The best books to travel the Australian Outback without leaving home (because everything out there wants to kill you)

Why am I passionate about this?

As a professional counselor by trade, I’m fascinated by the machinations of the human mind, what drives us, and how our primeval urges can overcome our learned and acceptable behaviors. Accordingly, I enjoy both reading and writing books that expose and explore the dark side of our psyche and the dichotomy of human nature. I particularly appreciate stories that balance evil with redemption, rescue, or retribution. 


I wrote...

Malicious Desire

By Laney Kaye,

Book cover of Malicious Desire

What is my book about?

Terror and forbidden desire stalk the heart of the Australian Outback. A school trip to the beach turns into teacher Kayla Petrovic's worst nightmare. Abducted. Held for ransom. But when the kidnappers threaten her students, she'll sacrifice everything, including the last vestige of her self-respect, to save them.

Army veteran Nick West bears his own scars-not all of them visible. He knows how to handle a world turned to shit. He'll get in, retrieve the hostages, and get out, doing little damage–except to the kidnappers. What he doesn't expect is the kick in the chest of recognizing there's something special about the woman he rescues. But, after years of avoiding weakness, love is a flaw he cannot permit. And revenge is an emotion Kayla cannot avoid.

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Lost Man

Laney Kaye Why did I love this book?

What a deeply atmospheric, evocative read! I’d been meaning to dive into a Jane Harper novel for some time, and I’m so pleased this is where I chose to start. I’ve done what we Aussies call ‘The Big Lap’ a couple of times, touring around the coast of Australia, then up through the arid center, before exploring the remote reaches of Western Australia.

This book brings the vastness of this landscape to life so perfectly without overstating or overdramatizing it. This character-driven novel is compelling, leaving me with a sense of being intimately acquainted with the families living on the isolated properties … and of their fear, knowing a murderer may be in their midst.

By Jane Harper,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked The Lost Man as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Two brothers meet in the remote Australian outback when the third brother is found dead, in this stunning new standalone novel from Jane Harper

Brothers Nathan and Bub Bright meet for the first time in months at the remote fence line separating their cattle ranches in the lonely outback.

Their third brother, Cameron, lies dead at their feet.

In an isolated belt of Australia, their homes a three-hour drive apart, the brothers were one another’s nearest neighbors. Cameron was the middle child, the one who ran the family homestead. But something made him head out…


Book cover of The Hitchhiker

Laney Kaye Why did I love this book?

I wouldn’t recommend reading this book during a storm when there’s a chance of a power cut! Years back, I camped on the edge of a highway in the middle of central Australia–and even before this book came out, I knew I’d never do it again! The stars might be spectacular, but the isolation is an absolutely crushing force. 

This book captures that essence perfectly–along with the relief of finding another human being on the road…quickly followed by the terror of realizing that person may not be who you think. 

By Gabriel Bergmoser,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Hitchhiker as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the award-winning author of The Hunted comes a fast-paced, nailbiting outback thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat.


Pushing fifty and reeling from an ugly divorce, Paul has decided it's time for an adventure. With the Bee Gees on the radio and the open road ahead, he sets out into the middle of nowhere, open to whatever comes. But things take a sinister turn when he impulsively decides to pick up a hitchhiker. Clutching a ragged backpack with his eyes locked on the rear-view mirror, it's clear this twitchy young man is running from something.…


Book cover of Wake

Laney Kaye Why did I love this book?

I adore anything Australian crime noir. Throw in the Outback as well, and I’m there! 

This book is a compelling mystery. Slow burn and character-driven, it sucked me in and had me imagining the characters even whilst I wasn’t reading. An award-winning debut, I’ll definitely be adding this author’s future work to my TBR piles. 

By Shelley Burr,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Wake as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?


"Politically savvy, cleverly plotted...the kind of book that invites the ravenous language of binge reading: compulsive, propulsive, addictive."--New York Times Book Review

For fans of Jane Harper’s The Dry or Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects, a searing debut crime novel set in the Australian outback, where the grief and guilt surrounding an unsolved disappearance still haunt a small farming community…and will ultimately lead to a reckoning.

The tiny outback town of Nannine lies in the harsh red interior of Australia. Once a thriving center of stockyards and sheep stations, years of punishing drought have petrified the land and Nannine has been…


Book cover of Cover the Bones

Laney Kaye Why did I love this book?

I admit it—I’m a fangirl. I caught up with Chris Hammer at my local library and had a photo taken with him. This book spans multiple timelines, from 1913 to the present.

As if that wasn’t enough, it’s set in a small Australian town where secrets, intrigue, and lies always abound. If that didn’t tick all my boxes, nothing could! 

By Chris Hammer,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Cover the Bones as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NO ONE IS EVER INNOCENT IN PARADISE.

**THE TIMES CRIME BOOK OF THE MONTH**

A small town.
A closely guarded secret, stretching back decades.
And blood in the water.

'A masterful, stunning thriller. A twisting mystery epic in scale yet intricate in detail. Irresistible.' Chris Whitaker

'Epic. Shakespearean in depth and range' The Times

'Fierce, gripping and spine-chilling.' Daily Mail

A body has washed up in an irrigation canal, the artery running through Yuwonderie, a man-made paradise on the border of the Outback. Stabbed through the heart, electrocuted and dumped under cover of night, there is no doubt that detectives…


Book cover of Still

Laney Kaye Why did I love this book?

I love a tense, character-driven thriller, and this one was set in a remote town I’ve visited. 

I love that the book is set in 1963, a decade that had particular significance for Australian women, their roles, and the expectations placed upon them.

It’s not fast-moving, but the setting is an almost palpable character in its own right. I found it dark, rife with corruption, violence, oppressive heat, and both the best and the worst of what Australia has to offer.

By Matt Nable,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Still as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE #1 Australian best-selling fiction

'From screen to page, Matt Nable's ability to breathe life into vivid characters shines against the grittiness of the harsh Australian landscape.' - Jane Harper, author of The Dry

'a thrilling, heart-stopping novel that fans of The Dry are going to love' - Weekender

'Nable renders the past both tangible and real and it's riveting' - Sue Turnbull, The Age

'must read' - Who Weekly

Darwin, Summer, 1963.

The humidity sat heavy and thick over the town as Senior Constable Ned Potter looked down at a body that had been dragged from the shallow marshland.…


You might also like...

Book cover of The Spanish Diplomat's Secret

Nev March Author Of The Spanish Diplomat's Secret

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author History lover Scriptwriter Reader Nature lover

Nev's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

An entertaining mystery on a 1894 trans-Atlantic steamship with an varied array of suspects, and a detective who must solve his case in six days to prevent international conflict.

Retired from the British Indian army, Captain Jim is taking his wife Diana to Liverpool from New York, when their pleasant cruise turns deadly. Just hours after meeting him, a foreign diplomat is brutally murdered onboard their ship. Captain Jim must find the killer before they dock in six days, or there could be war! Aboard the beleaguered luxury liner are a thousand suspects, but no witnesses to the locked-cabin crime.

Fortunately, his wife Diana knows her way around first-class accommodations and Gilded Age society. But something has been troubling her, too, something she won’t tell him. Together, using tricks gleaned from their favorite fictional sleuth, Sherlock Holmes, Captain Jim, and Diana must learn why one man’s life came to a murderous end.

By Nev March,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Spanish Diplomat's Secret as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In The Spanish Diplomat's Secret, award-winning author Nev March explores the vivid nineteenth-century world of the transatlantic voyage, one passenger’s secret at a time.

Captain Jim Agnihotri and his wife Lady Diana Framji are embarking to England in the summer of 1894. Jim is hopeful the cruise will help Diana open up to him. Something is troubling her, and Jim is concerned.

On their first evening, Jim meets an intriguing Spaniard, a fellow soldier with whom he finds an instant kinship. But within twenty-four hours, Don Juan Nepomuceno is murdered, his body discovered shortly after he asks rather urgently to…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Australian Outbacks, Australia, and family secrets?

10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about Australian Outbacks, Australia, and family secrets.

Australian Outbacks Explore 17 books about Australian Outbacks
Australia Explore 314 books about Australia
Family Secrets Explore 182 books about family secrets