Des Hunt is a little known New Zealand author who constantly releases well written, well researched, intelligent and exciting adventure books for boys. He is vastly underrated and I believe it is one of my responsibilities to increase awareness. His novels are relatively short and extremely fast paced – one I've started, I am hooked until the last page (this particular volume took me less than a day to finish). He has typical boyish characters, usually from troubled backgrounds, a strong ecological message and makes use of modern technology and current affairs without delving into the fantastical and ridiculous. At no point do his stories feel “dumbed down” for the younger audience and even grown-ups can learn a fair amount from reading his works. For example, did you know that whales nurse their calves by squirting milk into their mouth? Des Hunt is retired science teacher, so he certainly knows his stuff!
