The Perfect Australian Thriller…

Another of my new books for the New Year – Scrublands was published in the UK this week


Scrublands by Chris Hammer

published 2019



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It’s a long and peculiar caravan that speeds across the baking plain from Riversend to Bellington, a convoy of anticipation and fear, ambition and despair, each vehicle propelled by a different purpose and transporting different emotions. Taking the lead are the police vehicles: Robbie Haus-Jones driving Herb Walker’s four-wheel drive; Morris Montifore and Goffing in a rental; a highway patroil car with a garish paint job transporting Mandalay Blonde and IvanLucic. Thereafter, the media: 3AW in a tarted-up truck with a colour scheme to rival the highway patrol; a bunch of white rental cars; a couple of personal vehicles; the television networks in their kitted-out station wagons and SUVs. The caravan moves at exactly 110 kph, the police observing the speed limit to the letter, the media not daring to go any faster or any slower, following in perfect formation, seatbelts fastened, cross purposes disguised by uniform velocity, all careering towards Bellington, the river and the next episode in this nation-gripping drama. Halfway across the plain the convoy sweeps past the lumbering satellite truck, not slowing, barely swerving, unimpeded by oncoming traffic, every driver indicating diligently as they pull out, indicating diligently as they pull back in.

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commentary: There’s been a lot of buzz about this book – which was a huge bestseller in the country where it is set, Australia – and now that I’ve read it I’m not at all surprised: it’s a humdinger.

The setup is terrific. A reporter, Martin Scarsden, arrives in a tiny drought-struck town in the Australian outback. A year ago the local priest suddenly produced a gun before his Sunday service, and shot five men before being killed himself. Martin is going to do a piece to mark the one-year anniversary, see how the town is coping with the aftermath. He starts digging, and begins to find out the stories behind the story. The plot is one of the most labrynthine I have ever read: the amount of stuff going on in this one small town is extraordinary – but the author carries us along, and tells his story beautifully. A good way into the plot Martin considers what is going on:
He has saved someone in a fire; saved the life of an accident victim; stands accused of driving someone to suicide; been pilloried on national television; posted bail for someone accused of perverting the course of justice; and now has just saved yet another life.
I have edited this to prevent spoilers, but the passage gives a good idea of the dramas within – and that isn’t the half of it.

One of the surprises for Martin in the town is that the priest, Byron Swift, isn’t reviled, and some people still think well and kindly of him. How can that be…? The answer is long and complicated. But the book is thought-provoking – how would you feel if someone you knew well and respect did something out of character, something bad in itself. Would you hate him, or still try to have an affection for him?

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Hammer takes his time, it is not a short book, but I was happy with that. I chose the passage above to feature because it is exactly the kind of item that often makes me impatient in a thriller – who cares who is travelling in which car? But this image he created of the massive convoy was so visual, and so vivid, that it lived in my mind afterwards. One of many superb features. The dry, ravaged land is a major part of the story, and there is a terrifying bushfire among many other memorable scenes.

As well as everything else, Chris Hammer has produced wonderful character names: Mandalay Blonde, Harley Snouch and Codger Harris. And he is funny – I loved the description of the priest as a ‘backblocks Rasputin’.

It does contain a certain amount of violence, but much less than many comparable books.

So yes – I loved this book, I thought it was marvellous, and really lived up to all the advance publicity. It pulled me in, and I couldn’t put it down. I found it involving, and despite the melodramatic plot, it raised fascinating questions about morals and ethics. It is one of the best thrillers I have read in a long time. 

Several of my blogging friends alerted me to this book with their reviews – in particular Bill Selnes at Mysteries and More, whose two posts on the book are well worth reading. He concentrates on different aspects of the book, and I found his thoughts illuminating. And Sarah Ward also enthused about the book over at Crimepieces.

Top image is a picture of scrublands from freeaussiestock.com.
Second image, same source.

















Comments

  1. I keep hearing good things about this one, Moira. And I do like the distinctive cultural and physical setting. One thing that especially appeals to me is the mix of wit and suspense in the story. That's not easy to do, and it sounds as though it's done very well here. Glad you enjoyed it so much.

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    1. I think you will like this one Margot - I was most impressed. And I kept thinking of our dear departed friend Bernadette, who I think would have been encouraging us to read it, she was always such a spokesperson for Australian fiction!

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  2. Moira: Thanks for the kind words. I am glad you enjoyed the book. Your review reflects how you dove into this book. It fascinates on so many levels. I am equally confident Bernadette would have loved the book.

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    1. So glad you encouraged me to read it - and yes, I was thinking of Bernadette too, right up her street.

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  3. I think it's the unanticipated and out-of-the-blue happenings that make fiction set in small towns intriguing, not to mention appealing, to readers. The title, cover and the blurb kind of just pulls you in. Thanks for the review, Moira.

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    1. I really do recommend this one Prashant - a great thriller, and a fascinating setting for those of us who live elsewhere.

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  4. Based on the extract I would like this. I will have to be on the lookout for it.

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    1. It is very impressive: I was so glad I gave it a go, based on others' recommendations.

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  5. I have this coming at some point, I pre-ordered it last year. Not too sure when the paperback drops - June maybe? A book in common at last!

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    1. Yes! I thought this might be more up your street than some of the recent choices. You didn't try for it on Netgalley, that's where I got it?

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    2. I didn't actually see it on there, plus I've overloaded my kindle and can't get any more content on there. My Net Galley reviewing percentage is shocking, so I probably would have got turned down anyway.

      I had a voucher for Christmas so plumped for the paperback which I'll be waiting 6 months or so for. Gosh, I do hope I don't run out of books in the meantime!

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    3. I shouldn't be encouraging you to get more from NetGalley! I'm sure this is a good choice for you, you will enjoy it. Definitely where our tastes collide.

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  6. Scrublands if very good. The writer is brilliant in his construction of characters and subplots. Only thing is that there are a number of resolutions at the end. If quizzed, I don't guarantee that I can explain all of it.

    Also, if one likes to read about isolated towns and farms in Australia where it's hot and dusty, then one must read Jane Harper's third book, The Lost Man. It is set in a similar setting with an intriguing mystery and shocking denouement. And her character development is very good.

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    1. Oh that's interesting, thanks for the reco Kathy (yours are always good!) I read The Dry but haven't read any more by her, so will look out for The Lost Man.

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