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WBN advance reviews >

Power Moves (Leesa Ronald, A&U) 

Tuesday, 7 October 2025
In Power Moves, Leesa Ronald delivers a sharp and witty follow-up to her much-loved debut, Special Delivery. The novel follows Camilla “Millsy” Hatton, media director for the NSW Minister for Education....

Softly Calls the Devil (Chris Blake, Echo) 

Tuesday, 30 September 2025
Prologues in crime novels are often inscrutable until the climax, but Chris Blake’s Softly Calls the Devil wastes no time and immediately hooks readers with an unexpected shoot-out at a traffic...

Swallow (Alexandria Burnham, WestWords) 

Tuesday, 30 September 2025
In Swallow, Alexandria Burnham delivers a compelling work of historical fiction inspired by the documented prison escapes of sailor and petty thief William ‘Swallow’ Walker. Sentenced in 1820 to transportation to...

The Transformations (Andrew Pippos, Picador) 

Tuesday, 30 September 2025
Andrew Pippos’ The Transformations is a reflective and introspective novel for lovers of the written word, tracing the gentle and at times unforgiving arc of a life lived in the...

Collision (Kelvin Templeton, Wilkinson Publishing) 

Tuesday, 23 September 2025
Kevin Templeton’s debut novel, Collision, transports readers to Melbourne during the 1970s and 1980s and into the world of 20-year-old Joshua Shamrock, whose life revolves around football, sex and booze. Raised in...

The Hiding Place (Kate Mildenhall, Scribner) 

Tuesday, 16 September 2025
No stranger to the literary scene, Kate Mildenhall (The Mother Fault, Skylarking, The Hummingbird Effect) returns with The Hiding Place, an eminently readable and vividly imagined novel. Four families seeking...

Mary Penfold (Grantlee Kieza, HarperCollins) 

Tuesday, 9 September 2025
Grantlee Kieza’s Mary Penfold is an intriguing biography of the Englishwoman who embraced her husband’s vision, made it her own, and turned their vineyard into one of Australia’s most enduring...

Chosen Family (Madeleine Gray, Summit Books) 

Tuesday, 9 September 2025
Warning: Clear your schedule for the all-consuming read that is Madeleine Gray’s second novel, Chosen Family. Set over 18 years, the novel follows Sydney friends Eve and Nell from high...

Eros: Queer Myths for Lovers (Zoe Terakes, Hachette) 

Tuesday, 9 September 2025
Zoe Terakes’ debut, Eros: Queer Myths for Lovers, retells five ancient Greek myths, drawing on the richness of their Cretan heritage to celebrate the long lineage of queer storytelling. Some stories...

Last One Out (Jane Harper, Macmillan) 

Tuesday, 2 September 2025
When 21-year-old Sam Crowley disappears in Carralon Ridge, his footprints are found scattered around three abandoned houses. Five years later, his mother, Ro, returns to town for the annual memorial...