Charlie Smithers: Adventures Downunder (The Charlie Smithers Collection Book 3)
C W LovattAfter his last adventure in India, having dodged death in more ways than you can imagine, one might think that our hero, Charlie Smithers – loyal manservant to the dunderhead, Lord Brampton (with five lines in Debrett, and a hopeless shot to boot) – would have earned a long respite from the perils of the world, wouldn’t you? Alas, it was not to be, as you will soon find out for yourself. What’s more, with its wide-open spaces, vast tracts of arid desert populated by hardy individuals, exotic creatures, and enough venomous spiders and snakes to sink a battleship, the Outback of Australia is the perfect place for it all to happen.
Be that as it may, however, through the course of researching a project, there comes a time when I know whether or not I have a feel for the land where the story occurs. After pouring over tome after tome, map after map, and wearing the search engine of my computer to a frazzle, I finally had to admit that this all important, indefinable quality, was still eluding me, and that a road trip to ‘Oz’ was in order. I wanted to see it all for myself – to walk over the same ground that Charlie walked, rode and crawled in his latest, and strangest, adventure, for – knowing our Australian cousins as I do, and open and friendly as they are, I harboured no doubt that, if there were any inaccuracies, they would waste little time in tearing this work to shreds, in a frenzy of justifiable indignation. Being the serious writer that I am, I’m sure you will accept these very plausible reasons at face value, and that venturing into a land rich with sunshine, vineyards and breweries had nothing to do with my decision, whatsoever…