Fear is the Rider

‘This lost Ozploitation gem is pure horror adrenaline, as characters and reader alike are hunted by a relentless golem—the nightmare outback monster we’ve always feared.’ * Chris Flynn, author of A Tiger in Eden and The Glass Kingdom *
‘[A] short but powerful novel, Cook takes the reader on an action-packed, tension-filled ride…Definitely a page-turner.’ * BookMooch *
‘The moment to moment effect of reading Fear is the Rider is one of gasping attentiveness to the urgent needs of the present…There is special, pulpy kind of genius to the kind of book that almost swipes ahead for us, like a concert pianist’s assistant.’ * Australian *
‘Another great retro thriller. Treat it like going to a movie, because it will only take you a couple of hours to power through it…It’s just pure adrenaline and survival.’ * Herald Sun *
‘A suspense packed ride until the final page.’ * QANTAS Magazine *
‘You can read Fear Is the Rider in one sitting; this is a story that takes you by the throat and doesn’t let go till the end…Few have written better about the unknowable Australian landscape than Kenneth Cook did.’ * Age/Sydney Morning Herald *
‘A macabre, tense thriller…Fear Is the Rider takes the time to make each scene work properly, to show the characters vacillating between a wary calm and outright panic, to maintain a strong control over the suspense.’ * ANZ LitLovers *
‘Possibly the scariest, most spine-chilling and nerve-wracking book I’ve read. Ever…It’s incredibly filmic—think Wolf Creek meets Mad Max—and so visceral I could feel my heart rising up in my throat as I turned the pages.’ * Reading Matters *
‘A schlocky, old-school thriller in the best possible way…A kind of literary Mad Max, a master class in Ozploitation, or simply as a short, sharp burst of literary adrenaline, Fear is the Rider is a hell of a lot of fun.’ * Readings *
‘With each scene imagined in photographic reality, Cook’s descriptions and settings transport the reader back to classic Ozploitation chase movies from the ‘80s, and it’s a thrilling, chilling ride.’ * Townsville Bulletin *
‘The manic rhythm of Cook’s prose gives the phrase “page turner” a new meaning–this is a book that practically reads itself…A stylish, pared-back piece of literary Ozploitation.’ * Saturday Paper *
‘Fear is the Rider is a straight out chase and predatory thriller that’s pulse-racing in its action-heavy narrative.’ * Age/Sydney Morning Herald *
‘This novel is short but densely packed with thrills, and graphically evokes the Outback in its vast emptiness and its threats to human life. A small masterpiece.’ * New Zealand Listener *
‘Fast and precise thriller’ * Kirkus Reviews *

Kenneth Cook was born in Sydney. Wake In Fright, which drew on his time as a journalist in Broken Hill, was first published in 1961 when Cook was 32. It was published in England and America, translated into several languages, and was a prescribed text in schools. Cook wrote twenty-two books in a variety of genres, and was well known in film circles as a scriptwriter and independent film-maker. He died in 1987.

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