AustLit

'In 1921 the coal mine at Mount Mulligan blew up. A coal dust explosion. All 75 men inside the mine were killed. It was Queensland's largest coal mining disaster.

'John Kungarra stood in a cave looking out over the Mount Mulligan township. He felt the earth convulse beneath him and watched as fire and smoke roared out of the mine. A wave of terrible loss washed over him. He shook his thick, grey-black hair. He had told those white fellas to stop taking coal or they would wake Iku, the spirit of the mountain. They had scoffed at him, their faces turned to greed. They kept taking, kept waking Iku.

'Celia Muffet stood in the playground with her best friend, Ellie. Two explosions and the ground shook like a birthday jelly. Celia swooned, floating to the ground like a feather on the wind. She had seen a hundred lights blink out. Only two were left, shivering in the darkness. Celia was a special child, but did not know it. She needed someone to show her how special she was. That was John Kungarra.

'James Watson, Mount Mulligan mines superintending engineer was ill with the Spanish flu. He had dragged himself to work to check the footings at the mine's new coking chimney. He would then go back to bed. He felt the ground jar beneath him before he heard the explosions. He knew immediately what it was. A folding dread engulfed him. He had seen this before. The mine had blown up. He heaved himself out of the footings and raced toward the ropeway. There would be no rest for him now.' (Publication Summary)

'Blaise Hall is in a state of shock. It has been a harrowing time for them after Clara's suicide. Someone has to search through Clara's notes and diaries and B.B. Jones is the only one who can do it. In them he finds she hypothesised on a method of traversing distance as well as time. Could it work? Within those pages, Jones also discovers a Norwegian scientist working on Barlow Bridge Generators. Now they are in a hazardous race to extract him from Nazi-held Norway before he falls into German hands. But for once, time is on their side. In 1936 a unionist called John Milner was murdered. Who did it? Could it have been sanctioned and carried out by the Blackshirts, the British fascist party? They must go back and find out. It is dangerous, there is considerable unrest in England. This is the time of riots and street battles. With a new member joining the team Blaise Hall is unsettled. Everybody is suspicious of this Jeremy Quimp who was foisted on them from 'on high'. He is unctuous. They believe he has an ulterior motive and something to hide. Is it treason? Murder? They will find out and, if necessary, extract their own 'retribution'.' (Publication Summary)

'If you could travel back in time, what could you do? How could you use it to win the war or stop it before it even started? Are there rules which have to be followed? If so, what are they? What happens if you break them? Blaise Hall is a government facility hidden in plain sight outside Liverpool, England in a little village called Hightown. At the outbreak of World War II, two scientists are brought there to build a time machine, a Barlow Bridge time machine. This is not an average time travel book. There is no handsome hero. There is a pretty mathematician, a Jewish assassin and B.B. Jones, our anti-hero. But it is war; how far would you go if you were pushed to breaking point?' (Publication Summary)