James Calder

James Calder writes intelligent, character-driven thrillers that place New Zealand at the centre of the world stage rather than its margins. Drawing on a lifelong fascination with the country’s landscapes, its quiet role in global intelligence, and real episodes from its past — including the unexplained Kaikōura lights of 1978 — his Jon Firth novels combine hard-edged espionage with cutting-edge physics and a restrained, observant style.

The series follows Jon Firth, a New Zealand intelligence officer drawn into a decades-long secret that reaches from the South Island high country to the centres of global power. The third novel in the series, Starstrike, which follows Return and Reckoning has just been published. Calder lives in New Zealand.