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Scrublands

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Scrublands

By: Chris Hammer
Narrated by: Dorje Swallow
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In Riversend, an isolated country town brought to its knees by endless drought, a charismatic and dedicated young priest steps out of his church and calmly opens fire on his congregation, killing five parishioners before being shot dead himself. A year later, troubled journalist Martin Scarsden arrives in Riversend to write a feature on the anniversary of the tragedy. But the stories he hears from the locals about the priest and incidents leading up to the shooting don't fit with the accepted version of events his own newspaper reported in an award-winning investigation. Martin can't ignore his doubts, nor the urgings of some locals to unearth the real reason behind the priest's deadly rampage. Just as Martin believes he is making headway, a shocking new development rocks the town, which becomes the biggest story in Australia. The media descends on Riversend and Martin is now the one in the spotlight. His reasons for investigating the shooting have suddenly become very personal. Wrestling with his own demons, Martin finds himself risking everything to discover a truth that becomes darker and more complex with every twist. But there are powerful forces determined to stop him, and he has no idea how far they will go to make sure the town's secrets stay buried.©2018 Chris Hammer (P)2018 W. F. Howes Ltd Crime Thrillers Thriller & Suspense Crime Fiction Suspense Exciting Scary Sports Wrestling
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Set in a small country town in deep drought, on the anniversary of the seemingly senseless shooting of 5 locals gunned down by their charismatic & highly regarded priest.

Apparently motiveless this anniversary is to be the comeback story written by a traumatised war correspondent reporting for a major newspaper.

The plot throws everything into the mix: stolen identities, a beautiful young bookstore owner, a con man, murdered backpackers, extramarital affairs, rumour, rape, bikie gangs, drugs, young psychopaths, spooks & a washed up journalist seeking to regain his moral compass & meaning in his life.

Individual characterisations are excellent as are the depictions of a media feeding frenzy & the struggle of the local police to deal with the new discovery of the bodies of two murdered German backpackers whose bodies are uncovered when dam levels drop after a ferocious bush fire.

It’s an entertaining read, well narrated & a good companion on a long drive. My only criticism is the unlikely choice of career as a priest. For me the distance between Afghanistan & the altar is a step too far on the credibility scale. I also think the story would have benefited from fewer subplot twists & a more aggressive editor.

Death , deception & drought

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The broad, flat Australian accent bothered me at first, then split and morphed into a rich cast. The voice provided the perfect backdrop for the interwoven story threads. A mesmerising balance of performance and story, I was captivated to the end. Terrific.

A wonderful, evolving yarn

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I enjoyed listening to Scrublands. It has a very easy listening narrator with distinquishable characters. The plot got quite entangled but listening carefully it was easily followed. Good read.

A great story

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I am not big on heavy detailed novels and I struggled through a ⅓ of the book before I gave up. But with CV19 I have walking a lot and Scrublands was a tremendous partner.
Wonderful story and beautifully read by Dorje. A real pleasure.

Tough read but a wonderful audible book.

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Loved it, very well written and very engaging. Performance was good and did the story justice

Great story that is thoroughly engaging

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.