-An explosive Australian novel - every time
PETER PERKINS
THE BOOKS
I wrote The Condamine Bell after carrying the story in my head for many years. Adam is a fictional character, but he comes to life in the books as a hero that grew from an amazing real life friend I knew as a boy, who through this story lived on to fulfil a potential the real Adam never did.
The Condamine Bell
​An experienced stockman is always in demand in cattle country and Adam Mann is confident he can find a job. He is bush born and bred of mixed aboriginal and european heritage, work hardened, self assured and fiercely independent, Adam has moved down to Miles from the Channel Country for a change of direction. Today he most wants to secure a place to agist his own stock, grow his cash reserves, get a job, eventually buy his own small property.
A quick nod of the head, a furtive glance in the bustle of the cattle sale yards is all that is required for two people to suspect he has a past; two others know who he really is. A new job and stock agistment agreement come too quickly. Is something very wrong, or very right?
Adam is ostensibly employed on Majalin Downs, a prized Condamine River property as the replacement for an elderly stockman whose murder is being treated by everyone as a horse riding accident. Adam's black-tracking skills, learnt over years from his elders as a drover, soon discovers the awful truth.
Shots are fired. Adam unwittingly makes enemies of a rich and powerful cattle baron with questionable intentions and known ambitions. Adam defends his patch. Three attempts on Adam's life heightens the tension and suspense. Forced to defend the lives of a family he previously never knew existed, he earns the love of a feisty young woman who saw more in him than he knew. Deceit, jealousy and greed are poor bed fellows; another murder close to home, heralds a climactic close. Everyone fails to identify the real threat till the final few pages.
Typically Australian in its laconic style and substance, this is an easy and enjoyable read.
Yellowbelly
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ADAM MANN hoped his life would soon return to normal with two men in prison awaiting trial for a frightening array of offences from A to M – ARSON to MURDER – of which he was the prime target. It took a final desperate act on the part of the murderous architect of those crimes for the awful truth to be revealed. Three weeks later on a cold Saturday morning fishing trip to his favourite rock-hole on the Condamine River a volley of shots meant for him, signals it has started all over again. How did they know he would be there? Another murder far from home takes out a suspect. How can that be related? Is the powerful local connection he originally thought to blame, finally showing their hand? Or is this just the same old war restarting using one of the new players that have come to town? Adam has more questions than answers. His defences are on ‘red-alert’ as he sets about in his own way seeking answers to a complex past catching up with him on several fronts, threatening his life and putting his future with Kate in jeopardy. Perhaps the funeral will reveal all?.