Deception is the central theme in Julia Leigh's slim novel. Even her main character, the hunter Martin David ("M"), has an assumed name and he conducts his secret quest to obtain the DNA of the last Tasmanian tiger (thylacine) for a multinational biotechnology company under the pretence of being an environmental researcher.
The story is portrayed mainly through M's thoughts and perceptions. His encounters with Sass and Bike, the young children of the family with whom he is boarding add another layer of complexity as their environmentalist father went missing in the area of Tasmanian bush where M is searching for the tiger. Sass desperately wants M to return with some positive news of her father.
There are some very quirky minor local characters who provide a foil to M, and the sometimes bleak Tasmanian bush adds its own haunting atmosphere. This powerful novel raises questions of ethics about many of the activities which occur in guise of progress.
In 2011, the movie version of The hunter was released starring Willem Dafoe as the central character, M. It was filmed in Tasmania.
0 14 028351 X 170p.
LINC Tasmania catalogue record for "The hunter"
LINC Tasmania catalogue record for "The hunter" dvd
LINC Tasmania catalogue record for "The hunter" dvd
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