Excellent book that really captures the flavor of colonial Australia. An emotive account of the last year of life of bushranger Ben Hall, torn between the realities of life as a hunted man and the need to connect with his son. Language, thought patterns and customs are all authentic to the times and the book's terse style perfectly matches the brutality of life in the bush in the gold mining era, where life is cheap and often short. The inevitable conclusion to the story hangs heavily over the reader as it moves to its climax, and the sheer horror of the brief epilogue, where Ben's son is exposed to the inevitable consequences of his father's brief life, is savagely thrust upon the reader in a few short, punchy sentences that really hit home. An excellent piece of Australian literature. ( )