It is never a particularly good omen when a hit man is the man who is hit. So the discovery of the body of “security consultant”, Chang Chou, on the Kepler Track near Te Anau, has Detective Inspector Mark Trenwith more than just a little worried. The connections with Department of Conservation staff and the possibility that an Asian drug-dealing ring is involved only adds to his worries as he is led into an investigation which becomes more and more sinister.

From the remote wilderness of one of New Zealand’s most spectacular alpine tracks to popular tourist and coastal areas this is an action thriller that will engage the reader in a network of intrigue.

Ian Sutherland was born in 1938 and grew up in New Zealand’s north Waikato where his parents had a dairy farm. After leaving King’s College, Auckland, he began a career with ANZ Bank in Huntly, serving in a variety of towns and cities until he retired in 1995. He and his wife, Margaret, live in Milford on Auckland’s North Shore. They have two adult sons.