Australian Short Stories

A fascinating collection of short stories by some of Australia's best classic writers.

A collection of four critically acclaimed, gripping short novels that delve into the depths of survival, obsession, and the dark side of human nature.Box of Bones Jim, an American expat teaching English in the Philippines, wakes up after a night out to find himself trapped inside a pitch-black coffin—running out of oxygen and out of time. With only his cell phone and his wits, he must fight panic and exhaustion in a desperate race against death.Six Bullets Thirteen months after a massive asteroid wiped out civilization, survivalist Burt James is still alive—bunkered in his fortified ...

The Cyclist is a collection of humorous autobiographical cycling and cycle touring tales written by the author about his adventures while cycling around the Southwest of Western Australia and around Europe as well as his experiences as a bicycle shop owner and bicycle tour operator. It is funny, enjoyable, and at times, gripping.

WARNING; Extreme language used throughout. Take one damaged youth, a plot by his scheming father and boss, toss in a naked secretary and two bumbling industrial spies, then add a robot with a foul mouth and you have a recipe for confusion, mayhem and disaster. The truth about Johnny Cage's accident is slowly revealed as the multiple plots unravel. The healing can only truly begin when independence is gained.

5 SHORT STORY GEMS is a compendium of short stories written by New Zealand author Lance Morcan and published by Sterling Gate Books in 2019/2020. The stories, which have also been released as standalone Kindle ebooks, are aimed at lovers of thrillers, adventure, romance and historical fiction. Details follow… ONCE WERE BROTHERS – Life will never be the same for young Benjamin Thomas after disaffected Maoris abduct his identical twin brother in this moving short story adventure set in Nineteenth Century New Zealand. Mr. 100% – When New York defense lawyer Madison ‘Mr. 100%’ Harley ...

Brighten your day and dive into Flat Spell Tales! The author, Tony Martello, transforms ordinary events in our lives into fiction based on half-realities. Drop in and surf stories about romance, revenge, treasure hunts, and humor. He invites you along with him on a variety of adventures that take you into extreme nature, complex human relationships, and animal allegories.

When Ella boards a sumptuous charter off the coast of Australia, she feels…dread. Her husband, Mac, the social butterfly who makes these wellness retreats so much easier to navigate, is stuck at work, leaving her exposed to the other passengers. Luckily, she forms an instant bond with the charismatic Chloe, a newly single woman salving a broken heart. But as the friendship grows, Ella discovers they share more than the need for an escape, and their devastating connection has the power to forever alter their lives.

I tell you, you meet some strange characters in this game.... Boasting the biggest beats in the world - some as large as France - Australia's outback police have seen it all: natural disasters, incredible acts of selflessness, unspeakable crimes and daring rescues, just to name a few. And they've met some unforgettable characters along the way: from the murderer who stuffed his victims' bodies down wombat holes to the policeman who arrested his own wife....

In Pelican Bay, Christmas isn't just a season – it's a reckoning. Beneath the glittering lights of a summer Christmas, 24 interconnected stories unfold, revealing the hidden lives and secret desires of a generation coming of age. From Ethan, reeling from a broken past, to Zoe, striving for an impossible perfection, and Tayla, bridging ancient traditions with modern life, each teen grapples with identity, family, and the ever-present question of where they truly belong. When the holiday season brings everyone together, the lines between public and private, rich and poor, rival schools and ...

Nostalgia Loneliness Discovery This collection, the second of its kind, is the result of three challenging but productive years after the author moved to the Rockingham area in Western Australia. Chosen for their evocative locations, they range from historicals to touches of speculative fiction, from light humour to nostalgic peregrinations, and contain within them the weight and heft of experience, rather than flights of fancy. It will be no surprise that the salient emotion in these works is loneliness in its many guises. All the stories in this clutch have been published and/or awarded ...

Good girls and bad girls, they're everywhere. Which one are you? Girls is a collection of short stories about young women in the city and the country, who are living with choices made by, and for, them. Dive into their lives.

The new book from Jimmy Barnes, the award-winning author of the number-one bestsellers Working Class Boy,Working Class Man and Killing Time From larger-than-life adventures to vivid and poignant tales of the imagination, Highways and Byways is a collection of stories taking readers on an...

Dive deep into the mystical world of Aboriginal culture with Charles William Peck's landmark work, Australian Legends. As one of the earliest compilations, this book intricately narrates tales steeped in Dreamtime mythology, helping you explore the indigenous culture's understanding of the cosmos, morality, and the natural world. Peck's storytelling draws you into an ancestral past that resonates profoundly with modern listeners.

Is life giving me lemons, or lemonade? Just when Chloe's life should feel like it's falling apart post-divorce, things begin to take off in unexpected ways. She had been feeling undesirable and suddenly she's insatiable to men; for the first time in her life she was completely financially stable after many years of worrying about money. Chloe doesn't even have to worry about blaring alarm clocks anymore. But when there is no drama, we create some amiright? That's exactly what Chloe is doing when an eligible lawyer starts pursuing her. Will Chloe be with her new beau? Or will she cut the ...

Romance, revenge, reckoning in this mid 19c Australian Historical fiction novel. John Leary boards ship in Ireland in 1850, a young carpenter ambitious for a new life in Australia. He sails with revenge in his heart - his beloved sister has been raped by her landlord, William Baxterhouse, who escapes on another ship with even grander plans for success in New South Wales.

"McFarlane’s skill in evoking individual inner lives and Jones’s deftness in capturing their spirit make every character distinct." —The Washington Post on The Sun Walks Down, one of The Washington Post's 10 Best Audiobooks of 2023 A gripping, enigmatic collection of linked short stories...

Each of these stories takes the familiar and twists it into something that will intrigue, unnerve, and haunt you. A dead best friend . . . with a NOT-SO-DEAD body. Old family videos that instead of a comforting past, play a SINISTER FUTURE. A funhouse where the mirrors reflect a TERRIFYING OTHER...

Charlie Truganini can’t believe his eyes when on a trip into Tasmania’s wilderness he sees a Tasmanian tiger – a carnivorous marsupial considered by most Australians to be extinct. Charlie has a number of claims to fame – one of those being he’s a direct descendant of one Truganini, the woman considered to be the last full-blooded Aboriginal Tasmanian and whose name he inherited. A close second to that is he’s the great-grandson of one Dingo Truganini, the tracker who helped capture the last known Thylacine cynocephalus – an animal better known as the Tasmanian tiger. It’s ...

SURREAL, SUPERNATURAL, PARANORMAL, TRANSCENDENTAL, UNCANNY?The Axe: The desolate Australian outback is not a place to become stranded without water. Is it the stone axe which leads the desperate man to think he has been saved? Or is it all in his mind and is death creeping up silently?Alfredo: Is it possible to place a curse on a violin, a curse which will hunt down the members of just one family? The Mist: The becalmed yacht drifts into a misty haze in the hour before dawn, gliding into the raging fires of an oily hell of wartime death and destruction. A wounded sailor in the water fights ...

Curl up by the fire with a glass of mulled wine or hot chocolate and celebrate the magic of Christmas, with these FIVE linked, heart-warming stories about love, hope and family. A Magical Christmas in Jerusalem Australian project manager Kiara Lonsdale is career focussed and determined to provide and care for the grandmother who raised her. Jacques Lenoir and his extended family run tours in Israel and he’s committed to their business. But over romantic dinners in the desert, camel rides, and mud baths at the Dead Sea, sparks fly between Kiara and Jacques. Will this only be a holiday ...