"When the motive is revenge, murder is not enough.
Disgraced journalist Xander McAuslan and his Vietnam veteran and erstwhile cave-dwelling survivalist mate Lorenzo are in grave danger - a situation exacerbated by the fact that they have no idea their recent past is about to catch up with them.
A few months ago, in the sleepy Tasmanian village of Mole Creek, Xander and Lorenzo accidentally thwarted a murderous attempt to cover up the existence of a Russian 'sleeper' agent who was ready to be activated to devastating effect. And now, in retribution, a ruthless assassin has been sent to kill them as slowly and painfully as possible.
But before the killer can strike, Lorenzo is lured to Vung Tau in Vietnam where another veteran thinks his life is in danger because he is investigating a war crime from 60 years ago.
Meanwhile Xander is offered bribes and threatened with violence as he researches a true crime book about the disappearance of a phenomenally successful artist. The art world, he discovers, has a layer of greed, corruption, jealousy and vicious rivalry that would put organised crime to shame.
Add into the mix an ambitious and sexy true crime podcaster and the savvy and sassy teenage daughter of the Vietnam veteran, and the story swings from Mole Creek to Sydney, Saigon and back to Tasmania as it hurtles toward its deadly conclusion.
Xander and Lorenzo must draw on all their street smarts and survival skills to get to the truth of both investigations, all the time unaware that no one, young or old, is safe as the assassin homes in on her unsuspecting quarry."
"It’s not only the guilty who have something to hide.
When charity worker Cate and website designer Rory, a married couple in their thirties, return from their European holiday, they make a nightmare discovery. Their credit cards have been cancelled, their bank account has been emptied, and their phones and internet have been cut off. Their home in the New South Wales coastal town of Kiama has been rented out as a holiday let, and their dog and pet-sitter have disappeared. Meanwhile, Cate's work colleagues have received copies of her handwritten resignation letter, posted from Paris, filled with insults and lurid allegations.
The pain isn't over yet, not by a long shot. Someone has set out to destroy Cate and Rory Porter's lives - and their anonymous enemy's motivations are a mystery.
As the harassment ramps up, some likely suspects emerge. Is it the anti-vax campaigners who have already targeted them over Rory's website for dog owners? Or maybe a pro-Russian activist who objects to Cate's work with Ukrainian refugees?
To make matters worse, the local police seem suspicious of their allegations. Cate and Rory quickly realise the only way to reclaim their lives - and their beloved poodle cross, Iris - is to find their tormentor themselves. And it isn't long before things turn dangerous. Deadly dangerous.
Full of sinister twists and turns, dark humour and a fascinating cast of supporting characters from society's shadowy fringes, Twisted River will grip you until the final cliffhanger ending.
'A premise that's all too real. Twisted River will have you hooked from start to finish ... but you may never go on holiday again.' MICHAEL BRISSENDEN"
"A hellish war. A deadly secret. Fifty years on, in a small Tasmanian town, the truth unfolds and the killing begins again …
Betrayal cannot be buried forever
.
In the tiny Tasmanian town of Mole Creek, retired Australian cop and Vietnam veteran Pete McAuslan has retreated to his fishing cabin to write his memoirs. In Sydney, his grandson, journalist and trashy true crime author Xander, learns that Pete has taken his own life, begging forgiveness in a suicide note.
Arriving in Mole Creek in the aftermath of Pete's death, Xander discovers that his grandfather's laptop is missing. He begins to suspect that something is wrong, refusing to accept the facts as presented. With the local police not interested in investigating an apparently open-and-shut suicide, Xander sets about uncovering the truth of what happened to his grandfather.
In the process, he discovers long-buried secrets from Pete's time serving in the Vietnam war: secrets that Pete has withheld from him and everyone else for fifty years; secrets that powerful people would prefer to stay buried. Ensnared in a web of betrayals that began a generation before, Xander finds himself on the hitlist of a clinically violent assassin. Now he must race to identify the connection between the seemingly unremarkable death of an old Australian soldier and the imminent reactivation of the most powerful and potentially destructive 'sleeper' in the history of espionage – before the truth catches up with him."
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