A Whangarei woman who co-wrote a thriller with her New York-based brother will be at the book's New Zealand launch at Tuatara Design Store tonight at 5pm.
Connie Atkinson, formerly of New York, and her brother, Thomas DiCarlo, co-wrote The Brotherhood of Purity across cyberspace. They published it under their own company, Hummingbird Press, and the novel, about international terrorism, has since became a finalist in the 2014 International Book Awards for Literary Fiction and the 2014 Next Generation Indie Book Awards for First Novel.
The world-changing events of 9/11 were the catalyst for Atkinson and DiCarlo to write The Brotherhood of Purity. Atkinson said the main purpose was to help her brother climb out of the depression he sank into after narrowly escaping the deadly destruction that day.
The action-packed story takes place on the international stage, following the trail of a powerful terrorist and the man hellbent on bringing him down.
Online and US booksellers have tagged the book a "mystical thriller".