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Tin Town: From London to the Australian Outback
Forget a year in Provence try living in the dusty outback of remote New South Wales.
280 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 20, 2015
18 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
P.M. Lane
3 books62 followersAuthor of Dubai Destiny, Tin Town, Bermuda Bound, Tales of the World Cup and other works. Born in Ireland, he has lived in London, Bermuda, the UAE and Outback Australia. He now lives in Sydney Australia, from where he travels extensively around the Asia-Pacific region. Lane is a passionate traveller spending extended periods in South America, particularly Cuba and Mexico, and working across multiple continents including Australia, Europe, Asia, USA and the Middle East.
Lane’s first short story Christobel, was published by the Bermuda Royal Gazette while living on the island and he has written both fiction and non-fiction books and short stories since then. In addition to this, he has written speeches for government politicians and a number of poems on subjects ranging from climate change to the wildlife of the outback.
Lane continues to research and write on a wide variety of subjects and is currently completing KL Cop - The Golden Triangle. This is planned to be the first in a series of novels, inspired by his time living and working in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, while his popular work Tin Town is in the process of being translated into Chinese.
Lane’s first short story Christobel, was published by the Bermuda Royal Gazette while living on the island and he has written both fiction and non-fiction books and short stories since then. In addition to this, he has written speeches for government politicians and a number of poems on subjects ranging from climate change to the wildlife of the outback.
Lane continues to research and write on a wide variety of subjects and is currently completing KL Cop - The Golden Triangle. This is planned to be the first in a series of novels, inspired by his time living and working in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, while his popular work Tin Town is in the process of being translated into Chinese.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 7, 2025
When you finally see yourself as a "real nowhere man, living in your nowhere land" on your mind-numbingly boring daily commutes into and outta the city, you've GOTTA FINALLY BREAK FREE.
Lennon and McCartney were right - Freedom is then our ONLY option.
And so thinks the hero of this fascinating adventure book, as he looks, finally awakened, upon the dead eyes of his fellow Tube passengers. Thinks he: NO WAY will I become like that!
This is a book of tough love - all about one brave guy’s adventures and misadventures in one of the few last virgin spaces on our otherwise hyperstimulated and carefully conditioned lost planet, careening without mature guidance through the inner depths of a galaxy far, far away from any sorta common moral sense.
The thesis is simple. The hero is sick and tired of being sickened and tired - by the relentlessly silly daily commute into central London. So what does he do? Too easy.
He throws a random dart at the map and GOES there, without polite Well-Cultivated Brit Farewells. For that’s what his sudden throwing-up of his life’s chosen métier amounts to.
Luck of the dice.
And as it turns out, the underpopulated Australian Outback shows him a turn of a Very Friendly Card!
Sure, there’s some bad breaks. But as my friend Bob Mitchell used to grimly say in OUR soulless office, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do…
I, for one, chanced upon this Ultimately Escapist book, though the luck of responding positively to its author’s Friend Request.
So glad I did!
If you, too, feel hyperstimuated and hyper-controlled by nonstop gobbledegoop newspeak, YOU too will love it.
And, oh, what a RELIEF it is from our postmodern Land of the Dead.
So, my hat's off to Phil. For, like Andrew Marvell, he has learned to forget about this plastic life, and:
Tear his pleasures with rough strife
Through the Iron Gates of Life!
Lennon and McCartney were right - Freedom is then our ONLY option.
And so thinks the hero of this fascinating adventure book, as he looks, finally awakened, upon the dead eyes of his fellow Tube passengers. Thinks he: NO WAY will I become like that!
This is a book of tough love - all about one brave guy’s adventures and misadventures in one of the few last virgin spaces on our otherwise hyperstimulated and carefully conditioned lost planet, careening without mature guidance through the inner depths of a galaxy far, far away from any sorta common moral sense.
The thesis is simple. The hero is sick and tired of being sickened and tired - by the relentlessly silly daily commute into central London. So what does he do? Too easy.
He throws a random dart at the map and GOES there, without polite Well-Cultivated Brit Farewells. For that’s what his sudden throwing-up of his life’s chosen métier amounts to.
Luck of the dice.
And as it turns out, the underpopulated Australian Outback shows him a turn of a Very Friendly Card!
Sure, there’s some bad breaks. But as my friend Bob Mitchell used to grimly say in OUR soulless office, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do…
I, for one, chanced upon this Ultimately Escapist book, though the luck of responding positively to its author’s Friend Request.
So glad I did!
If you, too, feel hyperstimuated and hyper-controlled by nonstop gobbledegoop newspeak, YOU too will love it.
And, oh, what a RELIEF it is from our postmodern Land of the Dead.
So, my hat's off to Phil. For, like Andrew Marvell, he has learned to forget about this plastic life, and:
Tear his pleasures with rough strife
Through the Iron Gates of Life!
April 22, 2024
FREE Christmas Download - Escape to the Australian Outback
https://www.amazon.com.au/Tin-Town-Lo...
https://www.amazon.com.au/Tin-Town-Lo...
September 2, 2021
Good read
Enjoyed reading about life in Broken Hill. Great descriptions of the town, surrounding landscape and love of the town and its people.
Enjoyed reading about life in Broken Hill. Great descriptions of the town, surrounding landscape and love of the town and its people.
November 11, 2017
I'm not sure when this book was written but as a female lived in Broken Hill in the 60's and 70's when the mines were at their peak and very male dominated. I too had not long emigrated from the UK as a ten pound Pom. I saw Menindee Lakes full and also empty. I used to sail a Dutchman dinghy on it. The sailing club was thriving. I loved Broken Hill and its freedom, peace, wide roads, huge skies, remoteness and silence and remarkable views of this huge sunburnt country. It is very close to what the author described but in some ways over the top, probably to make more interest for the reader. We all know it is a very hot, dry, arid and remote place but I thought there were far too many references to this throughout the book. Thankfully no humidity. However, the book brought back many memories for me and some reminders too of places. A very interesting and nostalgic read for me. I now live on the Sunshine Coast, a sub-tropical paradise.
April 9, 2016
I've never been to outback Australia or Broken Hill, but after reading this book I've added Broken Hill to my travel list.
If anyone planning for a trip to outback Australia, I would recommend you to read this book for it gives one the inside of what one should look forward to while in the outback Australia.
I enjoyed reading Tin Town.
If anyone planning for a trip to outback Australia, I would recommend you to read this book for it gives one the inside of what one should look forward to while in the outback Australia.
I enjoyed reading Tin Town.
May 6, 2025
5 stars — A masterclass in understated suspense and haunting atmosphere
“Tin Town” by P.M. Lane is a quietly brilliant novel that seeps under your skin and lingers long after the final page. It’s not loud, not flashy—but that’s exactly where its genius lies.
Lane crafts a world that feels eerily familiar yet deeply unsettling. The titular town becomes a character in its own right—its silences speak volumes, and its secrets press down like mist. The prose is razor-sharp yet poetic, and the pacing is taut with a slow-burn tension that rewards the attentive reader.
What I loved most was the emotional restraint Lane employs—there’s no melodrama, just deep emotional truths cloaked in mystery. The characters are flawed and layered, and their arcs unfurl in a way that’s both subtle and satisfying.
If you enjoy literary thrillers with psychological depth and atmospheric world-building, Tina Town will not disappoint. A quiet triumph from a writer who knows how to haunt both place and page.
“Tin Town” by P.M. Lane is a quietly brilliant novel that seeps under your skin and lingers long after the final page. It’s not loud, not flashy—but that’s exactly where its genius lies.
Lane crafts a world that feels eerily familiar yet deeply unsettling. The titular town becomes a character in its own right—its silences speak volumes, and its secrets press down like mist. The prose is razor-sharp yet poetic, and the pacing is taut with a slow-burn tension that rewards the attentive reader.
What I loved most was the emotional restraint Lane employs—there’s no melodrama, just deep emotional truths cloaked in mystery. The characters are flawed and layered, and their arcs unfurl in a way that’s both subtle and satisfying.
If you enjoy literary thrillers with psychological depth and atmospheric world-building, Tina Town will not disappoint. A quiet triumph from a writer who knows how to haunt both place and page.
August 1, 2024
One of the worst books I have ever read. So badly written
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews