Return to Blood by Michael Bennett: sequel to Better the Blood from a couple of years ago, featuring Hana Westerman who in the first book was a detective in Auckland, but she’s moved now to a small town looking for a fresh start. A skeleton is found in the sand dunes near her house – the bones of a young Maori woman who’s been missing for five years, and Hana has a connection to the case. Twenty years ago, a friend of hers was found buried in the exact same spot but the man who did that is in prison. She goes looking for answers – initially through her former husband who is himself a Detective Inspector – but when she’s cut out of the investigation she realises she will have to go it alone. Great local resonance – the landscape and the language, and Hana is a terrific character.

The Everything War by Dana Mattioli. This is the story of Amazon – how it’s become a household name, beloved by consumers around the world who’ve benefited from the company’s focus on Customer Obsession. Behind the scenes though, this benign mantra masks a relentless attack on anyone and anything which stands in their way, using their size, leverage and access to data across many industries to choke competition. It’s a fascinating - and alarming - account of a company which has never paid its fair share, while sometimes using ethically questionable and even illegal tactics to bulldoze their way to global supremacy.

LISTEN ABOVE

Return to Blood by Michael Bennett: sequel to Better the Blood from a couple of years ago, featuring Hana Westerman who in the first book was a detective in Auckland, but she’s moved now to a small town looking for a fresh start. A skeleton is found in the sand dunes near her house – the bones of a young Maori woman who’s been missing for five years, and Hana has a connection to the case. Twenty years ago, a friend of hers was found buried in the exact same spot but the man who did that is in prison. She goes looking for answers – initially through her former husband who is himself a Detective Inspector – but when she’s cut out of the investigation she realises she will have to go it alone. Great local resonance – the landscape and the language, and Hana is a terrific character.
The Everything War by Dana Mattioli. This is the story of Amazon – how it’s become a household name, beloved by consumers around the world who’ve benefited from the company’s focus on Customer Obsession. Behind the scenes though, this benign mantra masks a relentless attack on anyone and anything which stands in their way, using their size, leverage and access to data across many industries to choke competition. It’s a fascinating - and alarming - account of a company which has never paid its fair share, while sometimes using ethically questionable and even illegal tactics to bulldoze their way to global supremacy.
LISTEN ABOVE

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