GEOFFREY ROBERT
New Zealand novelist
Author image by Nancy Zhou
My story
I write as I have lived – choosing adventure over security, challenge over routine, David over Goliath.
My novels propel readers from armchairs and devices into hair-raising missions to exotic and unfamiliar places with everyday characters pitted against powerful vested interests. Each story seasoned with values Aotearoa New Zealand and Kiwis are renowned for: independent, ethical, authentic, edgy. And fun.
As a young journalist, while colleagues and friends were settling onto career treadmills or heading for their OE (overseas experience) in Europe or Australia, I quit my job, grabbed a backpack and flew to Africa on a one-way ticket with my wife Sue.
Cape Town to Cairo in eight months, on less than NZ$10 a day, changed our outlook on life, leading to decades of adventure and a passion for backing the underdog, the vulnerable, the dispossessed.
Through travel and work as a journalist, political press secretary, communications director and volunteer, I've witnessed first-hand the swelling disparities in wealth and influence at the root of many of the world’s problems. From the orderly streets of London to the chaotic bus stations of Kenya, the bountiful swagger of Sydney to the clogged alleys of India, the seductive dazzle of Times Square to the dirt floor poverty of Timor Leste.
As well as taking readers on virtual adventures, my books explore some of the big issues of our time. The first, The Alo Release, focused on the dangers of genetic modification and how public opinion can be manipulated by business and political elites. Finding Fabi highlights the chilling potential of multinational pharmaceutical companies in a post-Covid world. In The Ghost Shipment, international drug trafficking and political intrigue collide in a high-stakes pursuit of power, justice, and redemption.
I've had a lot of fun researching and writing the books, and look forward to sharing some of the experience – and excitement – with readers. Between adventures, Sue and I live in Rangiora, New Zealand with our feisty Border Terrier, Harvey.
Ngā mihi nui