Cirrus@Austlit

'An epic saga of brotherhood, betrayal and revenge.

'On the unforgiving streets of 1920s Sydney, the Leach family have nothing but each other.

'In a tale spanning decades, three children of the broken, working-class family find adventure, heartache and trouble, as their lives drift apart.

'John finds faith and love at a young age. The inevitable clash between the two leads him into a different kind of brotherhood as war clouds gather.

'Maureen dreams of a life 'just like the movies' and waits to be swept off her feet. Yet at every crossroad, she makes the wrong choice.

'Bob discovers a natural talent with his fists and an instinct for trouble. But with every win he earns the hard way, more enemies rise.

'From police corruption and gambling dens to brothels and blood feuds, the Leach family toil in Sydney's seedy underbelly and on battlefields far away. Against the backdrop of the Great Depression and the Second World War, The Youngest Son chronicles one family's mesmerising fate in a grand saga and a masterclass in epic storytelling.' (Publication summary)

'A coastal town is evacuated after record floods. Three young police officers are left behind. With a killer.

'The small beachside town of Gloster is on the edge of disaster. After constant rain, floodwaters are rising fast.

'Detective Constable Craig Watson, exiled to Gloster from Sydney, is a young man with a damaged past and an uncertain future.

'Constables Ellie Cameron and Larissa Brookes are young women struggling to show their worth as police officers under a misogynistic sergeant.

'The drowning town holds a secret that someone is prepared to murder for, and as the floodwaters cut Gloster off from the world the three young police officers begin to understand that it's not just them left stranded. Somewhere out there in the floodwaters is a killer. And he needs them dead.

'Taut, compelling and visceral, John Byrnes' Headland announces a major new voice in Australian crime fiction.' (Publication summary)