Review: NO TRACE, Michael Trant

• 
  this edition from my local library
  
• published by Penguin Random House Australia 2023
• ISBN 978-1-76104-693-3
• 344 pages 
• #2 in series featuring Gabe Ahern
  

Synopsis (publisher)

From the author of WILD DOGS comes an electrifying combination of outback action thriller and the classic locked room mystery.

‘Did you have to kill them all?’
It’s the question Gabe Ahern has been running from since he bust open a major criminal operation – and left a dozen men dead. He knows that one day the ‘bad guys’ will come for revenge.

A skilled dog-trapper, Gabe has one rule: leave no sign, leave no trace. And for the last year he’s been successfully hiding out on a friend’s remote cattle property in the Pilbara.

But when Goldmont Station opens its gates to a bunch of city folk eager for an authentic outback experience, Gabe can feel eyes on his back. Are all these visitors really tourists?

In the space of 24 hours, the station’s helicopter falls from the sky . . . the phones and internet go down . . . and one of the guests turns up dead . . .

With major flooding suddenly cutting off all exit roads, Gabe fears he’s as trapped as the dogs he hunts. And that his bloody past has finally caught up with him. 

My Take

When we last saw Gabe Ahern in WILD DOGS we were not sure he was going to survive, but he obviously did. Quite a bit of time has passed and there has been a trial at which he was acquitted. But the Afghan whom Gabe rescued in that book and his family are now in immigrant detention, and Gabe has been threatened by the brother of one of the men he killed.

So Gabe is in hiding from the gang who were involved in the people smuggling, in the remotest part of Australia he could think of, working as a dogger and a general station hand, hoping he doesn't bring trouble to the family he is working for. He has been there for a year with no problems, but everything is about to change. 

This story has a terrific atmosphere, great tension, as Gabe helps fight both Australian weather, and someone at the station who seems determined to wreak havoc.

A great read.

My rating: 4.6

I've also read

4.4, RIDGEVIEW STATION

4.7, WILD DOGS

Review: WILD DOGS, Michael Trant

• 
   this edition supplied by my local library
  
• published Penguin Random House Australia 2022
• ISBN 978 1 76104 677 3
• 355 pages  

 Synopsis (publisher) 

Wild Dogs is a page-turning action thriller set in the WA outback, introducing Australia’s answer to Jack Reacher

In the drought-ridden rangelands of Western Australia, Gabe Ahern makes his living trapping wild dogs for local station owners.

Still coming to terms with his wife’s death – and the part he played in it – the old bushman leads a solitary life. Until one morning, when he rescues a young Afghan man, Amin, from certain execution.

Now, with a gang of people smugglers on his tail and the lives of Amin's family on the line, Gabe is drawn into a ruthless game of cat and mouse. His main opponent is Chase Fowler, a kangaroo hunter with bush skills as wily and sharp as his own.

As the old dogger and roo-shooter go head to head, Gabe will need all his cunning to come out of this alive…

My Take

The author really hits his straps in this novel. Strikes both political and social chords. The "dogger" Gabe Ahern comes across a people smuggling operation in northern WA when he rescues Amin who has come to Australia on an illegal boat. Amin wants to rescue his wife and son but says that he knows that bent cops are assisting the people smugglers.

This novel is a thriller from the get-go. The setting feels authentic and the characters loom large.

Very impressive.

My rating: 4.7 

I've also read

4.4, RIDGEVIEW STATION

Review: RIDGEVIEW STATION, Michael Trant

• 
   this edition supplied by my local library as an e-book on Libby
  
• ISBN:978176029420
• Publisher:Allen & Unwin
• Imprint:Arena
• Pub Date:28 Jun 2017
• Page Extent:336  

Synopsis (publisher) 

A vast outback property. An unforgettable season. A family's fight to save their livelihood. A sweeping tale of love and loss, and the highs and lows of life on the land, from an utterly authentic new voice in rural fiction.
Many of Peter and Kelsie Dalton's friends thought they were crazy when they bought Ridgeview Station. But five years on, their hard work, help from Kelsie's parents, and record rainfall have them in high spirits as the summer muster approaches.

Realising they're going to need more help this season, Peter rings around the neighbouring stations to try and find a good worker. After a glowing recommendation, Alexi arrives to give them a hand - and is not at all what they'd expected ...

Everything is going smoothly with the muster before disaster strikes and the Dalton's find themselves battling to save their livestock, their property and their lives.

An entertaining yarn set on a vast outback property peopled with colourful and authentic characters, Ridgeview Station is about love, loss and the spirit of the bush.

My Take

Please note- not crime fiction. But if you are looking for something authentic about life on an Australian outback station then this might be just the book for you.

My rating: 4.4

 Author bio:

Michael Trant been involved with agriculture for most of his life. After 16 years running a sheep station, he took up writing to report on the live export controversy from the farming side. Michael currently lives in Perth. Ridgeview Station is his first novel.