Michael Brissenden with Mike Bowers
Tuesday 25 June 2024, 6:00–7:00pm
Cultural Centre Kambri (ANU Building 153)
Tangney Rd, Acton ACT 2601, Australia
Michael Brissenden will be in conversation with Mike Bowers on his new novel Smoke.
What secrets lie in the ashes? After a brutal wildfire tears through the town of Jasper in the Californian sierras, a body is discovered in a shed. It looks like an open-and-shut case of accidental death – until further investigation reveals that the victim was locked in from the outside.
Years after leaving Jasper, Detective Alex Markov has been sent back under the shadow of an LAPD corruption investigation. She is convinced that the man, a family friend, was murdered opportunistically under the cover of the fire. As the smoke clears, Alex reveals a town corrupt to its core – but exposing that corruption could destroy her and the people she loves. Will she ignore the crookedness and deceit, or face the consequences of pursuing an inconvenient truth?
Michael Brissenden is an author and journalist. His first novel The List was published in 2017 with a second Dead Letters in 2021. He was a journalist with the ABC for 35 years. He was posted to Moscow, Brussels and Washington and worked in Canberra for many years in various roles – including as the Political Editor for the 7.30 Report and as the presenter of the ‘AM’ Current Affairs program on ABC radio. From 2017 to 2021 he was a reporter with the ABC’s Four Corners.
Mike Bowers is Photographer at Large for Guardian Australia and host of Talking Pictures on ABC TV. Mike spent 14 years in the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery working for a number of publications including The Australian, The Age, BRW, Time, The Daily Telegraph and The Sydney Morning Herald.
The vote of thanks will be given by Sally Pryor, Features Editor of the Canberra Times.
This event is in association with Harry Hartog Bookshop. Books will be available for purchase. Pre-event book signings will be available from 5.30pm and again after the event.
This event is in association with Harry Hartog Bookshop. Books will be available for purchase on the evening in the Cultural Centre foyer. Pre-event book signings will be available from 5.30pm, and available again after the event.