Rose Gordon knew the farm would be hers when her grandfather died. Strong and sassy, she was the only heir to five generations of cattle country and the magnificent Barrington Homestead. But Charlie’s will was not as she expected and the appearance of Angus Hamilton on the day of the funeral unsettled her. Handsome and single, she was attracted to him in a way she had never experienced. The ongoing drought and discovering she had friends, if not family, in the small rural community complicate matters. More sinister threats lurk in the shadows. Will Rose give up city life to face the threats head on and fight for her inheritance?

    Throughout her short life, Sallie-Anne Huckstepp lived a dangerous existence. This is a true story, brilliantly told, of someone who was gutsy and determined – and who paid the ultimate price for speaking out against corruption and murder.In 2014, Xoum is proud to release a new edition of this seminal work.Praise for Huckstepp by John Dale‘A marvellous book, brilliantly written and researched.’ Louis Nowra‘A significant, original work that challenges as much as it reveals.’ The Australian‘Dale nails the treachery, corruption and decadence of a part of Sydney society that traces its origins to the Rum Corps.’ Andrew Rule‘A brilliantly constructed record of one of Kings Cross’ most infamous characters. A great city story.’ The Australian‘A fine and disciplined piece of writing.’ HQ‘As gripping as a thriller.’ The Northern Star‘Only the very famous – or infamous – are known by a single name. Huckstepp conjures memories of the bad old days in Sydney; of a time when cops and crims were as likely to be allies as enemies. In the age of Underbelly, John Dale’s new edition of Huckstepp is a timely reminder of the human cost behind the headlines. Through extensive interviews with those who knew, loved and used Sallie-Anne Huckstepp, Dale vividly recreates a time when heroin was currency, and corruption and murder were the everyday tools of violent men. It is a deadly, dangerous, brutal world, depicted with realism, not romanticism. For some, the name Huckstepp will forever carry a frisson of excitement, the promise of secrets, sex, drugs and crime. In this book, Dale ensures that Sallie-Anne’s name will also forever remind us of that fateful moment when a young woman with a gap-toothed smile and a story to tell naively believed that publicity would guarantee her protection. Huckstepp is still famous, but her story runs deeper than the headlines. In this book, Dale takes the reader beyond the underbelly, into the very belly of the beast.’ P.M. Newton

    But how about Alex Rodriguez, Jeter's teammate, former American League MVP, and probable future Hall of Famer? Many would argue he's even better than Jeter. And what about Jeter's seemingly unassailable status as one of the greatest Yankees of all time? Such discussions highlight one of the great joys of being a baseball fan: arguing over who's really great and who falls just short, who doesn't get the respect he deserves and who gets too much. In other words, who's overrated and who's underrated. In The Stark Truth, baseball analyst, writer, and researcher Jayson Stark of ESPN considers the entire history of professional baseball and picks the most overblown and underappreciated players in the history of the game. His results, based on extensive research using both traditional and more modern methods of evaluating baseball players and performance, are provocative, entertaining, and go a long way toward settling many of baseball's most persistent debates. No book can hope to settle every baseball argument, but The Stark Truth: The Most Overrated and Underrated Players in Baseball History takes one of baseball's most enduring debates and provides some compelling and stunning clarity.

    Thieves pillage opal mines, religious fanatics recruit vulnerable young people and billionaires do as they please.Then an opal miner is found crucified and left to rot down his mine. Nothing about the miner's death is straightforward, not even who found the body. Sydney homicide detective Ivan Lucic is sent to investigate, assisted by inexperienced young investigator Nell Buchanan.But Finnigans Gap has already ended one police career and damaged others, and soon both officers face damning allegations and internal investigations. Have Ivan and Nell been set up and, if so, by whom?As time runs out, their only chance at redemption is to find the killer. But the more secrets they uncover, the more harrowing the mystery becomes, as events from years ago take on a startling new significance.For in Finnigans Gap, opals, bodies and secrets don't stay buried for ever.A superb standalone thriller from the acclaimed and award-winning author of the international bestsellers Scrublands, Silver and Trust.

     A self-taught geographer, hydrographer and navigator, Dampier was also a keen natural historian who showed his contemporaries then-unknown regions of the world, and vividly described the exotic creatures and plants that inhabited them without exaggeration. Impressing the Admiralty with his book, A New Voyage round the World, Dampier was given command of the infamous Roebuck expedition and became the first Englishman to explore parts of Australia. But Dampier's past reared its head when he employed acquaintances from his buccaneering days, and numerous problems beset him along the way; upon his eventual return Dampier was court-martialled for cruelty. Though he lived and worked like a buccaneer Dampier filled in blank spaces on the map, and in pioneering the seaways he opened up the oceans for exploration, thus laying the foundations for the British Empire. Although lauded in his day and going on to influence many in both literary and scientific spheres, Dampier died in obscurity and his name, associated with piracy, disappeared for many years. Comprehensive and compellingly told, Anton Gill's biography charts the life and endeavours of William Dampier, his successes and his failings, and reinstates him into the pantheon of great explorers. Anton Gill has been a freelance writer since 1984, specialising in European contemporary history but latterly branching out into historical fiction. He is the winner of the H H Wingate Award for non-fiction for 'The Journey Back From Hell'. He is also the author of 'Into Darkness', 'Dance Between the Flames' and 'An Honourable Defeat'. 'The Devil's Mariner' was his first biography.

    Wrenching story with a happy ending.

    What she finds is a dusty main street lined with ramshackle buildings.That is until she walks through the doors of Mr Chen's Emporium, a veritable Aladdin's cave, and her life changes forever. Though banned from the store by her dour clergyman father, Amy is entranced by its handsome owner, Charles Chen ...In present-day Millbrooke, recently widowed artist Angie Wallace has rented the Old Manse where Amy once lived. When her landlord produces an antique trunk containing Amy's intriguingly diverse keepsakes - both Oriental and European - Angie resolves to learn more about this mysterious girl from the past.And it's not long before the lives of two very different women, born a century apart, become connected in the most poignant and timeless ways.

    From childhood backyard cricket with mates and family, and net sessions with his dad that laid the foundations for his later success, Steve traces the influences and events that started him on his cricket journey.He takes us inside his quest to play cricket at the highest level, from formative club and grade games, to his first overseas experiences, and finally to state cricket and the Australian squad. It's a journey with both ups and downs, where valuable and lasting lessons were learned from the successes and, more importantly, the failures.And Steve compellingly describes the key moments that shaped him into the cricketer and leader he is today, from his definitive hundred at Centurion in South Africa, to the soul-searching and resolve that accompanied the Australian team's lowest point in the 2016 Hobart Test, to the epic 2017 series in India.The Journey is a revealing and fascinating insight into Steve Smith-the cricketer and the man.

    meticulously researched, thought-provoking and utterly compelling.' - Bette r Reading Sydney, Christmas, 1901. Federation has been achieved but Australian women are yet to gain the right to vote in their new nation's elections and have a say in the laws that govern them.Bolshy, boisterous Frankie Merriweather is a fervent advocate for women's rights, determined to dedicate herself to the cause, never marrying or becoming a mother. She can't understand her artistic sister Ivy, who wants a life of ease and beauty with her soon-to-be fiance, law student Patrick Earle.Meanwhile, their married sister Aggie volunteers in an orphanage, decrying the inequality of Australia's social classes ... and longing to hold a baby in her arms.When an accident takes Ivy, wounded and ill, into the violent and lawless zone of the Hawkesbury River, a year of change begins. Ivy's burgeoning friendship with her saviour Riley Logan, a smuggler, and his sister, the poverty-stricken but valiant Fiona, will alter the lives of all three women forever.A passionate tale of three sisters as they strive for freedom and independence and follow their hearts to unexpected places, from a master storyteller. For readers of Fiona McIntosh, Nicole Alexander and Natasha Lester.

    By daybreak, her world has shifted. Max Carlisle, a troubled AFL star, can't stop what comes next. And Ruby, a single woman from the apartment block, is left with questions when she sees Jordi leave.In this remarkable novel, Rachel Matthews captures the characters of Jordi and her family, the players, and the often loveable inhabitants of a big city with a deceptive lightness of touch that seduces the reader. Siren reveals the often unnoticed life of a city while simultaneously drawing us deep into a dark and troubling world. What happens has an unexpected effect on all those who are both directly and indirectly involved.The result is a powerful and haunting novel about cultural stereotypes and expectations, love, loneliness, family and our struggle to connect. In so many ways, Matthews subtly sounds the siren on sexual violence and its prevalence in our culture.

    Here, witness Chicago's growth from a desolate fur-trading post in the 1830s to one of the world's most explosively alive cities by 1900.Donald Miller's powerful narrative embraces it all: Chicago's wild beginnings, its reckless growth, its natural calamities (especially the Great Fire of 1871), its raucous politics, its empire-building businessmen, its world-transforming architecture, its rich mix of cultures, its community of young writers and journalists, and its staggering engineering projects -- which included the reversal of the Chicago River and raising the entire city from prairie mud to save it from devastating cholera epidemics. The saga of Chicago's unresolved struggle between order and freedom, growth and control, capitalism and community, remains instructive for our time, as we seek ways to build and maintain cities that retain their humanity without losing their energy. City of the Century throbs with the pulse of the great city it brilliantly brings to life.

    In this extended interview, Getlen spoke to Carlin about all the subjects above and more, finding the veteran comic, who changed the way comedians approach the art of stand-up comedy several times over the course of his remarkable fifty-year career, to be even more intelligent and contemplative than one might expect. Carlin never shied away from difficult subjects, answering every question as if he had been mulling over the topic at hand for years before reaching his well-stated conclusion. Conversations with Carlin highlights the comedian’s anti-authoritarian views - what he would refer to as his “outsidership” - on almost every page, and features his extensive thoughts on the topics most closely associated with him, comedy and words. But the book also presents sides of the man that his fans have rarely, if ever, seen before, as he discusses topics like the importance to him of romantic love - George was with the same woman for almost four decades, until her death in 1997 - and the conditions under which he would put his life on the line and go off to war. Conversations with Carlin will be a revelation for longtime fans, providing one of the most in-depth looks yet at this brilliant comedy icon, while also serving as the perfect introduction for those just now discovering George Carlin and his vast influence on the comedy world. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Larry Getlen is a veteran journalist who has written for TIME, Esquire, New York Magazine, Radar, and the New York Post. He’s also a comedy writer and former stand-up comedian who has appeared on “Chappelle’s Show,” and was once booed off-stage at the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem. He lives in New York City. Follow him on Twitter @larrygetlen.

    She's horrified to see a body on the beach. However the 'body' is the very much alive and enigmatic Alfie. The two women become friends and spend time together in Sydney where Alfie's wild nature becomes apparent. When Alfie is attacked the situation takes a turn for the worse and they decide to leave the city.It's a road trip that ends in murder...Who is Alfie? What is Rosie hiding?Detective Sergeant Pete Norton wants answers to these questions.What he will discover is that this case is a killer.

    He's a contradiction: a hard drinking rock star with the soul of a poet; a wordsmith and a raconteur, a romantic and a realist, a bon vivant op-shop-dressed dandy. He's the wild man of Australian rock n' roll, a man who loves footy, who was brought up in the wild emptiness of Kalgoorlie, but he's now an urban hipster - a legend of Australian rock music, more at home in St Kilda than the bush.In this offbeat and immensely charming literary memoir, Tim Rogers talks about what it is to be a man, about accepting who you are, about masculinity, love, drinking, footy, his father, being a dad, anxiety, and above all, his continuing, magical, ever-present muse - music.It is by turns revealing, warm, self-deprecating, intimate, shocking, confessional, sharp, funny and immensely engaging.

    You don’twant to be the old employee working as a door greeter at your big chain department store. It will also be frustrating and very depressing if you are not financially aware of your future. Time seems to go faster the older you get and it’s never too late to get started.But getting started might be one of your problems. There is too much information available and too many scammers are trying to get you to invest in shady companies. You also don’t have the time to figure everything out by yourself, because it might seem too hard and complicated.However, getting the investing part of your life handled will improve your life tremendously. You will have peace of mind when you think about your future and you will also have the confidence to make sound investing decisions. You’ll also have the knowledge to talk intelligently with your peers and financial advisors, making it easy to spot when someone is giving you wrong information.I begin with the basics, like what are stocks and how the stock market works. I then transition into how you can make money in the stock market, give you some stocks you should have on your watch list and some of the lies and mistakes you will have to deal with as an investor.So, don’t wait and get this book now. It’s on sale at this moment, but the price will go up!