Cirrus@Austlit

'Part way through Bruny, Heather Rose's first foray into the thriller genre, Dr Astrid Coleman (UN fixer and covert CIA agent. 'six feet tall and trained to defend myself', twin sister to the Tasmanian premier, half-sister to the Tasmanian opposition leader, scion of a political dynasty and proud 'sixth-generation Tasmanian) turns to her love interest. Dan Macmillan (retired-paratrooper-turned-tradie-turned-works-manager with a Celtic sleeve tattoo, 'Paul Newman blue' eyes and 'a Chris Pine been-down-Texas-robbing-a-bank look' but 'strong' like Chris Hemsworth) as he skins up a joint to ask 'Why are we letting paradise get invaded?' The two have just conspired with Astrid's brother, Liberal premier John 'JC' Coleman, to conceal the death of a Chinese worker on a vast suspension bridge being built to connect Bruny Island and its mixture of wealthy holiday shack owners, gastronomes, bespoke hoteliers and artisanal farmers to the Tasmanian mainland—a project bankrolled by the Chinese Communist Party's Belt and Road initiative, waved through at the highest levels of state and federal government. The dead worker is one of hundreds flown in from China, their extra labour necessitated by a terrorist attack that takes out half the bridge just before construction is complete —an attack later revealed as a false flag operation carried out by the Australian secret services.' (Introduction)