Vanda Symon: Reaper: : Volume 2 [2026] paperback

Homeless on Auckland's streets, Max Grimes fights to survive when someone starts killing the city's forgotten. Pulled into a dark past, he must stop the killer or be next. The gripping second instalment in a breathtaking series, from New Zealand's queen of crime.

'Brutal, raw and utterly realistic' Trevor Wood

'Pacy, twisty, relentlessly unpredictable journey through the dark side of New Zealand's biggest city, where a man battling his own demons must confront a far deadlier one working in the shadows' Michael Bennett

'Absorbing and addictive. Once you've started you won't be able to put it down until the end. A truly gripping thriller' Michael Wood

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The City looks away ... but someone is watching...

A killer is hunting Auckland's homeless. No one cares. No one but Max. These are his people.

Max Grimes is homeless, living on the streets of Auckland, among the forgotten, the invisible. But now someone is hunting the homeless, killing them one by one. No one cares. Except Max.

Trying to put his shattered life back together, Max is pulled into a deadly game when a face from his past reappears, reopening wounds he thought were long buried.

As whispers of a Grim Reaper spread terror through the city, Max must race against time, not only to find the killer, but to outrun the ghosts chasing him.

Because if he fails, he'll be next.

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Praise for Vanda Symon

'The setting is vivid in these dark but hopeful crime thrillers. It took three years for Max to return but it was worth the wait ... this is socially aware fiction with gripping storytelling. Superb' Paul Burke, CrimeTime

'Tauter and tougher than Symon's delightful Dunedin procedurals ... superb' The Times

'Completely gripping ... a poignant study of how our society shapes unlikely saints and monsters' Eve Smith

'From the opening pages, this story left me gasping for breath' Michael Robotham

'New Zealand's modern Queen of Crime' Val McDermid

'A one-sitting read' Ann Cleeves

'Fast, furious and intense' Helen Fields

'Astonishingly good ... compelling, horrifying, intriguing and entertaining. One of the best thrillers I've read this year' Liz Nugent

'Edgy, thrilling and terrifyingly realistic' Lisa Hall

'Atmospheric, emotional and gripping' Foreword Reviews

'Fans of The Dry will love Vanda Symon' Red Magazine

'If you like taut, pacey thrillers with a wonderful sense of place, this is the book for you' Liam McIlvanney

'A portrait of the underbelly of society, this is a deeply involving novel and a damn good thriller' Paul Burke, NB Magazine

'Fast-moving New Zealand procedural ... the Edinburgh of the south has never been more deadly' Ian Rankin

'A sassy heroine, fabulous sense of place, and rip-roaring stories with a twist. Perfect curl-up-on-the-sofa reading' Kate Mosse

'A plot that grabs the reader's attention with a heart-stopping opening and doesn't let go' Sunday Times

'Reads like the polished effort of a genre veteran. More, please' Booklist