Review: Undara

Title: Undara

Author: Annie Seaton

Publisher: 22nd July 2019 by Harlequin Australia, HQ & MIRA

Pages: 400 pages
How I Read It: ARC book
Genre: mystery, thriller

My Rating: 4.5 cups

Synopsis:

Within the treacherous caves of Undara, a betrayal will test the bonds of friendship and family. A page-turning new eco-adventure for readers who love Di Morrissey. When entomologist Emlyn Rees arrives at Hidden Valley she wants nothing more than to escape her marriage breakdown by burying herself in the research team's hunt for new species of insects in the depths of the dramatic Undara lava tubes. However, little does she suspect she will be the key to solving a mystery that's more than one hundred years old.

Travis Carlyle is initially resistant to letting some city folks tramp over his cattle station, but soon the researchers' findings and a growing friendship with Emlyn bring opportunities to turn around his struggling farm. With a broken marriage behind him and children to care for, Travis needs to plan for the future and this could be his family's best chance.

But when things start going wrong for the farm and around the dig site, Emlyn and Travis are at a loss to understand why. Are they cursed with bad luck, or is there a more sinister force at play? Are the tall tales of enigmatic stockman Bluey turning true? As the unseen saboteur grows bolder, Emlyn and Travis are caught in a race against time to save the station ... and their lives.

My Thoughts

I had the pleasure of reading Annie’s ‘Whitsunday Dawn’ and thoroughly loved it (review HERE). So it was with great anticipation that I came across her next read, ‘Undara’.  According to Queensland (Australia) Parks:

‘Undara’ is an Aboriginal word meaning ‘long way’. The park protects one of the longest lava tube cave systems in the world. About 190,000 years ago, a large volcano erupted violently, spewing molten lava over the surrounding landscape. The lava flowed rapidly down a dry riverbed. The top, outer-layer cooled and formed a crust, while the molten lava below drained outwards, leaving behind a series of hollow tubes.

How fascinating! Annie has certainly done her research on this one! I had never heard of it and aside from the fictional narrative, I was blown away by the non fiction research and detail provided in this read. Undara has certainly made it onto my travel bucket list now! So it really is a moment of genius to set a thriller/mystery around this fantastic natural phenomenon. There was so much to learn not only about the tubes themselves but, as in Annie’s previous book, the present day scientific work going on there is also well worth a mention. 

‘Emlyn looked up at the sky; the stars out here were incredible, and she held her breath as she gazed at the glowing pinpricks of life that formed a solid band of light from east to west. It soothed her and put everything in perspective. As a speck of microcosmic dust, her life was insignificant, her existence miniscule, so there was no point giving in to her emotions.’

The story itself is a good one! It is a slow build up but once it gets going the escalating tension will easily see you through to a satisfying end. The two main characters, Emlyn and Travis, are on their own journeys and I was really glad of the way Annie lay out their relationship. Romance is in no way the focus here and the way the storylines play out is most realistic. I also appreciated the minor step back in time with another mystery from last century which unfolded alongside the present day one. It added a nice touch with a fitting conclusion for closure. 

Undara is certainly a book worth looking into on a number of levels. Annie takes the reader in directions they certainly would not be expecting. I highly recommend this book and for no other reason than Emlyn insists on drinking tea out of a cup as we do here at Great Reads & Tea Leaves! 

‘David had always smiled at her insistence that you should only drink tea out of fine china. She picked up the cup and twirled it around. It had come from a Royal Albert tea set that Gran had left to her, and she carried it everywhere she went. The gold rim was chipped, and the once-bright flowers had faded, but holding it always soothed her.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.