Razorback

by Peter Brennan

Australia. The Outback. It was a cracked, red land. A cruel land, where tusked predator and prey locked in a cycle that predated man. It was in that land that the American conservationist, Beth Taylor, Vanished. And where her husband must go to avenge her, to find the men that kill and the way that they kill, to learn the primitive ways of the razorback, the cruelest predator of all. Only then would he know who. And how. And why. If he survived.........

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Animals

378 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1981

Reviews

[Thomas Sueyres · Rating 1 out of 5]

I need to say right off the top that I think the Russell Mulcahy film is fantastic. Unfortunately, much like it's inspirational novel JAWS, it's another case where the talented screenwriter (here Everett De Roche) turned a dull, over-padded book that doesn't feature the title creature until the very end, and turned it into a stylish, thrilling movie.
Brennan's novel is a bloated and uninteresting walkabout that has very little to offer over its first 300 pages. At almost 400 pages, it could have easily been cut down to 150. I'm pretty sure the publisher was a little concerned by the lack of razorback in a book titled RAZORBACK, as Brennan strangely prefaces each chapter with a one-page essay telling the reader what the razorback is doing and thinking. Riveting stuff such as watching a sun-set or suckling her young. It's every bit as exciting as I just made it sound.
If you need a beach novel that will put you to sleep in minutes, wish granted.

[Fishface · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interestingly stark and no-punches-pulled approach to the whole idea of killer pigs turning on the humans. Unlike the stories I've read about killer bunnies and housecats, this one is frighteningly believable. Basis of the equally effective movie.

[Nigel S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

How you can write a book about a man-eating pig the size of a Yugo and have it be the least important thing in the story is beyond me. Hell, there's this old rummy who only says four sentences in 378 pages and even he's ten times more important to the story than the pig.

More here:
http://www.mrsatanism.com/books/razorbacknovel.htm

[C.B. Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Razorback the book has everything! Corporate espionage, mafia, a western, an erotic thriller, there’s even occasionally a Razorback. That’s kinda the issue, the boar is not the central conflict despite the book’s title and on the cover.
The thriller is interesting but the chapters switch between the mafia story and the Razorback story at the most enticing parts. Meant to be cliff hangers but not to it’s benefit.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would be a good read for non-fans of the movie, as it follows an investigation of a murder, corruption, etc. But for fans of the excellent film, it’s a bit of a letdown. It’s still interesting and kept my attention, however. I would say it’s well written.

[Scott Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young environmentalist and animal rights activist goes looking into the affairs of a an Australian pet food company and is killed and eaten by razorback pigs. When her husband goes looking for her with the help of a police constable they uncover a diamond smuggling operation

Not the book you expect, going in I thought it would be more about the pigs but the smuggling story takes over most of the book

Not bad but not as good as I hoped

[Cameron Fraser · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this after having seen the film and thought there's too many characters, the book is that X100. There's so many pointless subplots that detract from the main story, it's like if in the middle of Jurassic Park they would keep cutting away to a marketing team discussing ticket designs for the park's opening day while you as the reader know that opening day is never coming.

[Paul Thoroughgood · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had previously seen the movie with the same title and decided to read the book. I was very happy I did, because the movie had cut quite a lot of the book out and the story within the book was far more detailed and very enjoyable.