Showing results by author "Catherine Jinks" in All Categories

A horrible holiday? You bet! A car full of smelly nappies, a constipated dog... Can anything else go wrong?

Meg lives alone - a little place in the bush outside town. A perfect place to hide. That’s one of the reasons she offers to shelter Nerine, who’s escaping a violent ex. The other is that Meg knows what it’s like to live with an abusive partner. Nerine is jumpy, and her two little girls are frightened. It tells Meg all she needs to know where they’ve come from, and she’s not all that surprised when Nerine asks her to get hold of a gun. But she knows it’s unnecessary. They’re safe now. Then she starts to wonder about some little things.

Full of suspense, mystery and humor, the books in this series follow Allie as she investigates a number of possibly paranormal events with a mix of logic, intelligence and teenage attitude. Who is writing on the walls? We moved into our new house because Mum liked the vibes. But those vibes turned scary when ghostly writing started appearing on the walls of Bethan's room. Mum tried a few new-age tricks, but couldn't stop the creepy nightmares.

A shocking and gruesome murder wakes an ancient evil in outback Australia. A truck driver, a schoolboy, and a retired couple on their dream holiday are among a group of travelers caught up in a supernatural time loop. Trapped on a long stretch of the Silver City Highway, just outside Broken Hill, they enter a nightmarish journey from which there seems no escape.

Who is haunting the cabin? After Eglantine vanished, I thought I was through with ghosts. Then I went on a school excursion to Hill end and found myself investigating a whole bunch of them. First there was the ghost of Granny Evans, pacing around the museum. And Eustace Harrow smashing things up in Taylor's Cottage. But when two of my classmates disappeared, I realized things were about to get serious.

After posting a drunken rant that goes horrifically viral, Bronte needs a place to lie low. Jobless, friendless, broke, she volunteers as a carer on an isolated rural property. She won’t be paid for looking after dementia sufferer Nell, but at least she’ll have a place to stay. Bronte’s host is Nell’s daughter Veda, who runs spiritual rebirthing retreats. She also claims the rights of a sovereign citizen and rejects the authority of the state, refusing even to register her car. She has acquired a small but devoted following of the like-minded.

Robyn Ayres works as the camp caretaker on Finch Island, a former leper colony off the coast of Queensland. Her current clients are a group of ex-military men who run a tough-love program for troubled teens. The latest crop looks like the usual mix of bad boys and sad boys. Then Robyn takes a second look at a kid called Darren. Last time she saw him, his name was Aaron and Robyn was his primary school teacher. And she was somehow at the centre of a vicious small-town custody battle involving his terrifying grandmother.

Daryl, the baby magpie, has to find his own food. But how?

In the third Allie's Ghost Hunters adventure, 11-year-old Allie Gebhardt and her Exorcists' Club hold a séance for schoolmate Bettina - and discover, in the process, that there's a strange presence in Bettina's house.

While scavenging in the desert, Jansi stumbles across PIM, a stelcorp starship, embedded in the sand. PIM is damaged and needs the boy's help, but Jansi has never encountered a starship before, much less one capable of thought and expression. Together they forge an unlikely friendship, until a Stelcorp shuttle arrives, threatening PIM with destruction. For the boy and the starship, there will be no future unless they triumph against the galaxy's mightiest force.

Another deliciously spooky paranormal mystery for Allie's Ghost Hunters to solve, this time at the Jenolan Caves, where something is on the trail of Allie and her family. Who is waiting in the cave?

Robyn Ayres works as the camp caretaker on Finch Island, a former leper colony off the coast of Queensland. Her current clients are a group of ex-military men who run a tough-love program for troubled teens. The latest crop looks like the usual mix of bad boys and sad boys. Then Robyn takes a second look at a kid called Darren. Last time she saw him his name was Aaron, and Robyn was his primary school teacher. And she was somehow at the centre of a vicious small-town custody battle involving his terrifying grandmother.

Jane is a contact tracer. She has to call a lot of people and some of them don’t want to talk. Various reasons – tax or immigration issues, infidelity. Domestic abuse. Jane knows all about that. She and her daughter Tara have spent years in hiding from Tara’s manipulative and terrifying ex. Now, as Jane talks to a close contact, she realises the woman on the phone is scared of the same man – and he’s close. Too close.