Reviewed by Elizabetta

TITLE: Red Dirt Heart 3

SERIES: Red Dirt

AUTHOR: NR Walker

PUBLISHER: self published

LENGTH: 287 pages

BLURB:  

Life for Charlie Sutton has never been better, or busier. With Travis now a permanent fixture of Sutton Station, a permanent fixture at Charlie’s side, Charlie’s convinced he couldn’t do anything on his ever-growing to-do list without him.

He can run a multimillion dollar cattle business, finish his degree, try and further the local beef industry, deal with staff issues, Ma’s failing health, and an attention-demanding wombat. He can even deal with an unexpected visitor and some shattering news. 

He can deal with it all, as long as he has Travis.

But what happens when he doesn’t?

Red Dirt Heart 3 is the story of Charlie Sutton finally realising he can be the man Travis Craig deserves, even if he doesn’t have Travis. It’s a story of love, family, holding on, letting go and coming home.

REVIEW: 

Charlie Sutton has a lot on his plate, but life is looking good and he has a good man by his side. His love affair with Travis has galvanized him. Charlie’s a man on a mission and with Travis’ help, they work to improve and modernize Outback ranching.

For me, Charlie’s story shines when it’s about this red dirt home that he loves. When he’s out on Shelby checking stock, fences or bores, when he’s wrangling cows, birthing calves, discussing innovations in tracking the herd, he comes alive with his love for this land.

“… the desert looked particularly pretty… I loved it. It reminded me of who I was, why I was here, like it was just me and this beautiful and cruel country…”

But, the rest of it… all of Charlie’s old insecurities, his not feeling good enough for Travis, of waiting for Charlie to leave him when he “gets tired of it all” just wears me down. Don’t get me wrong, I love Charlie. I really feel for that lonely boy who became so distanced from his father and the mother he barely remembers. But this book revolves around many of the same issues found in the first two books. Just in more detail. 

In fact, the author works hard to step us through all of Charlie’s ups and downs in dealing with those old insecurities. We see him making discoveries about his family; secrets are uncovered when Charlie finds a box of old mementos kept by his father. He learns that there’s more to his father… both good and bad. There are problems with Ma and with some of the ranch hands that Charlie faces with patience and love. There’s even a new adopted critter, this time a baby wombat. The wombat takes up a large part of the story as it seems only Charlie can care for it. While this is endearing at first, it becomes a bit much. I think, therein lies some of my issues… it’s all a little too much.

So, while it’s good to see Charlie growing out of himself, and there are interesting developments in his story, the delivery doesn’t help. Charlie’s first person POV which worked well in the first book somehow only works to diminish him now. All the confidence he has when he’s managing his ranch gets subverted when it comes to his personal issues. Such as simply believing in Travis’ love for him. It seems that all of Travis’ love and affection, all of his pushing and guidance, his constant proof of his love, is not enough. Travis is this incredibly generous, big-hearted guy who loves Charlie for himself. What a great guy Travis is! Unfortunately, another issue I had with the narrative in book two– the many, over-used, over-hyphenated adjectives that Charlie uses in his own voice to narrate the story show up in droves again… 

“Travis had done his I’m-being-serious eye-staring-thing along with his don’t-fucking-argue jaw-bulging-thing, and I didn’t have the fight in me.”

“Trav groaned and lifted his arse for me in a hurry-up-and-just-fucking-do-it-already kind of way.”

“He smiled at my what-the-hell-does-that-mean expression.”

“They gave me not-knowing-what-to-say looks” 

“I replied with a shameless but-I-haven’t see-him-in-so-long look.”

…so many…  I counted at least thirty before giving up. 

The story developments I mentioned earlier do move things along and tie up some loose strings in the plot, but somewhere along the way I lost any sense of urgency in Charlie’s story. Those developments are watered down by the weird language and all the fussing. I know that many will love this book– these are great guys, how could you not love them? I’ve added a star to my rating just for them. If you are a fan of the first two books then this one will be a welcome addition. For me, it’s a mixed bag.

RATING:  

BUY LINKS: 

Amazon

Amazon.uk

ARe