Terminal Velocity

An Australian Outback Thriller

By: Phillip Strang

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Perfect for fans of Jane Harper, Chris Hammer, and Garry Disher

In the shadow of Queensland's Glasshouse Mountains, Detective Jack Mercer discovers a body hidden for seven years. The victim: Dr. Marcus Webb, a disgraced astronomer who disappeared after making claims about classified satellite activity above Australian territory.

Webb's death was ruled a hiking accident. But Mercer finds evidence the body was moved—and someone has been maintaining the cover-up for nearly a decade.

When investigative journalist Sarah Chen dies in a car crash hours before meeting Mercer with "proof of everything Webb discovered," the case explodes beyond rural Queensland. Webb wasn't paranoid. He'd documented something real—classified satellites, defence contractor fraud, and technology operating in Australian airspace without government knowledge.

Federal authorities arrive to shut down Mercer's investigation. Evidence disappears from secure storage. Witnesses recant statements or vanish entirely. And Mercer realizes powerful interests—with billions in defence contracts and government credibility at stake—will eliminate anyone who threatens exposure.

With no federal backup and every lead ending in intimidation or death, Mercer must rely on instinct and the journalist's encrypted files to expose a conspiracy that reaches from remote Queensland to Canberra's halls of power. But the closer he gets to the truth, the more isolated he becomes.

In the shadow of ancient volcanic peaks, some secrets have been buried for seven years. And some people will kill to keep them that way.