Book picks similar to
The Ghost Tattoo by Tony Bernard


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non-fiction
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Wandi


Favel Parrett - 2021
    This is where he meets his first Human, and begins his long journey to becoming the most famous dingo in the world. He will never see his mountain home again, or his family. But it is his destiny to save alpine dingoes from extinction, and he dreams of a time when all cubs like him can live in the wild in safety, instead of facing poison and bullets and hatred. A children's literary classic in-the-making from one of Australia's most-loved authors.

Beautiful Bad Girl


Gordon Basichis - 2010
    Seething with power, intrigue, sex and obsession, it's a ringside seat into the darker habits of the world's rich and powerful.

The Queen's Colonial


Peter Watt - 2018
    Humble blacksmith Ian Steele struggles to support his widowed mother. All the while he dreams of a life in uniform, serving in Queen Victoria's army.1845, Puketutu, New Zealand. Second Lieutenant Samuel Forbes, a young poet from an aristocratic English family, wants nothing more than to run from the advancing Maori warriors and discard the officer's uniform he never sought.When the two men cross paths in the colony of New South Wales, they are struck by their brotherly resemblance and quickly hatch a plan for Ian to take Samuel's place in the British army. Ian must travel to England, fool the treacherous Forbes family and accept a commission into their regiment as a company commander. Once in London, he finds love with an enigmatic woman, but must part with her to face battle in the bloody Crimean war. In this first instalment of Peter Watt's new series, Captain Ian Steele stares down the relentless Russian military...but he will soon learn that there are even deadlier enemies close to home.

The Capture of Attu: A World War II Battle as Told by the Men Who Fought There


Robert J. Mitchell - 2000
     Attu was the westernmost island in the Aleutian chain, located one thousand miles from Alaska, and subject to brutal weather all year round. Prior to the war it had been home to two Americans and forty-five Aleut hunters and their families, but in June 1942 the Japanese had seized the island and now had over two-thousand troops on the barren island threatening the security of the U.S. mainland. The Battle of the Komandorski Islands in the Bering Sea on March 26, 1943, cleared the way for attempt to retake the island of Attu. Code-named Operation Landgrab, the U.S. military planned for the invasion to take place in May. Army planners had initially thought this would be a quick operation, but instead of being a short invasion it dragged on for over two weeks. The Japanese had realized that their options were limited and so launched a last-ditch banzai charge against the American frontline that was suffering from brutal Arctic conditions, equipment failures and food shortages. Although the U.S. military was able to recapture the island it had cost the lives of over five hundred American soldiers. Robert J. Mitchell, Sewell T. Tyng and Nelson Drummond’s book The Capture of Attu provides fascinating insight into this ferocious conflict. Part One of the book provides an overview of the military campaign while Part Two provides personal narratives of the soldiers who fought. This book attempts to put the reader on the battlefield with the ground soldier. Men who fought on Attu, officers and enlisted men, told their stories to Lieutenant Robert J. Mitchell of the 32d Infantry, one of the regiments engaged. These stories tell of the discomforts and perils, the failures and successes, the fear and courage, the many fights between small groups and the occasional humor, of which battle consists. Robert J. Mitchell served as a lieutenant in the US Army's 7th Infantry Division in World War II, being stationed on Attu Island off of Alaska as well as other areas of the Pacific. He was shot in the chest while on Attu and carried the bullet for the rest of his life. While recuperating, he wrote the stories of the other men in his hospital tent. For this he was made an aide to the general in charge of media for the rest of the war. He passed away in 1992. His co-authors Sewell T. Tyng and Nelson Drummond also served on Attu and passed away in 1946 and 1999 respectively. Their book The Capture of Attu was first published in 1944.

Siege


Deborah Snow - 2018
    A terrorist attack on Australian soil. For seventeen hours Islamic State-inspired gunman Man Haron Monis held his captives in a terrifying drama that paralysed Sydney and kept a nation glued to its television screens. Two hostages were killed and three seriously wounded. The others would have their lives changed for ever.Despite the police leadership declaring it was well prepared for a terrorist attack, many shortcomings on the night revealed a response that fell seriously short of that promise. Deborah Snow lays bare what happened behind the scenes in the cafe as the hostages tried to keep themselves alive while waiting for a police response that didn't come. She also takes us into the police command posts as communications, equipment and decision-making structures broke down. Hurtling towards its inevitable and tragic conclusion, Siege draws us into a vortex of police missteps, extraordinary bravery and profound grief to reveal what happened during that awful day. Shocking, compelling and revealing Siege will take its place as the classic account of these events.

Lawson's Bend


Nicole Hurley-Moore - 2019
    At an end-of-year celebratory campout, several students from the local high school drown and Henrietta Bolton loses her best friend, Georgie, to the murky waters. Unable to accept this as an accident, Henny runs from the small country town vowing never to come back. Stephen Drake has never left. Instead, he's tried to settle down, working with his dad on their small farm. Stephen had dreams of a different life but after the night at the lake, nothing seemed important anymore. Years later, Henny is forced to return to Lawson's Bend when her beloved mother dies. Henny's plan is to finalise her mother's estate, sell the house and get the hell out of town as quickly as possible. But there is Stephen...Ever since they were kids Stephen has had a soft spot for Henny and it was he who saved her life that night amid the panic. Yet he never had the courage to tell her just how he felt. But now she's back in town, Stephen wonders if he has a second chance.

The Lost Letters of Playfair Street


Michelle Montebello - 2020
    A chest of clues.Come find me... I’ll be waiting…1929: On the night of her engagement to austere banker Floyd Clark, Charlotte Greene meets enigmatic Sydney Harbour Bridge engineer, Alexander Young. Their encounter is brief, but their attraction instant.During a second-chance meeting, Alex invites Charlotte to play a game with him, one of daring clues and secret meeting places. She accepts and they embark on a thrilling lover’s chase across the city.But with her arranged marriage to Floyd looming, will she have the strength to let Alex go?Present Day: Paige Westwood is helping her boss establish a publishing company in his newly-purchased Playfair Street house in The Rocks, Sydney. In the attic, she discovers a chest of old clues that lead the reader on a journey across the city. Paige contacts the former owner, Ryan Greene, who explains the clues belonged to his great-aunt Charlotte, who once lived in the house, but who mysteriously disappeared in 1929.Together, they follow Charlotte and Alex’s clues to unravel a fascinating tale of lies and intrigue, of two lovers bound by hope, but also by deceit. Can they solve the mystery of Charlotte’s disappearance or has all hope been lost to the past?

Doing the Business - The Final Confession of the Senior Kray Brother


Charlie Kray - 2011
    Only one man knew everything about Ronnie and Reggie Kray and that was their brother Charlie. Until now nobody has ever revealed the truth about the Firm.- Gossip and rumor have been rife, fact has blended into fiction and the unwritten law of the street meant that the real story was buried. But before his death, the eldest Kray brother, Charlie, decided to set the record straight once and for all. Revealing everything to Colin Fry, his co-author, he finally told his incredible story. By the man who knew them best, this is the ultimate history of the twins who ruled the East End with their peculiar blend of seductive glamour and terrifying violence.

Second Time Sweeter


Ros Baxter - 2015
    Turns out Mr Safe Bet wasn’t so safe after all, and life in her small home town of Sweet Pocket got kind of sour. The last thing she needs on top of two kids, a sick mother, a deadbeat ex and a heap of bad debt is for Mr Love of her Life to ride back into town, successful, smart, devastatingly sexy, and all the things that she can no longer be. And it doesn’t help that she’s dressed as cheese. One-time-bad-boy-now-Crop-King Brodie Brown is back in town on a mission of mercy, but he’s keeping his guard up.  He can’t let this town – or the girl who broke his heart ten years before – get under his skin.  He’s seen what working the land can do to people, and he built his business, and a whole new life, in the big smoke far away from the pain and despair of a farmer’s life. But he loved this town and he loves the people, so when Sweet Pocket calls, he answers. That’s just the way it is.But it’s only temporary and it’s only business. Brodie learned long ago that there is nothing left for him in Sweet Pocket but a broken heart and lost dreams. When the town’s future is secure, he’ll ride away again – back to his life and his future, and away from the girl who could make both worthwhile.

Home to Turtle Bay


Marion Lennox - 2018
    Dr Jennifer Kelly has reached the pinnacle of her career as a successful Manhattan obstetrician, complete with ambitious, blue-blooded fianc�. After a desolate childhood with a distant grandmother, life seems everything she's ever wanted.When a grandfather she's never heard of leaves her a dairy farm on an isolated Australian island - plus one depressed dog, thirty geriatric cows and a bunch of ancient surfboards - she plans a quick trip to put the farm up for sale. Her aloof, socialite grandmother Muriel is appalled, yet insists on accompanying her.Once there, Jenny finds herself caught, by cows, by turtles - and by Jack McLachlan, the overworked island doctor who desperately needs her help. Muriel's caught too, with ghosts of her wartime past threatening to crack the shell she's built with such dedication and care.But isn't Manhattan their home? How can two women give up the perfect world they've worked so hard for by taking a chance on...life?'Joyous and breathtaking, a story to touch your heart, make you smile and see the world as a better place.' - Barbara Hannay

Bike Path Rapist: A Cop's Firsthand Account of Catching the Killer Who Terrorized a Community


Jeff Schober - 2009
    After working tirelessly on behalf of a convicted man, DNA slides were discovered at a local medical center.  Capozzi was exonerated and released before Easter 2007.  Bike Path Rapist: A Cop's Firsthand Account of Catching the Killer Who Terrorized a Community will examine the complex and compelling story inside the investigation of a thirty-year string of serial rapes and killings.  With detailed information culled from interviews, police reports and insights from Delano and his colleagues on an elite task force that solved the crime, the book will blend the drama of Cold Case and CSI with a behind-the-scenes look at investigative techniques and angles examined by investigators.

Eggshell Skull


Bri Lee - 2018
    If a single punch kills someone because of their thin skull, that victim's weakness cannot mitigate the seriousness of the crime. But what if it also works the other way? What if a defendant on trial for sexual crimes has to accept his 'victim' as she comes: a strong, determined accuser who knows the legal system, who will not back down until justice is done?Bri Lee began her first day of work at the Queensland District Court as a bright-eyed judge's associate. Two years later she was back as the complainant in her own case. This is the story of Bri's journey through the Australian legal system; first as the daughter of a policeman, then as a law student, and finally as a judge's associate in both metropolitan and regional Queensland-where justice can look very different, especially for women. The injustice Bri witnessed, mourned and raged over every day finally forced her to confront her own personal history, one she'd vowed never to tell. And this is how, after years of struggle, she found herself on the other side of the courtroom, telling her story.Bri Lee has written a fierce and eloquent memoir that addresses both her own reckoning with the past as well as with the stories around her, to speak the truth with wit, empathy and unflinching courage. Eggshell Skull is a haunting appraisal of modern Australia from a new and essential voice.

Last King of the Cross


John Ibrahim - 2017
     Last King of the Cross lays bare Australia's most notorious underworld figure.In the mongrel tongue of the streets, John writes of fleeing war-torn Tripoli with his family and growing up in Sydney's rough and tumble west - before establishing himself as a tough guy and teen delinquent, then a bouncer, enforcer and nightclub king on the Golden Mile.Bullets fly, blades flash and bodies fall. In a city of shadows, John builds his army and empire - partying like a playboy prince of darkness while staying one step ahead of the cops, the outlaw gangs and hungry triggermen, plotting to take him and his family down.Crazier than Goodfellas, more compelling than The Godfather, Last King of the Cross is a colourful crime saga like no other and powerful proof that truth is always stranger than fiction.

Court in the Middle


Andrew Fraser - 2007
    Then it all went horribly wrong. In 1999 he was charged with being knowingly concerned with the importation of a commercial quantity of cocaine. Fraser pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing, trafficking a small quantity, and using cocaine over a period of time. He was sentenced to seven years in maximum security prison. Court in the Middle describes his early years—growing up in a family of lawyers, running hard to build a criminal law practice; his successful years with a national practice, and defending high profile, sometimes notorious, clients. He also discusses his relationship with cocaine, addiction and deals, crime and punishment, and the shocking details of his time spent in a maximum security prison.

Once Burnt, Twice Shy


Karly Lane - 2021
    A tribute to the Rural Fire Service and the work they selflessly do.Recently divorced mother-of-two Samantha Murphy agrees to house-sit for her parents for a few weeks-but when the house involves several hundred acres of farming and livestock, it's a little more involved than the usual job. Sam left the family farm years ago for a more exciting, glamorous life on the Sunshine Coast, but now that her kids have grown up and moved out, she's at a crossroads.Jack Cameron was in love with Sam when they were teenagers, and she broke his heart when she left town at eighteen. Their lives moved along similar paths-both marrying, having families and getting divorced-but in very different locations. Now that Sam is back, they begin to realise that there are unresolved feelings between them.As catastrophic fires roar destructively through the local farming community, Sam has no choice but to evacuate her parents' farm. But worse is still to come: Jack is reported missing and Sam is forced to prepare for the worst news.A heartwarming story of second chances, of loss and rebuilding, and of finally coming home.