thrillers set in Australia

Exiles by Jane Harper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Exiles by Jane Harper is the third book in the Aaron Falk series of mystery thrillers set in Australia.

This story focuses on a small town setting where a women abandoned her child at a community festival and was never seen again. At the time, Falk was in the town for a family christening which was cancelled due to close ties to the missing woman.

A year later family and friends gather at the opening night of the festival for an appeal for more information. A guest once more, Falk’s investigative skills sift through gathered data to solve the mystery.

Although I always enjoy the Australian settings of Harper’s books, I found the story very slow to get going after the initial chapters which set out the mystery. The circling back round to the missing person only revealed small details each time, and I was impatient for the pace to speed up. However, once Falk began to make some connections, I wanted to race to the end to find out what happened. The ending was worth it and I liked the relationship which Falk had with the local townsfolk and how they affected his future.

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Orange rose book description — Book description

At a busy festival site on a warm spring night, a baby lies alone in her pram, her mother vanishing into the crowds.

A year on, Kim Gillespie’s absence casts a long shadow as her friends and loved ones gather deep in the heart of South Australian wine country to welcome a new addition to the family.

Joining the celebrations is federal investigator Aaron Falk. But as he soaks up life in the lush valley, he begins to suspect this tight-knit group may be more fractured than it seems.

Between Falk’s closest friend, a missing mother, and a woman he’s drawn to, dark questions linger as long-ago truths begin to emerge.

AmazonUK | AmazonUS (Due out Jan 2023)

The Hunted by Gabriel Bergmoser

4 stars

The Hunted is an action thriller set in the Australian outback. Frank runs a service station, which is a lonely life but one that he chose. However, his granddaughter is currently staying with him; they’re strangers and hardly communicate. All this changes on the day a young woman covered in blood collapses on the forecourt.

Maggie met Simon in a small town bar; they were both looking for ‘something’ and agreed to travel onward together, taking the less travelled road. They came across some hunters who invited them back to their small town. Simon’s survival instinct warned him to get away fast, but Maggie was more relaxed and persuaded him to stay just one night in the town.

The chapters alternated and were given simple headings ‘Then and Now’. This allowed the back story to be told and gave the reader hints about what could happen. A warning: the story did contain gore and a small number of shocking scenes.

Initially there are only a few characters in the story, but by the end I lost track of who many of them were as there wasn’t much character development. This is however, an action led story with plenty of impressive fight scenes. I was rather surprised that there weren’t more plot twists as I did guess much of the outcome early on. Occasionally the storyline felt familiar but I couldn’t tell you where I’d seen or read it before, just that certain parts didn’t surprise me.

Overall, I enjoyed the story, even the parts which stretched my ability to believe it all, but then much of action adventure smudges the lines of credibility and entertainment.

View all my reviews on Goodreads