Synopsis:
Something is wrong in the small outback town of Morgan Creek.
A farmer goes missing after a blue in the pub. A teenage couple fail to show up for work. When Patrick and Sheila McDonough investigate, they discover the missing persons list is growing. Before they realise what’s happening, the residents of the remote town find themselves in a fight for their lives against a foe they would never have suspected.
And the dry red earth will run with blood.
Edition:
Paperback
My Thoughts:
Before I get off on a tangent about how desperately in love with this silly book I am, I need to take a moment to just appreciate the Roo bookmark by A Stranger Dream. That’s a big fucken roo, amirite? I can’t promise this will be the last time I say that, but I’ll try, for all our sakes.
So now – onto the book.
The Roo has the most wonderful cover. It’s so reminiscent of the kind of horror I grew up reading – stuff from Zebra, Avon, and the like. I.e. stuff with insane cover art and even more insane synopses. And to be totally honest, the tagline “See you, Outback” had me laughing like a fool long before I even cracked the cover open.
On the topic of that cover – the cover was initially a joke. It was mocked up by author Kealan Patrick Burke in response to an article with the glorious headline: “Australian Town Terrorised by Muscular Kangaroo Attacking People and Eating Gardens.” He posted this to Twitter and a discussion ensued about what a great book that would make – something in the vein of those old horror novels that we’ve come to lovingly refer to as “paperbacks from Hell.” As the sole Aussie taking part in the conversation, everyone seemed to think that Baxter should write it, and the rest is history. This book was essentially the product of a Twitter dare, and I am so very, very grateful for it.
The characters are all people who are part of the horror book crowd on Twitter (excepting, obviously, the Roo), which made things interesting. Do your friends and/or favorite authors live or die?! You’ll just have to read it and find out!
One thing I really want to touch on in this review:
I really appreciated (and I’m unsure if this is standard in Baxter’s work or not since this is my first foray into his writing) is the way that he made it a point to discuss problems that are inherent to rural areas where survival isn’t easy in a very straightforward way. There is a lot of discussion in the book about the regularity of suicide and domestic violence in these communities. There’s also a smattering of pretty frank depictions of the racial inequity and tension between Indigenous Australians and those descended from settlers.
Really, for such a short, silly book, this is actually a really strong story that has some really important shit to say – it just says it in the midst of a massive killer kangaroo is ripping peoples’ arms off and beating them to death with them (that may or may not actually happen – see for yourself).
About the Author:
Alan Baxter is a British-Australian multi-award-winning author of horror, supernatural thrillers, dark fantasy, and crime. He’s also a martial arts expert, a whisky-soaked swear monkey, and dog lover. He creates dark, weird stories among dairy paddocks on the beautiful south coast of NSW, Australia, where he lives with his wife, son, hound, and a bearded dragon called Fifi. You can find his full bibliography here.
Alan has been a seven-time finalist in the Aurealis Awards, a six-time finalist in the Australian Shadows Awards and a seven-time finalist in the Ditmar Awards. He won the 2014 Australian Shadows Award for Best Short Story (“Shadows of the Lonely Dead”), the 2015 Australian Shadows Paul Haines Award For Long Fiction (“In Vaulted Halls Entombed”), and the 2016 Australian Shadows Award for Best Collection (Crow Shine), and is a past winner of the AHWA Short Story Competition (“It’s Always the Children Who Suffer”).
Read extracts from his novels and novellas, and find free short stories at his website – www.warriorscribe.com – or find him on Twitter @AlanBaxter and Facebook, and feel free to tell him what you think. About anything.
Rating:
I can’t think of anything more fun. Also, I read it when I needed a break from a book whose pounding intensity was about to crush the entirety of my heart and soul, so…it was exactly the right thing at the right time. And I’ll damned sure be reading more of Baxter’s work in the future.
The Roo By: Alan Baxter Self Published Published: January 28, 2020 Paperback 130 Pages Author's Website
I NEED TO BUY THIS ONE ASAP!!!! Love the bookmark as well! 🙂