Cirrus@Austlit

What happens when a quirky Australian town faces the imminent arrival of a huge fiery comet? Do the residents embrace all possibilities or run like hell?

Cactus Bob, a grizzled pensioner in a red beanie, thought surviving a death-roll by a monster saltwater crocodile was tough. But now he faces an even more devastating challenge: strange messages are arriving via his clapped-out black-and-white TV, warning of a fiery comet hurtling toward his tiny cottage on the outskirts of Wellsprings.

Café Puccini, the social hub of the colourful community, is abuzz. Is the comet real or just another zany publicity stunt dreamt up by Ah Sow, the town’s crafty trader? Will Angelo, the café owner, reunite with the wife he had somehow 'misplaced' thirteen years earlier? How did a lucky Zulu millionaire and his mysteriously 'top-secret' Norwegian wife become tied to all the comet chaos, and why is a crusty old Scottish boat-builder crafting a unique monument to the stars?

As the comet draws closer, secrets unravel, alliances form, and tensions rise. Join Wellsprings’ oddball residents as they navigate love, cosmic calamities, and outrageous adventures.' (Publication summary)

'What would it be like to be trapped deep underground for six long years with no hope of rescue or escape? This is a profound question explored deeply in Entombed. And the key point here is that Entombed is inspired by an astonishing true story and real events.

'Six German soldiers led by Captain Hans von Roth are accidentally buried alive in a vast subterranean stores bunker at the port of Gdynia, Poland, in 1945. At first they believe they will soon be rescued, but as the weeks drag into years it becomes appallingly clear that the men will almost certainly face a terrifying death in the grim darkness that surrounds them.

'Meanwhile, in Berlin, Hans von Roth’s wife, Erika, is desperately attempting to survive the fall of the city and the Russian hordes destined shortly to occupy it. Facing starvation, massive aerial bombing, Soviet shelling and a host of other dangers, she is also attempting to discover what has become of her lost husband.

'In Entombed, the author has woven a tale of great love and a desperate struggle for survival like no other. The story literally pushes all the frontiers of human frailty and courage to their very edges.

'Inspired by a true story and actual events, Entombed is one of the most astonishing untold stories to emerge from the era of the Second World War.'

Source : publisher's blurb

'The Western Front, 1917, a place closer to hell than any man has ever been. German forces are overrunning the British and Australian lines and Alex Ray, a young soldier assigned to dig tunnels beneath the enemy’s lines in order to destroy them with explosives, is left with two choices: to remain, fight and almost certainly die along with his two closest friends who have already been killed, or to flee from the front in a desperate attempt to fulfil a promise to save a French family including a young woman, Lisle Raimond, to whom Alex has become closely attached. Alex knows that his agonising decision will almost certainly cost him his life, no matter what he chooses to do.

'Inspired by the true events surrounding the executions of British Empire soldiers during the First World War, this is the story of a struggle for survival when it is not the enemy who are your greatest foes, it is the very people for whom you are fighting.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.