Showing results by narrator "David Muscat" in All Categories

Two brothers are exposed to the brutal realities of life and the seductive cruelty of power in this riveting debut novel - a story of savagery and race, injustice and honour, set in the untamed frontier of 1880s Australia. An epic tale of revenge and survival, Only Killers and Thieves is a gripping and utterly transporting debut, bringing to vivid life a colonial Australia that bears a striking resemblance to the American Wild West in its formative years.

When a boarding school master at an exclusive boys' school is shot dead, it is deemed accidental. A lazy and usually drunk detective is sent to write up the report. Cardilini unexpectedly does not cooperate, as he becomes riled by the privileged arrogance of those at the school. He used to have instincts. Perhaps he should follow them now...With no real evidence he declares the shooting a murder and puts himself on a collision course with the powerful and elite of Perth. As he peels back layers, the school's dark secrets begin to emerge.

Back after suspension, Detective Sergeant Robert Cardilini just wants to get on with the job. But his bosses have other ideas and partner him with an eager young detective named Lorraine Spencer. To make matters worse, the pair are tasked with solving domestic violence cases. Cardilini thinks it's a waste of time: without the support of the courts, the police are hamstrung. Spencer knows better.

Australia's most prolific serial sexual killers met in prison. They were a complete contrast: Christopher Worrell, the charismatic psychopathic youngster; and James Miller, the older and socially awkward loner. For Miller, it was love at first sight. They developed an ominous sexual bond–proving that opposites can attract–and then kill. Once free, the inseparable tag team slayed as many people as notorious Australian serial killer Ivan Milat. Whereas Milat took a year to murder seven victims, the duo achieved the same in seven short weeks … the last four killed in only six days.

Pasha Ivanov is a child of the Freeze, born in Moscow during Brezhnev's repressive rule. Night after night his parents and their friends gather to preserve the memory of terrifying Stalinist violence and to expose the continued harassment of dissidents. When Gorbachev promises glasnost, openness, 24-year-old Pasha longs to create art and to carry on the work of those who came before him. His search to find meaning leads him to assemble a fractured story of Russia's traumatic past.

Cambodia—seething hotbed of desperation and vice. The Khmer Rouge fighters are long dead but their murderous legacy has left a population gripped by violence. Into this cauldron of psychosis and trauma steps Carl Meissner, a 32-year-old unemployed investigative journalist recently fired over his reporting of a pedophile scandal involving a prominent Sydney judge. Carl has been hired by a wealthy Sydney businessman to find his missing twin brother, last sighted in Cambodia. Forced to face his own demons, he sinks into Cambodia's dark underworld.