Book picks similar to
Rural Liberties by Neal Drinnan


australian
detective-story
fiction
for-ross

The Legend of Jake Jackson: The Last Of The Great Gunfighters


William H. Joiner Jr. - 2019
    Joiner, Jr. comes a great new action-packed Western adventure. How does a man become one of the fastest guns in the old West? Ride with Jake Jackson as he roots out evil, brings peace to the Old West—and fights for what’s right! This is a man who isn't afraid to fire the six-shooter in his hand! Jake Jackson’s white family were killed when he was a baby by a Comanche war party. Jake’s red family raised him as White Wolf, Comanche warrior. He became a celebrated warrior of the tribe. When the Comanche were forced onto a reservation by the U.S. military and the decimation of the buffalo herd, Jake transitioned to the white world and became known as the fastest gun on the western frontier. Grab your copy today!

The Eight-Shilling Girl


Faye Godwin - 2021
    

Bane County: A Short Story


J.R. Rice - 2019
    . . Mystery, Suspense, an edge-of-your-seat Thriller with characters you’ll fall in love with. An old-school, heart-pounding, coming-of-age Horror series with 100s of 5-Star Reviews. A Bane County Short Story. This 8,000-word Novelette entitled “When Bane Flowers Bloom” takes place within the Bane County Universe. The timeline of the story is set during the third book of the series (First Moon), and it answers many questions and reveals new mysteries spanning all the way back to Book 1 (Forgotten Moon). Prepare yourself, for a twisting turning descent into absolute terror.

Skylarks At Sunset


Rita Bradshaw - 2007
    And so when she meets and falls in love with Daniel Fallow, son of a successful businessman, she's quick to accept his proposal of his marriage. His family, though, are against the match, and so the young couple marry in secret. Grudging acceptance follows, and as the Depression worsens Daniel is persuaded to join the family business, unaware of his father's dodgy dealings. Tragedy is just around the corner, and worse is to come when war is declared in 1939: as Daniel leaves to fight and her children are evacuated, Hope wonders if she will ever have all her family around her again...

Crossing Paths


Dianne Blacklock
    Much better to see it for what it is than to be perennially disappointed.With a hefty new mortgage, a frustrating career as a newspaper columnist and a flailing relationship with a married co-worker, Jo Liddell is resigned to living a less-than-perfect life.That is, until she crosses paths with Joe Bannister – a celebrated foreign correspondent returning home to care for his dying father. Against all her natural instincts, Jo finds herself falling for Joe, and with his help begins to realise that she might deserve to be happy after all. But when she decides to take the plunge and give love a chance, the results are catastrophic. And so Jo must fight hard for everything she never believed in – success, self-acceptance, and above all, real love.

Atlantis


Lauren Eden - 2017
    Heartbreaking and humorous, Atlantis is a journey about picking up the pieces from the ruins of a life they said would be good for you.

The Last Days of Ava Langdon


Mark O'Flynn - 2016
    Armed with a freshly completed manuscript, a yellow cravat and a machete, Ava strides out into the world in the hope of being published – and so the adventure begins. Despite being dismissed as an eccentric – or worse – by the world around her, and battling poverty and age, Ava’s internal world remains vivid; her purpose, clear.Author Mark O’Flynn first learned about legendary Blue Mountains writer and recluse Eve Langley when he stumbled across her abandoned hut outside the small town of Leura. Though he moved on to other projects, Langley’s voice stayed with him: ‘Why did she change her name (by deed poll) to Oscar Wilde? Why the romantic preoccupation with her past? So little is known of her final days.’ O’Flynn’s fascination with her life eventually led to the creation of the irrepressible Ava Langdon.Rich in wordplay and colourful anecdote, The Last Days of Ava Langdon is an intimate, witty and soulful conjuring of a once-great artist in her final days, which will leave the reader questioning – what passion would sustain you if everything was lost?

Ghost Fleet


D.A. Boulter - 2011
    Experts say they are scanner echoes tossed out of the past by the Phenomenon. The rumors and a cryptic entry in an ancestor's diary propel Lieutenant-Commander Mart Britlot of the Confederation navy into the dangerous Sivon sector of space. There, Britlot hopes to find help for the Confederation, now facing a two-front war. As the last living Confederation descendant of the Adian nation, Britlot is obsessed with finding the ghost ships, believed destroyed during a mass emigration 300 years in the past. He dreams of riding to the rescue at the head of the never defeated Adian fleet; he dreams of finding family after the death of all his near relatives at the hands of the Combine. He'll drive his ship and crew beyond endurance to achieve this. The felid Tlartox Empire, eager to avenge their humiliating defeat at the hands of the Confederation, has voted to annul the long-standing peace treaty. The glory of The Hunt beckons. Admiral Tood Tlomega has focused on the human planet Lormar, with its great naval base, as a fitting target for retribution. She will return dignity to the people of Tlar. She will return them to the path that Tlar illuminated so many centuries ago.But a small band of Tlartox subversives intend to rake a claw across the plans of the war-mongers, and give both the Empire and the Confederation something they hadn't counted on.

Here in the After


Marion Frith - 2021
    Anna has survived the worst. So has Nat. Two broken souls, struggling to find a place in a world they no longer fit.Anna, 62, is the victim of a terrorist attack in which eleven others were murdered. Nat, 35, is an Army veteran who fought in Afghanistan. They have so little in common. And so much.A friendship stirs between them, tentative and unlikely, its foundation the violence they have seen and the memories that stalk them. Together, they begin to search for a way back home.But when Nat's wife falls unexpectedly pregnant, terrible ghosts from his wartime past rise up and much more than a friendship is at stake.Here in the After is a poignant and uplifting exploration of the legacy of trauma and the healing power of connection.'Bold, unflinching and courageous, this book dives with sensitivity and compassion into the dark shadows of PTSD to uncover light and acceptance. Heartbreaking and devastating, but luminous, tender and hopeful. The last book I read that moved me so deeply was A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.' Karen Viggers, author of The Orchardist's Daughter'A moving meditation on the toll trauma takes on the body and mind, and the human connection that can be its balm.' Vanessa McCausland, author of The Lost Summers of Driftwood'Powerful, insightful and ultimately hopeful, Here in the After is a compelling and poignant exploration of the price exacted by terror and warfare and the redemptive powers of an unlikely friendship.' Suzanne Leal, author of The Deceptions

The Murder of Allison Baden-Clay


David Murray - 2014
    Things started to unravel for Gerard Baden-Clay the night his wife Allison vanished. Within days everything private would become public. Behind the façade of happiness their life together was riven with debt, infidelity, unfulfilled dreams, and bitter jealousy. It began with a phone call to police in Brisbane on April 20, 2012. Gerard wanted to report his wife missing. When officers arrived to investigate, they found the real estate agent neatly dressed for work. Weeping welts on the side of his face were simply shaving cuts, he told them. Police weren’t so sure and opened the book on one of Australia’s biggest-ever missing persons investigations, conducted in the heart of one of Brisbane’s wealthiest suburbs. The Baden-Clays had been married 14 years. They had three young daughters and were prominent figures within their well-heeled community. Gerard was the great grandson of Scouting founder Robert Baden-Powell, president of the local chamber of commerce, and vice-president of the school P & C. His wife Allison was a one-time beauty queen who spoke six languages and was global human resources manager for a travel firm when she gave it all away to marry the man of her dreams. Together they made their home in Brookfield, an idyllic semi-rural suburb, but all was not as it seemed. 10 days after Gerard reported her missing, Allison’s body was discovered on a creek bank 14km from her home. This is the definitive story of a crime that captured the nation—the unbelievable twists, turns, secrets, and lies. Written by the journalist who covered the case from the outset, it weaves together exclusive interviews and police and court records to explain how a father with no criminal history came to be on trial for a brutal murder. It’s a story about love, lust, image, ambition, and marriage, and about every day choices and their consequences.

The Sacred Combe


Thomas Maloney - 2016
    She invites him to ‘go and live a better life without me’. He must start again, and alone.And so it is that Sam finds himself deep in the English countryside in a cold but characterful old house, remote and encircled by hills, in the employment and company of an older, wiser man, a man as fond of mystery as he is of enlightenment. What is the purpose of the seemingly hopeless task set for Sam in the house’s ancient library? What is the secret of the unused room? And where does a life lose its way or gain its meaning?The combe is home to a truth born of fraud, a building made of light, and a family wrecked by recklessness: loss and love reverberate around the house and around the novel, providing pleasure, pain and purpose. Combe Hall is a house designed to honour and to enthral. And this very fine debut novel does exactly the same.

Tree Palace


Craig Sherborne - 2014
    One time near Yellingbo they found a church no one prayed in and they lived there and for three weeks had stained glass for windows…They got chased out and went to Shepparton but Shane had a run-in and police said move.Shane, Moira and Midge, along with young Zara and Rory, are ‘trants’—itinerants roaming the plains north-west of Melbourne in search of disused houses to sleep in, or to strip of heritage fittings when funds are low. When they find their Tree Palace outside Barleyville, things are looking up. At last, a place in which to settle down.But Zara, fifteen, is pregnant and doesn’t want a child. She’d rather a normal life with town boys, not trant life with a baby. Moira decides to step in: she’ll look after her grandchild. Then Shane finds himself in trouble with the local cops…Warmly told and witty, Craig Sherborne’s second novel is a revelation—an affecting story of family and rural life.

The Ice Age: a journey into crystal-meth addiction


Luke Williams - 2016
    Over the next three months, he was seduced by the drug and descended into psychosis.This confronting and illuminating story charts Luke's recovery from the drug, and his investigation into its usage and prevalence in Australia and the western world. In examining what led to his addiction, Luke also explores the social problems that surround ice, scrutinising whether its abuse is in fact an epidemic, with what we're experiencing now merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg, or yet another moral panic about the underclass. Luke traces the history of methamphetamine from its legal usage in the early 20th century to its contemporary relevance as one of the most foreboding and talked-about illicit drugs in the world. His search for answers sees him exploring meth labs, interviewing addicts and law-enforcement officials, and witnessing firsthand the effects of the drug on individuals, families, and the healthcare system.Combining memoir with reportage, The Ice Age is a vital, compelling first-person account, and an investigation into a drug that is fast becoming the subject of national discussion throughout the western world.

Convict Colony: The Remarkable Story of the Fledgling Settlement That Survived Against the Odds


David Hill - 2019
    We now take it for granted that the first colony was the basis of one of the most successful nations in the world today. But in truth, the New World of the 18th century was dotted with failed colonies, and New South Wales nearly joined them. The motley crew of unruly marines and bedraggled convicts who arrived at Botany Bay in 1788 in leaky boats nearly starved to death. They could easily have been murdered by the natives, been overwhelmed by an attack from French or Spanish expeditions, or brought undone by the Castle Hill uprising of 1804. Yet through fortunate decisions, a few remarkably good leaders, and most of all, good luck, Sydney survived and thrived. Bestselling historian David Hill tells the story of the first three decades of Britain's earliest colony in Australia in a fresh and compelling way.

The Thompson Gunner


Nick Earls - 2004
    She's an icon to her fans, a darling of the media, schmoozed by television networks and an A-list guest at festivals abroad. She's a month and three countries into her current tour, a week away from home – through what exactly 'home' means is problematic these days. On a flight between gigs, a recurring dream raises disturbing questions. Haunting flashbacks provide clues to a past long ago buried – a secret life in another time, a life of lies, pacts and forbidden alliances. Then there's her relationship with Murray and where it went wrong. Out of the spotlight and beneath the punchlines, Meg discovers that memory will find a way to break the surface . . .