The Rush

The Rush by Michelle Prak
4/9/24; 272 pages
Crooked Lane Books

The Rush by Michelle Prak is a fast-paced debut psychological thriller set during a storm in the Australian Outback. It is highly recommended.

Quinn Durand has been clearing out her family house on their property which is for sale when she hurries to leave with her dog Bronte and head back to the Pindarry pub where she stays and works before the rain gets bad and flooding occurs. On the way home she finds a man lying in the road and stops. Back at the pub Matt, Andrea, and Ethan, their three-year-old son are serving their last customers, a group of bikers before they begin to prepare for the storm. At the same time a group of four young adults, Hayley, her boyfriend Scott, Brazilian Livia, and Dutchman Joost, are setting out on a trip from Adelaide straight north to Darwin and heading right into the storm. Tension is already beginning to rise in the group and they may not be prepared for what is to come.

The narrative reads like a movie and the action pulls you in, propelling the action forward just as quickly. This is a perfect example of a tension-packed "just-one-more-page" novel. Once you start reading, you will continue reading until the ending. It's a rapidly developing plot and each new development adds to the tension. You may have to suspend your disbelief a time or two, but, just like with a movie, you will go along with it to see what happens next.

The characters are all mainly caricatures of a type of person without a lot of nuance, with perhaps the exception of Andrea, but this choice works well in the novel due to the fast paced action and the cinema-like feel to the novel. The rain becomes a major character too, further isolating characters as the danger increases. There is one surprising twist that you won't see coming because it is very well done. Thanks to Crooked Lane Books for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.