Cirrus@Austlit

'Candice Fox's breathtaking new thriller is quite literally the bomb! A high-octane race through outback Australia.

'You only take the High Wire if you're desperate - or up to no good.

'A notorious unmarked track through outback Australia, the 'Wire' crosses slabs of lawless land, body dumping grounds and mobile phone blackspots.

'Harvey Buck is certainly desperate. Racing to be with his dying girlfriend, he encounters Clare Holland, whose car has broken down. He offers the hapless traveller a ride . . . and then their nightmare begins.

'The pair are ambushed by a vengeful crew - and strapped into bomb vests. As part of a deadly game, Harvey and Clare are forced to commit a series of increasingly murderous missions, or else be blown to smithereens.

'Senior Sergeant Edna Norris is dealing with a runaway teenager; not an unusual job in a place where people go to disappear. But an unfolding crime spree turns this outback cop's night into a fight for survival. Hot on Harvey and Clare's trail, Edna finds a burnt-out car, a missing woman, a bank robbery and a bullet-riddled body.

'And this road trip from hell has only just begun . . .'  (Publication summary)

'In this thrilling follow-up to the international bestseller THE INN, past mistakes come back to haunt the friends and residents of The Inn by the Sea.

'It's the perfect getaway. But the past will always find you . . .

'Since leaving the Boston Police Department, Bill Robinson has run The Inn by the Sea in Gloucester, Massachusetts. There he offers a safe and supportive home for his long-term guests.

'That tranquil life, however, is about to be shattered.

'Two murderers are heading to Bill’s door.

'One needs his help to evade the cops. The other plans to kill again to silence the truth.

'Standing in their way are the residents of the Inn. And not everyone will get out alive.' (Publication summary)

'When a city's heroes become its boldest criminals . . .

'For years the firefighters of New York's Engine 99 have rushed fearlessly into hot zones, saving countless lives and stopping devastating blazes in their tracks.

'They've also stolen millions from banks, jewellery stores and art galleries. With their inside knowledge and specialist equipment, they've become the most successful heist crew on the East Coast.

'Their newest member, Andrea 'Andy' Nearland, is not what she seems either. She's an undercover operative, hunting the men of Engine 99 for a host of crimes - including the murder of an off-duty cop and the disappearance of a mother and child.

'As the clock counts down to the gang's most daring heist yet, loyalties begin to fray and mistrust boils over. Andy's career is all smoke and mirrors, but infiltrating this crew of 'heroes' might prove to be her most dangerous job of all . . .' (Publication summary)

'Prepare to be captivated by acclaimed crime writer Candice Fox’s gripping audio thriller, Hunting Game. Featuring an all-star cast including Krysten Ritter, Anthony Mackie, and Tony Goldwyn, you’re about to enter a high-stakes game of cat and mouse.

'NYPD Detective Esme 'Es' Compran (Krysten Ritter) finds herself torn between her duty and her own desperate circumstances when a child is kidnapped. The victim's father, Jack Dengate (Tony Goldwyn), is a controversial big pharma CEO whose company's price hikes on life-saving drugs have dire consequences for Es' ailing daughter.

'As the investigation unfolds, FBI Special Agent Morris Jones seeks Es' help, but suspicions mount when evidence points towards Es’ ex-husband Danny (Anthony Mackie), a suspended officer. With a kidnapper in police uniform, a ruthless bounty hunter, and Danny's knowledge of her darkest secret, Es must navigate a treacherous world to protect her family.

'Hunting Game is a heart-pounding, immersive experience that plunges listeners into the depths of suspense and moral ambiguity. Trapped by the demands of duty and the unyielding bonds of blood, can Es outwit the dangers closing in on her family while uncovering the spine-tingling secrets of this relentless hunt?' (Publication summary)

'A married couple launch a deadly plan to find their missing child.
A half-dead man washes up on a Los Angeles beach.
A rookie cop is fired on her first day.

'Ryan and Elsie Delaney don't accept the official line that their young daughter drowned on Santa Monica beach. Her body has never been found and their pleas for a proper investigation are rejected.

'So now the desperate pair are raining hellfire on the police.

'Taking three hostages at the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center, they give law enforcement an ultimatum- if Tilly isn't located in the next 24 hours, they will destroy evidence in several major cases.

'Detective Charlie Hoskins only just survived five years embedded with the ruthless gang known as the Death Machines. All his work is in that lab. If the police won't look for Tilly, he will. Even if that means accepting help from Lynette Lamb, the rookie officer sacked for blowing his cover - and having him thrown to the sharks.

'Finding Tilly is now a matter of life and death - for the Delaneys, for their hostages, for Charlie and Lamb, and for the little girl who one day simply vanished . . .' (Publication summary)

'Two sisters go into the family business they didn’t know they had - catching killers.

'Attorney Rhonda Bird returns home after a long estrangement when she learns her father has died. There she makes two important discoveries: her father stopped being an accountant and had opened up a private detective agency, and she has a teenage halfsister named Baby.

'Baby brings in a client to the detective agency - a young man who claims he was abducted the night before. Soon, Rhonda and Baby are entangled in a bizarre yet dangerous case, caught between a group of over-privileged young adults who break laws for fun and one of their victims, an ex-assassin now determined to wreak his revenge...'(Publication summary)

'The new novel by New York Times #1 bestselling author Candice Fox is an electrifying cat-and-mouse thriller set in the Nevada Desert.

'Candice Fox has been described by the Sydney Morning Herald as 'one of Australia’s finest new gen crime writers' and her latest novel is another thrilling ride, as a mass prison breakout lets loose 650 of the country's most dangerous prisoners.‘Are you listening, Warden?’‘What do you want?’‘I want you to let them out.’‘Which inmates are we talking about?’‘All of them.’

'When 650 of the world’s most violent human beings pour out from Pronghorn Correctional Facility into the Nevada Desert, the biggest manhunt in US history begins.

'But for John Kradle, this is his one chance to prove his innocence, twenty-six years after the murder of his wife and child.

'He just needs to stay one step ahead of the teams of law enforcement officers he knows will be chasing the escapees down.

'Death Row Supervisor turned fugitive-hunter Celine Osbourne is single-minded in her mission to catch Kradle. She has very personal reasons for hating him – and she knows exactly where he’s heading . . .' (Publication summary)

'From Australia's most exciting and original crime writer comes another electrifying thriller, set in Los Angeles, introducing a new – and decidedly unconventional – team of 'detectives'.

'A convicted killer. A gifted thief. A vicious crime boss. A disillusioned cop.
Together they’re a missing girl's only hope.

'Blair Harbour, once a wealthy, respected surgeon in Los Angeles, is now an ex-con down on her luck. She’s determined to keep her nose clean to win back custody of her son.

'But when her former cellmate, Sneak Lawlor, begs for help to find her missing daughter, Blair is compelled to put her new-found freedom on the line. Joined by LA’s most feared underworld figure, Ada Maverick, the crew of criminals bring outlaw tactics to the search for Dayly.

'Detective Jessica Sanchez has always had a difficult relationship with the LAPD. And her inheritance of a $7 million mansion as a reward for catching a killer has just made her police enemy number one.

'It’s been ten years since Jessica arrested Blair for the cold-blooded murder of her neighbour. So when Jessica opens the door to the disgraced doctor and her friends early one morning she expects abuse, maybe even violence.

'What comes instead is a plea for help.' (Publication summary)

'The Inn at Gloucester stands alone on the rocky New England shoreline. Its seclusion suits former Boston police detective Bill Robinson, novice owner and innkeeper. As long as the dozen residents pay their rent, Robinson doesn't ask any questions.

'Yet all too soon Robinson discovers that leaving the city is no escape from the dangers he left behind. A new crew of deadly criminals move into the small town, bringing drugs and violence to the front door of the inn.

'Robinson feels the weight of responsibility on his shoulders. His sense of duty compels him to fight off the threat to his town. But he can't do it alone. Before time runs out, the residents of the inn will face a choice.

'Stand together? Or die alone.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Harriet Blue used to be a detective. Now she’s inmate 3329.

'Prison is a dangerous place for a former cop – as Harriet Blue is learning on a daily basis.

'So, following a fight for her life and a prison-wide lockdown, the last person she wants to see is Deputy Police Commissioner Joe Woods. The man who put her inside.

'But Woods is not there to gloat. His daughter Tonya and her two-year-old child have gone missing.

'He’s ready to offer Harriet a deal: find his family to buy her freedom…'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'On the fifth floor of the White Caps Hotel, four young friends are left alone while their parents dine downstairs. But when Sara Farrow checks on the children at midnight, her son is missing. The boys swear they stayed in their room, and CCTV confirms Richie has not left the building. Despite a thorough search, no trace of the child is found.

'Distrustful of the police, Sara turns to Crimson Lake's unlikeliest private investigators: disgraced cop Ted Conkaffey and convicted killer Amanda Pharrell. This case just the sort of twisted puzzle that gets Amanda's blood pumping.

'For Ted, the case couldn’t have come at a worse time. Two years ago a false accusation robbed him of his career, his reputation and most importantly his family. But now Lillian, the daughter he barely knows, is coming to stay in his ramshackle cottage by the lake.

'Ted must dredge up the area's worst characters to find a missing boy. And the kind of danger he uncovers could well put his own child in deadly peril . . .'   (Publication summary)

'Harriet Blue – a detective with nothing more to lose – must decide whether or not to cross the ultimate line in the third explosive thriller in James Patterson's bestselling Australian series.

'Detective Harriet Blue is clear about two things. Regan Banks deserves to die. And she’ll be the one to pull the trigger.

'But Regan – the vicious serial killer responsible for destroying her brother’s life – has gone to ground.

'Suddenly, her phone rings. It’s him. Regan.

'‘Catch me if you can,’ he tells her.

'Harriet needs to find this killing machine fast, even if the cost is her own life. So she follows him down the Australian south coast with only one thing on her mind.

'Revenge is coming, and her name is Harriet Blue …'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'#1 New York Times bestselling author Candice Fox delivers a compulsive new crime thriller, which sees Ted Conkaffey once again teaming up with an unlikely partner – this time the father of the girl he was accused of abducting . . .

'When former police detective Ted Conkaffey was wrongly accused of abducting thirteen-year-old Claire Bingley, he hoped the Queensland rainforest town of Crimson Lake would be a good place to disappear. But nowhere is safe from Claire’s devastated father.

'Dale Bingley has a brutal revenge plan all worked out – and if Ted doesn’t help find the real abductor, he’ll be its first casualty.

'Meanwhile, in a dark roadside hovel called the Barking Frog Inn, the bodies of two young bartenders lie on the beer-sodden floor. It’s Detective Inspector Pip Sweeney’s first homicide investigation – complicated by the arrival of private detective Amanda Pharrell to ‘assist’ on the case. Amanda’s conviction for murder a decade ago has left her with some odd behavioural traits, top-to-toe tatts – and a keen eye for killers.

'For Ted and Amanda, the hunt for the truth will draw them into a violent dance with evil. Redemption is certainly on the cards – but it may well cost them their lives . . .' (Publication summary)

'It’s not easy being a good detective - when your brother’s a serial killer.

'Sam Blue stands accused of the brutal murders of three young students, their bodies dumped near the Georges River. Only one person believes he is innocent: his sister, Detective Harriet Blue. And she’s determined to prove it.

'Except she’s now been banished to the outback town of Last Chance Valley (population 75), where a diary found on the roadside outlines a shocking plan – the massacre of the entire town. And the first death, shortly after Harry’s arrival, suggests the clock is already ticking.

'Meanwhile, back in Sydney, a young woman holds the key to crack Sam’s case wide open.

'If only she could escape the madman holding her hostage . . .'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'12.46: Thirteen-year-old Claire Bingley stands alone at a bus stop

12.47: Ted Conkaffey parks his car beside her

12.52: The girl is missing . . .

'Six minutes – that’s all it took to ruin Detective Ted Conkaffey’s life. Accused but not convicted of Claire’s abduction, he escapes north, to the steamy, croc-infested wetlands of Crimson Lake.

'Amanda Pharrell knows what it’s like to be public enemy number one. Maybe it’s her murderous past that makes her so good as a private investigator, tracking lost souls in the wilderness. Her latest target, missing author Jake Scully, has a life more shrouded in secrets than her own – so she enlists help from the one person in town more hated than she is: Ted Conkaffey.

'But the residents of Crimson Lake are watching the pair’s every move. And for Ted, a man already at breaking point, this town is offering no place to hide . . .' (Publication summary)

'A chilling thriller set in the Australian Outback, from the pen of the world's bestselling writer, James Patterson and co-written with award-winning crime writer Candice Fox. The Australian Outback is the perfect hunting ground . . .

'Detective Harriet Blue needs to get out of town, fast.

'With her brother under arrest for a series of brutal murders in Sydney, Harry's chief wants the hot-headed detective kept far from the press. So he assigns her a deadly new case - in the middle of the Outback.

'Deep in the Western Australian desert, three young people have disappeared from the Bandya Mine. And it's Harry's job to track them down.

'But still reeling from events back home, and with a secretive new partner at her side, Harry's not sure who she can trust anymore.

'And, in this unforgiving land, she has no idea how close she is to a whole new kind of danger . . . ' (Publication summary)