Carver deftly weaves Australian history and the plight of the Aborigines through a modern tale of murder, conspiracy and racism in this, her first novel.
India Kane is taking a vacation from her journalism job in London to return to her childhood home of Australia. She is meeting a friend who has uncovered some of India’s long-lost relatives. Just as she arrives in the remote outback town in which she is to meet her friend, she is suddenly arrested for murder. What she uncovers while investigating her friend’s death might get her killed as well.
It was difficult to connect with these characters in the beginning of the book. India can sometimes seem abrasive and caustic, snapping at people who are trying to help and not letting anyone get close to her, but we soon learn there are some good reasons for her to behave this way. Unfortunately, her investigative companion and possible love interest comes off as irritating and rude at first, which doesn’t help to hold the reader’s interest. Fortunately the plot is strong and fast-paced, keeping the reader interested despite the unsympathetic main characters.
By the end, the reader is deeply invested, particularly as India comes to explore her roots. In fact, I would have liked for more time to have been spent on that following the climax of the suspenseful storyline.
Still and all, this is a solid first effort from Carver, evidently well-researched and very well-written. ( )

As we begin the story of "Blood Junction," the reader finds the tragic manner in which the area got its nickname. Forty years before, a family of Aborigines were massacured at this spot.
In present day, India Kane travels to this outback area in Australia to meet her friend, Lauren, for a mini vacation.

Along the way, India's car breaks down and she's given a lift to town by Terrence Dunn.
The next morning, the police storm in, as India is having breakfast, and arrest her for the murder of Dunn and Lauren.

The police attempt to coerce a confession through barbaric methods. India maintains her innocence and is finally permitted to leave the jail when an unknown person provides her bail.

After being released, Indie, former police officer Mickey Johnson, and Det. Jeremy Whitelaw, an Aborigine, investigate the killings.

Through a complex plot with many suspects, the story continues and the reader learns of a scheme to eliminate the Aborigine race. Although hard to believe, the author gives the facts in such a manner that the scenario becomes plausable.

The hunt for the killers is exciting and dramatic. We also learn of a secret about India's past that adds a great deal to the story.

The plot is original and fascinating. India is an enticing heroine who is gutsy and determined. In addition, the author's description of the Australian outback countryside and the Aborigine natives was memorable. ( )

When journalist India Kane travels from Sydney to the outback town of Cooinda for a reunion with her friend Lauren, she has no idea of the town's appalling history. There, forty years earlier, an entire Aboriginal family had been massacred. Locals renamed the town Blood Junction.
Picked up by an off-duty cop when her car dies en-route, India arrives in Cooinda to find Lauren has disappeared. Next day Lauren's body and the cop's are discovered in his car. India, the last person to have seen the alive, is arrested for murder…
[In 1952, in a dusty, remote region of Australia, an Aboriginal family was executed by men wielding machetes. A half century later, a tall, beautiful young reporter who has made a life for herself abroad returns to Australia - and plunges into a mystery that lies at the heart of a family, a friendship, and a nation. Traveling to the Outback where the massacre occurred, India Kane is here to meet her best friend Lauren, a fellow journalist who has a story she wants India to hear." "Then, almost immediately after her arrival in the small, sun-bleached desert town known as Blood Junction, India is implicated in two murders. A stranger to the dark forces at work in this isolated, alienating world, India begins to play a dangerous game with the law and trusts a cop who is an outcast in his own right." Now trying to find the answers to the crimes - and how they relate to the terrible bloodletting fifty years earlier - India finds herself the object of a terrifying pursuit. From the vast and barren Outback to the gleaming cityscape of Sydney, India will struggle to survive in this hostile land against unknown enemies. For as she gets closer and closer to the truth, she must confront her own dark past... and a brutal conspiracy that may leave no one alive. ] ( )