Scrublands reads a bit like a middle-aged, straight, white, cis-male journo's wet dream. Hilariously improbable names (Mandalay Blonde?! Doug Thunkleton??! FFS) and an overly-convoluted plot spoil an otherwise ripping yarn. You can really feel the desert-dry heat radiating off the page. Chris Hammer knows what he's talking about when it comes to the Hay plains and the Riverina. He should do, since he covered it extensively a little over a decade ago, at the height of the last drought. The one before this one. I enjoyed reading this one but can't bring myself to forgive Hammer for the Byzantine machinations within his story and the unlikeliness of many elements. That said, I went all the way to the end because I needed to know whydunnit. ( )

Disappointing. Complex, barely believable plot, too many poorly-rounded characters, ridiculous saccharine ending, complete with its very own pathetic fallacy. Sorry, not for me. ( )

I do wish Goodreads would allow half stars. 3.5 stars for Chris Hammer for this excellent depiction of a hot, and dying, Australian town. Loved the parts about the behaviour of the media - so true of current Australian journalism but found the all the sub plots a bit too much at times. ( )

I am re-reading this novel over 4 years after I originally read it in order to lead a discussion in my monthly U3A Crime Fiction group.

So what I have done is compose a list of discussion points based around the complex and interlaced plot lines we see in the novel.

Martin Scarsden's career - what has happened to him in the past? (in the trunk of a car for 3 days). As a result he thinks his career as a journalist may be at an end.
He recognises that instead of reporting events without involvement, he has become part of them. In what ways is this true?
Martin is sent to Riversend by his editor at Fairfax Press to write a piece about how the town has recovered from what happened there nearly a year ago. How/why does he get side-tracked?
The unsolved mystery - why did Byron Swift shoot 5 people outside the church, and then force the constable Robbie Haus-Jones into shooting him?
- Byron Swift's background
- the involvement of ASIO - money being sent out of the country to Dubai attracts attention (they don't realise where it is going, think maybe it is going to Jehadists) What is the thread here?
Harley Snouch - Mandy Blonde's story - did the rape happen?
Why did Mandy's mother tell her to put her affairs in order by the time she was 30?
The disappearance of the two female German backpackers a year before.
The story took a backseat when the church massacre happened.
Codger Harris, ex bank manager. Why he has become a recluse.
Where is Harley Snouch getting the money to renovate Springfields?
The wealth coming into the town. Accepted by people as money that the priest is contributing. They don't want to know how it is being generated.
The bikies riding through the town. Who are they?
What happens at Scrublands? Shooting. Drug factory.
The role of fire - what is burnt?
Martin's relationship with Mandy.
Did you take any notice of the chapter titles? Are they significant?
The role of the drought - the heat - what is the significance of coming of the rain?
The profile of the town. How would you sum it up?
The suicide of Herb Walker, the sergeant at Bellington.
The cutthroat nature of the media. The media feeding frenzy. Why is Martin dismissed by Fairfax?
The car crash of the two boys. The death of Allen Newkirk. Why is he a significant character?
How satisfied were you with the final explanation? Did everything come together for you? Why did Byron Swift crack? Whose fault was it?
Where there any factors/events in the novel that struck you that have not been covered in the pointers above? e.g. the connections between Byron Swift and Avery Foster (ex SAS) and the veteran living in Scrublands.
Riversend was once more prosperous than it is now. What signs are there of this prosperity? What blows has it been dealt? (effects of location, drought, changes in technology)
What does Chris Hammer do particularly well?

From Ten Questions to Chris Hammer

There was a lot going on in Scrublands, with several crimes and interwoven plot-lines.

The drought-ravaged setting played a large part in Scrublands.

Reading Group Questions

From Together We Read discussion group

Despite being set in a fictional town, Scrublands has a strong sense of place. What elements does Chris Hammer include to achieve this?
What assumptions at the beginning of the novel did you think could not be true? Did any of the twists and turns surprise you?
What did you think of the ending of the book? Were all your questions answered?

My rating: 4.8 ( )

Upon his return from a traumatic assignment in the Middle East, journalist Martin Scarsden is given a gentle assignment by his editor: write a colour piece about how the country town of Riversend is coping with the aftermath of a tragedy where the local priest shot and killed five men, a year ago.

Scarsden arrives in a town baking in the endless summer heat and encounters a suspicious and reticent local population. He makes little headway until he gets involved in fighting a fire and starts to establish his bona fides. Events in the aftermath of the fire reveal another mysterious crime that casts a new light on the priest's atrocity and, for from having a gentle time, Martin finds himself in the middle of one of the biggest stories in the country. His actions in pursuit of this story land him in both professional and personal strife.

Hammer gets a lot of things right in this novel. His descriptions of a small town in the Riverina summer and the surrounding countryside are spot-on. He also manages to pose some serious ethical questions through the dilemmas that Martin faces as a journalist when he finds himself to be part of the story rather than an independent observer. That said, there were a few things in this book that really turned me off. The names he gives some of his characters are just stupid; I mean, "Mandalay Blonde", really? The contemptuous language he uses to describe an obese character tells us a lot more about Hammer than about the character. Most of all though, I just felt that the plot and its resolution fell slightly on the silly side of sensational, and did not really warrant devoting almost 500 pages to its exposition.

( )