The Rush by Michelle Prak

Publisher's Synopsis

SOME THREATS ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR ...

The first drops start to fall when Quinn spies the body. With no reception and nothing but an empty road for miles, does she stop to help or keep driving to safety?

Back at the iconic country pub where Quinn works, Andrea is sandbagging the place in preparation for heavy rains. Alone with her sleeping son in the back room, she reluctantly lets a biker in to wait out the storm.

Out on the wet roads, tensions arise among four backpackers on their way to Darwin. They haven’t prepared for this kind of weather and the flooding isn’t the only threat on the horizon …

My Review of The Rush by Michelle Prak

The Rush is the debut thriller by Michelle Prak and is a true outback noir thriller that builds in intensity. It’s all about the isolation and how dire the trouble can be when something goes wrong. But it’s also a reminder that even in the harsh and unforgiving Australian outback it’s not always the expected dangers that you have to be most aware of.

The rain is coming and when it rains in the outback the potential for disastrous flooding is real and can have devastating consequences. Local homesteads and hotels prepare early with sandbagging and precautions to prevent their belongings from being washed away. It also means there are far fewer travellers on the roads.

The Stuart Highway dissects the Australian continent from Adelaide to Darwin and provides a dusty route through some of the most remote landscape on the planet. One of the stops along the way is the Pindarry Hotel, a noted watering hole and a necessary place to take a break and fill the belly. The owners are Matt and Andrea who live there with their 3 year old son Ethan. Also there is their one employee, Quinn, a woman from a nearby property. But as the rain hits, Quinn hasn’t returned from a recent trip home.

On the road is a group of four young people travelling together on a road trip adventure from Adelaide to Darwin. Hayley and Scott are students at Adelaide University and they have brought along a Brazilian activist Livia and a Dutch backpacker Joost. Their intention is to check out the various tourist spots along the way and, basically, have the adventure of a lifetime. The impact of the flooding rains is a little more excitement than they had bargained for.

Danger is present everywhere in remote and isolated places. It can come from the people you meet, the unexpected changes in the local climate or by any unfortunate accident. But all too often for women the world over, the real danger comes from the opposite sex.

Although the crux of this thriller is all too familiar and is an ever-present problem in today’s society, it is given a unique twist to make it even more compelling. A great strength of The Rush is the portrayal of the main female characters. We’re given a thorough insight into their backgrounds, the setbacks they’ve overcome in the past and the strength and resilience they use to face down their fears. The actions and reactions of Andrea, Quinn, Livia and Hayley were completely understandable and believable.

I thought Michelle Prak did a fine job of setting up a few little red herrings that sent my mind racing off in one direction only to have the rug pulled out from under me when the real twists were revealed. 

The Rush is a compelling read with constantly mounting tension the key to its success. It’s atmospheric and deals well with troubling themes. It also tended to play on my emotions which is a sure sign that I was fully invested.