In 2004 his first YA novel The Running Man was published to great acclaim. It subsequently won the 2005 Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year for Older Readers and was short-listed for the NSW, Victoria and South Australian State Premiers' Literary awards.
In 2008 the German translation of The Running Man was short-listed for the German Youth Literature Prize and subsequently won the German Catholic Children's and Young People's Book Prize. In 2009 the Italian translation of The Running Man was a finalists for the "Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Cento" Prize.