibly many more, so if you are a star, and were there, and I’ve overlooked you, please forgive me.

There was wine, food, and an air of formality – because Chris is a formal and private sort of person and very tall, and as Marilyn pointed out, very intelligent. Lurking there behind all of that however, is a quiet sense of humour. But I’m bound to flatter him, as both he and Barbara (through TFS) were responsible for marketing my first novel. And, as he is now publicly acknowledged as one of our most intelligent writers, it does me no harm to associate myself with his good taste.

Now, at this stage, I can’t do a review, as I haven’t read the book – but I did dip straight into it on return home and was quickly drawn into the tropically lyrical beginning, with the introduction of the native kestrel “a skimming dark crucifix” and, then the fascinating description of the protagonist Kit Wallace, and his big tooth (you need to read it, I’m not telling)… plus an intriguing encounter with a green-eyed Australian journalist. The scene is set… I will continue… and so should you – rush out and buy a copy. The most beautiful cover – red, white and black, and the ants crawling across the cover are shiny black and raised… very tactile, very good.

That’s all from Wellywood, where the temperatures are soaring in the mid twenties with no wind – a week of glorious summer.'