Hero: The gripping thriller from the author of OUTBACK, BRAND NEW for Autumn 2026
May 2026 · A DS Walker Thriller Book 5 · Embla Books
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About this ebook
'The magic that Patricia Wolf brings to crime writing is extraordinary...the best of the genre' NetGalley review, 5 stars
The new unmissable instalment in the DS Walker series!
A sporting legend. A brutal death. A dark legacy.
DS Lucas Walker is back home in Queensland, following the dramatic fallout from his last case. He is just getting to grips with his new role in the small outback town of Katima, when the body of an unknown young man is found hanging from a tree in the park.
What at first looks like a tragic suicide soon has Walker's detective instincts on alert, and he and his young partner throw themselves into the case - discovering a connection with an unsolved death.
And then a brutal murder changes everything. The victim is Caden Conroy, national cricketing hero, and the dark nature of his death leads to an unparallelled media frenzy.
When Walker is sidelined by Brisbane Homicide after being first on the scene, he must go his own way to unpick the deceit and corruption at the heart of these cases. Only then will he know if they are connected, and how - but at what cost?
Still reeling from Berlin, and with his own family in freefall, DS Lucas Walker faces one of his toughest cases yet in the fifth instalment of this gripping, bestselling Aussie Noir series - for fans of Jane Harper, Cara Hunter and Chris Hammer.
Readers can't get enough of Hero!
'This series is much like a Jane Harper or Cleeves book... flawed characters and twisty plot... I loved it!' NetGalley review, 5 stars
'Absolutely adored this... devoured it over a couple of days! ... One of my favourite books of the year and I can't wait to read more from the author' NetGalley review, 5 stars
'I'm a huge fan of this series... they really evoke life in a small outback town... I really can't wait for the next DS Lucas Walker instalment!' NetGalley review, 5 stars
'Cracking story, with more than a few twists along the way.' NetGalley review, 5 stars
'I fell into this book straight away and found it so hard to put down. I really didn't want it to end... You can't get better in this genre.' NetGalley review, 5 stars
'This book was like putting on a familiar pair of comfy slippers' NetGalley review, 5 stars
'Lucas Walker is back with his fifth outing from Patricia Wolf and what an outing it is! ...the book is a cracking good story... that will keep the reader turning the pages until the final word' NetGalley review, 5 stars
'I finished the book in two days... 5 stars from me. Patricia Wolf is one of my favourite authors - I will read anything she writes' NetGalley review, 5 stars
'Another winner in the DS Walker series!' NetGalley review, 5 stars
'Had me hooked right from the start... the ending leaving me totally eager to read the next book!' NetGalley review, 5 stars
'I'll happily be reading book 55 if they're all like this... the last chapter has me excited for the next book already' NetGalley review, 4 stars
'Shenanigans and cricket = murder!... suspenseful and fascinating... Patricia Wolf had me truly caught up with the characters... Definitely recommended, especially if you, like me, love Australian suspense!' NetGalley review, 5 stars
The new unmissable instalment in the DS Walker series!
A sporting legend. A brutal death. A dark legacy.
DS Lucas Walker is back home in Queensland, following the dramatic fallout from his last case. He is just getting to grips with his new role in the small outback town of Katima, when the body of an unknown young man is found hanging from a tree in the park.
What at first looks like a tragic suicide soon has Walker's detective instincts on alert, and he and his young partner throw themselves into the case - discovering a connection with an unsolved death.
And then a brutal murder changes everything. The victim is Caden Conroy, national cricketing hero, and the dark nature of his death leads to an unparallelled media frenzy.
When Walker is sidelined by Brisbane Homicide after being first on the scene, he must go his own way to unpick the deceit and corruption at the heart of these cases. Only then will he know if they are connected, and how - but at what cost?
Still reeling from Berlin, and with his own family in freefall, DS Lucas Walker faces one of his toughest cases yet in the fifth instalment of this gripping, bestselling Aussie Noir series - for fans of Jane Harper, Cara Hunter and Chris Hammer.
Readers can't get enough of Hero!
'This series is much like a Jane Harper or Cleeves book... flawed characters and twisty plot... I loved it!' NetGalley review, 5 stars
'Absolutely adored this... devoured it over a couple of days! ... One of my favourite books of the year and I can't wait to read more from the author' NetGalley review, 5 stars
'I'm a huge fan of this series... they really evoke life in a small outback town... I really can't wait for the next DS Lucas Walker instalment!' NetGalley review, 5 stars
'Cracking story, with more than a few twists along the way.' NetGalley review, 5 stars
'I fell into this book straight away and found it so hard to put down. I really didn't want it to end... You can't get better in this genre.' NetGalley review, 5 stars
'This book was like putting on a familiar pair of comfy slippers' NetGalley review, 5 stars
'Lucas Walker is back with his fifth outing from Patricia Wolf and what an outing it is! ...the book is a cracking good story... that will keep the reader turning the pages until the final word' NetGalley review, 5 stars
'I finished the book in two days... 5 stars from me. Patricia Wolf is one of my favourite authors - I will read anything she writes' NetGalley review, 5 stars
'Another winner in the DS Walker series!' NetGalley review, 5 stars
'Had me hooked right from the start... the ending leaving me totally eager to read the next book!' NetGalley review, 5 stars
'I'll happily be reading book 55 if they're all like this... the last chapter has me excited for the next book already' NetGalley review, 4 stars
'Shenanigans and cricket = murder!... suspenseful and fascinating... Patricia Wolf had me truly caught up with the characters... Definitely recommended, especially if you, like me, love Australian suspense!' NetGalley review, 5 stars
'The magic that Patricia Wolf brings to crime writing is extraordinary...the best of the genre' NetGalley review, 5 stars
The new unmissable instalment in the DS Walker series!
A sporting legend. A brutal death. A dark legacy.
DS Lucas Walker is back home in Queensland, following the dramatic...
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Ratings and reviews
19 reviews
Viv Maddox
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August 6, 2026
when you read a book in a great series, and you want to pre-order the next book because....well, because you are addicted to great storytelling and especially the main character. you need to know more!
Lucy Miller
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October 3, 2026
I think this is a great return to Australia for DS Walker. The Katima setting, a high profile case with some good twists and turns and the satisfying unravelling of a case that connects the dots. It's also nice to have some personal growth and joy for DS Walker who is spending time with family, connecting to his roots and perhaps starting something new and exciting with a lady who has caught his eye...looking forward to the next instalment.
Linda Brown
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May 20, 2026
Shenanigans + cricket = murder!🏏I love the main character: honest & dedicated police detective Lucas Walker. This story set in rural Queensland & the series in general give him an interesting family life & some romance, but it's the crimes he investigates & the way he has to be inventive about end-running bad cops & bureaucracy that make his cases suspenseful & fascinating. Always with a sense of tension, that he's going to run into a roadblock too many & his career & life hang in the balance.
About the author
Patricia Wolf has been a journalist for more than 15 years, a regular contributor to titles including The Guardian, the Financial Times, The Independent and The Telegraph, among others. She grew up in outback Australia, in a mining town called Mount Isa in far north-west Queensland - eagle eyed readers will have spotted a small reference to it in her first book, Outback. Patricia loves the rugged beauty, indigo sky and wide horizons of the outback, but left Australia after university to travel the world and became a journalist. She lives in Berlin, Germany, but the outback always calls her home. In 2019, just before the covid pandemic locked us all in, Patricia spent two months in northwest Queensland, taking a four-week road trip. As she drove and spent nights and days surrounded by the beauty and rugged harshness of the outback, DI Lucas Walker and his stories came to be.
Patricia Wolf has been a journalist for more than 15 years, a regular contributor to titles including The Guardian, the Financial Times, The Independent and The Telegraph, among others. She grew up in outback Australia, in a mining town called Mount Isa in far north-west Queensland - eagle eyed r...
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