I was hoping for something like Jane Harper here - I loved the Dry. In the end, I found this quite a forgettable book and I didn't like any of the characters.
It is part of a series and I ... don't think I'll be reading more of it.

One year after a mass shooting journalist Martin comes to the town of Riversend looking to do a followup piece. He manages to antagonise a few locals as he uncovers secrets, becoming close to one resident and becoming a pariah to others. However as more crimes are committed Martin finds that he cannot walk away from what is far more than it seems on the surface.
Set in the Riverina hinterlands, the sense of the dry, drought-ridden outback is beautifully shown. The town of Riversend which is slowly imploding, the violence and alcohol abuse that are endemic, and the way that this is exploited are drawn skillfully. The plot is satisfyingly complex with twists and turns and conspiracy theories galore which make it a treat for the reader.

Scrublands is an atmospheric mystery that readers of Jane Harper's The Dry will enjoy. Filled with engaging characters, a fast-pace, and thought-provoking themes. Highly recommended to readers who enjoy well-written mysteries.

This was a really atmospheric read that had many layers. It was very absorbing and the writing really drew me in.

The story is set in a small town which had been suffering dreadfully in an ongoing drought when events come to head with a tragic shooting. Shockingly, the shooter is the town's priest who was then shot dead by the local police constable. Now a journalist, Martin Scarsden, arrives to write a piece on how the town is surviving a year on. He seems to be suffering with PTSD of some sort and this is meant to be a route back to his old life but he soon finds his investigative mojo returning as he digs deeper into that fatal day. The reasons behind the shooting have always been a mystery - did the priest take an unhealthy interest in the children he was helping? why did he kill the five men he did (while sparing others)? - but digging deeper just creates more questions. And as Martin gets to know the people of the town (some more intimately than others) he also finds that what benefits his journalistic career can affect the people he has come to know and respect.

This was a good read with a pleasingly complicated plot (I was so sure I knew why the priest had gone postal - I was 100% wrong) and strong characters. The strongest character? Australia itself - the landscape, the heat, the drought and the resilience of her people.

I was looking forward to reading this book as it was recommended if you like The Dry by Jane Harper. Set in outback Australia in a place made up but the author provided a map which showed you how it was laid out.

Opening scenes of a priest committing mass murder and you have to read on to find out why.

We then have the reporter turning up to do a piece on the anniversary of the massacre. I did struggle with this as there were so many different bits being added to the storyline. It seemed to be all over the place and I found my mind wandering away from the actual story because it just wasn’t keeping me engaged enough. The ending was a little bit much a sleepy town with lots of different plots just thrown in that just didn’t make sense.

There was just too much in the book which made it overly long. However this is just my opinion and I’m sure many others will love it. For a debut novel it was good. Will be interesting to see how the author develops.

This just wasn’t for me.

Scrublands is set in a small town in outback Australia and opens with a priest shooting 5 people dead from the steps of his church. One year on Martin Scarsden is a journalist sent down to write a piece about how the town has coped in the aftermath but he quickly becomes embroiled in the town and all its secrets as he sets about trying to discover why the priest did this. And all of this is taking place during a drought which is bringing this town to its knees (surprise surprise)

While I enjoyed this book I did feel that the plot was very convoluted, there ends up being multiple crimes/mysteries to investigate and at times I lost track of who was connected to what. I also felt that there were plot lines that distracted from the story and served no real purpose which ended up making this book overly long. There was also quite a bit of repetitiveness that got a bit annoying, Martin was in Riversend for all of 10 days and on an almost daily basis packed his bags ready to head back to the city only to change his mind 2 seconds later. Also the fact that he appeared to be singlehandedly rescuing everybody who needed rescuing whether it be from a wildfire or a car crash or murderous psychopaths got a little bit ridiculous. These minor points aside the characters were well written and I enjoyed their interactions and the insight into how journalists get their story was also interesting to read.

As this is a story about investigating crimes in outback austaralia during a drought there will be inevitable comparisons to Jane Harper’s The Dry but while this had the makings of being a great book but unfortunately the points mentioned let it down a bit for me. Having said that it’s a solid debut and I would definitely read something else from this author in the future.

Thanks to Netgalley and Headline for the ARC.

SCRUBLANDS meshes sociological insights, literary stylings, and a multi-layered crime tale into an epic novel that’s simply superb.

Martin Scarsden is sent to drought-stricken Riversend by his Sydney editor, ostensibly to write a human-interest tale about the town’s recovery a year after a church shooting, but also to gauge his own recovery after a near-death experience in the Middle East. Some locals tell Martin there’s more to the story than the ‘paedophile priest’ narrative that followed the shooting. When the bodies of two backpackers are found the national media descends, messily picking at the dying town’s carcass. Can Martin find the truth among all the lies and manipulations, from townsfolk and various authorities?

There is a lot going on in this book, which is more absorbing than page-whirring. Hammer draws readers in with an unusual tale that has a lot of layers and interwoven stories. The inciting incident of the one-year anniversary of a hard-to-explain shooting is just a small part of what the book becomes.

For me, Hammer brought rural Australia, its towns and people and issues faced, to vivid life with a sweat-inducing authenticity. While this is Hammer's first novel, the experienced correspondent has actually written non-fiction books , including one, THE RIVER, where he takes readers "on a journey through Australia's heartland, following the rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin, recounting his experiences, his impressions, and, above all, stories of the people he meets along the way".

It's clear that Hammer has used his time spent researching THE RIVER and experiencing first-hand the lives of those living in such areas while building the world of SCRUBLANDS. There's an eclectic selection of small-town characters, each who are pleasingly layered. Even if some are a little larger-than-life or introduced in highly unusual ways, they don't feel cartoonish. There's a reality here.

While comparisons to Jane Harper's outstanding debut THE DRY are unavoidable, for me Hammer’s debut reaches even further, taking the baton from the great Peter Temple. SCRUBLANDS is crime writing at its finest.

I was literally glued to this book. I loved it and it kept me at teh edge of my seat the whole time. It was never dull, very eventful with a really good pace and tension rising through the book.
I really enjoyed Hammer's writing and I'll look out for books from him in the future.

Thanks a lot Netgalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

For the last three days I've been hooked on the novel Scrublands by Chris Hammer.
Martin Scarsden a journalist from Sydney has been sent to Riversend a small town in the Australian outback. The town is very run down and is in the grip of a drought and a heatwave. One year earlier there had been a mass shooting outside the towns church and Martin is looking to write a story about how the town is moving on since the shooting.
This is a book that kept me on the edge of my seat with the tension rising from chapter to chapter. It was fast paced and action packed and I did not want to put the book down.
I will certainly be looking out for more work from this author.
Thank you to NetGalley and Headline for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.