Kerikeri is kiwi country. There the flightless birds live in common places like farms, sides of roads, and pine forests. That's why the law says all dogs must be on a lead.When dead kiwi are found in nearby Waitangi forest, it becomes clear that someone is ignoring that law. A kiwi killer is on the prowl. Suspects are many. As the death toll increases so too do the cries for dogs to be shot.Young Tom Smart has an injured pig dog he rescued from the forest. He can't believe she could be the killer, but others do. There is only one way Tom can save her, and that is to find the real killer, which means confronting a man who will do anything to protect his secrets.

Tim Thomas is searching for dinosaur fossils in the hills above Pounamu, his grandparent′s sheep station. His mum drowned when he was four, leaving Tim with only a vague memory of her - and of a large tooth embedded in rock. But time is against him as he races to find the exact spot where the tooth lies, before the river gully is dammed and the rising waters cover the site. He also has to deal with Sam Mason, the school bully, and when Tim′s horse is stolen his attempts to get her back bring him up against a gang of horse thieves. And then when it starts to rain, the waters begin to rise, and Tim is in trouble. Deep trouble. Des Hunt specializes in exciting action-packed adventures set in the natural landscapes of New Zealand. This is his sixth novel since A Friend in Paradise, a 2003 finalist in the NZ Post Children′s Book Awards, and follows the success of The Moa Cave, 2007 finalist Frog Whistle Mine,...

At first it seemed the baby whale was dead. There was no sign of movement. But then its eye opened for a moment. It was alive, but only just ... Jake and his father live in a female-free zone in a remote part of the Wairarapa, where he can surf and watch the whales feeding as they pass up and down the coast. It′s paradise - and that′s why international rock celebrity Milton Summer has built a private retreat next door. Milton treasures his privacy as much as Jake loves being free to do what he pleases. So when Jake′s dad begins a relationship with a new partner, who moves in with her daughter, Stephanie, at the same time as a local photographer starts stalking Milton, Jake′s peaceful life erupts in violence and deceit. And when a whale and her calf get into trouble on the treacherous coast, the history of Whale Pot Bay seems tragically doomed to repeat itself, unless Jake, Milton and Stephanie can survive the...

Luke Evans never knew his father - he′d cleared out before he was born. So when his internet skills track down someone living at a luxurious resort in tropical Queensland who could be his dad, Luke′s imagination runs wild. What happens when they finally meet is unexpected, and shocks him to the core. Luke has some hard lessons to learn as he realizes that no one is perfect, and that the world can be a tricky place, where people aren′t always who they appear to be and nothing can be accepted at face value. How Luke deals with what he finds will change his life . . . if he can survive.

Jack Stewart hates his new life in Taupo. Everyone at school picks on him; his only friend is a stray cat called Chainsaw; and his parents are always away working.Then he meets Fluoro, Taupo's most visible street person. Fluoro's home is an old explosion crater in Crown Park where steam and poisonous gases still hiss and ooze from the ground. Jack soon finds that Fluoro has chosen this place, not just for the heat coming from deep inside the earth, but because it provides a link to the last eruption of Lake Taupo, two thousand years before. With the man's help, Jack learns how to take his mind back to when moa and other ancient animals faced the world's greatest eruption since history began. Along with a group of creatures called the Luce Crew, they embark on a rescue mission that threatens not only animals in the past, but humans in the present.

Where Cuckoos Call tells the story of a migratory shining cuckoo, raised by 12 year old Ben Mansfield, a keen ornithologist who looks after endangered birds nesting in a sheltered bay on his family farm in the Coromandel Peninsula. Ben and his mum are dealing with the long term effects of his father fs debilitating illness, and when it looks as if the farm will have to sold, Ben fs life turns upside down. He must grow up fast as change threatens his family, his home, and his beloved birds, when a resort development is unveiled and marauding hoons hit the beaches on motocross bikes. But Ben finds and unexpected ally - and his decision to defy his father and raise an orphaned Shining Cuckoo takes him far across the Pacific to Vanuatu. But the same ally also lands him in serious trouble when a misguided attempt to help backfires, landing him in deep trouble. We have been having increasing success with Des through developing extensive and...

When Robbie Walker's father dies of cancer, he takes out his anger on anyone near. In the hope of saving what remains of their family, Robbie's mother sends him off to spend the summer holidays on Uncle Jim's farm where his father grew up. There, in a hidden valley that his father once called Paradise, Robbie discovers a new friend — a creature thought extinct for more than a hundred years. But others also visit Paradise: wildlife thieves whose only interest is to get rich through this new animal. Soon Robbie is caught up in a dangerous adventure that takes him to the sulphur-encrusted steam fields of White Island volcano — a place where death is always close at hand. Robbie must use all his knowledge, courage and wit to save his new friend ... and also himself.

Danny is dreading the summer holiday visit by his hyper cousin, Nick. There is no predicting what Nick will get up to, especially when he′s off his Ritalin. However, Nick proves to be the least of Danny′s problems when bird flu hits the Otago Peninsula. At first it seems that only the local sparrows are affected. But then the boys trace the disease to Peco - The Peninsula Egg Farm - where chooks are dying by the thousands. A biosecurity alert is launched, with the owner of the farm suspected of importing diseased eggs. But Danny and Nick begin to think there might be a more sinister cause. A pair of hippy tourists always seem to be around when things are going wrong. Could they be eco-terrorists? As the end of the year approaches, it seems that the peninsula′s endangered penguins and albatrosses are under attack. The only hope to save these rare birds becomes a race against time through the gun tunnels and cliff-tops of...

When Tyler Matthews wins a national ecological competition for a place on the NATURE SOUTH Eco Tour, he has no idea of where it will lead him. After he travels to the bottom of New Zealand′s South Island to join the tour, he meets the other two winners, Hine and the maddening Mandy - and soon finds himself caught in a maze of mystery and adventure. Someone is rustling cattle, and when Tyler finds the mummified remains of a Moa Hunter in a secret cave he also finds an ancient mystery. Who was the dead boy and how did he die - and what is the significance of his bone pendant? With the girls′ help he solves both mysteries, both ancient and modern and uncovers the reason why the local dolphins, but only after foiling a dangerous gang of heartless eco-smugglers. In a fast-paced and exciting story, Des Hunt cleverly weaves the past and present together with a fascinating trail of fossils, natural history, ecology and...

Sometimes friendship and loyalty can be dangerous things - especially when combined with fireworks and bombs, as Pelly discovers. The Waikato Heads have never been more dangerous ... Ages: 9+ Inseparable best friends Dean and Pelly frequently get up to no good. Dean is a dare-devil, and Pelly always seems to end up going along for the ride. Dean's amateur bomb-making is one step too far, and is soon followed by a bombshell of another sort: Pelly's parents are shifting the family back to New Zealand. Via email and Skype they arrange for Dean to visit in the school holidays. In the meantime, Pelly and his new friend Afi have stumbled upon drug ring operating between their school and near Afi's beach bach. the pair are well on the way to collecting the evidence they need to bust the operation, when Dean joins them from Australia. Pelly might have changed, but devil-may-care Dean most certainly hasn't. In no time at all, Dean's bomb-making obsession threatens not only the...

Matt Logan isn′t looking forward to spending the school holidays with his grandmother and her new husband. He has to fly to Rotorua, where he doesn′t know anybody, and he′s a bit wary of his new step-grandfather. All Matt knows is that he′s Maori and a bus driver. Along with his worries, Matt packs his pride and joy - a homemade metal detector, because, you never know, he might find something interesting. What he finds is Juzza, who lives over the back fence and wants to join a local gang. When the boys unearth a handcuffed skeleton, a chain of events begins to coil around them. Together they are thrown into a deadly search for treasure when the local gang boss decides to exploit their find for himself.

It′s the school holidays and Zac thinks he might go crazy with boredom. He′s living in exile with his disgraced father on the remote Terawhiti Station on Wellington′s wild southwest coast. Then Zac and his dad witness a boat sink during a storm. Investigating further, Zac finds a set of unusual animal prints on the beach. Whose boat is it? And what creature could have made the prints? Soon armed men are prowling the coast, and threatening Zac, his friends and his family. He must do all he can to protect the Phantom of Terawhiti from those intent on hunting it down.

Set in Charleston, a gold-mining ghost town 30km south of Westport, Frog Whistle Mine is another of Des Hunt′s trademark exciting, beautifully written contemporary action adventure stories for children, with ecological themes. Twelve-year-old Tony has lived all around New Zealand, travelling with his nomadic Mum, and desperately wants somewhere to belong. When they arrive in Charleston, he is almost afraid to hope this might finally be the place, but is desperate not to be disappointed yet again. With a unique bush and coastal environment to explore, an interesting group of people to come to know - and a gathering mystery that starts from his very first night, when he finds out to his delight that he is to sleep alone in the bush in an old caravan ... all the ingredients for a satisfying and exciting read are brought together, with some surprising outcomes.