Cirrus@Austlit

'It is 1914, and the storm clouds of war are building on the horizon.

'In Sydney, Josiah Steele is the new head of the family and grappling with his two very different sons - David, upstanding, decent and heir to the family enterprises; and Benjamin, wayward, restless and a magnet for trouble. To give Ben some responsibility, Josiah sends him on a trade mission straight into the territory of their soon-to-be enemy.

'As war erupts across Europe, its repercussions are felt in the Pacific. Ben and David find themselves caught up in the first Australian action of World War I - the fight to take possession of German New Guinea.

'But that is only the start. The brothers will see desperate action across Egypt, Palestine, and the terrible killing fields of the Western Front, and the years of war, mud and bloody battlegrounds will forever change the Steele family ...'  (Publication summary)

'One bloody night. One lone survivor. One chance of redemption.

'France, 1919. One year after the guns fell silent across the Western Front, Lieutenant Wilfred Rhodes receives his final classified mission before he can return to Australia. He must end the command of Captain Charles Kingsley, the unhinged radical leader of the Graves Recovery Unit.

'Still haunted by the loss of his platoon in the Battle of Passchendaele, Rhodes infiltrates Kingsley's unit and works with the war-weary men to exhume the Australian dead. As the peaceful French countryside begins to heal Rhodes, he realises those behind his assignment are hiding something from him about that fateful night in Passchendaele.

'Rhodes faces a crossroads as he feels the pressure from his superiors, and the allure of Kingsley's promise of a new utopian life for him and the soldiers. Tensions mount, old wounds are reopened and the threat of further blood spilled on French soil looms in the air ...

'Night in Passchendaele is a cautionary tale, exploring our incessant search for belonging and the extraordinary lengths we will pursue to realise it.'(Publication summary)

'Celebrating ten years of Hey Jack! 
'  Kids LOVE Hey Jack! Join in with this hilarious blockbuster series from the award-winning Sally Rippin, author of the Billie B Brown and School of Monsters series!

'Jack’s class is voting on what to do for their end-of-term party. And Jack has the deciding vote. How will he know what to choose?

'Jack is a friendly, everyday kid who loves playing soccer and always tries to be brave. Each down-to-earth story in the series follows Jack on a fun new adventure that kids will love and relate to.

'Each book is carefully designed with word art and illustrations, and there are no mountains of text or super-tricky words to intimidate the early reader. So join the fun and read along!'  (Publication summary)

'Celebrating ten years of Hey Jack! 
 ' Kids LOVE Hey Jack! Join in with this hilarious blockbuster series from the award-winning Sally Rippin, author of the Billie B Brown and School of Monsters series!

'Jack's filming a cooking show with his best friend Billie. But what will happen if he messes everything up?

'Jack is a friendly, everyday kid who loves playing soccer and always tries to be brave. Each down-to-earth story in the series follows Jack on a fun new adventure that kids will love and relate to.

'Each book is carefully designed with word art and illustrations, and there are no mountains of text or super-tricky words to intimidate the early reader. So join the fun and read along!'  (Publication summary)

'Jack's going to visit a fire station – all by himself! But can he still have fun without his best friend Billie?

'Jack is a friendly, everyday kid who loves playing soccer and always tries to be brave. Each down-to-earth story in the series follows Jack on a fun new adventure that kids will love and relate to.

'Each book is carefully designed with word art and illustrations, and there are no mountains of text or super-tricky words to intimidate the early reader. So join the fun and read along!' (Publication summary)

'It’s Jack’s turn to look after the class toy for the weekend! But things don’t go as he planned. Will it be a disaster?

'Jack is a friendly, everyday kid who loves playing soccer and always tries to be brave. Each down-to-earth story in the series follows Jack on a fun new adventure that kids will love and relate to.

'Each book is carefully designed with word art and illustrations, and there are no mountains of text or super-tricky words to intimidate the early reader. So join the fun and read along!' (Publication summary)

'Kids LOVE Hey Jack! Join in with this hilarious blockbuster series from the award-winning Sally Rippin, author of the Billie B Brown and School of Monsters series!

'Jack has found some insect eggs in his backyard. He can’t wait for them to hatch. But what’s inside?

'Jack is a friendly, everyday kid who loves playing soccer and always tries to be brave. Each down-to-earth story in the series follows Jack on a fun new adventure that kids will love and relate to.
Each book is carefully designed with word art and illustrations, and there are no mountains of text or super-tricky words to intimidate the early reader. So join the fun and read along!' (Publication summary)

'Why do some societies collapse into lawless savagery while others prove resilient and lasting?

'On Zero Day of the first and last cyberwar in human history, the internet went dark, transport and power grids collapsed and cities began to starve, showing just how vulnerable the world could be to a targeted campaign of online sabotage. This final instalment of this prescient epic of civilisation collapse finds the small ragtag band of survivors come together to face a new, but eerily familiar threat - the rise of a fascist militia among the ruins of a failing country.

'With American Kill Switch, John Birmingham’s End of Days trilogy comes to a high-octane, thrilling conclusion.' (Production summary)

A compelling new thriller from the author of Greenlight. When a popular TV presenter shoots himself live on air, his twin brother calls on the help of Jack Quick (from Greenlight) to help him search for answers – and they uncover a disturbing link to a suicide in their past . . .

'One million witnesses. One impossible murder.

'At 9.04pm, Sam ‘Midnight’ Midford delivers his light entertainment monologue to kick off his nightly current affairs show. He’s nervous and his assistant is convinced he’s about to propose to his girlfriend live on air. But instead of a ring, he pulls out a gun and shoots himself in the head.

'When child pornography is discovered on his work laptop, it is assumed that Sam killed himself before his dark secret was revealed.

'But Sam’s grief-stricken twin brother Harry is adamant that the porn was planted and is convinced Sam was murdered. He may have pulled the trigger on live TV, watched by millions, but Harry believes someone made Sam do it. He hires Jack Quick, TV producer and true crime podcaster, to help him discover the truth.

'Together Harry and Jack watch Sam’s final broadcast more closely and in a reflection on the TV monitor behind Sam they see the scrolling words from the teleprompter: I thought you wanted this. Don’t back out on me now.

'Did someone talk Sam into killing himself via the teleprompter? And what could someone say to make a person shoot themselves in front of one million viewers? What secret did Sam have that would be enough to compel him to take his own life? And what is the link with the suicide of Sam’s girlfriend Lily 13 years before?' (Publication summary)

'When scientist Kate Larkin joins a secretive project to re-engineer the climate by resurrecting extinct species she becomes enmeshed in another, even more clandestine program to recreate our long-lost relatives, the Neanderthals. But when the first of the children, a girl called Eve, is born, Kate cannot bear the thought her growing up in a laboratory, and so elects to abduct her, and raise her alone.

'Set against the backdrop of hastening climate catastrophe, Ghost Species is an exquisitely beautiful and deeply affecting exploration of connection and loss in an age of planetary trauma. For as Eve grows to adulthood she and Kate must face the question of who and what she is. Is she natural or artificial? Human or non-human? And perhaps most importantly, as civilisation unravels around them, is Eve the ghost species, or are we?

'James Bradley embeds Ghost Species with his deep and humane understanding of the natural world and a profound optimism, that together we can survive and thrive.' (Publication summary)

'When his friend Daniel Cartwright dies and names Rowland as his executor, Rowland must divert his plans to return home to Australia and travel to America. Daniel was vastly wealthy but appears to have disinherited his family in favour of a man called James Meredith, whom no one can find. Rowland and his troupe of friends embark on a journey that takes them through New York, Warwick and Baltimore as they track down answers to the questions that surround Daniel's death and the mysterious disappearance of James Meredith.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'When Jack hurts his ankle, he tries really hard not to cry. He's not a baby! Surely he can be braver than that?' (Publication blurb)

'Jack's friend Billie is away, so Jack hangs out with Alex instead. They have heaps of fun together! But what will happen when Billie comes back?' (Publisher's blurb)

'Jack loves camping! Sleeping in a tent, toasting marshmallows and especially going on adventures. But will one of his adventures take him a little further than he planned?' (Publisher's blurb)

'Jack wants to win the maths competition at school, but it's not his best subject. Luckily, he's been paired with a maths whiz! Can they work together to win?' (Publisher's blurb)

'Jack's whole class is coming to his birthday party. It's going to be awesome! But what will he do when his best friend is too sick to come? ' (Publication summary)

'On Zero Day of the first and last cyberwar in human history the internet went dark, transport and power grids collapsed, and cities began to starve. Ten days later millions have died from thirst and starvation, from violence, and from the simple failure of the world’s machines to keep them alive.   

'This second installment of John Birmingham’s End of Days trilogy finds James O’Donnell and his friends Rick, Michelle and Melissa hunkered down in the wilderness, where they know a horde of starving, desperate exiles from the graveyard of the US East Coast is heading their way.  

'On the far side of the continent, in the Pacific Northwest, Jonas Murdoch helps lead the good folk of Silverton in defending themselves from waves of starving and desperate refugees pouring out of Seattle.   

'And slowly, cautiously navigating the inland waterways of California, Jodi Sarjanan and Ellie Jabbarah negotiate an apocalyptic landscape of burning skyscrapers and marauding gangs.   

'All of them are seeking sanctuary. A safe place where the madness hasn’t penetrated. But does such a place exist?  

'And what if they need to sacrifice their very humanity in the struggle to reach it?' (Publication summary)

'Every modern city has one week’s worth of food to feed itself. Then it will collapse. 

'Cut off the resources to New York, Sydney, or even a mid-size metropolis, and millions will soon starve. In Zero Day Code we see those immense and open, hyper-complex, networked supercities of the new millennium die. And in the last moments we see their vengeance take form as all the best and worst traits of humanity bubble to the surface. 

'Zero Day Code is set in a realistic near future with dwindling global food supplies under increasing pressure from worsening droughts, floods and extreme weather events. Written by prolific Australian writer John Birmingham, the thriller follows a handful of survivors from the first day of society’s descent into violent, uncertain futures. 

'James, a consultant to the US National Security Council, is the first to suspect that the worldwide emergence of a crippling computer virus is actually a cover for something else - a devastating cyber-attack by China on the food distribution system of the United States. The attack is a bid for the Middle Kingdom to distract America as it seizes the food bowl of South East Asia and feeds its starving population. But Beijing has miscalculated.

'Follow the missions of an embittered activist chasing salvation, a single mum rescuing her child from a frantic San Francisco and an army veteran who has long retreated from society, as the world they knew crumbles around them.' (Publication summary)