Instead, it introduced a new mystery, a brutal home invasion murder, that Walker eventually solves, but the killer in the home invasion case was not a surprise to me. Walker finds he has an indirect personal link to the investigation, as Siobhan's surviving husband, David Owen, is a member of the social circle of Walker's main Gold Coast contact, well-heeled gym owner Craig Ford. Dual plots can be hit and miss, but in this case I thought it worked really well, also it ensures that ‘all important’ suspense and tension never waivers.

Embla Books - Bonnier Books

We live through the killer’s eyes but he isn’t revealed until the end even though he is living amongst the people in the community.Paradise was again just as gripping as Outback, I loved the descriptions of the settings and could very easily visualise them in my mind’s eye. But it looks like trouble has followed him with the Vandal bike gang moving their drug operation to the sunny Gold Coast. This is why even though she now makes her home in Berlin, Germany, she has said that the outback will always be her home. It was from this trip driving and spending days and nights surrounded by the rugged harshness and beauty of the outback that she found the inspiration for the “DI Lucas Walker” stories. Most of the villains from the first instalment played minor roles in this book, and we received no further insight into the leak at the top—the person who is manipulating both the police and the drug dealers.

Patricia Wolf - David Higham Associates Patricia Wolf - David Higham Associates

Lucas becomes invested in the case as he takes shift at the hospital to protect the daughter, Gabby. The location is hostile, it’s not a place for the uninitiated who are unused to the heat and the dust and the absolute dryness of the air. Two back packers go missing and whilst the crime - the who and the why is presented early in the novel, this story is a page turner. But once he starts the investigation, he suddenly starts thinking that there is much more to the story than his boss had let on.

Lucas Walker of the AFP is still recuperating from the injuries sustained during his last case in his hometown of Caloodie and is awaiting the results of a review board of his actions. While normally a desk investigator he has no hesitation in jumping into an investigation that could put him in the firing line. It’s this comradeship around which the story is built and is stronger for and I enjoyed the way their friendship developed and grew. They had disappeared in the neighborhood while heading to a remote cattle station where they had been offered jobs.

Outback by Patricia Wolf | Waterstones

The sense of menace in the areas where the crimes were committed adds to the excitement of the chase and the ‘will they won’t they survive’ tension builds gradually culminating in a dramatic finale. Maybe it's the American in me, because guns and mass shootings are way too commonplace here, but Walker was so lax with his safety, and it seemed incongruous with how an undercover officer should act.Paradise is the second book in the DS Walker Thriller series by Australian journalist and author, Patricia Wolf. DS Walker is recovering from injuries and has lots of anxiety about his future as a cop- which seems ridiculous to me. Meanwhile, Lucas has also been drawn into the case of murdered mum Siobhan Owen who was left brutally murdered and her young daughter left in a coma after a home invasion. As the number of days since the couple’s disappearance climbs, DS Walker is joined by Rita’s older sister. Paradise is an evocative novel that excels in its characterisations and depictions of the seedier and violent side of the Gold Coast.

Paradise: A totally addictive crime thriller packed with jaw

As Walker digs deeper into the dark underbelly of this shimmering city by the ocean, a case from his own past resurfaces, with deadly consequences. Outback” is the first novel of the “DS Walker Thriller” series by Patricia Wolf that captures the harshness and unremitting drought and heat, the dichotomy of life in the outback, and the close camaraderie between townsfolk and neighbors.

In this second book, the action moves to Queensland’s Gold Coast and is centred in and around the resort of Surfers Paradise. In 2019, just before the covid pandemic locked us all in, Patricia spent two months in northwest Queensland, taking a four-week road trip.