As ever it’s not the beast or animal you need to be concerned about but human nature. I pre ordered this book before uk publication because Simon savage spoke so highly of it and he’s a great book vlogger. I was saving it for an “autumnal/winter” read because of the landscape and harsh weather it’s set in. Won’t lie it does have a slow steady pace for the first 100 odd pages , I did actually put it to one side to finish something else , came back to it and wow

In Dusk, Robbie Arnott crafts a lyrical and atmospheric tale set in a remote, myth-tinged highland landscape. When a puma named Dusk begins killing shepherds, a bounty is placed on its head. Twins Iris and Floyd are out of work, money, and direction, so set out to join the hunt. What follows is more than a pursuit of a predator. As they journey deeper into the wild, they encounter a land haunted by both myth and memory. The highlands are written with such vivid, poetic detail they feel like a living force, mysterious, untamed, and steeped in history. The relationship between Iris and Floyd is tender, conflicted, and deeply affecting. Their bond carries the emotional weight of the story, reflecting themes of devotion, shared grief, and the quiet ache of unrealised dreams. The book’s pacing is measured, allowing the beauty of the prose and the subtle shifts in character to shine. The quest becomes something far more symbolic, touching on ancient conflicts, buried emotions, and the ways we attempt to survive both the external world and our internal one. With its dreamlike tone, sparse yet powerful storytelling, and a perfect ending, Dusk is a book that lingers long after the final page. Read more at The Secret Book Review.

“First she spotted the birds. Pulses of feathered texture in the nearest stand of trees: silvereyes, grey wrens, flame-chested robins. Clawed onto the upper branches was a gang of black cockatoos, ripping seed cones apart with the curved blades of their beaks, their yellow tail feathers flashing with the work. High above them all floated a pair of eagles, dark as death, arcing serenely through the weak clouds.” Dusk is the fourth novel by award-wining Australian author, Robbie Arnott. Thirty-seven-year-old twins, Iris and Floyd Renshaw, out of work, low on cash, and mostly unwelcome in the lowlands, are headed up to the highland plains. They have heard there’s a bounty on the puma that’s up there killing sheep, shepherds and anyone hunting for her, even a certain Patagonian professional. Not that they have experience, much of a plan, or a suitable weapon. And Floyd’s physical condition can be variable. But when they arrive, Iris feels an immediate connection with the highlands. “Instead of harshness or bleakness she felt a freeing, lung-emptying openness that bounced off the hard stone, that waved through the thick mounds of tufted grass, threaded through the gnarled trees, fell down the chalky textures of the small tors she and Floyd rode below. That lived most of all in the tarns that appeared without warning, rising through the rock, pooling in her peripheries, dark and glossy and mirror-like.” Encounters and incidents during their journey bring to mind a somewhat troubled childhood with their escaped-convict parents, whose care could be erratic, whose notorious reputation tainted the twins, the mixed emotions attached to good memories and bad: “… the truth of what they had done wasn’t the truth of all that they were.” When Iris rides west to earn some coin cutting peat, she learns a bit more about the puma they call Dusk, and that not everyone wants her dead. In Rossdale, news of yet another victim may put the bounty in doubt, but does nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of a certain charismatic individual for the hunt. Patrick Lees somehow convinces Iris: what can Floyd do, but reluctantly go along. “Floyd came to see that the greatest gift of his life was that he spent it riding by her side, and that the troubles they faced were worth it, and would always be worth it, if you had a sister like Iris.” But when the three arrive high up where the rivers begin, where they are confident they will find the cat, a surprise awaits them, and things don’t at all go according to plan. Arnott gives the reader a plot that takes a turn or two before a heart-thumping climax (or two), and protagonist twins who can read each other intimately and are deeply devoted: “A distilled terror drenched his broken body; he couldn’t watch what was happening, and neither could he look away. He felt he was coming to an end of all things, not merely in his life but in the life of the universe, for without Iris there was nothing – no reality that held him alive and not her.” Arnott’s language is never a blunt tool, but gorgeous prose, rich and lyrical,. Whether a phrase, a sentence or a paragraph, it is exquisite, as these examples demonstrate: “… through the golden wattles while their last flowers still brightened the air. All that divine colour might have felt like an omen: heaven leaking between the trees” and “… watching the moon glow to life and pour its cold light onto the rippled sea” and “Rock and water had come to dominate the landscape: broken boulders fields of snow, mossy stones, mirror tarns and among it all little rivulets, trickling through the land as glassy arteries.” Once again, Robbie Arnott does not disappoint.

A truly memorable read and is one of the stand out books of the year for me so far. A tale of family, adventure, trust and danger, this book is rich in storytelling and I was delighted in how much I got out of reading it. Robbie Arnott’s writing is truly captivating and his description of the world and character’s within the book draws you and makes it feel alive. For those who want to taste and seek out the wilderness, this is the book for you. Thank you to the publisher for my arc. All thoughts, comments and opinions are my own and are reflective of me reading this book.

I’ve read this a while ago now as a proof copy from the publishers and my thoughts have been simmering on this luscious book. I’m always drawn to stories about siblings and complicated family and this one was no different. I haven’t read anything by Robbie Arnott before so I didn't know what to expect but I was pleasantly impressed with the way he writes. I read a different review somewhere that the forest is almost like a third character and I couldn’t agree more- there’s a big emphasis on nature and the forest feels alive. If you like that nature element, you’ll really like this. And the characters were fleshed out and flawed and felt real. I could imagine that this would make a great limited series