In addition to the Waiting on Wednesday post I did for 30Seven by Jeremy Robinson, I’m also going to do an additional post this week for an awesome upcoming Australian crime fiction read.  This is to make up for missing my regular Waiting on Wednesday post last week (I was away), plus I really wanted to talk about this book which I literally discovered was coming out last night.  This new book is Dark Desert Road by impressive Australian thriller author, Tim Ayliffe, which sounds extremely awesome.

Tim Ayliffe is a rising Australian author whose work I have been really enjoying in recent years, primarily thanks to his John Bailey series.  Utilising his experience as a journalist, Ayliffe has pulled together a series of compelling and complex crime fiction novels as part of a series that follows his journalist protagonist, John Bailey, as he finds himself part of a series of dark crimes and conspiracies. Many of these books, which include The Greater Good, State of Fear, The Enemy Within, Killer Traitor Spy and The Wrong Man, cleverly reference or utilise real-world elements that have been impacting Australia, such as terrorism, espionage and the rise of right-wing extremism, to enhance their narratives.  I have really enjoyed these excellent books, which are regularly amongst the best Australian novels released each year, and it is always interesting to see what Ayliffe explores next.

While I was hoping that we would be getting a new John Bailey novel soon, it looks instead that Ayliffe is going in a very different direction with his next book, Dark Desert Road.  Following a new protagonist, Dark Desert Road will feature a complex Australian thriller as a burnt-out cop attempts to save her long-estranged family while also dealing with the dark fringes of Australian society.  Set for release in early January 2026, Dark Desert Road will likely be one of the very first books I read in the new year, and I am already excited by its compelling sounding plot.

Plot Synopsis:

Kit McCarthy hasn’t seen her identical twin sister, Billie, in more than a decade.

The sisters don’t see eye to eye, which is understandable, considering Kit’s a police officer and Billie followed their violent father into a life of crime.

Kit is no angel. Burnt out by years working in child protection, she has been accused of using excessive force in the arrest of a violent drunk. Kit has just been ordered to take time off work when she gets a frantic message from Billie, telling her she has a young son and that somebody is trying to kill her.

And then Billie disappears.

Determined to find her estranged sister, Kit’s only lead comes after visiting their father in prison. Malcolm McCarthy claims Billie married a former United States Marine and has been living with a group of sovereign citizens in the desert country of the New South Wales Riverina.

Kit’s journey to find Billie takes her through shuttered towns destroyed by drought, where everybody owns guns, nobody talks to cops, and people get lost for a reason.

Out here a war is brewing between a ruthless bikie gang and a separatist community that is re-engaging with society in the most violent way.

Kit will risk everything to find her sister and the nephew she never knew she had.

But does Billie really want to be saved?

Ok, now this looks like another particularly impressive Australian crime fiction novel from Ayliffe.  Moving away from the author’s previous journalistic/espionage focused narratives in the big city, Dark Desert Road will be more of a classic, outback Australian crime fiction tale, loaded with gritty action, complex characters and an isolated setting.  However, Ayliffe will also throw in his customary examination of Australian society, this time by looking at sovereign citizens in the countryside, which, thanks to recent tragic events, is a very significant issue.  I look forward to seeing Ayliffe’s compelling take on this, as well as his depiction of Australia’s declining rural towns, and I am curious to see what sort of story he writes around them.

Due to how compelling and socially relevant Ayliffe’s previous novels have been, I’m quite keen to check out Dark Desert Road, especially as it has an outstanding sounding plot behind it.  It is going to be interesting to see Ayliffe focus on a new protagonist and a very different story focus, and I strongly believe that Dark Desert Road is going to be one of the top Australian releases of 2026, and I am very excited to check it out.