TIGER: A Literary Thriller About Extinction, Secrecy, and What Was Never Meant to Be Found

TIGER

The Tasmanian tiger was declared extinct in 1986.
The decision was accepted.
The file was closed.

Andrew Brown’s job is to keep it that way.

A mid-career environmental compliance officer for the Commonwealth, Andrew is sent to Tasmania to finalise what should be a routine review in a World Heritage area. The paperwork is clean. The conclusions align. State and federal agencies are satisfied that nothing remains unresolved.

But closure isn’t the same as resolution.

As Andrew lingers in the south of the island, he begins to hear fragments of stories that never made it onto paper—accounts shared obliquely, without names or dates, in logging towns that endure outsiders rather than welcome them. A night run. A burn pile. Instructions given quietly, after extinction had already been declared.

On the West Coast, where people are either born—or go to disappear—Andrew learns that extinction wasn’t an event. It was a condition. A designation that simplified future decisions, removed inconvenient protections, and made certain kinds of ground easier to work.

Following the trail inland, Andrew encounters sealed places, managed silences, and people who understand that truth isn’t suppressed so much as rendered inert. The question stops being whether the thylacine survived past its official end.

The real question is why certainty was required so urgently—and what was done to ensure it.

Because some things don’t vanish when they’re declared gone.
They’re simply managed.

And the land remembers what the records were never meant to hold.

Perfect for readers who enjoy

• grounded literary thrillers

• environmental and political suspense

• stories about secrecy, erasure, and institutional truth

• Australian settings rendered with precision and restraint

TIGER © 2026 by M.D Mason
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise — without the prior written permission of the copyright holder, except for brief quotations used in reviews or scholarly works.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organisations, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

This novel contains mature themes and is intended for an adult audience.

Artificial Intelligence Disclosure
Artificial intelligence tools were used in a supporting role during the creation of this book. The author directed all creative choices and maintains full responsibility for the final work.