'Welcome to Terror Australis, a landscape littered with the victims of violent men who have preyed on women since the First Fleet arrived with a cargo of ragged women ... and a place where evil Islamic terrorism lurks.
'Award-winning novelist Wayne Grogan weaves a contemporary tale of misogyny bred from colonial Australia's appalling treatment of women. Fact and fiction, characters imagined and real (like notorious serial killer Ivan Milat) blend seamlessly in a world where women exist to be hunted and abused.
'The novel is written in the first person, from the observations and experience of a fictitious reformed rapist who is an ex-drug addict-turned-antiquarian book dealer.
Terror Australis, framed as a noir detective story, also contains a chilling terrorist plot: a soft Australian suburb marked out for destruction by radical Islamists in thrall to the belief that they are performing the will of Allah. The novel explores the divide between Islam and Christianity, the reasons why Islam is seen as a religion hijacked by extremists, and examines the fault lines between Christianity and Islamic fundamentalism.
'And for good measure, Terror Australis takes a predatory excursion into the world of online dating.
'This is a confronting, provocative novel with a wide sweep. It pulls no punches. And while the personality of the central character (Rory) might repel, his story is ultimately that of a tormented soul desperate for forgiveness and redemption from a life he can no longer bear.' (From the publisher's website.)
