Take a photo of a barcode or cover
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Rape, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Suicide, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Pregnancy, War
Minor: Child death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Car accident
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"He's driven from the black soil of the flood plain into the Scrublands, a huge peninsula of mulga scrub where there is no soil...
Here there are no clouds and no rain. The drought can't last forever; he knows it, everyone knows it. It's just become hard to believe."
In present day Riversend, a fictional town in the outback in western New South Wales, jaded reporter Martin Scarsden has been sent to write a story. Suffering complex PTSD, following being trapped for three days in the boot of a car whilst reporting in Gaza, Israel, he's been asked to write a 'one year on' piece, following an unexplained shooting of five town residents. It's January, there's a heatwave, a draught and Riversend is bleak, its residents struggling and long-suffering with grief and poverty. This could be just what Scarsden needs to revitalise his flagging career, of this is what his editor hopes. As Scarsden gets to know the locals, it becomes apparent there is more than meets the eye to the shootings, much, much more.
The author's debut and the first of his novels I have read and, having read positive reviews, I was not disappointed. Scarsden is a flawed but likeable protagonist, dying Riversend is described with rich imagery in all its ruin and abandon and the mystery of the residents' secrets and crimes are enthralling and worth investing in. Town life flits between the languidness essential to survive a heatwave and a draught and the urgency required to respond to wildfires and other emergencies. Scarsden is involved in all, genuine and determined, to help Riversend and it's people and to unpick the complex mysteries and crimes he encounters. Sometimes he has the help of locals, including the families of the shooting victims, a beguiling love interest and various law enforcement and sometimes, their hindrance as they battle to keep secrets hidden.
It reads like an epic, an examination of rural Australian life and is a very accomplished debut, I'd recommend to fans of 'outback noir' and authors like Jane Harper, Margaret Hickey and Michael Trent.
"...the story was something that happened to other people; he was just there to report, an observer. And that all changed in Gaza. He became the story; it was happening to him. He was involved; he had no God-given leave pass, no right to stand apart from the story, apart from life."
Here there are no clouds and no rain. The drought can't last forever; he knows it, everyone knows it. It's just become hard to believe."
In present day Riversend, a fictional town in the outback in western New South Wales, jaded reporter Martin Scarsden has been sent to write a story. Suffering complex PTSD, following being trapped for three days in the boot of a car whilst reporting in Gaza, Israel, he's been asked to write a 'one year on' piece, following an unexplained shooting of five town residents. It's January, there's a heatwave, a draught and Riversend is bleak, its residents struggling and long-suffering with grief and poverty. This could be just what Scarsden needs to revitalise his flagging career, of this is what his editor hopes. As Scarsden gets to know the locals, it becomes apparent there is more than meets the eye to the shootings, much, much more.
The author's debut and the first of his novels I have read and, having read positive reviews, I was not disappointed. Scarsden is a flawed but likeable protagonist, dying Riversend is described with rich imagery in all its ruin and abandon and the mystery of the residents' secrets and crimes are enthralling and worth investing in. Town life flits between the languidness essential to survive a heatwave and a draught and the urgency required to respond to wildfires and other emergencies. Scarsden is involved in all, genuine and determined, to help Riversend and it's people and to unpick the complex mysteries and crimes he encounters. Sometimes he has the help of locals, including the families of the shooting victims, a beguiling love interest and various law enforcement and sometimes, their hindrance as they battle to keep secrets hidden.
It reads like an epic, an examination of rural Australian life and is a very accomplished debut, I'd recommend to fans of 'outback noir' and authors like Jane Harper, Margaret Hickey and Michael Trent.
"...the story was something that happened to other people; he was just there to report, an observer. And that all changed in Gaza. He became the story; it was happening to him. He was involved; he had no God-given leave pass, no right to stand apart from the story, apart from life."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mass/school shootings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Car accident
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, War
I was already pretty meh about the book due to the portrayal of women, who only seemed to exist as sex objects or love interests. This kind of turned me off the false rape allegation. Cat death is what made it a hard nope. It was gratuitous in its description and completely unnecessary.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death
Minor: Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault