Highway Thirteen: Stories by Fiona McFarlane
A Book Review...
I used to always say I don’t like reading short stories, but I was a LIAR! Every year I end up reading a good number of short story collections and end up really liking them. So I’ve had to train my brain to NOT initially reject a short story collection when presented to me and that decision has served me well.
FSG was kind enough to send my Highway Thirteen: Stories by Fiona McFarlane. A little note about Fiona. A couple of years ago I was on one of my bookish Internet deep dives, I can’t remember the specifics of what I was looking for, but her debut novel The Night Guest kept coming up. I’ve been looking for it every time I visit my local used bookstore, but haven’t found it yet. However, after reading Highway Thirteen I am inclined to order a used copy online sooner than later.
Set in the small town of Barrow, Australia, we are invited into a collection of stories that are eerie, atmospheric, and chilling. Fictional serial killer Joe Biga is the common thread linking these stories. Between 1990 and 1997, he kidnapped a dozen girls he found walking on an Australian highway. The impact of those events reverberates throughout these stories. There is a darkness that runs through most of the stories, taking place in the past, present, and future from 1950 through 2028, and it is palpable.
Lena nodded, turned, and began to walk. She led the way and that seemed natural-this was her forest now-and also just as well, because Joe was unsure of the direction of the path. The tape fluttered in her fist. It occurred to him, walking behind her, that when the killer was here with the woman Lena had been looking for, he would have made her walk ahead of him. The killer behind and woman ahead. To keep her in his sight. And he’d have been saying something like Just walk, do what I say, go left now, hurry up, just walk. maybe kicking at her if she stumbled or fell. The trees watching. And a fly at his face. Saying, Just walk. Also, laughing. And a growl spreading out, down his throat and spine, a rising from his gut and his legs burning, between his legs. Making noise the whole time, sometimes random things, songs.
In “Tourists”, the first story, is from the perspective of Joe, a resident of “Murder Town”, who works with Lena Derwent. Their co-workers are cruel to Lena. Joe initially joins in with the co-workers, but later finds himself drawn to Lena. One evening, Joe offers to drive Lena home, but she convinces him to stop the car and take a walk through the forest with her and things become strange and eerie.
In “Fat Suit” an Australian actor is filming a movie where he plays a famous serial killer, but his Hollywood marriage is on the brink of divorce.
Fiona is an excellent writer. I enjoyed all 12 of the short stories. I think anyone could find a few stories they’d enjoy.
Do you enjoy reading short story collections? Share some of your favorites. I’d love to know!