Cirrus@Austlit

'Meet the roommates from hell

'On her first shift at a halfway house for violent offenders in Edinburgh – the only job she could get – rebounding Australian expat Lou is taken hostage. For nine long hours, the only people who can help her are the residents. But who can Lou trust? The mum-and-dad-killer, the elderly legless rockstar paedophile, the stammering suicide chat room guy, or the Armani-suited conman?

'Slick, darkly funny and nerve-janglingly tense, Halfway House is a breathtaking thriller and an unapologetic reminder: never corner a desperate woman.' (Publication summary)

'When Jen and Andeep downsize to a beautiful, little bluestone house in Ballarat, they don t expect to be followed by their spatting twenty-something daughters, Asha and Camille. Soon the family is living on top of each other and tensions simmer. As the parents focus increasingly on themselves, the girls become isolated, argumentative and violent. When Asha injures Camille, a family therapist is called in, but she shrugs off the escalating violence as a classic case of sibling rivalry and the stress of the family move.

'But this is no ordinary sibling rivalry. These sisters are too far gone for that

'Chilling and darkly funny, Keep Her Sweet is a tense psychological thriller and a startling look at the bonds sisters share or shatter.' (Publication summary)

'Single-mother Fran returns to her sleepy hometown to care for her dying father when a devastating bush fire breaks out. A wry, bittersweet, heartbreaking disaster-noir thriller from the author of The Cry and Worst Case Scenario.

'Fran hates Ash Mountain, and she thought she’d escaped. But her father is ill, and needs care. Her relationship is over, and she hates her dead-end job in the city, anyway.

'She returns to her hometown to nurse her dying father, her distant teenage daughter in tow for the weekends. There, in the sleepy town of Ash Mountain, childhood memories prick at her fragile self-esteem, she falls in love for the first time, and her demanding dad tests her patience, all in the unbearable heat of an Australian summer.

'As old friendships and rivalries are renewed, and new ones forged, Fran’s tumultuous home life is the least of her worries, when old crimes rear their heads and a devastating bushfire ravages the town and all of its inhabitants…

'Simultaneously a warm, darkly funny portrait of small-town life – and a woman and a land in crisis – and a shocking and truly distressing account of a catastrophic event that changes things forever, Ash Mountain is a heart-breaking slice of domestic noir, and a disturbing disaster thriller that you will never forget…'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'The darkest, most gripping novel yet from the acclaimed author of The Exit.

''So far, twenty-three thousand and ninety six people have seen me online. They include my mother, my father, my little sister, my grandmother, my other grandmother, my grandfather, my boss, my sixth year Biology teacher and my boyfriend James.'

'When Leah Oliphant-Brotheridge and her adopted sister Su go on holiday together to Magaluf to celebrate their A-levels, only Leah returns home. Her successful, swotty sister remains abroad, humiliated and afraid: there is an online video of her, drunkenly performing a sex act in a nightclub. And everyone has seen it. Ruth Oliphant-Brotheridge, mother of the girls, successful court judge, is furious. How could this have happened? How can she bring justice to these men who took advantage of her dutiful, virginal daughter? What role has Leah played in all this? And can Ruth find Su and bring her back home when Su doesn't want to be found?' (Publication summary)

'Some people love goodbyes...

'23-year-old Catherine is mainly interested in Facebook and flirting, but she reluctantly takes a job at a local care home after her mother puts her foot down - and soon discovers that her new workplace contains many secrets.

'One of the residents at the home, 82-year-old Rose, is convinced that something sinister is going on in Room 7 and that her own life is under threat. But Rose has dementia - so what does she actually know, and who would believe her anyway?

'As Catherine starts investigating Rose's allegations, terrible revelations surface about everyone involved. Can Catherine find out what's really going on before it's too late?' (Publication summary)

'When sixteen-year-old Abigail's mother dies in Scotland—leaving a faded photo, a weirdly cryptic letter, and a one-way ticket to America—she feels nothing. Why should she? Her mother abandoned her as a baby to grow up on an anti-nuclear commune and then in ugly foster homes. But the letter is a surprise in more ways than one: Her father is living in California. What's more, she has an eighteen-year-old sister, Becky. And the two are expecting Abigail to move in with them.
 
'While struggling to overcome her natural suspicions of a note from beyond the grave (not to mention anything positive) Abigail tries to fit in with her strange, new American family: a distant father with a closed past, a too-perfect stepmother, and most puzzling of all, her long-lost sister. Becky sweeps Abigail into a shadowy underground movement involving clandestine street art, jailbreaks, and a bizarre double life. Soon, Abigail uncovers something unimaginable: a plot with vast implications, one that is aimed not only at controlling her sister, but the behavior of rebellious teens across the globe.'

(Source: publisher's blurb)

'He's gone. And telling the truth won't bring him back...

'When a baby goes missing on a lonely roadside in Australia, it sets off a police investigation that will become a media sensation and dinner-table talk across the world.

'Lies, rumours and guilt snowball, causing the parents, Joanna and Alistair, to slowly turn against each other.

'Finally Joanna starts thinking the unthinkable: could the truth be even more terrible than she suspected? And what will it take to make things right?

'The Cry is a dark psychological thriller with a gripping moral dilemma at its heart and characters who will keep you guessing on every page.'

Source: Publisher's Blurb

'Amelia O’Donohue was stunning. We all knew we were in the presence of tremendous beauty, humbled by her eyes and by her expensive designer clothes. We all deferred to her, waiting for her to initiate conversation, and hanging on every word she said.

'So when Amelia asked for my help, What was I to do? Did I have a choice? It’s not like I could tell everyone that she sneaks off in the middle of the night in her pink silk nightie to sleep with her boyfriend. Right?

'But this one favor leads to a secret so big it just might change everything—for Amelia and for me…'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'It all starts when Bronny and her backpacker friends decide to break into a vacant townhouse in London. During the day they work as cleaners, pool attendants and bartenders; at night they take lots of drugs and have sex. The house becomes the centre of their world, and, for a while, Bronny is happier than she ever thought possible. Then the banging noises begin... And what Bronny doesn't realise is that the basement isn't empty.' (From the publisher's website.)

Returning to Scotland tp organise her wedding, Catriona is overcome with the jitters. She decides to tie up loose ends by seeking out her ex-boyfriends. Trouble is they are all dead and she is getting the blame!

Source: Publisher's Blurb

A parole officer in her first month on the job. A convicted murderer. What could go wrong?

When she starts her new job as a parole officer, Krissie is happy and in love. Then she meets convicted murderer Jeremy, and begins to believe he may be innocent. Her growing obsession with his case threatens to jeopardise everything - her job, her relationship and her life.

Source: Publisher's Blurb

'Krissie Donald has no desire to 'settle down'. Committed men are hers for the taking, but she prefers explosive liaisons to any sort of full-blown relationship. Krissie's best friend, Sarah, couldn't be more different. Married to a good-catch-doctor in her early twenties, it isn't long before Sarah's dying to start a family.

'Krissie and Sarah's relationship starts to go awry when Krissie becomes pregnant after a holiday dalliance in Tenerife. For Sarah, who's been trying to conceive for what seems like forever, Krissie's pregnancy can't help but seem a little unfair.

'Things between Krissie and Sarah go from bad to worse during a holiday in the Scottish Highlands with Sarah's husband, Kyle. What starts out as an enjoyable and much-needed break soon becomes a nightmarish combination of sexual tension, murder and mayhem. Fast-paced and brilliantly told, with wickedly observed characters and a spectacular denouement, Dead Lovely is a compulsive read from start to finish.'  (Publisher's blurb)