Barbara, Fiona, Roger and Lofty are 17 year old Year 12 students at a High School in Cairns. They are also the Cadet Under-Officers of the school's army cadet unit. When Fiona goes missing just before the June school holidays they begin a search for her. Barbara becomes convinced that Fiona has been kidnapped by a religious sect nicknamed 'The Smiley People'. She also believes the police are not making a serious effort to find Fiona.

Three more CUOs: Gordon, Jennifer, and Karen, arrive for a holiday. Gordon is in love with Barbara. His arrival doubles the emotional stress on Barbara who is torn over whether she prefers women to men.

The group set off on a hiking trip. But it becomes no ordinary sightseeing march as they try to follow a group of Smileys. This leads them into a succession of encounters with strange characters. Small clues lead to deadly discoveries and the friends find themselves in a situation where they cannot call on help and must act.
During the resulting life and death struggle Barbara finds herself torn between conflicting desires and making difficult moral choices. Her leadership and character are tested to the limit and her physical endurance stretched to near breaking point in the jungle covered mountains around Kuranda. During this time of extreme testing she discovers her true self.

Throughout this the group is torn by personality clashes and shifting romantic relationships, all of which makes it harder for Barbara to hold them together as a team and adds to the difficulty of her decision making.

The story is a blend of intense personal interaction and fast moving adventure. The story is written for young adults and contains violence, some coarse language and sexual references. It is not suitable for Primary School children.

Barbara Brassington, a 17 year old student at a High School in Cairns, North Queensland, and also a Cadet Under-Officer in the Australian Army Cadets, is with her unit on their Annual Camp in the dry savannah woodland at Dotswood, 100km west of Townsville. During a night navigation exercise a French military satellite crashes, showering the countryside with flaming fragments and setting fire to the bush.

After surviving a near miss Barbara provides leadership during the crisis and then finds herself being drawn into an international drama with deadly results. During this she has to make some very hard moral and ethical choices involving life and death. Her conscience is tested to its limits along with her physical and moral courage and she has to grapple with the ugly notion of treason.

During this time of extreme stress Barbara uses all her cadet skills and knowledge to help her survive and to achieve the goals she has set for herself.  This is a fast paced tale of action, drama and romance described by one Officer of Cadets as ‘un-put-down-able’. This is a story that will appeal to soldiers as well as cadets and ex-cadets.

Cadet Warrant Officer, seventeen-year-old Barbara Brassington, is on a promotion training course for the rank of Cadet Under-Officer in the Australian Army Cadets at an army camp in the bush near Charters Towers in North Queensland.

But she has her own mental demons to struggle with, particularly her sexuality. Because of several previous traumatic incidents with violent and repulsive men she is not sure she likes males at all- until at the very start of the course she finds- to her mixed delight and dismay- that Cupid’s arrow has found her heart!

But while she finds love she also discovers she has rivals and enemies. There is jealousy, deceit and misbehaviour which place her on the horns of a moral dilemma. And there is vicious rivalry which splits the course into factions.

And Barbara has real enemies and finds herself in deadly peril deep in the bush. She must use her cadet training to survive this hostile environment, which will test her character and endurance to the limit.

Australian Army Cadet Under-Officer, eighteen year old Barbara Brassington, is with her cadet unit on a bivouac in the bush near the tiny North Queensland town of Millaroo.

But this is no ordinary bivouac.

Not only must she deal with the usual challenges of teenage behaviour: poor leadership, misbehaviour, and fraternization, she must deal with the scandalous behaviour of Chloe Cummings and her propensity for nudity and outrageous actions.

But during the weekend Barbara’s unit is drawn into a terrifying and deadly drama that will test her moral and physical courage, leadership, emotions and skills to the limit.

Read on to find out how the cadets cope with the unexpected crisis.

Australian Army Cadet Corporal, 15-year-old Roger Dunning, sets out with his friends, Peter, Stephen and Graham, on a five-day hike on the Atherton Tablelands to complete the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

Their OC, Captain Conkey, has placed a set of clues to test their navigation along their 100-kilometre hike. However, almost immediately the four friends walk into trouble so unexpected and so deadly that it tests all their skills as cadets and their friendships.

For Roger, it is the toughest test of endurance and character he has ever encountered. To survive, he must summon all his resources of determination and moral courage to see the thing through.

A single photograph can change everything.

Fifteen-year-old Stephen never imagined the old film camera he inherited from his grandfather would lead him into a nightmare. When a beautiful girl asks him to take her picture—posing in ways he never expected—Stephen thinks he’s stumbled into a dream. But dreams can twist into something far darker.

At first, everyone praises his talent. Then the rumours begin. Envy. Lust. Lies. Suddenly the images he’s taken (and the ones others claim he has taken) start to spin out of his control. Friendships fracture. Reputations warp. A dangerous rumour becomes a trap.

And then Stephen comes face-to-face with something far worse than gossip.

Drawn into a web of manipulation, blackmail, and violence, Stephen must summon a courage he never knew he had. He can’t go to the police (they think he’s part of the problem). So he sets out alone to confront the real source of the evil stalking him.

Set against the lush, tropical backdrop of Cairns and Far North Queensland, Focus on Trouble is a gripping, high-stakes young adult thriller about truth, temptation, and the deadly power of a single image.

A powerful warning for today’s digital world.

Recommended for young adults. Not suitable for primary-aged readers.

Graham Kirk has just turned 14 and his life is at a crisis point.

A year before he had joined the Navy Cadets full of hope and ambition. But a medical exam scuppered his dreams of ever achieving his long-cherished ambition of being a naval officer.

Compounding matters, everything in his life seems to be going wrong. He is in trouble at school with both the teachers and the bullies. To add to his woes, he is now feeling the full force of puberty and is driven by strong urges he is struggling to control.

It seems his whole life is a miserable burden. But a chance meeting with a regular army soldier, Warrant Officer Howley, offers him the opportunity to get his life back on track- the Army Cadets.

Temptations abound, and friends and false friends lead him into situations that could harm him and destroy his future. Graham is thrust into a series of events that will test his character, his morals, his conscience, his courage, and his faith.

This is a ‘coming-of-age’ story that is not suitable for Primary School children.

Two boys. One desert. Zero room for failure.

Nine-year-old Donny MacAndrew is a cheeky bush kid, raised on a massive cattle station in the heart of Queensland’s remote Min Min Shire. Schooled through Distance Ed and bush smarts, Donny knows the desert like the back of his dusty hand. So when a gang of criminals, led by his own Uncle James, takes his family hostage, Donny refuses to sit still.

He convinces his fifteen-year-old cousin, Vaughan- a city boy from a fancy Sydney boarding school- to escape with him. But the outback is no classroom and Vaughan is no bushman.

As their bid for freedom turns into a desperate race for survival, Donny’s grit and local know-how clash with Vaughan’s city mindset. Facing heat, harsh terrain, and relentless pursuers, the boys must learn to rely on each other, particularly Vaughan’s skills learned as an army cadet.. or risk losing everything.

Chloe is a 14 year Army Cadet who looks 16 and acts18. Because of scandalous behaviour she and her friend Jane are on a warning- any more mischief and they are out!

And Chloe has many enemies. Her male platoon sergeant is tormented by lust and jealousy. Many girls are jealous of her and wish her ill, and the lady Officers of Cadets are watching like hawks for any misbehaviour to get her and Jane discharged.

The Cadet Unit goes on a weekend bivouac in the bush near the tiny North Queensland town of Mingela- and mischief begins. Chloe and Jane find their cadet careers in jeopardy- and then their lives- as a completely unexpected and deadly crisis erupts during a field exercise.

In the unforgiving spinifex country, Rose MacGregor and her baby sister face danger as their family holiday turns perilous.

Threatened by armed strangers during a gem-fossicking expedition, Rosie’s mettle is tested.

In the searing 38-degree heat and desolate wilderness, she must rely on her army cadet training—wits, brains, memory, and determination—to navigate the treacherous terrain and protect her little sister.

Can Rose overcome the odds and protect her sister in the vast, challenging landscape of the Selwyn Ranges?

Spinifex is a gripping tale of courage, resourcefulness, and the indomitable spirit of a young army cadet in the rugged heart of Northwest Queensland.

Declin Riley is 19 and a computer controller at the Caster Sugar Mill in Far North Queensland. But in his first weeks on the job he is witness to the murder of a fellow co-worker.

For reasons unknown, some of the mill workers are desperate to sabotage the crush and cause it to go bankrupt. Threatening him with his life, they force Declin to go along with their devious plans.

To make matters worse, Declin is caught up in a love triangle with the boss’s young daughter, Carol, and CSM Graham Kirk.

Declin and Graham are led into conflict, temptation and extreme danger. Both are severely tested both in body and spirit as evil forces lead them into a desperate crisis.

Now in his 2nd year as Army Cadet, trouble-maker Graham Kirk is faced with the biggest crisis of his cadetship.

The annual field camp has begun and over nine gruelling days he will be forced to face challenges and temptations that test his integrity, courage and loyalty to the limit.

Top of the list are Pigsy and his gang, soured by jealousy and resentment. And of course the girls.

Will they stand in the way of his promotion to sergeant or will he rise to the challenge and become the leader nobody thinks he can be?

'Thirty nine girls! And some of them with reputations for being hot,' thought 16 year old Army Cadet Warrant Officer Graham Kirk as he scanned the company on Day 1 of the unit's annual field camp. 'And Capt Conkey doesn't want any 'boy-girl' problems.'

That got him considering the problem of temptation- something he suffered strongly from as he really liked girls! 'How do we prevent Fraternisation?' he wondered. As the Company Sergeant Major one of his main duties was discipline. 'And the cadet sergeants are the people I must depend on,' he thought. What bothered him was the feeling that some could not be trusted.

.What follows is a character study focused on loyalty and integrity during an army cadet camp and of how Graham and his friends cope with the unexpected problems that occur. For cadets and ex-cadets the detail will inform and provide nostalgic flashbacks.

Because this is a story about teenagers, and particularly teenage relationships, there are some sexual references and coarse language. This book is written for young adults and is not suitable for Primary School children.

Fifteen year old Elizabeth has been handed a briefcase full of incriminating documents by her dying uncle. A gang of crooks is chasing her. In desperation she flees into the bush. She encounters 17 year old Cadet Under-Officer Graham Kirk and his platoon of army cadets. Graham decides to hide Elizabeth until he can contact the authorities. But how? And who to trust?

Complicating matters is the fact that 15 year old Margaret, a corporal in the platoon, is in love with Graham. Jealousy rears its ugly head. Problems multiply and as the days go by the crooks become ever more desperate. Graham's leadership and character are put to the test in the most challenging adventure of his young life.

Set in the dry savannah country of inland North Queensland in the Charters Towers district. Fast moving action and authentic detail. Read on and join with the cadets to experience the adventure.

8pm Saturday night
February--- the 'Wet Season' in tropical North Queensland
Stephen Bell, 16, and his three friends of the 'Hiking Team': Graham, Peter and Roger are camped in the jungle beside the Black Mountain Road after a long day of walking. The friends hear what sounds like a light aircraft crash into the mountain and Stephen feels impelled to investigate. But climbing the jungle covered peak in the dark and in drenching rain is only the first of many challenges to his character and intelligence he is to face.

What he finds in the cloud and thick rainforest near the top instantly sets him burning with an intense desire to know the truth; to find out what really happened and who was involved. But his attempts to uncover the past reveal secrets that some powerful and dangerous people are determined to keep concealed.

Stephen's attempts to discover the truth lead him and his friends into deadly peril and to shocking discoveries that test him to his emotional, spiritual, intellectual and physical limits.

This is an adventure story for both teenagers and adults that touches on a little known aspect of Australia's history.

8pm Saturday night
February--- the 'Wet Season' in tropical North Queensland
Stephen Bell, 16, and his three friends of the 'Hiking Team': Graham, Peter and Roger are camped in the jungle beside the Black Mountain Road after a long day of walking. The friends hear what sounds like a light aircraft crash into the mountain and Stephen feels impelled to investigate. But climbing the jungle covered peak in the dark and in drenching rain is only the first of many challenges to his character and intelligence he is to face.

What he finds in the cloud and thick rainforest near the top instantly sets him burning with an intense desire to know the truth; to find out what really happened and who was involved. But his attempts to uncover the past reveal secrets that some powerful and dangerous people are determined to keep concealed.

Stephen's attempts to discover the truth lead him and his friends into deadly peril and to shocking discoveries that test him to his emotional, spiritual, intellectual and physical limits.

This is an adventure story for both teenagers and adults that touches on a little known aspect of Australia's history.

Barbara, Fiona, Roger and Lofty are 17 year old Year 12 students at a High School in Cairns. They are also the Cadet Under-Officers of the school's army cadet unit. When Fiona goes missing just before the June school holidays they begin a search for her. Barbara becomes convinced that Fiona has been kidnapped by a religious sect nicknamed 'The Smiley People'. She also believes the police are not making a serious effort to find Fiona.

Three more CUOs: Gordon, Jennifer, and Karen, arrive for a holiday. Gordon is in love with Barbara. His arrival doubles the emotional stress on Barbara who is torn over whether she prefers women to men.

The group set off on a hiking trip. But it becomes no ordinary sightseeing march as they try to follow a group of Smileys. This leads them into a succession of encounters with strange characters. Small clues lead to deadly discoveries and the friends find themselves in a situation where they cannot call on help and must act.
During the resulting life and death struggle Barbara finds herself torn between conflicting desires and making difficult moral choices. Her leadership and character are tested to the limit and her physical endurance stretched to near breaking point in the jungle covered mountains around Kuranda. During this time of extreme testing she discovers her true self.

Throughout this the group is torn by personality clashes and shifting romantic relationships, all of which makes it harder for Barbara to hold them together as a team and adds to the difficulty of her decision making.

The story is a blend of intense personal interaction and fast moving adventure. The story is written for young adults and contains violence, some coarse language and sexual references. It is not suitable for Primary School children.

Devil Worshippers!16 year old army cadet Peter is aghast. And they are going to carry out human sacrifices on top of the Pyramid at sunset!  What can we do? The massive triangular shape of the mountain called Walsh Pyramid stands a thousand metres above the floodplain of the Mulgrave River in Far North Queensland. Eight army cadets on a holiday hike have reached the bottom. Among them are three of our friends from ‘The Hiking Team’: Peter, Graham and Stephen. There are also four 16 year old girls: Gwen, Joy, Megan and Charmaine.

They meet a terrified man dressed in black who tells them a tale so bizarre that most of them find it difficult to believe. But not Stephen. He knows that it is true. His statement convinces the group to act. So, while two go for help, the others begin to climb the mountain in a desperate race against time.

They find themselves involved in a fearsome life and death struggle with forces they had hardly suspected existed.  For the next four days they are tested emotionally, spiritually and physically as they seek to ensure that evil is vanquished and right triumphs. Peter has to use all of his skills and training to help his friends and to win through.

The massive triangular shape of the mountain called Walshs Pyramid stands a thousand metres above the floodplain of the Mulgrave River in Far North Queensland. Eight army cadets on a holiday hike have been marching towards it. Among them are three of our friends from 'The Hiking Team': Peter, Graham and Stephen. There are also four 16 year old girls: Gwen, Joy, Megan and Charmaine.

As they reach the base of the mountain they encounter a panic stricken person dressed in black who tells them a tale so bizarre that most of them find it difficult to believe. But not Stephen. He knows that it is true. His statement convinces the group to act. So, while two go for help, the others begin to climb the mountain in a desperate race against time.

They find themselves involved in a fearsome life and death struggle with forces they had hardly suspected existed. For the next four days they are tested emotionally, spiritually and physically as they seek to ensure that evil is vanquished and right triumphs. Peter has to use all of his skills and training to help his friends and to win through.