Spanning the four seasons of a year, "Necessary Secrets" tells the story of Dennis (Den) Sparks and his three adult children. Starting with Den contemplating his mortality on the day of his 70th birthday, the year ahead is told from four different points of view. A searing picture of NZ society today, the family deals with love, loss, financial struggles, drugs, domestic violence, and all the issues that Kiwis deal with daily. As he has done in his plays and his screen-writing, McGee turns...

Brendon McCullum is known as an explosive wicketkeeper, then batsman, who went on to captain the New Zealand cricket team to glory. The holder of many records, 'Baz' is known for speaking his mind. He talks about growing up loving sport more than anything, getting better and better at cricket (although he was a good enough rugby player to keep Dan Carter out of the South Island Schoolboy rugby team) and his uncertain transition to international cricketer. In this explosive autobiography he...

One of the most successful and well-known New Zealand plays is also compelling reading on the page. The power, humour and irony of the language all serve to illustrate a penetrating analysis of New Zealand society, as seen through the lens of sport.

Three Generations. Two Continents. One Forgotten Secret.2014Clare and her father travel to Venice from New Zealand. She is fleeing a broken marriage, he is in failing health and wants to return one last time to the place where, as a young man, he spent happy years as a rugby player and coach. While exploring Venice, Clare discovers there is more to her father's motives for returning than she realised and time may be running out for him to put old d...

Film directors get to re-release with the changes they wish they had made. That is called The Director's Cut. Now, Greg McGee has done the same to his 2012 novel. Welcome to Love & Money: The Writer's Cut. New Zealand is in the middle of a share-market boom, there is an election coming up, a commune with bizarre sexual activities is causing questions, and the first Rugby World Cup is on the horizon. But for a failing actor with a chaotic personal life and friends and family who seem to be ...

Beginning with the return to Venice of an old and sick man determined to confront his past, and accompanied by his daughter who is escaping hers, The Antipodeans spans three generations of a New Zealand family and their interaction with three families of Northern Italy. From Venice to the South Island of New Zealand, from the assassination of a Gestapo commander in the last days of Italian resistance in WWII to contemporary real estate shenanigans in Auckland, The Antipodeans is a novel of...

A dark and unexpected novel about a Dublin undertaker who finds himself on the wrong side of the Irish mob.Paddy Buckley is a grieving widower who has worked for years for Gallagher’s, a long-established—some say the best—funeral home in Dublin. One night driving home after an unexpected encounter with a client, Paddy hits a pedestrian crossing the street. He pulls over and gets out of his car, intending to do the right thing. As he bends over to help the man, he r...

Lois and Carly-May are just twelve years old when they're abducted, driven across the country, and imprisoned in a remote, isolated hunting lodge for two months. That summer, under the watchful gaze of their kidnapper, they form a bond which will never be broken...Decades later, both Lois and Carly-May have built new lives and identities for themselves. Lois, a professor of literature, is shaken when an obsessive and disturbing student begins to remind her of the man who kidnapped ...

The revealing autobiography of New Zealand rugby legend Jerome Kaino. As the Rugby World Cup approaches, All Black legend and World Cup champion Jerome Kaino reflects on what it takes to be the best. At just 21 years old Jerome Kaino was touted as the next big thing in world rugby. In his first year of professional rugby, he made spectacular debuts for Auckland, the Blues and the All Blacks. It was a dream beginning for this quiet Samoan kid from South Auckland. But just ...

Not since the legendary Eric Rush departed the scene have the All Blacks had a jokester/prankster quite like World Cup-winning winger Cory 'CJ' Jane. A Commonwealth Games Sevens gold medallist and frontline All Black since 2008, Jane is one of the funniest men in New Zealand rugby. He was one of the first All Blacks to embrace social media, in particular Twitter, as a means of connecting with his fans and supporters. His stint as host of the All Blacks online behind-the-scene features 'Roo...

He is one of the most highly regarded coaches in international rugby, but also one of the most controversial. Now you can read why ...John Mitchell’s rugby coaching career spans many years, several teams and various countries. He was assistant to Clive Woodward, who spearheaded England’s 2003 World Cup-winning campaign, for four years in the pioneering days of professional rugby coaching, and he took charge of the All Blacks and the Chiefs in New Zealand, the Western Force in Austr...

The career of Robbie Deans is without parallel in the annals of New Zealand rugby. He was an All Black, the pin-up boy of the Canterbury team of his generation and a rebel with the Cavaliers during a 12-year playing career. Even greater acclaim has followed as one of the best coaches of the modern era. After 17 years coaching professionally, Robbie still boasts a 70 percent success rate. He remains Super Rugby's most successful coach, six seasons after his departure from the Crusaders. His...