This central character is the enigmatic 'M', sent to retrieve the DNA of the last Tasmanian tiger, the thylacine, a mythical, wolf-like creature last seen in 1936. The plot alternates between the wilderness where M meticulously hunts down his prey, and the chaotic boarding house where he dosses down between trips.
M struggles more with the raw emotions of family life than with the rigours of the great outdoors.
Adults, he remembers, are the enemy. And always there is the magnetic pull of the tiger. Smeared in animal excrement, prowling on all fours when he suspects that he's being followed, the lines between the hunter and the hunted become blurred. Australian Julia Leigh's skill is in retaining her taut, hypnotic prose when her central character is descending into madness. This poised, chilling book is a fine debut.