Difficult to read at times due to the violence, shaming and treatment of females, The Rush could have been a good story with better developed characters and plot lines. The beginning is slow to move forward and the ending is rushed. Readers who like remote Outback stories may better appreciate this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This was a good story to complete my 2023 reading journey. The book summary introduces the three different storylines, which is a lot to pack into 272pgs. Michelle Prak’s fast-paced, edge of your seat story of bringing a bunch of strangers together out in the bush of Australia in a torrential rainstorm makes for an intense read.

The story starts with Quinn, a bartender at the legendary Pindarry Pub and Hotel, an Australian hotspot on social media, is on her way back to the Pindarry after packing up her family’s home that is being prepared to sell. It’s pouring down rain and she’s trying to get back to the Pindarry before the floods start when she sees a body in the road. The man is unconscious and really beaten and banged up, so she gets him into her car and takes him back to the Pindarry with her.

Back at the Pindarry, bar manager, Andrea, is alone with her three-year-old son, Ethan, after her husband, Matt, left to help a neighbor put up more sandbags at his home. Earlier in the day, Matt and Andrea had to kick out a bunch of bikers after one of them took off on a motorcycle with Ethan and drove around the parking lot. After Matt leaves, Rosey, the biker who took Ethan, comes back, and starts harassing Andrea and won’t leave when she tells him to get out. Right then, Joost walks into the Pindarry and shortly thereafter, helps Andrea get rid of Rosey out of the pub.

Joost is a Dutch guy from the Netherlands who was traveling the previous day with three other people, Hayley, Scott and Livia. However, he shows up at the Pindarry late at night, in the pouring down rain with a broken and bruised nose and other wounds on his face. Most of the story flips back and forth from the previous day between Joost and his travelling companions and the current day when he shows up at the Pindarry alone.

It's well into the second half that the three different storylines collide and after that it’s an intense and scary mad dash to the explosive end. The epilogue ties up all the loose ends into a very satisfying ending. I want to thank NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

#NetGalley #CrookedLaneBooks #TheRush

A group of four young people are on a road trip through the Australian bush; a woman and her husband are running a hotel in the middle of nowhere; and another young woman traveling alone finds a body in the road. These different storylines are building up to converge while a storm is on the way. The Rush was described as a popcorn thriller in the synopsis, but this book isn’t thrilling until at least 60% in. There is far too much build up and unnecessary back story; frankly the beginning of the book is just boring and filled with annoying characters. The plot does eventually pick up and there are some twists, but by that point it was hard to care. The switching of perspectives was the only thing that kept the pages turning, but that still didn’t redeem the book. The idea was good, the execution by the author was lacking. Three stars.

WOW! What a debut!

Terrifying!

For me, there is nothing more terrifying than “monsters” in human form, and Michelle Prak was relentless at preying on the many things that women fear most, in this FAST PACED adrenaline thriller set in the remote Australian Outback.

The story takes place over a 48 hours span, alternating back and forth in time, and between three narratives which eventually merge.

A rare February storm is coming and nobody knows better than Quinn how overpowering and deadly rain can be, because as a child, she witnessed a similar storm take down her father’s livestock and wash away everything in its path.

The first drops start to fall when Quinn spies a body in the road. She has already lost reception so she cannot call for help, and she feels obligated to stop.

Back at the Pindarry, the remote country pub where Quinn works, Andrea and Matt have begun sandbagging the place in preparation for heavy rains, when Matt is called to help a neighbor with flooding.

Alone with her sleeping three year old son in the back room, Andea reluctantly lets a biker in to wait out the storm, feeling obligated to do so, despite having reservations about him.

And, out on the wet roads, tensions are rising between four backpackers on their way to Darwin. Hayley and her boyfriend Scott, are on break from University and they have invited two others to join them on a road trip to share expenses. But, what do they really know about Joost and Livia?

They never expected to hit bad weather, but if they can just make it to the Pindarry, they will have a place to shelter in until the worst of the storm has passed.

The storm provides a menacing atmosphere, and the tension is PALPABLE! My heart was in my throat and if this were a movie on the big screen I would be on the edge of my seat!

Worrying about Quinn’s loyal dog Bronte, added to my anxiety (thankfully she escapes unscathed!)

Don’t pick this up late at night if you plan on getting any sleep-the quick chapters had me saying “just one more” and before I knew it, it was way past my bedtime!

Preorder now for delivery on April 9, 2024.

This is an adrenaline thriller you won’t want to miss!! 4.5 stars ⭐️ rounded up!

Thank You to Crooked Lane Books for the gifted copy provided through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!

Three words that come to mind after finishing this book are thrilling, intense and fast paced. The Rush definitely kept me on the edge of my seat and finds a way to grab onto basic human fears. It quickly became a book that was hard to put down. In spite of that, several of the characters frustrated me, from the characters themselves to the decisions some of them made.

Overall, a solid read!

I usually love thrillers set during natural disasters, and this one was not only the first Australian flood thriller I’ve read, but also one of the creepier (aka better) ones I’ve read!

Haley and Scott are a college couple trying out adventure instead of doing schoolwork and playing video games. They never do anything fun, so Haley talks the reluctant Scott into a cross-country road trip. They will camp, they will go to new places, and they’ll hopefully get out of their respective ruts. They need people to chip in with gas money, so they find two other people who also want to take the journey.

Livia is a climate change activist from Brazil who needs to go to the other side of Australia anyway, so she is the first pick. The second travel buddy ended up being Joost, a Dutch kid with body odor taking a gap year off university. All four of them underestimate the inherent danger in this trip; the Outback will be long to get through, with no cell service and no people for hundreds of miles. Making things worse, a storm is coming in. This drought-ridden area is in for some possible trouble…

The group does have a spot to stop in the middle of nowhere: the Pindarry Hotel, famed for its age and isolated location. Andrea and Matt run the hotel/pub with Quinn, a live-in employee, and her dog, Bronte. Their toddler son Ethan rounds out this small group running the tourist spot. To round out the characters in the book, we also have a group of bikers which contains one particularly nasty character.

The rain begins, and it’s bad. Roads are nearly impassable - not that you can see through it to drive anyway. Properties are starting to flood. The power goes out. Our road-trip friends are getting not-so-friendly with each other and can’t agree on how to stay safe. Then, things REALLY get out of hand and by the end, almost nobody is safe. The suspense is there from the beginning, making this a true page-turner. I enjoyed the entire thing! This may be a popcorn thriller, but it’s a wild one. 4.5 stars, rounded up for this thriller debut!

(Thank you to Crooked Lane Books, Michelle Prak and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released on April 9, 2024.)

Gosh, I have to say that after reading some of these books set in Australia, I have to wonder why anyone would go there. (That isn't true at all, I'd love to go there).

The Rush has a few hairy moments, and I was on tenterhooks a lot of the time with Bronte, thinking noooooo! (But rest assured, she is safe). The creeping dread that accompanies Hayley, the dreaded bikers at the hotel, being alone out there.... it all adds up to a strong no from me, but it makes for good reading.

And I loved the ending, the twist and the epilogue.

4 stars, with a whole one for Bronte!

The Rush was a quick and fast paced read for me. I was excited to read it because I love stories where there is stormy bad weather. The storm definitely set a lot of things in motion in the story. A few of the characters were not likable to me but Andrea and Quinn were the saving grace because their characters were well developed. Overall it’s a good book that will keep you wanting to read more. Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

The Rush was just okay for me. About 2/3 of the book is veryyy slow and has me wondering where the story is going. The dynamic between the characters is weird, but almost think it is supposed to be that way. It just didn’t come across well. I honestly didn’t care for any of the characters. Once it picked up, I found it easier to read and liked the thriller aspect.

This book was a bit of a mixed bag for me. There is little doubt that Michelle Prak has talent and creativity, but tighter editing and the excluding of unnecessary details could have significantly benefited this story.

The issues covered by the storylines covered herein are many and varied, but the writer does successfully bring them together by the end of the book, offering readers a reasonably satisfying conclusion. Along the way, there is also a major twist, which feels almost surplus to requirements.

The story uses multiple POV, but can at times feel confusing. There are also inconsistencies which don't make sense. For example, as a non-meat eater myself - partly for sustainability reasons - it is hard to understand why someone who is an environmental activist would continue to consume meat, especially since factory farming is wreaking such havoc wrt climate change!

Scenes of misogyny and violence on the part of the male characters might be triggering for some. It also risks a degree of stereotyping. Some more nuance would have been welcome here.

But the author has excelled in terms of delivering an easy read that is ultimately quite suspenseful. This is Outback noir, so to speak, but the Outback itself comes to life to such an extent that it almost becomes a character in its own right. The majesty and danger of nature, and the inherent dangers of the lifestyles of the people featured in these pages is convincingly conveyed.

So, while I didn't find the book as thrilling as its billing implied, it was a good read and I look forward to more from this author. It gets 3.5 stars.

Exceptional debut novel! Rich with various narrative threads, intricate twists, and turns, the anticipation of their collision looms throughout. Michelle Prak skillfully crafts a complex plot that ultimately converges into a satisfying patchwork quilt of storytelling. The vividly portrayed setting adds another layer of fascination. The vast, expansive, and perilous outback receives the nuanced attention it deserves, making it a character in its own right. Prak's narrative offers a fresh perspective on the often-told tale of outback perils, infusing it with a captivating blend of social media dynamics, gaming, misogyny, and the pressing issues of climate change. The Rush explores the dichotomy of trust, raising compelling questions about whether we should take things at face value or approach strangers with caution—a decision that could be a matter of life and death. Amidst the quick-paced narrative, the novel also delves into themes of strength, triumph, and the impact of unprecedented rainfall. Offering a seamless blend of suspense and thought-provoking themes, The Rush is a compelling and accessible read that I wholeheartedly recommend.

I really enjoyed this and read it in one sitting. It wasn't at all what I was expecting. It was quite an easy read, but there were some twists and turns and it made it very enjoyable and not at all predictable which is what I thought it would be. Well worth the read.

Ultimately, this wasn't a book for me. After reading for a while, I skipped ahead to see if I liked it any better, then even further. Definitely not for me! I am not going to share exactly what turned me off but will say that if you are (1) female and (2) have been the subject of unwanted attention that doesn't stop, don't pick this book! The book may have had a happy ending but it was a definite 'no thanks' for me. Some people are just sick in the head.

Not the book I was expecting to read.
“Chilling, tense and twisted, this compulsive thriller will send adrenaline coursing through your veins. “

Well to me it did not have that effect at all. Very predictable, somewhat laboured and a struggle to finish.

First read for me from this author and first thriller by her as I understand it.

All the characters were quirky in a way that felt a little off for me which then made the story feel the same. As the story unfolded and concluded, I had more of an appreciation for it. Very well written for clarity and fast page turning. If this author continues in the thriller genre then I’d be interested to see what she writes next because this was good in a unique way.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity in exchange for an honest review.

Brilliant debut novel! With several threads, and twists and turns, you got the sense that they would all clash. And indeed, they did. Michelle Prak was able to weave an intricate plot that culminated in a neat patchwork quilt. I was also enthralled with the setting. Thankfully the vast expansive, stunning yet dangerous outback, got the justice it deserved. For me, this was a fresh take on the often-told story of the perils of travelling through the outback. The Rush had the added intrigue of social media, gaming, misogyny, among the men, as well as climate change, strength and triumph among the women, mixed in with unprecedented rainfall. Do we trust at face value? Or should we always be wary of strangers? Tough choice. And one that can cost you your life. The Rush is an easy, quick read and I highly recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley and Simon Schuster Australia for the opportunity to read and review this book.

With this one, I'll have to go into Jekyll & Hyde mode -- Stuck on a Plane-me would give The Rush about a hundred stars. Grumpy Stay at Home-me... well. I was originally going for 4 stars because I enjoyed it despite it being a pretty blowsy beach read really, but the longer I think about this book, the more problematic it gets, so I'm reluctantly downgrading it to a 3.

This is one of those stories where it's best not to look at things too closely or the whole thing will fall apart. There's not much in the way of depth here, psychological or otherwise, but it's a fast, fun, zippy read that kept me engrossed despite featuring less than complex characters; I mean, seriously: who IS Andrea? Is she even a person? Does she do anything except wring her hands, feel afraid of the men that cross her path, and become pregnant?

And what is it with Hayley, am I supposed to root for her? I'd much rather root for a wet dishrag, at least the dishrag doesn't rack as many points on the annoyance scale. At least Quinn was nice, and I liked Livia too, so it's not like the author can't write engaging characters; I just would have preferred if *all* of those four main characters who get shuffled around POV-wise had felt like real, well-rounded people instead of one-note reactions on legs.

At times, the book, or possibly its author, reads a bit "young" -- a two-year relationship counts as awe-inspiringly long-term, a woman recalls her pregnancy as being "incredible -- the persistent wriggling and pushing inside of her." Um. I'm afraid (as well as relieved to say) there's a bit more to it than that. (Also, if the fetus's movements truly are that frantically "persistent", it's probably a good idea to see your ob/gyn.) Of course, women in the world of The Rush crowd around a baby's cot as if the infant were some kind of sacred idol, each beholding it with something between mushy-brained awe and helpless rapture. Like, ladies. It's a *baby*. Get over yourselves. To me this felt like an author writing about something they had no real-world experience with whatsoever.

Men in this book don't look at babies, they don't make them either (The Rush is completely devoid of sex; intercourse is mentioned only in passing and then with definitely negative overtones), the male characters here are mainly nasty and/or useless. Hapless Andrea of the black curls seems to get propositioned by literally every single human male she comes across in this novel. You'd think that eventually she'd weapon up, I mean she lives in this godforsaken pub in the middle of nowhere, as we're told again and again and then some, a place police and emergency services take about a week to reach, it sounds like, but somehow the thought of acquiring, say, a tazer or even just carry some sort of knife never occurs to her, because, get this: she has a husband! Apparently owning a legally wedded spouse acts as insurance against homicidal maniacs, rapists and all the other icky people (read: men) that might show up on your doorstep. Oh well. So I guess it doesn't really come as a surprise that the minute her talismanic spouse is out of the house (and, incidentally, the story), things go haywire.

In this context it is worth mentioning that in the world of The Rush, men don't need a reason to be evil; if they're evil, they just *are*. Maybe it's something in their genes. Maybe it's all that sun, and the heat, and the isolation. Or maybe it's just the way society works in the world of this novel. At any rate, there's nothing here resembling *motivation*. It's enough that they ride bikes, or simply hate women -- which BTW is an *explanation*, something that stands on its own: Why did he do it? Because he hates women. Why does he hate women? Nope, we don't go into that. It's enough that he does. I mean, every machete-wielding slasher franchise cipher brings some kind of motivation to the table (revenge; incest-driven insanity; intolerance of teen fornication), but The Rush just shrugs and hands us some kind of half-assed explanation that offers NO discernable motive but leaves plenty of room for reasonable doubt of the "Like, THAT would have worked?" kind.

Structure-wise, this is fairly messy. At the beginning there's a lot of jumping around the time line, which I guess is necessary to keep up the tension but which annoyed me nevertheless: wait, now it's 5:34pm on Thursday the third? Didn't it used to be 7:12pm just two pages ago? Or wait, that was the *Friday*?

Characters just drop off the face of the earth, even after long, long exposition, and either never get mentioned again (Rosey the child-snatching biker, turned out into the deluge in the middle of the night) or turn into a footnote (poor Livia with her blog and her camera and her "environmental activist ship" she needs to catch and her lots and lots of POV chapters, whose fate actually never gets truly resolved -- one minute she's fighting for control over the car, and the next thing we know she's just some off-stage fatality at the very end of the book: "They would never know the full story of what happened to the Brazilian girl, what she thought in her final moments, how hard she fought back." Well no, they, and we, indeed won't, because the author for some reason decided not to tell us, yanking "the Brazilian girl" from the action without explanation. For one of the more fleshed-out characters of this book, I find this remarkably idiotic.).

Some of the characters' actions don't really make sense; I thought the "blog post" note one them wrote on their cell phone would turn into some kind of plot point later, i.e. that they got killed somewhere along the way and this note would help investigators figure out what had become of them, but no -- it's just a whiney self-pitying note without any function whatsoever, telling us things we knew already *because they just happened like five minutes ago and we were there*.

One of the females seems to display sapphic inclinations, seeing as she "can't tear her eyes away" from another female lead's "strong brown limbs", feeling the urge "to say You're lovely", proceeding to ogling her butt a couple of chapters later (it's not just that she "can't help observing [her] well-defined backside in her canvas shorts", "She despises herself for turning to look, yet knows she would do it again, every time." Every time? Really? Poor canvas-shorts girl, talk about objectification), but nothing ever comes of it: then why mention it in the first place? Why not acknowledge that there might be something there, under the straight cis veneer, that Butt-Ogling Chick has never had the self-awareness/courage to address, and that might just now come to the surface, while they're all far from home in unfamiliar surroundings, forced into awkward intimacy? This could have fed into inner as well as outer conflict, questions about self, reevaluation of relationships and preconceived ideas, in short, fleshed out one character and possibly breathed life into some others as well, but no. Instead we quickly get reassured that both females in question are in situationships with guys. (Phew!) IMO it would have made for a much more interesting dynamic if Canvas Shorts Girl had indeed been lesbian and Butt-Ogling Chick had subconsciously picked up on it, especially as CSG gets introduced right from the start as a woman not conforming to societal ideas of female beauty.

The unthought-out characterization continues, e.g. in the person of Livia the Brazilian Girl, who's painted as a 1000% committed hardcore eco-warrior ("Everyone needs to fight for our planet. It's the only thing that truly matters.") yet has no qualms about eating meat, despite the fact that nothing is killing off the planet as well as the Brazilian (!) rainforest faster than our insistence on a diet based on animal parts.

Also, if you find yourself living in a place that's basically as remote as an outpost on Mars, with medical assistance, e.g. a gyn/ob and/or a pediatrician (as well as other children) literally HOURS away, if not days, wouldn't contraception be fairly high on your list of priorities? Yet this doesn't seem to have crossed Andrea's mind, resulting in a fairly unconvincing description of early pregnancy that feels like it was read up on via five minutes on some medical webpage, if at all.

I also get to say hello to one of my pet peeves, the Magic of CPR! As Seen On TV, in this case performed on someone who stopped breathing some unknown time ago (!!!), but hey, it's CPR! It brings people back to life! That's what it does! Well, sadly, most of the time it doesn't, even within optimal perimeters, even in a hospital setting with specialists on hand. Much less on some person who has been without a pulse for an indeterminate amount of time, without access to a team of medical professionals and intensive care to (try and) handle the physical and neurological after-effects of being clinically dead. Research is for losers, people, so here we have Andrea performing the Magic of CPR! on a resolutely dead person who then proceeds to get up from their sickbed and walk around like nothing's happened. Ugh.

And, huge surprise, of course we get treated to that harbinger of doom, the Gimmicky Plot Twist. Followed by a resolution that's as rushed as can be (person lifts gun and shoots evil dude dead, The End) as well as an Epilogue that feels about half as long as the story that precedes it, and that ties up plot strands you hadn't even known existed in endless loving detail while at the same time info-dumping the Who Did What & Why parts on us in a manner that can only be described as inelegant.

I don't know. Like a lot of failed relationships, this was fun while it lasted, but once I closed the book everything that was wrong about this union raised its ugly head, and now I can't really say what I saw in him/her/the story in the first place. Still, I probably wouldn't say no to another offering by Ms. Prak, because, like I said, there were fun times along with the bad, so if you're in the market for a nice quick read with some tense moments, set in a (to most people) exotic locale, and don't feel like thinking too hard, give this one a go.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free ARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Pros….
- fast paced
- good tension
- can imagine as a movie

Cons
- stereotypes for bikers and backpackers
- fat shaming / referring to characters as plump and making them less adept

Is it a page turner? Yes
Did it keep me up late wanting to finish it? Yes
Do I still have issues with the writing and plot? Also yes

Sometimes I just want to be on the edge of my seat - This would make one heck of a good movie. And some of the themes are ones to ponder…

Read if you like:
- Outback noir
- thrillers
- non stop action

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for an ARC of this book.
I wanted to love this book. It started out strong but fell apart at the ending. The ending felt rushed. I wanted to know more about the characters. I loved the characters of Andrea and Quinn but the college students on the road trip were too cliched. I look forward to more by this author, as that I feel that she has more to give to the suspense thriller genre.

Action-packed, non-stop suspense, riveting mystery. I gobbled this up. Hooked from the start. The impending flood and massive storm added a timer to everything that ramped up the tension. I loved the many different stories slowly converging and colluding.