AustLit

'Three couples, friends since high school, rent a luxurious house in the mountains for an unplugged weekend of drinking and bushwalking. No internet, no phones, no stress. On the first night, the topic of partner-swapping comes up. It's a joke - at first.

Not everyone is keen, but an agreement is made. The lights will be turned out. The three women will go into the three bedrooms. The three men will each pick a room at random. It won't be awkward later, because they won't know who they've slept with - or can pretend they don't.

'But when the lights come back on, one of the men is dead. No one will admit to being his partner. The phones still don't work, and now the car key is missing. They're stranded. And the killer is just getting started ...' (Publication summary)

'An exclusive group chat. A deadly challenge. How far would you go to join? Jayden Jones is missing. Everyone thinks he ran away. His best friend, Zoe Ross, knows they're wrong. Zoe's search leads her to the Seventeen, a secret group chat, used by anonymous teens to blackmail the powerless. To join, you have to put on a mask and record yourself completing a challenge. The challenges are always illegal. Sometimes dangerous. Maybe deadly. Who are the Seventeen? What have they done to Jayden? And what will they do to silence Zoe? A rollercoaster of suspense and twists from the author of the Liars series.' (Publication summary)

'"Mercer stole a secret message. What happens when the spies find out? Hamzi is trapped in a maze. Why is his brother trying to kill him?

'Charlene’s room escape game suddenly turns deadly. Can she figure out why? Jack Heath’s ten nail-biting and mysterious short stories will intrigue and terrify during each 30-minute countdown, as dangerous situations play out right down to the last crucial moment. Read 10 dangerous stories, in 30 minutes* of reading time!" (Publication summary)

'Timothy Blake returns in a tense, unputdownable thriller from the author of Hangman.

'A Chinese astronaut is found dead in a NASA training environment in Houston, Texas. No one can explain how he got there. Amid fears of a diplomatic catastrophe, the CIA dispatches Timothy 'Hangman' Blake to investigate, because a convicted kidnapper works in the facility - someone Blake put away a long time ago.

'Blake is deeply insane, afflicted by terrible urges he can barely control - but he's also brilliant. Zara, his beautiful and deadly CIA handler, suspects a secret Chinese spacecraft is surveilling the United States, but Blake can see something much more sinister is going on. Something connected to the kidnapping seven years ago, to the technologies being developed at NASA, and to the serial killer known as the Texas Reaper.

'Will Blake survive long enough to uncover the truth? And if he does, will anyone even believe him?'  (Publication summary)

'20 stories. 20 dangerous situations. 20 brave kids. 10 minutes to escape. Dodi is in the blast radius of an asteroid on a collision course with Earth. Gary is stuck up a tree with a giant tsunami wave fast approaching. Tatum is climbing a caldera when an earthquake makes the volcano erupt. Read 20 new dangerous stories in 10 minutes of reading time each!'  (Publication summary)

'Elise Glyk is a disgraced athlete. Her brother, Callum, is a well-liked teacher who has gone missing. In Elise’s search for her brother, they both become captured in a remote, abandoned farm. 

'Their captor hates Callum, and refuses to explain why, but she has little interest in Elise. So she offers a gruesome bargain: she'll let Elise go - if Elise kills Callum. That way, Elise can't talk to the police, not without getting arrested for murder.

'Years ago, when everyone turned against Elise, Callum was the only person who stood by her. But if Elise refuses the deal, they'll both die. With the clock ticking, Elise is forced to confront the choice: will she kill her brother to save herself?' (Publication summary)

'Jaxxon has accidentally been elected to rule as the first ever KID PRESIDENT. He has big ideas: free ice-cream in every school, homework to be made illegal, and all national parks to become skate parks.

'But not everyone is happy about the new changes. And they are willing to do just about anything to kick him out of office. Can Jaxxon keep his presidency and show everyone he totally rules?' (Publication summary)

'Levi is pretty sick of starring in Dad’s stupid TV show, Kid Kablam. Because Levi is the kid who gets KABLAMMED! So far he’s been knocked down, blown up, and attacked by wild animals. And Dad has one more scene planned—the most dangerous stunt so far. Can Levi survive this final stunt without seriously stacking it?'

Source : publisher's blurb