The Quarry

On a lonely stretch of road a nameless man commits a murder. The victim is a religious minister on his way to take up a post in a nearby town. The murderer decides to steal the dead man’s identity only to discover that one of his first duties as the new minister is to bury the body that has just been found, close to a disused quarry ….The head of the local police, the Captain, takes a close interest in the minister’s work. Although there is evidence linking young petty criminals to the crime, the Captain knows it is the new minister who is guilty. The Captain decides to bide his time – watching, listening, slowing circling his prey. The Quarry builds to a climax that is almost too much to bear: with the town’s church ablaze, the Captain is compelled to pursue the murderer across the veld, as his exhausted quarry struggles to make good his escape. In The Quarry, Damon Galgut brings the power of myth to his tender prose to create a devastating drama, alive with tension.