From the award-winning author of Praise and The White Earth comes a magnificent young adult series about destiny and desire, set in a brilliantly realised fantasy world.If you go to sea, you will come to the attention of the Ship Kings. And if they discover who you are, they will kill you.' Young Dow Amber is no sailor. But driven by a strange sea-longing he ventures down to the great grim bay known as the Claw. He hopes to learn there of seafaring, but he finds only a fearful people who scarcely dare sail at all, for they have been cursed by a monstrous whirlpool that haunts the bay, stealing away their sons.Then the rulers of all the world - the proud and cruel Ship Kings - arrive in the Claw. Dow is fascinated by their fine tall vessels, and even more so by a mysterious girl who lives aboard their flagship.It is a perilous attraction to be sure, but could it be that his future somehow lies with the Ship Kings? Or will he be called upon to descend to... Views: 53
Five brilliant and ambitious friends. Where has life taken them twenty years on? Five brilliant and ambitious friends. Where has life taken them 20 years on? Old friendships are expected to maintain their shape despite distance, lovers, careers, new friends. But 20 years is a long time. Ava is an internationally acclaimed novelist who carries with her a lifetime of secrets. Helen, a brilliant and dedicated molecular biologist, is faced with unexpected moral dilemmas as she finds herself drawn into bioterrorism research. Conrad is a philosopher with a popular media profile and a desire for a much younger woman. And Jack, whose career has stalled in the light of his long unrequited love for Ava, is a scholar of the history and culture of Islam. It is Ava's husband, Harry, a man for whom the others can barely conceal their disdain, who has drawn them back to Melbourne where they first met at university. As they deal with the reality of their present lives and their memories of the... Views: 51
'A lighthouse. A weather station, thousands of miles away. For six months. I drank steadily. With alcohol it all made sense.'It's the Bicentennial year and for Gordon - failed writer and bottleshop boy - it seems his life is going nowhere. It's time to escape. From his overcrowded house, from Brisbane, from Expo 88, from everything. He stumbles into Wayne who has connections in Darwin and the promise of work. So the two of them head north toward swamps and crocodiles, in search of inspiration, and of their rightful place in the culture of Australia.1988, McGahan's second novel, is a prequel to his best-selling debut, Praise.'A fiendish and eventful psychological novel... hugely satisfying.' - New York Times Book Review'The pre-eminent Australian road novel.' - The Australian Views: 44
Love can rule your life. Change your personality. Your everyday existence can be shaped by the opinion of one person. It seems crazy - so why do we do it? Why do we let the thoughts of someone else govern our decisions and actions? He had his heart broken by his one true love, and cannot see a way forward in life. Having alienated himself from his family and friends, he works nights and shuns normal society. But not even disrupted sleep and depression can explain the strange behaviours that will suddenly take over him. It all escalates on an unassuming night, when he returns home to find a woman asleep in his driveway. Waiting.One probes the extremes we go to for love; the extent of emotional influence; the scars we leave on each other. The novel asks, who do you become when you're driven to obsession? Fast-paced, immediate and perceptive, One is the highly original second novel from a young Australian writer establishing himself as a major talent. Views: 44
Based on the testimony of dozens of GTS old-girls and this vibrant play is a joyous and harrowing dramatisation of the experiences of eight inmates and their reunion forty years later. Interspersed with song and storytelling, this is a tribute to mischief and humour in the face of hardship and inequality. Views: 43
Cyberbile is a candid, moving and sometimes shocking glimpse into the online world of today's teen generation. Based on interviews conducted by students, with teachers, parents and their fellow students, Cyberbile is a verbatim-based drama which speaks from and to the hearts of a Australia's young adults. Set against the backdrop of one of the most intriguing events in Newcastle's recent history—the grounding of the Pasha Bulka—Grounded is a coming of-age tale centred around Farrah, a young Novocastrian with a fascination for Newcastle's industrial port. Through her obsession we explore universal themes of isolation, belonging and identity and that time in your life when the obsessions of childhood get grounded in reality. Views: 42
Danny Dawson lives in the middle of the Australian outback. His older brother Jonny was killed in an accident last year but no-one ever talks about it. And now it's time for the annual muster. The biggest event of the year on the cattle station, and a time to sort the men from the boys. But this year things will be different: because Jonny's gone and Danny's determined to prove he can fill his brother's shoes; because their fourteen-year-old sister is pregnant; because it's getting hotter and hotter and the rains won't come; because cracks are beginning to show . . . When Danny's mum admits she can't cope, the family hires a housegirl to help out - a wide-eyed English backpacker. She doesn't have a clue what she's let herself in for. And neither do they. Views: 41
Stephen King, Lisa Morton, Nell Quinn-Gibney, Norman Prentiss, Joyce Carol Oates, and Tim Curran plunge readers into the dark side in this deeply unsettling short-story collection curated by legendary horror editors Brian James Freeman and Richard Chizmar. THE OLD DUDE'S TICKER by Stephen King Richard Drogan has been spooked ever since he came back from Nam, but he's no head case, dig? He just knows the old dude needs to die. THE RICH ARE DIFFERENT by Lisa Morton Even though she made her name revealing the private lives of the rich and famous, Sara Peck has no idea how deep their secrets really go . . . or the price they'll pay to get what they desire. THE MANICURE by Nell Quinn-Gibney A trip to the nail salon is supposed to be relaxing. But as the demons of the past creep closer with every clip, even the most serene day of pampering can become a nightmare. THE COMFORTING VOICE by Norman Prentiss It's a little strange how... Views: 39
My great Aunt Juliet was knocked over and killed by a bus when she was eighty-five. The bus was travelling very slowly in the right direction and could hardly have been missed by anyone except Aunt Juliet, who must have been travelling fairly fast in the wrong direction.Growing up in the 1930s in a grand old home in Sydney’s bohemian Kings Cross, Robin Dalton experienced a childhood of curiosity and wonder. Raised by a bevy of idiosyncratic aunts and a revolving door of unconventional houseguests, Dalton recalls a time when children had real adventures in a world not easy but perhaps less complicated than today’s.With a gentle warmth and wicked wit, Robin Dalton brings to life all the colour, glamour and charm of Australian society between the wars. Steeped in nostalgia, Aunts Up the Cross is a delightfully funny memoir of family, childhood and an Australia of yesteryear. Robin Dalton was born in Sydney, and has lived in London since... Views: 30
HE ALWAYS GOT HIS MAN...BUT WOULD HE GET HIS WOMAN? Nothing would stop U.S. Marshal Harlan Cole from capturing an escaped fugitive. Not even being forced to work side by side with his ex-lover, Wyoming Deputy Callie Glass, on a murder investigation. Harlan knows the case will open old wounds, but none as raw as the ones he inflicted on Callie long ago. Still, establishing an amiable partnership is vital if they are to complete their assignment. But the fury in her eyes and the fever in his blood prove too lethal a combination. The deeper they ride into the mountains on a manhunt, the more Harlan has to protect Callie from the chilling secrets of her past. Sensing the rekindling of an old flame, Harlan establishes one goal: keeping Callie alive long enough to win her back. Views: 28
EVERYONE HAS SECRETS. HERS MAY GET THEM KILLED. Breaking protocol and going
on the run with a protected witness wasn't in U.S. Marshal Ryan Jackson's
plans. And even though Jessica Delaney's testimony nearly put away a crime boss,
Ryan can't afford to trust her. Still, the duty-dedicated marshal will do whatever
it takes to protect Jessica and uncover the mole leaking her new identity. But staying
seconds ahead of the ruthless killers on their trail is easier than keeping himself safe
from Jessica's unexpected vulnerability and irresistible determination. Now, as the
net around them tightens, Ryan's deepest loss may be the one danger he never
anticipated. Views: 27
The groundbreaking novel about economic rationalism and its effect on good, honest people.At once humorous and dramatic, Three Dollars is about Eddie, an honest, compassionate man who finds himself, at the age of 38, with a wife, a child and three dollars. How did he get that way? And who is Amanda? He cared about people; he was, Amanda notwithstanding, a good husband, father and son. At any other time the world would have smiled on him. But this was the nineties and the world valued other things. Three Dollars chronicles the present breach of the social contract and its effect on a home near you. It is a brilliantly deft portrait of a man attempting to retain his humanity, his family and his sense of humour in grim and pitiless times: times of downsizing, outsourcing and privatising. It is about the legacy of Thatcherism and its effects on people and their relationships.'Few novels ever dare to fuse emotional and economic life with the passionate intelligence of... Views: 26
