Surrender by Donna Malane, Winner of 2010 NZ Society of Authors – Pindar Publishing Prize for best unpublished manuscript, published by the New Zealand Society of Authors. $20.00, reviewed by John Bristed.
SURRENDER is here. It is obviously written by one of us. Nobody but a Wellingtonian would be so familiar with our city. You can almost smell Mt Victoria: ‘She told me the service was at St Joseph’s – a big, modern hybrid of a church that motorists swing past between Regional Wines and Spirits and the Mt Victoria tunnel.’ … and … ‘the southerly from Kent Terrace was a welcome smack in the face – its freezing blast numbed my headache on impact. It made my eyes stream. Well that’s what I would have told anyone who asked.’
Malane’s writing is emotional, graphic, and full of action. She’s mysterious, funny, often brutal, and there’s a strong undercurrent of sex, I was often slightly surprised that a woman should be writing it.
The book took me back to Mickey Spillane, the biggest thriller writer in the world – sixty years ago –who wrote the local slang when everyone else wrote straight, and for his time was quite raunchy: ‘I reached out for her, took her face in my hands and tilted it up. Her eyes were warm and misty and her mouth a hungry animal that wanted to bite or be bitten.’ (Kiss Me Deadly).
Spillane and Malane not only have similar names, they have a similar ethos. They push the boundaries, there’s plenty of violence, their heroes hardly ever have a slow moment and much of the time they’re scared or angry.
Except that Malane’s hero, missing persons expert, Diane Rowe, is most definitely a heroine, thoroughly modern, very tough and very female. ‘He moved his sweaty face close to mine. “You got it all wrong babe. Clients love it and you can go ahead and feel free to tell anybody you like that [I buy] good booty. I’m not going to deny it. It’s good for business.” He was a cocky little bastard.’
As our star fights her demons, Surrender dances all around a Wellington that maybe I don’t know as well as I thought I did. I hope it’s not really like that out there.
The author cheerfully credits the five sons shared with partner Ian Wedde with a bit of the research for her book.
Donna Malane knows her stuff. For years she wrote reconstructions for TV’s Crimewatch, where she learnt her way round the underworld from the policemen, pathologists, and doctors who became involved with the show. Then she went on to write for TV including Shark in the Park, Indelible Evidence, and Until Proven Innocent.
I’m glad to hear Malane plans to write another Diane Rowe story; I’ll look forward to it.