Cambridge academic, Dr Spencer Avery, arrives in Toowoomba in 2008, both to flee a strained romance in England and to bring his expertise to ‘the colonies’. His arrogant preconception is challenged by the wit and idiosyncrasies of rural Queensland. But, behind the new experiences, danger lurks.Olga Davidenko is a retired Russian army officer, seeking redemption with the son she had abandoned decades before. International criminals are hunting her knowledge but illness is preventing...

The year is 2030. The population of the world is well over 8 billion. Someone has sabotaged all the silicon-based electronics on the planet. No modern technology is working – no phones, no computers, no navigation systems, no Internet, no television and there is minimal distribution of food – the world, as we know it, is grinding to a halt.Arthur Blair, the eighty-two-year-old retired director of the Netherlands-based International Investigations Bureau (IIB), is back in this spell...

A spy novel set in Canberra during the Covid era.The Cyber Ambiguity takes you into a world you probably didn't even know existed!!We take connected mobile phones and public internet access for granted. But that is but a tiny fraction of the internet. There is a whole other world behind the obvious.When 'Witness Z' tries to post protected information online, he genuinely thinks he is advancing a worthy cause – to slow climate change and stop the greedy plun...

Something big is about to happen in the eastern Mediterranean; potentially a crime against humanity. It will be soon, and in many places, but the target and the means are far from clear.Emma Jazy is a twenty-nine-year-old Swiss agent with IIB, the Netherlands-based International Investigations Bureau. IIB’s brief is to obtain court-admissible evidence about criminals operating across international borders.It is 2013. Can IIB get inside the mind of the ageing former...

When Napoleon is crowned King of Italy in 1805, a gypsy claims his troops have stolen a precious sapphire from her family. The gypsy curses Napoleon, predicting a future where he will be stripped of his power and banished from society.Fast forward 200 years. Journalist, Alison Wood reports on a sapphire theft in the Queensland gem fields. Again, a curse is proclaimed against the perpetrator.Enter Steve Flynn, ex-armed forces turned security guard who nearly dies when his cel...

In the 1960s, Professor Julius Sumner Miller asked television viewers, ‘Why is it so?’Now, in The Most Avoided Questions, Jim Reay examines the historical and scientific evidence as to how we regularly make moral decisions about difficult issues such as:• Is survival of the species more important than human rights?• Are we all brainwashed and the notion of free will is a myth?• Should people have a right to say what...

Jim Reay is back with a gripping book that challenges his readers and reveals what really goes on beneath the normality of a tranquil city.Harry Boyd, Brisbane high-school teacher and mathematics whiz, has a problem. His Irish-reporter tenant, Siobhan Doyle, has disappeared in puzzling circumstances. Harry is disappointed with the initial police response so, with a little professional help, he becomes a reluctant amateur detective.But his hunt for the missing woman uncovers...

None of Us is As Good As All of Us tells the first insider story from any major corporation on how diversity within the organization translates into success in business. Its a dramatic tale told from the perspective of the people who made it happen. Although everyone knows McDonalds, very few people realize that its overwhelming, worldwide sensation is due, in part, to its commitment to inclusion and diversity throughout its three-legged stool of owner/operators, suppliers, and employees. ...

"Art . . . London . . . Seventies Glam . . . Yesss, please. The English Masterpiece by Katherine Reay has ALL the goodies--especially for historical fiction lovers and art aficionados . . . Buckle your seatbelt as all hell breaks loose." --Lisa Barr, New York Times bestselling author of The Goddess of WarsawSet in the art world of 1970s London, The English Masterpiece is a fast-paced read to the end, full of glamour and s...

Return to the cozy and delightful town of Winsome, where two people discover the grace of letting go and the joy found in unexpected change. "A touching, multilayered, yet totally cozy story" (Lauren K. Denton), Of Literature and Lattes is the heartwarming follow-up to The Printed Letter Bookshop.After fleeing her hometown three years earlier, Alyssa Harrison never planned to return. Then the Silicon Valley start-up she worked for collapsed and tu...

What happened to the people who remained in the former South Vietnam after the war ended in April 1975? Few of us know.The war-weary United States had turned its attention away from the region, and the Communist leadership closed Vietnam to Western journalists.For more than a decade, little was heard, but retribution against the South Vietnamese was swift and unending. Hundreds of thousands of former South Vietnamese military officers were sent to Reeducation Camps. Expecti...

In this "charming, warm-hearted, and funny" picture book for adults, a workaholic grim reaper learns the importance of time off and self-care (NPR).Death never takes a day off. Until he gets a letter from the HR department insisting he use up his accrued vacation time, that is. In this humorous and heartfelt book from beloved illustrator Brian Rea, we take a peek at Death's journal entries as he documents his mandatory sabbatical in the world of the living. From sk...