Cirrus@Austlit

'In Australia in 2010, "drug barons" of considerable influence in the community rule the roost, prompting the government to commission an elite force known as the Strategic Intelligence Service to combat the country's current state of affairs. The S.I.S., commanded by Major Hutchinson, was allocated the decommissioned Silverwater Jail as his H.Q., and emergency powers to cut through the red tape. The group's goal is to eradicate the drug barons by covertly abducting them and sending them where they could do no harm, using their confiscated bank accounts to finance rehabilitation centres for addicts, and dispatching their teenage drug dealer gangs to an education programme in the Simpson Desert. Camps to house and educate siblings are commissioned to hold the children until their parents are ready to reassume responsibility. Everything was working as planned, until a group of siblings are kidnapped en route to a reunion with their parents at Florinda Ridge. The ransom demands the drug barons' release and the return of their funds within six days, or the captives will be pulverized. When Major Hutchinson discovers there's a mole in his ranks, the fate of the hostages becomes critical, and the rule book goes out the window. The major has to solve these problems by using the very people he was being paid to protect.'

(Publication Summary)

'"Stink" in Australian slang means a "fight" or something or someone that is not welcome. The Chronicles of a Stink Chicken: Episodes features eight short stories describing the madness that can come from using illicit drugs.

'The stories are about some of the author's school friends who are mainly deceased due to substance abuse.

'The book also includes health and legal issues, financial truths, and the social negativities that come with using drugs. Humour is used to show how easily a user's mind may be led into absurd beliefs.' (Source: Author website)

'Summer sizzles as Jennifer Shot, law student and private detective, begins her end-of-year vacation. But serial killers don’t take holidays. The bodies of beautiful dead women are washing up on Tasmanian beaches. Hunter, an American mercenary, who Jennifer has worked with on other cases, is tracking an international drug trafficking ring and enlists her help.

'Jennifer finds herself spying on her first love, the devilishly handsome, Antonio Italiano, who arrives in Tasmania on his super yacht, The Sea Princess, and in the middle of a murder case involving the serial killer known as The Seaside Strangler.

'The lead investigator is Jet Damon, a local police officer and old flame, who Jennifer has known since primary school and who stole her first kiss. Hunter and Jet jostle for Jennifer’s affections, while Jennifer still struggles with her feelings for Antonio. But things are about to get even hotter for Jennifer as she finds herself following a trail of drugs, money, and murder. The Strangler is also hunting… one of them.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'The epic of Adam Exx, the first man on earth, continues. Adam is trying to lead a fulfilling life as a Sydney lawyer, but Nigel Chandler coerces him into working for The Study Corporation constructing human memory. Adam goes to work in a vast building called The Cone, where his world and those of other 'Adamites' are created according to their expectations. He meets up again with Rimini, the girl he'd loved and lost. Just as his life seems to be reaching stability, Adam finds his world decaying around him and is offered a frightening choice. Adam Exx Exodus will make you stop and think about your own assumptions of reality as it takes you on an unpredictable journey of imagination and possibility.' (Publication summary)

'Orphaned at the age of thirteen, Jennifer lives with her Aunt Elizabeth in the historic Tasmanian suburb of Battery Point. After her aunt moves into assisted care following some dementia-related incidents, Jennifer studies law with her best friend, Mary, at the University of Tasmania. To help with expenses, she rents rooms to two over-sexed fellow law students, Rod and Nathan, and a police officer, Cindy, who has anger-management issues. While working part-time as a private investigator, she becomes involved in the investigation of an international serial killer who dresses his victims like Barbie dolls and is nicknamed The Barbie Slasher by the press. Joining forces with the FBI, the local police and an American mercenary, Jennifer agrees to use herself as bait to catch a hitman with links to the killer. But it is Jennifer and her friends who are caught and earmarked to become part of the deadly "doll collection." ' (Publisher's blurb)

'Nick Watson and Drew Hunt started out together as fighter pilots for the United States Navy Air Wing–and now they're best friends.

'These buddies are in for the trip of a lifetime when they're asked to join four astronauts on a mission to help terra-form Mars, making it hospitable for human life.

'Blasted into space, they hardly have time to get used to their new surroundings before they witness the horrifying sight of Earth being destroyed behind them.

'Alone in the universe, Nick, Drew, and the other astronauts have no choice but to continue on to Mars and attempt to complete their mission–with only their limited supplies and equipment to help them.

'While exploring their new home planet, however, it suddenly seems as if their luck is changing when they stumble across a deserted underground city. With hopes that they can repair its support and environmental systems, the astronauts get to work.

'But questions remain. Who built the city? When and why was it deserted? And will the original inhabitants ever come back?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Adam Exx is in a packed commuter train going to work. Just as the carriages enter the underground city loop, the lights go out and the train rolls to a stop. In the total darkness there is no sound, no sign of life. Adam can feel the girl sitting next to him, but she won't speak. Is the problem with Adam or with the train and everyone in it? Piece by piece, Adam discovers where he is and what he is.' (Publication summary)

'Murder, kidnapping and cannibalism. (Cannibalism?) Must be just another day in Tasmania! What else could go wrong in the humorous murder mystery Jennifer Shot – The First Shot?

'Jennifer Shot, a law student at the University of Tasmania is trying to make some extra money as a fledgling private detective. She finds herself targeted by a mafia hit man, Chester the Chisel, named after his weapon of choice. To further make ends meet, she rents rooms to Nathan, Rod and Cindy, two oversexed fellow law students, and a police officer with personal issues. When Jennifer’s detective job has her searching for a missing senator’s daughter, she stumbles onto an elaborate mob scheme.

'Her life is further complicated by an old flame, a new love, a senile aunt and, oh yes, a killer, one who has Jennifer’s murder at the top of his things-to-do list. Who will get in The First Shot?'

'When a young woman in a wetsuit boards a luxury cruiser moored on the Tweed River, just south of the Gold Coast and Surfers Paradise, she is taken captive by two young Middle Eastern brothers. Mysteriously, the woman refers to the men as "princes." We learn that earlier that night, the same woman, Saxony Knight, was interrogated by Australian National Security about an agent who was murdered – apparently by her. As events unfold, the plot thickens and we find Saxony aboard the cruiser as the "princes'" hostage. With enough explosives beneath their feet to complete a full-blown terrorist attack on Australia's playground, the brothers try to elude the Security forces, breaking for the open sea, and Surfers Paradise. Will Saxony be able to foil the plot? Follow the gripping action and thrilling suspense in Paradise for Beginners. '

'At one and twenty, Lady Angelica Fitzhugh, the youngest sibling of the Earl of Hillcrest, has been rusticating in rural Hampshire for two years. After her first Season, her betrothed managed only second place in a duel to the death just two days before their wedding.Out of the blue, her papa has informed her that to save the Hillcrest dynasty, in five days she is to wed the rather ancient Earl of Scarborough, become the step-mama to his twin daughters, and sail to Australia on her husband’s swansong voyage as an admiral in Her Majesty’s Navy.After two engagements and one wedding, the new Countess of Scarborough finds herself in a quandary. For it appears that her elderly husband much prefers the cabin boy’s bed to hers.Angelica finds herself caught up in a series of thrilling, chilling and romantic adventures after her arrival at her new home in Australia. Otherwise Engaged is a purely delicious Victorian romance just waiting for the sparks to fly.' (Publication Summary)

(Publication summary)