Deadman's Track (Calico Mountain #3) in Aussie Readers

Jul 04, 2020 Brenda rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020-release, aussie-authors, net-galley, mystery, read-on-kindle, arc, thriller, own-read

Tess Atherton was a tour guide in the wilderness of Tasmania as well as part of the local Search & Rescue team; she loved the outdoor life and lived at Calico Lodge, her family’s tourist resort and farm not far from Hobert in the Central Highlands. She’d recently had a bad experience at Federation Peak which had shattered her confidence, also not being helped by the obsessive and over-protective manner of her boyfriend, Aaron, fellow member of the Search & Rescue team.

DSS Jared Denham along with ...more

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Jul 23, 2020 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: aussie-author, netgalley-reviews, arc-are

Evoking both the beauty and danger of Tasmania’s mountains and rugged coastline, with the capricious winter weather often mirroring the tension of the storyline, Deadman’s Track is a riveting romantic thriller from Sarah Barrie.

The story opens with a breathtaking scene as wilderness guide Tess Atherton clings to the side of Tasmania’s Federation Peak attempting to save the life of a careless client, and it’s not the last time in Deadman’s Track that she will find herself trapped in a precarious ...more

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Mar 16, 2021 Helen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: review-copy-from-netgalley

Sarah Barrie never fails to have me on the edge of my seat with my heart in my stomach when I read one of her awesome romantic suspense stories and this one was a beauty, we return to Calico Lodge in the beautiful highlands of Tasmania, to catch up with the Atherton Family and this time we see Tess finally find the love that she deserves but not without a lot of ups and downs to say the least, with a killer on the loose things are starting to get scary.

Tess is working with search and rescue and Sarah Barrie never fails to have me on the edge of my seat with my heart in my stomach when I read one of her awesome romantic suspense stories and this one was a beauty, we return to Calico Lodge in the beautiful highlands of Tasmania, to catch up with the Atherton Family and this time we see Tess finally find the love that she deserves but not without a lot of ups and downs to say the least, with a killer on the loose things are starting to get scary.

Tess is working with search and rescue and when a tragedy has her re-thinking about her certainty on what she can still do and with a very pushy boyfriend, Tess is not feeling like she used to. It is winter and the weather changes at the drop of a hat when Tess takes on a group of young hikers through a tough track something that she had said no too earlier, off they go but it is not long before things go terribly bad in the worst way and Tess shows how strong and courageous she can be.

Detective Senior Jared Denham is working along -side Detective Indy Atherton after a series of break and enters turns to murder and now they seem to be after a serial killer and Jared is getting closer to Tess the woman who saved his life once, but with her ex pushing his weight around things don’t run very smoothly. And when they discover Tess and her hiking party are in serious trouble in the national park Jared is determined to save her.

This is a page-turner at its best the characters good or bad come to life on the pages in this beautiful setting, Tess wow what courage she shows in life and death situations, she is a very strong and independent heroine and Jared sheer determination and love pulled him through some very tough moments in this story and the young hikers have to be mentioned especially Jai and Riley, I loved this story the sensual pull between Tess and Jared with everything going on was so very good and I can’t highly recommend it enough, yes it has been on my TBR pile for too long but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you MS Barrie for another keeper.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy to read and review.
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Jan 04, 2024 Catsalive rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2024, aww

An enjoyable trek through the Tassie wilderness, & the last of the Atherton kiddies meets their match. Most of the suspense seemed to be in who would be left at the end of our little stroll. Both antagonists are very creepy dudes & deserve their comeuppances but it does seem a long time coming. It became tediously slow at times - more stalking, more disbelief, more landscape, yawn! - but, overall, I found it an entertaining tale.

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May 15, 2020 Jenny (Bookbookowl) rated it really liked it

Thank you so much to HQ Fiction for providing me with a copy of Dead Man’s Track, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review!

Tess is a guide who takes groups on hikes and treks, but she has lost some of her confidence after an accident with one of her customers. Her over protective boyfriend isn’t helping matters either.

Jai is struggling to make ends meet, caring for his Pop in failing health, working at a pawn shop owned by his girlfriend’s father. He’s ready to do just about anything to e ...more

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Jul 27, 2020 Bree T rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arc, australian, rural-lit, romance, series, aww2020

This book is connected to Sarah Barrie’s two previous novels, Bloodtree River and Devil’s Lair but can really be read stand-alone. Tess, the main character in this one is a sister to two of the previous main male characters and has appeared before but this is the first time she really takes full focus. She works guiding guests from the family eco-lodge and other tourists on guided hikes around Federation Peak and surrounding areas. She also works with search and rescue and at the beginning of th This book is connected to Sarah Barrie’s two previous novels, Bloodtree River and Devil’s Lair but can really be read stand-alone. Tess, the main character in this one is a sister to two of the previous main male characters and has appeared before but this is the first time she really takes full focus. She works guiding guests from the family eco-lodge and other tourists on guided hikes around Federation Peak and surrounding areas. She also works with search and rescue and at the beginning of this book she experiences a tragedy after someone she is guiding doesn’t listen to her instructions and is determined to do something when the conditions are too dangerous. Her experience has a marked effect on her and she is struggling with some of the aspects of her job, particularly the parts that revolve around heights. All of this is a normal experience but it’s giving her boyfriend Aaron a chance to smother her. Suffering a crisis of confidence, Tess isn’t sure whether or not Aaron is right and maybe she should be just letting him dictate her future.

Detective Senior Sergeant Jared Denham started with a string of burglaries that escalated suddenly when two prominent, wealthy people were murdered on a yacht and a large amount of jewellery stolen. He is under enormous pressure to solve this murder and with it, the burglaries as well, especially as the deeper he goes, the more bodies he finds piling up. He’s getting close to Tess for a couple of reasons, the two of them crossing paths, making Tess realise that maybe she has other options and Aaron and his smothering ways might not be for the best.

This book was such a ride!

And I should be used to that by now, because I know how excellent Sarah Barrie is at crafting a book that takes the reader on a journey of suspense that lays careful groundwork, builds slowly but expertly until all of a sudden you realise that your heart is in your mouth and the atmosphere is frantic and dangerous and incredibly atmospheric as well. She excels at using the wilderness in Tasmania, the remoteness of parts of it as well as a living, breathing character as well that often works both with and against the main characters as they fight to keep themselves out of danger.

There are a couple of stories running parallel through the book for the most part, before they merge towards the end. Tess and her recovery from tragedy is one part of the story as well as her relationship with her boyfriend Aaron and how it’s not going particularly well. She’s been trying to feel things, wanting to feel things but it hasn’t necessarily been working and Aaron has been displaying a red flag or two as well which is concerning some of the people closest to her. Tess is close to both of her sisters-in-law – detective Indy and also Callie as well and they are supportive toward her as she works through the tough situation. Indy working with Jared also means that Tess and he cross paths quite often and they have an interesting rapport.

I enjoyed the story of Jared investigating the burglaries and how that scenario escalated sharply. Barrie constructs a situation where you can see a vulnerable person being taken advantage of, because they’re struggling to make ends meet and they have responsibilities that require money. They’re working what is no doubt a minimum wage job with little in the way of chance for progression but something that pays just enough for them to scrape by and provide the bare bones. It’s easy for many people to spot a weakness there and exploit it and not only that, to craft a situation where suddenly, that roped in person becomes not just an unwilling accomplice, but something much more dangerous. I felt a lot of sympathy for his person even though he was led astray into doing some incredibly terrible things. The situation was really not black and white and I thought this was addressed very well.

The latter part of the novel, which involves Tess leading a group on a hike through southern Tasmania and merges the story of Tess with the story of the burglaries, is amazing. Tess is experienced, although she was kind of roped into taking this job at a time of year when she normally would not have and it doesn’t start the best, with several of the young men not really being prepared to listen to her and thinking they know better. That soon becomes the least of her problems though as strange things start to happen, sinister things and it gets more and more terrifying. I spent most of my time reading this section in a high state of anxiety as things escalated and Tess is cut off from being able to communicate their terror and distress to the outside world. There are two potential perpetrators and the stress was real waiting for Jared to figure out who it was and whether or not they’d be able to orchestrate something in time.

This was brilliant. Absolutely loved it, another incredible romantic suspense from Sarah Barrie.

***A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for the purpose of an honest review*** ...more

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Jul 13, 2020 Tanya rated it it was amazing

Sarah Barrie has done it again - with the amazing thrilled Deadman's Track. This is the final book in the Calico Mountain series, and with it the story of the final Atherton sibling.

Tess Atherton has spent her life hiking through the Tasmanian wilderness. She knows, and loves, the land.
Detective Jared Denham is investigating a string of burglaries which turns deadly when a wealthy heiress and her partner and killed.

There's a lot going on in this book - and all of it is damn good. Serial kille ...more

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