Wild Dogs

Gabe Ahern earns a living trapping dingoes and other wild dogs in Western Australia. He is grieving the loss of his partner, Valerie, and feels responsible for her death. Gabe is an experienced trapper but in order to make a living he occasionally uses unorthodox methods to increase his haul. He is also not permitted to trap dogs on Aboriginal reserves.

One day while checking traps he is aware of a disturbance nearby and when he investigates he witnesses a man being shot and a second man about to receive the same fate. He intervenes which  is where he meets Amin who has arrived in Australia from Afghanistan aboard a people smuggling boat. His wife and child arrived on another boat and Amin wants to find them. Gabe becomes involved in the attempt to rescue Amins's family. A young Aboriginal man and the local nurse also  inadvertently become involved in the chase.

In this fast paced, tension filled Australian thriller we encounter the crimes perpetrated by people smugglers and those who assist them in Australia. The novel also reveals how people can gradually understand  and accept people of different races and beliefs. Despite the violence this is a story of compassion as a group of individuals with their own challenges strive to assist those whose lives are in danger.  Wild Dogs by Michael Trant is the first book in the Gabe Ahern series.