The Rats of Wolfe Island

It's an eerie mystery for uni student, Eddie Haite, whose casual summer holiday on a remote tropical island in Fiji, changes from an idyllic escape into a nightmare. Eddie, on a chance meeting, agrees to help a scientist, Rex King, carry out experiments on rats recovered from an old Pacific atomic testing site. As Eddie watches Rex descend into madness he realises there is something terrifying about the rats' strange behaviour.

Reviews

On completing this book I was left with an overwhelming feeling of greed - I wanted more. As In read the last page I could almost hear my Year 6 saying, "Oh Miss is that the end of the story?" "Isn't there another chapter?" This feeling arises from Horsfield's refusal to clearly spell out what happened to Kingy and the rats of Wolfe Island. The reader becomes caught up in the events that the vague ending is simply tantalising. So tell us Alan, will we hear some more?

EM Viewpoint Winter 2003

Alan Horsfield creates a credible scenario and evokes clear images of a tranquil, island paradise setting. The juxtaposition of the laboratory, its caged rats, its smells and later the chaos and rat droppings provide a clever contrast. The reader is invited to compare the impact of man on nature, the validity of scientific experiments on animals and the ultimate question: Are humans really superior to animals?

BD Reading Time Vol 47 No.1