The Rush in Aussie Readers

Jun 12, 2023 PattyMacDotComma rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery-crime-thriller, arc-netgalley-done, fiction, australian-author, kindle, aa

4鈽�
鈥淨uinn and this man are the only two people for miles around. Whoever this is, wherever he came from, he needs medical attention, urgently. Then his arm flings up and a cold hand clutches Quinn鈥檚 wrist.鈥�

Shudder! For some reason, I have always found that scenario terrifying - an unconscious person suddenly leaping back to life and on the attack. I鈥檓 sure it comes from the classic Audrey Hepburn movie 鈥淲ait Until Dark鈥�, which if you鈥檝e never seen, do!

That鈥檚 from the prologue, and we are told it ...more

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Apr 24, 2023 Brenda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: debut, mystery, 2023-release, suspense, net-galley, 3500-2023, aussie-authors, arc, thriller, own-read

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 spotte ...more

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May 13, 2023 Helen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: review-copy-from-netgalley

Well what can I say, I read this one in one day there was no way I could leave it for too long I had to find out what happened to these four young people doing a trip from Adelaide to Darwin, this trip was meant to be a fun trip, two young Aussies and two overseas backpackers come along and see what happens.

The Pindarry is a very old pub stuck in the middle of nowhere run by Matt and Andrea they have a small son Ethan and Quinn a young local now lives and works there, it is a very popular place ...more

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May 08, 2023 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it really liked it

Shelves: provided-by-publisher, arc-are, aussie-author

The Rush is an exciting and gripping debut thriller from Michelle Prak set in the outback of South Australia.

Quinn is late returning to the isolated Pindarry Hotel on the Stuart Highway, where she works and lives, when, through the rain, she spies a badly injured man on the roadside, and unable to leave him there, drags him into her car.

Andrea is anxious when her husband leaves her at the Pindarry Hotel to help an elderly farmer whose property is flooding. With the pub sandbagged and their emplo ...more

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May 13, 2023 Bree T rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc, crime, australian, mystery, thriller, road-trippin

This is a tense, rural Australian thriller designed to make you rethink that dream road trip for many reasons.

It鈥檚 told from three perspectives. Hayley is a university student who just wants to have a holiday with her boyfriend and she鈥檚 finally agreed to get him to do a road trip from Adelaide to Darwin, through some of the most remote areas of Australia. To cut down on costs, they鈥檝e linked up with two other people keen on doing the trip: Livia, a tourist from Brazil who has a boat to catch in This is a tense, rural Australian thriller designed to make you rethink that dream road trip for many reasons.

It鈥檚 told from three perspectives. Hayley is a university student who just wants to have a holiday with her boyfriend and she鈥檚 finally agreed to get him to do a road trip from Adelaide to Darwin, through some of the most remote areas of Australia. To cut down on costs, they鈥檝e linked up with two other people keen on doing the trip: Livia, a tourist from Brazil who has a boat to catch in Darwin and Joost, a young man from the Netherlands. The four of them will split fuel costs, driving Hayley鈥檚 boyfriend Scott鈥檚 grandfather鈥檚 old four-wheel drive. It can handle the terrain and is big enough to hold what they need. Because it鈥檚 the summer, they鈥檒l spend nights camping. Then there鈥檚 Quinn, a young woman who works at the Pindarry Pub. She grew up locally and is supposed to be clearing out the house on the family farm now that no one is left there, to get it ready for sale. But she鈥檚 dragging her feet a bit. Quinn鈥檚 boss is Andrea, who runs the pub with her husband. They also have a small toddler son. Although Andrea doesn鈥檛 mind the isolation and the clientele, she recently discovered something that might be making her rethink her priorities. These three woman will find themselves thrown together with only each other and they鈥檒l have to puzzle out the truth from the lies.

An impending doom looming in the distance is the oncoming rain. As Quinn knows all too well from her childhood, the rains are welcomed鈥�.unless they don鈥檛 stop and then they can cause many more problems. She鈥檚 heading back to the pub from the family farm, the clouds building ominous in the distance when she sees a body on the road. At first she thinks they鈥檙e dead 鈥� until they grab her.

The set up of this is so great. Hayley is such an earnest character, all she wants to do is have a fun holiday with her boyfriend, do some exploring of the country and undertake a bit of an adventure. She feels that Scott has become a bit introverted of late, they don鈥檛 connect much anymore and she thinks this trip could be a great way for them to get that back. She also likes and admires Livia, the tourist from Brazil, who is funny and confident. Having some others along could be good although it doesn鈥檛 seem to take long for a few little disagreements and snarky comments to emerge which brings a tension to the trip that Hayley wasn鈥檛 anticipating. I really felt for Hayley because she just wanted to do something fun with her boyfriend, to try and capture some good feelings back into their relationship鈥�..but oh Hayley. Because it鈥檚 going to get so much worse than just feeling a bit disconnected from her boyfriend and awkward with two strangers.

I also found Andrea really interesting as a character. The job she and her husband do is definitely not for everything 鈥� the pub is very remote, mostly populated by travellers undertaking big trips or as we see in this, bikers on rides. The group of bikers that stops by are not exactly what you鈥檇 call model clientele and cause Andrea a bit of grief and stress due to their antics. Her husband is also much more of a pacifist, more the 鈥榳e can鈥檛 ask them to leave, they鈥檙e paying customers love鈥� type of person, never mind what they鈥檝e been up to causing mischief whilst they鈥檙e there. Which in Andrea鈥檚 position, would honestly infuriate me. The safety of the workers and families should be paramount over the customers but Andrea鈥檚 husband is clearly unwilling to rock the boat, more of the 鈥榡ust be pleasant and give them what they want and they鈥檒l soon be on their way鈥� type of thing. Which probably doesn鈥檛 make Andrea feel very comfortable at times. She鈥檚 also hiding a bit of a secret which she鈥檚 been worrying over and making her question this way of life.

The book builds the tension and story nicely but I have to say a large amount of quite important stuff happens off page or is retold later, which I think lessened impact a little. I can understand the author making a choice not to have something highlighted on the page in particular, as that thing can often be lingered over a little too much in crime fiction, but finding out things the way that we did kind of distanced me from the impact of it.

The showcasing of isolation is done really well 鈥� loved the feeling of Andrea in the pub preparing for the storm, her apprehension when someone knocks on the door and her feeling of being kind of helpless in terms of being able to exert her authority. Likewise I loved the descriptions of the road trip, the escalating tensions and the realisation that things are not going to go as planned. However some of the skips in the story and addressing these later on, wasn鈥檛 very effective for me.

***A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for the purpose of an honest review*** ...more

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Nov 19, 2023 Janine rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I cannot believe the amount of excellent female crime writers we have in Australia! The Rush I picked up from Dymocks Adelaide whilst on holidays and because it was a signed copy to add to my collection, despite not having heard of this author.
What a treat was waiting for me! Four young people travelling through the centre of Australia from Adelaide to Darwin and the threat of a massive flood of rain looming - will they make it before the rains come, and will they all survive?
Added to this a pub ...more

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May 26, 2023 Averil rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2023

This gripping thriller takes Aussie outback noir to a whole new level. I am not able to watch thriller movies 鈥� Wolf Creek still gives me nightmares 鈥� but reading a well-written thriller is a different ballgame.
I'm not going to write a long review, because readers deserve absolutely no spoilers. Here are some non-spoilery things I can say. The book is tremendously paced to keep you turning the pages well after you should be asleep. The characters are well-drawn, each adding an important element ...more

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Feb 28, 2024 Karen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This book was full of suspense, and was a quick and easy read. A combination of the characters, the setting and the weather made it a chilling and terrifying story. Hayley and Scott are Uni students and she really wants to do a big road trip, but decide they should share the costs of the trip from Adelaide to Darwin. They end up with Livia, a Brazilian climate activist, and Joost a Dutch student. The country has been in a drought but it is predicted there will be heavy rain. The Pindarry is an i ...more

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