Chris Hammer | Scrublands | Out Now | Review | Thriller Thursdays

For this week's Thriller Thursday, I'll take you to the Australian Outback I had the pleasure of reading Scrublands last year, the story, atmosphere & characters really stayed with me so it definitely deserves a shout-out here!

Plot:
 In a drought-stricken country town, a charismatic young priest opens fire on his congregation, killing five men before being shot dead himself. 

One year later Martin Scarsden arrives to write a feature on the anniversary of the tragedy. But nothing is as it seems the local stories don't fit with the accepted version of events. 

...the question soon becomes exactly how far will Martin go to uncover the truth?

I adored this original, absorbing mystery. It takes you on so many unexpected twists & turns my advice would be to simply hold on a enjoy the ride.

"...the troubled are always young; the old are simply pathetic." 

People: This cast of characters were fabulously unique and memorable (Codger Harris deserves a special mention here, I'll leave you to discover him!). 

Hammer really captures them, from their relationships with each other to how they respond to 'outsider' invasion as their seemly quiet uneventful town's explosive secrets are drawn to light.  

Place: The atmosphere in this sunbaked drought-stricken landscape is portrayed perfectly, you can almost feel the oppressing heat. Which seems to be turned up a notch as the tension increases with every passing chapter.

Pace: This one is medium to fast-paced with lots of threads that get more and more tangled. I was gripped from the opening scenes and needed to know why it happened, it's a page-turning fiction at it's best!

Pick up if you enjoyed:  

Do you read Outback Noir? I would certainly like to read more of it. If you have any recommendations, do leave a comment!

Don't forget to pop back to see what I have in store for next week's Thriller Thursday!