The Bunyip Archives

Sophomoric in conception and rendered in flat-footed prose, this debut novel, an environmental thriller with New Age overtones, plays out a trite plot in which greedy businesspeople battle against noble characters. American biologist Paul McDaniel, finishing his dissertation in Australia's outback, is amazed when his lager-drinkin' pal Freddy captures a bunyip, a creature that resembles a very hairy human child and that carries a joey in its marsupial pouch. Envisioning a glorious feather in his academic cap, Paul alerts his boss, an expert on marsupials. Predictably, this evil scientist takes credit for the find and can't wait to break out the dissection kit; worse yet, poachers get the idea that bunyip blood is a ``youth elixir.'' Paul regrets his disclosure, particularly once he befriends and communicates telepathically with the entire population of 46 bunyips. During his uphill battle to save the gentle beasts, he also finds time to renew his romance with his former fiancee. Sex-starved women and violent episodes keep this third-rate E.T. from being a suitable children's book; transparent themes ruin it for adults as well. (Sept.)