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DS Walker #1
Outback
Two missing backpackers. One vast outback.
DS Lucas Walker is on leave in his hometown, Caloodie, looking after his dying grandmother. When two young German backpackers vanish from the area on their way to a ranch, he finds himself unofficially on the case. But why all the interest from the Federal Police, when they have probably just ditched the heat and dust of the outback for the coast?
As the number of days the couple are missing climbs, DS Walker is joined by the girl's sister. A detective herself from Berlin, she is desperate to find her before it's too late.
Walker remains convinced there is more at play. Working in the organised crime unit has opened his eyes to the growing drug trade in Australia's remote interior. Could this be connected?
As temperatures soar, the search intensifies to a thrilling crescendo against the unforgiving backdrop of the scorching Australian summer.
DS Lucas Walker is on leave in his hometown, Caloodie, looking after his dying grandmother. When two young German backpackers vanish from the area on their way to a ranch, he finds himself unofficially on the case. But why all the interest from the Federal Police, when they have probably just ditched the heat and dust of the outback for the coast?
As the number of days the couple are missing climbs, DS Walker is joined by the girl's sister. A detective herself from Berlin, she is desperate to find her before it's too late.
Walker remains convinced there is more at play. Working in the organised crime unit has opened his eyes to the growing drug trade in Australia's remote interior. Could this be connected?
As temperatures soar, the search intensifies to a thrilling crescendo against the unforgiving backdrop of the scorching Australian summer.
292 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 8, 2022
About the author
Patricia Wolf
27 books271 followersPatricia Wolf grew up in Queensland, Australia, and now lives in Berlin. She likes whisky and strong coffee, busy cities, surf beaches and wild places. Patricia has been a journalist for almost twenty years. She is a regular contributor to newspapers including the Guardian, the Financial Times and the Daily Telegraph, among others, and was formerly a design columnist at the Independent and the Lisbon correspondent for Monocle magazine. Outback is her fiction debut.
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December 1, 2022
EXCERPT: It's taken them longer than they'd expected to make it this far, three full days, and the drive has been unremitting. The roads are bad. Single lanes in each direction, bumpy and with gravel verges that spit lethal pebbles when large trucks hauling three or four trailers roar past. The windscreen is already sporting a spider web of cracks on the passenger side after they'd gotten too close behind one and its tyres had flicked a stone onto the glass.
She misses Sydney already. In their six months living at the hostel they'd made a good group of friends, all young and free and up for a good time. No boring discussions about the future, no stress about careers or life plans. That could all come later - for now, this was her dream life. She'd had a decent job at the Sportsgirl fashion chain, and got great discounts on the clothes. They'd partied hard, lots of late nights in the bars and nightclubs in the city, and hanging out in the hostel, drinking, talking and laughing. Even in winter, Sydney was balmy compared with Berlin and she'd spent long sunny days by the beach, weekends in the Blue Mountains, even a couple of trips to New Zealand and Fiji.
Then a few weeks ago Berndt had met a crusty older German who'd been at the hostel for a few days. She remembers him sneering at their version of backpacking. 'You are all sitting here, drinking your flat whites and cocktails, taking your Instagram pictures. You have seen nothing real. This is not travelling - this is just posing.'
Maybe I like posing, she'd thought, and brushed it off for the self-righteous posturing it was, but Berndt had been stung. He wants to be a traveller, have a real adventure. In order to extend their visas and spend another year enjoying the easy-going beach life in Sydney, they'd always known they'd need to spend three months working in rural Australia. It's part of the deal and she'd almost been looking forward to it. But there was no hurry and everyone had told them to wait for the Australian winter because summer in the outback is an inferno of heat and dust.
But after the contemptuous remarks Berndt thought of nothing but heading inland. They loved the heat, he said. Hadn't they both spent every summer they could on the beaches of Portugal and Spain? They even turned down the chance to work on a vineyard outside of Sydney. That was too familiar, he said. He wanted to work in the real Australia, the outback, and he spent days convincing her it was a good idea. It would be something to sustain them when they were back in boring jobs at home - memories of their three months as Australian cowboys. So here they are, in this shitty little car, miles and miles from anywhere. No Sportsgirl, no margaritas, no beach.
ABOUT 'OUTBACK': Two missing backpackers. One vast outback.
DS Lucas Walker is on leave in his hometown, Caloodie, looking after his dying grandmother. When two young German backpackers vanish from the area on their way to a ranch, he finds himself unofficially on the case. But why all the interest from the Federal Police, when they have probably just ditched the heat and dust of the outback for the coast?
As the number of days the couple are missing climbs, DS Walker is joined by the girl's sister. A detective herself from Berlin, she is desperate to find her before it's too late.
Walker remains convinced there is more at play. Working in the organised crime unit has opened his eyes to the growing drug trade in Australia's remote interior. Could this be connected?
As temperatures soar, the search intensifies to a thrilling crescendo against the unforgiving backdrop of the scorching Australian summer.
MY THOUGHTS: Patricia Wolf sets the scene and atmosphere wonderfully in the opening chapters, describing the searing heat, the flat, straight roads that stretch to the horizon, the isolation, the bleached grass, the red dirt, the dust. I could feel it, smell it, visualise it. One moment Berndt and Rita are broken down on the side of the road; the next they have vanished. There is no word from them again. It's like they've been sucked up in a willy-willy.
The pace of the book slows down at this point. The couple are reported missing but, other than their families back in Germany, no one is really too concerned. They were probably frightened by the outback and headed back to Sydney, or up the Gold Coast, was the common consensus.
It's not until Rita's older sister, Barbara, herself in the police in Berlin, arrives on the scene determined to begin her own search, that the pace picks up again.
I really enjoyed the story surrounding the missing couple except for two things, which are connected. It seems that every outback town now must have, in addition to the servo and the pub, a meth lab. Now that's not exactly going to go unnoticed. Someone, likely more than one someone, is going to notice the extra traffic. And I am fed up to the back teeth with reading about meth addicts, meth labs and organised crime. Rant over.
I enjoyed both Lucas Walker's and Barbara's characters. They complemented one another. Walker is on compassionate leave as his grandmother is dying. I loved the close relationship he has with her. And I enjoyed the way the Walker family embraced and supported Barbara.
This isn't a 'whodunit' as the story unfolds from multiple viewpoints: Walker's, Barbara's, Rita's and the abductor's being the main ones.
The book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger and I will be interested to see what direction future books in this series will take.
⭐⭐⭐.7
#Outback #NetGalley
I: @patricia_wolf_crime @emblabooks
T: @pattywolfcrime @emblabooks
#australianfiction #contemporaryfiction #crime #detectivefiction #mystery #suspense #thriller
THE AUTHOR: I grew up in outback Australia, in far north-west Queensland in a mining town called Mt. Isa, which gets a mention in Outback. After university I left Australia, became a journalist and traveled the world. I lived for twenty years in London and then Berlin, but the outback always called me home. In 2019, just before the Covid pandemic, I spent two months in north-west Queensland getting over a heartbreak by taking a road trip across the country. As I drove, and as I spent days and nights surrounded by the beauty and rugged hardness of the country, DS Lucas Walker and this story were born.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Embla Books via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Outback by Patricia Wolf for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
She misses Sydney already. In their six months living at the hostel they'd made a good group of friends, all young and free and up for a good time. No boring discussions about the future, no stress about careers or life plans. That could all come later - for now, this was her dream life. She'd had a decent job at the Sportsgirl fashion chain, and got great discounts on the clothes. They'd partied hard, lots of late nights in the bars and nightclubs in the city, and hanging out in the hostel, drinking, talking and laughing. Even in winter, Sydney was balmy compared with Berlin and she'd spent long sunny days by the beach, weekends in the Blue Mountains, even a couple of trips to New Zealand and Fiji.
Then a few weeks ago Berndt had met a crusty older German who'd been at the hostel for a few days. She remembers him sneering at their version of backpacking. 'You are all sitting here, drinking your flat whites and cocktails, taking your Instagram pictures. You have seen nothing real. This is not travelling - this is just posing.'
Maybe I like posing, she'd thought, and brushed it off for the self-righteous posturing it was, but Berndt had been stung. He wants to be a traveller, have a real adventure. In order to extend their visas and spend another year enjoying the easy-going beach life in Sydney, they'd always known they'd need to spend three months working in rural Australia. It's part of the deal and she'd almost been looking forward to it. But there was no hurry and everyone had told them to wait for the Australian winter because summer in the outback is an inferno of heat and dust.
But after the contemptuous remarks Berndt thought of nothing but heading inland. They loved the heat, he said. Hadn't they both spent every summer they could on the beaches of Portugal and Spain? They even turned down the chance to work on a vineyard outside of Sydney. That was too familiar, he said. He wanted to work in the real Australia, the outback, and he spent days convincing her it was a good idea. It would be something to sustain them when they were back in boring jobs at home - memories of their three months as Australian cowboys. So here they are, in this shitty little car, miles and miles from anywhere. No Sportsgirl, no margaritas, no beach.
ABOUT 'OUTBACK': Two missing backpackers. One vast outback.
DS Lucas Walker is on leave in his hometown, Caloodie, looking after his dying grandmother. When two young German backpackers vanish from the area on their way to a ranch, he finds himself unofficially on the case. But why all the interest from the Federal Police, when they have probably just ditched the heat and dust of the outback for the coast?
As the number of days the couple are missing climbs, DS Walker is joined by the girl's sister. A detective herself from Berlin, she is desperate to find her before it's too late.
Walker remains convinced there is more at play. Working in the organised crime unit has opened his eyes to the growing drug trade in Australia's remote interior. Could this be connected?
As temperatures soar, the search intensifies to a thrilling crescendo against the unforgiving backdrop of the scorching Australian summer.
MY THOUGHTS: Patricia Wolf sets the scene and atmosphere wonderfully in the opening chapters, describing the searing heat, the flat, straight roads that stretch to the horizon, the isolation, the bleached grass, the red dirt, the dust. I could feel it, smell it, visualise it. One moment Berndt and Rita are broken down on the side of the road; the next they have vanished. There is no word from them again. It's like they've been sucked up in a willy-willy.
The pace of the book slows down at this point. The couple are reported missing but, other than their families back in Germany, no one is really too concerned. They were probably frightened by the outback and headed back to Sydney, or up the Gold Coast, was the common consensus.
It's not until Rita's older sister, Barbara, herself in the police in Berlin, arrives on the scene determined to begin her own search, that the pace picks up again.
I really enjoyed the story surrounding the missing couple except for two things, which are connected. It seems that every outback town now must have, in addition to the servo and the pub, a meth lab. Now that's not exactly going to go unnoticed. Someone, likely more than one someone, is going to notice the extra traffic. And I am fed up to the back teeth with reading about meth addicts, meth labs and organised crime. Rant over.
I enjoyed both Lucas Walker's and Barbara's characters. They complemented one another. Walker is on compassionate leave as his grandmother is dying. I loved the close relationship he has with her. And I enjoyed the way the Walker family embraced and supported Barbara.
This isn't a 'whodunit' as the story unfolds from multiple viewpoints: Walker's, Barbara's, Rita's and the abductor's being the main ones.
The book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger and I will be interested to see what direction future books in this series will take.
⭐⭐⭐.7
#Outback #NetGalley
I: @patricia_wolf_crime @emblabooks
T: @pattywolfcrime @emblabooks
#australianfiction #contemporaryfiction #crime #detectivefiction #mystery #suspense #thriller
THE AUTHOR: I grew up in outback Australia, in far north-west Queensland in a mining town called Mt. Isa, which gets a mention in Outback. After university I left Australia, became a journalist and traveled the world. I lived for twenty years in London and then Berlin, but the outback always called me home. In 2019, just before the Covid pandemic, I spent two months in north-west Queensland getting over a heartbreak by taking a road trip across the country. As I drove, and as I spent days and nights surrounded by the beauty and rugged hardness of the country, DS Lucas Walker and this story were born.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Embla Books via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Outback by Patricia Wolf for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
August 20, 2024
Outback by Patricia Wolf
Synopsis /
DS Lucas Walker is on leave in his hometown, Caloodie, looking after his dying grandmother. When two young German backpackers vanish from the area on their way to a ranch, he finds himself unofficially on the case. But why all the interest from the Federal Police, when they have probably just ditched the heat and dust of the outback for the coast?
As the number of days the couple are missing climbs, DS Walker is joined by the girl's sister. A detective herself from Berlin, she is desperate to find her before it's too late.
Walker remains convinced there is more at play. Working in the organised crime unit has opened his eyes to the growing drug trade in Australia's remote interior. Could this be connected?
My Thoughts /
Two missing backpackers. One vast outback.
Welcome to Caloodie: a fictional town in far north Queensland where it’s hotter than a hen laying hard boiled eggs; drier than a day-old scone; and more remote than a koala in the arctic. Where the roads are mainly dirt; the internet is intermittent at best and non-existent at worst; and the only thing that can be guaranteed is that tomorrow will be hotter than today.
Heard of the saying: The road to hell is paved with good intentions.?
Well, good intentions aplenty, German backpackers, Berndt Meyer and Rita Guerra, met in Sydney and decided to travel together to regional rural far north Queensland where the young couple had secured jobs at a working cattle property called, Glen Ines station. Having spent the last six months living in a hostel in inner-Sydney, the backpackers really had no idea how remote Glen Ines would be. Their only thought was that they wanted to extend their stay in Australia, and doing a stint working in regional rural areas would do that. When their car broke down on the Caloodie-to-Smithton road, the couple were unprepared for the horror that awaited them.
Caloodie early Monday morning: When DS Lucas Walker awoke to a missed call from his boss, Chief Inspector Rutherford at the organised crime unit of the Australian Federal Police, he began to wonder what his Monday morning was going to look like. Returning the call, Rutherford explained he’d received a misper report - two backpackers on their way to a station near Smithton have gone missing - the station reported they never arrived. They’ve now been missing for thirty-six hours and as Rutherford explained, ‘it’s bad for tourism when people go missing’.
Walker surmises that it’s not unknown for hitchhikers to “go missing” in the bush; most of the time when they arrive, feel the unremitting heat, the flies, the dust and the vast amount of nothingness they turn around and go back to where they came from. It takes a certain type of person to survive out here. When he receives a call from DS Barbara Guerra, a detective from the LKA division of the Berlin Police, who introduces herself as the sister of the missing young female backpacker, she instantly discounts Walker’s theory that Berndt and Rita turned tail. Insisting that Rita would have rung or messaged to let the family know where she was at. She informs Walker that she’s flying from Berlin to Australia to take an active role in the investigation into her sister’s disappearance.
From the outset the reader is privy to how and why the backpackers went missing, but that takes nothing away from the story. The author teases the reader with her well-developed plot, ratcheting up the suspense little by little until the climactic conclusion. Everything about the author’s description of “the outback” worked for me - she paints a very realistic picture. I’m fangirling a little over Lucas Walker. Raised by his grandmother and growing up in Caloodie, Walker fled to Sydney for a career with the Federal Police. Now he’s returned to Caloodie - his grandmother is dying - and he wants to spend as much time as he can with her before she passes. The interactions between the pair are full of warmth and love.
There is also a subset of scrofulous characters who roam throughout the pages of this novel. With underlying themes of corruption, drug trafficking and organised crime, you will have plenty to keep you busy.
Synopsis /
DS Lucas Walker is on leave in his hometown, Caloodie, looking after his dying grandmother. When two young German backpackers vanish from the area on their way to a ranch, he finds himself unofficially on the case. But why all the interest from the Federal Police, when they have probably just ditched the heat and dust of the outback for the coast?
As the number of days the couple are missing climbs, DS Walker is joined by the girl's sister. A detective herself from Berlin, she is desperate to find her before it's too late.
Walker remains convinced there is more at play. Working in the organised crime unit has opened his eyes to the growing drug trade in Australia's remote interior. Could this be connected?
My Thoughts /
Two missing backpackers. One vast outback.
Welcome to Caloodie: a fictional town in far north Queensland where it’s hotter than a hen laying hard boiled eggs; drier than a day-old scone; and more remote than a koala in the arctic. Where the roads are mainly dirt; the internet is intermittent at best and non-existent at worst; and the only thing that can be guaranteed is that tomorrow will be hotter than today.
Heard of the saying: The road to hell is paved with good intentions.?
Well, good intentions aplenty, German backpackers, Berndt Meyer and Rita Guerra, met in Sydney and decided to travel together to regional rural far north Queensland where the young couple had secured jobs at a working cattle property called, Glen Ines station. Having spent the last six months living in a hostel in inner-Sydney, the backpackers really had no idea how remote Glen Ines would be. Their only thought was that they wanted to extend their stay in Australia, and doing a stint working in regional rural areas would do that. When their car broke down on the Caloodie-to-Smithton road, the couple were unprepared for the horror that awaited them.
Caloodie early Monday morning: When DS Lucas Walker awoke to a missed call from his boss, Chief Inspector Rutherford at the organised crime unit of the Australian Federal Police, he began to wonder what his Monday morning was going to look like. Returning the call, Rutherford explained he’d received a misper report - two backpackers on their way to a station near Smithton have gone missing - the station reported they never arrived. They’ve now been missing for thirty-six hours and as Rutherford explained, ‘it’s bad for tourism when people go missing’.
Walker surmises that it’s not unknown for hitchhikers to “go missing” in the bush; most of the time when they arrive, feel the unremitting heat, the flies, the dust and the vast amount of nothingness they turn around and go back to where they came from. It takes a certain type of person to survive out here. When he receives a call from DS Barbara Guerra, a detective from the LKA division of the Berlin Police, who introduces herself as the sister of the missing young female backpacker, she instantly discounts Walker’s theory that Berndt and Rita turned tail. Insisting that Rita would have rung or messaged to let the family know where she was at. She informs Walker that she’s flying from Berlin to Australia to take an active role in the investigation into her sister’s disappearance.
From the outset the reader is privy to how and why the backpackers went missing, but that takes nothing away from the story. The author teases the reader with her well-developed plot, ratcheting up the suspense little by little until the climactic conclusion. Everything about the author’s description of “the outback” worked for me - she paints a very realistic picture. I’m fangirling a little over Lucas Walker. Raised by his grandmother and growing up in Caloodie, Walker fled to Sydney for a career with the Federal Police. Now he’s returned to Caloodie - his grandmother is dying - and he wants to spend as much time as he can with her before she passes. The interactions between the pair are full of warmth and love.
There is also a subset of scrofulous characters who roam throughout the pages of this novel. With underlying themes of corruption, drug trafficking and organised crime, you will have plenty to keep you busy.
October 25, 2023
I loved this! What a great outback crime novel. I had completely missed this on my radar, so this is why GR is so good. And of course, we get to continue the story as this is only number one.
This was an excellent mix of missing persons in the very harsh northern Australia, police procedural with a well fleshed out link to home and family. The conditions of this part of Australia well described, with a mix of helpful community members and the troubled ones with secrets to hide. The scourge of drugs and the toll this takes on small communities was convincing.
DS Walker is on personal leave and revisiting his birthplace. While there he is tasked with stepping in to assist the local constabulary to find tow young European travelers who failed to turn up to their next working destination.
Lucas Walker is a capable protagonist, level headed and very likable. He teams up with the missing woman's sister Barbara, also a detective from Berlin. This woman has a good sense of what is going on. She was an excellent character, inserting herself into this arid countryside well. Unsurprisingly her idea of Australia was much different to what she found in the north of Queensland, sweltering and almost unbearable.
Well paced and compelling, I loved the audio version of this. Very much looking forward to the next book in the series where I will be happy to pick up on this young man's journey, and how Barbara may feature as well.
4.5☆ rounded up.
I listened to this via the BorrowBox platform and my local library. Well recommended.
This was an excellent mix of missing persons in the very harsh northern Australia, police procedural with a well fleshed out link to home and family. The conditions of this part of Australia well described, with a mix of helpful community members and the troubled ones with secrets to hide. The scourge of drugs and the toll this takes on small communities was convincing.
DS Walker is on personal leave and revisiting his birthplace. While there he is tasked with stepping in to assist the local constabulary to find tow young European travelers who failed to turn up to their next working destination.
Lucas Walker is a capable protagonist, level headed and very likable. He teams up with the missing woman's sister Barbara, also a detective from Berlin. This woman has a good sense of what is going on. She was an excellent character, inserting herself into this arid countryside well. Unsurprisingly her idea of Australia was much different to what she found in the north of Queensland, sweltering and almost unbearable.
Well paced and compelling, I loved the audio version of this. Very much looking forward to the next book in the series where I will be happy to pick up on this young man's journey, and how Barbara may feature as well.
4.5☆ rounded up.
I listened to this via the BorrowBox platform and my local library. Well recommended.
October 17, 2023
4★
“Angus takes a dainty sip then turns slightly to face him. The man has the charisma of a lizard, thinks Grogan. Those still, unblinking eyes, the leathered skin, cold gaze.”
Angus Jones owns a drought-stricken property 50km west of the tiny town where Grogan is the local cop. Nasty, angry piece of work whose wife walked out. Grogan’s just as angry and frustrated at being stuck in this dusty red place with its unrelenting heat and no signs of promotion to keep his wife and kids from leaving the same way.
The book opens with a couple of German tourists, Berndt and Rita, in a small rented car, headed for the property where they’re expected to work a while to keep their visas active. Air con isn’t working. It’s hard to imagine conditions like this if you’ve never experienced the kind of heat that makes you desperately thirsty.
“It’s 12:30 and the car’s dashboard says the outside temperature is 41C. The road stretches in a straight line for miles, shimmering like oily water in the heat. On either side are flat plains of pale grass, leached by the sun of any hint of green, endless and empty.”
Of course, they break down. Of course someone comes along. It’s an outback mystery, so of course it isn’t a generous property owner with cold beers, a spare bedroom with Granny’s bedcovers, and steak and eggs and grilled tomatoes for breakfast. It’s a man Rita calls their rescuer.
This is told in the third person, generally from the points of view of Rita, their “rescuer”, and DS Lucas Walker, a federal police officer who is on leave, visiting his dying grandmother in their hometown where she raised him. The other main character is Rita’s sister Barbara, a police officer in Berlin who flies down to help.
Each chapter is titled with the day of the week and how many days the pair have been missing. Barbara is arriving.
“Thursday: Five days missing . Chapter 10
By the time she turns the corner, her jeans are stuck to her legs, her t-shirt is damp and her face is flushed. The second house on the right sports a blue-and-white chequered logo above the word Police on a sign, but it’s like no police station she's ever seen. A clapboard house sitting in a yard of burnt grass with a police cruiser in the driveway. It could be someone's home, a small, poor home at that, and her heart sinks at the thought that this is where the search for Rita and Berndt is based.”
Local cop Grogan becomes increasingly uncomfortable. He has more than missing backpackers to worry about, and now he’s got pressure from not only the federal police but foreign affairs as well to find this couple.
There were several times when I thought I’d already read a sentence or a scene, as if in the edit, a paragraph or a thought was supposed to be moved, but instead was accidentally copied and pasted.
I’ve seen it happen in academic papers and even found myself editing someone’s identical paragraph twice in the same paper before I realised what happened. I don’t think this was that overt. I catch myself doing it in reviews – starting to use the same quotation twice, for example. (I should say I ‘think’ I’ve caught myself!)
The language was real, and having a foreign character gave the opportunity to explain a few Aussie terms. The only real flaw I found was two references to Pepto-Bismol.
“Grogan's heartburn has been killing him. The whole last week he’s been chewing pink Pepto-Bismol squares like an addict but his chest is still burning.”
We don’t have it in Australia, although I remember people taking it in America and it’s available in the UK, where the author lived for years. I sympathise, because I've lived in more than one country and don't always remember where I used what. It’s a petty complaint, certainly, and I mention it only because I’m surprised an Aussie editor didn’t notice it. I read a library copy, not a preview. I hope they fix it in the digital editions.
Overall, I enjoyed the story, the characters, and the landscape. There’s some extra information about the numbers of people who vanish as well as indigenous history, courtesy of DS Walker, who is an intelligent, thoughtful man. Should be a good series. I'm glad the author has turned her hand to Aussie fiction.
P.S. If you're curious about the author (I always am), she is journalist Trish Lorenz who has lived and worked in many countries. Here's a funny Guardian article about dating to which she contributed her experiences in Berlin, where she lives now.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandst...
Great video interview with the author here: https://www.qbd.com.au/crimeclub/#vid...
She grew up in Mt Isa and has spent plenty of time in the outback - she knows it well (which I never doubted).
“Angus takes a dainty sip then turns slightly to face him. The man has the charisma of a lizard, thinks Grogan. Those still, unblinking eyes, the leathered skin, cold gaze.”
Angus Jones owns a drought-stricken property 50km west of the tiny town where Grogan is the local cop. Nasty, angry piece of work whose wife walked out. Grogan’s just as angry and frustrated at being stuck in this dusty red place with its unrelenting heat and no signs of promotion to keep his wife and kids from leaving the same way.
The book opens with a couple of German tourists, Berndt and Rita, in a small rented car, headed for the property where they’re expected to work a while to keep their visas active. Air con isn’t working. It’s hard to imagine conditions like this if you’ve never experienced the kind of heat that makes you desperately thirsty.
“It’s 12:30 and the car’s dashboard says the outside temperature is 41C. The road stretches in a straight line for miles, shimmering like oily water in the heat. On either side are flat plains of pale grass, leached by the sun of any hint of green, endless and empty.”
Of course, they break down. Of course someone comes along. It’s an outback mystery, so of course it isn’t a generous property owner with cold beers, a spare bedroom with Granny’s bedcovers, and steak and eggs and grilled tomatoes for breakfast. It’s a man Rita calls their rescuer.
This is told in the third person, generally from the points of view of Rita, their “rescuer”, and DS Lucas Walker, a federal police officer who is on leave, visiting his dying grandmother in their hometown where she raised him. The other main character is Rita’s sister Barbara, a police officer in Berlin who flies down to help.
Each chapter is titled with the day of the week and how many days the pair have been missing. Barbara is arriving.
“Thursday: Five days missing . Chapter 10
By the time she turns the corner, her jeans are stuck to her legs, her t-shirt is damp and her face is flushed. The second house on the right sports a blue-and-white chequered logo above the word Police on a sign, but it’s like no police station she's ever seen. A clapboard house sitting in a yard of burnt grass with a police cruiser in the driveway. It could be someone's home, a small, poor home at that, and her heart sinks at the thought that this is where the search for Rita and Berndt is based.”
Local cop Grogan becomes increasingly uncomfortable. He has more than missing backpackers to worry about, and now he’s got pressure from not only the federal police but foreign affairs as well to find this couple.
There were several times when I thought I’d already read a sentence or a scene, as if in the edit, a paragraph or a thought was supposed to be moved, but instead was accidentally copied and pasted.
I’ve seen it happen in academic papers and even found myself editing someone’s identical paragraph twice in the same paper before I realised what happened. I don’t think this was that overt. I catch myself doing it in reviews – starting to use the same quotation twice, for example. (I should say I ‘think’ I’ve caught myself!)
The language was real, and having a foreign character gave the opportunity to explain a few Aussie terms. The only real flaw I found was two references to Pepto-Bismol.
“Grogan's heartburn has been killing him. The whole last week he’s been chewing pink Pepto-Bismol squares like an addict but his chest is still burning.”
We don’t have it in Australia, although I remember people taking it in America and it’s available in the UK, where the author lived for years. I sympathise, because I've lived in more than one country and don't always remember where I used what. It’s a petty complaint, certainly, and I mention it only because I’m surprised an Aussie editor didn’t notice it. I read a library copy, not a preview. I hope they fix it in the digital editions.
Overall, I enjoyed the story, the characters, and the landscape. There’s some extra information about the numbers of people who vanish as well as indigenous history, courtesy of DS Walker, who is an intelligent, thoughtful man. Should be a good series. I'm glad the author has turned her hand to Aussie fiction.
P.S. If you're curious about the author (I always am), she is journalist Trish Lorenz who has lived and worked in many countries. Here's a funny Guardian article about dating to which she contributed her experiences in Berlin, where she lives now.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandst...
Great video interview with the author here: https://www.qbd.com.au/crimeclub/#vid...
She grew up in Mt Isa and has spent plenty of time in the outback - she knows it well (which I never doubted).
October 24, 2022
I wish to thank NetGalley and Embla books for an early opportunity to read Outback. Its publication date is November 8th. The author, Patricia Wolf, is a promising new writer in the category of Outback Noir, and I was pleased to see this is the start of a DS Walker series.
The book had a very gripping, tension-filled beginning. Two young, adventurous German backpackers, Rita and Brendt, vanish while heading to a remote outback farm for temporary work. The local policeman insists they have changed their mind and are probably headed to a beach or back to the city. I found the story lagged during the search for the backpackers and the lack of leads to their disappearance. This may be my fault as I have never been able to relate to police procedurals involving organized crime. About 70% into the book, the action, tension and dread picked up considerably. Dangerous scenes were suspenseful, vivid, and very well written
Detective Walker has been working for the Australian Federal Police out of Sydney. He has returned to his hometown of Caloodie in an isolated area of Queensland. His experience has been in the crime unit that investigated illegal drug trade. He is now on leave to visit his dying grandmother. Drug trafficking is now growing in rural communities while employment opportunities decline. While visiting Caloodie, he is assigned by headquarters to help the local police find the two backpackers. He cannot help wondering if their disappearance is somehow connected to the drug trade. I wished for a hand-drawn map of the real towns and fictional locations mentioned. It would have made the investigation easier to follow in this vast, remote area.
I have visited the Outback several times and love it. It has a solitary, unworldly aura. I enjoy a mystery that transports me to its gorgeous landscapes and sweltering heat, especially when snow blizzards keep me confined inside.
The missing Rita has a sister who is a detective in Germany. She comes to Australia determined to find out what happened to Rita and eventually works with Walker. The majority of the community knows nothing or are not forthcoming. Possible witnesses are often interviewed while drinking in the local tavern. The searing heat, the vast distances, and the unhelpful district policeman hinder their investigations, and leads are scarce.
The pace and activity speed up towards the end as Walker and Barbara close in on what they now fear is a serial killer. Will they find Rita and Brendt, if still alive, before they succumb to their injuries inflicted by the villain, heat, lack of water and food, or are they already dead? As their search is concluding, both Walker and Barbara are in mortal danger from a madman high on meth. Can they capture the kidnapper and serial killer without suffering severe injuries themselves? The story concludes with Walker not knowing if he can return to his Federal job or stay in the Outback. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.
The book had a very gripping, tension-filled beginning. Two young, adventurous German backpackers, Rita and Brendt, vanish while heading to a remote outback farm for temporary work. The local policeman insists they have changed their mind and are probably headed to a beach or back to the city. I found the story lagged during the search for the backpackers and the lack of leads to their disappearance. This may be my fault as I have never been able to relate to police procedurals involving organized crime. About 70% into the book, the action, tension and dread picked up considerably. Dangerous scenes were suspenseful, vivid, and very well written
Detective Walker has been working for the Australian Federal Police out of Sydney. He has returned to his hometown of Caloodie in an isolated area of Queensland. His experience has been in the crime unit that investigated illegal drug trade. He is now on leave to visit his dying grandmother. Drug trafficking is now growing in rural communities while employment opportunities decline. While visiting Caloodie, he is assigned by headquarters to help the local police find the two backpackers. He cannot help wondering if their disappearance is somehow connected to the drug trade. I wished for a hand-drawn map of the real towns and fictional locations mentioned. It would have made the investigation easier to follow in this vast, remote area.
I have visited the Outback several times and love it. It has a solitary, unworldly aura. I enjoy a mystery that transports me to its gorgeous landscapes and sweltering heat, especially when snow blizzards keep me confined inside.
The missing Rita has a sister who is a detective in Germany. She comes to Australia determined to find out what happened to Rita and eventually works with Walker. The majority of the community knows nothing or are not forthcoming. Possible witnesses are often interviewed while drinking in the local tavern. The searing heat, the vast distances, and the unhelpful district policeman hinder their investigations, and leads are scarce.
The pace and activity speed up towards the end as Walker and Barbara close in on what they now fear is a serial killer. Will they find Rita and Brendt, if still alive, before they succumb to their injuries inflicted by the villain, heat, lack of water and food, or are they already dead? As their search is concluding, both Walker and Barbara are in mortal danger from a madman high on meth. Can they capture the kidnapper and serial killer without suffering severe injuries themselves? The story concludes with Walker not knowing if he can return to his Federal job or stay in the Outback. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 25, 2023
Rita and Berndt, both German nationals, were in Australia and had arrived in Caloodie in Queensland, from Sydney, heading to the vast outback for work. Caloodie was a small dot on the horizon, surrounded by red dust and bush, and because it was summer, excruciatingly hot. The two of them hadn't known heat like it was there, but were determined to carry on. But their lack of preparation was about to be detrimental...
DS Lucas Walker was from Sydney, currently on compassionate leave because his beloved Grandma was dying. Caloodie was his home town and some of his family were there. When he was told of the two missing backpackers, and asked to investigate, he was bemused. But complied. The local cop, Grogan, was laid back and didn't seem to be doing much; Walker wasn't sure if he trusted him. But when the missing woman's sister, Barbara, arrived from Berlin, a detective herself, the distraught woman turned to Walker for help. Would they find the two backpackers alive? Or would they join the growing list of missing persons across the outback?
Outback is the 1st in the DS Walker series by Aussie author Patricia Wolf and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The vast Australian outback is a frightening, but beautiful place; not somewhere I'd like to be lost and alone! I was completely engrossed in the story, with the twists and turns, the nail-biting tension keeping me turning pages until the end. An excellent thriller, Outback is one I recommend highly.
DS Lucas Walker was from Sydney, currently on compassionate leave because his beloved Grandma was dying. Caloodie was his home town and some of his family were there. When he was told of the two missing backpackers, and asked to investigate, he was bemused. But complied. The local cop, Grogan, was laid back and didn't seem to be doing much; Walker wasn't sure if he trusted him. But when the missing woman's sister, Barbara, arrived from Berlin, a detective herself, the distraught woman turned to Walker for help. Would they find the two backpackers alive? Or would they join the growing list of missing persons across the outback?
Outback is the 1st in the DS Walker series by Aussie author Patricia Wolf and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The vast Australian outback is a frightening, but beautiful place; not somewhere I'd like to be lost and alone! I was completely engrossed in the story, with the twists and turns, the nail-biting tension keeping me turning pages until the end. An excellent thriller, Outback is one I recommend highly.
March 11, 2023
3 Stars
November 7, 2022
The book opens with a chilling prologue. Two young German backpackers (Berndt and Rita) are on their way from Sydney to an outback cattle station to extend their working visas. They are woefully underprepared and driving an old car totally unsuited to the conditions. Inevitably it breaks down in the middle of nowhere and when a man stops his car and offers to help them they appear to have little choice but to accept his offer. This is a big mistake!
Detective Lucas Walker, an undercover officer with the AFP (Australian Federal Police) based in Sydney returns to his hometown of Caloodie to spend time with his grandmother who is dying of cancer. While he is there, his boss, Rutherford, asks him to act as a sort of family liaison officer for the German families of the missing backpackers. He introduces himself to the single police officer in the town, Snr Constable Grogan, and has to admit he does done a pretty thorough job. Even so he wants to check out a few things for himself.
After a few days later Rita’s older sister, Barbara, a forensic expert in the German police arrives determined to find her sister. The two eventually form a reluctant alliance and chase down many red herrings without making any perceptible progress. Drugs are expected to be involved and soon Rutherford is telling Lucas to butt out of certain lines of inquiry as the AFP is working the drug angle. After a week of no contact from the missing youngsters things are looking very grim for them.
The ending of the book was a bit exciting but wholly predictable and the book really lagged in the middle. The characters were well portrayed however although it was uncertain at times which side of the fence some of them were on. The drought stricken landscape was like a character in its own right and was spot on! This was a good debut with strong character development but patchy pacing. If there is a sequel I expect it will be somewhat tighter. Many thanks to Netgalley and Embla books for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.
Detective Lucas Walker, an undercover officer with the AFP (Australian Federal Police) based in Sydney returns to his hometown of Caloodie to spend time with his grandmother who is dying of cancer. While he is there, his boss, Rutherford, asks him to act as a sort of family liaison officer for the German families of the missing backpackers. He introduces himself to the single police officer in the town, Snr Constable Grogan, and has to admit he does done a pretty thorough job. Even so he wants to check out a few things for himself.
After a few days later Rita’s older sister, Barbara, a forensic expert in the German police arrives determined to find her sister. The two eventually form a reluctant alliance and chase down many red herrings without making any perceptible progress. Drugs are expected to be involved and soon Rutherford is telling Lucas to butt out of certain lines of inquiry as the AFP is working the drug angle. After a week of no contact from the missing youngsters things are looking very grim for them.
The ending of the book was a bit exciting but wholly predictable and the book really lagged in the middle. The characters were well portrayed however although it was uncertain at times which side of the fence some of them were on. The drought stricken landscape was like a character in its own right and was spot on! This was a good debut with strong character development but patchy pacing. If there is a sequel I expect it will be somewhat tighter. Many thanks to Netgalley and Embla books for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.
April 5, 2023
4.5*
Outback is an engrossing suspense-thriller set in far western Queensland. Author Patricia Wolf has drawn on Australia's notorious recent history of crimes targeting young international travelers in creating a tense dual-thread narrative with an evocative setting and engaging characters.
German backpackers Nina Guerra and Berndt Meyer leave behind comfortable jobs in Sydney to undertake work in the Australian outback, which will allow them to fulfill the requirements for extension of their working visas. Like many underprepared travellers on a budget, they've underestimated both the driving time required to reach their destination, and the capacity of their secondhand vehicle to undertake the journey. By the time they depart the remote town of Caloodie (which, although fictional, we can place some distance south of Mt. Isa and west of Longreach), they're already a day later than expected for their farm jobs. Inevitably, their car overheats and dies on a lonely stretch of road miles from anywhere. When a somewhat surly local arrives on the scene, temporarily fixes the car and suggests they follow him to his nearby property to call for roadside assistance, Nina and Berndt reluctantly agree. Any reader familiar with the Lees-Falconio case or the film Wolf Creek will predict where this is heading...
Canberra-based Australian Federal Police (AFP) Sergeant Lucas Walker is currently on compassionate leave from work, following an undercover assignment involving organised crime. He's spending quality time with his terminally ill grandmother, who brought him up in the outback town of Caloodie. Walker's senior officer calls him and asks him to unobtrusively assist the local Queensland Police officer in the matter of two missing German tourists. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) are hoping that the matter can be concluded quickly and efficiently, given the bad press Australia has received over the years in relation to the disappearances of foreign nationals. It also transpires that there's an active and ongoing AFP covert drugs investigation underway in the region, which police hierarchy hope won't be compromised by inquiries into the tourists' disappearance.
Meanwhile, when Berlin police detective Barbara Guerra hears of her sister's disappearance in Australia, she's alarmed - she's never met Berndt, but it's not in character for Rita to vanish without contacting family. Within days, Barbara has arrived in Caloodie to reassure herself and her family in Germany that everything possible is being done to locate Rita and Berndt.
Walker and Barbara quickly forge an uneasy alliance in tracking down witnesses and following leads as to the missing couple's whereabouts, as Barbara's frustration mounts at continued suggestions that Rita and Berndt have probably just headed for the coast without bothering to tell anyone. With Lucas Walker's local knowledge and Barbara's tenacity as an investigator, they make a formidable team. The local police Caloodie police officer, whose initial investigations appeared competent and timely, now seems to be prevaricating over interviewing certain locals or considering the possibility of a link between Rita and Berndt's case and several other disappearances that have occurred in the area over recent years. As the days tick by in the official and unofficial investigations, the reader is shown harrowing insights from Nina's perspective, as she gradually loses hope of rescue or escape.
I thoroughly enjoyed the "Aussie Noir" mystery-suspense plot, the great character development of and dynamic between Lucas and Barbara, and the evocative setting in drought-stricken inland Queensland. While she's now resident in Germany, author Patricia Wolf grew up in Mount Isa, and a couple of minor cultural anachronisms notwithstanding (eg. Australians tend to use tomato or barbeque sauce, rather than Brown Sauce, on their breakfast rolls) her depiction of the relentless heat and dry of the region is compelling.
I'd highly recommend Outback to lovers of Aussie Noir - readers who enjoy Jane Harper, Greg Woodland and Garry Disher's work are guaranteed to enjoy this!
Outback is an engrossing suspense-thriller set in far western Queensland. Author Patricia Wolf has drawn on Australia's notorious recent history of crimes targeting young international travelers in creating a tense dual-thread narrative with an evocative setting and engaging characters.
German backpackers Nina Guerra and Berndt Meyer leave behind comfortable jobs in Sydney to undertake work in the Australian outback, which will allow them to fulfill the requirements for extension of their working visas. Like many underprepared travellers on a budget, they've underestimated both the driving time required to reach their destination, and the capacity of their secondhand vehicle to undertake the journey. By the time they depart the remote town of Caloodie (which, although fictional, we can place some distance south of Mt. Isa and west of Longreach), they're already a day later than expected for their farm jobs. Inevitably, their car overheats and dies on a lonely stretch of road miles from anywhere. When a somewhat surly local arrives on the scene, temporarily fixes the car and suggests they follow him to his nearby property to call for roadside assistance, Nina and Berndt reluctantly agree. Any reader familiar with the Lees-Falconio case or the film Wolf Creek will predict where this is heading...
Canberra-based Australian Federal Police (AFP) Sergeant Lucas Walker is currently on compassionate leave from work, following an undercover assignment involving organised crime. He's spending quality time with his terminally ill grandmother, who brought him up in the outback town of Caloodie. Walker's senior officer calls him and asks him to unobtrusively assist the local Queensland Police officer in the matter of two missing German tourists. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) are hoping that the matter can be concluded quickly and efficiently, given the bad press Australia has received over the years in relation to the disappearances of foreign nationals. It also transpires that there's an active and ongoing AFP covert drugs investigation underway in the region, which police hierarchy hope won't be compromised by inquiries into the tourists' disappearance.
Meanwhile, when Berlin police detective Barbara Guerra hears of her sister's disappearance in Australia, she's alarmed - she's never met Berndt, but it's not in character for Rita to vanish without contacting family. Within days, Barbara has arrived in Caloodie to reassure herself and her family in Germany that everything possible is being done to locate Rita and Berndt.
Walker and Barbara quickly forge an uneasy alliance in tracking down witnesses and following leads as to the missing couple's whereabouts, as Barbara's frustration mounts at continued suggestions that Rita and Berndt have probably just headed for the coast without bothering to tell anyone. With Lucas Walker's local knowledge and Barbara's tenacity as an investigator, they make a formidable team. The local police Caloodie police officer, whose initial investigations appeared competent and timely, now seems to be prevaricating over interviewing certain locals or considering the possibility of a link between Rita and Berndt's case and several other disappearances that have occurred in the area over recent years. As the days tick by in the official and unofficial investigations, the reader is shown harrowing insights from Nina's perspective, as she gradually loses hope of rescue or escape.
I thoroughly enjoyed the "Aussie Noir" mystery-suspense plot, the great character development of and dynamic between Lucas and Barbara, and the evocative setting in drought-stricken inland Queensland. While she's now resident in Germany, author Patricia Wolf grew up in Mount Isa, and a couple of minor cultural anachronisms notwithstanding (eg. Australians tend to use tomato or barbeque sauce, rather than Brown Sauce, on their breakfast rolls) her depiction of the relentless heat and dry of the region is compelling.
I'd highly recommend Outback to lovers of Aussie Noir - readers who enjoy Jane Harper, Greg Woodland and Garry Disher's work are guaranteed to enjoy this!
March 10, 2024
Wow, that was intense...and I liked it!
AFP Officer Lucas Walker is in Caloodie, a (fictional) small, remote Queensland town, visiting his grandmother as she reaches the end of her cancer journey. It's a sad time, but he's happy to have been given leave from his demanding undercover role in Sydney to spend time with the woman who raised him as a young child.
Rita and Berndt, two young German backpackers stop in Caloodie on a Friday night, on their way to a visa-extending rural job in the area. When they don't arrive at the agreed time, their new employer raises the alarm. Walker gets a call, asking him to work with the local cop, just to make sure what needs to be done in respect of the foreigners, is done. If anything, the two tend to agree that the simplest explanation for the disappearance is the most likely - the couple changed their minds when confronted with the reality of the heat and remoteness of their posting, and headed back to the comfort of the coast.
Meanwhile, Rita's sister Barbara, a DS in Berlin, is appointed by the two worried families to be the one to travel to Caloodie to find out what's going on and keep them updated. Walker doesn't really see the necessity of it, but he's an easygoing guy, and realises that if it was his own younger sister who was missing, he would most likely have done the same thing.
Lucas and Barbara don't always see eye to eye, but they make a reasonable team. Barbara was actually the more effective detective, because Lucas is just a bit too fixated on his preconceived ideas about what had happened to the young couple. But they look out for one another, and when things heat up (in a danger sense) they each have only the other to rely upon.
I liked almost everything about this story; the characters were great, the sense of place was outstanding, and the plotting worked well most of the time. I really liked how we knew Rita and Berndt's fate all along, and we knew who was responsible for it, but when that character was in town, it wasn't clear who he was. What I wasn't so happy about was Walker's blinkered approach to the investigation. He was just too caught up in the possibility of organised crime. But overall it was a cracking read and I look forward to the next in the series.
AFP Officer Lucas Walker is in Caloodie, a (fictional) small, remote Queensland town, visiting his grandmother as she reaches the end of her cancer journey. It's a sad time, but he's happy to have been given leave from his demanding undercover role in Sydney to spend time with the woman who raised him as a young child.
Rita and Berndt, two young German backpackers stop in Caloodie on a Friday night, on their way to a visa-extending rural job in the area. When they don't arrive at the agreed time, their new employer raises the alarm. Walker gets a call, asking him to work with the local cop, just to make sure what needs to be done in respect of the foreigners, is done. If anything, the two tend to agree that the simplest explanation for the disappearance is the most likely - the couple changed their minds when confronted with the reality of the heat and remoteness of their posting, and headed back to the comfort of the coast.
Meanwhile, Rita's sister Barbara, a DS in Berlin, is appointed by the two worried families to be the one to travel to Caloodie to find out what's going on and keep them updated. Walker doesn't really see the necessity of it, but he's an easygoing guy, and realises that if it was his own younger sister who was missing, he would most likely have done the same thing.
Lucas and Barbara don't always see eye to eye, but they make a reasonable team. Barbara was actually the more effective detective, because Lucas is just a bit too fixated on his preconceived ideas about what had happened to the young couple. But they look out for one another, and when things heat up (in a danger sense) they each have only the other to rely upon.
I liked almost everything about this story; the characters were great, the sense of place was outstanding, and the plotting worked well most of the time. I really liked how we knew Rita and Berndt's fate all along, and we knew who was responsible for it, but when that character was in town, it wasn't clear who he was. What I wasn't so happy about was Walker's blinkered approach to the investigation. He was just too caught up in the possibility of organised crime. But overall it was a cracking read and I look forward to the next in the series.
September 21, 2023
3.75 Stars — Well, another very solid outing by an Aussie Crime author and more to the point another tick for the sun genre of Outback-Noir!!!
Patricia Wolf does a good job here of building tension & the chapters written form the villains perspective are particularly strong & have a rather punchy tone to them. Let down only by perhaps some poorly written parts, where the prose & language becomes a little too rushed and familiar, losing the tonality set by the rest of the novel.
“Outback” is indeed a rough, rugged & thrilling adventure that takes us on a — mostly— captivating journey through the vast, drought-riddled & untamed Australian outback. The novel is filled with some interesting landscapes, vivid descriptions, and an okay whilst not strong sense of place. The narrative immerses readers in a tense world filled with country Aussie culture, danger and mystery.
One of the strongest aspects of "Outback" is the author's ability to bring the 2 main characters to life. Wolf's descriptive prose also beautifully captures the harsh yet beautiful land typical of the outback, specifically the townsfolk & fictional township making readers feel as though they are right there alongside the characters. The attention to detail creates an authentic setting, evoking a strong sense of place that adds depth to the story.
The characters in "Outback" are diverse and well-developed, each with their own unique personality and motivations. The protagonist, a young explorer named Emily, is a strong and independent woman, which is refreshing to see. Her determination and resourcefulness make her a relatable and engaging character. However, some secondary characters could have been further developed to enhance the overall depth and impact of the story. Some of the more interesting characters just aren’t given enough backstory to ever really feel we know them and what makes them tick, despite the author managing to distract us from this fact right up until some later, underwhelming attempts are aired and don’t suffice!
The plot of "Outback" moves as a fast-paced thriller that’s filled & fuelled with suspense. From the very beginning, the novel hooks readers with its intriguing premise and keeps them engaged throughout. The exploration of the mild
Politics and innocent nature offer its dichotomy, making it an interesting backdrop to the story. However, there are moments where the pacing feels uneven, with some sections dragging on whilst others race on by much too quickly.
While "Outback" is an enjoyable read, it does suffer from a few minor flaws. The dialogue at times can feel forced or unnatural, making it difficult to fully connect with the characters. Additionally, certain plot twists and revelations lack the impact they could have had with more foreshadowing and buildup.
In conclusion, "Outback" by Patricia Wolf offers a thrilling adventure set in the captivating Australian outback. The vivid descriptions and strong sense of place create an immersive reading experience, and the protagonist is a strong and relatable character. While the pacing and dialogue could have been improved, this novel is still a worthwhile read for those seeking an exciting and exotic journey into the wilderness.
That said — I’ll be back for book two soon, such is my current yearn for anything outback-noir right now! It’s an odd and insatiable urge I am currently working through!!!
Reads like: A mix of Scrublands, Wake & The terrific “Killer” Series by Ross Greenwood (The Snow Killer is Volume 1)
Read if you enjoy: A good Outback-Noir thriller with the occasional Killer POV chapter!!!
Patricia Wolf does a good job here of building tension & the chapters written form the villains perspective are particularly strong & have a rather punchy tone to them. Let down only by perhaps some poorly written parts, where the prose & language becomes a little too rushed and familiar, losing the tonality set by the rest of the novel.
“Outback” is indeed a rough, rugged & thrilling adventure that takes us on a — mostly— captivating journey through the vast, drought-riddled & untamed Australian outback. The novel is filled with some interesting landscapes, vivid descriptions, and an okay whilst not strong sense of place. The narrative immerses readers in a tense world filled with country Aussie culture, danger and mystery.
One of the strongest aspects of "Outback" is the author's ability to bring the 2 main characters to life. Wolf's descriptive prose also beautifully captures the harsh yet beautiful land typical of the outback, specifically the townsfolk & fictional township making readers feel as though they are right there alongside the characters. The attention to detail creates an authentic setting, evoking a strong sense of place that adds depth to the story.
The characters in "Outback" are diverse and well-developed, each with their own unique personality and motivations. The protagonist, a young explorer named Emily, is a strong and independent woman, which is refreshing to see. Her determination and resourcefulness make her a relatable and engaging character. However, some secondary characters could have been further developed to enhance the overall depth and impact of the story. Some of the more interesting characters just aren’t given enough backstory to ever really feel we know them and what makes them tick, despite the author managing to distract us from this fact right up until some later, underwhelming attempts are aired and don’t suffice!
The plot of "Outback" moves as a fast-paced thriller that’s filled & fuelled with suspense. From the very beginning, the novel hooks readers with its intriguing premise and keeps them engaged throughout. The exploration of the mild
Politics and innocent nature offer its dichotomy, making it an interesting backdrop to the story. However, there are moments where the pacing feels uneven, with some sections dragging on whilst others race on by much too quickly.
While "Outback" is an enjoyable read, it does suffer from a few minor flaws. The dialogue at times can feel forced or unnatural, making it difficult to fully connect with the characters. Additionally, certain plot twists and revelations lack the impact they could have had with more foreshadowing and buildup.
In conclusion, "Outback" by Patricia Wolf offers a thrilling adventure set in the captivating Australian outback. The vivid descriptions and strong sense of place create an immersive reading experience, and the protagonist is a strong and relatable character. While the pacing and dialogue could have been improved, this novel is still a worthwhile read for those seeking an exciting and exotic journey into the wilderness.
That said — I’ll be back for book two soon, such is my current yearn for anything outback-noir right now! It’s an odd and insatiable urge I am currently working through!!!
Reads like: A mix of Scrublands, Wake & The terrific “Killer” Series by Ross Greenwood (The Snow Killer is Volume 1)
Read if you enjoy: A good Outback-Noir thriller with the occasional Killer POV chapter!!!
March 12, 2023
Two young backpackers have disappeared in Australia. They were on their way to take up a temporary job in a remote area of Queensland, a state five times the size of their native Germany. We know what’s become of them as we’ve been following their movements but now the focus turns to the search, and in particular to a federal detective who is on compassionate leave and is currently in the general area they were last seen. Lucas Walker could really do without this, his grandmother took the lead in bringing him up and consequently they are very close. He doesn’t want to be parted from her right now, when she clearly doesn’t have too many days left. But he’s given little choice.
From this point we’re occasionally updated with regard to the fate of the backpackers but mostly we follow the efforts to track them down. Barbara, the sister of one of those missing has flown in from Germany to help the search, she’s a detective based in Berlin and has no intention of being sidelined by the local police. The descriptions of the testing conditions and the sheer scale of the place – miles and miles of nothing, spotted with a few small towns - really does highlight how difficult the task is. Then there are the lists of those who have previously disappeared, some of them never to be seen again.
So a decent set-up, but from this point I thought that the story floundered somewhat. I found some of the characters less than convincing and the plot felt heavily reliant on coincidence and luck (both good and bad). There’s a patch in the middle of the story where not much happens and then a frantic ending that in my eyes defied sense. On the up side, I did like Lucas and Barbara - they shared the best moments in this story. And it clearly ends in a way that is ripe for a follow up book. Will I grab a copy of that one? At this point I’m not sure, the jury is out for the time being.
From this point we’re occasionally updated with regard to the fate of the backpackers but mostly we follow the efforts to track them down. Barbara, the sister of one of those missing has flown in from Germany to help the search, she’s a detective based in Berlin and has no intention of being sidelined by the local police. The descriptions of the testing conditions and the sheer scale of the place – miles and miles of nothing, spotted with a few small towns - really does highlight how difficult the task is. Then there are the lists of those who have previously disappeared, some of them never to be seen again.
So a decent set-up, but from this point I thought that the story floundered somewhat. I found some of the characters less than convincing and the plot felt heavily reliant on coincidence and luck (both good and bad). There’s a patch in the middle of the story where not much happens and then a frantic ending that in my eyes defied sense. On the up side, I did like Lucas and Barbara - they shared the best moments in this story. And it clearly ends in a way that is ripe for a follow up book. Will I grab a copy of that one? At this point I’m not sure, the jury is out for the time being.
August 22, 2023
The debut thriller from Patricia Wolf, Outback paints western Queensland with the shimmering heat haze and endless red dirt that marks that part of the world as a brutal place to visit. But it’s not only the natural features that make it a dangerous place to live and its vastness means that going missing means a difficult search will follow.
The location is hostile, it’s not a place for the uninitiated who are unused to the heat and the dust and the absolute dryness of the air. But that’s where Rita and Berndt, a German backpacking couple, are driving to their job on an Outback station. Fifty k’s past the last small town for ages, their car engine packs it in.
Lucas Walker is back home in the small town of Caloodie because his grandmother is dying, having suffered from cancer. He’s a detective sergeant with the Federal Police Force and currently on leave for compassionate reasons. But when word comes in that the backpackers have gone missing in the area, he’s asked to take a look and help out the local police, acting in a family liaison capacity.
In contacting Rita’s family back in Germany, he speaks to her sister, Barabara who is a CID police sergeant in Berlin. In short order, she has winged her way over to Australia and out into the furnace of the Queensland summer. She’s there to lend her support in the search for her sister and Berndt.
It’s upon the arrival of Barbara that the pace of the story actually picks up a little. Perhaps Lucas and the other local police were affected by the heat and had been meandering along with their search, but she galvanises things and puts the investigation into some form of motion, regardless of the fact that she has absolutely no authority at all.
Together, Lucas and Barbara manage to put together a reasonable investigation while also forging a friendship upon which each could trust and depend upon the other. And it’s just as well for what is to come in a location in which backup is a long way away. It’s this comradeship around which the story is built and is stronger for and I enjoyed the way their friendship developed and grew.
My main problem with the story was the slow pace throughout the middle where there was very little happening. The investigation appeared to stall and the updates on the fate of the missing pair also petered out. It left me with a sense that we were in a limbo waiting for something, anything to happen. And when you’re stuck out in deep country Queensland, there’s not a big chance that anything significant is going to chance by. I had to fight to maintain my attention.
As with many seemingly straightforward missing persons cases, there’s a subversive subplot that makes itself known as Lucas begins digging deeper with his investigation. Drugs are involved (of course) as well as higher powers in the police force (inevitably) and the combination serves to create obstacles and greater danger to our protagonists.
Outback is a well-constructed outback thriller. I hesitate to label it “outback noir” because of the lack of noirish overtones, themes or ending. But it’s certainly a thriller with a slow burn culminating in an exciting conclusion that almost wraps things up nicely, while leaving just enough to look forward to the sequel.
The location is hostile, it’s not a place for the uninitiated who are unused to the heat and the dust and the absolute dryness of the air. But that’s where Rita and Berndt, a German backpacking couple, are driving to their job on an Outback station. Fifty k’s past the last small town for ages, their car engine packs it in.
Lucas Walker is back home in the small town of Caloodie because his grandmother is dying, having suffered from cancer. He’s a detective sergeant with the Federal Police Force and currently on leave for compassionate reasons. But when word comes in that the backpackers have gone missing in the area, he’s asked to take a look and help out the local police, acting in a family liaison capacity.
In contacting Rita’s family back in Germany, he speaks to her sister, Barabara who is a CID police sergeant in Berlin. In short order, she has winged her way over to Australia and out into the furnace of the Queensland summer. She’s there to lend her support in the search for her sister and Berndt.
It’s upon the arrival of Barbara that the pace of the story actually picks up a little. Perhaps Lucas and the other local police were affected by the heat and had been meandering along with their search, but she galvanises things and puts the investigation into some form of motion, regardless of the fact that she has absolutely no authority at all.
Together, Lucas and Barbara manage to put together a reasonable investigation while also forging a friendship upon which each could trust and depend upon the other. And it’s just as well for what is to come in a location in which backup is a long way away. It’s this comradeship around which the story is built and is stronger for and I enjoyed the way their friendship developed and grew.
My main problem with the story was the slow pace throughout the middle where there was very little happening. The investigation appeared to stall and the updates on the fate of the missing pair also petered out. It left me with a sense that we were in a limbo waiting for something, anything to happen. And when you’re stuck out in deep country Queensland, there’s not a big chance that anything significant is going to chance by. I had to fight to maintain my attention.
As with many seemingly straightforward missing persons cases, there’s a subversive subplot that makes itself known as Lucas begins digging deeper with his investigation. Drugs are involved (of course) as well as higher powers in the police force (inevitably) and the combination serves to create obstacles and greater danger to our protagonists.
Outback is a well-constructed outback thriller. I hesitate to label it “outback noir” because of the lack of noirish overtones, themes or ending. But it’s certainly a thriller with a slow burn culminating in an exciting conclusion that almost wraps things up nicely, while leaving just enough to look forward to the sequel.
November 12, 2022
Started really well,dragged a lot in the middle -too much description of scenery/ routes and repetition makes reading boring-good ending.Lacks focus,had potential.
December 15, 2022
“… this country – it’s huge and empty. The police station is in a tiny old wooden house, there’s just one cop out here, and the others are thousands of miles away and I don’t know if they really are taking it seriously.”
Outback is first book in the DS Walker Thriller series by Australian journalist and author, Patricia Wolf. It’s handy that AFP Detective Sergeant Lucas Walker is back home in far north-west Queensland on compassionate leave (his grandmother probably doesn’t have long). A German back-packing couple has been reported missing and his boss asks him to act as liaison between families and Queensland Police.
Berndt Meyer and Rita Guerra were last seen leaving Caloodie on a November Saturday morning, heading for work on a station past Smithton. Their lack of contact is completely out of character but the local cop, Senior Constable Dave Grogan suggests they might have seen the sort of country they were headed to and changed their minds.
Walker rates this as quite possible, and Grogan seems to be going through all the right motions, but his commitment feels a little lacking. Then Rita’s sister turns up, determined to help find the couple. DS Barbara Guerra is with the Berlin CID, and feels sure she can contribute to the search. Lucas is a little reluctant to allow her direct involvement, but knows how he would feel if it was his younger sister. Grogan is less than pleased to have his actions scrutinised, and Lucas worries that the constable is too chummy with the locals to do any proper policing.
Barbara is a gutsy protagonist and while she is (somewhat) fettered by having no jurisdiction in Australia, Lucas is hampered by his own erroneous assumption, from his undercover role, that everything is about drugs; Dave, the reader quickly learns, has a personal agenda that splits his loyalties.
The reader knows the backpackers’ fate from the start through the anonymous perpetrator’s narrative, although informed guesses as to his identity will likely be correct. Meanwhile, Lucas and Barbara are thwarted by some characters with ulterior motives, and distracted by what the reader knows are red herrings.
Wolf’s depiction of outback Queensland feels truly authentic, not surprising as it comes from personal experience. The description of the heat, dust and flies, the mindset of the locals, all are a realistic representation. Barbara’s narrative offers the perspective of a foreigner thrust into a landscape that doesn’t tend to appear in promotional material.
Wolf gives the reader a wholly credible tale with that requires virtually no suspension of disbelief, and builds up to a nail-biting climax. The dialogue is convincing: Wolf doesn’t stint on Aussie slang and includes gems like “He’s got muscles like a chook’s instep.” More of this protagonist is most welcome, and it will be interesting to see what Wolf throws at him in the second book, Paradise. Gripping outback noir.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Embla Books.
Outback is first book in the DS Walker Thriller series by Australian journalist and author, Patricia Wolf. It’s handy that AFP Detective Sergeant Lucas Walker is back home in far north-west Queensland on compassionate leave (his grandmother probably doesn’t have long). A German back-packing couple has been reported missing and his boss asks him to act as liaison between families and Queensland Police.
Berndt Meyer and Rita Guerra were last seen leaving Caloodie on a November Saturday morning, heading for work on a station past Smithton. Their lack of contact is completely out of character but the local cop, Senior Constable Dave Grogan suggests they might have seen the sort of country they were headed to and changed their minds.
Walker rates this as quite possible, and Grogan seems to be going through all the right motions, but his commitment feels a little lacking. Then Rita’s sister turns up, determined to help find the couple. DS Barbara Guerra is with the Berlin CID, and feels sure she can contribute to the search. Lucas is a little reluctant to allow her direct involvement, but knows how he would feel if it was his younger sister. Grogan is less than pleased to have his actions scrutinised, and Lucas worries that the constable is too chummy with the locals to do any proper policing.
Barbara is a gutsy protagonist and while she is (somewhat) fettered by having no jurisdiction in Australia, Lucas is hampered by his own erroneous assumption, from his undercover role, that everything is about drugs; Dave, the reader quickly learns, has a personal agenda that splits his loyalties.
The reader knows the backpackers’ fate from the start through the anonymous perpetrator’s narrative, although informed guesses as to his identity will likely be correct. Meanwhile, Lucas and Barbara are thwarted by some characters with ulterior motives, and distracted by what the reader knows are red herrings.
Wolf’s depiction of outback Queensland feels truly authentic, not surprising as it comes from personal experience. The description of the heat, dust and flies, the mindset of the locals, all are a realistic representation. Barbara’s narrative offers the perspective of a foreigner thrust into a landscape that doesn’t tend to appear in promotional material.
Wolf gives the reader a wholly credible tale with that requires virtually no suspension of disbelief, and builds up to a nail-biting climax. The dialogue is convincing: Wolf doesn’t stint on Aussie slang and includes gems like “He’s got muscles like a chook’s instep.” More of this protagonist is most welcome, and it will be interesting to see what Wolf throws at him in the second book, Paradise. Gripping outback noir.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Embla Books.
August 7, 2024
A compelling new Australian crime series, I predict DS Walker will gain a huge following. The tension is high in the storyline with a couple of missing German backpackers in rural Australia. Walker happens to be nearby visiting family and is asked to assist in the investigation 'subtly'. Also eventually assisting is one of the missing backpacker's sister, Barbara, who is a police officer back in Germany. The narrative is interesting and well-written with some clever red herrings to keep readers on their toes. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
November 24, 2023
4.5★
Outback by Aussie author Patricia Wolf is the first book in the DS Walker series and oh my goodness what a fantastic start to the series. I was not expecting this book to be as good as it was in fact it was brilliant and I can’t wait for the next book.
Intense, page-turner, with twists and turns and intriguing this book is one with the lot and I loved it from start to finish. Highly recommended.
Outback by Aussie author Patricia Wolf is the first book in the DS Walker series and oh my goodness what a fantastic start to the series. I was not expecting this book to be as good as it was in fact it was brilliant and I can’t wait for the next book.
Intense, page-turner, with twists and turns and intriguing this book is one with the lot and I loved it from start to finish. Highly recommended.
February 18, 2024
breakneck speed
This is one of those stories where we know who the perpetrator is from the beginning and we’re left aching for him to be discovered before more people are hurt and killed.
It is a missing persons situation. Slowly it picks up speed until things are at full throttle. Because one of the missing persons, Rita, has a sister in Berlin named Barbara who is a police detective, that detective sister is soon in Australia and forcing herself into the local police investigation.
The writing is excellent. As we hunt for the missing persons we learn about the blazing hot, red dirt world of an Outback in drought. We see some of its creatures, learn about how difficult it is to survive. So we have our lesson in nature. We also learn about the sort of people who work in and on the edges of the Outback. So we are introduced to its rough and tumble culture.
But our focus remains fixed on apprehending the abductor and killer before he abducts and kills again. So our reading grows more and more rapid. As if by reading more quickly we can stop him more quickly. The spell of books.
This is one of those stories where we know who the perpetrator is from the beginning and we’re left aching for him to be discovered before more people are hurt and killed.
It is a missing persons situation. Slowly it picks up speed until things are at full throttle. Because one of the missing persons, Rita, has a sister in Berlin named Barbara who is a police detective, that detective sister is soon in Australia and forcing herself into the local police investigation.
The writing is excellent. As we hunt for the missing persons we learn about the blazing hot, red dirt world of an Outback in drought. We see some of its creatures, learn about how difficult it is to survive. So we have our lesson in nature. We also learn about the sort of people who work in and on the edges of the Outback. So we are introduced to its rough and tumble culture.
But our focus remains fixed on apprehending the abductor and killer before he abducts and kills again. So our reading grows more and more rapid. As if by reading more quickly we can stop him more quickly. The spell of books.
January 23, 2024
DS Lucas Walker has returned to his hometown, Caloodie, in the Australian outback, to spend time with his dying grandmother. He's supposed to be on compassionate leave, but gets called in to help locate Berndt and Rita, two missing backpackers who were headed to a remote Australian area. With few leads, days have gone by when Barbara, Rita's sister arrives from Germany. Being a detective herself, Barbara is keen to find her sister, and is insistent on helping Walker any way she can. The heat is sweltering and each day brings the greater chance that Rita and Berndt haven't survived the elements. Can Walker find them before it's too late?
Tense and atmospheric, a fabulous Australian thriller. If you enjoy Jane Harper, I would highly recommend "Outback".
Tense and atmospheric, a fabulous Australian thriller. If you enjoy Jane Harper, I would highly recommend "Outback".
August 18, 2023
A three-star rating from me does not mean that this was an unsatisfactory reading experience. I quite enjoyed this book and would have given it 3.5 stars if Goodreads used a more precise rating system. I just didn’t think it ranked among the superior four- and five-star novels I have read this year. OUTBACK was a good thriller, easy to follow, with some exciting moments, but nothing special to set it apart from the collection of easy-to-read thrillers being rapidly produced throughout the world.
This one was set in the searing hot outback area of Australia. It begins well, with two German backpackers, out of their natural element, being kidnapped. It then shifts to the POV of DS Lucas Walker, on leave in Caloodie, a small town where he spent his early years living with his grandmother. She is now dying and Lucas wants to spend time with her before she dies. Although officially on leave, he gets caught up unofficially trying to solve the mystery of the backpacker’s’ disappearance when the sister of one, a detective from Berlin, comes looking for them. Barbara, the German detective, is intelligent and doesn’t believe that her sister or the man she was with would change their itinerary without informing their families.
Lucas works in the organized crime unit in Sydney, and as he starts helping Barbara, he recognizes what appears to be a major drug setup in Caloodie, associated with a motorcycle gang. So this becomes the focus of his investigation even though he is told by his superior not to investigate because there is a major undercover operation underway with regards to this gang.
Readers know from the beginning that the motorcycle gang is indeed involved in drug dealing but not with the kidnapping of the German tourists. As the story evolves, we get short insights into the fate of the two backpackers, the mind of the serial killer who took them, members of the motorcycle gang, and Barbara’s own inquiries, as well as following Lucas’s observations and analysis of the situation. I found that following these different strands kept me wondering exactly how it all would end.
It ended with a bang, but left several strands unresolved, and so naturally leaves the reader wanting to read the next instalment in the series to see if Lucas can unravel all the unsolved mysteries.
This one was set in the searing hot outback area of Australia. It begins well, with two German backpackers, out of their natural element, being kidnapped. It then shifts to the POV of DS Lucas Walker, on leave in Caloodie, a small town where he spent his early years living with his grandmother. She is now dying and Lucas wants to spend time with her before she dies. Although officially on leave, he gets caught up unofficially trying to solve the mystery of the backpacker’s’ disappearance when the sister of one, a detective from Berlin, comes looking for them. Barbara, the German detective, is intelligent and doesn’t believe that her sister or the man she was with would change their itinerary without informing their families.
Lucas works in the organized crime unit in Sydney, and as he starts helping Barbara, he recognizes what appears to be a major drug setup in Caloodie, associated with a motorcycle gang. So this becomes the focus of his investigation even though he is told by his superior not to investigate because there is a major undercover operation underway with regards to this gang.
Readers know from the beginning that the motorcycle gang is indeed involved in drug dealing but not with the kidnapping of the German tourists. As the story evolves, we get short insights into the fate of the two backpackers, the mind of the serial killer who took them, members of the motorcycle gang, and Barbara’s own inquiries, as well as following Lucas’s observations and analysis of the situation. I found that following these different strands kept me wondering exactly how it all would end.
It ended with a bang, but left several strands unresolved, and so naturally leaves the reader wanting to read the next instalment in the series to see if Lucas can unravel all the unsolved mysteries.
December 29, 2022
“… this country – it’s huge and empty. The police station is in a tiny old wooden house, there’s just one cop out here, and the others are thousands of miles away and I don’t know if they really are taking it seriously.”
Outback is first book in the DS Walker Thriller series by Australian journalist and author, Patricia Wolf. The audio version is narrated by Adam Fitzgerald. It’s handy that AFP Detective Sergeant Lucas Walker is back home in far north-west Queensland on compassionate leave (his grandmother probably doesn’t have long). A German back-packing couple has been reported missing and his boss asks him to act as liaison between families and Queensland Police.
Berndt Meyer and Rita Guerra were last seen leaving Caloodie on a November Saturday morning, heading for work on a station past Smithton. Their lack of contact is completely out of character but the local cop, Senior Constable Dave Grogan suggests they might have seen the sort of country they were headed to and changed their minds.
Walker rates this as quite possible, and Grogan seems to be going through all the right motions, but his commitment feels a little lacking. Then Rita’s sister turns up, determined to help find the couple. DS Barbara Guerra is with the Berlin CID, and feels sure she can contribute to the search. Lucas is a little reluctant to allow her direct involvement, but knows how he would feel if it was his younger sister. Grogan is less than pleased to have his actions scrutinised, and Lucas worries that the constable is too chummy with the locals to do any proper policing.
Barbara is a gutsy protagonist and while she is (somewhat) fettered by having no jurisdiction in Australia, Lucas is hampered by his own erroneous assumption, from his undercover role, that everything is about drugs; Dave, the reader quickly learns, has a personal agenda that splits his loyalties.
The reader knows the backpackers’ fate from the start through the anonymous perpetrator’s narrative, although informed guesses as to his identity will likely be correct. Meanwhile, Lucas and Barbara are thwarted by some characters with ulterior motives, and distracted by what the reader knows are red herrings.
Wolf’s depiction of outback Queensland feels truly authentic, not surprising as it comes from personal experience. The description of the heat, dust and flies, the mindset of the locals, all are a realistic representation. Barbara’s narrative offers the perspective of a foreigner thrust into a landscape that doesn’t tend to appear in promotional material.
Wolf gives the reader a wholly credible tale with that requires virtually no suspension of disbelief, and builds up to a nail-biting climax. The dialogue is convincing: Wolf doesn’t stint on Aussie slang and includes gems like “He’s got muscles like a chook’s instep.” More of this protagonist is most welcome, and it will be interesting to see what Wolf throws at him in the second book, Paradise. Gripping outback noir.
Outback is first book in the DS Walker Thriller series by Australian journalist and author, Patricia Wolf. The audio version is narrated by Adam Fitzgerald. It’s handy that AFP Detective Sergeant Lucas Walker is back home in far north-west Queensland on compassionate leave (his grandmother probably doesn’t have long). A German back-packing couple has been reported missing and his boss asks him to act as liaison between families and Queensland Police.
Berndt Meyer and Rita Guerra were last seen leaving Caloodie on a November Saturday morning, heading for work on a station past Smithton. Their lack of contact is completely out of character but the local cop, Senior Constable Dave Grogan suggests they might have seen the sort of country they were headed to and changed their minds.
Walker rates this as quite possible, and Grogan seems to be going through all the right motions, but his commitment feels a little lacking. Then Rita’s sister turns up, determined to help find the couple. DS Barbara Guerra is with the Berlin CID, and feels sure she can contribute to the search. Lucas is a little reluctant to allow her direct involvement, but knows how he would feel if it was his younger sister. Grogan is less than pleased to have his actions scrutinised, and Lucas worries that the constable is too chummy with the locals to do any proper policing.
Barbara is a gutsy protagonist and while she is (somewhat) fettered by having no jurisdiction in Australia, Lucas is hampered by his own erroneous assumption, from his undercover role, that everything is about drugs; Dave, the reader quickly learns, has a personal agenda that splits his loyalties.
The reader knows the backpackers’ fate from the start through the anonymous perpetrator’s narrative, although informed guesses as to his identity will likely be correct. Meanwhile, Lucas and Barbara are thwarted by some characters with ulterior motives, and distracted by what the reader knows are red herrings.
Wolf’s depiction of outback Queensland feels truly authentic, not surprising as it comes from personal experience. The description of the heat, dust and flies, the mindset of the locals, all are a realistic representation. Barbara’s narrative offers the perspective of a foreigner thrust into a landscape that doesn’t tend to appear in promotional material.
Wolf gives the reader a wholly credible tale with that requires virtually no suspension of disbelief, and builds up to a nail-biting climax. The dialogue is convincing: Wolf doesn’t stint on Aussie slang and includes gems like “He’s got muscles like a chook’s instep.” More of this protagonist is most welcome, and it will be interesting to see what Wolf throws at him in the second book, Paradise. Gripping outback noir.
August 29, 2022
I'm in love with Aussie fiction at the moment, anything set in the Outback I jump on immediately and this novel is CALLED Outback - Sold!
I loved this too so it delivered on the promise of its title- the setting is beautifully described so you get immersed into it and the characters are strong and hugely engaging.
This is a "what will happen" read rather than a whodunit, from several viewpoints we watch as a pair of missing backpackers connect to a wider story. It was terrific to read.
The writing is excellent, the plotting addictive and I'll be following this author. Recommended.
I loved this too so it delivered on the promise of its title- the setting is beautifully described so you get immersed into it and the characters are strong and hugely engaging.
This is a "what will happen" read rather than a whodunit, from several viewpoints we watch as a pair of missing backpackers connect to a wider story. It was terrific to read.
The writing is excellent, the plotting addictive and I'll be following this author. Recommended.
January 17, 2023
3,5 stars
Overall an enjoyable read - two German tourists go missing in the outback and Sydney based DS Lucas Walker who is on leave in his home town of Caloodie is asked to get involved.
He is soon joined by Barbara who is the sister of one of the missing tourists and a DS in Berlin. She drops everything to search for her sister and uncover the mystery alongside Walker.
I loved the setting and the characters were pretty good. The beginning and ending are the strongest - I feel it got lost somewhere in the middle where it dragged - if they said 'well, they probably changed their minds and headed north' once more my eyes would have fallen out from the rolling.
The investigation frustrated me because I thought they ignored important clues/hunches...but I'm sure that happens all the time and they didn't have my reader's insight of course 😉😂 (but still annoying!).
Overall an enjoyable read - two German tourists go missing in the outback and Sydney based DS Lucas Walker who is on leave in his home town of Caloodie is asked to get involved.
He is soon joined by Barbara who is the sister of one of the missing tourists and a DS in Berlin. She drops everything to search for her sister and uncover the mystery alongside Walker.
I loved the setting and the characters were pretty good. The beginning and ending are the strongest - I feel it got lost somewhere in the middle where it dragged - if they said 'well, they probably changed their minds and headed north' once more my eyes would have fallen out from the rolling.
The investigation frustrated me because I thought they ignored important clues/hunches...but I'm sure that happens all the time and they didn't have my reader's insight of course 😉😂 (but still annoying!).
August 28, 2022
I’m a huge fan of Australian noir so I couldn’t resist Outback. Two backpackers Rita and Berndt vanish in the outback. Sound familiar? The subject may be one that’s been written about countless times, but the plot’s original! Patrica Wolf has created a story that’s complex, tense and thrilling. DS Lucas Walker is on leave in his hometown of Caloodie. He unofficially investigates the case of two missing backpackers, Rita and Berndt. Rita’s sister, Barbara Guerra helps Walker with the investigation.
The investigation leads Walker and Guerra down a dark and dangerous path, which explores the growing drug trade in Australia’s rural communities. The weather, remoteness, and sense of solitude that the Australian landscape provides amplifies the trials and tribulations of the investigation. There’s a sense of foreboding that stays with the reader throughout Outback. Walker and Guerra make a good pairing. It makes a refreshing change not to get bogged down in the main characters’ personal lives, as this can sometimes distract from the main plot.
One thing I really enjoyed about this book is the case is challenging and far more complex than it first seems. A community that harbours secrets, organised crime, drug crimes and missing tourists, what more could a crime thriller addict wish for? As the plot progresses, a sense of urgency radiates from the pages and I raced through Outback. The pace of the book, a compelling plot and the vivid descriptions certainly made this book such an addictive reading. Highly recommended.
The investigation leads Walker and Guerra down a dark and dangerous path, which explores the growing drug trade in Australia’s rural communities. The weather, remoteness, and sense of solitude that the Australian landscape provides amplifies the trials and tribulations of the investigation. There’s a sense of foreboding that stays with the reader throughout Outback. Walker and Guerra make a good pairing. It makes a refreshing change not to get bogged down in the main characters’ personal lives, as this can sometimes distract from the main plot.
One thing I really enjoyed about this book is the case is challenging and far more complex than it first seems. A community that harbours secrets, organised crime, drug crimes and missing tourists, what more could a crime thriller addict wish for? As the plot progresses, a sense of urgency radiates from the pages and I raced through Outback. The pace of the book, a compelling plot and the vivid descriptions certainly made this book such an addictive reading. Highly recommended.
March 20, 2023
I recently read a couple of books set in the Australian outback and I loved them. A Goodreads friend recommended this book and I couldn’t wait to read it but unfortunately I didn’t enjoy it at all.
The premise was promising: two backpackers go missing. Unfortunately the author chose to write about everything except that case. In order of the most to the least is:
1. The heat. In detail. Over and over. Every time someone walked into or out of an air conditioned place it had to be described.
2. Surroundings had to described in detail. Indoors and outdoors.
3. Drugs. Why? 🤷♀️
4. Past cases.
5. Current case.
Things I didn’t like about the book (that I haven’t mentioned already)…
The story didn’t pick up until about 70%. Everyone
that lives in the outback seems to be a bogan.
That no one had a personality including the main characters.
I didn’t actually like any of the characters.
After all that boring describing throughout the first 3/4 of the book the ending was rushed and anticlimactic. That of all the people shot at the end, they all seemed to have died but somehow all survived. Realistically what is the probability of that happening?
And how was each one revealed? A quick mention! (But yet every boring thing was in detail earlier in the book). Did the author run out of time towards the end?
The book needed an epilogue. It ended abruptly. Walker was told of his grandmothers death while in hospital and missed saying a personal goodbye to her. What happened after that?
The two main characters seemed to be heading towards a romance. Did that develop into anything?
Did Rita recover fully?
Another thing I found disappointing is that the reason for the backpackers disappearing seemed pathetic. He happened to be on drugs and things went wrong? But he has killed in the past due to a traumatic childhood. But even though he wishes he never came across these backpackers he then changes his mind and looks forward to killing her?
I always try to find at least one positive to every book I read. So for this book I will say that I enjoyed catching up on sleep.
Will I read another book by this author? Not even if I suffer from insomnia.
The premise was promising: two backpackers go missing. Unfortunately the author chose to write about everything except that case. In order of the most to the least is:
1. The heat. In detail. Over and over. Every time someone walked into or out of an air conditioned place it had to be described.
2. Surroundings had to described in detail. Indoors and outdoors.
3. Drugs. Why? 🤷♀️
4. Past cases.
5. Current case.
Things I didn’t like about the book (that I haven’t mentioned already)…
The story didn’t pick up until about 70%. Everyone
that lives in the outback seems to be a bogan.
That no one had a personality including the main characters.
I didn’t actually like any of the characters.
After all that boring describing throughout the first 3/4 of the book the ending was rushed and anticlimactic. That of all the people shot at the end, they all seemed to have died but somehow all survived. Realistically what is the probability of that happening?
And how was each one revealed? A quick mention! (But yet every boring thing was in detail earlier in the book). Did the author run out of time towards the end?
The book needed an epilogue. It ended abruptly. Walker was told of his grandmothers death while in hospital and missed saying a personal goodbye to her. What happened after that?
The two main characters seemed to be heading towards a romance. Did that develop into anything?
Did Rita recover fully?
Another thing I found disappointing is that the reason for the backpackers disappearing seemed pathetic. He happened to be on drugs and things went wrong? But he has killed in the past due to a traumatic childhood. But even though he wishes he never came across these backpackers he then changes his mind and looks forward to killing her?
I always try to find at least one positive to every book I read. So for this book I will say that I enjoyed catching up on sleep.
Will I read another book by this author? Not even if I suffer from insomnia.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 28, 2023
⭐️4 stars⭐️
Outback by Patricia Wolf is an absolutely fantastic debut, it’s chilling and suspenseful.
DS Lucas Walker finds himself in his hometown of Caloodie to be with his dying grandmother. While Lucas is on leave he is asked to help out in an investigation to find two missing backpackers.
Two young German backpackers Berndt and Rita vanish in the vast Australian outback on their way to a cattle station for work. They are driving an old car, unprepared for the extreme conditions when their car breaks down.
Rita’s sister Barbara works for the Berlin CID and is desperate to find her missing sister. Barbara arrives in Australia and takes an unofficial active role in investigating her sisters disappearance.
A atmospheric read that feels realistic and gripping. I really enjoyed the story, it has well developed characters and a heat drenched setting. I’ve already ordered the second book PARADISE which will be out 31st October.
Publication Date 29 August 2023
Publisher Echo Publishing
A huge thanks to the lovely team Echo Publishing for a copy of the book to read.
Outback by Patricia Wolf is an absolutely fantastic debut, it’s chilling and suspenseful.
DS Lucas Walker finds himself in his hometown of Caloodie to be with his dying grandmother. While Lucas is on leave he is asked to help out in an investigation to find two missing backpackers.
Two young German backpackers Berndt and Rita vanish in the vast Australian outback on their way to a cattle station for work. They are driving an old car, unprepared for the extreme conditions when their car breaks down.
Rita’s sister Barbara works for the Berlin CID and is desperate to find her missing sister. Barbara arrives in Australia and takes an unofficial active role in investigating her sisters disappearance.
A atmospheric read that feels realistic and gripping. I really enjoyed the story, it has well developed characters and a heat drenched setting. I’ve already ordered the second book PARADISE which will be out 31st October.
Publication Date 29 August 2023
Publisher Echo Publishing
A huge thanks to the lovely team Echo Publishing for a copy of the book to read.
March 31, 2023
Certainly not my favorite Australian noir book. I didn't like the way the killer and abducted woman had their own chapters so there was almost no mystery in the book at all. The only mystery was who the big bad actually was, though this was fairly obvious from the first time we met him. Even though this book is incredibly short, I still got so bored toward the end that I started skimming. Usually the last 30% of a book is the most exciting, but not this one. I just didn't care at all about the characters or who did it or anything, and I really thought the stuff with the main character's family, mostly the stuff with his dying grandma, added nothing to the book and only succeeded in dragging it way down. So much just felt like it was added to hit a certain word count, like the author only had a novella length manuscript and kept adding increasingly boring tidbits to fluff up the book until it was long enough to qualify as a novel. It might have been a 3 star read as a novella but even that is a stretch for such a disappointing book.
September 27, 2023
Setting: 'Caloodie', NW Queensland, Australia; modern day.
This is the first outing for undercover cop D.S. Lucas Walker, who is on compassionate leave in his hometown when two German tourists pass through the town but disappear before reaching their destination. Asked by his boss to help local police and act as liaison with the missing pair's families, Lucas suspects that more is involved in his boss's request. He is soon joined in his investigation by Barbara, a police detective from Berlin who is the missing girl's sister, and together they work to find the missing couple. However, their investigations turn up several similar disappearances in the local area over the years....
This was a great read, really fast-paced and gripping such that I read it in just one day. It had a real Aussie vibe and I could almost feel the 39 centigrade heat and see the drought-ridden bush. I also share Lucas Walker's passion for Cherry Ripe chocolate bars - shame they're not so easy to source here in the UK!! Looking forward to the next book in the series, which I understand is set on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, and which I already have on Kindle waiting to be read - 9/10.
This is the first outing for undercover cop D.S. Lucas Walker, who is on compassionate leave in his hometown when two German tourists pass through the town but disappear before reaching their destination. Asked by his boss to help local police and act as liaison with the missing pair's families, Lucas suspects that more is involved in his boss's request. He is soon joined in his investigation by Barbara, a police detective from Berlin who is the missing girl's sister, and together they work to find the missing couple. However, their investigations turn up several similar disappearances in the local area over the years....
This was a great read, really fast-paced and gripping such that I read it in just one day. It had a real Aussie vibe and I could almost feel the 39 centigrade heat and see the drought-ridden bush. I also share Lucas Walker's passion for Cherry Ripe chocolate bars - shame they're not so easy to source here in the UK!! Looking forward to the next book in the series, which I understand is set on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, and which I already have on Kindle waiting to be read - 9/10.
April 26, 2024
We love a bit of Outback Noir. Not much beats the tension built off the back of an isolated, oppressive setting. This is a fast-paced mystery that had me in its grasp from the outset. Strong Jane Harper vibes here.
June 24, 2023
What a great find this book has turned out to be. Interesting protagonists, nice twisty plot and love the truth with which Wolf portrays the Australian outback. Thoroughly enjoyed this. 4 stars.
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