Scrublands by Chris Hammer

Martin is an almost washed up journalist who is dealing with PTSD and is sent to write about a really remote town in the Australian drought-ridden outback that has experienced a brutal multiple murder by a priest. The imagery of this area is so barren, dusty and miserable that it is hard to imagine anyone wanting to live there - they are banged-up mentally and physically. Martin is just as banged-up and takes to the town especially the young bookstore owner. As he probes for answers about the murderous priest there is more violence. He is both a hero and a villain, taking turns to rat someone out and rescue someone else in the same breath. The drawback is that Martin is no "Jack Reacher" and this town is an unpredictable environment to conduct a sensitive murder investigation. The upshot is that he can't fix the town until he fixes himself. There is so much action, violence, and subplots that it is easy for the reader to get bogged down. Every horrible thing that you can think of from gun-slinging priests to rape, kidnapping, motorcycle gangs, paternity suits, false identities, and post-war trauma - this book has it all.