Outback: A stunning new crime thriller (A DS Walker Thriller Book 1)

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When two young German backpackers, Berndt and Rita, vanish from the area, he finds himself unofficially on the case. He’s someone who is strong enough to carry off the role he’s assigned but with enough frailties and worries to hold a reader’s interest. Walker also makes contact with American pro-kite surfer Kaia Hale, a friend of his younger sister Grace. Wolf captures the the vast, stark expanse of outback Australia, the soaring heat, drought and often inhospitable environment and insight into the perils of outback life. This is why even though she now makes her home in Berlin, Germany, she has said that the outback will always be her home.

DS Walker Series by Patricia Wolf - Goodreads

DS Lucas Walker is on leave in his hometown of Caloodie, there to visit his dying grandmother, when he gets caught up in the mystery of the missing backpackers. Fans of The Dry by Jane Harper, Cara Hunter and Chris Whitaker will be hooked from the very first page until the final breathtaking conclusion. This wasn't quite as strong as the first book, it was much more predictable, I could easily figure out where everything was heading. As a guest lecturer for a drugs and serious crime training program for Queensland police officers, he's temporarily relocated to the beachside city of Surfer's Paradise, on Queensland's Gold Coast. In contacting Rita’s family back in Germany, he speaks to her sister, Barabara who is a CID police sergeant in Berlin.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. Gritty and sometimes brutal Paradise is a tightly plotted page-turner that kept me reading well into the night.

Patricia Wolf - Book Series In Order Patricia Wolf - Book Series In Order

My main problem with the story was the slow pace throughout the middle where there was very little happening. 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. The resolution is built well but has a couple too many twists and us a little inconsistent to the characters' prior behaviour. Soon enough, he is made a deputy and requested to help in the investigation of a gang-style murder of Matt Monroe, a notorious drug dealer. Obviously too, we as readers know more than Lucas does (on account of the number of POVs this book gets), so I was sat waiting for Lucas to get with it, while having more knowledge than he did.Aside from my regard for the lead man, the tale itself bumps along at a decent pace but without ever really introducing anyone or anything that piqued my interest to the same degree. But there’s also a seedier side hidden from the tourist, where violence, drugs and criminal activities thrive. S. Walker's nemesis, organised crime kingpin Stefan Markovich, has re-established his network on the Gold Coast and retains lingering resentment against Walker for destroying his Caloodie enterprise. Formerly a design columnist at The Independent and the Lisbon correspondent for Monocle magazine, she covers subjects ranging from design, art and culture to travel, politics and human interest pieces from around the world. Lucas Walker of the AFP is still recuperating from the injuries sustained during his last case in his hometown of Caloodie and is awaiting the results of a review board of his actions.