This came up in a list of Tasmanian thrillers to try, and I do love Tasmanian crime/gothic novels for their uncommon settings.

What to Expect

A romantic suspense and crime thriller, set in Tasmania. While the story’s point of views shift between a few characters, the first half is centered around crimes (robberies escalating to murders) in Hobart, while the second is about a hike from hell in Tasmania’s remote South West National Park.

What I liked

Characters are mostly sympathetic, and the novel is well written and constructed. One gets a good sense of the Tasmanian wilds, for their allure and harshness, and it’s not hard to fall into the story and tear through it.

What to be aware of

The tagline of ‘Alone in the wilderness, they are picked off one by one’ really only applies to the second half of the book. This isn’t Deliverance or a serial killer thriller, but more about the various relationships unfolding.

One does find thinking ‘are you that daft?’ at some of the characters’ choices and actions, but then one does so in real life as well. In that respect, it’s probably not a trope of romantic suspense but a reflection of humans at large.

I only noticed this was book 3 in the series after starting, but that didn’t make a difference. While some of the characters clearly have back-stories, each of the previous novels centres around a different woman, and there’s no problem jumping in at this point.

Felix’s and Jack’s Reviews

Felix complained that the mystery aspect was too simplistic and obvious, while Jack bemoaned the neatness of resolving all the threads. While both enjoyed the book for what it was, they thought it could have gone further in either direction (the crimes or the wilderness).

Summary

A solid read, especially if you enjoy romantic suspense. Good characters and action, on a wonderful backdrop. I will be looking to read Barrie’s other works in that series.

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Enjoying the reviews, but wondering who the heck are those Felix and Jack fellows? Glad you asked! Felix is the protagonist of the Togas, Daggers, and Magic series, an historical-fantasy blend of a paranormal detective on the background of ancient Rome, and Jack is the police detective running the Unusual Crimes Squad, dealing in occult crimes in modern-day Australia.

Come meet Felix and Jack on the free short stories and novels!