In The Outlands, Frank Torn sets the story in a worn-down, postwar Australia where families try to survive both danger and the emotional scars they’ve been living with for years. The plot follows people whose stories connect through loss, secrets, and past hurts that still shape them. Emiel is a young man changed by a painful experience he doesn’t fully understand, and his mother Ethel tries to shield him while working through her own fear and confusion. Around them, others in the community battle ongoing issues like guilt and grief that still linger. Time slips, strange events, and a shadowy dingo make the world feel slightly off, as if the land itself has been wounded. Each character wants peace and answers, but can they ever escape the past?

Frank Torn writes in a simple style that merges real-life family issues with a hint of mystery and quiet surreal moments. The setting is both captivating and enchanting. It gives the whole story an impactful tension that never lets go. The shifts in reality help show how trauma can break someone's sense of time and memory without turning the story into something confusing. The characters grow through fear, love, and their need to understand what happened to them, and their progress is believable and unforced. Readers who like slow, thoughtful stories with emotional themes and a light touch of the unreal will enjoy The Outlands. It’s the kind of story that makes you think about how people deal with pain long after the moment has passed.

Frank Torn’s The Outlands will fascinate fans of science fiction and dystopian tales, featuring fully drawn characters and multilayered conflict. The story presents a world decimated by war and suffering from harsh elements. Emiel is a young man who has been deeply hurt and has suffered from the violent history of his family on their isolated farm. He is unable to tell reality from hallucinations and is only able to learn about his family’s history through fragments of memories. Ethel is a healer with a gentle love that guides her son, Bellamy, through his emotional and physical hurts. Bellamy himself is a mechanic and a survivor who wants to rebuild the world after destruction. The novel features other characters, such as Silas, a boy whose life is changed after one fateful night. Can life ever become normal for these characters?

The Outlands is an excellent read, and I loved how well the author developed the dystopian atmosphere. It felt like I was watching a science fiction movie. Frank Torn’s writing is gorgeous, and the descriptions are terrific. The characters are confronted with existential threats, violence, loss, and attempts at redemption, and Bellamy’s journey to the Grove was symbolic, an act of rebirth. The suspense is built around the multiple subplots, and the author makes sure you are left guessing what happens next. One of the elements that impressed was the carefully rendered setting of the Outlands with the dying farmhouses, the never-ending storms, and the jagged cliffs. The imagery of blood-streaked landscapes, shards of glass, and haunted fields will stay in your mind long after you turn the last page. This book is a winner.