Ashley Kalagian Blunt

Once you’re online, there’s nowhere to hide Is it paranoia – or is someone watching? For years, Reagan Carsen has kept her life offline. No socials. No internet presence. No photos. Safe. Until the day she stumbles on a shocking murder in a Sydney laneway. The victim looks just like her. Coincidence? As more murders shake the city and she’s increasingly drawn out from hiding, Reagan is forced to confront her greatest fear. She’s been found. A riveting psychological thriller drawn from true events, Dark Mode delves into the terrifying reality of the dark web, and the price we pay for surrendering our privacy one click at a time. PRAISE for Dark Mode ‘Thrilling and twisty – get ready to be paranoid’ – J.P. Pomare, author of The Wrong Woman ‘Absolutely terrifying! I turned every page with my heart in my mouth, utterly hooked by this explosive thriller. Ashley Kalagian Blunt taps into the dangers we face online every day and the monsters in our midst. Dark Mode is a powerful and disturbing story which will keep you thinking long after you’ve finished reading.’ – Petronella McGovern, author of The Liars ‘With Dark Mode, Ashley Kalagian Blunt has turned her love of true crime and passion for suspense fiction into a fierce wake-up call of a thriller, one that looks unflinchingly at the horrors of the dark web and sheds light on the unimaginable. Riveting, tense and supremely chilling, this is an eye-opening must-read for crime fiction fans everywhere.’ – Anna Downes, author of The Shadow House ‘Wow. Page turning, chilling dread that kept me guessing until the end. Ashley Kalagian Blunt hits it out of the park, creating a dark world where your worst fears aren't the worst thing to fear – not even close.’ – R.W.R McDonald, author of Nancy Business ‘Dark Mode’s greatest achievement is that, as the pieces fall into place, it’s not just Reagan Carsen’s world that’s turned upside down – it’s ours. Its stunning payoff doesn’t just reverberate through the pages, but beyond the book and into the world at large, where its implications are of urgent significance … there are some realities most of us would sooner pretend are impossible than acknowledge are already here. Kalagian Blunt forces our gazes upon them in this compulsive and breathless thriller.’ – James McKenzie Watson, author of Denizen ‘Dark and twisty, this thrilling offering from Ashley Kalagian Blunt is absolutely not to be missed. This book will keep you up at night’ – Hayley Scrivenor, author of Dirt Town ‘If you think that what happens on the dark web will never affect you, this book begs the question: are you sure about that? Like, sure-sure? A twisty, terrifying thriller, Dark Mode will have you buying a flip phone and moving off the grid the second you turn the final page, just so you can breathe again. I loved it.’ – Pip Drysdale, author of The Next Girl ‘A chilling and utterly gripping read that shines a light on misogyny and toxicity thriving in plain sight and its devastating consequences for women. Ashley Kalagian Blunt plunges the reader into the darkest corners of the internet and it could not be more terrifying! A superb thriller that will keep you riveted to the page and dial up your tech anxieties to eleven.’ – Dinuka McKenzie, author of The Torrent 'Masterfully crafted and addictive, Dark Mode will keep you on edge to the last page. It will also make you think deeply about the world we’re living in now. This brilliant exploration of the increasing, and terrifying, merging of our online and physical lives shows Ashley Kalagian Blunt at the height of her artistic powers. I gulped this book down! And I know I’ll be thinking about it, and the perverse reality it reveals, for a long long time. This is an outstanding debut novel. – Lee Kofman, author of The Writer Laid Bare

Dark Mode

LoveReading Book of the Month April 2023 'Drawn from real life cases, this brilliantly twisty thriller exposes the grimmest recesses of the dark web through a disturbing story of murder, misogyny and sickening surveillance.' – LoveReading 'Riveting, tense and supremely chilling, this is an eye-opening must-read for crime fiction fans everywhere.' – Anna Downes, author of The Safe Place Once you’re online, there’s nowhere to hide. A riveting psychological thriller drawn from true events, Dark Mode delves into the terrifying reality of the dark web, and the price we pay for surrendering our privacy one click at a time. Is it paranoia – or is someone watching? For years, Reagan Carsen has kept her life offline. No socials. No internet presence. No photos. Safe. Until the day she stumbles on a shocking murder in a Sydney laneway. The victim looks just like her. Coincidence? As more murders shake the city and she’s increasingly drawn out from hiding, Reagan is forced to confront her greatest fear. She’s been found.

Cold Truth 

'there's a chilling authenticity to Like, Follow, Die' --Claudia Karvan Corinne Gray's life is falling apart. When homicide detective Kyle Nazarian unexpectedly knocks on her door on a rainy morning, she knows why. He wants to talk about her son, Ben. An average teen in Sydney's eastern suburbs, Ben is dating his first girlfriend and trying to find an after-school job. But as his luck sours, he's increasingly drawn into shadowy corners of the internet. This is Corinne's chance to finally explain how her sweet-natured child, who loved history and dreamed of swimming for Olympic gold, grew up to do the unthinkable. What really happened to Ben? And could anyone have prevented it? Kyle, meanwhile, is grappling with his own crisis both at home and at work. Torn between his duties and a growing sympathy for Corinne, Kyle must decide how far he's willing to go in his pursuit of justice. For fans of Lisa Jewell's None of This Is True and Netflix's Adolescence, this shattering and provocative psychological thriller dives into the darkest corners of the internet and the powerful bonds between parents and children. PRAISE FOR LIKE FOLLOW DIE: 'Deeply empathetic and profoundly unsettling, this is contemporary crime fiction at its finest' - Dinuka McKenzie PRAISE FOR ASHLEY KALAGIAN BLUNT: 'Kalagian Blunt has established herself as the master of terrifying, addictive thrillers that will leave you questioning your own safety.' - Shankari Chandran, author of Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens and Unfinished Business 'Ashley Kalagian Blunt just keeps on getting better and better.' - Ali Lowe, author of The School Run and The Running Club 'Australia's queen of tech noir.'- Anna Downes, author of The Safe Place and Red River Road

Die Like, Follow

On 17 December 1980, at 9:47 am, two men shot the Turkish consul-general to Sydney and his bodyguard near the consul's home in Vaucluse. The assassins aimed, fired, and vanished. My Name Is Revenge by Australian-Armenian author Ashley Kalagian Blunt is a novella set in 1980s Sydney and based on true events. Accompanied by essays.

A Novella and Collected Essays

My Name Is Revenge

When Ashley persuades her new husband Steve to leave snowy Canada and join her for a year Down Under, she looks forward to an easy transition. After all, Australia’s just Canada with more sunshine and strange animals, right? But they soon discover things aren’t so simple. Steve struggles to settle and Ashley fears he will come to regret both the move and the marriage – especially after she loses her wedding rings on Bondi Beach. Baffled, homesick and increasingly anxious (in a land renowned for ‘no worries’), she is preparing to return to Canada when Steve shockingly announces that he wants to stay in Australia. Forever. For the sake of her marriage and her happiness, Ashley must find an Australia she can belong to: she decides to travel the country, learn its history, decode its cultural quirks and connect with as many residents as she can meet. How to Be Australian is a remarkable memoir, at once familiar and faraway, that shines a fresh, funny and fascinating light onto the country we think we know.

Ashley Kalagian Blunt

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