Risk

2014 Longlist

Recently divorced New Zealander Sam Nola returns to London, where he spent two years in his early twenties. It is early 2003, and on both sides of the Atlantic the case for military intervention in Iraq is being made – or fabricated.

But life for Sam has never been better: a grown-up, half-French daughter from a long ago affair has recently got in touch, and he has walked into a lucrative role in the booming banking sector.

It is only when he learns of the deaths of two friends within a week that intrigue begins to intrude on his contentment that life begins to feel a little more precarious.

(From Publisher)

About the Author

C.K. Stead is the renowned author of poetry, literary criticism, short stories, and of novels such as Mansfield and My Name Was Judas. He was awarded the C.B.E. for services to New Zealand literature and was the winner of the 2010 Sunday Times Short Story Award.

Librarian’s Comments

In this gripping novel we follow the central character through the realities and events of the 1990s. From national tragedy to the excesses, deceits and eventual collapse of the world’s economy, an insightful, thought provoking, wonderfully executed novel.