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When a man like Ihaka hears there are questions about the death of his father of course it will be front of mind. Just as the unsolved murder of a young girl on election night 1987 preys on the mind of his boss Finbar McGrail. It goes without saying that Ihaka is going to start kicking over any rocks he can find in the search for the truth about his father's death, even though, as a favour to his boss, he's got to balance that with a re-investigation of the death of that young girl as well.
Taking Ihaka back to the past is an interesting move for author Paul Thomas. Ihaka in the current day is the same one track investigator that he's always been - despite some complications in his personal life that really bite hard. Looking backwards the reader is given glimpses into his past, and his family that haven't been in earlier books, plus it sets up a look into one of the interesting times in New Zealand political history - an election in the middle of the nuclear ship stand-off. The fact that the young girl's murder occurred in the home of one of the rich and powerful also provides an opportunity for a dig around in the upper echelons of power, wealth and influence. Things are further complicated when a notorious political power-broker makes an alleged reappearance in the local area - he's a man that's got a lot to tell about both Ihaka's unionist father, and the party attendees, but he's been out of view for many years now. On one level it kind of feels like this is a very convenient coincidence, but nothing is ever that obvious when it comes to an Ihaka storyline.
Ihaka really is one of the most compelling police investigators around. He's determined, ruthless, and more than a bit scary when he's fired up. He's also gentle, faithful and a man who tries to do the right thing by the people he loves. And for the victims. With a personality like his it's obvious he's going to rub a lot of people the wrong way - which is also part of the reason that he's promoted, demoted, moved to the sticks, bought back to the inner city and generally bouncing about all over the place. None of which fazes him particularly, which helps make him a difficult figure for the upper echelons to get a handle on. Except for his long term boss McGrail, who has skeletons of his own, plenty of foibles, personal quirks and a sneaking liking for, and certainly an understanding of, the lone wolf that is Tito Ihaka.
Needless to say, one of the major strengths (and attractions) of the entire series is character. Each character is flawed, many of them annoyingly so, others sympathetically. Never does this flaw become overblown or overdone though, essentially these are characters within the form and function of a police procedural. In FALLOUT, with such a backwards focus, there's still pace aplenty. As there is wit, action and some absolutely cracking dialogue. The way that the 1980's is bought to life as clearly and as succinctly as the current day is cleverly done, as is everything to do with Ihaka's personal and professional life.
If you've not read the earlier Ihaka books then you really need to address that as a matter of some urgency. Fans will know how long the massive gap in the timeline of these books felt, but things have been more promising in recent years. The IHAKA TRILOGY was released in 2010 (the earlier books), then DEATH ON DEMAND in 2012 and FALLOUT now in 2014. Fortunately, you can read them out of order if you have to, which was certainly the case here with the earlier books which proved very hard to track down until the release of the Trilogy. Whatever you do, and whatever order you have to read them in, doesn't matter. Just make sure you read the lot of them.
§ Karen Chisholm has been reading crime fiction since she could hold a book upright. When not reading she builds websites and pretends to be a farmer. Her website, AustCrimeFiction has been covering fiction from Australia and New Zealand since 2006: http://www.austcrimefiction.org/
Reviewed by Karen Chisholm, April 2015
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