Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advance copy of this title in exchange for honest feedback

Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux on August 13, 2024

The stories in Highway Thirteen are linked by Paul Biga, a (fictional) serial killer who abducted and kidnapped a dozen girls he found walking on an Australian highway between 1990 and 1997. The stories take place at different times over the last fifty years, apart from one set in 1950 and another in 2028. Taken together, they examine the impact that a single criminal had on multiple lives across time and continents.

I was impressed by nine of the twelve stories, a higher average than is typical for a short story collection. A couple of stories are about secret thoughts. In “Tourists,” a walk in a forest where a serial killer buried his victims might spark an office romance — or a rejection. During the walk, the woman senses evil, while the man envisions himself killing his walking companion.

Also based on hidden thoughts, “Hunter on the Highway” (my favorite story in the book) takes place after a female hitchhiker is attacked. The victim’s description of her attacker matches May’s boyfriend. He’s an uncomplicated, likable bar band musician but does she really know him? Will she talk herself into believing that he’s a killer and calling a hotline to report her suspicion? The story has something important to say about how media hype associated with crime pollutes the heads of people who begin to see criminals everywhere.

“Demolition” builds on familiar news interviews of neighbors who say that the serial killer next door kept to himself and was “just a little off.” Paul Biga lived across the street from Eva. When he was a child, he helped her with gardening. As a retired teacher who taught Biga, she knows that all adolescents are strange and bewildered. Paul did not seem unusually strange, although she didn’t tell the journalist who interviewed her (for the second time, on the occasion of Biga’s home’s demolition) about the disturbing letter he wrote her.

A couple of other stories are also based on memories. The Englishman in “Abroad” attempts to cope with Halloween in America, a celebration of the supernatural that forces him to acknowledge memories of his sister’s unexplained disappearance in Australia when he was a child and how it changed his father’s life. In “Hostess,” a retired flight attendant reflects with melancholy upon the time he shared a home, and sometimes a bed, with another retired flight attendant and her faithful dog. The connection to Biga comes from the female flight attendant’s attempt to persuade her sister to end her engagement to an older man who (in the flight attendant’s opinion) is creepy.

“Fat Suit” is about an Australian actor whose Hollywood marriage is breaking up just as he begins filming a movie in which he plays the famous serial killer (he got fat after years in jail). The story illustrates how one thought sparks another as the actor contemplates his father’s death, his failed marriage, his relationship with his stepchildren, and whales.

While a majority of the stories are serious, some are infused with dark humor. The narrator of “Hostel” tells the story of Mandy and Roy, who like to tell the story of the Swiss backpacker they found weeping outside a hostel — a girl who later was murdered. The narrator imagines herself in the Swiss girl’s position as she entertains fantasies about Roy. “Hostel” uses humor to capture the truth of its characters: “It’s not that Mandy was vain; she just liked to be good at everything she did. So she liked to be good at having a body.”

Fiona McFarlane’s humor is fully displayed in “Democracy Sausage.” A political candidate named Biga isn’t sure whether he is related to the infamous serial killer, but he questions whether voters will disassociate him from his “blackened” name. While Biga is hosting a backyard barbeque, a dog “came springing out from the underbrush of a local riverside path with, between his teeth, a large rubber dildo, the colour of fair flesh but streaked with silty mud, resembling nothing so much as a poorly barbequed sausage.”

Set in 2028, “Podcast” is written in the form of a transcript of a very funny true crime podcast. A recently discovered body that might be linked to Biga (now eight years dead) is the podcast’s subject, although the discussion is quickly diverted to a gossipy account of a podcaster’s gay marriage (his husband doesn’t understand the true crime obsession) and speculation about life in Australia, a country the podcasters have never visited. The podcast tangentially addresses the concept of murder as entertainment, which is an apt description of true crime books, movies, TV shows, and podcasts.

The way in which McFarlane links such diverse stories is dazzling. Biga is in the background of each story, sometimes so tangentially that it takes a bit of effort to understand how he relates to the story’s characters, yet the stories shy away from the gruesome details of murder. They touch instead on the lives of people who feel the impact of Biga’s crimes, sometimes without even knowing that a crime occurred. Many of the individual stories are memorable. Collectively, they gain additional power. Highway Thirteen might be a good choice for a crime fiction book club in search of an offbeat offering that moves beyond the genre's cliches.

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The concept of creating a crime book in the form of short stories is brilliant, but the delivery was not great. What I missed the most was the thrilling part, short stories were read as fictional stories about events linked to one serial killer, without being mysterious and gripping. Not a page turner at all.

This was a really interesting set of short stories. It was pretty clearly inspired by Ivan Milat and the Backpacker Murders, but the different POVs at different times, and how the crimes affected each character were interesting.

A collection of short stories that is somewhat different to many others, in that each and every one of them is as good as the next, which I rarely find in collections. There are always one or two duds, or one or two that don’t work as well, or perhaps simply don’t appeal. But here I found each story convincing and compelling in its own right, although each is very different from the next and narrated in various styles – for example, one story is in the form of a popular podcast – and from different points of view. They are linked by 12 murders committed by an Australian man, who is finally apprehended, as we learn in the first story. The emphasis throughout is on the repercussions of these murders rather than the crimes themselves, and refreshingly there is no graphic or gratuitous violence depicted, just the psychological effect on the people affected, sometimes quite tangentially. Each story is expertly crafted and paced, and they are all woven together satisfactorily and satisfyingly.

As a big fan of McFarlane's previous work, The Sun Walks Down, I eagerly looked forward to reading Highway Thirteen. My expectations were not misplaced. In this collection of linked stories--revolving around the after-effects of a serial killer in a remote region of Australia--McFarlane moves across time, before, during and after the discovery of bodies in Barrow State Forest. She does an excellent job of portraying the ripple effects of these monstrous crimes on a variety of people, most of whom have had no personal contact with the convicted murderer. McFarlane's deceptively elegant prose, her impeccable sense of timing, and her beautiful descriptions of the Australian landscape all combine to make this a worthy successor to The Sun Walks Down. A very talented and ambitious writer.

The stories in here all center on a notorious Australian serial killer who murdered hitchhikers and backpackers in New South Wales some thirty years ago. These aren't horror stories or detective tales, instead each story centers on someone with a connection to the crimes, some very tangential, like the first story about a man whose co-worker is fascinated by the crimes; some closer, like a politician running for office who shares his last name, or an actor taking a role in a film.

<i>The serial killer Noah's playing is--was--a real man. Noah had heard of him before he took the part, of course. Every Australian has heard of him. Most Americans haven't. Wylie hadn't. Noah tried to explain: This is like playing Ted Bundy. This is like playing Jack the Ripper. Wylie said, Good! A complex, brave, meaty part! He knows she considers Australia, and everything in it, smaller than anything in the US or Europe. Unconsciously, of course. Smaller serial killers, smaller murders, smaller grief.</i>

But while the stories center on the serial killer, they often don't mention him at all, or in passing. People, even people affected by his actions, still lead complex lives of their own. So in <i>The Wake</i>, the spouse of a detective who worked on the task force finds out the killer has died, but the character and the story are more focused on an unsettling change to her morning routine.

I've read other short story collections that use a single person or event to tie the stories together and when they are well done, the result is a collection that is varied and also cohesive. McFarlane's collection was wonderful -- she hardly needed the connective tissue as each story stood fully on its own feet, but there was so much variety in the stories collected here, that the connections, however faint, did give added force to their impact.

I had not heard of Fiona McFarlane prior to reading this collection but I will certainly be keeping an eye out for her past and future works after this.
‘Highway 13’ is a compelling collection of, in my opinion, word-perfect short stories all centred around the actions of a (fictional) serial killer in 1990s Australia. We are taken from 1950 into the future of 2028, in a non-linear manner.
The stories themselves introduce us to a host of characters – never the same ones twice – and the varying impact that the actions of Paul Biga, the killer, had on their lives. Some of these connections are obvious, others unravel slowly and really immerse the reader as you consider where the connection is.
The author experiments with different styles of writing, most notably a Joycean style train-of-thought one-sentence story about a politician ruing the fact that he shares his surname with newly uncovered serial killer; and another chapter written purely in script style to emulate a true crime podcast episode.
EDIT: There was one name on the poscast list that made me frown - I won't give the name away but I wasn't sure how the timelines lined up for this particular person to be one of the victims, and I don't believe it's really elaborated on at any other point in the book which is an interesting decision given that there would have to be a fairly notable age difference between this person and the other victims...
But, leaving that aside, in all of the stories, we get a sense of who our characters – they are all well-realised and rounded people in their own right: from the girlfriend, suspicious of her boyfriend’s weekend activities, to the actor, breaking from a comic typecast to play the killer in a TV show. The characters within these pages are people we know or meet regularly, which gives a striking authenticity to what we’re reading.
Although the book is fiction, it almost feels like an all-encompassing oral history project of someone’s life and impact.
I’m generally not a person who revisits books other than my absolute favourites (which is quite a short list) but I would re-read these again in a heartbeat.

My thanks to Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, via NetGalley, for the eARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Stellar! Intriguing, gripping, unique.. I love McFarlane’s writing. Immediately you’re enveloped in a story and can’t stop reading.

McFarlane has been on the TBR list for a while and I'm so glad Highway Thirteen cracked through. Comprised of twelve short stories that circle around the impact of a serial killer outside of Sydney in the 90s, we jump around in time and perspective, getting snippets from a wide spectrum, and somewhat removed from the action itself.

The friend of a friend who had an encounter with one of his victims. The unlikely pair searching the woods years later for a "sign". The actor portraying him in a movie. The brother haunted, years later, by his sister's disappearance. The memories of a chaperone on a girls' high school trip to Rome, with a scrappy girl who ended up getting away. An unfortunate politician with the same last name. A friend of the sister to his first wife.

Again I'll use the word "removed". These are peripheral stories. They don't get into grisly details, they barely mention him, if they mention him at all. It's a compelling approach, focused on the victims.

They're all standouts, but one of my favorites was Podcast. The singsong banter and the way the two hosts framed the story were very reminiscent of the My Favorite Murder podcast and come to find out McFarlane is a murderino. Small world!

My thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the digital ARC.

I loved these interconnected stories. This book showed different viewpoints during different time periods surrounding a serial killer. I can't rave about these stories enough!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this riveting eARC (I received an ePUB and an audiobook copy).

Highway Thirteen, by Fiona MacFarlane, is filled with captivating short stories, all which provide a piece of a puzzle involving a serial killer.

I read this book, which I thoroughly enjoyed; a few weeks later I listened to the audiobook. The audiobook narration top-quality, and I found it contributed positively to this already 5-star book.

Highway Thirteen is a veritable symphony of a novel; each story stands on its own. When all the stories in this book are drawn together through the common thread of association with a serial killer, they comprise a short story, mystery, and crime novel masterpiece.

I read hundreds of mysteries a year, and I would rank this among the top ten, I can't wait to read more from this talented author. Mark my words, Fiona Macfarlane is a bestseller in the making! ❤️🌹

Thank you to Farrar,Straus and Giroux and Netgalley for an ARC!

Highway Thirteen is comprised of 12 individual short stories that are connected by a fictional serial killer. Instead of focusing in on the serial killer himself, each story focuses on a person whose life has somehow been touched or impacted by the serial killer. It's a fascinating idea and moves the narratives away from focusing on and potentially romanticizing the murderer. Each story is different in how the main character(s) are connected to the serial killer and some are more inventive and engrossing than others. There were a few stories, particularly the ones at the beginning of the book, that I found harder to get into. But I was glad to stick with it as some of the latter half stories were really compelling.

Thank you Netgalley & Farrar,Straus and Giroux for an eARC 🔥

As someone who's fascinated by stories about serial killers, I was drawn to this book's unique approach - it's a collection of linked stories that explore the ripple effects of a serial killer's actions on a cast of characters. But here's the thing: the killer is never actually a character. Instead, we see how their actions impact the lives of those around them, often in subtle but profound ways.

I love how the stories are connected, sometimes in ways that don't become clear until the very end. And the fact that some of these stories have been published in places like The New Yorker speaks to their power - they can stand alone, but they're even more devastating when read together.

McFarlane's writing is seriously impressive, and I'm so glad I stumbled upon her work. She has a way of crafting stories that are both haunting and beautiful, and I found myself fully invested in the lives of her characters. This was my first book by Fiona McFarlane, but it definitely won't be my last - I'm eager to explore her other works and see what other secrets she has to share. If you're like me and fascinated by the darker side of human nature, or just looking for a thought-provoking, expertly crafted thriller, add 'Highway Thirteen' to your list ASAP.

The premise to Highway Thirteen sounded right up my alley but unfortunately the execution fell a little flat for me.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #FarrarStrausAndGiroux for the book #HighwayThirteen by #FionaMcFarlane. This book is a series of stories about a serial killers crimes. It pans over different time periods but somehow all linked.

A collection of short stories, all linked together by one serial killer and the ripple effects his crimes had on everyday people near and far. It wasn’t always apparent how they would tie together, then when you’d figure it out it felt so smartly done. One story in particular had my jaw on the floor with how clever and beautiful it was. Not to mention some of the best writing I’ve read in a long time. This one’s gonna stick with me.

Fiona McFarlane's Highway Thirteen is a thriller like no other. Through a collection of linked stories, she lays out the effects on numerous lives fostered by the actions of one serial killer, a central figure that never appears as a character, but whose reach is seemingly limitless. The victims themselves also are not presented, and with few exceptions, their bereaved loved ones. Sometimes the connections are tenuous, only revealed at a story's end. One story was so evocative, so brilliantly wrought, reminded me of Harold Pinter's play Betrayal. The fact that they could stand alone and still hold their power is evinced by the fact that several have appeared in The New Yorker among other publications. The order in which the stories are presented was curious at first, dates being given with the titles. Which could lead a reader to read them chronologically if they choose. But the seemingly random order in which they appear gives the proceedings more of a sense of being woven together. I'm definitely going to look up her earlier work.

I have to be honest, Im not usually a fan of short stories. It jumped around too much for me , was slow and I had trouble connecting with it all.

This collection of interconnected short stories (all centralized around their characters’ experiences of a serial killer in rural Australia) was really well-crafted and deeply engaging. This kind of book, which links varied short stories, can be hard to pull off, but McFarlane’s craft is evident, and every story felt like it contributed something interesting, different, and its own unique voice.

The one thing that I wanted, but didn’t quite get, from this was a little more of the genre I’m referring to as “meta-true-crime,” where authors use fiction to examine and critique the true crime genre. It touches on it a little, but I think could have been explored more to great impact.

The collection’s absolute, shining standout was “Demolition (2003),” which was about a neighbor of the killer and her own past. Several, but not all, of these stories are queer as well, an added bonus for me as a reader. Overall, very much recommended.

Thank you so much to FSG and Netgalley for the advance copy!