''Scrublands'' is the first novel by Australian author

Chris Hammer Chris Hammer (born in 1960) is a bestselling Australian crime-writer and journalist. He is the author of the Martin Scarsden series of novels that have been bestsellers in several countries. Hammer has a 30-year career as a journalist and has wo ...

. The story is set in the fictitious town of Riversend in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

during a period of intense

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

, and revolves around a small-town priest who kills five of his parishioners before being shot himself, and a journalist's investigation into his motivations. The novel is a crime thriller told in

third person Third person, or third-person, may refer to: * Third person (grammar), a point of view (in English, ''he'', ''she'', ''it'', and ''they'') ** Illeism, the act of referring to oneself in the third person * Third-person narrative, a perspective in p ...

present tense The present tense (abbreviated or ) is a grammatical tense whose principal function is to locate a situation or event in the present time. The present tense is used for actions which are happening now. In order to explain and understand present ...

. It has been optioned for television.

Plot

Charismatic priest Byron Swift is a hero in Riversend, an isolated town plagued by an intense drought. He leads various community groups and is generally regarded as a dedicated pillar of the community. One Sunday morning, he calmly and without apparent provocation shoots five members of his parish on the steps of the local church. Minutes later, he is shot and killed by a local police officer. One year on, Martin Scarsden - a troubled journalist - has been dispatched to Riversend to write an anniversary piece on how the crime has impacted the town. As he interviews locals, he learns that the accepted version of events - as reported by his own newspaper - may not be as accurate as initially believed.

Reception

The book has been met with generally positive reviews - the ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

'' described it as a work of "remarkable breadth and depth", with other publications calling it stunning and a brilliant debut. The book's detailed setting (aided by research for Hammer's previous non-fiction book, ''The River'') is emblematic of the isolation and drought experienced in many rural Australian communities; one publication described it as "full of Australianness". Hammer was awarded the 2019 John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger by the UK Crime Writers' Association for the book.

References

{{reflist 2018 Australian novels Novels set in New South Wales Novels about journalists Allen & Unwin books

Plot

Reception

See also

References