Dark Desert Road

We've been in sovereign citizen territory a lot in recent crime fiction releases, and DARK DESERT ROAD takes us back there again, although coming at it from the different viewpoints of identical twin sisters on alternative sides of the law.

Kit McCarthy hasn't seen her sister Billie for over ten years. A childhood blighted by a dangerous and violent father, now imprisoned, and a family that disintegrated, Kit's a cop in NSW, dealing with a pain medication addicted mother, she's stayed away from her sister who seemingly happily followed their father into a life of crime. But Kit's spent years working in child protection, and she's burnt out and now accused of using excessive force in the arrest of a violent and very nasty drunk, although her boss is supportive and kind, and really uses that incident as a way of getting Kit to take a step back, and try to get some of the anger and angst out of her system. Which makes the frantic message from Billie begging for help about the right time / right place in Kit's life. 

After spending many years in the US, getting caught up with an ex-US Marine, religious nutjob sovereign citizen type, and having a son with him, Billie's back in Australia and in danger of being raped and/or killed by a mad as a cut snake bikie. She's run, leaving her young son behind, in an off-grid camp in the middle of nowhere, where her husband and a bunch of other sov-cits and the bikie gang, who have already committed one act of terrorism, and are planning a lot more.

The question is can Kit work out where Billie is, get to her in time to save her, and rescue the young nephew she never knew she had, whilst also finding herself having to deal with those terrorism plots and continuing to keep her distance from her nasty piece of work father, who, unfortunately she has to turn to once, just to get a handle on where Billie has been and who she's now mixed up with.

DARK DESERT ROAD is partly a high voltage, action packed story of one woman who starts out inordinately determined to get to her sister, despite all their differences, and save yet another young child from goodness knows what. Reader's need not fear that this is yet another child protection scenario though - the young boy is loved by his father, and nothing untoward is going on, although it makes sense that Kit's initial motivation might be fed by the things she's experienced in all those years working in that area. It also sort of makes sense that breaking their father's hold and influence over Billie might be a motivation, as is the idea that she just wants to kick some bad guys heads in. Hard and repeatedly. Her anger is perfectly understandable, even if it does come from a hefty dose of PTSD, combined with a serious desire for some getting even with the world time.

On the other side of the equation from Kit is Billie, who comes across as a bit of a lost soul, dragged into the orbit of her husband who is a dangerous fool, deeply embedded in the warped sovereign citizen rhetoric, and just stupid enough to allow himself to be manipulated by a drug dealing, raping and pillaging bikie gang who know a sucker when they see one and are happy to take advantage. It's a common thread in these novels - how the sovereign citizen community are so easily manipulated by those with an even more sinister motivation - one that's increasingly not hard to understand.

The terrorism component is very real, but this is ultimately a story about Kit and the lengths that she will go to personally to save a nephew she didn't know existed, and a sister she hasn't seen for a very long time. Along the way there are some great bit part characters, and some really good observations about small towns, drought, and the remoteness of the locations that sovereign citizens seem to be drawn to. 

Delivered with considerable pace, and action aplenty, DARK DESERT ROAD is a thriller with a bit of heart, and a hell of a head kick at the end.