Angus Gillies

No Dreadlocks No Cry is the second in author Angus Gillies’ series, Ngati Dread, about the Ruatoria Rastafarians, who terrorised the East Coast town from 1985 to 1990. The Rastas had a mission to return local land to the original Ngati Porou owners and in that period more than 30 buildings were burned, including houses, a police station, a fire station, businesses, a school, churches and a marae. No Dreadlocks No Cry covers most of the major fires and revisits the famous trial of five detectives for the kidnap and assault of Rasta Dick Maxwell, who claimed police had cut off his dreadlocks. It also includes a fascinating interview with Dion Hutana, the man convicted of escaping from prison and burning down Ngati Porou Marae.

Ruatoria - Rastafarians - a good insight.… (mais)

Revelations is the third in a three-volume series about the Ruatoria Rastafarians. The Rastas terrorised the small town of Ruatoria on the East Coast of New Zealand's North Island from 1985 to 1990. During this time more than thirty buildings, including houses, businesses, the police and fire stations, a primary school, churches and a marae, were burned. One Rasta was beheaded by another and the leader of the sect was shot and later died on the operating table. Revelations covers the latter years of the Rastas' reign of terror and the fatal clash between Rasta leader Chris Campbell and vigilante Luke Donnelly.

Ruatoria - Rastafarians - a good insight.… (mais)

When you talk about terrorism, most people in New Zealand think about problems overseas. But those in Gisborne and the East Coast merely cast their minds back to the Ruatoria Troubles. From 1985 until 1990 the township was terrorised by a cannabis-growing Maori sect calling itself the Rastafarians. Their story is one of the most bizarre chapters in modern New Zealand history. Yet most people have never heard of The Rastas or their reign of terror... until now. The first book in the series, Footsteps of Fire covers the philosophies and roots of the Rastas and the early crimes that cemented their fearsome reputation, such as “beating the devil out” of an acquaintance, the beheading of Lance Kupenga, the dragging of a horse which later died, and the kidnapping of a police officer.

Ruatoria - Rastafarians - a good insight.… (mais)

In the process of researching the background to BOOM AND BUST I found some information on a trilogy of books Angus Gillies has written about the 1985 to 1990 terror campaign of a Maori sect calling themselves the Rastafarians - in Ruatoria on the East Coast of New Zealand's North Island. Needless to say I got slightly distracted, this review has taken longer to appear than it should have. I've now got the first of those 3 lined up to be read.

But back to BOOM AND BUST which is fictional crime, set on the cusp of the GFC in New Zealand. One man, hit by debt, struggling to get out from under a flagging property market opts for a rather violent way of extracting himself from his desperate situation. Aside from the financial questions, there's a change of career underway as well - this bloke has walked himself into a heap of self-inflicted pain.

Flagged as hard-boiled crime, BOOM AND BUST does come with a bit of violence, but to my mind, hard-boiled is possibly a bit of a stretch. For this reader, it came across as a bit more of a violent caper scenario with a sense of humour. Not that there's anything particularly wrong with that - but if you're expecting hard-boiled, bitter, twisted, pared down and traditional, that wasn't my experience.

It's certainly interesting to see something set in a country like New Zealand, reflecting the stresses and strains of the GFC from a location that wasn't a big player in most of the press and conversation around at the time. It's always fascinating to see how violent fiction fits into the structure of a society not necessarily known for that type of behaviour. Even though BOOM AND BUST is not as hard-boiled as could be expected from the blurb, it was entertaining reading.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-boom-and-bust-angus-gillies… (mais)