Magpie

*BOOK OF THE YEAR, IRISH CAP AWARDS 2023*

Dive into a gripping adventure of survival, mystery, and the transformative power of the Australian wilderness.

Jim Macken talks to trees. He dances around the fire and has made peace with the flies. In a bid to escape a mundane life, the broken-hearted Irish backpacker has gone walkabout in the West Australian Goldfields. The scorched land is hurting. The summer rains never came and the temperatures soar.

On a rare trip to a remote inn, an assault brings Jim's day to a premature close. He sleeps outside, sprawled across the wide front seat of his beat-up truck. Nearby, a body lies in the dirt. The evidence, much of it fabricated, paints Jim as a killer and Kelly Porcini, the disillusioned barmaid, as his accomplice.

Fearing for their lives, Jim and Kelly flee into the hostile interior of the continent. Along the way, the young couple find a beautiful but damaged country. There is the possibility of love and the opportunity for betrayal. Ultimately, an ancient and indigenous Dreamtime landscape may decide how their stories end.