Cirrus@Austlit

'A murder made to look like an accident. A disgraced cop trying to forget his past.

'Nash Rankin is a disgraced cop trying to escape his past – his career was destroyed when he chose to take justice into his own hands. Now he’s living a quiet life in a small town caring for the local wildlife and trying to stay away from trouble.

'Jesse Redpath has a new job in a new town, Satellite – the stormy weather that greets her first few days on the new beat seems like a sign for what’s to come. A local has died in what seems like an accident, but Jessie isn’t so sure that ‘accident’ wasn’t planned. All evidence seems to point to Nash, but Jesse’s not sure about that either.

'Seems like Nash has enemies. And what looks like a close knit community might just be cover for dark secrets.' (Publication summary)

'When Adam Lawson’s wrecked car is found a kilometre from Daisy Baker’s body, the whole town assumes it’s an open and shut case. But Jesse Redpath isn’t from Canticle Creek. Where she comes from, the truth often hides in plain sight, but only if you know where to look.

'When Jesse starts to ask awkward questions, she uncovers a town full of contradictions and a cast of characters with dark pasts, secrets to hide and even more to lose.

'As the temperature soars, and the ground bakes, the wilderness surrounding Canticle Creek becomes a powderkeg waiting to explode.

'All it needs is one spark.'

Source : publisher's blurb

'"Kinglake-350 to VKC. Urgent, do you read me? The fire's here now. God help us."

'Kinglake-350 is a masterpiece of writing about family, community, country life and what happens when a day of ultimate terror arrives. Adrian Hyland takes a dramatic and compelling sequence of events on that day and weaves them into a picture of universal significance and deep fascination.

'On 7 February 2009 Roger Wood was the police officer in charge of Kinglake, at the epicentre of the worst bushfire disaster in Australia's history, Black Saturday. As the firestorm engulfed the community, he risked his life, again and again, to try and save people.

'With the fire raging all around, he phoned home to warn his wife what was coming. She screamed that the fire had already hit their property. Then the line went dead.

'Black Saturday was a many-headed monster in whose wake stories of grief, heroism and desolation erupted all over the state of Victoria. This is a book about the monster, and the heroism of those who confronted it. (From the publisher's website.)

'Now, somehow, Emily's become the Aboriginal Community Police Officer for the outback (not to mention throwback) township of Bluebush.

'Being allergic both to authority and to keeping her big mouth shut, she's immediately at odds with her new boss. And a death at the Green Swamp Well Roadhouse just makes things worse.

'Officially it's a simple case of two old drunks and a hammer.Emily's not convinced.

'Fast, funny and action-packed - Gunshot Road is Australia's literary thriller of the year. (From the publisher's website.)