Hammer - Silver

PRAISE FOR

SCRUBLANDS

Hammer has travelled back roads and inland waterways. His depictions are unsentimental, without false cheer, but never dismissive. He is nonetheless assaying a part of Australia that is dying, slowly and fatalistically. Thus threnody blends with crime drama in one of the finest novels of the year. Peter Pierce, The Australian

Stunning Scrublands is that rare combination, a page-turner that stays long in the memory. Sunday Times Crime Book of the Month

So does Scrublands earn its Thriller of the Year tag? Absolutely. Is it my favourite book of the year so far? Well, its only June but since youre asking, at this very moment, yes it is Deliberately paced and wound tight, this book will keep you awake until youve finished the final page. And maybe even after that. Its relentless, its compulsive, its a book you simply cant put down. Written by Sime

Brilliant and unsettling, Scrublands stands at the junction of Snowtown and Wake in Fright, that place where Australias mirage of bush tranquillity evaporated into our hidden fears. Paul Daley, journalist and author of Challenge

A superbly drawn, utterly compelling evocation of a small town riven by a shocking crime. Mark Brandi, author of Wimmera

A clever, intricate mystery a complex, compelling story deeply rooted in its small-town setting. Highly recommended. Dervla McTiernan, author of The Rin

Scrublands kidnapped me for 48 hours. I was hopelessly lost in the scorching Australian landscape, disoriented but completely immersed in the town and people of Riversend, as the heat crackled off the pages. I was devastated when it was time to go back to the real world. This book is a force of nature. A must-read for all crime fiction fans. Sarah Bailey, author of The Dark Lake and Into the Night

A brilliant read. A thriller that crackles and sweats and a powerful portrait of a small town on the edge. Michael Brissenden, journalist and author of The List

Stellar Richly descriptive writing coupled with deeply developed characters, relentless pacing, and a bombshell-laden plot make this whodunit virtually impossible to put down. Publishers Weekly, starred review

Hammers portrait of a dying, drought-struck town numbed by a priests unimaginable act of violence will capture you from the first explosive page and refuse to let go until the last. His remarkable writing takes you inside lives twisted by secrets festering beneath the melting heat of the inland, the scrub beyond waiting to burst into flame. Scrublands is the read of the year. Unforgettable. Tony Wright, Associate Editor and Special Writer, The Age/Sydney Morning Herald

Immersive and convincing This will be the novel that all crime fiction fans will want a terrific read that has bestseller written all over it. Australian Crime Fiction

Debut thriller of the month (and maybe of 2019) Beautifully written. Washington Post

Chris Hammers powerful debut Scrublands establishes his place among the handful of thriller writers who understand the importance of setting as character, deftly weaving the story of a landscape burned dry and a town whose residents are barely hanging on with a complicated mystery that could only happen in this place in exactly the way Hammer tells it. Fresh and hypnotic, complex and layered, Scrublands gorgeous prose swept me up and carried me toward a conclusion that was both surprising and inevitable. I loved every word. Highly recommended. Karen Dionne, international bestselling author of The Marsh Kings Daughter

desolate, dangerous, and combustible. A complex novel powered by a cast of characters with motives and loyalties as ever-shifting as the dry riverbed beneath them, Hammers story catches fire from the first page. J. Todd Scott, author of High White Sun

Impressive prose and brilliant plotting a remarkable study of human fallibility, guilt, remorse, hope and redemption. The descriptions of landscape are often evocative and Winton-like, with the parched country-town setting reminiscent of Jane HarpersThe Dry It is hard to imagine Scrublands not being loved by all crime/mystery fans. FIVE STARS. Scott Whitmont, Bookseller and Publisher

There is a very good reason people are calling Scrublands the thriller of the year. This impressive debut is a powerful and compulsively readable Australian crime novel.Booktopia

As one bookseller commented, Scrublands is another sign we are in a Golden Age of Australian crime. Reading it is a pulsating, intense experience, not to be missed.Better Reading

Much like the bushfire that flares up in the mulga, Scrublands quickly builds in intensity, until its charging along with multiple storylines, unanswered questions and uncovered truths. It is a truly epic read. Good Reading

Shimmers with heat from the sun and from the passions that drive a tortured tale of blood and loss. Val McDermid, author of How the Dead Speak

A dark and brilliant thriller, one that lingers in the mind. Mail On Sunday

Extremely accomplished Deliciously noirish Set in the blistering heat of a remote Australian town ravaged by drought and threatened by bushfires, this is a complex, meaty, intelligent mystery Well-rounded characters, masterful plotting and real breadth; this is an epic and immersive read. Hammers writing is so evocative the heat practically rises off the pages of Scrublands. Guardian UK

Incendiary A rattling good read, ambitious in scale and scope and delivering right up to the last, powerfully moving page. Irish Times

Chris Hammer was a journalist for more than thirty years, dividing his career between covering Australian federal politics and international affairs. For many years he was a roving foreign correspondent for SBS TVs flagship current affairs program Dateline. He has reported from more than thirty countries on six continents. In Canberra, roles included chief political correspondent for The Bulletin, current affairs correspondent for SBS TV and a senior political journalist for The Age. His first book, The River, published in 2010 to critical acclaim, was the recipient of the ACT Book of the Year Award and was shortlisted for the Walkley Book Award. Scrublands, his second book, was published in 2018 and was shortlisted for Best Debut Fiction at the Indie Book Awards, shortlisted for Best General Fiction at the ABIA Awards, shortlisted for the UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing at the NSW Premiers Literary Awards and longlisted for the UK Crime Writers Association John Creasey Debut Dagger Award. His third book, Silver, is published in 2019. Chris has a bachelors degree in journalism from Charles Sturt University and a masters degree in international relations from the Australian National University. He lives in Canberra with his wife, Dr Tomoko Akami. The couple have two children.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

First published in 2019

Copyright Chris Hammer 2019

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian