The Rush

I didn’t know what to expect going into The Rush as I don’t often read thrillers, but golly what a ride. I really enjoyed the authors writing style, and how the story was paced. It didn’t take long to get drawn into the plot with rich descriptions and details making it easy to build a picture in your mind.
Being a woman I found it easy to relate to the way the female characters were feeling from early on. It made me on the edge of my seat about what would happen next.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and struggled to put it down!

OMG!! And what a RUSH this was!
Unrelenting in its suspenseful pace, this book will have you reading far longer than you may have anticipated…so make time for an undisturbed read.

When young Australian couple Hayley and Scott decide to take time out from their university studies for a unique Australian outback road trip adventure, they look for two more passengers to share this experience with them and some of the costs.
The obvious choice was to look for backpackers wanting to share in a similar experience.
Hayley is hoping this time out will help to reignite their flagging relationship and get Scott out into the open air and away from his fascination for online gaming for awhile.

Scott is reluctant but finally agrees and after much online searching they settled on a young single guy named Joost, from the Netherlands and a slightly older girl named Livia, from Brazil.
They plan to drive across the Australian outback from Adelaide to Darwin in a borrowed four wheel drive, and sleeping only in tents at planned stops along the way will save them money.
This is quite a daunting trip for experienced travellers, and not one for the faint hearted, but they are all keen and feel up to the task with Hayley planning a strict itinerary.
As they embark upon their journey reports of impending bad weather ahead start to present concerns that they may get caught in the midst of a drought breaking storm. They press on in the belief that the storm will pass and just give much needed relief to the drought plagued outback. They have a reliable car that is capable of navigating all sorts of conditions, so they are not too concerned.

What could possibly go wrong?

This is an impressive debut thriller from Michelle Prak which sets an unrelenting, suspense filled pace from the very start.
I couldn’t fault it and very much look forward to what she writes next.

5⭐️s or 😱😱😱😱😱


Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy to read and review.

The Rush by Michelle Prak is an amazing story. Actually it is an absolute amazing debut novel!! The characters are believable and engaging. Hayley and her boyfriend Scott, along with Livia, a Brazilian climate activist and Joost, a Dutch backpacker, head off on their adventure from Adelaide to Darwin. One of their planned destinations is a famous outback pub called Pindarry Hotel which is managed by Andrea and husband Matt, along with their three year old son and a local young woman, Quinn, who is left b her mother and brother to pack up and sell her family home after the death of her father.

Moving from Adelaide to the outback north along the Stuart Highway of South Australia which heads up to Darwin, there is the initial heat and then the unrelenting rain which further isolates the four young people heading off on an outback adventure and those at the pub. The descriptions are terrific and the atmosphere of the location is electrifying.

The storm hits, floods create major isolation and then the thriller begins!! Heart stopping moments leave you on the edge and lead to the unexpected.

Highly recommended read.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from Simon & Schuster (Australia) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#TheRush #Netgalley

SOME THREATS ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR ...

I absolutely devoured this book. It was a fast faced crime thriller and one I thoroughly enjoyed.

The story is told in the same timeline but from different perspectives of Hayley, Quinn, Andrea

Hayley and Scott have organised an Australian trip and find two backpackers to join to help with the costing. They find Livia and Joost on a backpacking forum. The trip started off amazing, they camped, drove and got to see some amazing sites before everything went terribly wrong.

Andrea and Matt have started to sandbag the Pindarry pub in preparation for heavy rains. Quinn is on her way back to the pub when she finds a body in the middle of the road in front of her. Unsure if the body is alive or dead she treks out of her car and goes to investigate. The man is alive but it badly injured. She does what she can and gets him to the safety of the car and they both make there way to the pub so they can call for help. Once back at the pub she realises Matt is out helping a neighbour on a farm and it is only Andrea and her two year old son alone with a tourist.

This story! I am still in absolute love. I devoured Michelle’s debut novel – she really hit this one out of the ball park so to speak. I could not and would not put this book down. I finished it in two days. A physical copy is needed for my shelves that is for sure. I might never look at camping the same way again though.

Thank you Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for a gifted copy of this book for my honest book review.

The Rush is the debut thriller by Michelle Prak and is a true outback noir thriller that builds in intensity. It’s all about the isolation and how dire the trouble can be when something goes wrong. But it’s also a reminder that even in the harsh and unforgiving Australian outback it’s not always the expected dangers that you have to be most aware of.

The rain is coming and when it rains in the outback the potential for disastrous flooding is real and can have devastating consequences. Local homesteads and hotels prepare early with sandbagging and precautions to prevent their belongings from being washed away. It also means there are far fewer travellers on the roads.

The Stuart Highway dissects the Australian continent from Adelaide to Darwin and provides a dusty route through some of the most remote landscape on the planet. One of the stops along the way is the Pindarry Hotel, a noted watering hole and a necessary place to take a break and fill the belly. The owners are Matt and Andrea who live there with their 3 year old son Ethan. Also there is their one employee, Quinn, a woman from a nearby property. But as the rain hits, Quinn hasn’t returned from a recent trip home.

On the road is a group of four young people travelling together on a road trip adventure from Adelaide to Darwin. Hayley and Scott are students at Adelaide University and they have brought along a Brazilian activist Livia and a Dutch backpacker Joost. Their intention is to check out the various tourist spots along the way and, basically, have the adventure of a lifetime. The impact of the flooding rains is a little more excitement than they had bargained for.

Danger is present everywhere in remote and isolated places. It can come from the people you meet, the unexpected changes in the local climate or by any unfortunate accident. But all too often for women the world over, the real danger comes from the opposite sex.

Although the crux of this thriller is all too familiar and is an ever-present problem in today’s society, it is given a unique twist to make it even more compelling. A great strength of The Rush is the portrayal of the main female characters. We’re given a thorough insight into their backgrounds, the setbacks they’ve overcome in the past and the strength and resilience they use to face down their fears. The actions and reactions of Andrea, Quinn, Livia and Hayley were completely understandable and believable.

I thought Michelle Prak did a fine job of setting up a few little red herrings that sent my mind racing off in one direction only to have the rug pulled out from under me when the real twists were revealed.

The Rush is a compelling read with constantly mounting tension the key to its success. It’s atmospheric and deals well with troubling themes. It also tended to play on my emotions which is a sure sign that I was fully invested.

The Pindarry was a country pub, isolated in the vast Australian outback of the Northern Territory, a place where tourists flocked in the dry months, but stayed away in the wet. Andrea, her husband Matt and three year old son Ethan lived in and ran the pub, with Quinn working and living on site. Quinn's family farm was an hour away and she was trying to prepare it for sale. The day the rains began, Quinn and her dog, kelpie Bronte, had left the farm on the way back to The Pindarry when she spotted a body on the side of the road. Knowing she couldn't leave him, but knowing also that she couldn't lift him, she didn't know what to do...

Four young people, two who lived and went to university in Adelaide, Hannah and Scott, and two backpackers, Brazillian environmentalist Livia and Joost, an engineering student from the Netherlands, joined forces to drive in Scott's grandfather's 4WD from Adelaide to Darwin, checking out the tourist spots on the way. But none of them had taken the weather into account. Certainly, they hadn't expected the force of the flooding rains and how little their tents would protect them. With tensions rising and tempers flaring, what would be the outcome for these four, unprepared young people?

The Rush, debut thriller from Aussie author Michelle Prak is outstanding! Intense, gripping, terrifying - my heart was pounding while I was reading. The characters were perfectly written, from the scary bikie who returned to the pub, right down to little Ethan and Bronte. This compelling thriller is the best I've read since I consumed another Aussie debut - Gone to Ground - and I'm looking forward to what Ms Prak writes next. Highly recommended.

With thanks to Simon & Schuster AU (via NetGalley) for my ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

This is excellent Australian outback noir! A fast-paced suspense that never lets up and will make you think twice about taking a road trip to the outback!

Together with two backpackers they have only just met, students Hayley and Scott have planned a 3000km road trip from Adelaide to Darwin through the centre of Australia. The backpackers, Livia, a Brazilian environmental activist and Joost, an engineering student from the Netherlands will share the costs and the driving. Hayley is also hoping the trip will rekindle her relationship with Scott which has been less than romantic lately.

Hayley has planned an intinerary that will take in as many sights along the way as possible including an overnight stop at a famous outback Inn, Pindarry Pub in northern South Australia. They’re aware bad weather is on the way, but they’re not too worried. After all they’re driving a four-wheel drive so a little water on the roads shouldn’t worry them. What they hadn’t planned on was the massive storm that’s about to hit the interior, causing major flooding unlike any seen for many years.

At the Pindarry Pub, owners Matt and Andrea have sandbagged anywhere likely to be flooded and Matt has gone to help a neighbour, leaving Andrea alone with their two year old son. Their employee, Quinn, who also lives at the pub, is on her way home when she spots someone lying at the side of a road and stops to help.

All these elements will eventually come together to make this a chilling and claustrophobic thriller, voiced by a range of characters from the deranged to women who are strong and resilient. The Australian landscape and the isolation of the outback are authentically depicted – beautiful but also dangerous when underestimated. This is one road trip no one will forget any time soon!

"The outback is just as scary as it is in horror movies. No. It's worse."

If I ever think that I'm ready to brave a roadtrip in the outback - I'm sure this book will come to mind reversing that decision for me.

This book had me gripped from the beginning. Suspenseful and full of high tension.

4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Special thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Outback Australia can be harsh… it is beautiful but dangerous. The Rush will make you think twice about road tripping. I seriously could not put this book down. It is the kind of book that begs to be binged in one sitting. Think Wolf Creek and you are on the right track.

A storm is coming, in more ways than one. 4 teenagers set off from Adelaide to Darwin by car. Hayley and Scott are local students and to save money have found some backpackers to join them. Livia and Joost make up the foursome. Things are going well to begin with, camping and seeing the vast expanse of the outback. And then the rain comes. And not just sprinkles, this is torrential rainfall that nobody could have predicted. They have no wifi and no phone service. They’re only option to head for the Pindarry Pub for shelter, but will they all make it?

There is much, much more to it than that but that is all you need to know o get you hooked in. Believe me when I say that this is one fast paced, wild adventure that none of them expected. The setting is dark and intense. They are cut off from the rest of the world, nobody else is out on the roads and who knows what creatures lurk in the bushes.

You just need to read this exceptional debut novel from Michelle Prak. Publishes on May 3rd, get ready for non stop action and plenty of surprises. Thanks to Simon and Schuster Australia for my advanced reading copy.

The Rush by Michelle Prak is a wild, unpredictable ride set in outback Australia. It definitely gave me Wolf Creek vibes – I will certainly not be going on any outback adventures with strangers anytime soon!

Hayley & Scott are a young couple from Adelaide who are keen to go travelling but with limited resources as students, they decide to explore their own backyard first – embarking on a road trip from Adelaide to Darwin crossing the remote & isolated heart of Australia. To help out with costs, they have decided to share their trip with a couple of backpackers, Livia from Brazil & Jost from Netherlands. Ignoring predicted “once in a lifetime” bad weather, they head off but things very quickly go from bad to worse & it’s not just the weather they need to watch out for.

This debut sets a gripping pace right from the beginning and I really couldn’t predict what way the story was going to go. None of the characters were particularly likeable or relatable – I found it hard to believe 20 something Aussies would think it was a good idea just to trek off into the desert with any experience and ignore drought breaking rain & flooding warnings – but then again people do stupid things all the time!

This is a tense, edge of your seat read that certainly entertained! I look forward to reading more of this Aussie authors books in the future!