Slightly over written but beautiful and often measured at times, this is a rich story that keeps twisting and turning. A major journalist works to clear his wife of murder but in the proces, his past in the home town she's brought him to, crops up and his own tragic loss as a child here becomes clear. It's not what he thought. Complex plot lines and wonderfully drawn characters abound. Highly recommended.

Really good thriller packed full of action and suspense. I really liked the first book and this one is just as good. There is depth to the characters which brings them to life and kept me reading.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Brilliant complex thriller that i found to be absolutely unputdownable. Hugely atmospheric, as well as being a brilliant thriller its an object lesson in the challenges inherent in 'going back home' . The leading character, Martin Scarsden, is believable and certainly interesting. I am disappointed only that i read this book first and am going to be buying Scrublands really soon. Hugely recommended!

I would like to thank Netgalley and Headline for an advance copy of Silver, the second novel to feature Australian journalist Martin Scarsden.

Martin is moving back to his hometown of Port Silver to move in with his partner Mandalay Blonde who has inherited a house there. When he gets there he finds his childhood friend, Jasper, stabbed to death and a blood covered Mandalay cowering in the corner. Soon Mandy becomes the prime suspect and Martin has to fight to prove her innocence against a backdrop of malfeasance and intrusive memories of his troubled childhood.

I thoroughly enjoyed Silver which is another dense, complicated and absorbing read. Scrublands was one of my top reads in 2018 so I was keen to get my hands on this, the sequel. It doesn’t disappoint with its vivid descriptions of rural Australia and although Port Silver is a coastal town, so wet rather than dry, the problems are the same, lack of investment and employment and the attendant opportunities for graft. Mr Hammer does an excellent job of setting the scene and creating the atmosphere with not only location descriptions but depicting his characters as products of it.

The plotting is complex with several strands, not just Jasper’s murder, but another horrific crime that brings the national press to Port Silver and a cold case. It might be slightly over the top in places but it had me hanging on to every word and I have a great appreciation for Mr Hammer’s ability to weave all these strands together in a credible, understandable manner. At the same time he gradually teases out Martin’s traumatic childhood, both in present day memories and flashbacks to events from that time. This is extremely interesting as a character study and as a way of showing how events can have several interpretations depending on context and the lens they are seen through.

Martin Scarsden is a bit of an odd bod in crime fiction terms. Despite the novel being told in the third person it is an incredibly personal narrative with few aspects of his character left unexamined. He finds it hard to open up to people and cuts a solitary figure but there are signs of an effort to change in this novel although not before it causes problems in his relationship with Mandy. He walked away from Port Silver at eighteen and never looked back, cutting off all contact. The reasons for this become clear over the course of the novel, but, even so, I found it callous.

No novel with a journalist as the protagonist would be complete without a press scrum and the pressure for exclusives. I know nothing about this world but I found the obvious adrenaline rush and backstabbing described to be credible and got caught up in the excitement of it all.

Silver is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

A wonderful sequel to Scrubland featuring several of the same characters in a new murder mystery. A small Australian seaport is the setting this time with the main character a once top journalist returning to his home town. His past is skilfully interweaved with the present and the investigation into a.once close friends murder with initially his girlfriend the main suspect. Lot's of red herrings keep the action rolling along with a super cast of characters even including an Indian Swami who naturally is a suspect but becomes a victim in one of the many plot twists. A splendid read and hopefully there may be more to come from these characters. Excellent!

Anyone who was lucky enough to read Scrublands by Chris Hammer should be salivating over his second novel……..Silver. Alternatively readers of Cemetery Road by Greg Iles may find Silver a similar genre and equally as captivating.

Martin Scarsden the jorno form Scrublands is back and in his hometown of Port Silver. It’s been some years since he was last here and his intention is to set up shop with Mandy and her little boy Liam. The question is, “Has Martin’s arrival triggered off a sequence of events with some dire consequences?” Certainly his old friend has left him with a cryptic clue which might be able to unlock the tangle of lies, murder and drugs which bedevils the place.

Chris Hammer is an outstanding writer, both Scrublands and Silver are lengthy works but every page grips your attention and keeps you reading as if your life depended on it. I rate Silver as highly as Scrublands and if I could give them a six star rating I would. Keep it up Chris, I cannot wait to get my hands on your next novel!

spoiler alert ** 3.5 stars


I think I liked Martin better in this second book,not sure if that's due to more of his history being revealed,or just that he was a familiar character at the beginning of book... 
This is a busy book... there's a lot going on,death,drugs,inheritance,revenge.
I think I made a similar comment about Scrublands,but this isn't just a copy.

Glad to get to the end and have all my questions answered... except for one. When's book 3 out?

I really enjoyed Scrublands by Chris Hammer and was delighted to receive a copy of his new book Silver.
This is the second book featuring Martin Scarsden and his girlfriend Mandalay Blond. They move back to his home town Port Silver after Mandalay inherits a house.
From the moment he arrives everything goes wrong, starting with the murder of his old school friend.
Although Martin is not working as a reporter he had been asked by his friend's mother to investigate her son's death.
This book was slower to start than the previous book and gave a lot of information from Martins childhood.
I enjoyed this book and can't wait for the next book by this author.
Thank you to NetGalley and Headline for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.