Win a book, in-season movie pass or DVD!

For your chance to win one of the books, an in-season pass to one of these films (courtesy of Wallis Cinemas) or one of the DVDs featured in this issue, send your name, location, phone number and despatch code, along with the book and/or film and/or DVD of your choice to giveaways@pj.asn.au

Desert Star

Michael Connelly Allen & Unwin, $32 99

A year has passed since LAPD detective Renée Ballard quit the force in the face of misogyny, demoralization, and endless red tape Yet, after the chief of police himself tells her she can write her ticket within the department, Ballard takes back her badge, leaving “the late show” to rebuild the cold-case unit at the elite Robbery-Homicide Division.

For years, Harry Bosch has been working a case that haunts him but that he hasn’t been able to crack – the murder of an entire family by a psychopath who still walks free

Ballard makes Bosch an offer: come work with her as a volunteer investigator in the new OpenUnsolved Unit, and he can pursue his “white whale” with the resources of the LAPD behind him

The two must put aside old resentments to work together again and close in on a dangerous killer

Upgrade

Blake Crouch Macmillan, $34

99

The Boys from Biloxi

John

Grisham Hodder & Stoughton, $34

99

For most of the last 100 years, Biloxi was known for its beaches, resorts, and seafood industry But it had a darker side It was also notorious for corruption and vice, everything from gambling, prostitution, bootleg liquor, drugs – even contract killings

A small cabal of mobsters, many of them rumoured to be members of the Dixie Mafia, controlled the vice.

Keith Rudy and Hugh Malco grew up in Biloxi in the ’60s and were childhood friends But, as teenagers, their lives took them in different directions

Rudy’s father became a legendary prosecutor, determined to “clean up the coast” Malco’s father became the “Boss” of Biloxi’s underground

Rudy went to law school and followed in his father’s footsteps Malco preferred the nightlife and worked in his father’s clubs The two families were headed for a showdown, one that would happen in a courtroom.

At first, Logan Ramsay isn’t sure if anything’s different. He just feels a bit sharper. Better able to concentrate. Better at multitasking. Reading a bit faster, memorizing better, needing less sleep

But, before long, he can’t deny it: something’s happening to his brain To his body He’s starting to see the world, and those around him, even those he loves most, in whole new ways

The truth is Ramsay’s genome has been hacked And there’s a reason he’s been targeted for this upgrade. A reason that goes back decades to the darkest part of his past, and a horrific family legacy.

Worse still, what’s happening to him is just the first step in a much larger plan, one to inflict the same changes on humanity at large, and at a terrifying cost

Because of what Ramsay’s becoming, he’s the one person in the world capable of stopping what’s been set in motion But to have a chance at winning this war, he’ll have to become something other than himself.

Iris

Fiona Kelly McGregor Picador Australia, $34.99

Who is Iris Webber? A thief, a fighter, a wife, a lover. A scammer, a schemer, a friend . A musician, a worker, a big-hearted fool. A woman who has prevailed against the toughest gangsters of the day, defying police time and time again, yet is now trapped in a prison cell Guilty or innocent?

Rollicking through the underbelly of 1930s sly-grog Sydney, Iris is based on actual events and set in an era of cataclysmic change It is the fascinating tale of a woman who couldn’t be held back

Fast X

May 18

Livid

Chief medical examiner Kay Scarpetta is the reluctant star witness in a sensational murder trial when she receives shocking news. The judge’s sister has been found dead.

At first glance, it appears to be a home invasion, but why was nothing stolen, and why is the garden strewn with dead plants and insects?

Although there is no apparent cause of death, Scarpetta recognizes tell-tale signs of the unthinkable, and she knows the worst is yet to come

The forensic pathologist finds herself pitted against a powerful force that returns her to the past, and her time to catch the killer is running out

Fast X is the upcoming American action film directed by Louis Leterrier and written by Justin Lin and Dan Mazeau

It is the sequel to F9, serving as the 10th main instalment and the 11th overall instalment in the Fast & Furious film series Dominic Toretto and his crew must seek help in their fight against Cipher when she recruits Dante, a mysterious new adversary. Cast: Vin Diesel (Dominic Toretto), Jason Momoa (Dante), Brie Larson (Tess), Helen Mirren (Queenie), Charlize Theron (Cipher), Michelle Rodriguez (Letty Ortiz), Tyrese Gibson (Roman), Scott Eastwood (Little Nobody)

John Wick: Chapter 4

March 23

John Wick takes on his most lethal adversaries yet in the upcoming fourth instalment of the series.

With the price on his head ever increasing, Wick takes his fight against the High Table global as he seeks out the most powerful players in the underworld, from New York to Paris to Osaka to Berlin

Before he can earn his freedom, he must face off against a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe and forces that turn old friends into foes

Cast: Keanu Reeves (John Wick), Ian McShane (Winston), Laurence Fishburne (Bowery King), Lance Reddick (Charon), Bill Skarsgård (Marquis), Donnie Yen (Caine).

Creed III

March 2

After dominating the boxing world, Adonis Creed has been thriving in both his career and family life . When a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy, Damian, resurfaces after serving a long sentence in prison, he is eager to prove that he deserves his shot in the ring

The face-off between former friends is more than just a fight To settle the score, Adonis must put his future on the line to battle Damian – a fighter who has nothing to lose

Cast: Anthony Bellew (“Pretty” Ricky Conlan), Florian Munteanu (Viktor Drago), Jonathan Majors (Damian Anderson), Michael B Jordan (Adonis Creed), Phylicia Rashad (Mary Anne Creed), Tessa Thompson (Bianca), Wood Harris (Tony “Little Duke” Burton).