Title: The Hunted
Author: Gabriel Bergmoser
Published: August 5th 2020, HarperCollins Australia
Status: Read May 2020, courtesy HarperCollins/Netgalley
+++++++
My Thoughts:
The Hunted by Gabriel Bergmoser was not what I was expecting. Less a thriller than horror novel in my opinion, I’m a little lost for words.
After a blood-soaked young woman stumbles from a car into a remote, outback roadhouse, owner Frank, his teenage granddaughter, Allie, and a handful of unlucky customers are caught up in a horrifying night of violence not all of them will survive.
Unfolding from several perspectives over two timelines that eventually meet, The Hunted is fast paced, action packed and suspenseful. My first instinct is to describe it as a cross between the films Wolf Creek (2005) and Deliverance (1972), and I think this would do well if adapted to the screen.
But had I been aware of the explicit incidences of torture and violence that occur in this novel, I wouldn’t have chosen to read it. At least twice I was uncomfortable enough to consider not finishing it, but to be fair to Bergmoser I was equally uncomfortable not doing so… I needed to know how it would end for the characters, particularly Frank, Allie and the story’s anti-hero, Maggie.
It wouldn’t be accurate to say I liked The Hunted, but that’s a matter of genre rather than any particular flaws with the book. If horror is your thing, I think you’ll love it.
++++++
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May 28, 2020 @ 04:26:55
OK so horror is not for me. I do get close to it in many really dark murder mysteries but mysteries generally have a “solution” where thriller or horror may not.
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May 28, 2020 @ 12:24:37
Horror not my thing as it leaves me drained but thank you for the review. Good to read about other genres and what is out there.
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May 28, 2020 @ 19:37:20
Horror is 100% not my thing so I don’t think this one would be for me! But generally if I pick something up I have to finish it, just to know how it ends, just like you did!
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May 29, 2020 @ 05:29:17
I like a good thriller- when it doesn’t make me uncomfortable and want to put the book down. There was one I read not too long ago that was just so creepy and I couldn’t do it!
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May 30, 2020 @ 00:52:19
Oh I’m glad I read your review — I like a good thriller, but I’m not a big fan of horror. My husband would like this one, though.
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May 31, 2020 @ 14:18:51
The torture would have been too much for me, but I don’t like books with a lot of gore and violence to begin with. It’s why I avoid horror as a whole. I know some people love it, but I’d rather read a romance or a fantasy. I’m okay with something that’s slightly suspenseful, too. It does say something that the author kept you hooked despite it’s graphic nature. 🙂
Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? 💬
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