Thriller
The Thriller is a broad genre which often overlaps with other genres. They are often defined by the mood the elicit, providing heightened feelings of anticipation, suspense, suprise and anxiety along with a general feeling of excitment.
Thrillers will try and keep the reader on the "edge of their seat", literary devices such as cliff-hangers, plot twists and red herrings are commonly used with the story generally building to a big climax.
Books Reviewed
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![Lost in TimeA G Riddle]()
Science FictionTime travel is fascinating, it is also some of the most fictional science fiction you will ever get. What has happened must have happened, lest you rip apart your universe in a paradox. The scientists in A. G. Riddle’s Lost in Time seem to have found a workaround as they send the worst criminals int...
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![Quantum RadioA G Riddle]()
Science FictionI do not like to think too much about the Large Hadron Collider, I let better minds than mine consider hurtling atoms at each other at considerable speed to access some sort of God particle. I get nervous enough around the toaster. Other things go on at CERN too, the invention of the internet for on...
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![Antartica StationA G Riddle]()
Science FictionWhat is your plan for when the apocalypse comes? One of the best things about reading speculative fiction is that you get loads of clever ideas on exactly what to do should a meteor plummet to Earth or the undead rise from their graves. The truth is that your plan is to curl up and inevitably succum...
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![Space BroomsA G Rodriguez]()
Science FictionThere is more than one tradition in science fiction. You can have your epic space battles, but here in Blighty we have the tradition of an every person getting wrapped up in something far above their pay grade. Arthur Dent had his towel, and Johnny Gomez has his mop and bucket. It can’t just be spac...
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![The Briar Book of the DeadA G Slatter]()
FantasyI have read a lot of magical books in recent years and the genre is not rigid. There are books that are steeped in magic, the reader unsure what is real and what is fake. Other books like A. G. Slatter’s The Briar Book of the Dead have a sense of magical realism to them. Yes, the witches can curse p...
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![Kill Me GoodbyeA K Reynolds]()
General FictionThere is an internet meme of Will Ferrel playing a dishevelled looking Anchorman and stating, “well that escalated quickly.” I have read many crime thrillers in my time, and they often pick up pace and rattle along, but none have taken this meme to heart as much as A K Reynolds’ Kill Me Goodbye , i...
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![EsperanceAdam Oyebanji]()
Science FictionWhat would you do if you had technology that no one else in the world had. Would you use it to better your life, make some money? Perhaps you would share it with others to develop society as a whole? Or maybe you would use it for revenge. A series of impossible murders is stumping Detective Ethan Kr...
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![Police at the Station and They Don't Look FriendlyAdrian McKinty]()
General FictionThere are times in history that don’t seem very funny and if you lived through them you would find it hard to laugh. The 1970/80s in Northern Ireland may just be one such era as sectarian violence means that you are always wary of your surroundings. This is exemplified for Detective Inspector Sean D...
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![Bear HeadAdrian Tchaikovsky]()
Science FictionWhen we colonise the planets will they send out the best and the brightest? I’m not so sure as many of the best and the brightest will be quite happy on Earth leading a succes sful life. Converting the likes of Mars into a liveable environment will be dirty, cold and dangerous work. It is more l...
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![A Sea of Unspoken ThingsAdrienne Young]()
FantasyI have not lived in the village I grew up in over twenty years, but I still talk about going home when I am visiting. Where I live now has been my home for longer, but there is something about those formative years that make a place always feel like home. I return to see family, but for some people,...
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![The DetectiveAjay Chowdhury]()
General FictionIt is never nice to be the new person at work, getting to know your new workmates and the procedures, whilst trying to look like you know what you are doing. It is even harder if you are joining the police with a reputation and the support of upper management. You will have to add to petty jealousie...
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![World Running DownAl Hess]()
Science FictionIf Science Fiction is to be believed the only bright thing about the future will be the burning rays of the sun beaming down to burn our skin. The futures grim, the futures dystopian. However, sci fi also tells us that humans will do what it takes to survive. Despite inescapable heat and roving band...
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![The Night ShipAlex Woodroe]()
HorrorOne of the wonderful things about genre fiction is that an author does not have to explain what is going on if they do not want to. Science Fiction often goes into great detail trying to explain the science, but sometimes it just happens to be set on a remote alien planet – deal with it. In Alex Woo...
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![The Mask of FearAlexander Freed]()
Science FictionThe reason that I enjoy the Star Wars Universe so much is that it vast and can be explored in new and interesting ways. The Skywalker stories will always be there, but there are shady towns and abandoned Sith temples spotted all over the Universe. You can follow an eccentric archaeologist hunting fo...
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![The Glass WomanAlice Mcilroy]()
Science FictionIt can feel at times like the entire world is out to get you, but who is the person you must watch out for the most? Your family, spouse, work colleagues? Nope, the biggest saboteur is often yourself. Your own thoughts and deeds coming back to haunt you. Iris Henderson has it worse than most as she...
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![SmothermossAlisa Alering]()
FantasyThere is a long tradition of Folk Horror in the UK, but plenty of other countries bring their own flavour to the genre. American Gothic has all the trappings of classic Folk Horror, but has that distinct US flavour. The woods out there seem different, ancient landscapes unused to the people that roc...
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![All the White SpacesAlly Wilkes]()
HorrorThere are places on the planet that are scary enough on their own. You would never find me plunging the depth of the deepest oceans or spending the night in an abandoned greenhouse somewhere in a wild forest. There are dangers aplenty without any monsters, ghoulies or manifestations. Add to this lis...
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![FiendAlma Katsu]()
HorrorBeing successful and superrich would be great to allow you to do what you want, but it also comes with limitations. My mother never wanted to be too rich as she thought one of us would get kidnapped. She needn’t have worried had she made a deal with a demon, if anyone had tried to take one of us, th...
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![BenothingedAlvar Theo]()
HorrorYou do not have to delve onto the fiction shelves to find horror, you can just watch the news. Wars breaking out, people starving. Closer to home there are murders and violence. Most of us are cocooned from these horrors, living in bubbles of our own creation, but some horrors we cannot escape; grie...
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![The Revenge of Joe WildAndrew Komarnyckyj]()
General FictionThere are many genres out there and you can find yourself as a reader sticking to the same ones. I always noticed the large collection of Westerns and books on historic America in my public library growing up. Most of them in large print, which suggested that the audience was older than my pre-teen...
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![The Word is MurderAnthony Horowitz]()
General FictionI have read a lot of crime fiction and even as a fan you can be critical of how similar they can be. The formats and storylines can bog down into only a few basic formulas . In a less accomplished author this can lead to a bland book that fad es quickly in the memory, but this still leaves room...
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![The Haunting of William ThornBen Alderson]()
I would not call myself a skeptic, but a super skeptic, I just cannot begin to believe that ghosts exist, but that does not stop me from enjoying a good ghost story, or even a good old-fashioned ghost story. The Haunting of William Thorn by Ben Alderson has very modern characters and relationships,...
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![UpgradeBlake Crouch]()
Science FictionIt starts off sensibly with tweaking a DNA strand here or there to prevent a hereditary illness. Who could argue against that? However, it is not long before people realise that they can use the same tools to make sure that a child has their father’s eye colour and Mother’s hair. Why even bother pic...
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![Pretty Girls Get Away with MurderBrandi Bradley]()
General FictionMurder is in the eye of the beholder and Brandi Bradley’s Pretty Girls Get Away with Murder is the perfect example of how different people can see the same events. The police are always suspicious, open to any leads, until they find the person they think is the prime suspect. This suspect has their...
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![Are Snakes NecessaryBrian De Palma]()
General FictionThe noir genre has an inherent problem, it has the feel of the 1940s and 1950s. You imagine black and white films, men in fedoras and women with cascading red locks. The lack of technology forced the central gumshoe to walk the streets and knock together heads to gather the intel required to sol...
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![The Righteous ArrowsBrian J. Morra]()
General FictionI am a massive fan of historic fiction; it is a fantastic way of bringing the past to life. It depends on the author how heavily they lean on the historic part or the fiction part. Some books are thinly disguised pseudo fantasy held together by a whisper of historic accuracy, while others read like...
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![The Perfect StrangerBrian Pinkerton]()
Science FictionI have come across the argument that people do not read science fiction as they cannot connect it to their own lives. Most sci fi fans know that even a book set in deep space or thousands of years in the future is often just using images of tomorrow to discuss the issues of today. However, if a read...
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![Maeve FlyC J Leede]()
HorrorIt makes me comfortable to think that we all have small voices in our heads on occasion telling us to do something. The important thing is to only listen to them when they are giving good advice. Ask that person out – sounds scary, but a good plan. Put that spoon in between your teeth and twist – ba...
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![The Final OrchardC J Rivera]()
Science FictionWhen the apocalypse inevitably comes do you want to know about it? Would you like the chance to peer out of the window and see the world burning, perhaps you can make a run for the high ground? Another option is to live in pure ignorance underground, competing with your fellow residents for the perc...
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![A Broken Clock Never BoilsC J Weiss]()
HorrorHorror is a wonderful genre full of fear, but it does not often scare me. I am not afraid of monsters that go bump in the night because I am a rational human being who knows they don’t exist. However, some horror does get to me; anything that threatens children or based on real life killers. Another...
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![The OffsetCalder Szewczak]()
Science FictionThere is one solution that would benefit our climate massively, but it is a bitter pill to swallow. Less humans. We are the cause of pretty much all the issues that the Earth is currently having and when we are gone, it will happily float around the solar system without us. A little bit grubbier, bu...
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![The Drowned SirenCallisto Lodwick]()
General FictionTo work in a novel, you need to be the right amount of crazy. Too little and you just come across as a little odd and moany, too much and your book has just become a horror novel. In Callisto Lodwick’s The Drowned Siren , Eleanor is a student in Scotland who is introverted and clingy, but not really...
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![Squeaky CleanCallum Mcsorley]()
General FictionThe crime genre comes in many flavours from the cosy murder mystery set in a picturesque English village to a crime noir of 50s Chicago. The setting can be near or far, the tone light or dark, but they all have one thing in common – crime and that crime is often a murder. Callum McSorley has decided...
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![The Last ShieldCameron Johnston]()
FantasyWhat is Fantasy if it is not epic battles against elves and orcs? Fans of the genre know that it can be a lot of other things than just that. Some of the best modern fantasy that I have read have been smaller stories set in fantasy worlds. How about a Die Hard-like experience set in a castle where a...
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![Death Wasnt InvitedCarlene O'connor]()
General FictionI love to play hidden object games; I find them a nice way to relax after a busy day. I also love to read for the same reason, even a crime story can be comforting in its own way. Death Wasn’t Invited by Carlene O’Connor combines the two as it is a ‘cosy’ crime caper based on the June’s Journey game...
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![Death Comes Too LateCharles Ardai]()
General FictionThere is an art to the short story. They should not try to emulate their longer cousins, or even the novelette format. A short story should pop up, throws a few punches then head off again without a backwards glance, but the best of them with leave an impression, a lingering sense of something in a...
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![The Apollo MurdersChris Hadfield]()
General FictionThe sense of adventure and bravery that someone needed to explore space in the 60s and 70s is beyond me. All that separates you from the vacuum of space is a few sheets of glass and metal. The technology onboard is simpler than the type of things you would get in a child’s electronic watch. Geniuses...
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![The PhlebotomistChris Panatier]()
FantasyI find that a lot of my favourite science fiction starts off as a simple What If scenario. A talented author can take a seemingly simple idea and extrapolate from there. A simple difference to our current way of life can have huge implications. Before long an entire new world has been built from...
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![The Redemption of Morgan BrightChris Panatier]()
I love to read books; they transport me to unfamiliar places. I will go there even if these unfamiliar places are dangerous like the Hollyhock Asylum found in Chris Panatier’s The Redemption of Morgan Bright . A story can transport you, as can characters, but sometimes the structure of a book does t...
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![The Get OffChrista Faust]()
General FictionA good life is a life well lived full of new adventures, meeting new people, and experiencing new things. On this criteria Angel Dare has had one of the best lives, she is always meeting new people and finding herself in new places, but not for the reasons she would want. From adult film star to vic...
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![The DescentChristian Francis]()
HorrorI read so much genre fiction and have seen so many horror movies that I don’t scare easy. My brain automatically remembers all the behind-the-scenes make-up specials and director commentaries; I know it is not real. However, back in 2005 the last film that scared me was about a group of female caver...
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![ScalesChristopher Hinz]()
Science FictionWar, what is it good for? Not a lot, but depressingly it is a real driver of innovation. What better way to inspire the greatest minds in the country than to task them with more efficient ways to kill the enemy? Arms races happen all over the place from conventional gun and bullets to newer types of...
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![Fractal NoiseChristopher Paolini]()
Science FictionI have never wanted to travel to space. THUD. Not only would it be physically challenging, but also mentally tough. THUD. The knowledge that the only thing between you and the infinite void is a sheet of metal. THUD. The great expanse making you question your tiny existence and the insignificant lif...
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![The Hunters GambitCiel Pierlot]()
FantasyWhen it comes to vampires, I understand that there is a rich tapestry of versions you can now read about, but I like mine to have that old fashioned appeal. The type of vampire that does not want to talk about their feelings or act like the average tween, but instead wants to wear lace frills and su...
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![Acquired TastesClay Mcleod Chapman]()
HorrorWhat do you want from a collection of horror short stories? A complex mix of different styles and authors, or a single voice? When it comes to horror, I want them to feel like a quick punch to the guts, only for you to look down and find that the punch was more of a stab. Clay McLeod Chapman knows w...
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![The Butcher's DaughterCorinne Leigh Clark]()
HorrorI enjoy a retelling of a classic tale from an unfamiliar perspective. I have read about Sherlock Holmes from the point of view of almost everyone he ever met. I have read about Beowulf written by his niece. King Authur, Robin Hood, many others, but never a character as dark as Sweeny Todd. The Demon...
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![Into the NightCornell Woolrich]()
General FictionWhat makes a good noir story? Is it the setting, the characters, a murder? All these things, but also none of them. I have read many ‘classic’ noir stories about a grizzled PI investigating a femme fatale set some time in the 40/50s, but I have also read them set in alternative universes where super...
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![Attack SurfaceCory Doctorow]()
Science FictionI am not someone that goes in for Conspiracy Theories, I just don’t have the energy for t hem . Take for example the idea that nanobots are being injected into people so that the Deep State can track our every move. Why would they spend trillions of pounds on such technology when we are all pretty...
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![IsolationDan Coxon]()
HorrorPlacing a restriction on yourself should not be a freeing experience, but the opposite can be true, especially in the arts. Making films under strict rules can lead to innovation as film makers struggle to achieve their vision under restraints. Creating an anthology about one subject matter limits m...
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![Captain Moxley and the Embers of the EmpireDan Hanks]()
I have known a few archaeologists and historians in my time, and I can tell you that adventure is not always in their blood. I have found that they have chosen those professions as they seek the opposite of adventure. Perhaps a nice library or a quiet dig site. Given the choice between a cup of tea...
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![The Way Up Is DeathDan Hanks]()
Science FictionWhen I imagine the aliens coming, I always imagine that they would pick somewhere amazing to land their ship. Probably America as all the movies have trained my brain to think that way. The place I do not jump straight to is Manchester, or at least the hills around the city. I know those hills well...
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![The HollowsDaniel Church]()
HorrorHumans fear the dark and we fear the cold. There is good reason for this. In our modern world we can wrap up warm in a synthetic coat and take along a torch that can be seen from space, but that was not always true. The dark used to mean the unknown. Animals or something else preying on you. The col...
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![The RaveningDaniel Church]()
HorrorHorror comes in many shapes and sizes. The horror could be on this plane of existence, a creature that stalks you and your family through generations. It could be even closer to home, the horror of the mundane, the terror of ordinary people willing to do anything to achieve their goals, even if this...
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![New PompeiiDaniel Godfrey]()
Science FictionFor many people, the leading writer of speculative fiction i n the 90s and 00s was Michael Cr ic h t on who was able to marry a level of scientific reality with some outrageous ideas. A theme park full of dinosaurs, intelligent apes, nanobots that can kill? He was able to deliver on all of the...
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![The God GameDanny Tobey]()
Science FictionWhat if God was one of us? Just an Artificial Intelligence like one of us. Just a stranger on the internet, trying to wreak our lives. Anyone with a passing knowledge of the Bible will know that God can be a little tricksy. If that God can flood the world or demand you sacrifice your child, what wou...
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![WoodstakeDarin S Cape]()
HorrorWoodstock is an event that has passed into folklore. Like Spike Island, I imagine that every eligible person the right age claims to have been there. Who is to say that they were not? These events are massive, you can lose yourself in the crowd, but other things can hide to. Would anyone notice a fe...
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![The Loose EndDave Dwonch]()
General FictionNoir comes in many flavours, not just 1940s black and white detective. There have been classic noir novels that have reflected the decades they were written. The 90s noir I enjoyed had a bright Hollywood gleam to it; that was only shone to hide the grime set shallow below the surface. The Loose End...
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![InspirationDavid Churcher-Muria]()
Science FictionThere are all diverse types of people that make a successful working environment. If everyone were the same, we would all be doing the same thing and loads of stuff would not get done. Some people like to stand out in the crowd and pitch ideas, others are happy to lead. Engineer may be the second in...
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![BetrayalDavid Gilman]()
General FictionWe Brits have somewhat of a reputation on the international stage as stirring up trouble from behind the curtain. We were accused of it during the lead up to the World Wars and even today regimes will cite the UK as instigating unrest. Us, never! The likes of James Bond and David Gilman’s The Englis...
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![To Kill a KingDavid Gilman]()
General FictionWhen I finally get around to building that time machine, I made a note not to visit 14 th century Europe. The continent was a hodgepodge of wars and battles. Even during times of peace you could still stumble across the wrong village, and they would kill you for your shoes. Not a century for me and...
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![Cold StorageDavid Koepp]()
HorrorWe are only one mutation away from an organism that could wipe out humans. Sound all dystopian and farfetched? This is what I was reading in the paper this very morning as super bugs are becoming increasingly prevalent and our conventional medicines are having no effect. David Koepp is an author who...
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![AuroraDavid Koepp]()
Science FictionReading about a dystopia is not as farfetched as it was once as we are living through a couple of ongoing ones as I write, but there is always space for a little more terror to add to the reality. What about a situation that is eerily possible? The sun belches out radiation daily and according to Da...
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![Ricky's HandDavid Quantick]()
HorrorI love science fiction, but it can sometimes be hard to relate to the characters if they are flying spaceships in far off galaxies. Sometimes it is nice to read something a little closer to home, bizarre things happening to normal people. David Quantick’s Ricky’s Hand is a twisted Twilight Zone epis...
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![The Bad NeighbourDavid Tallerman]()
HorrorOllie Clay is a supply teacher who inherits fifty thousand pounds and spends it on a house. It turns out the house is next door to a neo Nazi called Chas Walker. Walker’s anti-social behaviour contributes to Clay’s life spiralling downhill, until he tries to take matters into his own hands and force...
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![EquinoxDavid Towsey]()
FantasyAre you a night person or a day person? Do you like to wake up at 5am and then go to the gym before a full day at work and an early night? Perhaps you like to wake up in time for Bargain Hunt and work from home into the late hours? Either way, you are you. The night owl and the early bird, same pers...
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![Mickey7Edward Ashton]()
Science FictionIf I lived in a Star Trek universe I would always travel by shuttlecraft and refuse to use the transporter. I am just uneasy with the idea of being split into atoms and reformed elsewhere. I am, for all intents and purposes, the same person, with the same memories, but am I? Is it not true that one...
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![Cry, VoidbringerElaine Ho]()
FantasyI enjoy a dose of Low Fantasy; a bit of grimdark and violence feels like a good counterpart to High Fantasy with its heroism and magic. A fantasy tale that is told from the muck and the trenches just feels more real, even if it is fantastic, a fantasy for our modern troubled world. But there is Low...
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![Finding Katarina MElizabeth Elo]()
General FictionI have read a few novels recently that have protagonists that seemingly have little control over their destiny, instead stepping into the stream of the narrative and being carried along. On occasion this is a flood and the character flails around with no impact on the wider story, but there is anoth...
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![Death on the CalderaEmily Paxman]()
FantasyI read a lot of genre fiction that has been mixed with a crime drama as it is an excellent way of giving a story a solid throughline. A murder mystery can concentrate the narrative when exploring a high concept Science Fiction world. It is also a great way of giving grit to an Urban Fantasy story, g...
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![The VengeanceEmma Newman]()
FantasyI have not read the synopsis of a book I am about to read for over twenty years, ever since I read a spoiler on the back of the novel that revealed the massive twist that occurred two thirds of the way through. I will have to add Series Titles to the list of things not to read as The Vengeance by Em...
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![Anji Kills a KingEvan Leikam]()
FantasyIn the fantasy that I usually read Regicide is usually the goal for the end of the book. In fact, I have read entire trilogies in which the protagonist is trying to kill a royal. You get the sense that Evan Leikam is going to tackle things a little differently in Anji Kills a King when the first sce...
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![Future's EdgeGareth L Powell]()
Science FictionThe Earth has exploded killing all the inhabitants, the only survivors are those humans that happened to be off planet at the time. Does not sound like the start of a fun Science Fiction novel, does it? Douglas Adams would beg to differ and so would Gareth L. Powell. Future’s Edge is the author’s la...
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![Strange InkGary Kemble]()
HorrorGetting a few tattoo can be a thrill. It is going to hurt, but for many that is part of the joy. Think for a moment about that poor sap who wakes up after a heavy drinking session with a new tat. Not only did they miss out on the anticipation, they also probably have no idea what they got. Tattoo me...
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![Dark InkGary Kemble]()
HorrorPeople have power over on another. Someone who is charismatic may be able to manipulate others to do their bidding even against their own best interests. The opposite sex can also have power. What would you do to be with the partner you love/lust for ? Mistress Hel is a Dominatrix who speciali s e...
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![ScarletGenevieve Cogman]()
FantasyThere are many reasons that I am a reviewer and not a writer and one of them is that I do not have that thing in my brain to produce simple, but great ideas. Speculating about the future or past and giving it a twist has made for some great science fiction and fantasy. What about a French Revolution...
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![Pay the PiperGeorge A Romero]()
HorrorThere are many unique and diverse names in horror making it, for me, one of the most interesting genres out there, but to the layperson they may only know a few names. Stephen King, maybe Dean Koontz. In film they may have heard of Wes Craven, or one of the newer horror auteurs. Zombie fans should h...
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![Captain Marvel Shadow CodeGilly Segal]()
Science FictionAny fan of the Marvelverse will understand there are various aspects to it. You have your traditional superhero tales, but also those set-in space, or ones that feature magic. Captain Marvel has always been a character who spans them all. Captain Carol Danvers has seen it all in her adventures acros...
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![The Final Girl Support GroupGrady Hendrix]()
HorrorYour love of a movie genre can often depend on your age. The current crop of kids is growing up in a Golden Age of Superhero films, but when I was an impressionable teenager, it was all about the horror films. Halloween , Friday the 13 th , A Nightmare on Elm Street and so many others. I bought t...
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![Lessons in BirdwatchingHoney Watson]()
Science FictionThe science fiction genre is open to exploring alien worlds and alien ideas, but many times you find it is a very Terran feeling society being all human about things. It may be an android as the main character, but that android is following a classic crime noir style plot you could find on Earth. Wh...
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![The Debtors GameIsabelle Mongeau]()
FantasyTwas in a café they first met, Romeo and Juliet. And twas the first day they fell into debt, because Rome-owed and Juli-eat. It feels to me that the entire system is rigged so that you never have quite enough money to escape, you work to live, and if you do not work, you do not eat. It is worse when...
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![The Glass BoxJ Michael Straczynski]()
General FictionSome of the best speculative fiction starts with an idea that is not far removed from the normal, a simple nudge to reality can lead to many places. In the case of J. Michael Straczynski’s The Glass Box , this place is a psychiatric hospital. The reason for being sent there? New government legislati...
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![The First Bright ThingJ R Dawson]()
FantasyCircuses are magical places; they are also mysterious and occasionally a bit murderous. All the elements that make them perfect for romantic visions of running away and visiting new places each week, are also perfect for someone who likes to snatch victims and not be around when the police start to...
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![Re-CoilJ. T. Nicholas]()
Science FictionDeath is not something that people like to think about, but without death how are we to live? Within all of us in the unspoken knowledge that one day we will die. For this reason, we venture forth, live, breath, love and laugh. Some of us more than others, but without death would we even bother? We...
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![Nobody's AngelJack Clark]()
General FictionI am of a certain age, and I recall that the 1990s was a good decade, a time of societal development and change for the better. I used to look down on those who rated the 70s as a fun decade as it seemed grim to me, but as I get older the 90s was as grim as the 70s and I am sure that the 2010s will...
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![Smoke KingsJahmal Mayfield]()
General FictionThere is a reason that criminal gangs fall apart. As an individual you can take responsibility for your own action, plan ever detail and keep your mouth shut when the job is done, but what about the others? They may be getting cold feet or have a loudmouth. The Smoke Kings are a group that started o...
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![Blood RivalJake Arnott]()
General FictionIn fiction you can blur the real world with the fictional to give your story a sense of authenticity. This is something that Jake Arnott has done in the past taking a splash of truth, a soupcon of reality, and then blending in some fictional high-octane action. In the case of Blood Rival , there was...
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![Five DecembersJames Kestrel]()
General FictionNoir is not always an easy genre to write, there is a timeless tone to it. You can pick up a book that was written 70 years ago and it still has all the effortless style to make it incredibly readable. If you are going to write a new noir set during the classic noir period you are not only competing...
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![Conan: Cult of the Obsidian MoonJames Lovegrove]()
FantasyWhat makes a good Conan novel? It seems like a simple calculation, a brawny barbarian, a massive sword, wine, woman, and violence. Mix the lot into a pot and you have a Conan adventure to be proud of, except it is not that easy. Conan lives in a vibrant and complex world that can be stodgy to read i...
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![Caesar's SpyJean-Pierre Pecau]()
General FictionThere are certain historic events that I return to in fiction as no matter how many times I have read about them, authors have found new ways of exploring the past. I must have read about Caesar’s rise and fall twenty times or more, but there is room for more retellings. Caesar’s Spy written by Jean...
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![The ContestJeff Macfee]()
General FictionPuzzle me this. Whilst other kids were outside climbing trees or knocking a football around, you would often find me indoors or under a tree reading a book or doing puzzles. That has led to two lifelong consequences; a love of puzzles and a problem with weight. Puzzler was always my favourite, and I...
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![WhitesandsJohann Thorsson]()
HorrorThe fictional detective always seems to have some flaw that follows them through life preventing them from being happy or doing their best work. This could be drink, gambling, or drugs. In the case of Johann Thorsson’s Detective John Dark it is far worse, a missing daughter. For two years he has abu...
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![The PassengersJohn Marrs]()
Science FictionCall me old fashioned, I am a little scared of the future. This is a sentiment that will hit many of us eventually. What is wrong with the way technology works right now? Do I really need to talk to my speakers or plug myself into the Matrix just to order a pizza? The idea of getting behind the whee...
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![Golden PreyJohn Sandford]()
General FictionThe long running series is a dream for an author as it means that your characters and world are successful enough that people are buying them, and you can keep writing. John Sandford's Lucas Davenport books must be a success when you realise that Golden Prey is the 27th book centred on the chara...
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![The Murder of Mr Ma PaperbackJohn Shen Yen Nee]()
General FictionComparing a detective series to Sherlock Holmes is not always helpful as that is such an iconic character who has gone off to be in a thousand different spin offs, but on occasion it is apropos. If a series is about a super intelligent detective with a penchant for opium who works with a baffled, bu...
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![Bound in BloodJohnny Mains]()
HorrorIf you are reading this, you have some interest in books, enough to read a review about one. Bound in Blood is not just a book, this is a book about books. Well at least a collection of spooky short stories about books, authors, libraries, and all things bibliophile. For those of us in the know, the...
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![The Gaia ChimeJohnny Worthen]()
HorrorWhat can cause the end of the World? A massive explosion, a meteor the size of the moon tearing it in two? What would cause the end of the World and what would cause the end of humankind are two very different things. Our watery globe will still be spinning long after we are food for the worms, huma...
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![The Wheel of DollJonathan Ames]()
General FictionThe humble Private Investigator is a put-upon character, often lonely, whenever they find love, that love seems to end up dead. No wonder so many of them have a problem with drink, gambling, or drugs – perhaps a mix of all three. Few PIs can hold a candle to Happy Doll, he is not even a PI anymore h...
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![MyriadJoshua David Bellin]()
Science FictionI love time travel stories as you can tie yourself in knots figuring out what is going on. A writer can choose to do one of two things about the complexity of it all. Explore in great depth and try to make the inherent paradox work, or just go with the flow. Joshua David Bellin’s Myriad feels like a...
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![The DieJude Berman]()
Science FictionThere are a lot of different ways to be smart and just because you are one, does not automatically make you the other. The classic is book versus street, you may know your way around an academic essay, but would fail to talk yourself out of a tricky situation outside the pub at closing time. If you...
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![The AccidentJulia Stone]()
General FictionDo you trust this reviewer? Am I all that I appear? I claim to work for one of the longest running review sites on the internet, but is any of it true? You cannot always trust a protagonist; we may have an ulterior motive that you are unaware of. Perhaps I am a fantasist who latches themselves on to...
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![WayseekerJustina Ireland]()
Science FictionOver the years Star Wars has become a complicated beast, even the first film was a Space Opera that had a lot going on. Throw in various timelines and you have an epic on your hands, but some of the simpler stories are the ones that work the best. The Acolyte was series that expanded on The High Rep...
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![Black WolfKathleen Kent]()
General FictionWith the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Cold War did not stop immediately. Perestroika was a messy business with elements of the former Soviet Union flaking away at separate times. The fracturing of a once great Superpower brought with it opportunities. Opportunities for the West to invest in new mark...
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![Coffin MoonKeith Rosson]()
HorrorVampire lore is well documented, the rules and regulations differ from book to book, but in most cases if you are a vampire, you cannot do much during the day. In modern life not being able to escape during the daylight hours after leaving a few emptied bodies would be a problem. Cameras would catch...
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![Planet of the OodKeith Temple]()
Science FictionIt can be hard for the casual Doctor Who viewer to see the character as alien. They may have two hearts, regenerate once in a while, but fundamentally the Doctor looks human. It does not help that they are obsessed with human culture and like to hang around on Earth a lot (cheap sets). But fundament...
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![SupermaxKen Bruen]()
General FictionThe pulp crime genre is one of my favourite because it pushes the envelope of what is acceptable in crime. It can be a little too gory, a little too silly, a little too much, but that is what makes it so fun to read. There is a delicate balance between writing a thrilling action crime story that is...
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![The Circus InfiniteKhan Wong]()
Science FictionThere is something magical about the idea of a circus, the lights, the action, the antics, and the acts. The reality in my youth was a little different with a threadbare tent being erected in a local muddy play field. Khan Wong has thankfully decided to capture the majesty that the idea evokes in Th...
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![HideKiersten White]()
HorrorAs an adult it is easy to forget how exhilarating hide and seek was when you were a child. That crackling of electricity in your chest as you huddle in a hiding place waiting to get caught. The heightened senses as you hear the footsteps of the seeker drawing closer. The sense of relief as they walk...
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![Mister MagicKiersten White]()
HorrorChildren’s TV shows will always have an evocative place in your memory, especially those half-remembered tales from when you were young. Your cognitive powers had not yet full formed, so your memory of the show comes in snatches like magic. For me it will always be Wizbit. I picture a strange triang...
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![Double or NothingKim Sherwood]()
General FictionJames Bond has evolved through the decades from the original Ian Fleming books to a world-famous series of films and even classic computer games, but at their heart the best Bonds all hark back to Fleming’s style. Double or Nothing by Kim Sherwood is a surprise then as it is a Bond book without Bond...
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![The CaptiveKit Burgoyne]()
HorrorI enjoy genre books of all kinds. I love a good kidnapping story as a well-oiled plan starts to unravel. I also like a horror story about the Old Gods, of human sacrifices and bloody gore. What you don’t normally get is a story that is both. The kidnapping crew in Kit Burgoyne’s The Captive have tak...
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![Birds in the Black WaterKodie Van Dusen]()
HorrorThe mind is a powerful tool. It can make a person do spectacular things but can also be their undoing. A trauma earlier in life can impact your day to day living. Perhaps talking to someone would help, be it a friend or a professional? Neviah is a counsellor who has a unique way of unpicking people’...
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![Silent KeyLaurel Hightower]()
HorrorListen to your kids. It can be hard sometimes as they can speak absolute nonsense, but they also speak the truth, and they may need you to listen. Perhaps they wake at night and tell you that things are not right in the house, you can dismiss this as childish fantasies, but their fears could be base...
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![A Wanted ManLee Child]()
General FictionA good thriller should grab you from the very first page. In the past decades Lee Child has become a master of this and the majority of his Jack Reacher books open at a canter. What would you do if when hitchhiking you got into a car with wrong people? Keep your head down and try to find a way out o...
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![Sparks of Bright MatterLeeanne O'donnell]()
FantasyIt feels like we take science for granted in the modern world; buildings that tower into the sky, above them flying machines made from metal. Stop and think for a moment at how wonderous all these advances have been, how we use the internet to communicate today, or how a simple invention like the LE...
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![Green ValleyLouis Greenberg]()
Science FictionThe average person seems to put a lot of trust in their Government. No way they are spying on me online and even if they are, what am I doing that they would care about? This attitude has shown that ignorance is not bliss, they may just sell your data to the highest bidder and before you know it the...
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![InscapeLouise Carey]()
Science FictionA lot of the political hustle and bustle in today’s world has its roots in how far you think capitalism should go. Some countries are all for state control, others are far more lais s ez faire . Do private companies already have too much power pull ing the strings behind our elected repre...
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![Zero KillM K Hill]()
General FictionI am a genre fan, hence writing reviews for SF Book Reviews. I love the flights of fancy that horror, science fiction and fantasy give an author. Wherever the author leads, I will go. For all my willingness to suspend my disbelief with space battles or Elvish languages, I struggle in more general fi...
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![The Graveyard ShiftMaria Lewis]()
HorrorI love listening to the radio, but even I struggle when it gets late at night. Suddenly the airwaves are packed with novelty DJs using all their shtick to ‘entertain’ the few remaining listeners. It is even worse if you live in London, when the light fades the pirate radios stations come out to play...
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![Death Comes at ChristmasMarie O'regan]()
General FictionChristmas has many traditions from trees to strange men sneaking down the chimney in the dead of night. One tradition I like is the different genres that tackle the season. There is something spooky about the dark nights and folk traditions that make Christmas Ghost Stories so good, but it is also a...
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![PenitentMark Leggatt]()
General FictionTelling a story in the first person means that you are going to want a protagonist that the reader can connect with, but what if that character struggles with relationships? In Mark Leggatt’s Penitent , Hector is a brilliant lawyer, but has far more interest in the process than the people. He has ne...
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![That Which Stands OutsideMark Morris]()
HorrorWhat makes a good folk horror story? It is not just the tension and gruesome moments, but the feeling. You need to get the tone right. A visitor to a new place that is familiar in some ways, but alien in others. You can experience some of this unease yourself just by travelling to somewhere abroad o...
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![ColonyMarkus Heitz]()
Science FictionOver the next three days, three reviews will stand before you. Read them in any order, some elements will be the same, others quite different . If you would like to go straight to the segment unique to this review , please start with paragraph 4. Drafting a book must be like standing in fro...
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![Coded to KillMarschall Runge]()
General FictionArtificial Intelligence is currently the big hope across most industries as a way of increasing productivity on the cheap. It is being used already in the field of medicine as it is ideal at coping with enormous amounts of data and highlighting anomalies. It aids in finding cancers early, but what a...
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![Confessions of an AntichristMarta Skadi]()
General FictionJoining a band is a rite of passage that everyone should try at least once. I got as far as forming a fake band with my mates at university, but then we had no commitment. To really make it you will need to buckle down and learn an instrument and write some songs – or just be a punk band. If you wan...
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![WilliamMason Coile]()
HorrorA horror book can be a complex and multilayered epic, but the genre often best as an intimate story told in a closed environment. Countless classic horror films have been set in an abandoned cabin or house, something strange living in the attic that only comes down to seek its victims. In Mason Coil...
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![ExilesMason Coile]()
Science FictionOne of the best things about Science Fiction is that it also works as Science Fact. Much of the science and fantasy in the books are based on real research; taken to the nth level, but with a basis in truth. Exiles by Mason Coile layers this with some fundamentals in philosophy. Occam’s Razor sugges...
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![BasiliskMatt Wixey]()
HorrorI have read thousands of books, and they normally follow the same structural rules, but on occasion an author likes to experiment with the format. Perhaps they will forgo the need for speech marks and instead write people speaking as part of a sentence. No thanks. What about telling the story as a s...
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![Quarry's ReturnMax Allan Collins]()
General FictionWhat do you do with an aging character? Some authors choose to pretend that their characters are immortal and never age. This is great for churning out the content, but it does hamstring you into writing the same type of story as you can never move on in fear of making the protagonist too old. Max A...
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![The Last QuarryMax Allan Collins]()
General FictionNever say never when it comes to being a hired hitman. You may not want to kill for money anymore, but if you are anything like Quarry in The Last Quarry by Max Allan Collins you may just end up getting in a situation that relies on your old skills and if you get paid for it all the better. This may...
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![The 22 Murders Of Madison MayMax Barry]()
Science FictionObsession can be a powerful emotion and lead you down a dark path. Being stalked causes the victim so much fear, not only because they are having to deal with the reality, but also what might happen. In the case of Madison May, she does not know she is being stalked until it is too late. A strange m...
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![The Price of SafetyMichael C. Bland]()
Science FictionWhat would you do to protect those that you love? What is The Price of Safety ? This is a question that Michael C. Bland poses in the first of a trilogy set in a troubling future. It is a story about a genius, but also a family man whose inventions gets them all into danger. At what point do you dec...
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![The Price of RebellionMichael C. Bland]()
Science FictionSome things are bigger than just us. We need to think about more than the individual or even the family unit, think of the bigger picture. The Price of Rebellion by Micheal C. Bland is the second part of a trilogy all about an inventor who would do anything to protect his family, but in doing this h...
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![The Price of FreedomMichael C. Bland]()
Science FictionAfter discovering what The Price of Safety and The Price of Rebellion are in the first two outings in Michael C Bland’s dystopian trilogy, we finally get to see what The Price of Freedom is in this final outing. In a world in which everyone has been rendered blind unless they wear technology, you ca...
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![SymbioteMichael Nayak]()
Science FictionThe thought of travelling to space and living on the International Space Station has no interest to me. Stuck in a metal box, isolated, miles away from civilisation with only the same people as company sound like a one-way ticket to madness. You do not need to go into space to create such a feeling....
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![SentientMichael Nayak]()
Science FictionIf you are like me, you will have an escape plan from the building you work in, just in case there is a zombie attack. My plan is to get to the roof and use one of the ladders up there to simply steer the zombies over the low edge. This might work, but not in the Antarctic, were there are few buildi...
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![Masquerade for MurderMickey Spillane]()
General FictionMy partner and I went through a stage of watching only noir films. Many of them felt the same, but some stood out. The F rench films had an effortless style, Barbara Stanwyck was always amazing, and one film was just a little bit insane. That film was Kiss Me Deadly , a Mike Hammer film b...
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![Killing ItMike Bockoven]()
HorrorPeople have used the insanity plea in defence of some heinous crimes. Was it months of planning that made you act or next door’s Labrador? When buying a property, it may be a clever idea to heed the warning of the stranger who tells you not to listen the voice when it appears. The last owner went on...
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![Marc Spector Was Host to Venom?Mike Chen]()
Science FictionComics have a complex history with some storylines going back decades. Even the relatively new superheroes can have intricate lore. Moon Knight has had plenty of time to muddy the waters with almost 50 years of stories to look back on, but it is not the depth of the stories that make Moon Knight so...
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![Low Red MoonMike Chen]()
Science FictionAs more novels are written within the Star Wars Universe, I start to realise that I am drawn increasingly towards the wider Universe and not the core Skywalker saga. On TV, The Mandalorian, and in the book world the stories I have enjoyed most were adapted from a Star Wars comic, and one even based...
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![A Rebel's History of MarsNadia Afifi]()
Science FictionWhen we have finally managed to destroy Earth, some of us may already be living on Mars. If you stay inside the domes, I hear it can be quite pleasant. However, what happens when we start to destroy Mars? The issue with all these planets is not the landscape or the lack of oxygen, it is the fact tha...
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![When the Wolf Comes HomeNat Cassidy]()
HorrorI have had my fill of Vampires. They are the Primadonna of the undead world hogging all the limelight with their films and TV shows. They are also all over books. One of my family member’s entire book collection is just vampires. What about the other supernatural beings? A vampire's erstwhile enemy...
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![Fractured InfinityNathan Tavares]()
Science FictionThink too long on the multiverse and your mind will explode. Every tiny action you take splits off into another multiverse, then extrapolate that with everything making tiny actions. There will be an infinite number of universes that only differ from the way you tied your shoelace that morning. Popp...
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![Listen to Your SisterNeena Viel]()
HorrorI come from a large family and there is a special way that you can wind one another up. Years of experience and knowledge comes in handy when you are trying to annoy someone, you may not have seen each other for ages, but one shared experience can bring it all back in an instant. In a healthy family...
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![Lies and DollsNev Fountain]()
General FictionI try not to collect too much stuff, choosing to live in the now. If I kept every book that I ever read, every toy that I ever played with, or birthday card I received, I would have no room in my house. I certainly do not keep things “mint in box.” You could have an attic full of collectables worth...
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![DissolutionNicholas Binge]()
Science FictionHave you ever walked into a room and forgotten why you went in there in the first place? Could just be a good old fashioned brain burp, but perhaps it is something more sinister. In Nicholas Binge’s Dissolution there is a character who knows too much, so much that their mind is being wiped to preven...
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![The ActualityPaul Braddon]()
Science FictionI sometimes like to think about a singular change to the world and how it would affect the future. It says a lot about me that in most cases my thoughts end up at dystopia. Humans are always going to end at some point, I was just hoping that it would be a few years after I had gone. I a...
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![Paved With Good IntentionsPeter Mclean]()
FantasyThey say never judge a book by its cover and this is a good lesson to take heed of with Peter McLean’s Paved With Good Intentions , as the UK cover stars Eline dressed in regal splendour. You see, Eline is also someone you should not judge from by her looks. She may be presenting as a member of the...
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![The Waters of MarsPhil Ford]()
Science FictionI am a massive fan of the Target imprint of Doctor Who books. Recently they have been filling in the gaps from the older series and producing new adaptations based on the past few Doctors. Taking stories out of any given season is a risky business. It could be a standalone monster of the week story,...
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![Midnight StreetsPhil Lecomber]()
General FictionAgatha Christie would have us believe that inter-War murder was cosy, taking place in a picturesque village or on a mode of transport whilst taking in the sites of the Grand Tour. Whilst Marple was eating muffins and Poirot was drinking Prosecco, most of us would have been thrown into the daily grin...
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![VagabonderR T Coleman]()
Science FictionScience Fiction is one of the best genres because you can explore subjects via a prism of the future. Writing a book about how we treat others does not have to be told via a historic story, or the present, you can look far to the future and draw parallels between that world and ours. What would happ...
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![The Mountain in the SeaRay Nayler]()
Science FictionOne of the biggest problems to overcome when writing science fiction is how do humans communicate with an alien race? They may speak a different language or may not even have mouths in which to make noises. The Universal Translator is a popular cheat, or fundamental maths that should be universal, b...
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![How Like a GodRex Stout]()
General FictionWhen you enter midlife, you must watch out that you do not get lost in the past. Past glories that may have been, lovers that were or could have been. There is a reason that some people drift into a crisis, seeing the grass could have been greener had they picked a different path. When you are going...
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![CulpritsRichard Brewer]()
General FictionYour average heist movie ends in one of two ways; a cliffhanger or the job complete. You rarely get to see what happens to the criminals as they make it off with their ill-gotten gains, or when they are thrown into the slammer. Unless you are Oceans 11 , then you just get a couple more heists a few...
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![The Pale House DevilRichard Kadrey]()
HorrorI read a lot of spooky and downright horrific books in the run up to Halloween this year, but the horror books that work well stick in the mind all year round. The Pale House Devil by Richard Kadrey is not your typical horror novel, nor is it your typical comedy book, or buddy story. This is a book...
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![The NurseryRoark Arnett]()
Science FictionScience Fiction writers love a dystopia, there are so many ways that it could all go wrong. Overpopulation is one. It not a pleasant thing to think about, but we already use too many of the world’s finite resources and as the population grows, this is going to get even worse. In The Nursery by Roark...
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![The CrashRobert Peston]()
General FictionThe crime genre is huge, and a protagonist can become involved in solving a murder in numerous ways. Being a police officer or PI makes sense, being an elderly lady or vicar less so, but authors still manage somehow – to remarkable success. Another easy option is a journalist. Their job is already t...
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![Anatomy of a KillerRomy Hausmann]()
General FictionHaving watched plenty of True Crime documentaries I am often struck how loyal some friends and family are to the criminal. They have been convicted of the crime, but sometimes family just will not accept the outcome. Injustice is one reason, people do get sent down for something they never did, but...
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![The Stage Mother's ClubRon Capshaw]()
HorrorIt is amazing what can inspire a writer. A little thought worm can drill itself into their head and the only peace to be found is to write the thing out. Ron Capshaw’s inspiration for The Stage Mother’s Club seems to be the author’s fascination with all the failed stage Mums who could not get their...
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![Deep DiveRon Walters]()
Science FictionIf you had the chance to start over again from an early age and know what you do now, would you take it? A chance to live your life again; buy those shares in Apple, know some of the exam questions and football results? The answer for me is no. 80 years more life is not worth risking my family. What...
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![Black MouthRonald Malfi]()
HorrorA group of adults tormented by their past when a carnival worker changed their lives forever. Sound familiar? No not It , but Ronald Malfi’s Black Mouth , the author’s own take on how the memories of youth haunt the present. This is dark horror with glimpses of the supernatural, but also plenty of t...
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![Small Town HorrorRonald Malfi]()
HorrorThe horror genre has taught me how to deal with events that happened in my childhood. If you and a bunch of friends accidently run over a homeless person or set fire to a witch, the best thing is just to admit it without delay and take your lumps. You see, no matter how many years pass, they always...
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![What Big TeethRose Szabo]()
HorrorI do enjoy a good gothic novel. A tale about a once impressive house that has fallen into ruin, its location remote, its inhabitants an enigma. The tales are often full of thrills, romance and even a little horror. But what do you do about a gothic house full of horrific creatures? A story that tell...
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![HoneycombS B Caves]()
Science FictionBefore a drug is allowed onto the marketplace, it must undergo rigorous tests. Firstly on animals and then eventually on humans. These tests will determine what side effects there are, and in many cases, there will be side effects. Do the positives outweigh the negatives? If a wonder drug saves the...
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![From Divergent SunsSam Peters]()
Science FictionScience fiction is a minefield for any author. So many others genres are available that have a set of rules that you can follow. Crime has it, even most fantasy books follow a pattern, but science fiction can be almost anything. It can be set in an alternative today with only a tiny tweak to our way...
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![The Poorly Made and Other ThingsSam Rebelein]()
There is something to be said for designing a creative sandpit, a place that you can return to and play within. Rather than writing new characters in a new place every book, you can return to the known. A shorthand exists. However, this is a double-edged sword, you can end up recreating the same sta...
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![The Gryphon KingSara Omer]()
FantasyI have read a lot of epic fantasy, and it comes in many flavours, but it does not always feel like it. Often, it feels like an alternative Medieval Europe with a few elves thrown in. This is less so today as innovative ideas and visions come to the genre, taking a typical fantasy novel and giving it...
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![Queen of the DeadSarah Broadway]()
FantasyMy partner and I have differing opinions on ghosts. I like to read about them but am incredibly cynical that they exist. My partner is more of a believer. I just refuse to believe that ghoulies can exist without more evidence, we live in a surveillance society at this point. However, even I would st...
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![A Better WorldSarah Langan]()
HorrorA person brings a piece of themselves with them when they read a book. Your background, beliefs and current situation can all inform the story. There are books where it does not really matter who you are, but some books will hit home harder for those who feel a connection. A Better World by Sarah La...
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![Missing PersonSarah Lotz]()
General FictionThe crime genre is a well-trodden one, so much so that anyone who reads the genre exclusively may find themselves jaded by similar storylines occurring over and over again. One way to excite both author and reader is to try and find new approaches. How about a crime novel told entirely from the pris...
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![Crucible of ChaosSebastien De Castell]()
FantasyThe locked room scenario is a classic of the crime genre and does not have to mean just a locked room but the idea of a contained place that holds all the victims, suspects, and clues within. A monastery perched atop a remote island only passable when the tide is low would be a perfect place for thi...
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![Velvet Was the NightSilvia Moreno-Garcia]()
General FictionI love to read as books transport me to places and worlds that I have never been and can never go. In most cases these are fantasy or science fiction worlds, but there are a lot of places in our own history that seem just as exciting and different. 1970s Mexico is nothing like the country I grew up...
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![Silver NitrateSilvia Moreno-Garcia]()
HorrorThere is something magical about the silver screen. I enjoy watching films at home, but I love going to the cinema. A group of people in a dark room with a large screen and superior sound. I feel like I am immersed in the film, it draws me in, there is a power. But what if that power was real? What...
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![Our Child of the StarsStephen Cox]()
Science FictionI read a lot of science fiction and one element I am not duly bothered about is feelings. I prefer the imagery of cold steel roaring through space over the relationship between two characters, but without emotions what is the point of a story at all? Our Child of the Stars by Stephen Cox is a depart...
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![My Heart is a ChainsawStephen Graham Jones]()
HorrorFans of slasher films will recognise many of the rules that make up the genre. The Final Girl will win the day at the last moment when she realises her own strength. This character will be a bastion of good and innocence, but those around her will not. The rocker, goth, cheerleader, geek – all will...
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![Killer on the RoadStephen Graham Jones]()
HorrorLike any genre, the horror genre has shifts in style and tone. I was always a fan of the nasty horror stories of the late 70s and early 80s. Books that saw lots of terrible things happen to good people. In Killer on the Road author Stephen Graham Jones attempts to capture that Grindhouse feel and gi...
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![King ConStephen J. Cannell]()
General FictionThere is nothing quite like a caper movie. A bunch of loveable rogues essentially breaking the law, but it is ok as they are up against even worse rogues. It is not a genre that I have found in a book format too often, can you capture the humour and pace required to make the ride an exciting one? Wh...
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![Stars Like UsStephen K. Stanford]()
Science FictionInvent any innovative technology and it won’t be long until someone finds a way to use it to make money via base entertainment. We are talking wine, woman, and song. The same can be said of future worlds; the Emperor may have thought he had an iron grip on all his subjects, but just below the surfac...
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![Finders KeepersStephen King]()
General FictionStephen King is rightly one of the bestselling genre writers of all time as he is not only prolific, but also the writer of some classics. Like many fans of horror, I read his back catalogue as a teenager and read terrific book after terrific book . Eventually I hit King fatigue, not...
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![The SilencedStephen Lloyd Jones]()
Science FictionMallory Grace had been successfully hiding out in London for some time until she met Obadiah in a seemingly random encounter. Now she's just had to kill someone and if she wants to survive the next few hours she'll probably have to kill again. To survive the night she'll need a miracle. Obadiah Maci...
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![The Glass AbyssSteven Barnes]()
Science FictionI have always enjoyed the Star Wars extended universe novels, be they the Legend set, or the newer relaunched series. The books allow us to explore the Skywalker saga in more depth, but for me the most fun is exploring the deeper cuts. I have read fantastic novels that have delved into the lives of...
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![The Book of MalachiT C Farren]()
Science FictionThe way that humans treat each other in real life is far darker and harrowing than any science fiction book that you can create, but this does not stop some authors from exploring the depths of the human condi tion. If we are only as good as how we treat the weakest in society, the people who inha...
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![Carried AwayT J Derry]()
General FictionThere are different people in life. There are those that love the idea of travelling to a remote Indonesian island with three friends and surfing huge waves, and those that think this is a barmy idea and would rather go on a nice city break or read a book by the pool. What you do not always get is a...
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![Aliens: BishopT R Napper]()
Science FictionWho doesn’t love the Alien series? But which subset are you talking about? Like any science fiction property, once you investigate it and expand upon it, the series begins to fragment. You have Alien , Aliens , Aliens vs Predator , Prometheus , and more. They are all the same universe but split off...
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![Far from the Light of HeavenTade Thompson]()
Science FictionThe locked room scenario is a classic tool in crime fiction that most great authors in that genre have tried at least once. The premise is that someone has apparently been murdered in a room that no one else can get in or out of. This may mean that the killing should have been impossible, or that th...
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![The War WidowTara Moss]()
General FictionAccording to esteemed author Robert Rankin there are only ever three locations in a Private Investigator novel. A bar, the alley behind the bar and a rooftop to have the final showdown on. Billie Walker is no normal PI, she is not an investigator, but an Inquirer. She goes as far as to say that her...
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![Call Him MineTim MacGabhann]()
General FictionThe politicians in Mexico seriously need to have a word with whoever is in charge with promoting their country. This vast and gorgeous nation is increasingly being known more for its hideous crimes. With drug cartels running rife and corrupt police it seems that a fresh murder happens every few minu...
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![The Missing FamilyTim Weaver]()
General FictionEvery summer is the same, inexperienced people think it would be a clever idea to do some wild swimming unaware that under the first foot of warm reservoir water, there are metres of icy water ready to send you into shock. When three members of the Fowler family disappear when out swimming, the wors...
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![Womb CityTlotlo Tsamaase]()
Science FictionAt its best science fiction can be a prism to view the current world’s ills in a more palatable manner. Reading about the destruction of our world in a dystopian future feels one step removed from simply looking out of the window. Like environmental catastrophe, some themes are too powerful to go un...
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![Falling DarkTom Lloyd]()
Science FictionIt should not matter what format you ingest a novel – on paper, on the screen or even via audio, but it does. I do not always get on with audio as I am such a fast reader, even on speed up the narrator cannot keep up with my awful lack of attention. However, the right book works as an audio experien...
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![The Ninja DaughterTori Eldridge]()
General FictionThere are many reasons that an investigator in fiction gets involved in a case. Perhaps they are a Detective, and it is their job, or they are a Private Investigator getting paid. You may stumble across a body and suddenly find yourself drawn into a mystery. All these paths lead to a different motiv...
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![System PreferenceUgo Bienvenu]()
Science FictionAs a Librarian I deal regularly with some of the topics raised in Ugo Bienvenu’s System Preference . I do not have firsthand experience of a robot bringing up my children, but I do know about data; what needs to be stored and what needs to be deleted. Do we just keep it all in the hopes that we can...
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![Maria the WantedV Castro]()
HorrorOne of the benefits of being a vampire is not the insatiable lust for human blood, but the eternal life. It can make meeting other vampires a tad strange as that 25-year-old looking person may actually be 100 years old, or a 1000. They try to act all modern, but they always have that whiff of the Re...
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![The Dark CourtVyvyan Evans]()
Science FictionI imagine there is a dial that an author has when they are writing their book, it spans the gamut of subtle to outrageous. Where do you decide to place your story? Should you keep it lowkey, writing about a world like our own, but with a small tweak? Or do you embrace all that science fiction has to...
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![Fleet LandingWendy Gee]()
General FictionThere are so many angles and directions that you can tackle the crime genre in. Being a police officer is obvious, but you also get Private Investigators, or even the local busybody or vicar solving a crime. I enjoy all these approaches, but if you are drawn to particularly thoughtful and informed c...
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![Side HustleWendy Gee]()
General FictionJournalist have somewhat of a chequered reputation, for every Watergate, there is ten celebrities caught in the act. In recent times, the profession has cleaned up its act a little, but it still relies heavily on eyes on the page or viewing figures. This leads to a competitive market and some journa...
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![Aliens: InfiltratorWeston Ochse]()
Science FictionThe Alien franchise can be seen as one of two things: an awesome series of Space based horror and action stories, or a textbook example of Corporate Malfeasance. The Aliens may be the most reoccurring characters, but the second is not Ripley, it is Weyland Industries. This corporation pops up in var...
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![The New KingdomWilbur Smith]()
General FictionHistoric fiction is often written about exciting characters who have full and adventurous lives. There is no point following someone who's past role in Egyptian culture was to turn the compost heaps four times a day. You want to follow the likes of Hui who goes from middle class to thief, to accused...
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![ShigidiWole Talabi]()
FantasyMost people love a good heist if they are not the ones being robbed. Be it in the movies, a documentary, or even a novel, a heist is all about planning and then it falling apart instantly. You can tell the story of a heist in different ways; do you go deeply into the plan or find out more about the...
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