Review: Paper Cage - Tom Baragwanath - August 2022
I don't normally enjoy a lot of New
Zealand fiction as I struggle with it as it sometimes tends to be long-winded
and dry, a bit like the UK fiction - slow-paced and too many details. However,
with Paper Cage, I found myself getting really into it and I think a lot of
that was because I lived in the Wairarapa where the book was set when I was
younger and it brought back lots of happy memories. Also growing up, we have
lived in the lower-income parts of the neighborhoods and known patched members,
so I could relate to the story. Paper Cage introduces us to Lorraine who works
for the local police as the records clerk which I love as I do a similar job
for the council and this sounds right up my alley this job. In this book, young
children from lower-income / gang families have gone missing and there are no
leads. The police are looking at this as gang turf crimes, but Lorraine knows
there has to be more than this and so after she is put on administrative lead -
she sets out to do her investigations especially when her grand-nephew Bradley
is the latest child to go missing. What will Lorraine find when she learns the
truth about the kidnapper? In a way, I understood what the kidnapper's
intentions were and he was an Anti-villain. The reveal of his name also made me
smile as I had a teacher at Martinborough school and also went to school with a
family from Featherston with the same surname. I am looking forward to
seeing what else Tom Baragwanath releases as if it's as good as Paper Cage, it
will be added to my reading lists. If you love New Zealand Crime Writers and
books set here on our shores, then check out Paper Cage by Tom Baragwanath as
you won't be disappointed.
Amazon: https://rb.gy/dww8r
