When a group of backpackers head to Birribandi for three months of ‘stick picking’ the experience has all the promise of ‘Butlins in Beirut’ as one of them puts it. However, in addition to the hardships of living and working in the out back they weren’t counting on meeting the malicious Rhett Buttler, who is not only acting as their manager but is also a man of shady character.
This thriller starts off quite well and is easy to read but I did find it lost pace around the 40% Mark and didn’t really get going again until around 65%, when a number of events and revelations kept the book interesting.
The mystery, twists in plot, descriptions of landscape, Aboriginal culture and dramatic conclusion are all strong points of the book I enjoyed but I found the characterisations a bit lacking for me.
A good holiday read if you enjoy thrillers and definitely one to challenge your constitution if you’re heading out to backpack in the Australian outback.
This book is available to read for free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers.
Links To Book:
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Goodreads
Ajoobacats Blog 
This is the kind of book that would interest me but I’m put off by the period in the book where it’s lacking. I get bored very quickly!
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It’s quite a quick read overall, and where is slowed for me, the day to day living of the backpackers, I think other readers did enjoy it.
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I’ll give it a go when I can 🙂 thanks
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If you really want to get into the Outback, you can’t do better than the Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte mystery series by Arthur Upfield. Honestly, these are works of genius! If you haven’t read them yet, I envy you. Fascinating, three-dimensional, sometimes highly eccentric characters populate these novels–with the main character, always, one of the many faces of the Outback.
You’ll thank me for telling you about these books.
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Sounds like I need to look up Arthur Upfield and his books asap, thank you Lee.
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