"Christ, how the hell did you survive? I pegged you as dingo food." - Mick Taylor

Mick is back from his tour of duty in Vietnam, which didn't go according to military requirements, but hey it's 1967 and young blokes have to find their place in the world. A Kombi van pulls into an isolated roadhouse in the Western Australian desert, disgorging an American couple, an Asian couple, an Aussie father and son, two chicks, and two tour operators. The kombi doesn't go unnoticed by our resident predator, especially as people explain where they are headed. While the locals are mildly interested in the new folk Mick slips unnoticed out the door and heads into the wilds.

A few hours later and the Kombi van plus passengers are on the road viewing the scenic dead red heart of Australia when suspiciously the two front tires blow. Since the occupants haven't lived through the 1980s horror boom they have no idea there might be some serial killer shenanigans going down. Just when they think their predicament is getting hopeless a vehicle is spotted headed their way. Hey it's Mick and apparently he is now a mechanic and can tow them back to his workshop to fix what ails their vehicle. After a few hours towing they all arrive at Mick's liar, the abandoned Bardoch Mining Co. site. Our boy has been doing some renovations, welcome to Mick Taylor's killing ground, things are about to get very real for our tourists.

Desolation Game combines the talents of Greg McLean with the writing abilities of Brett McBean. Both purveyors of dark dreams are known to on occasion head to the slaughter house so I guess it comes as no surprise that they would eventually work together on Australia's premier, and to be honest only, horror franchise. Greg McLean is of course the mind behind the Wolf Creek movies, the excellent Rogue, and the first novel Wolf Creek: Origin. Brett McBean has been basking in critically acclaim for novels that don't hold back the punches like The Last Motel, The Mother, and more recently The Jungle trilogy from Tasmaniac Publications. So how did the boys get on, did they play nice in a bloody fashion?

Desolation Game sees Mick Taylor starting in on his life's work, apparently culling the Outback of tourists. The Australian Tourist Board must be delighted with his attention to detail. But we also get flashbacks to Mick's time in Vietnam, during the conflict that saw Australian troops join their American counterparts in apparently holding back President Nixon's communist domino effect. The novel seeks to fill in some of the cracks about Mick's background, the infamous "head on a stick" for example, but it also underlines how Mick came to be so good at what he does. Remembering here Mick is the quintessential Aussie outback bloke, not some supernatural force of nature like a Jason Voorhees or a Michael Meyers. McLean and McBean nail this aspect of the narrative, whether the reader is catching up with Mick in the Western Australian desert, or going into the Vietnam Jungle with him, the Authors have created a realistic narrative that simply rings true. Mick Taylor truly is one psychotic individual regardless of where he happens to find himself, the Authors here creating the most realistic of psychopathic characters since Jeff Lindsay introduced us to Dexter and his dark passenger.

So in essence the novel can be broken down into two distinct parts, the current Western Australian narrative, and the flashbacks to the Vietnam War era. Both narratives intertwine throughout the novel with McLean and McBean making me a believer with their prose, there's a ring of authenticity here that should have most readers sitting up and begging for more. While the references are also there for those familiar with the Wolf Creek movie, you also get references to the first novel, so those who love an interlaced story developing through multiple books and movies are going to be right as rain. McLean and/or McBean rival Stephen King in referencing previous works, which brought a smile to my face at least.

While I can groove with the whole Vietnam thing, and yeah I used to write for a site that was obsessed with that conflict so was pleased to see some diggers represented rather than the usual U.S GI overload, what really got me perky was the present narrative. Mick might have gone away to the war with a few problems but for sure he has come back with a whole mob of Roos bounding around the top paddock! Not helping out is an altar of bones and such he finds deep underground, those voices in his head are certainly happy to have an outlet though. I was quite pleased with the mythical elements added through this plot device that stopped short of heading downtown to Supernatural-ville. It's bad enough the voices demand sacrifices, at least Mick has had some training in the requirements, but add in some convoluted Koori mythology and you have one fracked up situation. McLean and McBean are all over this requirement, and appear to be quite gleeful in describing the semi-religious requirements that I'll leave to the reader to find for themselves. In short the Authors give Mick a religious element, with sacrifice and reward, it's quite the achievement and in the context of Desolation Game works like a one handed shearer.

The novel does have one glaring issue however, and I'm putting it down to dual Writers and maybe an Editor who was counting down the minutes to getting their weekend on late Friday afternoon. Mick thinks the Japanese couple are Vietnamese spies, which is okay - Roos in the top paddock etc, except this aspect of Mick's psychosis gets dropped and we find one of the tourists picks it up and is ironically rushing to Mick's aid. Minor quibble folks, and the tourist's personality is being developed to make you readily believe he isn't the full quid when it comes to the real world.

Okay have been putting it off but guess I should talk about the gore content. McLean and McBean are having fun times in the slaughter house, if you have a nervous disposition or otherwise can't stand robust horror, then you are going to be in trouble. The Authors paint a convincing picture of a Psychopath that enjoys his work, and they are using blood red colouring. Without giving too much away, Jason Voorhees would be running like a mad bastard in any direction other than toward the Bardoch Mining Co. if he ran across Mick's handiwork! Is the character of Mick Taylor revelling in the pain and torture he inflects on his victims? - no, he simply doesn't care, see what I mean about that "ring of crystal" to paraphrase a Stephen King truism.

Which of course brings us once again to the main argument Desolation Game is going to receive from some quarters. Is there any value in promoting a deranged murderer when there is enough horror in the world as it is? Actually have been on the end of this attack toward horror in general a number of times. To be frank the Authors are telling a yarn that just so happens to involve a killer, take a cup of cement, the predator amongst us has been a mainstay of literature since the dawn of the printing press and before.

Desolation Game is a very solid well written novel that assumes the mantel of "page turner". I sat down to read the book one evening and as light leaked through the curtains the next morning I finished the narrative and was instantly demanding more. The Authors write captivating prose that is easy to access, drags you into their story, and makes you wonder how they pull off their craft so effortlessly. In short an excellent novel that receives full recommendation, this is one novel you should run, not walk, to purchase on publishing date. The only problem I have is waiting on further instalments in the saga of Mick Taylor; there must be plenty of other Outback issues for Mick to address, Taylor style!

If after more information, publishing dates, or simply wanting to fill in your Mick Taylor dance card then set your browser to Penguin central, where the Publisher has your back. You can also catch up with what Brett McBean is doing over at his blog. And to round things out Greg McLean doesn't seem to be keeping a web presence, hopefully this means he's hard at it writing a third novel and another movie!

ScaryMinds would like to thank Penguin Book's Alyssia Morison for giving us the chance to read and review the Wolf Creek novels prior to publication.