Out of Breath takes us from a small English town to a London art school to backpacking life in Sydney.

Jo Ainsley runs away when things get too hard. After a messy relationship breakup in Sydney, Jo heads to Broome to work on a mango farm so she can extend her visa.

While keen to see the outback, Jo is less sure about the remoteness, lack of mobile connection, and fearful stories about weird men and missing people. The farm work is tedious, she struggles to bond with her fellow workers and she has too much time on her hands to dwell on her past. When she meets Gabe, she is instantly attracted to him and his story of an idyllic life in an off-grid community. After a traumatic farm accident, Jo seeks refuge with this community.

She finds what seems a peaceful utopia, and its charismatic leader, Ally, helps her to start confronting her past. But the community has a darker side and the more Jo learns, the greater danger she is in.

In this vividly descriptive, page-turning psychological thriller, all is not what it seems – are Jo’s suspicion and trust misplaced?

This tense story has plenty of twists, complex characters and beautifully captures the harsh beauty of outback Australia.

Reviewed by Melinda Woledge