Scrublands (Martin Scarsden, #1) by Chris Hammer

 
From Goodreads

In an isolated country town brought to its knees by endless drought, a charismatic and dedicated young priest calmly opens fire on his congregation, killing five parishioners before being shot dead himself.

A year later, troubled journalist Martin Scarsden arrives in Riversend to write a feature on the anniversary of the tragedy. But the stories he hears from the locals about the priest and incidents leading up to the shooting don't fit with the accepted version of events his own newspaper reported in an award-winning investigation. Martin can't ignore his doubts, nor the urgings of some locals to unearth the real reason behind the priest's deadly rampage.

Just as Martin believes he is making headway, a shocking new development rocks the town, which becomes the biggest story in Australia. The media descends on Riversend and Martin is now the one in the spotlight. His reasons for investigating the shooting have suddenly become very personal.

Wrestling with his own demons, Martin finds himself risking everything to discover a truth that becomes darker and more complex with every twist. But there are powerful forces determined to stop him, and he has no idea how far they will go to make sure the town's secrets stay buried.

A compulsive thriller that will haunt you long after you have turned the final page.

My thoughts

My thanks to the Publishers via NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.  I have to confess that this book has been sat on my Kindle for just over 3 years.  I am a book addict and need to learn to control my habit, as books sit on my TBR for far too long.

This is an unusual concept as usually in these sorts of books the action centres around the police and the detective trying to solve the crimes.  In this series we are introduced to Martin Scarsden, he is a journalist with problems of his own.  This is not unusual at all that the main character has problems of his own.  As Martin's work life and personal life, begin to become interlinked as his need to find out the truth as to what has happened in Riversend takes on a new meaning for him.  What lies at the back of his mind that is urging him ever onwards and to what ends will others go to in order for the buried truth that surrounds the town to remain hidden from the world?

This was an interesting read and I am keen to read more in the series.  At times I did find that I was getting a little lost among the story, perhaps this is because it did seem to ramble on at times.  It was well written, but possibly could have done to be a little less rambling!