Try free for 30 days

Preview
  • Wimmera

  • By: Mark Brandi
  • Narrated by: Fabio Motta
  • Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
  • 3.9 out of 5 stars (298 ratings)

1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Wimmera

By: Mark Brandi
Narrated by: Fabio Motta
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $27.99

Buy Now for $27.99

Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.

Publisher's Summary

Small town. Big Secret.

An unforgettable debut that brings the darkness in an Australian country town vividly to life as it slowly reveals its devastating secrets.

In the long, hot summer of 1989, Ben and Fab are best friends. Growing up in a small country town, they spend their days playing cricket, yabbying in local dams, wanting a pair of Nike Air Maxes and not talking about how Fab's dad hits him or how the sudden death of Ben's next-door neighbour unsettled him. Almost teenagers, they already know some things are better left unsaid.

Then a newcomer arrives in the Wimmera. Fab reckons he is a secret agent, and he and Ben stake him out. Up close, the man's shoulders are wide and the veins in his arms stuck out, blue and green. His hands are enormous, red and knotty. He looks strong. Maybe even stronger than Fab's dad. Neither realises the shadow this man would cast over both their lives.

Twenty years later Fab is still stuck in town, going nowhere but hoping for somewhere better. Then a body is found in the river, and Fab can't ignore the past any more.

Wimmera is the 2016 Winner of the Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger.

©2017 Mark Brandi (P)2017 Hachette Australia Pty Ltd

What listeners say about Wimmera

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    134
  • 4 Stars
    73
  • 3 Stars
    47
  • 2 Stars
    18
  • 1 Stars
    26
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    118
  • 4 Stars
    73
  • 3 Stars
    45
  • 2 Stars
    16
  • 1 Stars
    13
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    119
  • 4 Stars
    62
  • 3 Stars
    42
  • 2 Stars
    20
  • 1 Stars
    24

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

compelling

The author creates accurately the feelings and uncertainties of adolescence. The relentless heat of the Australian bush is so well depicted that you can feel it, and the way the story weaves itself around the crux of the plot keeps the reader glued to the story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Exquisitely beautiful but devastatingly tragic.

I read this off the back of reading ‘Less’ so it was a tall order to hit a mark that would leave me feeling satisfied. Firstly I was disarmed by Brandi’s extraordinary ability to capture the very essence of what it was like growing up in Australia in the 70s and 80s. The innocence of the 2 main characters and the business of negotiating childhood is exquisite.
But the darkness that creeps into their lives is so subtle that the growing tension leaves you on edge and yet totally ill prepared for the devastating conclusion. No book has ever had me in tears. And as Wimmera drew to a close I sobbed and sobbed.
I loved this book and felt profoundly moved by Fabio Motta’s gentle tender read. His narration provided perfect nuance to Brandi’s story of youthful innocence betrayed and destroyed beyond all recognition.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Well Worth the Read

Really well plotted. Great Aussie colloquialisms. Written with discretion and full of emotion.

I'll remember this book for a very long time

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Very very slow

This is a frustrating near miss. I love The Dry and Tim Winton giving me access to rural malaise but I knew there would be abuse as soon as the character entered the story.
Subtle but slow. I did stick it out to the end.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Mixed feelings

Growing up in the 80's and 90's Victoria this story had some nostalgic elements. At times I was gripped and wanted more, but the end just didn't quite work for me. Fab's family history and the sentencing just didn't quite come together. I enjoyed the book and would recommend, however, don't expect a feel good experience.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

intreaging

would have been better if the reader was Australin as it was strange listening to Aussie slang with a South African accent

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Story could have been better

I think there was way too much in the text about young boys’ wanking, wet dreams and fantasy stuff that just got rather tedious. I don’t know whether it was the author’s intention to try and titillate his readers, but it left this reader high and dry.
The focus should have been on the story line and plot which was left undeveloped while the author went on about the boys’ pubescent fantasies and their ‘stiffies’. It just got a bit boring and unnecessary after a while.
I was hoping the author would break out into a more mature perspective but I was disappointed ultimately by the lack
Of imagination.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

relevant to today

I found it a captivating read with a well constructed ending. The narration complements the story so well that it gripped me throughout.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Just seemed to be missing bits

The story itself was good, but where there was lots of detail in the beginning, it just trailed off at the end, and finished rather abruptly.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Aussie Book

Such a sad story. The book was written well and showed such an amazing story of resilience and mateship.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.