The book opens with a chilling prologue. Two young German backpackers (Berndt and Rita) are on their way from Sydney to an outback cattle station to extend their working visas. They are woefully underprepared and driving an old car totally unsuited to the conditions. Inevitably it breaks down in the middle of nowhere and when a man stops his car and offers to help them they appear to have little choice but to accept his offer. This is a big mistake!

Detective Lucas Walker, an undercover officer with the AFP (Australian Federal Police) based in Sydney returns to his hometown of Caloodie to spend time with his grandmother who is dying of cancer. While he is there, his boss, Rutherford, asks him to act as a sort of family liaison officer for the German families of the missing backpackers. He introduces himself to the single police officer in the town, Snr Constable Grogan, and has to admit he does done a pretty thorough job. Even so he wants to check out a few things for himself.

After a few days later Rita’s older sister, Barbara, a forensic expert in the German police arrives determined to find her sister. The two eventually form a reluctant alliance and chase down many red herrings without making any perceptible progress. Drugs are expected to be involved and soon Rutherford is telling Lucas to butt out of certain lines of inquiry as the AFP is working the drug angle. After a week of no contact from the missing youngsters things are looking very grim for them.

The ending of the book was a bit exciting but wholly predictable and the book really lagged in the middle. The characters were well portrayed however although it was uncertain at times which side of the fence some of them were on. The drought stricken landscape was like a character in its own right and was spot on! This was a good debut with strong character development but patchy pacing. If there is a sequel I expect it will be somewhat tighter. Many thanks to Netgalley and Embla books for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.

Author Patricia Wolf gives readers an excellent sense of the vast distances and the landscape of the Australian outback. She's also created a very interesting main character in Lucas Walker. As a child, he was raised by his grandmother until his mother decided she was ready for parental responsibility which is when he moved to the United States for ten years. He came back to Australia and joined the Federal Police, spending several years as an undercover cop.

His sidekick in Outback is Detective Sergeant Barbara Guerra, a member of the Berlin police force and the daughter of parents who escaped the Pinochet regime in Chile. Her missing sister has always had the tendency to get into trouble, and Barbara has always had the tendency to bail her out of it. Her primary objective, once she arrives in Australia, is to convince the police-- including Walker-- that her sister, Rita, is really missing and in danger. The local law enforcement has seen too many instances of young people changing their travel plans and then not getting in touch with friends and family because the cell phone reception is extremely poor there.

The interplay between Walker and Guerra kept the story moving along, and I enjoyed watching the German trying to cope with the unforgiving climate. There is a lot more going on than merely a missing persons case, too. All in all, Outback is a compelling story, and I'm hoping to see more of Lucas Walker in the future.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you're a Jane Harper fan, pick up this book by Patricia Wolf! 2 German backpackers go missing in the Outback. Federal police undercover officer Lucas Walker is on leave with his sick grandmother in the town where the two were last seen, and he's asked to assist - to pretend he's a family liaison officer and to figure out what's going on. Walker senses something is off about the request, but he complies and is drawn into an investigation with possible ties to a major drug operation and/or a serial killer on the loose.

This book was fast-paced and engaging. Great debut mystery!

In a disturbing prologue that sets the tone for this compelling new series, German backpackers Brent and Rita are left stranded in the remote Australian Outback after their car breaks down. They are thrilled when a car stops, thinking they will be helped. They are not.

Lucas Walker, an undercover Federal officer, is on leave in Caloodie, spending time with his terminally ill grandmother. Since this was where the German duo were last seen, he’s asked to assist the local police in the search. Soon he’s joined by Rita’s sister Barbara, a police officer in Berlin. They are aware that the missing backpackers must be found quickly as temperatures in the outback rise quickly to over 100 degrees and water and shade are scarce in the relentless, scorching heat. Lucas and Barbara work well together although each has a different theory of why Brendt and Rita disappeared. However, they slowly realize that the heat is not the only threat in this harsh wilderness.

Strong characters, a carefully constructed plot and a setting that becomes a driving force combine to make Outback a must read. Patricia Wolf can easily be compared to Jane Harper. This debut mystery should rocket Wolf onto the bestseller list. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Embla Books and Patricia Wolf for this ARC.

☀🌡Excellent: thrilling taste of the dark side of the remote Queensland Outback⌛

Top notch thrills, a pair of dedicated police and a palpable sense of the rigors, dangers and hidden beauties of Outback life: this book brings them all together for a great read.

I was particularly taken with the way Barbara Guerra, the German police officer and sister of a suddenly vanished tourist, took the investigation in an ultimately inspired direction that Lucas Walker, the local officer, never thought to follow. And how so much was churning and bubbling in a small Outback town that, on first glimpse, appears a quiet backwater of deserted streets and invisible inhabitants.

The writing's really good and it doesn't take many pages before the heavy drama and danger start. There's a constant air of pending doom and time running out. Count me totally satisfied with the plot, the collection of characters (not too numerous to keep straight, either) and the breathtaking action climax.

I'll be looking for more stories in this series. Author Patricia Wolf has me hooked!

Thanks to Embla Books and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

📖 Book Review 📖

Outback by Patricia Wolf

Why I Picked It:
I've read a few Australian crime thrillers set in remote places, and they haven't disappointed. From the cover alone, I thought it would be pretty similar and therefore a good pick for me

What I Liked:
The main two characters were both likeable, believable and I was routing for them throughout
The author did a great job of creating an atmospheric book, the settings were described perfectly

What I Didn't Like:
I picked this book as I thought it may be in a similar vein to other books I've read. However, it was too similar. Maybe it's becoming a saturated market, but there was nothing in this that stood out from a Chris Hammer or Jane Harper novel.

It was a great pace until the end. Then, I found the 'endgame' was drawn out and a last chapter was quite rushed.

My rating 3/5

Thanks to netgalley and Embla Books For giving me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review

I would like to thank Netgalley and Embla Books for an advance copy of Outback, the first novel to feature DS Lucas Walker, set in rural Queensland.

Lucas is back in Caloodie on compassionate leave from his undercover role in the Federal Police to spend time with his dying grandmother when two German backpackers go missing. His boss asks him to unofficially look in to it and he wonders why. With no news and no leads he is joined by DS Barbara Guerra of the Berlin CID, sister of one of the missing backpackers.

I enjoyed Outback, which is a promising debut, told from various points of view, including the unnamed abductor. I am able to reveal that the backpackers are abducted because the novel opens with that. Personally I would have preferred not to know, leaving the novel to concentrate on Lucas and Barbara’s investigation, but the author has chosen a more psychological approach and it’s no worse for that.

The novel opens with a flurry of events and closes with more action scenes, but sags a bit in the middle where it is all about conflicting theories and not much progress. This is not as interesting as it could be because the reader knows what is going on and it’s hard to get involved in what you know to be wrong. I liked the angle that it is the involved outsider, Barbara who is more switched on and logical than the local, Lucas, who is sidetracked by his department’s concerns.

The novel has a good sense of location, stressing the remoteness of the towns and the dangers of the heat and dryness. It touches on the associated social problems like lack of income and addiction, be it drink or drugs.

The characterisation is strong. Lucas is self reliant but he never seems to feel at home either in himself or in a place. Perhaps it’s a strength in undercover work or perhaps the work exacerbated it. Barbara is tough and mostly relentless in her search for her sister, but sometimes it overwhelms her. They are both flawed but very likeable and it was a pleasure to spend time with them.

Outback is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

I wish to thank NetGalley and Embla books for an early opportunity to read Outback. Its publication date is November 8th. The author, Patricia Wolf, is a promising new writer in the category of Outback Noir, and I was pleased to see this is the start of a DS Walker series.

The book had a very gripping, tension-filled beginning. Two young, adventurous German backpackers, Rita and Brendt, vanish while heading to a remote outback farm for temporary work. The local policeman insists they have changed their mind and are probably headed to a beach or back to the city. I found the story lagged during the search for the backpackers and the lack of leads to their disappearance. This may be my fault as I have never been able to relate to police procedurals involving organized crime. About 70% into the book, the action, tension and dread picked up considerably. Dangerous scenes were suspenseful, vivid, and very well written

Detective Walker has been working for the Australian Federal Police out of Sydney. He has returned to his hometown of Caloodie in an isolated area of Queensland. His experience has been in the crime unit that investigated illegal drug trade. He is now on leave to visit his dying grandmother. Drug trafficking is now growing in rural communities while employment opportunities decline. While visiting Caloodie, he is assigned by headquarters to help the local police find the two backpackers. He cannot help wondering if their disappearance is somehow connected to the drug trade. I wished for a hand-drawn map of the real towns and fictional locations mentioned. It would have made the investigation easier to follow in this vast, remote area.

I have visited the Outback several times and love it. It has a solitary, unworldly aura. I enjoy a mystery that transports me to its gorgeous landscapes and sweltering heat, especially when snow blizzards keep me confined inside.

The missing Rita has a sister who is a detective in Germany. She comes to Australia determined to find out what happened to Rita and eventually works with Walker. The majority of the community knows nothing or are not forthcoming. Possible witnesses are often interviewed while drinking in the local tavern. The searing heat, the vast distances, and the unhelpful district policeman hinder their investigations, and leads are scarce.

The pace and activity speed up towards the end as Walker and Barbara close in on what they now fear is a serial killer. Will they find Rita and Brendt, if still alive, before they succumb to their injuries inflicted by the villain, heat, lack of water and food, or are they already dead? As their search is concluding, both Walker and Barbara are in mortal danger from a madman high on meth. Can they capture the kidnapper and serial killer without suffering severe injuries themselves? The story concludes with Walker not knowing if he can return to his Federal job or stay in the Outback. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

A dark, compelling read with rich attention to detail that draws in the reader from page one. A well written thriller that I struggled to put down.

In Outback by Patricia Wolf, undercover Federal police investigator Lucas Walker has returned to his hometown on compassionate leave. Walker, normally an undercover drug operative, has been allowed the leave to tend to his dying grandmother in the small fictional town of Caloodie, Australia.

While home, he receives a telephone call from his supervisor requesting he embed himself in an ongoing investigation involving two missing backpackers from Germany in the area of his hometown. Walker is further instructed to keep his participation low-key and to avoid letting the local authorities learn he is a drug investigator. He is also instructed to instill the belief his involvement is mostly to assure the families of the missing persons the case is being seriously investigated by Australian authorities.

While local authorities are leaning toward the belief the pair has only been out of contact due to a change in their own plans while enjoying their Australian venture, Walker, mainly because of his own investigative background, slowly starts to believe something more nefarious is behind their disappearance.

Back in Germany, Barbara Guerra, the sister to one of the missing backpackers, believes the lack of contact belies something more serious has happened and decides she must travel to Australia. Guerra is also a German police detective.

Soon after her arrival, Guerra receives little support and cooperation from locals and the local authorities and doggedly starts her own investigation while slowly gaining the respect and admiration of Walker.

As Walker and Guerra uncover more information, darker details are revealed along with an environment where a number of people seem to know more than they care to reveal, including Walker’s own supervisor.

Outback then turns into a well-scripted investigative journey that tells a compelling story with interesting characters while capturing the environment quite well as so many other current Australian novelists have been able to do.

Outback is highly recommended to those that enjoy police procedurals and regional crime novels.

Netgalley provided an ARC of Outback for the promise of a fair review.

Absorbing, affecting, and stark Australian noir at its best describes Outback by Patricia Wolf, her debut novel.

Outback does not disappoint. The shocking and tense prologue effortlessly pulls us into the story and sets the scene for what’s coming. Wolf cinematically captures the dichotomy of life in rural Australia, the harshness of the unremitting dry heat and drought, and the close camaraderie between neighbors and townsfolk.

DS Lucas Walker is at his grandmother’s place in northwest Queensland where he grew up taking a few months of compassionate leave to spend with his grandma, who suffers from terminal cancer. But his boss, Chief Inspector Rutherford, at the organized crime unit of the Australian Federal Police telephones Walker with an assignment. Rutherford tells him to assist the local police with the investigation of the disappearance of two young German backpackers, Berndt Meyer and Rita Guerra. The pair went missing in Walker’s vicinity while on their way to jobs at a remote cattle station. At first Walker is dubious his supervisor only wants him to help with a routine missing persons case while on leave, but then decides he’s happy to take on the job since it’s something productive to do and he doesn’t expect it to amount too much.

But once Walker looks into the investigation, he wonders what is really going on and what he’s got himself into. He finds the local police officer in charge, Chief Constable Grogan, strangely suspicious and less than fully cooperative. Walker concludes there is much more to the story than Rutherford led him to believe.

Some might consider Wolf’s use of the unwelcoming local copper with a chip on his shoulder something of a cliché, since it seems it has become an overused staple of the genre. Yet I don’t take issue with it. Local coppers who are uncooperative with outside investigators from the big city, even bent ones, I think are a trope for Australian noir, something fans of the genre expect. And in this case, the questionable character of Chief Constable Grogan is an integral part of the plot.

After first working side by side with Grogan on the case, Walker becomes as suspicious of the man as Grogan seems of him. To Walker, Grogan’s unfriendly behavior seems like more than only resentment over an unwelcome outsider intruding on his home turf. But at first, Walker doesn’t work out just how sinister the circumstances motivating Grogan’s behavior truly are.

Although Walker’s undercover story is that his role with the Federal Police focuses on financial crimes, he’s a seasoned narcotics investigator. Knowing that every rural town has its secrets, Walker can’t help but wonder if the disappearance of the two backpackers is linked to the local narcotic trade. In time, he uncovers information that strengthens his theory.

The sister of one of the missing backpackers, Barbara Guerra, arrives in Australia and contacts Walker. Guerra is not only a deeply concerned family member, but also a Berlin police detective sergeant who wants to take an active role in the investigation. Walker tries to discourage her, but she persists, so he gives in and allows her to assist. I liked the addition of Barbara Guerra as his unofficial colleague and think the book is stronger for having her to act as Walker’s foil. Also, despite Guerra’s unswerving focus on finding her little sister before it’s too late, unquestionable mutually felt sexual tension develops between the two detectives. Although they never act on it, this contributes to adding interest and pushing the plot forward.

Wolf does an impressive job with her characters, with Walker and Guerra, as well as the extended supporting cast. All are well-developed and realistic and none dissolve into stereotypical cliches. There is enough backstory offered for the principal characters without being overdone. I really liked Lucas Walker. Wolf draws him wonderfully, a man affected by his past but not in the cliched “flawed protagonist” way so prevalent in crime fiction today. His relationship with mother is fractured, which is why his grandma raised him after his mother moved to Boston to pursue her career, but Wolf presents the story in an understated way which is achingly touching.

There isn’t really a whodunit part in this novel, as we learn straightaway why the backpackers went missing and who is responsible, but that takes nothing away from the well-developed plot since Wolf adds plenty of twists to the plot to continue ratcheting the suspense little by little until it becomes most intense. And despite what is revealed early in the novel, we’re interested in how it will all play out. The unexpected revelations as the book moved toward the final climax also intrigued me.

I would enjoy meeting DS Lucas Walker again, and the ending seemed to leave plenty of room for Outback to become the first in a series. I hope that’s the case, since Patricia Wolf is an excellent storyteller and I’m keen to read more of her work. This book is perfect for fans of Australian crime fiction and authors like Jane Harper.

I enjoyed reading this book. The setting was well described. And so were the characters. The story could have had more pace, but I am an impatient reader. The story was good, and definitely worth reading.

Australian crime fiction is having a moment right now and if you read OUTBACK by Patricia Wolf, you'll see why. Australia as a setting provides endless opportunities for compelling stories, whether in the city of Sydney or the rural Australian outback. The story of two missing tourists in a remote area could go a few different ways and the author introduced a cast of characters that carry the story as much as the setting. It's little slow in the middle, but the author also seamlessly sets up a storyline what I'm hoping OUTBACK is the next book in a series featuring DS Lucas Walker.

"Powerful and highly addictive, the drug is weaving long tendrils of harm throughout the outback and coastal towns, places where jobs are disappearing and the future looks bleak and uncompromising, and where the high that meth offers is so appealing that its downsides have little traction." Outback made me look forward to going to bed to read more, and, despite a busy life, I devoured this exemplar of Aussie noir in four sittings.

I liked the way this novel melds author Patricia Wolf's two homes, touching upon places including Mount Isa where she grew up and Germany where she makes home now through the character of Detective Sergeant Barbara Guerra. In this way you get to view the outback Australian landscape from two perspectives, a loving one from DS Lucas Walker and Barbara for whom the outback is hostile and foreboding. It's a clever device used well in this novel, including on our pub food. Lucas goes happily to the hotel for a schnitty, where as Barbara "knows the hotel menu by heart; there's nothing on it that appeals. It's heavy on meat dishes—steaks, schnitzel, burgers—or some kind of pasta with chicken, bacon, avocado and cream that looks like someone threw up on the plate."

Wolf mostly manages to discuss topics facing rural towns from increased use of alcohol and other drugs, the impact of drug cartels providing paid work transporting meth through the area for out-of-work farmers, a rise in opportunistic sex work, and domestic and family violence, through a harm lens rather than a moralising one: "Men and women alike lured in by the promise of mega-jackpots. And all legal too, even if the havoc it wreaks keeps cops as busy as some of the illegal stuff." She makes the connection between the impacts of climate change to the rise in these activities, emphasing the human impacts of living in drought for a decade. She also points out that serial killers target women who do opportunistic sex work because of our social attitudes to them: "He can spot them now, the women who live on the margins, who don't have a man watching over them or kids or family in town." Maybe soon we'll stop making some women disposable and close the loop these perpetrators exploit for kicks: "he loves the feel of a woman's neck, the softness, the smallness in his hands, the muscles straining for air."

Outback was a well-realised, stand-alone Australian crime novel that I enjoyed reading.

I really enjoy reading Australian fiction and this one centres around two missing backpackers. It's an excellent read, filled with beautiful descriptions of the remote Outback and some interesting characterisation. There is organised crime, drugs and a town with secrets, plenty suspense and a very good plot. If you like Australian crime fiction, this is one for you. A very enjoyable read to the last page. I hope to read more from the author. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Embla Books for the ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book.
A gripping novel whose outback setting is a character itself. I love finding debut authors and I'm hoping there will be more in the future from Patricia Wolf. Is this the start of a DS Lucas Walker series? Fingers crossed. Giving this 4 stars instead of 5 only due to the somewhat slow start. When the action picks up, you won't want to put this down. You learn about the crime early on, then it's a race to the finish to find the missing backpackers and solve the mysteries that tie everything together. Beautifully written, highly recommend.

I chose this book because I love Jane Harper’s novels set in the outback of Australia and I was hoping this was a similar book. A young couple backpacking around Asia and Australia go missing in the outback. Rita’s sister is a detective back home in Germany and instinctively knows something is wrong and flies out to investigate. She joins forces with Lucas Walker, a cop on leave looking after his dying grandmother. Wolf Creek vibes at times - a cracking read.

Outback drew me in at the beginning with the tale of two German backpackers who are kidnapped after their car breaks down in the middle of the Outback in the blazing summer heat. The sister of one of the backpackers flies to Australia from Germany to find her sister about the same time as DS Lucas Walker, on family leave from undercover work in Sydney to care for his terminally ill grandmother, is asked to look into the local investigation. Though the book lagged a bit through the middle, I was still interested and invested until things took some very unrealistic turns from around the 70% mark onward.
*Thanks to Embla Books & NetGalley for this advance review copy.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC in return for an unbiased review.
I've become a fan of Australian crime books in the last couple of years.
This is the first in what will be a series of crime dramas from Ms Wolf.
Set in the outback it tells the story of a couple of backpackers who disappear without a trace.
The missing girl's sister is a police officer in Berlin who flies to Australia to help the Australian investigator, D.S Walker, with the search. What unravels is a race against time to find the couple before whoever took them or the elements kill them.
Can't wait for the next instalment..

Ideal for fans of Outback stories such as those by Jane Harper, Chris Hammer or Shelley Burr, although the writing in this case is cosier and with more backstory detail. In contrast, the sections from the viewpoint of the killer were taut and tense. I liked the Berlin connection and would love to see the characters investigate a case there.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for an independent review.