AustLit

'Two sisters. One dangerous secret. Twenty-four hours to uncover the truth.

'Seventeen-year-old Tempest was born into a world of water. The most skilled diver on the Equinox Reef, she searches drowned cities with her older sister Elysea, seeking out old world treasures to trade for Notes. After Elysea mysteriously drowns, Tempest scavenges the ruins alone, driven to collect enough Notes to buy her sister's life for 24 hours, and to finally learn the secret she had kept until her last breath.

'However, once revived, Elysea convinces Tempest to break her out of the Palindromena research facility and they embark on a dangerous journey to discover the truth about their parents' death. But they're pursued by two Palindromena employees desperate to find them before Elysea's time is up and prevent them from uncovering the secret behind the revival process and the true cost of restored lives.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'When her father and step-mother are found brutally murdered on a summer morning in 1892, Lizzie Borden - thirty two years old and still living at home - immediately becomes a suspect. But after a notorious trial, she is found innocent, and no one is ever convicted of the crime.

'Meanwhile, others in the claustrophobic Borden household have their own motives and their own stories to tell: Lizzie's unmarried older sister, a put-upon Irish housemaid, and a boy hired by Lizzie's uncle to take care of a problem.

'This unforgettable debut makes you question the truth behind one of the great unsolved mysteries, as well as exploring power, violence and the harsh realities of being a woman in late nineteenth century America.' (Publication summary)

'The hunt is on

'A GRUESOME GAME

'A madman is kidnapping women to hunt them for sport.

'A FRANTIC SEARCH

'Detective Janine Postlewaite leads the investigation into the disappearance of Samantha Willis, determined not to let another innocent die on her watch.

'A SHOCKING TWIST

'The killer's newest prey isn't like the others. Sammi is a cop. And she refuses to be his victim.

'A RUN FOR YOUR LIFE

'A stunning, tautly written thriller from police officer turned writer, J.M. Peace' (Publication summary)

'A fun vacation game turns destructive, exposing dark secrets, deeply buried grudges, and a shocking betrayal in Nicola Moriarity’s intriguing debut.

'Four friends . . .

'Joni, Deb, Eden, and Trina have been best friends since high school, sharing a bond that has seen them through their teenage years and into adulthood. But now, time and circumstance is starting to pull them apart as careers, husbands, and babies get in the way. As their yearly vacation becomes less of a priority—at least for three of the women—how can Joni find a way to draw the four of them back together?

'Four secrets . . .

'During a laughter and wine-filled night, the women dare one another to write anonymous letters, spilling their deepest, darkest secrets. But the fun game turns devastating, exposing cracks in their lives and the friendship they share. Each letter is a dark confession revealing shocking information. A troubled marriage? A substance abuse problem? A secret pregnancy? A heartbreaking diagnosis?

'Five letters . . .

'Late on one of their last nights together, after the other three have gone to bed, Joni notices something in the fireplace—a burnt, crumpled, nearly destroyed, sheet of paper that holds the most shattering revelation of all. It is a fifth letter—a hate-filled rant that exposes a vicious, deeply hidden grudge that has festered for decades. But who wrote it? Which one of them has seethed with resentment all these years? What should Joni do?

Best friends are supposed to keep your darkest secrets. But the revelations Joni, Deb, Eden and Trina have shared will ripple through their lives with unforeseen consequences . . . and things will never be the same.' (Publication summary)

'A novel of the cruelty of war, and tenuousness of life and the impossibility of love.

'August, 1943. In the despair of a Japanese POW camp on the Thai-Burma death railway, Australian surgeon Dorrigo Evans is haunted by his love affair with his uncle's young wife two years earlier. Struggling to save the men under his command from starvation, from cholera, from beatings, he receives a letter that will change his life forever.

'This savagely beautiful novel is a story about the many forms of love and death, of war and truth, as one man comes of age, prospers, only to discover all that he has lost.' (Publisher's blurb)

'It is 1939 and although Australia is about to go to war, it doesn't quite realise yet that the situation is serious. Deep in the working-class Melbourne suburb of Richmond it is business—your own and everyone else's—as usual. And young Kip Westaway, failed scholar and stablehand, is living the most important day of his life.

'Kip's momentous day is one of nine that will set the course for each member of the Westaway clan in the years that follow. Kip's mother, his brother Francis and, eventually, Kip's wife Annabel and their daughters and grandson: all find their own turning points, their triumphs and catastrophes, in days to come.

'But at the heart of all their stories is Kip, and at the centre of Kip's fifteen-year-old heart is his adored sister Connie. They hold the threads that will weave a family.

'In Nine Days Toni Jordan has harnessed all the spiky wit, compassion and lust for life that drew readers in droves to Addition and Fall Girl. Ambitious in scope and structure, triumphantly realised, this is a novel about one family and every family. It is about dreams and fights and sacrifices. And finally, of course, it is—as it must be—about love.' (Publisher's blurb)

'For centuries war raged between the humans and Aeternus vampires - until courageous efforts on both sides forged a fragile peace.

'But the rogue Necrodreniacs will never be controlled - addicted as they are to the death-high . . . and bloody chaos. Since witnessing the murder of her mother, Antoinette Petrescu has burned with fiery hatred for the vampire race - even for Christian Laroque, the noble, dangerously handsome Aeternus who rescued her.

'Now an elite Venator, Antoinette must reluctantly accept Christian's help to achieve her vengeance - even as he plots to use the beautiful, unsuspecting warrior as bait to draw out the bloodthirsty dreniacs.' (From the publisher's website.)

'Glamorous magazine editor Helen Woodley has been hired as the new head honcho of magazine Australian Life, and she needs a new feature idea to send the magazine rocketing back up the popularity stakes - fast. But she had no idea how successful her new campaign would be. Who knew that if the country's lovelorn single farmers were profiled each week, readers would queue up to date them? Soon rural romances are all the rage - but among the haystacks and the pitchforks, a lot of people (and Helen herself) are about to find out that the course of true love ain't ever smooth.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.