Puri Puri

Puri Puri, the ancient tribal lore that distils the essence of New Guinea tribal spirituality, threads through this book. Like voodoo and black magic, Puri Puri practitioners cast spells as innocuous as prompting a romantic liaison to as intense as causing death. There are those who claim to have witnessed Puri Puri at work, and those who believe death is inevitable once the spell is cast. "Most readers... possess some degree of belief in premonition. ...makes Angie's vision(s) plausible to a reader. ...a small step then to suspension of disbelief when Angie and Meri Melera begin communicating directly." (Manuscript Assessment) Angie Condor, adopted orphan from war-ravaged Europe and now an Australian photo-journalist, is sent to Kavieng, New Guinea to cover the 25th anniversary of the sinking of Japanese P.O.W. ship Montevideo Maru with the loss of over 1000 Australian lives. As she is transported by lumbering DC3 across the heart of this ancient land, Angie is gripped by memories and feelings that are not her own. Here, at the approach of her 25th birthday, she is to discover her true ancestry - and Puri Puri. Amidst the emotion and upheaval, she meets Nick Williams, whose uncle died on that ship. Angie and Nick become embroiled in a race to find the Japanese gold. Disaster strikes when they encounter a Yakuza gang already there, and the pace builds as Mother Nature intervenes. Chemistry develops between Nick and Angie, tested by her friend Giselle. And mysteriously strained by the old family blood feud from Payback. Rumours have long swirled about gold ingots smelted by Japanese during WWII. The author's interest spiked when the government banned any finder removing that gold from PNG. More so when he was sent a photo of gold ingots, Japanese markings. His immediate question was answered "That's for me to know and you to wonder." The ingots from that photo appear on this book's cover. So you, dear reader, may also wonder. "You are terrific at writing action. The scenes... really work...a vivid sense of place... you are very familiar with the places... that gives a deep authenticity... The black volcanic cliffs, the cave system, the sulphurous smells, the bats and rats, the tremors. Great stuff " (Manuscript Assessment) Puri Puri is the second book in the author's 'Williams Series' and the first of two sequels to Payback.