Chris Hammer

Love the Martin Scarsden series here’s a bio I wrote for a friends website she didn’t end up using.

Before becoming an instant best-selling author Chris Hammer worked as a journalist for over thirty years. He spent time international affairs and he covered Australian federal politics. He was a roving foreign correspondent for Dateline on SBS TV. He was able to report from six continents and thirty countries. When Mr. Hammer was a chief political correspondent in Canberra for several news outlets.

Mr. Hammer has a Bachelor degree in Journalism from Charles Stuart University and his Masters Degree in International Relations achieved at Australian National University. Mr. Hammer and his wife, Dr. Tomoko Akami, live in Canberra with their two children.

Mr. Hammer’s first book was published in 2010 with wide critical acclaim. His book, The River, was shortlisted for the Manning Clark House National Cultural Award and the Walkley Book Award. The River was also recognized as the ACT Book of the Year Award.  Certainly an illustrious start to his fiction career.

The Martin Scarsden series is one of his most popular and best selling of his books. This series has been a best seller in many countries.

His writing method is fairly loose. He allows the story to develop on its own and doesn’t try to plot it out in advance.

The Martin Scarsden series started in 2018 with the debut novel, Scrublands. It was an instant best seller in Australia. In 2019 it won the very prestigious John Creasey Award, bestowed by the U.K. Crime Writers’ Association Dagger Awards. Mr. Hammer’s exciting debut novel was on the shortlist of many writing award lists. The U.S., U.K., and Australia have all listed Scrublands as a sure winner. It was recognized as The Sunday Times crime Novel of the Year in 2019.

The Martin Scarsden series tells the tales of a journalist named Martin Scarsden and Mandalay Blonde, his partner. Mr. Hammer’s stories are renowned for infusing the legendary, vibrant landscape and atmosphere of Australia into his stories. He writes with descriptive language, colorful characters, and plots that are intricate and exciting.

The Martin Scarsden series starts with Scrublands. Riversend is a community afflicted by an endless drought. It’s remote and isolated. The isolation doesn’t protect the town from the horrific acts of others.  

It appears a young priest has done the unthinkable. Five parishioners were killed by him before he took his own life.

A year on, Martin Scarsden has arrived in Riversend. As a journalist, he has the assignment to explore the event of the killings and learn how the townspeople have coped in the past year.  

The one year anniversary go the horrible tragedy is coming and people will be talking. Martin works to meet the locals as he listens to the community’s version of what happened.  

He starts to realize the oft repeated version of what happened may be the wrong one. Martin’s own award-winning newspaper’s investigation seems to him to be wrong.

As Martin sees he’s making roads into the investigation, Riversend is rocked by a new crime. The sensationalism of this new incident creates a national media frenzy and Martin finds himself smack in the middle of an entirely new mystery.

Martin has too many questions. He still doesn’t know the real reason behind the priest murdering his parishioners. Do those deaths have any connection to the current ones? His efforts are placing his mental state, his job, and his life at risk.

The third entry in the Martin Scarsden series by Chris Hammer is TRUST. Mr. Hammer is considered an artist as he writes about the settings and background of the Australian outback.  His writing of his native country has been described as an “extra character.”

In TRUST, Martin Scarsden’s journey starts on the beaches of Port Silver, Australia. Martin isn’t there for a story; he’s there with his son, Liam, having a great time building their relationship.  

Martin is feeling relaxed at home and having a great time with his son. A phone call interrupts his enjoyment. He lets it go to voicemail. It rings again and he decides to answer it this time, his bubble of relaxation is burst.  

His former boss and mentor, Max Fuller, has a huge story and he wants Martin to cover it. Max asked Martin to go to Sydney to cover a story. He’s very comfortable with his life and he’s obviously hesitant.  

Martin talks to Mandalay first. He checks his voicemail and it’s Mandy who’s shrieking and sounds at her wit’s end. Martin’s heart stops for a moment and he flies in off the beach with Liam in tow.  

He runs up the steps to his clifftop home and runs into the house. He is astonished to find an unconscious man, blood running from a head wound. Where’s Mandy?  

Martin’s search for her will take him to Sydney. He’s a bit disoriented in this huge city. The little outback towns have been a comfort to him. The fact that Mandy’s past is coming knocking and she has no control.  

Mandy was previously engaged to a man, who vanished with no trace, after he embezzled millions of dollars from a bank. Now he’s been found dead.  Mandy is finding out he wasn’t who he claimed to be.  

While she ponders the pros and cons of revealing other secrets of her past Martin is struggling too. That story he has been pressured to investigate? It’s big, really big and there are those being killed off to keep it a secret. Martin has to determine who is trustworthy and who to avoid.