Book Chat: Robert Hood in conversation with Cat Sparks
6pm Thursday 9 February
Join the Book Cow team andCanberra author Robert Hood in conversation with Cat Sparks about Robert's latest horror crime novel - Scavengers - published by Clan Destine Press.
Set in Wollongong, Scavengers features Mike Crowe, a not-exactly legal PI, who is blackmailed into tracking down a serial killer the media calls the Scavenger, notorious for cutting up his victims. At the same time, Crowe finds himself increasingly plagued by visions – and eventually visitations – of Lucy Waldheim, a girl he failed to save from being murdered a decade before. Are these things connected?
Crowe is forced to scavenge through the debris of a world going to pieces around him – at first just to survive, and then to find the answers to questions he’d rather hadn’t been asked. Can he escape the attention of a psychopath long enough to help her? Crowe is a loner but he does have investigative Sydney journalist, Gail Veitch, on his side (and sometimes in his bed).
He was once hired to kill Gail but ended up loving her instead. Amazingly, the feeling is mutual even though Crowe is older and no oil painting whilst Gail is gorgeous as well as smart. Despite Crowe’s sometimes dubious actions, she declares he is a “good man”.
The Scavenger serial killer takes his inspiration from Frankenstein or, The Modern Prometheus, the famous horror story written by Mary Shelley in 1818. This book, given to Robert by his mother when he was 12 or 13 sparked his lifetime fascination with the genre.
Robert Hood is one of the grand masters of Australian horror writing, Robert has been prolific in his genres of choice – horror/weird fiction, crime, fantasy and science fiction – since his first professional sale in 1975. Robert has published over 140 short stories, a number of novellas, a few novels, and lots of kid’s books. He has won several major Australian awards, the Australian Golden Dagger Award, a Ditmar Award an Australian Shadows Award. He lives in Canberra with his partner Cat Sparks.
Cat Sparks is a multi-award-winning Australian author, editor and artist. Career highlights include a PhD in science fiction and climate fiction, five years as Fiction Editor of Cosmos Magazine, running Agog! Press, studying with Margaret Atwood, 90 published short stories, two collections – The Bride Price (2013) and Dark Harvest (2020) and a far future novel, Lotus Blue (2017).
Venue
The Book Cow Bookshop
Lava Espresso Bar, Eyre Street Markets
34 Eyre Street
Kingston, ACT 2604