This is a road story with a difference. The debut novel of Illawarra author Colin Dray, and shortlisted for the 2015 Vogel award,* Sign draws on tropes of the dangers lurking in the Australian outback but in this case the danger is travelling with the helpless victims, not lying in wait for them. Sam and his little sister Katie have been lured into a transcontinental journey by their Aunt Dettie, ostensibly to meet up with his divorced parents, who (she says) are reuniting in Perth after their divorce. But Aunt Dettie is a fervent believer in rigid social and moral mores as well as a person with a mental health problem, and she has persuaded the children on this ill-conceived journey without their mother’s knowledge because Joanne has started dating again.
So, the trio set out in the car from Sydney for forty-odd hours of driving across nearly 4000 kilometres of isolated Australian roads. Set in some indeterminate time in the recent past — no mobile phones, no electric car windows or (yikes!) no air-conditioning, and none of the sharp-eyed grey nomads who are dawdling through the outback these days — the story is narrated from Sam’s point of view, a perspective both intimate and limited because the reader is quicker to identify the danger than Sam.
And Sam is mute. He has had cancer, and an operation has left him without a voice. So even when he does realise that he needs to call for help, he can’t do it.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2018/10/05/sign-by-colin-dray-bookreview/ ( )

Well written, this is easy enough and interesting enough to read for long stretches. A distinctly Australian feel, but without being forced or cheesy. How the book would conclude wasn't certain until almost at the end.
I felt the overall feel was bleak. Of course, it isn't a feel-good story, but the sense of drama seemed to be lacking. There were tense moments, but more or longer tense moments would have built suspense better.
What bothered me most was how Sam could go unrecognised by people when he had such a noticeable feature. A couple of other things didn't feel right either. The author can certainly write well, it's more that some of the details needed work. ( )