Erik Storey is a storyteller from the first word to the last. You feel as if you are sitting by a camp fire listening to an adventure told by a dear friend: you hang on every word and can’t wait to see how the problems will be overcome and who will be left to tell the tale.
I had looked forward to this next instalment of the Clyde Barr Thriller series and hoped that it would stand up to Nothing Short of Dying. It did and was every bit as good.
Clyde is a man with a good heart. He has seen far too much violence and injustice and is trying to escape and replenish himself in the wilderness of the US. He travels simply and lives off of the land, but somehow, as he stops and offers assistance to those he finds in need, trouble seems to either have drawn him to a spot or follows him there. He has fought in civil wars, dealt with drug cartels and murderers as well as been in jails, all of which becomes apparent as he drops memories into the telling of this story.
In this tale, he stops to aid an elderly Ute man who has stopped on the side of the road requiring urgent medical attention and ends up teaming with the local Ute tribe to fight off a terrorist group assisted by an illegal bikie outfit who have taken over their town. Unfortunately, as is often the case with Clyde, the ensuing struggle leaves a trail of bodies, some of which are the perpetrators of the injustice, but many are the innocent victims of the battle between good and bad. He fights not only for the rights of Indigenous people but to ensure the safety of Lawana and Taylor, two very special tribal members he cares for.
Many pieces of this story are explicit in their nature and detail gruesome acts of bloodshed and violence. There are examples of bushcraft and fellowship, compassion and bravery all intertwined in a story that sits very close to the fears of many people today about terrorists and their ability to infiltrate safe havens to extort money and wreak havoc. Despite the sometimes darkness of this story, it ends with hope and a promise of a further adventure – one I look forward to reading.
Reviewed by Leanne Caune
Rating out of 10: 9
Released by: Harper Collins Australia through Simon & Schuster Australia
Release Date: September 2017
RRP: $ 39.99 hardcover, $29.99 paperback, $12.99 eBook
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