Forgotten Book - Wake in Fright

I've had a copy of Kenneth Cook's Wake in Fright lurking on my shelves for a long time - upwards of fifteen years, I shudder to admit, even thought it boasts an intro by Peter Temple. And it's only recently that I got round to reading it. Now I'm wondering why on earth it took me so long. This is a debut novel of high calibre, chilling and memorable. 

John Grant is a school teacher who is, for financial reasons, tied to working at a remote school in a small village in the outback. As term comes to an end, he is desperate to get back to Sydney, where an attractive but distant girl called Robyn may or may not be pleased to see him again. He has just enough money to make a success of the trip.

The story has a low-key beginning, and Grant gets off the train at Bundanyabba (based on Broken Hill, a town which Cook clearly disliked) and is befriended by a local cop who is a bit of a slob. They drink together and the cop takes Grant to a gambling den. At first, Grant enjoys a winning streak. But it doesn't last...

Events become increasingly nightmarish as Grant - whose attitude towards the remote towns of the far west of Australia, and the people who live in them is condescending and negative - finds himself mixed up with a strange bunch of locals who are welcoming, but whose way of life is quite terrifying. I don't want to say more about the story than that. Anthony Boucher, who admired the book, questioned whether it is really a crime novel. Certainly, though, it has elements of suspense and menace - and yes, crimes are committed, although they are not necessarily of the kind you'd expect. Cook was obviously an interesting character, who had a rollercoaster life and career. This book and his second, Chain of Darkness, made it into the green Penguin series and I'm keen to read the latter. Wake in Fright was, incidentally, filmed in 1971, ten years after the novel was published.