Frontier Series
in
Chronological Order


 
   

Cry of the Curlew
Squatter Donald Macintosh little realises what chain of events he is setting in motion when he orders the violent dispersal of the Nerambura tribe on his property, Glen View. Unwitting witnesses to the barbaric exercise are bullock teamsters Patrick Duffy and his son Tom.

" a rousing and revealing yarn"
WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN

   

Shadow of the Osprey
It is a time of sudden wealth for a fortunate few who grub gold from the Palmer River in the harsh and unforgiving Queensland Outback. A land, where the fierce Aboriginal warriors resist the invaders in a bloody guerilla war, waged on the northern frontier of colonial Queensland.

"the home grown version of Wilbur Smith"
THE SUNDAY AGE

   

Flight of the Eagle
A deadly Family curse holds two families in its powerful grip.

Captain Patrick Duffy's passions are inflamed by the mysterious Irishwoman Catherine Fitzgerald, further pitting him against his father, Michael Duffy, and his adoring but scheming grandmother, Lady Eind Macintosh.

On the rugged Queensland frontier, Native Mounted Police trooper Peter Duffy is torn between his loyal bond with Gordon James, the love of his sister, Sarah, and the blood of his mother's people, the Nerambura tribe.

Two men, the women who love them and a dreadful curse that still inextricably links the lives of the Macintoshes and the Duffys culminate in a stunning addition to the series featuring Cry of the Curlew and Shadow of the Osprey.

"the historical detail brings the ... 19th century to rip-roaring life"
THE AUSTRALIAN


   

To Chase the Storm
When Major Patrick Duffy's beautiful wife Catherine leaves him for another, he is propelled out of the Sydney Macintosh home and into yet another bloody war. However the battlefields of Africa, fighting the Boers, bring him in contact with one he thought long dead and lost to him.
Back in Australia, the mysterious Michael O'Flynn mentors Patrick's youngest son, Alex, and takes him on a journey to the Queensland property, Glen View. But will the terrible curse that has inextricably linked the Duffys and Macintoshes for generations ensure that no true happiness can ever come to them.
Through the dawn of a new century in a now federated nation, TO CHASE A STORM charts an explosive tale of love and loss, from South Africa to Palestine, from Townsville to the green hills of Ireland.

"... good story telling backed up by strong research and knowledge of the country"
COURIER MAIL


   

To Touch the Clouds
'They had all forgotten the curse … except one ... until it touched them. I will tell you of those times when the whitefella touched the clouds and lightning came down on the earth for many years.’

In 1914, the storm clouds of war are gathering. Matthew Duffy and his cousin Alexander Macintosh are sent by Colonel Patrick Duffy to conduct reconnaissance in German-controlled New Guinea. At the same time, Alexander's sister, Fenella, is making a name for herself in the burgeoning Australian film industry.

But someone close to them has an agenda of his own - someone who would betray not only his family but his country to satisfy his greed and lust for power. As the world teeters on the brink of conflict, one family is plunged into a nightmare of murder, drugs, treachery and treason.

To Touch the Clouds is a powerful continuation of Peter Watt's much-loved saga of the Duffy and Macintosh clan, begun in The Cry of the Curlew.

'The home-grown version of Wilbur Smith' -
HERALD SUN

   


 

To Ride the Wind
It is 1916, and war rages across Europe and the Middle East. Patrick and Matthew Duffy are both fighting the enemy. Patrick in the fields of France and Matthew in the skies above Egypt.

But there is another, secret foe, George Macintosh is passing information to the Germans, seeking to consolidate his power within the family company. And half a world away from the trenches, one of their own will meet a shocking death.

Meanwhile, a young man is haunted by dreams of a sacred cave, and seeks fiery stars that will help him take back his people's land.

To Ride the Wind continues the story of the Duffy and Macintoshes, following Peter Watt's much-loved characters as they fight to survive one of the most devastating conflicts in history - and each other.

   

Beyond the Horizon
It is 1918, a year when the War will end, but an even greater killer will arise.

On the bloody fields of the Western Front and the battle scarred desert plains of the Middle East, Tom and Matthew Duffy are facing the enemy. Even as they are trapped on the front lines, they must also find the courage to fight for the women they love when all hope is lost.

Back in Australia, George Macintosh is outraged by the stipulations of his father's will that provide for his despised nephew, and is determined to eliminate any threats to his power. And in a sacred cave in the far Outback, old Wallarie foresees a tide of unspeakable death sweeping through his homeland.

As all nations come to terms with the devastating consequences of the Great War, a new world will be born. But not everyone will live to see it.

Beyond the Horizon continues the much-loved saga of the Duffys and Macintoshes, told with Peter Watt's trademark mastery of grand scope, family drama and enthralling adventure.

'good story telling backed up by strong research and knowledge of the country' COURIER MAIL

'excellent "faction" books' HERALD SUN

   

War Clouds Gather
Against the backdrop of impending war and the rise of the Nazi Party, the epic saga of the Macintosh and Duffy families continues.

It's 1936. While Europe is starting to feel the shadow of the upcoming turmoil, George Macintosh is determined to keep control of his business empire. he takes extreme measures to prevent his nephew David from taking a seat on the board.

In Iraq, Captain Matthew Duffy, recruited by British Intelligence, once more faces a German enemy, although this one has a more pleasing aspect. Matthew is confused by his attraction to Diane and finds himself having to make a hard decision. And just as he is coming to terms with this choice, he meets his estranged son, James Barrington Jnr.

In the middle of all this upheaval, the two families experience loss, love, greatness and tragedy, and find themselves brought closer together and pulled further apart. Romance blooms in the unlikeliest of hearts under the gathering of clouds of wars.

   

And Fire Falls
It is 1942 and the war in the Pacific is in Australia's doorstep, changing the lives of the Duffy and Macintosh families as never before.

In Sydney, siblings Donald and Sarah Macintosh battle for their father's approval, and control of his empire, while their cousin David fights the enemy across the continents.

US Marine Pilot James Duffy defies his grandfather's wishes, and, a number of times, death, protecting Australian skies from the Japanese. Trapped in the jungles of Malaya, Diane Duffy is caught between saving the lives of hundreds of orphaned children, or that of her son.

While Tom Duffy finds himself enlisting in yet another world war, his daughter Jessica narrowly escapes slaughter at a mission station, causing her to revoke her vows and follow in her father's footsteps.

Nearly a century after an Aboriginal curse forever tied these two families together, and amidst the most devastating conflict in history, the Duffys and Macintoshes will find a way to endure... and perhaps even thrive.

   

Beneath a Rising Sun
As the Allied forces fight to repel invaders in the Pacific, the Duffy and Macintosh clans face their greatest challenges at home.
Sergeant Jessica Duffy relishes her work as a code breaker in MacArthur’s headquarters but is also secretly reporting on the Americans to the Prime Minister. When she uncovers treason at the highest levels, neither duty nor dishonour will stop her getting justice.
Captain James Duffy, a decorated fighter pilot with the United States Marine Corps, is expected to wait out the war assisting the bond effort, helping to make movies that gloss over the tragic realities of combat. Despite his scars, he is desperate to return to the cockpit ... until a chance meeting gives him something new to fight for.
Major David Macintosh has survived prison camps, torture and countless battles, but can he endure the machinations of his obsessive cousin, Sarah? Sarah is prepared to do anything to take over the family companies, and will destroy anyone who gets in her way.
From the frontlines of the Pacific to the back lots of Hollywood, a new generation faces deadly missions, impossible choices and an inescapable family legacy.

 

While the Moon Burns
In the war across the seas, the Duffys and the McIntoshes are on the same side. But on home turf, the battle between these two dynasties rages on.

After fighting in two world wars, Tom Duffy's purchase of his ancestral property, Glen View, means a home for the next generation of Duffys. But the Mcintosh family won't easily surrender this land, and when they challenge his ownership he knows he's in for one hell of a fight.

Meanwhile in Sydney, Sarah has taken over from her father as the head of the Mcintosh firm. She has big plans for herself and the family business, and isn't afraid to play dirty.

Sergeant Jessica Duffy, Captain James Duffy and Major David Mcintosh have survived countless battles the world over, but will all they are fighting for still be waiting for them when they return home...

 

From the Stars Above
For a hundred years they have never forgiven, never forgotten.
Now, the war between the Duffy and Macintosh Dynasties will be brought to a stunning conclusion.

Private Patrick Duffy was forcds to flee Malaya as a child, and left orphaned when his mother died in Changi prison.
Now returning to fight a fearless enemy, he must confront the ghost of his past if he is to find any hope for the future.

Michael Macintosh is forging his own path to escape his mother's obsessive control. Sailor, soldier and mercenary, he will soon face war again, in the brutal jungles of Vietnam.

Sarah Macintosh ruthlessly crushes anyone who gets in here way, and has vowed to destroy her sister-in-law, Jessica
Duffy-Macintosh. Fixated on her own legacy, she has ignored her family's inheritance - a century - old curse, to be paid in blood.

"Watt once again blends his multi-character saga with key moments of history. Fast-paced and exciting, this is a fine piece of Australian fiction."
Canberra Weekly on While the Moon Burns.

 


 

The Queen's Colonial
Sometimes the fate to which you are destined is not your own.......

1845, a village outside Sydney Town. Humble blacksmith Ian Steele struggles to support his frail and widowed mother. All the while he dreams of a life in uniform, serving in Queen Victoria's Army.

When the two men cross paths in the colony of New South Wales, they are struck by their brotherly resemblance and quickly hatch a plan for Ian to take Samuel's place in the British army.

Ian must travel to England, fool the treacherous Forbes family and accept a commission into their regiment as a company commander.
Once in London, he finds love with an enigmatic woman, but must part with her to face battle in the bloody Crimean war.

In this first installment of Peter Watt's new series, Captain Ian Steele stares down the relentless Russian Military....but he will soon learn there are even deadlier ememies close to home




 

Peter Watt brings to the fore all the passion, adventure and white-knuckle battle scenes that made his beloved Duffy and Macintosh novels so popular.

The Queen's Tiger
It is I857. Colonial India is a simmering volcano of nationalism about to erupt. Army surgeon Peter Campbell and his wife Alice, in India on their honeymoon, have no idea that they are about to be
swept up in the chaos.

Ian Steele, known to all as Captain Samuel Forbes, is fighting for Queen and country in Persia. A world away, the real Samuel Forbes is planning to return to London - with potentially disastrous consequences for Samuel and Ian both.

Then Ian is posted to India, but not before a brief return to England and a reunion with the woman he loves. In India he renews his friendship with Peter Campbell, and discovers that Alice has taken on a most unlikely role. Together they face the enemy and the terrible deprivations and savagery of war - but then Ian receives news from London that crushes all his hopes...


'Watt once again takes the reader on a terrific character-driven adventure'
CANBERRA WEEKLY

 

The Queen's Captain
In October 1863, Ian Steele, having taken on the identity of Captain Samuel Forbes, is fighting the Pashtun on the north-west frontier in India. Half a world away, the real Samuel Forbes is a Lieutenant in the 3rd New York
Volunteers and is facing the Confederates at the Battle of Mission Ridge in Tennessee. Neither is aware their lives will change beyond recognition in the year to come.

In London, Ella, the love of Ian's life, is unhappily married to Count Nikolai Kasatkin. As their relationship sours further, she tries to reclaim the son she and Ian share, but Nikolai makes a move that sees the boy sent far from Ella's reach.

As 1864 dawns, Ian is posted to the battlefields of the Waikato in New Zealand, where he comes face to face with an old nemesis. As the ten-year agreement between Steele and Forbes nears its end, their foe is desperate to catch them out and cruel all their hopes for the future...


   

The Colonial's Son
As the son of 'the Colonial', legendary Queen's Captain Ian Steele, Josiah Steele has big shoes to fill. Although his home in the colony of New South Wales is a world away, he dreams of one day travelling to England so he can study to be a commissioned officer in the Scottish Regiment.

After cutting his teeth in business on the rough and ready goldfields of Far North Queensland's Palmer River, he finally realises his dream and travels to England, where he is accepted into the Sandhurst military academy. While in London he makes surprising new acquaintances - and runs into a few old ones he'd rather have left behind.

From the Australian bush to the glittering palaces of London, from the arid lands of Afghanistan to the newly established Germany dominated by Prussian ideas of militarism, Josiah Steele rnust now forge his own path.

'Australia's master of the historical fiction novel'
CANBERRA WEEKLY

   
 

Call of Empire
It is 1885. After a decade spent fighting for Queen and Country across the globe, Colonel Ian Steele is enjoying the quiet life in the colony of New South Wales, reunited with his friend Conan Curry and watching over his children and numerous business enterprises.
But the British Empire's pursuits are ceaseless, and when the colony's soldiers are required to assist a campaign in Sudan, North Africa, Ian's son Lieutenant Josiah Steele heeds the call, despite an ultimatum from the love of his life, Marian.
Meanwhile, Ian's younger son Samuel is learning the family business in the Pacific islands with his friend and colleague Ling Lee. However, Lee has become embroiled in a scheme to smuggle guns for the Chinese, which sees the pair sailing directly into danger in Singapore.
As the reign of Queen Victoria draws to a close and new battles loom on several frontiers, the Steele family must face loss and heartbreak like never before...

'An adventure reader's delight'
CENTRAL WESTERN DAILY

   

New Release: It's 1914, and the storm clouds of war are building on the horizon.

In Sydney, Josiah Steele is the new head of the family and grappling with his two very different sons - David, upstanding, decent and hier of the family enterprises; and Benjamin, wayward, restles and a magnet for trouble. To give Ben some responsibility, Josiah sends him on a trade mission straight into the territory of their soon-to-be enemy.

As war erupts across Europe, its repercussions are felt in the Pacific.
Ben and David find themselves caught up in the first Australain action of World War 1 - the fight to take possession of German New Guinea.

But that ia only the start. The brothers will see desperste action across Egypt, Palestine and the terrible killing fields of the Western Front, where years of war, mud and bloody battlegrounds will forever change the Steele family.

Praise for Peter Watt

" One of Australia's best historical fiction authors"
CANBERRA WEEKLY

"An adventure reader's delight....I was bresthless as I read"
CENTRAL WESTERN DAILY

 

 

Papua Trilogy

Papua
Two men, sworn enemies, come face to face on the battlefields of France. When Jack Kelly, a captain in the Australian army, shows compassion towards his prisoners Paul Mann, a brave and high-ranking German officer, an unexpected bond is formed. But neither could imagine how their pasts and futures would become inextricably linked by one place.

" the home grown version of Wilbur Smith"
THE SUNDAY AGE



   

Eden
Jack Kelly and Paul Mann have survived one world war - will they survive another? When the Japanese threaten to invade the Pacific the two men know they must do everything in their power to protect their country and their loved ones from an ambitious and merciless enemy.
Lukas Kelley and Karl Mann are like brothers - just like their fathers - and both are determined to do their part for the Australian cause. While Karl works undercover in espionage, Lukas trains to be a pilot. The two men have also inherited their father's passionate natures, and romantic entanglements raise the stakes even further.
Four men. with ties closer than blood, fight to hold on to love, and a world that is gradually disappearing. When the war finally explodes terrible tragedies, courageous deeds and enduring friendships will change their lives forever.
A new war, a new generation and an old enemy meet in this trilling and poignant sequel to PAPUA.

" Watt's fans love his work for its history, adventure and story telling"
BRISBANE NEWS


   

The Pacific
As a war correspondent covering the second world war, Ilas Stahl isn't afraid to be on the front line. But when her plane goes down in a terrible storm over Papuan waters and she is taken prisoner by the Japanese, she has every reason to be terrified. Particularly as they plan to hand her over to the Nazis.
When Jack kelly discovers that his only daughter has fallen into the clutches of the enemy, he will stop at nothing to save her. Even if it means means risking the life of his only son, Lukas. No one knows Papua they way they do; they may be Ilas's only hope but time is running out.
Meanwhile, Major Karl Mann is sent on a secret mission to Indochina that will see him embroiled in Ilas's rescue mission in ways he could never have imagined.
This sweeping saga continues the story of the Kellys and Manns, following Peter Watt's much loved characters as they fight to survive one of the most devastating conflicts in history - the war at Australia's doorstep.

"Peter Watt is a home-grown version of Wilbur Smith"
SUNDAY AGE

 

Other Books
   

The Silent Frontier
Siblings Lachlan, John and Phoebe MacDonald are tragically separated after the massacre at the Ballarat goldfields.
John is determined to find his lost brother and sister, and works hard to make his way in the world. A business partnership leads to riches and rewards that he never dreamed of.
Lachlan's life are bare knuckle fighting and destitution cannot prepare him for the war he finds himself fighting against Maori of New Zealand, nor the feelings he has for his commanding officer's sister...

"from the opening line to its final paragraph Peter Watt's talent offering is a captivating book"
COURIER MAIL



The Stone Dragon
Why has Tung Chi, a wise man in the service of the Chinese emperor, been sent to Australain colony of Queensland on a secret mission?
This mystery ensnares local businessman John Wong, whjo fears for his daughter, living acorss thr world in Pekin at a time when a revolutionary force known as the Boxers is on the rise. Together Tung and John, with his son, Andrew, embark on a dangerous journey that will lead them into a conflict in which everything is at stake, but allegiances uncertain. It is the dawn of the twentieth century and the sleeping dragon of China is awakening...

"the Boxer Rebellion is an unusual setting for an Aussie story, and it opens the door to an interesting and little appreciated part of history, which still reverberates today"
SUN-HERALD

"Australia' answer to Wilbur Smith"
HERLAD SUN


   

The Frozen Circle (November 2008)
In 1918, after the Great War, two Australian soldiers join the British army to help fight the Bolshevik forces in northern Russia. Almost a century later, two bodies are unearthed in the small Australian country town of Valley View.
Following the Armistice, Sergeant Joshua Larkin is sent on a special mission deep into enemy territory in Russia. But when he is ordered to do the unthinkable, he must flee across Europe in order to protect a young woman, Maria, whose family has been executed. With Maria’s life under threat from all sides due to her imperial connections, nowhere is safe.
Decades later, the discovery of the two skeletons in Valley View poses problems for local policeman Morgan McLean. Who are the victims and why were they killed? Could the rumours of an heir to the Russian throne be true? And what explosive secret is Britain’s MI6 desperate to keep hidden by any means necessary?
Past and present collide in The Frozen Circle, and the fate of two people unleashes a volatile series of events that could reshape the world.

Praise for Peter Watt’s The Stone Dragon:

‘A good adventure yarn by a knockabout Aussie ex-cop’
SUN-HERALD

‘Australia’s answer to Wilbur Smith’
HERLAD SUN