Audiobooks narrated by Steve Shanahan

A small town hides big secrets in The Dry, an atmospheric debut mystery by award-winning author Jane Harper. After getting a note demanding his presence, Federal Agent Aaron Falk arrives in his hometown for the first time in decades to attend the funeral of his best friend, Luke. Twenty years ago when Falk was accused of murder, Luke was his alibi. Falk and his father fled under a cloud of suspicion, saved from prosecution only because of Luke's steadfast claim that the boys had been together at the time of the crime. But now more than one person knows they didn't tell the truth back then, and Luke is dead. Amid the worst drought in a century, Falk and the local detective question what really happened to Luke. As Falk reluctantly investigates to see if there's more to Luke's death than there seems to be, long-buried mysteries resurface, as do the lies that have haunted them. And Falk will find that small towns have always hidden big secrets.

Jane Harper (Author), Stephen Shanahan, Steve Shanahan (Narrator)

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The Diggers of Colditz: The classic Australian POW story about escape from the impossible

Colditz Castle was Nazi Germany's infamous 'escape-proof' wartime prison, where hundreds of the most determined and resourceful Allied prisoners were sent. Despite having more guards than inmates, Australian Lieutenant Jack Champ and other prisoners tirelessly carried out their campaign to escape from the massive floodlit stronghold, by any means necessary. In this riveting account - by turns humorous, heartfelt and tragic - historian Colin Burgess and Lieutenant Jack Champ, from the point of view of the prisoners themselves, tell the story of the twenty Australians who made this castle their 'home', and the plans they made that were so crazy that some even achieved the seemingly impossible - escape! 'A stirring testimony of mateship . . . We are often on tenterhooks, always impressed by their determination, industry and courage' Australian Book Review

Colin Burgess, Jack Champ (Author), Steve Shanahan (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Better Son

1952. Tasmania. The greens hills near Mole Creek hide a dark labyrinthine underworld of caves. They are dangerous and forbidden to children. But this is Tasmania - an island at the end of the earth. Here, rules are made to be broken. For two young brothers, a hidden cave a short walk from the family farm seems the perfect escape from their abusive, shell-shocked father - until the older brother goes missing. Fearful of his father, nine-year-old Kip lies about what happened. It is a decision that will haunt him for the rest of his life. Fifty years later, Kip has a young son of his own, but cannot look at him without seeing his lost brother, Tommy. On a mission of atonement, he returns to the cave they called Kubla to discover if it's ever too late to set things right. To have a second chance. To be the father he never had.

Katherine Johnson (Author), Steve Shanahan (Narrator)

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The Battles for Kokoda Plateau

'The Japanese attacked us, they mortared us, they shelled us...they did everything.' On 21 July 1942, a large Japanese reconnaissance mission landed along the north-eastern coastline of Papua. It would soon turn into an all-out attempt to capture Port Morseby. This is the powerful story of the three weeks of battle by a small Australian militia force, the 39th Battalion, supported by the 1st Papua Infantry Battalion and the Royal Papuan Constabulary, to keep the Japanese at bay. Outnumbered by at least three to one, they fought courageously to hold the Kokoda Plateau - the gateway to the Owen Stanleys. Desperately short of ammunition and food and stranded in the fetid swamps and lowland jungles, they did everything they could to keep the Kokoda airstrip out of Japanese hands. Not far away, and desperately trying to reach the Australians, were two groups of Anglican missionaries trapped behind enemy lines. With each passing day the parties grew, joined by lost Australian soldiers and downed American airmen. Theirs is a story of tragedy and betrayal. Using letters, diaries and other first-hand accounts, from friend and foe alike, leading military historian David W Cameron, has for the first time written a detailed, compelling and provocative account of what occurred at the northern foot of the Owen Stanleys in late July and early August 1942. These are stories that deserve to be firmly embedded into the Kokoda legend.

David W. Cameron (Author), David W. Cameron, Steve Shanahan (Narrator)

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The Battle for Isurava: Fighting in the clouds of the Owen Stanley 1942

'You are trying to survive, shirt torn, arse out of your pants, whiskers a mile long, hungry ... you carry your boots because there's no skin on your feet. But when you look around at some of the others - hell! They look crook! ... you dig a number of holes in the ground and bury your dead. Nothing would be said, but you think 'maybe it will be my turn next'. Within 24 hours of the Japanese invasion of northern New Guinea at Gona in July 1942, the Australian militiamen of 'B' Company, 39th Battalion, spent four weeks fighting a delaying action against a crack Japanese force outnumbered by three to one. By mid-August, the rest of the battalion had arrived, and these men took up a position at Isurava, in the heart of the cloud covered mountains and jungles of the Owen Stanley Range. The battle for Isurava would be the defining battle of the Kokoda Campaign and has rightfully been described as Australia's Thermopylae. It was here that Australia's first Victoria Cross in the Pacific war was awarded when the Japanese conducted several ferocious attacks against the Australian perimetre. The outnumbered and poorly equipped Australians managed to hold back the Japanese advance for almost a week; only then did these battle scared and weary men begin a month long fighting withdraw towards Ioribaiwa Ridge just north of Port Morsby. However, their sacrifice provided time for the Australian 25th Brigade to be brought forward - finally forcing the Japanese to withdrawal just as they glimpsed the lights of Port Morseby. Using diaries, letters and other first-hand accounts and following on from The Battles for Kokoda Plateau, leading military historian David W Cameron continues his detailed and riveting account of the war in the Owen Stanleys in 1942.

David W. Cameron (Author), Steve Shanahan (Narrator)

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Secret and Special

Soon after the declaration of war on Japan, a secret military reconnaissance unit was established, based on the British Special Operations Executive (known as SOE) and called the Inter-allied Services Department. The unit was tasked with the role to 'obtain and report information of the enemy ... weaken the enemy by sabotage and destruction of morale and to lend aid and assistance to local efforts to the same end in enemy occupied territories.' In 1943 it became known under the cover name Special Reconnaissance Department (SRD) and included some British officers who had escaped from Singapore. After arriving in Australia, they assembled in Melbourne, forming the nucleus of ISD and together with some Australians established what became the Z Special Unit. Training began in a number of locations around Australia including on Fraser Island off the Queensland coast, In Broken Bay near Sydney, at Careening Bay in Western Australia, at the 'House on the Hill' in Cairns and at East Arm near Darwin. From these training areas and bases, Z Special undertook intelligence gathering and raiding missions throughout Southeast Asia including New Guinea, Singapore, Timor, Malaya, Borneo, Vietnam and the Dutch East Indies. The first operation was Jaywick in September 1943. Led by a 28 year old officer from the Gordon Highlanders, Captain Ivan Lyon. Using an old Japanese fishing boat renamed Krait this captured vessel was re-fitted and provisioned for a voyage from Australia to just south of Singapore where it released six commandos in three folding kayaks to attack Japanese shipping in the harbour. They placed limpet mines on several Japanese ships sinking 40,000 tons of shipping. After the successful attack, they paddled south, were picked up by the Krait and successfully returned to Australia. This was followed by Operation Rimau again led by Lyon but this time things went very wrong very early. Identified, they made a fighting withdrawal but all of the raiding party were shot or captured, with the last ten being executed just before the end of the war. Important in Z Special operations were a number of vessels designated 'snake boats'. Four 66' modified trawlers were constructed as well as a range of Asian vessels that allowed their operation in South East Asian areas of operation. One Z Special, the last in PNG, set out on the night of the 11 April 1945. Eight operatives were landed on the Japanese held island of Muschu about five kilometres off the coast near Wewak to determine the status of two 140mm Japanese naval guns that had been placed there. These guns would prove dangerous to planned naval landings at Wewak, and allied command needed to know if these were operational. The operatives were launched in four double folding kayaks from a HTML fast crash boat but the current carried them away from their landing position and the surf capsized their boats. The men swam ashore but both their radio and their signal torches had been destroyed and the men had no way of connecting with the return crash boat. Soon their lost equipment was found by the Japanese and a massive search with 1,000 troops scoured the island. Quite soon seven of the eight men had been captured, killed or died trying to swim to the mainland and only one man, Sergeant 'Mick' Dennis remained. Over the next three days he continued a one man war, fighting off Japanese patrols and living off the land. Unable to do this for long, he took to the dangerous shark and crocodile infested waters and with the aid of a log, paddled to the mainland. Landing on a Japanese controlled beach, he snuck ashore and after further firefights and a difficult journey travelling west, he finally was found by an Australian patrol. Mick Dennis was able to provide valuable information and for his service and bravery, was awarded a Military Medal. During the course of the war, Z Special Unit carried out 81 covert operations in the Southwest Pacific theatre. While the unit was disbanded after the end of the war, many of its techniques would be modified and used by Australian Special Forces to this day.

Will Davies (Author), Steve Shanahan (Narrator)

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Scot Free

WELCOME TO SCOT FREE It’s the show bringing reality TV to a murderous new low. Ten strangers – five convicted killers and a relative of each victim – are thrust together under the watchful eye of unseen host Scot. To escape the studio house alive, each player must identify their match and eliminate them. Permanently. Grieving Jay is snatched away from his pregnant girlfriend to join the deadly game. Desperate to learn who murdered his estranged sister, Harriet, he leaps headfirst into the lives of his fellow contestants. As they start falling one by one, he must race to decipher the clues and avenge Harriet’s death. But this is television, and producer Adolpha Martin knows her bloodthirsty audience all too well. For season six, she’s pulling more than one rabbit out of a hat in search of a heart-stopping finale. Can Jay survive long enough to discover who killed Harriet?

Greg Moriarty (Author), Steve Shanahan (Narrator)

Audiobook

Scot Free

Welcome to Scot Free. It’s the show bringing reality TV to a murderous new low. Ten strangers – five convicted killers and a relative of each victim – are thrust together under the watchful eye of unseen host Scot. To escape the studio house alive, each player must identify their match and eliminate them. Permanently. Grieving Jay is snatched away from his pregnant girlfriend to join the deadly game. Desperate to learn who murdered his estranged sister, Harriet, he leaps headfirst into the lives of his fellow contestants. As they start falling one by one, he must race to decipher the clues and avenge Harriet’s death. But this is television, and producer Adolpha Martin knows her bloodthirsty audience all too well. For season six, she’s pulling more than one rabbit out of a hat in search of a heart-stopping finale. Can Jay survive long enough to discover who killed Harriet?

Greg Moriarty (Author), Steve Shanahan (Narrator)

Audiobook

Saving Port Moresby: Fighting at the end of the Kokoda Track

Powerfully written by Australia's leading military historian, Saving Port Moresby commemorates the 80th Anniversary of the Battles in New Guinea. Japanese Major General Horii TomitarO, commanding the South Seas Force, was after taking Kokoda Plateau in late July tasked with entering the Owen Stanley Range to capture Port Morseby. After the battles for Deniki and Isurava, his troops were pushing south through the mountains. The Australians under Brigadier Arnold Potts, however, were not in rout, but were involved in a determined fighting withdraw. After fighting a delaying action at Templeton's Crossing, the Australians took up a position along Mission Ridge, just south of Efogi Village. Horii and his battalions attacked and after two days of bloody hand-to-hand fighting, the Australians were forced to again withdraw. To the veterans who fought here the battle would become known as ‘Butcher's Corner'. After several further delaying actions, Potts and his men took up a position on Ioribaiwa Ridge, just 50-kilometres north of Port Moresby. His brigade by now numbered fewer than 300 men. Here they were reinforced with the men of the 25th Brigade. Horii decided that he would establish himself of Ioribaiwa Ridge as his base for operations against the township. After a week of fighting the Japanese cut through the centre right flank of the Australian 25th Brigade, forcing the Australians to fall back to Imita Ridge, the last defensible ridge in the Owen Stanleys immediately behind lay Port Moresby.

David W. Cameron (Author), Steve Shanahan (Narrator)

Audiobook

Retaking Kokoda: The Battles for Templeton's Crossing, Eora Creek and the Oivi-Gorari positions

Japanese Major General Horii TomitarO, commanding the South Seas Force, had the Australians on the back foot. Australia was holding the last defendable ridge in the Owen Stanley ranges, Imita Ridge. Horii to his distress was then given orders from Imperial Headquarters in Tokyo that he was to fall back across the mountains to the Japanese beachheads at Gona, Sanananda, and Buna, leaving a force between Templeton's Crossing and Eora Creek to stop any Australian advance through the mountains. The Japanese, unknown to the Australians evacuated Ioribaiwa Ridge just before they launched their attacks and to their amazement on storming the heights, the Australians encountered no resistance – the Japanese had gone. This, however, did not mean the fighting on the Kokoda Track was over, far from it. Three more desperate actions would be fought by the Australians and Japanese, before the decisive battles for the Japanese beachheads could be decided – the battles for Templeton's Crossing, Eora Creek, and finally the Oivi-Gorari positions on the northern lowland plains. Just 15-kilometres east lay the Kumusi River, the last geographical barrier before reaching the strongly fortified Japanese beachheads themselves.

David W. Cameron (Author), Steve Shanahan (Narrator)

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Poly

Chris Flood - a married father of two with plummeting self-esteem and questionable guitar skills - suddenly finds himself in the depths of polyamory after years of a near-sexless marriage. His wife, Sarah - a lover of the arts, avid quoter of Rumi, and always oozing confidence - wants to rediscover her sexuality after years of deadening domesticity. Their new life of polyamory features late nights, love affairs and rotating childcare duties. While Sarah enjoys flings with handsome men, Chris, much to his astonishment, falls for a polydactylous actor and musician, Biddy. Then there's Zac Batista. When Chris and Sarah welcome the Uruguayan child prodigy and successful twenty-two-year-old into their lives they gratefully hand over school pick-up and babysitting duties. But as tensions grow between family and lovers, Chris begins to wonder if it's just jealousy, or something more sinister brewing... A searing and utterly engrossing debut, Poly is a raw, hilarious, and moving portrait of contemporary relationships in all their diversity, and an intimate exploration of the fragility of love and identity.

Paul Dalgarno (Author), Steve Shanahan (Narrator)

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Peace

Constable Paul Hirschhausen runs a one-cop station in the dry farming country south of the Flinders Ranges. He's still new in town but the community work-welfare checks and working bees-is starting to pay off. Now Christmas is here and, apart from a grass fire, two boys stealing a ute and Brenda Flann entering the front bar of the pub without exiting her car, Hirsch's life has been peaceful. Until he's called to a strange, vicious incident in Kitchener Street. And Sydney police ask him to look in on a family living outside town on a forgotten back road... Suddenly, it doesn't look like a season of goodwill at all. 'Disher is the gold standard for rural noir' CHRIS HAMMER "An utterly compelling mystery with rare heart and humanity. If you enjoyed Jane Harper's The Lost Man, this novel is for you.' DERVLA McTIERNAN "A scorchingly good novel" MICHAEL ROBOTHAM

Garry Disher (Author), Steve Shanahan (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Steve Shanahan