Cirrus@Austlit

'One of the most famous victims of the Holy Office of the Inquisition was the brilliant Dominican monk Giordano Bruno, burnt at the stake for heresy in 1600.

'Morris West recreates a diary of Bruno's intimate thoughts as he languishes in Rome's worst prison for seven years. Bruno's reflections and frank memories of his life reveal him to be both a fine thinker and a flawed priest—and a man willing to pay the highest price to be true to himself.

'The Last Confession was West's final novel, published posthumously. Written with passion and compassion, this is a voice that mesmerises from the start.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Allen & Unwin, 2017).

'As a young and outspoken priest, Luca Rossini was brutally tortured in an Argentine military prison, and then nursed back to health by the beautiful Isabel.

'Exiled to Rome to avoid scandal, Rossini becomes a cardinal and the pope's confidante. He is admired and feared by his colleagues, for he understands the Church, speak frankly and knows how to present his ancient faith to the media. When the pope becomes gravely ill and a successor must be chosen, Rossini takes a central role.

'In the midst of the political intrigue that surrounds the selection of a new pope, Isabel arrives in Rome—along with Rossini's daughter. Suddenly, Rossini must confront painful memories of Argentina and the scandalous passion of his long-suspended love affair.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Allen & Unwin, 2017).

'Pope Leo XIV battles enemies from within the Vatican and Islamic terrorists determined to assassinate him—the third title in the Vatican Trilogy.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Allen & Unwin, 2017).

'A personal, inspirational and positive account of a 20th-century believer. Morris West, the author of The Shoes of a Fisherman, charts the struggles and ultimate acceptance of his religious faith.'(Publication summary)

'When the daughter of an old Florentine family dies, she leaves a bequest to her lover Max Mather, an American art historian who has been managing the family's rare art collection. Mather is left with two priceless artworks by the great Renaissance master Raphael—without the family's knowledge. As Mather contrives to have the artworks discovered at auction in New York, big-time collectors, dealers and auctioneers are drawn into his game. In trying to out-deal the deal-makers, he becomes embroiled in a tangled web surrounding the brutal murder of a promiscuous Manhattan painter, Madeleine Bayard. The two stories intertwine in this fast-paced tale of intrigue and murder in the international art world.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Allen & Unwin, 2017).

'Carl Strassberger's comfortable life in the south of France is shattered when his brother-in-law Larry Lucas, the heir to the family banking business, suddenly vanishes after landing a multimillion-dollar deal.

'Investigating Larry's disappearance, Carl uncovers a sinister travel company that helps wealthy, unhappy clients disappear to a new life. But Carl fears Larry is dead—or worse.

'Vanishing Point is a story of flight and pursuit, of financial intrigue, of old and menacing secrets unearthed and of normal lives thrown suddenly into violent confusion.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Twenty chests of minted Spanish gold in a sunken galleon—this is the lure that brings historian Renn Lundigan to a tiny island off Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

'Renn enlists islander Johnny Akimoto to teach him scuba diving, but soon realises there's a far greater danger in the reef than the sharks. Gambling den owner Manny Mannix has followed him to the island, and now he threatens not only Renn and Johnny, but also the beautiful young scientist Pat Mitchell.

'Gallows on the Sand is a fast-paced story of high adventure, with the rich characterisation that made Morris West one of the bestselling writers of his day.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Allen & Unwin, 2017).

'Paul Desmond admires his close friend George Harlequin for his impeccable European breeding. Head of a prestigious Swiss bank, Harlequin belongs to a vanishing class of gentlemen whose handshake is their bond.

'Then their gilded world is blown apart. A computer printout identifies the Harlequin et Cie bank as the target of a gigantic takeover. The mastermind is Basil Yanko, a ruthless financial genius whose instruments are fraud, blackmail and terror.

'As the conflict moves from Zurich to London, New York and Mexico, Harlequin must become a 'villain by necessity'. Can Desmond help his friend save his bank—and his family?'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Allen & Unwin, 2017).

'Winter 1945. The Second World War is over, but it is a time of armistice, not peace. Austria is grieving its defeat and the loss of a generation of men; it is a land without leaders. To men like Major Mark Hanlon, Occupation Commander of the alpine town of Bad Quellenberg, falls the task of destroying the legacy of the Nazis once and for all.

'When his driver is murdered by an Austrian soldier, Hanlon is determined to bring the man to justice. But investigating the crime proves difficult in a community where nearly everyone has something to hide.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Allen & Unwin, 2017).

'The profound story of a cardinal who steps out from the Iron Curtain to become Pope amid the machinations of Cold War politics—the first title in the Vatican Trilogy.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Allen & Unwin, 2017).

'On Bryan Cavanagh's birthday, a sealed letter from Rome arrives, bearing the arms of the ancient house of the Farnese di Mongrifone. Affectionate, even imperious, it is a summons from the woman he loved—and lost—in the turbulent, opportunistic world of postwar Europe.

'Beset by his memories of an extraordinary voyage on a private yacht on the Mediterranean forty years earlier, Bryan returns to Rome, where he discovers a closely guarded secret

'In The Lovers, Morris West spins a glowing thread of love lost and regained, woven through a rich tapestry of intrigue, betrayal, suspense and murder.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Allen & Unwin, 2017).

'Richard Ashley is a journalist who cares about the truth, and he's about to break the greatest story of his career.

'Italy's ruling clique is rotten to the core. A scandal centred around Vittorio, Duke of Orgagna, points to a web of corruption and deceit emanating from his estate in the south.

'But Ashley finds that the truth is not all it seems when he falls in love with Orgagna's wife. Everything is more complicated, more passionate, than before—and tainted by death. Suddenly Ashley's greatest story threatens to be his last.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Allen & Unwin, 2017).

'Autumn 1990. The world is teetering on the edge of war in the Gulf, Germany is reunited and a crumbling USSR stares ruin in the face. In Japan, a group of powerful men and women gather to create a rescue plan that will bring all three countries together for the first time in fifty years.

'Polyglot international publisher Gill Langton is mediator-in-chief. Treading the highest wire of global power-broking, he alone can balance politics with intrigue, manoeuvre with counter-manoeuvre. But his love for the beautiful, enigmatic Martha could bring it all tumbling down.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Allen & Unwin, 2017).

'In a valley deep in the highlands of New Guinea lives a small colony of Europeans. One of them is Kurt Sonderfield, a doctor with a shady past who will stop at nothing to get what he wants.

N'Daria is a hauntingly beautiful native girl whom Sonderfield has trained in the art of seduction. Kumo is a young sorcerer who has fallen under Sonderfield's sway. Only two dare oppose Sonderfield: the old French missionary Pere Louis, and Gerda, the wife Sonderfield has betrayed.

'As the passions and power plays of the Europeans collide with ancient highland magic, the beat of the kundu drums thunders through the valley, bringing the story to an explosive climax.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Allen & Unwin, 2017).

'An Italian general is found dead in his apartment Next to his body is a small card inscribed with a salamander in a bed of flames. Is it suicide or murder?

Dante Matucci, a captain in the Italian secret service, begins an investigation that leads him into a maze of political violence and intrigue. He meets the general's former mistress, Lili Anders, and embarks on a dangerous affair with the beautiful one-time spy. Soon he is drawn into the net of the great Salamander himself, millionaire industrialist Bruno Manzini, who is pitting his wits against the elaborate machinery threatening Italy's government.

'In a game of high stakes, how much is Matucci prepared to pay to survive?'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Allen & Unwin, 2017)