Bøker av Cameron Trost

In a broken world, lighting a match is an act of rebellion... This is the story of Flicker, a pyromaniac whose only escape from the emptiness and oppression of life in a post-apocalyptic world is to set fire to luxury automobiles. Armed with a hammer and jerry can, he wages a one-man war against the Overclass, partisans of the failing regime struggling to hold the reins since The Breakdown decades earlier. He can't remember his family, and his friends have disappeared without a trace. His only companion is fire, that mesmerising force of glorious destruction. It alone gives meaning to his existence...but one night, he goes too far and unwittingly chooses a target best left alone. As tracker drones swarm, he finds himself running for his life, and a chance encounter with a kindred spirit changes his fate. Together, they flee the city, venturing beyond the ring road for the first time, and hope to find safety and the chance to build a life for themselves in the country. New challenges will arise, and new questions will beg to be answered. Where did everyone go? Who has left messages written on the walls of abandoned buildings? And the most terrible question of all: What is happening at the regime's dreaded seaside resort, The Esplanade? In a world without hope, can deliverance from tyranny be found in the head of a matchstick? Flicker is a tale of survival against the odds in a brutal world, of loss and self-discovery, and of love and solidarity, but most of all, it's a story about fire, that double-edged sword that both cleanses and destroys. Praise for FLICKER: "A great read if you like your dystopia with a touch of romance and the promise of a better future. I especially enjoyed the pacing and evocative world-building."- Karen Bayly, five-star Goodreads review "Cameron Trost has crafted an effortless and engaging read right through to the shocking end. I loved the descriptive prose throughout and how he could say so much in so few words. I also liked how he trusted the reader to pick up cues without needing to elaborate. The sensitive consideration given to his characters and their struggles as they navigate the tyranny in their dystopian world is to be admired. Highly recommend."- Pauline Yates, five-star Goodreads review

Introducing Oscar Tremont, Investigator of the Strange and Inexplicable.Join Oscar Tremont on his first four cases as he tackles mysteries too strange for the police and assures his clients that a rational explanation lies behind what at first appears to be impossible. You will find clues, question suspects, don disguises, break into abandoned houses, solve codes and puzzles, and if you really have your wits about you, crack the case before our hero.Oscar Tremont, Investigator of the Strange and Inexplicable consists of two novellas and two short stories that display the keen intellect of a private investigator who is bound to make a name for himself in the mystery genre.◆ The Hunt for the Stayne Fortune◆ The Ghosts of Walhalla◆ The Witch at the Window◆ The Secret of the Severed HandThese four mysteries will challenge and surprise even the most experienced armchair detectives.Are you up to the task? The game's afoot!

What does it mean to be human?Thirteen strange tales of suspense and psychological horror in the tradition of Roald Dahl's stories for adults✓ Twist endings ✓ Quirky characters ✓ Uncanny settings✓ Kinky humour✓ Reality turned upside downThe Animal Inside is a collection of thirteen strange and twisted stories that will take you for a walk along the fine line between insanity and reason, the peculiar and the prosaic, and the animal kingdom and human society, then leave you wondering where one ends and the other begins. These tales will confuse, amuse, shock, and intrigue, but they will also cause you to contemplate your very own animal inside. The Strange TalesCleopatra's Mystery BoxThe Church of AsagOld Mabel's Stray CatVeronica's DogsThe Crows of Eildon HillLaurenMilkHorror at Hollow HeadDeclan's FantasyForgotten FallsAnimalLike SistersIt Starts with InsectsExcerpt from Cleopatra's Mystery Box'Put your hand inside my box and tell me what you feel.' It was the first time Cleopatra had invited Andrew back to her house. Her father was out west on a field trip, tracking desert lizards, and her mother and younger sister were down the coast for the weekend. They were sitting on her bed, he cross-legged at the foot, and she nestled at the head in a cloud of velvet and patchwork cushions. Her Egyptian eyes watched him intently and her porcelain face was so stern it simply had to be fighting back a smile. 'Is this foreplay?' he asked, hoping to make her crack. She pursed her purple lips. 'It's a game, ' she said eventually. 'What kind of game?' 'My game.' 'So, you've played it before?' 'Well, it wouldn't be my game if I hadn't, would it?' She frowned. 'You can ask pointless questions or you can play. It's up to you.' 'I want to play.' 'Just put your hand inside and tell me what you feel. If you guess correctly, you can ask me to do something for you.' He stared into her dark brown eyes, full of childish mischief and timeless mystery, then dropped his gaze to the box in her hands."The thirteen stories included in the book will be ones you remember, and that, friends, is a sign of a good short story collection...If this is your first taste of Cameron Trost, you've come to the right place. I will remember the name." - Bruce Blanchard, Goodreads

Nobody's letterbox is safe!Ian Carew is a mild-mannered teacher at the primary school in Mirebury, a quiet town lost in the moors. Six years after leaving London, he's still considered a newcomer, but his elderly neighbour, Mary Hopkins, treats him like a son, and the local butcher, Jack Fuller, is his best friend. All that's missing from Ian's life is a touch of romance and a dash of adventure. Little does he know, he's about to get a taste of both. When Mary Hopkins opens her letterbox and makes a gruesome discovery, Mirebury is thrown into a state of shock and outrage. At first, the townsfolk assume it was a random act, but the horrible deliveries continue and they're forced to acknowledge they have become the target of a campaign of terror - and nobody's letterbox is safe.Is the Postman one of them, or an outsider? Tensions grow as suspicion and accusations tear the town apart. Neighbour is pitted against neighbour and tempers flare. The Postman only strikes at night and moves through the fog like a ghost. Catching him seems impossible, but Mirebury fights back, and in the end, the fate of the town will come down to one man.

Explore the world on the other side of the street!Entering the tunnels is easy, but Ripley and Gabriela soon discover that reaching the surface again will be the greatest challenge they have ever faced... Who are the mysterious tunnel dwellers and why have they founded an underground community of their own? Who is the tunnel runner and why is he so determined to kill anyone who ventures too close to the Chambers? As they unlock the secrets of this subterranean society, Ripley and Gabriela will also discover the answer to a mystery of their own - one that has haunted Gabriela since childhood. The Tunnel Runner is a gripping tale of suspense and urban adventure built on a foundation of social tension and family secrets. It takes you by the hand and leads you deep beneath the city of Brisbane.Excerpt"There's no point running, surface walker! You can't get away from me. Nobody knows these passages better than I do. I'm the tunnel runner."The tunnel runner, those words echoed. Ripley thought to himself. He didn't know what it meant, but he had seen him run, climb, and jump before. He knew that he was physically superior. Ripley's workout sessions with his mates may have helped keep him in shape and taught him a few nifty moves, but they were a walk in the park compared to this man's daily routine. Ripley was running in the dark. He had to rely on his assailant's torchlight to guide him along the tunnel, but his own body was blocking most of the beam. He could tell the light was aimed at the back of his head - focused on the exact spot where the tunnel runner wanted to plant his blunt hatchet. It was only a matter of time before he received the deathblow. Reviews of The Tunnel RunnerTrost combines elements of suspense, mystery and horror into this fast-paced adventure that also asks interesting questions about the way we choose to live and survive in the city, and what happens to those, who through no fault of their own, are discarded by mainstream society." - Maree Kimberley, author of Dirt Circus League"What Cameron has created feels like modern urban folklore." - Mark McAuliffe, horror writer"In The Tunnel Runner, Trost effortlessly plunges us into a claustrophobic, underground world hidden mere metres beneath our feet. We experience some genuine moments of terror through the eyes of the sympathetic protagonists. But to me, the greatest pleasure was meeting some delightfully obnoxious surface walkers whose morally bankrupt actions threaten to unleash tragedy." - Amazon reader"I read The Tunnel Runner a few months ago, and while I don't usually write reviews, I wanted to share my excitement for this gripping thriller. I love stories with trains, shady figures, barbed-wire fences, and manholes that lead to mysterious places." - Claire Fitzpatrick, horror author and editor of The Body Horror Book"This interesting take on Australian socio-demographics features a cinematic climax and a bittersweet denouement. Throughout every plot twist, the city of Brisbane holds the spotlight." - Deborah Sheldon, author of Contrition

In 1893, Arthur Conan Doyle had decided he would put an end to the adventures of Sherlock Holmes so that he could concentrate on "more serious" literary endeavours. Thus the great Professor Moriarty was born, a character designed solely to give London's greatest detective a worthy death in The Final Problem, what was originally planned as Conan Doyle's last hoorah to the character.Sherlock Holmes could not be so easily defeated however, not even by the man who created him, and public outcry forced Conan Doyle to return to the character once more, and he soon set to work on The Hound of the Baskervilles.Similarly, we too have been unable to leave our own Sherlockian adventures where we last left them, and have challenged seven Australian authors to continue the daunting task of writing a Sherlock story, where the great man himself is conspicuously absent. The resulting work continues to be utterly fascinating, and we still find that, even in his absence, Sherlock Holmes is truly a force to be reckoned with.