Madeline Martin
In Nottingham, England, widow Emma Taylor finds herself in desperate need of a job to provide for herself and her beloved daughter, Olivia. But with the legal restrictions prohibiting widows with children from most employment opportunities, she’s left with only one option: persuading the manageress at Boots’ Booklover’s Library to take a chance on her.

When the threat of war becomes a reality, Olivia must be evacuated to the countryside. In her daughter’s absence, Emma seeks solace in the unlikely friendships she forms with her neighbors and coworkers, as well as the recommendations she provides to the library’s quirky regulars. But the job doesn’t come without its difficulties. Books are mysteriously mis-shelved and disappearing, and her work forces her to confront the memories of her late father and the bookstore they once owned together before a terrible accident.

As the Blitz intensifies in Nottingham and Emma fights to reunite with her daughter, she must learn to depend on her community and the power of literature more than ever to find hope in the darkest of times.

Alice Austin
On the eve of the occupation, in the heart of Brussels, life for the residents of eight apartments at 33 Place Brugmann is about to change forever. Art student Charlotte Sauvin, daughter of a prominent architect in apartment 4L, knows all the details of the building and its people: how light falls and voices echo, the distinct knock of her dearest friend, Julian Raphaël, the eldest son of an art collector’s family across the hall in 4R. But all that’s familiar for Charlotte and the other residents of 33 starts to fracture as whispers of Nazi occupation become reality.

The Raphaëls disappear—becoming refugees, nurses, soldiers, reluctant heroes. Masha, the seamstress on the 5th floor, deepens a dangerous affair with a wartime compatriot of Colonel Warlemont in 3R, a man far less feckless than he’d have his neighbors believe. In the face of a perilous new reality, every member of this accidental community will discover they are not the person they believed themselves to be. When confronted with a cruel choice—submit to the regime or risk their lives to resist—each discovers the truth about what, and who, matters to them the most.

John Byrnes
Two fathers, their sons and the feud that binds them. In the early years of the twentieth century, Billy and Tommy Smith are growing up on the mean streets of Sydney’s Millers Point. It’s a hungry, hard-scrabble life, made even worse when their violent father returns home from a long stint in prison.

In the wealthy eastern suburbs, Charles Davies is living an entirely different life, the beneficiary of his father’s business acumen and insatiable, unyielding greed. Charles wants for nothing – except perhaps his father’s approval.

When an incident on The Point leads to the deaths of both Charles’ and the Smith boys’ fathers, a hatred is born that will follow the three men through their lives. In an epic saga taking them from Sydney to Gallipoli and the killing fields of France in World War I, to the melting pot of Darwin and the opal fields at Lightning Ridge, the men’s paths all lead to one final revenge.

But in the end, what price must be paid for the sins of the fathers?

Leonie Kelsall
Once upon a time, Natasha believed in love. At nineteen, her heart was captivated by a man who promised her the world, only to vanish, leaving her to carry the weight of shattered dreams – and the child she never expected.

A decade later, Natasha is focused on providing love and stability for her daughter, determined to break the cycle of poverty and trauma that haunted her own childhood. As they ease into the peaceful rhythms of Settlers Bridge, Natasha is drawn to the local mechanic, Hamish, whose quiet strength stirs feelings she hadn’t thought she would ever experience again. Yet, despite this connection, Natasha can’t shake the belief that moving on from her first love is impossible.

When her history and future abruptly collide, dividing the town that seems to provide sanctuary, Natasha must decide if she has the courage to take the path that offers love … or whether the echoes of her past will destroy everything she has built.

Kerry J. Donovan…
Ryan Kaine is on the run… A seemingly routine operation ends in tragedy when eighty-three civilians are killed in an aircraft explosion. Kaine, a highly decorated former Royal Marine, becomes the target of a nationwide manhunt; the police want him on terrorism charges, and a sinister organisation wants him dead.

In a desperate attempt to prove his innocence, Kaine is forced to rely on two women he barely knows — a country veterinarian who treats his wounds and an IT expert with a dark secret of her own.

Kaine must battle his overwhelming guilt, life-threatening injuries and strong moral code as he hunts for the people who turned him into a mass-murderer.

Using his skill in combat, gut instincts, and new-found allies, can Kaine uncover the truth and find redemption before the net finally closes?

Kate Kemp
It’s the height of summer in Australia, 1979, and on a quiet suburban cul-de-sac a housewife is scrubbing the yellow and white checkered tiles of the bathroom floor. But all is not as it seems. For one thing, it’s 3am. For another, she is trying desperately to remove all traces of blood before they stain. Her husband seems remarkably calm, considering he has just murdered their neighbour.

As the sun rises on Warrah Place, news of Antonio Marietti’s death spreads like wildfire, gossip is exchanged in whispers and suspicion mounts. Twelve-year-old Tammy, an amateur observational scientist, is not alone in feeling determined to find out what happened. There are secrets behind every closed door in the neighbourhood, and the identity of the murderer is only one of them . . .

Geoffrey Blainey
In the bestselling Black Kettle and Full Moon , master storyteller Geoffrey Blainey takes us on another absorbing journey – a guided tour of a vanished Australia. Covering the years from the first gold rush to World War I. Blainey paints a fascinating picture of how our forebears lived – in the outback, in towns and cities, at sea and on land.

He looks at all aspects of daily life, from billycans to brass bands, from ice-making to etiquette, from pipes to pubs. The engaging text is further brought alive by an evocative selection of contemporary illustrations by artists such as Julian Ashton. This is Geoffrey Blainey doing what he does best, bringing to life for the modern reader, the sighs and sounds and smells of another time.

Meni Caroutas
Eighteen missing people, multiple families grieving, and one person looking for answers in this forensic and moving re-examination of some of Australia’s most heartbreaking missing persons cases. Every 14 minutes in Australia, someone vanishes. Of the 38,000 missing persons reported each year, most return. But for the families of those who don’t, it’s a nightmare they never wake up from.

There are currently 2600 long-term missing Australians. On top of that, 700 unidentified bodies lie in morgues and unmarked graves across the country, silent mysteries waiting to be solved.

In this powerful and gripping collection of real-life cases, Meni Caroutas – a former cop turned investigative journalist – reviews old evidence, hunts new leads and recounts shocking developments surrounding the disappearance or murder of 18 people. From the baffling case of a deceased newborn sent in the mail from Melbourne to Darwin, to the haunting abduction of 16-year-old Gordana Kotevski in 1994, and the chilling possibility of a 14-year-old girl falling victim to notorious serial killer Ivan Milat, these are cases that have left behind shattered parents, traumatised families and grieving friends still searching for answers.

Liz Cameron
As an 18-year-old on a gap year in Canberra, Liz Cameron was approached at a shopping centre by a woman who, unbeknown to her, was a recruiting agent for Providence, a Christian cult that originated in South Korea and currently operates in 72 countries. As a new adult, Cameron was struggling to navigate the world and her identity, and as cults do, so skillfully, they took advantage of her vulnerability.

After months of indoctrination, things escalated – Cameron moved in with the cult, was cut off from friends and family, and was eventually appointed to the status of ‘bride’ to the cult’s serial rapist leader, Jeong Myeong Suk (JMS). She travelled to South Korea to visit JMS in prison and stayed at the cult’s extravagant, secretive compound. Upon her return to Australia, Cameron was controlled and starved, and underwent a severe physical and mental decline. It was only through the intervention of her parents and professional deprogrammers that she was able to make it out alive. In Cult Bride, Cameron takes us behind the scenes of a terrifying cult to show us how they operate in plain sight – and how we can unpick the systems that enable them to prey on vulnerable people.

Nick Ardley
Nick Arley, a 55-year-old public servant from Canberra, sets out on a motorcycling odyssey to break a Guinness World Record crossing all ten of Australia’s deserts. His motorcycling journey began racing around paddocks on an old Honda. From the moment he first rode a motorbike at age eleven it was destined to become a lifelong obsession. Speed and adventure were never far from his mind. The working week was all suits and ties, nine-to-five; but, come the weekend, things were very different.

The desert started calling, the bikes got bigger and the rides longer, evolving into multi-state odysseys crossing the country. The danger was real, with exceptional skill and planning required, but these were the foundation for his greatest the fastest crossing of all ten Australian deserts, unaccompanied, on a motorcycle.

Chasing a Guinness World Record and needing to cover 5500 kilometres over less than twenty-nine days, Nick, with just his Suzuki motorbike for company, set off on an insane trek across Australia’s ten harsh and isolated deserts, pushing himself physically, mentally and emotionally, completely alone and unassisted.