Cirrus@Austlit

'The battle-worn Inspector Anders – Europol’s top terrorism investigator and Mafia nemesis – is ordered to Prague, tasked with quickly locating a mysterious, unpublished dossier said to detail explosive allegations against the Czech Republic’s most eminent business leaders. But does the dossier even exist? And what lies behind the threats of its author, who – like the famous Kafka protagonist – styles himself as Joseph K? In the elegant city of Kafka’s birth, as the Inspector tries to make sense of the situation, persons of interest disturbingly follow a pattern, falling fatally from high windows. Clues seem to lie in the past, the Spring of 1968, in interactions between the ruthless communist secret police – the StB – and their victims. Historical truth proves a slippery concept, although its deadly repercussions still resonate for contemporary players, with whom Inspector Anders’ fate is now entwined.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Following the tragic death of his wife, Pierre Brun, a Parisian historical novelist, has not published a book. Pierre discovers a journal written by an ancestor in 1805–07. Pierre is drawn into a strange, mysterious story of a passionate love. Miraculously, it seems he has found the subject for a new novel. But as the narrative oscillates between modern-day Paris and Napoleonic France, like the pendulum of his ancestor’s Sèvres clock, his investigation impels him beyond the journal’s factual story.' (Publication abstract)

'Franz Schmidt arrives in Berlin in January 1939 to take up the position of Chief Auditor at the Reichsbank, the financial heart of the Third Reich. He has been positioned there by the enigmatic von Streck, a high-ranking member of the Nazi party but one who has a different agenda to that of the Fuehrer. Schmidt realises he must tread very carefully to avoid the zealous and passionate Fraulein Brandt, who is determined to destroy anyone unfaithful to the Party. After the murder of a co-worker, Schmidt is driven, despite von Streck's orders to keep a low profile, to help the dead man's assistant, who is now in grave danger herself.

'As the Gestapo's reach extends throughout the freezing city, Schmidt's brief becomes clear. He must steal a copy of the Reich's financing blueprint in an attempt to prevent the country's march to war.' (Publisher's blurb)

'In this collection of short stories Browne tells of Australians in transit on life's highways and back roads. These tales are upfront and entertaining, by turns exciting, humorous, nostalgic, sometimes bizarre, and occasionally, deadly serious. (Publication summary)

'It is Germany, 1938, and Franz Schmidt is the chief auditor in a commercial bank in a provincial city. But as Schmidt will soon learn, the bank's prestigious new client, the Nazi party, is at once its least desirable. Schmidt will oversee their account, and soon, he is embroiled in the duplicity, violence, and horror that is Nazi Germany. Schimdt can't help but be involved, and the first victim of the harsh realities of the Germans' politics is a Jewish secretary whom Franz tries to help, much to his wife's distress.

'As Schmidt finds himself caught up in dangerous political machinations, he also finds himself, as the result of an act of compassion, under deadly suspicion. The Schmidts struggle to protect their marriage and their family without compromising their sense of decency, but eventually, Franz's world explodes. As events spin out of control, Franz must act, and he seeks revenge on those responsible by attempting a massive fraud on the Party itself.' (Publisher's blurb, Thomas Dunne Books 2003 publication)

'In Melbourne in 1888, at the height of a land boom, William Boyd, a wealthy young man, finds himself distracted from business affairs by an involvement with a young female artist. His position as director in a new bank is threatened when and old enemy of his father involves him in an unsound loan.' (Publication summary)