Cirrus@Austlit

'Detective Bram Tedeschi would rather punch scumbags' faces than punch buttons on a keyboard. But when two VR gamers turn up electrocuted in their haptic suits, he’s forced to investigate a world he knows nothing about.

'With the help of his tech-savvy partner, Vancy, Bram works to track down a hacker who’s more rumor than real – the mysterious Psyren.

'Can they solve things before they become the next target? Or will their lives become a nightmare, where their biggest fears are used to drive them insane?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Saint Lucius’ Secondary College. Or as I called it, Lucifer’s. Hell on earth.

'Society’s rich roses enjoyed a first-class education here. Facilities second to none. Teachers trained to bring forth the best.

'Then, there were the thorns - me and Meg. The poor on scholarships. Teased mercilessly as second-class citizens.

'Mostly, we kept our heads down, letting the elite enjoy their 80s Eden of perms and perfume.

'If we stuck to the library and didn’t try to move up the vine, all was tolerable. Just.

'Until the roses started turning up dead, and everyone at school thought that I’d done it.

'Spellraiser is an experimental YA fantasy novelete, threaded with mystery, murder, magic & possession, all accompanied by illustrations from the incredible Sofia Behnke.' (Publication summary)

'Detective Ada Byron is pumped to be assigned her first murder case-until she sees the crime scene. Someone has been killed exactly the same way as her father was seven years earlier. But, impossibly, he died using VR and the programmer responsible is still in prison.

'To see if this is a copycat or something more sinister, Ada must confront her father's killer: the enigmatic Jazlin Switch. What she discovers will change the face of both the real world and the metaverse forever...

'A murder-a-minute cyberpunk thriller to bend minds and defy reality.' (Publication summary)