The Hunter

The Hunter is the first novel by Australian writer and film director Julia Leigh, published in 1999. It follows the efforts of an anonymous agent as he attempts to track down the last Tasmanian tiger rumoured to exist in Tasmania. Reception to the novel was primarily positive, and it went on to receive several accolades. Many reviewers positively highlighted Leigh as a writer of promise. The book has been translated into nine languages, and was adapted into a 2011 film of the same title directed by Daniel Nettheim. Plot summary The book opens with the arrival in Tasmania of a man with the assumed identity of "Martin David, Naturalist" (referred to as M in the narrative). He is met at the home of Lucy Armstrong, where he is staying, by her children, Sass and Bike. The following morning, he meets Jack Mindy and is escorted up the escarpment towards the plateau. He learns that Jarrah Armstrong, the husband of Lucy and father to her children, has been missing in the area since last summer.