David Schwinghammer's Blog - Posts Tagged "chris-hammer"
Scrublands
Riversend is a small town in New South Wales. Not only has it been devastated by a terrible drought but there's been a murder. An Anglican priest, of all people has murdered five townspeople.
Journalist Martin Scarsden has been assigned to the story. He's been all over the world and is suffering from a form of PTS as he was locked in a trunk on the Gaza Strip during an Israeli attack. He was in there several days. You will be reminded of Dickens a bit as characters like Harley Snouch, Codger Harris, and Mandalay Blonde are introduced.
There are several other threads Martin must confront as the story progresses. Two female backpackers are found murdered in a dam at the only water source in the Scrublands. He assumes Byron Swift is responsible for those murders as well. Martin needs a big story as his career is on the skids; the whole continent is spellbound by this one.
At one point he follows the town drunk into a rundown out-of-business hotel; it's the aforementioned Harley Snouch; Mandalay, the beautiful book store owner, tells Martin he's her father and that he raped her mother and he's been watching her from across the street. Snouch says she looks just like her diseased mother.
Chris Hammer, the author, spends a lot of time describing how hot it is in Riversend, sometimes at the expense of moving the story ahead. Eventually he does. Swift is an imposter; he has a connection with a motor cycle gang that sells marijuana, but he also sends money to an orphanage in Afghanistan.
There's also a wild fire in the Scrublands. Martin and the town constable go in to save Harley Snouch who refused to evacuate. Snouch owns the land with the water source and his home is the home of somebody with money, not the dump Martin expected. Snouch ends up saving Martin and the constable rather than the other way around.
We find out who killed the two German backpackers rather early but we don't find out why an Anglican minister (and he really was one) would murder five Riversend citizens. I got the impression Hammer didn't know either as his resolution is rather clumsy and hard to believe.
I liked the atmosphere for the same reason I liked James Michener tomes, but by the time we get the answer to the main quandary, I almost lost interest.
Oh, yes, we also want to know if Scarsden manages to save his career; he also has a thing for Mandalay, and we want to know how that works out. You'll have to read the book to find out, but you will probably be able to guess. This isn't O. Henry.
Journalist Martin Scarsden has been assigned to the story. He's been all over the world and is suffering from a form of PTS as he was locked in a trunk on the Gaza Strip during an Israeli attack. He was in there several days. You will be reminded of Dickens a bit as characters like Harley Snouch, Codger Harris, and Mandalay Blonde are introduced.
There are several other threads Martin must confront as the story progresses. Two female backpackers are found murdered in a dam at the only water source in the Scrublands. He assumes Byron Swift is responsible for those murders as well. Martin needs a big story as his career is on the skids; the whole continent is spellbound by this one.
At one point he follows the town drunk into a rundown out-of-business hotel; it's the aforementioned Harley Snouch; Mandalay, the beautiful book store owner, tells Martin he's her father and that he raped her mother and he's been watching her from across the street. Snouch says she looks just like her diseased mother.
Chris Hammer, the author, spends a lot of time describing how hot it is in Riversend, sometimes at the expense of moving the story ahead. Eventually he does. Swift is an imposter; he has a connection with a motor cycle gang that sells marijuana, but he also sends money to an orphanage in Afghanistan.
There's also a wild fire in the Scrublands. Martin and the town constable go in to save Harley Snouch who refused to evacuate. Snouch owns the land with the water source and his home is the home of somebody with money, not the dump Martin expected. Snouch ends up saving Martin and the constable rather than the other way around.
We find out who killed the two German backpackers rather early but we don't find out why an Anglican minister (and he really was one) would murder five Riversend citizens. I got the impression Hammer didn't know either as his resolution is rather clumsy and hard to believe.
I liked the atmosphere for the same reason I liked James Michener tomes, but by the time we get the answer to the main quandary, I almost lost interest.
Oh, yes, we also want to know if Scarsden manages to save his career; he also has a thing for Mandalay, and we want to know how that works out. You'll have to read the book to find out, but you will probably be able to guess. This isn't O. Henry.
