Published...Or Not

High octane action in a high rise building - that's where all the mayhem and murder takes place in Gabriel Bergmoser's latest novel, High Rise.Rachael Johns', The Lucky Sisters, is a moving story about life, death and miracles.

In a continuation of the Hirsch crime series, Constable Hirschhausen finds himself not just contending with the local problems of his isolated South Australian community but with a cold case involving the death and disappearance of two fossickers. The past and present come together in 'Mischance Creek'.Leisl and her daughter Else are awkward in society but in the demands of a climatic crisis they find their capabilities more attuned to their changing environment, one in which other animals have adaptions and techniques to survive.   ‘Else' is a book set in the not so distant future by Rose Michael.  

Oliver loves his job as the 113th Assistant Librarian, he knows books can be dangerous but if the wording in one is changed could it impact the stability of the kingdom? Travel books help him leave and return in ‘Lost in a Book' the second book in the series by Stuart Wilson .   Mythology and reality merge in Sofie Laguna's novel, The Underworld. 

‘Shutter City' has photographs of early Melbourne. They come alive as Robyn Annear guides our eye into the detail and describes it with her insightful humour. Christian White takes us on a journey of kidnapping, revenge and violence over one concentrated evening in, ‘The Long Night'. 

Simon Plant takes us into the intriguing life of George Coppin and his theatrical touring party of Shakespeare specialists who went to Civil War America in the 1860's in his book, Entertaining Mr Coppin - an Antipodean Showman in Civil War America. (Theatre Heritage Australia publication)Heather Rose has been inspired by true events in this historical fiction of a women who travelled alone from London to Van Diemen's Land, set up a vineyard and a family in ‘A Great Act of Love'.    

The Run Club has popularity because of the social media hits following a blossoming relationship, but these two only got together in a pretend situation, will it stay that way as there are many hurdles in their training for a marathon. ‘In the Long Run' is a romance novel that does go the distance by Emma Mugglestone.Katherine Pollock's ‘Starry Eyed' romantic comedy meets science fiction meets fan fiction.

Makayla wants to make up for lost time after her divorce but her list of no regrets detailing things yet to be done leads to complications she didn't quite foresee in Holly Brunnbauer's novel, What Did I Miss?The Empress Murders is a razor-sharp whodunit by Toby Schmitz.

Noel Harcourt writes about his job for 33 years as one of the zoo keepers at Melbourne Zoo in his memoir ‘For Keeps'.Philomena McCarthy is compromised in her role as a police officer because she is the daughter of one of London's crime bosses. How then does she investigate and solve the robberies and murders on her beat in 'The White Crow'? Michael Rowbotham makes it all clear in his latest crime thriller.   

George Ivanoff gives us 'Prehistoric Peril' in the latest choose your own adventure where virtual reality, mad scientists and you, as the reader, decides what will happen next.A heist, a robbery, a theft planned and undertaken to not only save the Earth, but even refugees from another planet.  Science Fiction at its most dramatic, absurd and humorous for kids and their parents to read in the ‘Heist' trilogy by Joel McKerrow

Pip Smith explores the emotional and psychological consequences of the refugee vessel, The Janga, that crashed into Christmas Island in her fictionalised account of that event, The Pull of the Moon.

 Monica Raszewski's, 'Crimson Light, Polished Wood', explores the intersecting lives of three generations of women and their connection over time.The love of literature from Then as 17 year olds to Now, 20 years later may lead to a new chapter in this rom-com ‘Love Overdue' by Ali Berg and Michelle Kalus. 

 Our social contract with the world, our very purpose in the digital age is brought into question in the novel, 'Arborescence', by Rhett Davis Martha has ideas but she is shy. Can she show her friends, family and classmates who she really is and what she is capable of?   Jo Dabrowski is the author, and ‘The Making of Martha Mayfield' is her book. 

Toni Jordan's book ‘Ternderfoot' is a coming of age story set in the 70's.A. L. Booth's crime novel, 'Death at Booroomba' includes a mysterious inheritance, a violent murder, a hint of romance and a large dollop of country town gossip. 

If you had the power to change history would you dare? ‘The Turing Protocol' by Nick Croydon.'King Tide' is Luke Johnson's debut novel set in a small coastal town where a mutilated body of an adolescent is found. Added to that, a child disappeared some five years before. Are the events linked and who is responsible?An American war hero with harsh life experiences and a naïve Melbourne socialite are such opposites just as Night and Day, which is a melodic theme through this book.  Set in the 1940's, ‘Flight' is a historical romance written by Anne Vines. 

Matt Rogers takes us on a nhilistic journey of murder and corruption with equal parts of philosophy and asceticism in his novel, 'The Forsaken'.Jayne Tuttle's memoir is an exploration of creativity, motherhood and Paris.

Dmetri Kakmi's novel, The Woman In the Well, blends the spiritualism associated with numerous faiths; Christianity, Islam and indigenous belief.Not even a respectable job digging graves can keep an ex-con from a form of corruption that could put him behind bars once again. This is the world of guilt and suspicion that Mark Brandi explores in his latest novel, Eden, 

Amie Kaufman's, 'Lady's Knight' features the tournament of the dragon slayers and is a sapphic fairytale.A couple grapple with the breakdown of their relationship on a road trip in the southwest of America where the environmental degredation of the landscape is apparent in Madeleine Watts' novel, "Elegy, Southwest"

You have to be smart to be in academia and so is this romance fiction by Jodi McAlister. 'An Academic Affair' has characters and situations which are humorous and not so predictable.In Lucy Nelson's debut short story collection 'Wait Here' the theme is women who will never be mothers: who can't, who don't or won't have children.Both authors also talk about getting published under different wings of Simon and Schuster. 

Lawyers and politicians were involved with both Federation and the trial and hanging of Jimmy Governor in the historical true crime novel of ‘The Last Outlaws' by Katherine Biber.The regrets and indiscretions of our past and our present day poor judgement are a continual presence in our lives that, perhaps, only a psychic can give us licence to address. Samantha Byres touches on much of this in her novel, ‘Dead Ends'. 

The intriguing elements of seances and criminal conduct behind the writing of Dr Jeckyl and Mr Hyde come to the fore as Belinda Lyons-Lee explores the life of Robert Louis Stevenson as narrated by his wife, Fanny Osbourne in 'The Haunting of Mr and Mrs Stevenson'.Shokoofeh Azar's book 'The Gowkaran Tree in the Middle of Our Kitchen' spans fifty years in the history of modern Iran, and many centuries of Persian poetry and myths before that. It is a story of a family's love and loss, their involvement in the revolution and the different destinies of twelve cousins.

Thomas Vowles' novel, 'Our New Gods' is a psychological thriller where sinsiter sexuality and murder coincide amongst the queer scene of Melbourne.Elle McFadzean's, The Potion Experiment, is a middle grade fantasy about science and magic. 

‘The Last Egg' is a picture story book by Sofie Laguna. It is about love, kindness and loyalty with a fantastical end. Lili Wilkinson has Titch the mouse on an epic journey of magic, heroism and loyal friendship in ‘Bravepaw and the Clawstone of Rotwood Mire'‘Music Camp' by Penny Tangey is a big hearted story about finding your way when you're twelve. These primary school nerds have music in common but come with very different personalities.  

 A much loved daughter could ruin a family and just what is it, that this family have to hide? Anna Snoekstra has written a very well crafted mystery in ‘The Ones We Love'. Robbie Coburn's verse narrative, 'The Foal in the Wire', is a coming of age tale about survival and the bonds between individuals that both undermine and affirm. 

Audrey has left her husband and career in advertising. Now she bakes cakes and fortune cookies that tell the bitter truth, but can she start a business with her motley lot of new friends in Catherine Greer's ‘The Bitter Sweet Bakery Café'. 

A grandson tries to learn a family story in Andre Dao's ‘Anam'.                         Murder and mayhem on the waterfront, marihuana cigarettes and a turf war over brothels, thankfully the Tea Ladies can solve crimes and cement friendships in this, the third book of the series, ‘The Deadly Dispute' by Amanda Hampson. 

 He wants to be a successful and acclaimed writer. He wants to know all the truths and write her biography even if it requires deceit.  Dominic Amerena has written this crafty book about literary theft in ‘I want Everything'. Mystery surrounds a new pandemic that takes the lives of those reaching their ninth birthday in Chris Flynn's, ‘Orpehus Nine'. The resulting conspiracy theories, riots, fundamentalism and political powerlessness are things with which all readers may identify given the events of the recent past. 

 The bond of friendship can unravel when doubt and superstition start to take hold. And the spiritual comfort we seek in such circumstances can also lead to our undoing. Christine Keighery delves into these notions in her novel, 'We're Not Us Without You'.The gold rush made the city of Melbourne rich but women's lives and choices were still very limited.  Madeleine Cleary has written a historical murder mystery with a brothel and the slums of Little Lon at its centre in ‘The Butterfly Women'. 

‘Salty, Spiced and a Little Bit Nice' has Ellie a type 1 diabetic wanting independence from her controlling family but not wanting to be hurt again by her teenage crush in this romantic comedy by Cynthia Timoti.  Gregory Day's anthology of poetry, Southsightedness, connects creativity, the landscape and the artist as a collective whole in verse that is imaginative and unique.   

Food blogger, Chloe, is competing for an interview with a famous chef in Victoria Brownlee's novel, 'Eat Your Heart Out'.Doctor Hannah Wright must balance her personal and professional life as she treats psychiatric patients at the Menzies Hospital in the latest novel, The Glass House, by Anne Buist and Graeme Simsion.

By Her Hand is Marion Taffe's debut novel where the protagonist must write her rage to win her war.Laura McCluskey takes us to an isolated island off the west coast of Scotland where superstition and resistance hamper a murder investigation in her debut novel, The Wolf Tree.

Peter Norris writes about his upbringing with his career criminal father who was a bank robber and jail escapee in the memoir, The Bank Robbers Boy.Kate Grenville talks about her latest work, Unsettled.

A cicada leaves a shell of its former self behind suggesting a past life and this notion is played upon in Ella Ward's novel, The Cicada House.

Kate Solly has written a cosy crime book ‘The Paradise Heights Craft Store Stitch Up'.Family saga mixes with macabre happenings in ‘First Name Second Name' Steve MinOn has a dead man walking back through four generations of family history to recover his lost identity. 

Her Gramps has dementia and it is through a time slip that Charlotte relives the moon landing and brings sparks of awareness and her own empathy to him and others in the aged care facility, in Anna Ciddor's ‘Moonboy'.Several months after her father's death, Belinda Probert discovers that his name is actually Roy. She outlines the journey of discovery that followed in her book, ‘Bill's Secrets - class, war and ambition'. 

Alice and Teddy are two women on the fringes of criminality who begin to realize they are implicated in drug running and murder in Fiona Hardy's novel, 'Unbury the Dead'.Three people from different generations, backgrounds and work, form an unlikely connection and this friendship alters the course of their lives in Andrea Goldsmith's ‘The Buried Life'

It is not only communicating with the spirits of the dead that is perplexing for Ellen but her feeling towards one of the other members of the family that make up the church in ‘The Spirit Circle' by Tara Calaby, an intriguing historical mystery.Geraldine Brooks' memoir, ‘Memorial Days', addresses the nature of loss and grief as she comes to terms with the unexpected death of her husband, Tony Horwitz.   

Jennifer Wolfe thinks she is fighting just for her family but her survival and the truths she could reveal could bring down a dictatorship. She becomes ‘The Hunted' in Tayla Holborow's adventure story. ‘The Thrill Of It' takes us into the malevolent world of a serial killer dispatching old women.  Mandy Beaumont bases her version on real life events in Sydney of the 1990's.  

Lili Wilkinson's, "Unhallowed Halls', is set on the Scottish moors. It is where dark academia and demons collide.  Should the creative arts be inviolable or should artists use their knowledge for personal gain. This is one of the concepts in Alex Miller's latest novel, The Deal.

The stories and songs coming from a writing course in a women's prison, brings black humour and a little understanding of these women's lives and crimes in Valerie Colyer's ‘Tales that talk to you'Geoff Parkes takes us to the backwater town of Nashville in New Zealand where a Finnish backpacker, Sanna Sorensen, goes missing. The whole town is full of suspects and secrets making the truth hard to establish when Sanna's sister, Emilia, comes after the investigation has failed to find a culprit in 'When the Deep Bush Swallows You Whole'    

Thuy On, once again, explores, language, love and the arts in her latest poetry collection, ‘Essence'.Grace had to contend with grieving parents, conflicted staff and hounded by relentless media for the decision she made at the beach and then the consequences to come to her in this page turning thriller ‘Three Boys Gone' by Mark Smith.     

‘You Must Remember This' by Sean Wilson is an eloquent jumble of a family story with a tender portrait of Grace and her slippages of memory with dementia.When a well-meaning community is challenged by the homeless living close by, it is how they act individually and as a group that make this such a wryly humourous and readable fiction. The book is ‘The Campers' by Maryrose Cuskelly.

Blue Lake by David Sornig is part history, part biography and part personal reflection on a much overlooked part of Melbourne's landscape. Situated to the west of the city lies a tract of land, Dudley Flats, that was once a lagoon but embodies the social, industrial and cultural changes to Melbourne over time. It was a marshland, waste dump, shanty town and shipping centre but is still often overlooked by Melbournites.

When Captain Cook sailed up the east coast of Australia, he renamed many of the landmarks.  In ‘Warra Warra Wai' the names and stories of these landmarks are explained as well as how the Indigenous Australians were impacted by this uninvited visitor.  Darren Rix and Craig Cormick have recorded and researched this most interesting book. 

Ghost Cities by Siang Lu is an epic tale. Historical China with paranoid emperors finds a parralel with megalomaniaical film directors in the present day where empires are build on false promises. But Lu's story goes into the very foundation of language and social attitudes where we begin to question the foundations of what we believe and how social truths are formed. And there are real 'ghost cities' in some countries today which prove the point Lu is making.

Peter Rose, long time editor of ABR, talks about the recent edition '2024 Books of the Year', with over 40 contributors. David, Lisa and Jan add the books that resonated with them over the year on Published or not, and we alll discuss different aspects of reading, writing and reviewing.

'Thoroughly Disenchanted' is Alexandra Almond's take on a fictional world where magic casts a spell on us all and keeps us in thrall without us even knowing.'The Lost Book of Magic' is the last in a fantasy trilogy for middle grade readers by Amelia Mellor.

The subtitle says it all – ‘A celebration of joyful rebellion, glorious women and cats', it is also factually interesting and beautifully illustrated. The author is Anna Go-Go and the title is ‘Cat Lady Manifesto'.Iain Ryan's latest novel,' The Dream', is a dark noir thriller set against the backdrop of corruption and dysfunction that was prevalent in Queensland before the Firzgerald Inquiry.   

A rabbit and a grandmother come to stay during lockdown. Will this help a grieving family heal in Melanie Cheng's ‘The Burrow'.Ginny Dilboong has a unique way of publishing her poetry. She plants her compositions in the earth and by so doing affirms her indigenous ties to the landscape in Nardi Simpson's book ‘TheBelburd'.  

‘Six Summers of Tash and Leopold' by Danielle Binks is a beautiful middle-grade novel for contemporary tmes.Zoe's Elevator Pitch to her agent says it all…….“A thriller writer who starts dating a celebrity has to deal with a psycho fan who uses everything in her first book against her. The police can't help her, nobody can help her…except maybe the man she loves “ or can he? in Pip Drysdale's crime novel ‘The Close-Up'.     

Darren Rix and Craig Cormick have co-authored ‘Warra Warra Wai'. It is a richly researched book telling of Captain Cook's Endeavour visit and what happened then, from both historical records and indigenous story telling. Writers block can be a very debilitating condition made all the more problematic when stranded on a remote island where the mythology of the landscape and fellow attendees with suspicious pasts make knowing who to trust a challenging exercise. This is the world into which Brooke Hardwick takes us in 'The Fog'.  

'Little Puggle's Christmas' is a beautiful Christmas book by Vikki Conley with an Australian setting.The 70's were a time of social revolution and one of the epicentres of the ferment was London where Grace has travelled. Her meeting with Marigold is pivotal to her journey of self discovery which is all revealed in Mira Robertson's novel, 'Grace and Marigold'.