I love a doomsday prepper story and having one set in New Zealand was super exciting! Sergeant Nick Chester is dealing with some pretty aggressive gun-toting American survivalists who are preparing for the end of days in the Marlborough Sounds. There is nothing they are doing to break the law but something doesn't feel right with the facility they are creating and some vandalism happening in the area. I found the story to be really engaging but would have liked to see a different ending. Still really entertaining.

CW: suicide, sexual assault ( )

Set in New Zealand, in what should be an idyllic back water, the plot proves that not even New Zealand is safe from the underworld and those who use money to get what they want. Several plot strands intertwine to prevent Nick Chester from focussing just on local issues and local policing.

I think it helps to have read the first in this series, which I had. ( )

Doom Creek is an engaging combination of small-town policing, grisly murder investigation and family-life drama, with a hefty dose of stinging geopolitical and social commentary.

Alan Carter’s lead character Nick Chester is a rough-diamond that really appealed to me. Despite being jaded by what life has thrown at him, the instinct to right wrongs still burns strong. Nick is stubborn and pig-headed, usually to his own detriment, which makes for some tense moments and page-turning passages. Admirably though, he owns his personal failings and cares deeply for his family; conversations with his son who has Down’s syndrome, often providing much-needed perspective. Chester’s feisty Maori cop shop colleague Constable Latifa Rapata and her propensity to call a spade a shovel was a breath of fresh air also. Continue reading >> https://www.bookloverbookreviews.com/2020/12/doom-creek-by-alan-carter-book-revi... ( )

In this current political climate, the rise of the ugly, radicalised individual is all too real, and the reflection of this in quiet, idyllic New Zealand somehow more shocking. Drafted originally before the appalling Christchurch mosque shootings in 2019, Alan Carter has chosen to (in his words from the acknowledgement) foreshadow the the inevitable consequences of toxic ideology and the ready availability of military style weapons. Likewise for the rural Australian location that I live in, he comments that you can't help but be aware that guns are everywhere, but luckily for us and New Zealand, there doesn't seem to be the fetish about them. Again in his words, they are tools, plain and simple. A necessary requirement for farmers, but always available for anybody who is prepared to take advantage of that. It's an issue that needs constant awareness and consideration.

Given the sub-text and the issues that are addressed in DOOM CREEK, readers will find that there is nothing preachy, heavy-handed or overt about the messaging. With his normal careful hand, clever pacing, and nicely pitched combination of personal and professional, Carter is the sort of author who can deliver a well-timed reminder without having to resort to lecturing. Built into the nastiness of the ideology and idiocy, there's a compassionate family story of a couple with a disabled son, and a man in law-enforcement for all the right reasons. There's what appears to be run of the mill murder and mayhem, disappearance and random acts of vandalism. There's also an undercurrent of something really peculiar going on, something very threatening and disturbing. Nick Chester is fond of the quiet life, but not enough to step away when wrongs are committed or being planned. He's a person that's trying to do right by his family and his community, occasionally blundering his way into a heap of pain that he probably could have avoided. This time there's something a bit more going on with him as well, something that really does make you wonder sometimes if author's hate their central protagonists, or just want to give them the rounds of the kitchen every now again to remind them who is in charge.

Nick's life, his family, the crew he works with, his neighbours and the beautiful place that he works in were introduced to readers in the first book in the series, MARLBOROUGH MAN and it would definitely help if readers had read that book. Chester's got a complicated backstory, and the reasons why he is in New Zealand, and what happened to him and his family once he arrived is useful to know about (and it's an excellent book).

Having said that, you don't need to worry too much though, DOOM CREEK will mostly stand on its own. There's plenty of issues to chew over when reading this book, and there's enough hints about the backstory and recent past to keep new readers from getting lost. Having said that, if you're new to any of Alan Carter's books then you're in for a treat. Start with this Nick Chester series and then track down the Cato Kwong series. Then you can join the rest of us, standing by for wherever he takes us next.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/doom-creek-alan-carter ( )