The Hunted by Gabriel Bergmoser: A Wild Ride in the Australian Outback

I bought The Hunted by Gabriel Bergmoser on a whim during Readers’ Warehouse’s Black Friday sale last year because I love the minimalist cover and when I saw it’s something akin to: “Deliverance meets Battle Royale,” I was sold. I mean, neither Deliverance or Battle Royale are movies for sissies, and I quite enjoyed both films, so I had no other option than to see whether Gabriel Bergmoser did it justice. Here is my book review. 😉

The Hunted by Gabriel Bergmoser

The story starts off with Simon, a dreamer and avid Jack Kerouac reader, who’s tired of city-living. He wants to experience Australia for real, away from the cities and their watered-down culture. As a result, he’s set off on the open road, determined to find whatever it is that makes Australia … well, Australia.

Then, there’s Frank, who owns a service station in the middle of nowhere. He’s a bit of a hermit, estranged from his son, but perfectly happy for the most part. When his granddaughter, Allie, is sent to stay with him for the summer, however, his life is quickly changed.

Maggie, on the other hand, is an enigmatic, slightly eccentric woman with a dark past that will bring Simon, Frank, and Allie together. She’s a mystery, clearly has something she’s hiding, but more importantly, wherever she goes, trouble follows.

Terror with a Capital ‘T’

The Hunted sinks its teeth into you from the first page and doesn’t let go until it’s taken its pound of flesh from the reader. It starts off slightly slow, but this technique works considering the book begins as a journey. When things begin to pick up, though, it’s a freight train with malfunctioning brakes. The reader is thrust into a situation where every page brings you closer to a reveal you instinctively know will be memorable.

The characters aren’t here to play nice for the audience. Sure, there are a variety of them—men, women, a teenager … Some are strong and others are weak. But this is a story of survival in the most dire of circumstances, and either you stand up and do what you have to or you’re maggot food. Simple. What makes it all the worse is the fact that not only do they have nature to contend with (Australia is not known to be a walk in the park in the summer), but there are hillbillies out there with a taste for torture and death.

A Testament to Good Writing

Gabriel Bergmoser crafted his characters with purpose, though. Every single thing—the plot, the pacing, the personalities of each character—was meticulously mapped out before his pen ever touched paper. Each emotion you have whilst reading this book was planned by the author. It’s simply wonderful to see such craftmanship in horror, and I honestly feel The Hunted should be on every reader’s list if they want to see a nightmare come to life while a talented young writer shows you the sights.

In Conclusion

This suspenseful novel, set in the Australian outback, is a nerve-wracking read that will see your stomach do somersaults in certain spots—well, it did for me—but it was a damn good read nonetheless. If you’re squeamish, I suggest maybe skipping lunch. If you’re not bothered by taboos, then throw a steak on the barbie, mate, because you’re gonna need the energy to keep up with this fabulous book.

I loved every second of reading this book!

To all the horror lovers out there, you absolutely must, must, must put The Hunted on your to-read list.

About Gabriel Bergmoser

Gabriel Bergmoser is an award-winning Melbourne-based author and playwright. He won the prestigious Sir Peter Ustinov Television Scriptwriting Award in 2015, was nominated for the 2017 Kenneth Branagh Award for New Drama Writing and went on to win several awards at the 2017 VDL One Act Play Festival circuit. In 2016 his first young adult novel, Boone Shepard, was shortlisted for the Readings Young Adult Prize. His first novel for adults, The Hunted (HarperCollins, 2020) is a bestseller and a film adaptation of The Hunted is currently being developed in a joint production between Stampede Ventures and Vertigo entertainment in Los Angeles.