Cirrus@Austlit

'Have you ever wanted to kill somebody?

'Sorry, that’s a blunt question. It might make you uncomfortable. If it does—if your stomach knots or your skin prickles—then your answer is yes. You probably don’t want to admit it. I get that. But it doesn’t change the fact that deep down you’re a killer.

'Like me.

'My name is Mia Sanguine. I’m a 17-year- old girl, living in Australia. I go to school, play percussion in the orchestra, and study when I have to. I like horror movies, comic books, and punk music. Oh, and yeah, a group of teenagers has ruined my life.

'So I’m going to kill them.

'But don’t get me wrong—I’m not talking about some Columbine-styled rubbish. No offense, but this isn’t the United States. All I need is a mask, an outfit, and a pair of knives. You see, I’m going to become a slasher movie villain. Like Jason, Mike, or Ghostface. In real life. Not because it’s right. But because of what I am.

'A YOUNG SLASHER.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A woman holds a gun to a man’s head, getting ready to pull the trigger. But her story doesn’t start there. It starts way back when she was a kid, in outback Australia. It starts when the government began to put bombs in people’s heads. When they started toying with probability-based punishment. Now, when she pulls that trigger, she doesn’t know if he’ll live or die. Or live and die.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'I’m Elsie, from the planet Caelum.

'It’s 96% ocean, but that’s okay. Out of all six planets (or seven, if you believe the myths), we’re the only people with gills. I can breathe underwater for minutes at a time, discovering the secrets of the deep-sea. Diving is my first love.

'But not everybody understands.

'Each year they run a competition—a single black pearl is dropped into the ocean, and graduating students dive to find it. It sounds easy, but it’s not. The ocean is a dark and dangerous place, with caves, crevices, and flesh-eating creatures. Some years, not everybody survives.

'It’s how my brother died.

'My parents won’t let me compete. At times it seems like the whole island is against me. I don’t care. I will enroll, win, and gain the ultimate prize—a job diving on the head planet of the entire system. I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ll fight for a better life, out there in the stars.

'I will be the Pearl Diver.

'Or die trying.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'IRRADIATED told the story of Jade and Pearl, sisters fighting for their lives in an harsh and twisted wasteland.

'DEGENERATED delved into the tunnels–a twisted underground society, at odds with the outside world.

'ABERRATED is the epic conclusion.

'Humanity is on its last legs. Only outlaws and outcasts remain. They are mutants, mongrels, and orphans. They are experiments, degenerates, and visionaries. Every last one is aberrated.

'Will they tear each other apart? Or will humanity find a way to survive?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Flynn, a quiet but determined young man, lives in an underground road tunnel with thousands of others. The world outside is a wasteland, and the radiation of the sun can mutate genes. But Flynn has a secret: he himself has a hidden mutation, an erratic ability to kill with his mind.

'When a woman finds Flynn claming there are others like him, with strange and powerful mutations, he must make a choice—does he continue to live in the shadows, or will he risk his life to save his own kind?

'One thing is certain: if he fails, there will be retribution. The path to freedom is fraught with danger. Everyone he loves may die.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Welcome to Australia.

'Nobody knows the year. The country is an irradiated wasteland. The past has been forgotten.

'To Jade, none of that matters. She escaped a twisted underground society, with her baby sister bundled in her arms. She learned to scavenge, to hide, to survive. One day at a time.

'But when her sister goes missing, none of those days matter.

'Bile rises in her throat. Sweat prickles on her skin. Bloody thoughts fill her mind.

'Jade will get her sister back.

'No matter what the cost.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Meet the android with no name. Seventy years ago, he was freed: his permission chip was removed and a gun placed in his hand. He was sent to fight for his country.

'It was the war that ended the world.

'Now, America is a wasteland. Wild towns have emerged across the frontier, lawless places filled with drunks and opportunists. The android rides from town to town, collecting warrants and seeking justice. Life is violent and meaningless—full of blood, whiskey, and dust.

'When he meets Sierra—a fiery southerner with a chip on her shoulder—they embark on an unlikely journey, a dangerous search for vengeance.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.