Riley Chance

I live, work and write in the lower half of New Zealand’s North Island. I’m the parent of two cool adult children and, like many writers, a reluctant member of the precarious workforce — something that occasionally finds its way into my fiction.

I write thrillers set in Aotearoa New Zealand that combine suspense, political tension and social commentary. My goal is simple - tell compelling stories that entertain readers while asking uncomfortable questions about the society we live in.

My novels explore the fault lines beneath modern New Zealand. Surveillance imagines an Aotearoa shaped by mass monitoring and eroding privacy. The Democracy Game examines populism and political manipulation closer to home than many of us would like to admit. Weeping Angels looks at family violence and the failures of the justice system. The Target turns its attention to trade unions, power and social conflict.

I’m sceptical of social media and the outrage-driven business model that underpins much of it. Leaving platforms like Twitter and Facebook gave me back time, focus and probably a measure of sanity.

I’m interested in fiction with a social conscience - stories that keep readers turning pages while occasionally making them stop and think. To keep myself grounded, a particular George Orwell quote is never far from my thoughts.

“The mistake you make, don’t you see, is in thinking one can live in a corrupt society without being corrupt oneself. After all, what do you achieve by refusing to make money? You’re trying to behave as though one could stand right outside our economic system. But one can’t. One’s got to change the system, or one changes nothing.” — George Orwell