Ben Sanders’ Crime Novel Takes on the Big Guns

Ben Sanders’ American Blood is a “world-class thriller,” according to Karen Hardy writing for the Sydney Morning Herald. “It’s perhaps a little too soon to put Sanders in the same league as Lee Child,” Hardy says, “but Jack Reacher has some strong competition in Marshall Grade.”

“Set against the desert background of New Mexico, Grade, a former New York detective now living in witness protection battles drug cartels, assassins and some wily colleagues looking into his past in a page-turner that makes some unexpected twists and turns.

“Born and raised in Auckland, Sanders, 26, published his first book at 19, a crime thriller called The Fallen. Introducing Auckland detectives Sean Devereaux and John Hale, the tale of kidnapping, murder and corruption, became a bestseller in New Zealand and received critical acclaim. He followed it up with two sequels, By Any Means (2011) and Only the Dead (2013). By Any Means was a finalist in the Ngaio Marsh Awards, an annual literary award presented in New Zealand for crime and thriller writing.

“‘I went to the United States in 2013 and had a meeting with a publisher, who suggested I write something set in the States,’ Sanders says. ‘Commercially, it just made sense. It would be something of a risk trying to launch an unknown writer in a new market, with a book set in a country at the other end of the world.’

“Sanders spent two months in the US doing research for the book.

“He’s been reading the crime genre since he was a teenager and thinks its popularity comes from a combination of compelling characters and suspense.

“‘Jack Reacher is the best example,’ he says. ‘People like to read about people in difficult situations who calmly and efficiently get the job done against incredible odds.’”

Original article by Karen Hardy, The Sydney Morning Herald, January 16, 2016.