No Trace by Michael Trant

Publisher's Synopsis

‘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 Review of No Trace by Michael Trant

The second book to feature outback dog trapper Gabe Ahern, No Trace provides a full-on suspense thriller set on a remote cattle station. Whereas the previous book, Wild Dogs, was a hell-for-leather chase through the desert this reads more like an “And Then There Were None” style story, a suspense thriller that builds in intensity.

Goldmont Station is not only a working cattle station but it’s also a tourist spot, giving visitors the opportunity to experience the rough and tumble of a working farm. As well as the owners and Gabe, who’s working there to control the wild dog population, there are around 10 tourists enjoying the outback lifestyle.

But then the incidents take place in close succession. First the station’s helicopter malfunctions soon after take off and crashes back to earth. Next, the phones and internet all fail, leaving the entire station cut off from the rest of the world. Finally, one of the tourist guests goes missing only to be discovered lying dead behind one of the out-buildings, having suffered a savage blow to the head.

Before the phones had gone out, Gabe had heard from the police inspector he worked with during the events recounted in Wild Dogs. One of the men who had been imprisoned, the brother of a man Gabe had killed, was being released. The chances are, this man is hell-bent on revenge and he may have managed to send someone ahead to confirm Gabe’s whereabouts. The question going through his mind is, could this man somehow be responsible for what’s been happening at Goldmont.

Gabe Ahern is a gruff, short-tempered old bloke who prefers to work alone where he can be with his own thoughts and doesn’t have to answer to anyone. He’s at his best when he’s out tracking game, reading the signs left behind and communing closely with the surrounding landscape. His presence on a cattle station open to tourist visitors is not exactly his ideal environment but, when you’re on the run from potential attackers, you take what you can get and the owner of the station is an old friend.

Set totally within the boundaries of the Goldmont Station, this is a story that depends on strong and believable characters and that’s what Michael Trant delivers. From a wide range of backgrounds, there is the inevitable friction between people thrown together in extremely trying conditions. But each one is fully formed, believable and relatable. It’s from within this cast that we’re provided with a number of true surprises that adds an extra dimension to the story. 

No Trace is a tense thriller filled with growing suspense fuelled by the certainty that someone amongst the group is plotting against them. It’s a murder mystery that promises - and delivers - a devastating climax.

This is an outstanding follow-up to Wild Dogs and confirms that, no matter how stand-offish Gabe comes across, there’s a lot to like about the mangy old fella.