Cirrus@Austlit

'They thought it was contained. They were wrong.

'When Pentagon bioterror operative Roberto Diaz was sent to investigate a suspected biochemical attack, he found something far worse: a highly mutative organism capable of extinction-level destruction. He contained it and buried it in cold storage deep beneath a little-used military repository.

'Now, after decades of festering in a forgotten sub-basement, the specimen has found its way out and is on a lethal feeding frenzy. Only Diaz knows how to stop it.

'He races across the country to help two unwitting security guards--one an ex-con, the other a single mother. Over one harrowing night, the unlikely trio must figure out how to quarantine this horror again. All they have is luck, fearlessness, and a mordant sense of humor. Will that be enough to save all of humanity?'  (Publication summary)

'Ziggy Klein (named after the gender-bending icon David Bowie) has a lot on her mind. It's confusing for any girl living in a culture where the opposition leader might pinch the female Prime Minister's bum; where your mum might demand your dad tie her up but stay connected to his heart chakra; where girls at your school assembly perform racy dance routines to the theme song from Schindler's List, and your best friends seek fame as feminists with perfect asses.

'Fifteen-year-old Ziggy is dealing with her late-blooming, yet burgeoning sexuality and, simultaneously, dawning adulthood. But do not be mistaken—this is no ordinary coming-of-age story. It's literary satire at its most dexterous, capturing and commenting on many elements of the zeitgeist-intersectional feminism, technology's effects on teen culture, gender and sexual politics, race, and political correctness—with the one-two punch of Ziggy's teenaged perspective and Lexi Freiman's sharp wit.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'My life is about to begin. This is the only thought in Irene’s head on the day she marries a handsome Second World War veteran and becomes a farmer’s wife. But Irene quickly grows restless. Bored to her back teeth, she is scornful of her dutiful husband, heedless of her children. She wants adventure, to experience whatever is on offer: men, travel, culture. As Irene and Rex raise children and crops, the tension between them builds and builds …

'Kate Jennings’s black humour and pared-back prose, at once understated and rich in startling imagery, resonate long after the final unnerving chapter. Set in an irrigation area – barren soil blessed by water – Snake is a modern classic.' (Publication summary)