Archives par étiquette : Text Publishing

COLD PLACES de Tom Baragwanath

In this follow-up to the award-winning Lorraine Henry thrillers Paper Cage and Lucky Thing, Tom Baragwanath delivers his trademark in-depth exploration of isolated communities, wild environments, and resourceful cops—and records clerks—under pressure.

COLD PLACES
by Tom Baragwanath
Text Publishing Australia, August 2027

When it’s time for a little rest and relaxation, police records clerk Lorraine Henry heads north to Great Barrier Island in the Hauraki Gulf to visit her colleague, constable Dion Warwick—but the island has something else in store.

After the bodies of two women wash ashore bound in rope, Lorraine and Dion must work with spiky veteran detective Mo Roche to uncover a hidden threat lurking in plain sight, even if doing so means confronting decades-long secrets. And for Lorraine, some of those secrets hit a little too close to home, putting her and her family in real danger.

Without her Masterton connections to draw from, Lorraine needs to find new ways to stay ahead of the danger waiting around every corner, navigating hostile locals, watchful neighbours, and an island commune that isn’t quite what it seems.

‘Wonderful, emotional storytelling with a fine protagonist—an Antipodean Miss Marple, but fiercer—makes this too good to miss.’ – Daily Mail UK on Lucky Thing

‘Lorraine Henry is a refreshingly different crime fiction protagonist.’ – Shelley Burr

‘Just the kind of dark, disturbing, gritty, and unusual treat thriller lovers are looking for.’ – Kirkus (starred review) on Paper Cage

Tom Baragwanath is originally from Masterton, New Zealand, and now lives in Paris with his young family. His first novel, Paper Cage, was the 2021 winner of the Michael Gifkins Prize. His second novel, Lucky Thing, is currently shortlisted for Best International Crime Fiction in the 2026 Ned Kelly Awards as well as being longlisted for the 2026 Ngaio Marsh Awards.

SURVIVAL NOTES de Michelle Haines Thomas

What happens when an influencer couple, famous for their ‘free-range parenting’ let their nine-year-old son and his friend sleep overnight in the bush… and the boys don’t come back?

SURVIVAL NOTES
by Michelle Haines Thomas
Text Publishing, January 2027

When nine-year-old Freddie and his friend go missing in the bush, their parents scramble to blame each other. Why did they let the boys camp out alone? And why did the boys disappear? In the small hinterland town, the online backlash against the adults is brutal.

The terrifying threat of a bushfire accelerates the race to find the children. The editor of the local newspaper, single-mother Justine, has her own secrets to protect. Then her elder daughter goes missing, too. As everything implodes around Justine, her past comes back to haunt her. How far will she go to rescue the children?

Michelle Haines Thomas takes us into the hearts and minds of characters confronting their worst nightmare. SURVIVAL NOTES is a superlative heart-in-your-mouth literary thriller, with commercial overtones.

Michelle Haines Thomas has been writing novels most of her life, in between her work as a journalist and raising a family. She is the recipient of a residential writing fellowship at Varuna, has a MA in Writing from the University of Technology in Sydney, and has published or broadcast fiction and reviews in a range of publications. Michelle now works in marketing and lives with her family on the NSW Central Coast.

SIDE CHARACTER ENERGY d’Olivia Tolich

A sharp, wise, hilarious novel about love—romantic, platonic and toxic—from a brilliant new voice in Australian fiction.

SIDE CHARACTER ENERGY
by Olivia Tolich
Text Pubishing Australia, February 2026

After a series of Mr Wrongs, Bee has finally found her Mr Right. Attractive, mature—William is everything she’s been looking for.

Gertrude is Bee’s best friend since forever (and also her flatmate, workmate and Insta content videographer). She’s happy for Bee—just as she’s been sad for Bee during those romantic missteps, and supportive of Bee in everything else. Actually, now she thinks about it, Gertrude isn’t sure there even is a Gertrude that isn’t determined by what Bee wants or thinks or feels.

Panicked to realise she’s not the main character in her own life, she turns to William’s best friend, Arthur. He isn’t the obvious choice for life coaching—apart from anything else, Gertrude doesn’t really like him—but everyone else is…Well, there is no everyone else. Just Bee.

Arthur’s mission is to find out whether there’s more to Gertrude than she thinks, and if so, what it is. The problem is, that might throw up some hard questions—about her life, her choices and above all, her friendship with Bee.

SIDE CHARACTER ENERGY is a sharp, wise, hilarious novel about love—romantic, platonic and toxic—from a brilliant new voice in Australian fiction.

‘A wonderful late summer weekend read.’ —Canberra Weekly

‘What a delight this book is.’ —Jodi McAllister

‘If you’re looking for banter, chemistry and characters who are authentically imperfect, Side Character Energy delivers.’ —Books+Publishing

Olivia Tolich is a writer based in Melbourne (Naarm). She holds a Masters of Creative Writing, Publishing and Editing from the University of Melbourne and works as an educational publisher.

LIGHTS OUT de Lauren Collee

Ever since the Enlightenment we have associated light with reason. In this groundbreaking book, Lauren Collee defends darkness and argues that we need to learn to understand and appreciate it.

LIGHTS OUT: Learning to Love the Dark
by Lauren Collee
Text Publishing (Australia), May 2027

Our world is unnaturally bright. Over eighty percent of us live under night skies polluted with light. Scientists are concerned about the impact on nocturnal creatures; researchers worry about the effects of our screens on our circadian rhythms.

Ever since the Enlightenment we have associated light with reason. In this groundbreaking book, Lauren Collee defends darkness and argues that we need to learn to understand and appreciate it.

Throughout history, conversations about dark and light have been entangled with other binary systems, such as gender and race. Now the discussion is about excess: saturation, media overload, endless consumption, incessant speed. The search for darkness is also the search for a lost world: for the authentic self in an age of artificiality, and the search for rest in an age of overstimulation.

Through reportage, interviews and personal stories, Lauren explores what a transformative relationship with darkness and light might look like. With its profound appeal to the mystery of the human spirit, this extraordinary debut will appeal to fans of Annie Dillard, Jenny Odell and Robert Macfarlane, to everyone who cares about our relationship with technology, nature and culture.

Lauren Collee’s essays have appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Real Life and the Sydney Review of Books. She lives in Tasmania.

GRIEFDOGG de Michael Winkler

Michael Winkler’s first novel Grimmish became a cult hit. Griefdogg is another triumph. Funny, sad, always entrancing, it tells a crazy-sane story about identity, love, family and forgiveness.

GRIEFDOGG
by Michael Winkler
Text Publishing (Australia), April 2026

Meet Jeffrey Watson-Johnson: hydrologist, husband of Martine, father of Bern, model citizen of Mildura.

After inheriting a small fortune from an obscure aunt and a disconcerting encounter with his cousin Pam, Jeffrey decides it’s time to change everything.

He wants to live like the family pet.

As his relationships face upheaval, Jeffrey withdraws further from his old life. Sleeping through the day or wandering beside the river, he discovers a new power: he can sense secret grief in others. What to do with this gift? Or with his awareness of the endless streams of water flowing unseen beneath the earth?

Michael Winkler’s first novel Grimmish became a cult hit. Griefdogg is another triumph. Funny, sad, always entrancing, it tells a crazy-sane story about identity, love, family and forgiveness.

Michael Winkler is a writer from Melbourne, living on the unceded lands of the Kulin nation. He is the author, co-author and editor of numerous books. His novel Grimmish was shortlisted for the 2022 Miles Franklin Literary Award, and he won the Calibre Essay Prize for ‘The Great Red Whale’. His journalism, short fiction, reviews and essays have been widely published and anthologised.