A brilliant book to listen to as an audio. Chris Hammer has written a taut murder mystery, where the Australian landscape plays a vital role. The plot is complex and intriguing, and the characters well rounded. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book, and will continue to read the rest of the series.

I listened to the audiobook version of this novel. It’s certainly atmospheric, set in the harsh landscape of Australian opal mining country. The men are harsh, the weather is harsh - it’s a pretty brutal place to be. I don’t think I’m in the right mindset at the moment to be submerged in all this…harshness!

The characters are well drawn, but I found the plot a bit confusing. This could be that I was listening to the story, rather than reading it, so I got a bit lost in the complicated double-crossing that occurs.

This was an enjoyable enough book to listen to, but not a favourite for me.

Chris Hammer is an Australian journalist with more than 30 years experience under his belt. He has stuck to what he knows by making the narrator, Martin Scarsden, a journalist. There is a lot of information in Scrublands, and a lot of plots, and subplots, and political intrigue, and random acts of violence, and sex (not explicit), and references to child abuse, and domestic violence, and, of course, the drought. - Phew!

Hammer begins Scrublands with a punch - the prologue is gripping and immediately hooks you in. On a peaceful Sunday morning the local Catholic parishioners gather outside their church, laughing and exchanging pleasantries. Their young priest, Byron Swift, is there too, with a smile and a handshake. He ducks into the church to prepare for mass. When he re-emerges, he is carrying a gun and proceeds to shoot five parishioners and is then shot dead by the local policeman.
Fast forward a year, and Martin Scarsden arrives in town to write a feature piece on how the town is coping after this tragedy. This quickly morphs into his investigating and, of course, revealing, the reason why Byron Swift shot these men. We are introduced to all the major players in the town, and Scarsden is immediately drawn to the beautiful single mother who runs the bookshop - really? Why, oh why, do writers (male) insist on doing this? It’s just so…..predictable and irritating! Of course she’s beautiful, and has long legs, and is irresistible. Please!
I felt there was too much crammed into this book. At 481 pages, I felt it needed some judicious editing. And it was so complicated, it made my head spin! However, Hammer is skilled at summarising what is happening when it gets really confusing. His descriptions of the landscape and the unremitting heat are effective.
Scrublands has been compared to Jane Harper’s The Dry. I don’t think it’s that good. However, I will watch Chris Hammer’s career with interest, and give his next novel a go.