The Ghost Train and the Scarlet Moon

Like to learn more about Jack Roney? Visit his Hawkeye author page here or his website here.

'There is strong urban geography throughout, and I am sure teenage readers and speculative fiction fans would happily discuss conflicting emotions and plot nuances. Roney’s tweaks and turnarounds are clever and I went back once to see how the past fitted in with the present. The final twist is unexpected! Written in four parts with chapter illustrations, The Ghost Train and the Scarlet Moon is a vividly realised adventure story which invokes a strong sense of friendship, keeping an open mind, and never giving up.' Gretchen Bernet-Ward, Reviewer

'Inspired by true events, Roney’s elastic time-hop and coming-of-age tale whisks us along a rugged, eucalypt-lined track. The Ghost Train and the Scarlet Moon is a page-turner pulsing with the power of collective memory and endless possibility. Long after we step from the ride, the whistle of this ghost train will resound.' L. E. Daniels, Author of 'Serpent’s Wake: A Tale for the Bitten'

'I met Jack Roney at a literary function in 2021. As a result, he came to several of my Creative Writing classes. Jack gave me final the final draft of his (then) unpublished novel The Ghost Train and the Scarlet Moon to read. I had no idea of what to expect but once I started (one Saturday) I read all day and continued into the Sunday following. No lie, I did not put the manuscript down. Although I am an internationally published and awarded novelist and Professor Emeritus (Creative Writing) at the University of the Sunshine Coast, I have taught High School for 20 years in an earlier career. I can assure all teachers that Jack’s novel, now published by Hawkeye in Brisbane, would be a surefire hit among High School Students — especially young men — for whom there is a massive dearth of well-written and engaging Young Adult novels related to adventure and mystery of particular appeal to boys. When three boys pass through a wormhole into the past, their future lives are forever written in an unforeseeable future. Impossible to put down, this novel is an express train into the inexplicable space of ‘what-if?’ and ‘could-it-be?'.' Gary Crew, International Bestselling Author and 4-time recipient of the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year award

‘A beautiful tale of friends separated across time, the lives they left behind and the new ones they’ve built. Roney has crafted a mystery thriller with doses of science fiction, but kept at its core a deeply moving drama of three boys struggling to find each other across the years that now separate them.’ Bryn Smith, Author of 'Magnus Nights: The Helios Incident'

‘Speculative fiction that helps keep alive the memory of Queensland’s worst train crash. Historical facts have been woven into an intriguing story with a distinct local flavour. Well worth a read!’ Harry Colfer, Author of 'Dead Regular’

‘It is very rare for me to read a book that makes me cry; this is the third book I’ve ever read to evoke that response. That alone conveys how many areas this story covers. It not only includes, but does exceptionally well in exploring, adventure, loss, emotion, love, and friendship. It also made me laugh; properly laugh, at the antics of the young boys. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone remotely interested in stories based around friendship, history, science fiction, Australiana or adventure.’ Meesha Whittam, Reviewer

For more The Ghost Train and the Scarlet Moon reviews, visit Goodreads.