Desert Song

Desert Song is a many-layered story of a man's journey into the desert. He is a seasoned traveler and this journey, this job, is on the surface, just like any other. Simple events and ordinary travelers combine to change the normal into the extraordinary. Secrets are revealed and people who seem perfectly normal are shown to be anything but. The story is told in spare prose, interspersed with retellings of ancient myth where the key protagonist gives the reader a glimpse into the workings of his mind. It recounts a geophysical survey of a remote area of the Australian desert by a four-member crew. They drive into the desert, during which time the reader builds a picture of who these people are, but as the journey unfolds, anomalies start to appear in the characters of all. No one, it seems, is who they appear, so when the shocking climax arrives, there are more questions posed than can be easily answered.
Compared to Heart of Darkness, this story is subtle and complex, despite its simple premise.