The Dead Heart

by Douglas Kennedy

That dumbshit map. I'd been seduced by it. Seduced by its possibilities. That map had brought me here ...That map had been a serious mistake' The map in question is of Australia, stumbled across in a second-hand bookshop by American journalist Nick Hawthorne, en route to another dead-end hack job in Akron, Ohio. Seduced by all that wilderness, all that NOTHING, Nick decides to put his midlife crisis on hold and light out to the ultimate nowheresville - where a chance encounter throws him into a sun-baked orgy of surf, sex and swill, and a nightmare from which there is no escape. 'Douglas Kennedy might never be allowed into Australia again. This is a crazy, compulsive ultimately serious thriller and a bravura fictional debut from one of our best travel writers' Philip Kerr

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Roman, Australia, Novels, France, Mystery Thriller

208 pages, Paperback

First published April 13, 1995

About the author

Douglas Kennedy was born in Manhattan in 1955. He studied at Bowdoin College, Maine and Trinity College, Dublin, returning to Dublin in 1977 with just a trenchcoat, backpack and $300. He co-founded a theatre company and sold his first play, Shakespeare on Five Dollars a Day, to Radio 4 in 1980. In 1988 he moved to London and published a travel book, Beyond the Pyramids. His debut novel The Dead Heart was published in 1994.

Reviews

[Lavinia Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favourite books. It has the perfect balance of drama and deliciously dark humour which at times is shocking but made me laugh out loud, nonetheless. you will not be able to put it down, I couldn't. If you haven't read this book, do. You won’t be disappointed.

[John McDermott · Rating 3 out of 5]

An offbeat thriller with some comic touches that ensures you would never want to break down in the Australian Outback.
Well written and highly entertaining. 3.75 🌟

[Bladelor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Initialement paru sous le titre Cul de sac, ce roman a bénéficié d'une nouvelle traduction et été réédité sous le nouveau titre Piège nuptial. C'est cette nouvelle traduction que j'ai "lue".

Nick, un journaliste américain un peu désabusé par la vie a récemment plaqué son job et décidé de partir en Australie pour découvrir ce pays qui le fascine. Il atterrit d'abord à Darwin, une ville qui lui déplaît, avant de mettre une nouvelle fois les voiles. Cette fois, après avoir acheté d'occase un combi Volkswagen, il prend la route du bush. Malheureusement, une nuit il percute un kangourou, et cet événement va marquer un point de non retour dans cet étrange voyage.

Avant toute chose, si vous avez l'intention de plonger dans ce roman, je vous déconseille fortement de lire la présentation de l'éditeur qui en dévoile beaucoup trop sur l'intrigue. Pour ma part je ne l'avais pas lue et c'est tant mieux, ainsi ma surprise a été totale.
Ce roman, que l'on pourrait qualifier de "noir" m'a tenue en haleine du début à la fin. Ce que vit Nick au cours de ce voyage est tout bonnement hallucinant et l'auteur parvient à nous faire ressentir les choses à sa place, comme si on y était. L'atmosphère est oppressante, la tension palpable, la situation s'enlise et Nick se retrouve dans une impasse, bref, le récit est proprement stupéfiant. Avis aux amateurs de voyages et de contrées étrangères, si vous choisissez de lire ce livre pour son contexte - l'Australie -, vous risquez d'être déçus ! Après cette lecture, je peux vous garantir que vous aurez une sainte horreur des kangourous ! Redoutablement efficace.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an Australian reading this book I have to warn you that not all Australians or the country are like this, this is the outback, where it can be a world it its own. This is another great book by Kennedy, this time demonstrating the physical entrapment of a middle aged journalist caught in a rut trying to escape life actually being caught in something far far worse. Enjoy!

[Misarweth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Horriblement angoissant, un peu comme tout ce qu'on nous donne en France de l'Australie, cela n'en ai pas moins un excellent polar... Le tout est excellement cohérent, la fin arrive inéluctablement.
L'histoire est simple, un mec un peu paumé un peu cynique, de ces anti héros solitaires qu'on aime, va se retrouver dans une communauté de cinglés sans avoir aucun échappatoire. Impasse au milieu du désert australien...

[Melanie O'Neill · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2🌟 for this one. The cute, romantic cover fools you into thinking that that is the sort of book it’s going to be but be warned it couldn’t be further from the truth. Set in the Australian Outback it has a very dark humour and quirky and rather terrifying characters and themes. This short novella packed a lot of punches and I couldn’t put it down. Would recommend.

[Pam Kerr · Rating 5 out of 5]

So different than the other 9 books I have read by this author. Once I started the book I knew it was going to be a long night as had to finish in one read. Dark, funny and typically well written by this author.

[Nicko D · Rating 1 out of 5]

Каквото сам си причиниш, никой друг не може да ти причини.

Господи, какво прочетох, господи, с какво си напълних и без това пълната с глупости глава!?
След прочета на "Мираж" на Дъглас Кенеди, по която бях УАААУ исках да изчета всичко негово - още тогава ми беше ясно, че става дума за сюжетен писател, не за стилов. Но не очаквах такива падения при прочета на "Живот назаем" и "Мъртво сърце".
Една приятелка ми даде "Мъртво сърце" и "Изкушението" (към което вероятно няма да посегна)

Поради тази причина не харесвам фантастика, фентъзи, откровени измислици и т.н. - все неща, които прочетох в "Мъртво сърце" - четете надолу със спойлери, който не я е чел, не му я препоръчвам.
Бележка: книжката (мразя тази дума, но това е книжка) та книжката е 200 страници. Първите 70 си прочетох как трябва и като видях накъде отива влака започнах през ред, през два - то няма какво да изпуснеш.
"Мъртво сърце" ми се видя като някакъв огледален образ на "Не без дъщеря ми" и романите за потисничеството на жените, влюбили се еди си къде в еди си кой.
Главният герой Ник (какъв кошмар, хубавото ми име се очерни) е отегчен американски журналист, който решава да прекрати кариерата си и да изхарчи спестените си пари за пътуване. Тръгва към Австралия. След спирката си в Пърт решава да си купи каравана и тръгва някъде си надолу... По пътя среща някаква стопаджийка, качва я в караната, шибат се - веднъж, два пъти, накрая тя едва ли не почва да го изнасилва, толкова е загоряла и в момента, в който той й казва, че иска да си тръгне тая го счупва от бой. След няколко дни той се събужда овързан, с белезници, бла бла глупости.. Налага се да се ожени за нея, забременява я, Ник живее под опеката на Татенцето - бащата на ебливата Анджи, който не го изпуска под око. Австралийският град, в който живеят си е едва ли не самостоятелна единица и държава в държавата - своя валута, охранителни мерки, няма коли, абе такива фантастики... нямам думи!
Един ден Ник разбира от сестрата на Анджи, че градът е преживял някаква минна авария преди години и там някакви си хора + Татенцето трябвало да бъдат вкарани в затвора, пък забавили делото, толкова и четох, изнерви ме тая глупост, та накрая правителството прави нова карта на Австралия след случая и заличава градът от нея... О, чудо! Що за тъпотия?
Ник, разбира се, успява да избяга след 9 месеца на тва място - бягството е толкова зле скалъпено, бога ми, що за безсилие и бездарие при писането!? Как може той да кара камиона и да казва, че на 30-40 минути зад него е Татенцето и синовете му (които уж бяха упоени) и как така те са на 40 минути зад тях и той вижда, че бусът е управляван от Татенцето. Егати зрението! Има си хепи енд, Ник се прибира в Америка и това е.

Не обичам такива книги, тая беше абсолютно копие на "Живот назаем", - неубедителни, слаби, недобре доизмислени сюжети, които не могат да ме пренесат в книгата, не могат да ме накарат да заживея с героя; всеки ред поставям под съмнение, защото е откровена глупост.

Все още се възхищавам на "Мираж" именно заради възможността действието да е реално, добрата фабула и темпото. Със старото творчество на Кенеди съм може би дотук. Вероятно, ако бях чел "Живот назаем" преди 20 години, когато е излязла- щях да я харесам, сега обаче: абсурд - никакви качества. "Мъртво сърце" - още по-зле. Романите му са булевардни -актуални година за в годината и добре че започнах с "Мираж", защото ако бях минал първо старото му творчество щях да пропусна "Мираж", което си е загуба, тъй като, за последен път - много ми хареса!

[Géraldine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lu dans l'édition Gallimard Série Noire avec la traduction de Catherine Cheval. Titre original : The Dead Heart.

Dans le Maine, USA, Nick mène une vie sans relief, plutôt seul, ni riche, ni pauvre, et sans envie que cela ne change. Libre entre deux jobs alimentaires, il s'évade sur un coup de tête pour l'Australie, après s'être perdu en rêveries devant une vieille carte routière.

Après deux jours de vol, ses économies en poche, le voilà à Darwin avec l'objectif de descendre vers le Sud par la route dans un van aménagé.

A ce point du récit, un mélange de solitude, de blues du voyageur, de choc climatique lui tombe dessus, l'angoisse et le tétanise. Mal être qui grandit encore quand il roule sur cette fameuse route qui travers l'Outback avec à gauche et à droite, le bush, la terre rouge sous forme de poussiere, rien, et 45 degré au-dessus de la tête.

Enfin, il n'y a rien, excepté des kangourous, qui gambadent la nuit. C'est d'ailleurs la première mise en garde qu'on répète aux touristes aventureux : "Ne jamais rouler au coucher du soleil". Ça sonne comme une mauvaise prédiction.

C'est donc avec soulagement qu'il prend en charge l'autostoppeuse Angie, (quelques jours justement après la rencontre brutale d'un kangourou avec son pare-chocs).
Ses manières sont franches, presque brutales, mais elle est jolie, et d'autant plus naïve qu'elle voyage pour la première fois loin de son village natal.

C'est ensuite que la prédiction du kangourou va se réaliser.

L'histoire démarre d'une façon banale, avec un homme banal, plutôt un anti héro. Et puis, un événement en entraînant un autre, rien ne va plus, un terrible piège se referme sur Nick. L'enchaînement des événements est logique et crédible. On reste bloqué à se demander comment cela va se terminer.

C'est le premier roman de Douglas Kennedy, et c'est une réussite. Il m'évoque un peu Stephen King, un peu le Salaire de la mort, il y a du road movie, de l'image locale (les 'rou !). Au contraire de "l'Homme qui voulait vivre sa vie", dont j'avais trouvé l'idée très bonne et le scénario faiblard, j'ai beaucoup aimé ce livre digne de la Série Noire.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

[livre audio] : Trop bien ! L'ambiance était très réussie, on est sous tension jusqu'à la toute fin ! Et le narrateur a la voix PARFAITE pour ce livre. Un bon thriller très dérangeant qui frise avec l'étrange même si on ne franchit jamais la ligne... je n'en dit pas plus.

[Димитър Цолов · Rating 5 out of 5]

Макар краят да ми дойде леко претупан, доста харесах мрачната история на Дъглас Кенеди за една Австралия, от която могат да ти настръхнат косъмчетата на врата; стилът и езикът също ми допаднаха. Предполагам, че всички фенове на Мизъри на Краля ще оценят подобаващо"Мъртво сърце".

[Yasmeen · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I go through another failed situationship I'm going to start pulling an "Angie" aka drug the guy kidnapp him and marry him in my non-existant on map town. This book was hilarious and curiously frightening, such a fun read.

[Sophie Roger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Déçue, heureusement qu’il était court.

[Zia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tout le monde le trouve angoissant je l’ai trouvé basique mais intéressant. Je saurais qu’il faut pas conduire la nuit en Australie ni dire à une nymphomane qu’on aimerait bien fonder une famille.

[Zélie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Est-ce que c'est un ramassis de clichés de dire que c'est un ramassis de clichés ?

[Christine Mathieu · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful!!!

If this would have been the first novel by Douglas Kennedy I've ever read, I wouldn't have read another one ("The Big Picture" was my first).
But it was his debut novel and fortunately he developed into an excellent writer from "The Big Picture" on.
I cannot understand why it received so many 4 and 5 star reviews.

Don't waste your time with this, read "Pursuit of Happiness" and "State of the Union" instead. Those are two great novels.
"Leaving the World", "The Moment" and "Five Days" were very impressive as well. Something to reread again.

I'll donate my hardcover copy of "Dead Heart" to our public library.

[Philip · Rating 3 out of 5]

We first meet Nick Hawthorne in a Darwin bar. As a stripper offers contorted perspectives on what Australia has to offer, our hero from Maine meets a fellow countryman from Detroit intent on doing to Asia what America does to most places. (Personal opinions, eh?) Nick has some of those. He has a personal approach to life, but feels he gets little out of it, despite having achieved the status of being the first person principal character of Douglas Kennedy’s novel The Dead Heart.

Nick is a journalist who has only ever had bit jobs. They interested him bit, earned him a bit, stimulated somewhat less. Then he found a map of Australia and became so obsessed with the continent’s emptiness that he sold up and left the US to discover the unknown, to visit the unvisited. He is less than impressed with Darwin. It’s not a good start. But a VW camper van bought from a Jesus freak promises a great escape along the road to Broome. Not round the corner…

A hitcher called Angie provides welcome diversion from the repetition of the road. She seems easy-going, not to mention easy, and a little threatening. She is travelling for the first time, but exudes confidence. Nick, however, retains control. Or so he thinks…

Until he finds himself in Wollanup. It’s a town whose recent tragic history has removed it from the map. Nick has arrived at nowhere, the dead heart of a land. He is now unknown, has sex and beer on tap and an awful diet. A horror story haunted by powdered eggs…

Until Krystal starts to cook… His mechanical skills come into play. The rebuilt camper van is destroyed again. Its renewed mobility is a threat.

Events happen, like they do… Douglas Kennedy’s The Dead Heart evolves into a kind of fast-moving, page-turning thriller. But there are characters here. Something – not sure what! – seems almost credible. Nick is not the most likeable person, but this rather self-centred, thirty-odd, overweight hedonist does realise that there might be more to life than unlimited sex and beer on tap. He wants both, but clearly somewhere other than Wollanup.

What happens in The Dead Heart is crucial. It’s a plot-led work, but it is also engaging and well written. Its racy style fits the characters´ obvious preoccupations and helps to create a vivid portrait of lives that know only the here and now.

The Dead Heart is a book to be read in a single sitting. The process will leave readers wondering how they might have reacted in such circumstances. And what about Australia as depicted? Is this a stereotype? You bet…

[Andreas · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novelette length story is Douglas Kennedy’s debut. Just as in The Big Picture, the protagonist is a middle aged man stuck in a rut. However, this character is very different from succesful family man Ben Bradford in The Big Picture. Instead, he is a commitment phobic journalist who drifts through life, never holding down a job for more than a few years, never “doing” anything. One day, midlife crisis strikes hard and he flies to Australia. But not Sydney or Melbourne. Darwin. His plan is to buy a car and drive to Perth. A great adventure. On his way, he runs into a girl named Angie. After a few nights of drunken debauchery, she kidnaps him and takes him to a crazy commune in the desert. A place that it literally off the map. He is a prisoner in all but name in a nightmare of a town with nightmare inhabitants who think nothing of beating him to a pulp if he doesn’t show the right attitude.

Douglas Kennedy writes very well, but his angst filled middle aged men aren’t the thing to fill me with any great desire to pick up more of his books. They are a bit pathetic in that way most people are afraid they will turn out to be. The moral, of sorts, is to do something with your life before you end up a prisoner of that life. In the book, the protagonist is an actual physical prisoner, as opposed to the more commonplace metaphorical one, but the lesson holds true nevertheless. I did enjoy this book. It is rather short, but then it doesn’t need to be longer. Any extension would just be filler. It neatly says its piece and then is done. It is very funny at times, in a tragicomical fashion. Kennedy’s sense of irony is razor sharp. However, this humor is neatly balanced by the tragic situation our hero finds himself in. Sure, he’s a bit of a loser, but no one deserves what he goes through.

http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=878

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 étoiles 1/2

Si je devais utiliser un seul mot pour résumer Piège Nuptial, je choisirais sans aucun doute "glauque"... tout le début (et par début, j'entends les 2/3 du roman) m'a mise mal à l'aise, m'a fait me sentir comme dans un cauchemar informe, et me demander où Douglas Kennedy m'emmenait.

J'ai trouvé ce roman très différent des autres que j'ai lus (et beaucoup aimés) du même auteur, à part peut-être La Femme du Vème qui partageait cette atmosphère onirique, tout en étant, à mon goût, tout de même plus facile à digérer.

Mais j'ai continué ma lecture de Piège Nuptial et je n'en suis pas mécontente, car je dois avouer que la fin fut très prenante, haletante, et que j'avais vraiment envie de savoir quel serait le dénouement. Il faut aussi reconnaître un réel talent à Douglas Kennedy : autant, par moments, j'ai eu l'impression que tout ce récit n'avait ni queue ni tête, autant une fois le livre refermé, il n'a laissé aucune question sans réponse, et tout semble couler de source (d'une source bien trouble tout de même !).

Je dois également préciser ne pas avoir goûté la narration de Tony Joudrier qui en faisait des tonnes dans le registre "ceci est un roman noir", ce qui n'a fait qu'accroître mon agacement pendant toute la première partie du livre. Less is more, dude.

[Delphine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Après un début de lecture difficile, bien que le roman soit bien écrit, j'ai fini par accrocher complètement à cette histoire.
L'histoire est incroyable et semble, de plus, rester plausible. Ne manque qu'un petit épilogue pour faire un peu baisser le stress et la tension.

[Alycia Bouëdron · Rating 3 out of 5]

On dit qu'il ne faut pas juger un livre à sa couverture et c'est malheureusement ce que j'ai fait. La couverture de ce roman m'a tout de suite fait de l’œil et m'a donné envie de le lire. Je m'y suis alors mise, mais très vite, j'ai été sceptique quant à l'intrigue et au style de l'auteur. C'était le premier roman que je lisais de Douglas Kennedy, et même si j'ai entendu plein de choses positives à son sujet, je n'ai pas été pleinement convaincue par ma lecture. Il a fallu que j'attende la fin de la deuxième partie, soit aux alentours de la page 180, pour que je sois enfin captivée et curieuse de connaître la suite. C'est pourquoi ma note est plutôt moyenne : j'ai été déçue de la majorité du roman, mais la fin a su rattraper les choses.

[Edward · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was Douglas Kennedy's first novel (I believe). He had previously been a travel writer and it appears that he was making the transition from travel writer to novelist. He chose the Outback of Australia and a parody of the characters found in the Outback of Australia. As I live in Australia he did catch much of nature of Australia in the novel. It was funny at times and scary at times but overall not the depth of much of his other novels that I have always thoroughly enjoyed. The novel was made into an Australian movie in 1997 entitled Welcome to Woop Woop.

[Melissa Delport · Rating 3 out of 5]

What?
What did I just read?
WTF?
These were the thoughts that ran through my head when I read this book. My mother, on a visit from Aus, had the tattered paperback in her suitcase and I snatched it up, as bookworms do.
Holy hell! I will never look at my mother the same way again.
In a Jerry Springer meets Kangaroo Jack, this short book had me in stitches. Hillbillies, Aussie style = not a pretty picture.
I wouldn't recommend it if you are looking for a "deep" book or an "ingenuious" storyline, but it is certainly something else!

[Paula Marais · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Douglas Kennedy - I've read just about everything he's published, but though I enjoyed this one, it was definitely not his best. The story is set in Australia - it starts in Darwin, where I have been. It describes it well and the journalist protagonist sets out in a van painted in green camouflage on an adventure to discover the red heart of Australia. But he meets a strange woman and everything changes. I liked the creepiness of the book, the strange characters and the descriptions were accurate. But I just felt it fell flat at the end. Nevertheless I did finish it.

[Shay Noble · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! It was a brilliant read; written superbly and carrying a fantastic storyline that included just enough humour to balance out the quite terrifying side of the book. Some parts were really rather gruesome but it added so much to the storyline and made the ending quite a fast paced, page turning frantic read to find out what was going to happen. I thought it was great and would definitely recommend it. I'll also be keeping my eyes peeled for other Douglas Kennedy novels.

[Clarabel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Il faut que je vous avoue que je n'avais jamais lu Douglas Kennedy de ma vie et mon idée de cet auteur à succès était complètement biaisée ! Aussi, quelle ne fut pas ma surprise lorsque j'ai réellement découvert son univers. L'histoire ici présente est en effet sombre, glauque et poisseuse. Oubliez la carte postale idyllique d'une Australie envoûtante, à moitié sauvage et glamour. Cette invitation au voyage va se révéler étouffante, accablante, et pire encore.

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant (yet quick) read! This was genuinely really exciting and I am *ALWAYS* impressed with the way Douglas Kennedy writes - this was no exception. I would have loved for this whole story to have been double the length as I really enjoyed the plot and would have been interested to hear more about life in the 'commune'. Brilliant, Brilliant! Genuine tension and suspense at the end and an ending that left you relieved but still letting those goosebumps creep in!

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the writing style of this book , it was refreshing and unique however the story line was completely nuts.

The book follows a man who finds himself living in a tii Oisin that no one knows exists with a wife he can’t remember marrying. The whole cast of characters are barmy and the concept is ridiculous however, the story had Witt and humour and was an enjoyable read if you fancy reading something completely different.

[Andy Bird · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not good. This is a bizarre book. The story is quite weird although it does have some interesting facets, you do wonder if the premise would actually work. The characters are not good, I didn’t even like the main character very much. Not the worst book in the world, but not one I really enjoyed and defiantly not one I would recommend.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Hammer Horror filmed a Lonely Planet guide to the Australian Outback, paying homage to Deliverance and Walkabout, the result would probably be similar to this !