Reviewed by Carl Delprat
Daintree.
By Annie Seaton
Pan Macmillan
November 2016, ISBN: 9781743535691, Paperback, 336 pages, $29.99
I love when a book opens with a map as a reference. It must be the boy in me who is still looking for that buried treasure. It’s obvious that Annie Seaton has put great efforts into researching this story and she is well at home with this genre. The characters throughout are all well honed, coming across as credible, and the immaculately portrayed places fully loaded with poisonous snakes, aggressive cassowaries, amusing characters, exotic parrots, random crocodiles, and a selection of assorted frogs. The writing reveals a majestic and ancient rainforest. The main protagonist is Doctor Emma Porter, sister of the pilot from Kakadu Ellie Porter, as this is book two of the Porter Sister series. Apart from being the linchpin in an understaffed hospital team, Enna also tackles bush medicine, her own alternative medicine practice, compulsive social gatherings, steamy passion, dangerous encounters, and illegal trapping.
Emma has a choice of suitors, a surly policeman named Craig, a tree hugging Troy, and a bare chested-stud muffin-ex lover-silver spooned-dishy chap by the name of Doctor Jeremy Langford. With these three studs hovering about Crooked Cottage and eager for her affections, Emma always has time for a close relationship with two colourful locals, the half-feral George and an Aboriginal witch named Wilma, as well as Bowser a feisty little black snake hunting Staffordshire terrier.
The travelogue alone makes a grand tale and to interweave suspense into a thrilling conclusion makes this armchair experience a one to remember. Seaton’s characters all stay true to life and are easy to empathise with. The beat of this story is the tried and true formula of a once lost love rekindled within a rainforest setting and spliced around some very evil doings. Rainforest creatures spice up the narrative and the layout of locations are described in vibrant detail. Daintree is a free-flowing tale appropriate for a wide-ranging audience and will pleasure most reader’s appetites.
About the reviewer: Carl Delprat is a prolific storyteller. His home is the Australian coastal city of Newcastle, New South Wales. Find his books at: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/CarlDelprat