NextRead

Well it’s what? The 11th or 12th of August so this is a bit late. I had hoped to get it done before I went away for the week but I kept finding more and more books I like the look/sound of. So here in no particular order is a non-exhaustive selection of UK book releases for July.

Title: Zoe’s Tale: An Old Man’s War Novel
Author: John Scalzi
Publisher: Tor
Release Date: 01 July 2008

Synopsis:

How do you tell your part in the biggest tale in history?

I ask because it’s what I have to do. I’m Zoe Boutin Perry: A colonist stranded on a deadly pioneer world. Holy icon to a race of aliens. A player (and a pawn) in a interstellar chess match to save humanity, or to see it fall. Witness to history. Friend. Daughter. Human. Seventeen years old.

Everyone on Earth knows the tale I am part of. But you don’t know my tale: How I did what I did — how I did what I had to do — not just to stay alive but to keep you alive, too. All of you. I’m going to tell it to you now, the only way I know how: not straight but true, the whole thing, to try make you feel what I felt: the joy and terror and uncertainty, panic and wonder, despair and hope. Everything that happened, bringing us to Earth, and Earth out of its captivity. All through my eyes.

It’s a story you know. But you don’t know it all.

Comment:

Jon Scalzi is a name I hadn’t heard of until a copy of The Ghost Brigades turned up and now I’m eager to have a read as I’ve been hearing about him everywhere.

Links:

SF Reviews.net – Review
LA Times – Review
Blood of the Muse – Review
Technoprobe - Review
A Dribble of Ink – Review of The Ghost Brigades

Title: Laugh Lines
Author: Ben Bova
Publisher: Baen Books,U.S (Import)
Release Date: 01 July 2008

Synopsis:

Ben Bova, best-selling and award-winning author of the “Grand Tour” and “Asteroid Wars” series, takes a sardonic look at the humorous possibilities of future technology. The Starcrossed: Bill Oxnard, a young technological genius, had perfected true three-dimensional television, making ordinary TV obsolete. He thought he would be rich and famous-but he hadn’t realized how deranged the executives running the industry were; nor what sort of programs they were planning to broadcast using the new process in the maniacal quest for ratings. Cyberbooks: Carl Lewis has a dream-to make books accessible and affordable to every person in the country, and thinks his “cyberbook,” about as large and as cheap as a pocket calculator, will make it possible for anyone to download books directly and cheaply. But he has no idea what he’s about to get into, nor does the lovely but naive Loai Tashkajian. Will they survive this foray into the cut-throat world of big publishing? And just who is suddenly murdering all those nice elderly people on the streets of New York, anyway? These two full-length novels of twistedly comic, but very possible futures, plus several shorter works, add up to a generous volume of futuristic fun and hilarious high-tech.

Comment:

Ben Bova is one of those sci-fi authors that I really should read and I have a bit of a soft spot for short stories so this might be a good mix.

Links:

Disappointingly I couldn’t find any links for this one. That might be a first.

Title: The Summoning
Author: Kelly Armstrong
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: 03 July 08

Synopsis:
The first book in the Darkest Powers trilogy - a brand new series by bestselling author Kelley Armstrong. All Chloe Saunders wants is a life like any normal teenager - the chance to get through school, make friends, and maybe meet a boy. But when she starts seeing ghosts, she knows that life will never be normal again. Soon ghosts are everywhere, demanding her attention. When Chloe finally breaks down, she’s admitted to a group home for disturbed kids. At first Lyle House seems okay, but as she gets to know the other patients - charming Simon and his ominous, unsmiling brother Derek; obnoxious Tori; and Rae, who has a ‘thing’ for fire - Chloe begins to realise that something strange and sinister binds them all together, and it isn’t your usual ‘problem kid’ behaviour. And they’re about to discover that Lyle House is not your usual group home, either …

Comment:
Kelly Armstrong is another of those strong Urban Fantasy author that’s getting a great track record. I’ve read one or two of hers and they were an enjoyable read. I like the idea of this one. I have a thing for houses as characters.

Links:

Graham’s Fantasy Book Review - Review

Love Vampires - Review

Title: Wolfblade
Author: Jennifer Fallon
Publisher: 3 Jul 2008
Release Date: Orbit

Synopsis:

Marla Wolfblade of Hythria is determined to restore her family’s great name, but conspirators surround her: the Sorcerers’ Collective, the Patriots - even members of her own family. She must make sure her son Damin lives to be old enough to restore the Wolfblade name to its former glory. Elezaar the Dwarf is a small man with big secrets - but that doesn’t matter to Marla Wolfblade. Her brother is the High Prince of Hythria, and, in this fiercely patriarchal society, her fate will be decided on his whim. She needs someone politically astute to guide her through the maze of court politics - and Elezaar knows more than he is willing to admit. As Elezaar teaches Marla the Rules of Gaining and Wielding Power, Marla starts on the road to becoming a tactician and a wily diplomat - but will that be enough to keep her son alive?

Comment:

What can I say. I like the idea of a Sorcerer’s Collective.
Links:

The Specusphere – Review
TheBookbag.co.uk – Review

Title: Bad Monkeys
Author: Matt Ruff
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Release Date: 7July 2008

Synopsis:

Jane Charlotte has been arrested for murder. During questioning, she tells the police that she is a member of a secret organisation. Her division, the Bad Monkeys, is an execution squad, determined to rid the world of evil people. But the man she has just killed was not on the target list. As her story becomes more bizarre the question becomes: Is Jane lying, crazy - or playing a different game altogether?

Title: The Dog of the North
Author: Tim Stretton
Publisher: Macmillan New Writing
Release Date: 4 Jul 2008

Synopsis:
It is winter on the lawless plains of the Emmenrule. En route to her wedding in the fortified city of Croad, the beautiful Lady Isola is kidnapped. What is worse, her captor is the infamous Beauceron. But, ruthless as he may be, Beauceron is no ordinary brigand: it is his life’s ambition to capture Croad itself - and he will stop at nothing to achieve it. Mondia, though, is a continent of many stories, and in Croad, a young man named Arren has been taken under the wing of the city’s ruler, Lord Thaume. Although of low birth, Arren is destined to become a knight of valour and renown. But as his fortunes rise, so those of his childhood friend Eilla fall. Beauceron has returned with his human plunder to his home - the exquisite frozen city of Mettingloom. There, the imperious Isola finds herself reassessing her former loyalties as she struggles to adapt to her new life. Beauceron, meanwhile, is manoeuvring to raise an army. He is determined to defeat his enemies, both inside and outside Mettingloom - and to capture the city he loathes. But what is the source of Beauceron’s obsession with Croad? Can Arren reconcile his youthful ambitions with his growing feelings for Eilla?

And just who is the Dog of the North? Tim Stretton’s debut novel is a spellbinding tale of loyalty and betrayal, homeland and exile, set in a brilliantly imagined world of political intrigue, sorcery, and warfare on an epic scale.

Comment:

I think I read a good review of this somewhere but I can’t for the life of me remember where!

Title: Empire in Black and Gold
Author: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Publisher: Tor
Release Date: 4 July 2008

Synopsis
Seventeen years ago Stenwold witnessed the Wasp Empire storming the city of Myna in a brutal war of conquest. Since then he has preached vainly against this threat in his home city of Collegium, but now the Empire is on the march, with its spies and its armies everywhere, and the Lowlands lie directly in its path. All the while, Stenwold has been training youthful agents to fight the Wasp advance, and the latest recruits include his niece, Che, and his mysterious ward, Tynisa. When his home is violently attacked, he is forced to send them ahead of him and, hotly pursued, they fly by airship to Helleron, the first city in line for the latest Wasp invasion.Stenwold and Che are Beetle-kinden, one of many human races that take their powers and inspiration each from a totem insect, but he also has allies of many breeds: Mantis, Spider, Ant, with their own particular skills. Foremost is the deadly Mantis-kinden warrior, Tisamon, but other very unlikely allies also join the cause.

As things go from bad to worse amid escalating dangers, Stenwold learns that the Wasps intend to use the newly completed railroad between Helleron and Collegium to launch a lightning strike into the heart of the Lowlands. Then he gathers all of his agents to force a final showdown in the engine yard …

Comment:
I’d love to read this but I’m not sure I’d ever finish it as it is a little long and it’s about bugs… but lots of people have so can I get over my bug phobia?
Links:

Fantasy Book Critic – Review
Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review – Review
SFX – Author Interview

Title: The Alchemy Of Stone
Author: Ekaterina Sedia
Publisher: Prime Books
Release Date: 4 Jul 2008

Synopsis
Mattie, an intelligent automaton skilled in the use of alchemy, finds herself caught in the middle of a conflict between gargoyles, the Mechanics, and the Alchemists. With the old order quickly giving way to the new, Mattie discovers powerful and dangerous secrets - secrets that can completely alter the balance of power in the city of Ayona. However, this doesn’t sit well with Loharri, the Mechanic who created Mattie and still has the key to her heart - literally! A steampunk novel of romance, political intrigue, and alchemy, “The Alchemy of Stone” represents a new and intriguing direction by the author of the critically-acclaimed “The Secret History of Moscow”.

Comment:
I will order this along with The Secret History… next time I’m on Amazon. Robert @ is really raving about these

Links:

Fantast Book Review - review

Title: Infoquake
Author: David Louis Edelman
Publisher: Solaris
Release Date: 07 July 2008

Synopsis
Natch is a master of biologics, the programming of the human body. He’s clawed and scraped his way to the top of the biologics market using little more than his wits. His sudden notoriety has brought him to the attention of the owner of a mysterious new technology called MultiReal. Natch must now accomplish the impossible, understand this strange new technology, run through the product development cycle, and prepare MultiReal for release to the public - all in three days. Meanwhile, hanging over everything is the spectre of the infoquake, a lethal burst of energy that’s disrupting the biologic networks and threatening to send the world crashing back into the Dark Ages.

Comment:
I’m glad that Solaris picked this one up, they’ve also picked up Simon R. Green’s Nightside Series,which I’m really really excited about. It’ll fill a gap until the next Mike Carey book’s out ;). Anyway, Infoquake and its sequel have had excellent feedback and it’s a sci-fi book that I really want to read.

Links:

Grasping the Wind - Review
Big Dumb Object - Review
SF Signal - Review
Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist - Review
SFFWorld - Review
Velcro City Tourist Board - Review

Title: The Da-Da-De-Da-Da Code
Author: Robert Rankin
Publisher: Gollancz
Release Date: 10 Jul 2008

Synopsis:
Robert Rankin, the world’s Master of Far Fetched Fiction, takes us on a roller coaster ride in his brand-new bestseller, which focuses on the biggest conspiracy theory in the world, ever. Here, in the Da-Da-Di-Da-Da Code, you will find the music of the angels - and the music of the devil. Aliens, flying saucers from hell, the Multiverse, the Illuminati: every wacky, way-out conspiracy theory you’ve ever heard: they’re all here, wrapped into a plot that will leave Dan Brown fans breathless, Michael Shea readers stupified, Raymond Khoury lovers incredulous …Robert Rankin: the original and the best

Comment:

I started reading Robert Rankin when I was much much younger and I hovered up almost all of his books and then at Sprout Mask Replica I stopped. I keep wondering what it would be like to read more Rankin but I keep holding off. Some authors probably have a time and place and Rankin has passed.

Links:

SF Site - Review
Faster than Light - Podcast Interview

Title: The Twilight Herald
Author: Tom Lloyd
Publisher: Gollancz
Release Date: 10 Jul 2008

Synopsis
After the shattering events of THE STORMCALLER, the eyes of the Land are on the minor city of Scree, which could soon be obliterated as the new Lord of the Farlan plots his revenge against Scree’s rulers. Suffering under an unnatural summer drought and surrounded by volatile mercenary armies that may be its only salvation, the city is a strange sanctuary for a fugitive abbot to flee to, but he is only the first of many to be drawn there. Kings and princes, lords and monsters; all walk the sun-scorched streets while the evenings witness the performance of cruel and subversive plays that work their way into the hearts of the audience. Elite soldiers clash after dark and the city begins to tear itself apart as the sanity of its citizens crumbles, yet even chaos can be scripted. There is a malevolent will at work in Scree and one that has a lesson for the entire Land; nations can be manipulated, prophecies perverted, and Gods denied. Nothing lies beyond the reach of a shadow, and no matter how great a man’s power, there some things he cannot be protected from.

Comment:

Tom Lloyd is a debut author from Gollancz, who doesn’t seemed to have had the spotlight of some of the other debuts like Joe Abercrombie and Scott Lynch but I’ve been hearing good things none the less. I’m not sure that non-heavy magical fantasy is really my thing but I’m always willing to be convinced.

Links:

Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review - Review
Tom Lloyd’s MySpace
Emerald City - Review
Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review - The Stormcatcher (prequel) review

Title: I, Zombie
Author: Al Ewing
Publisher: Abaddon
Release Date: 15 June 2008

Synopsis

My name is John Doe. I’ve been dead for ten years. I have no heartbeat, no breath, no smell, just cold, clammy flesh animated by something I don’t understand. So I sell my dead flesh to the highest bidder. If the price is right, I’ll kill for you, steal for you, or save your life for you. There’s no mystery you can’t hire me to solve…apart from this one. The bent copper torn apart in his flat by something not quite human. The hidden rooms underneath the Tower of London. The hollow-eyed boxer, Morse, and strange, strange Mr Smith with his head full of the future. And the secret they found. The secret of who I am. A secret so big and black and terrible that it changed everything we thought we knew about existence. And now I’m the only person who can stop the end of all life on this planet…I, Zombie!

Comment:

I just like the sound of this one.

Links:

Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review - Review
Den of Geek - Review

Title: City at the End of Time
Author: Greg Bear
Publisher: Gollancz
Release Date: 17 Jul 2008

Synopsis:

Do you dream of a city at the end of time? In a time like the present, on a world that may or may not be our own, three young people-Ginny, Jack, and Daniel-dream of a fabulous, decadent city in the distant future: the Kalpa. The dreams of Ginny and Jack overtake them without warning, leaving their bodies behind while carrying their consciousnesses forward, into the minds of two inhabitants of the Kalpa-a would-be warrior, Jebrassy, and an inquisitive explorer, Tiadba-who have been genetically retroengineered to possess qualities of ancient humanity. In turn, the dreams of Tiadba and Jebrassy carry them back, into the minds of Jack and Ginny. As for Daniel: he dreams of an empty darkness–all his future holds. But more than dreams link Ginny, Jack, and Daniel. They are fate-shifters, born with the ability to skip like stones across the surface of the fifth dimension, inhabiting alternate versions of themselves. And they are each guardians of an object whose origins and purpose are unknown, a gnarled, stony artifact called a sum-runner that persists unchanged through all versions of time. They can save the future, but they are being hunted down.

Comment:

I’ve read Darwin’s Radio by Greg Bear and love that.  I’ve just read that, ‘It represents a return to the sort of big and imaginative science-fiction epic that his many fans particularly covet.’ A good enough reason to try him out again.

Title: Flood
Author: Stephen Baxter
Publisher: Gollancz
Release Date: 17 Jul 2008

Synopsis
Next year. Sea levels begin to rise. The change is far more rapid than any climate change predictions; metres a year. Within two years London, only 15 metres above the sea, is drowned. New York follows, the Pope gives his last address from the Vatican, Mecca disappears beneath the waves. Where is all the water coming from? Scientists estimate that the earth was formed with seas 30 times in volume their current levels. Most of that water was burnt off by the sun but some was locked in the earth’s mantle. For the tip of Everest to disappear beneath the waters would require the seas to triple their volume. That amount of water is still much less than 1% of the earth’s volume. And somehow it is being released. The world is drowning. The biblical flood has returned. And the rate of increase is building all the time. Mankind is on the run, heading for high ground. Nuclear submarines prowl through clouds of corpses rising from drowned cities, populations are decimated and finally the dreadful truth is known. Before 50 years have passed there will be nowhere left to run. FLOOD tells the story of mankind’s final years on earth.The stories of a small group of people caught up in the struggle to survive are woven into a tale of unimaginable global disaster.

And the hope offered for a unlucky few by a second great ark …

Comment:

Big concept sci-fi from a big concept master. Need I say more?

Links:

SFFWorld - review
the guardian - review
the times - review
the wertzone - review

Title: The Wingless Boy
Author: Jay Amory
Publisher: Gollancz
Release Date: 24 July 2008

Synopsis:
Gathered together in this superb value omnibus are the first two books in The Clouded World series. Written by debut novelist Jay Amory, these are fast-paced, thrilling fantasy adventures. Imagine a city high in the sky comprised of pristine white spires, bathed in glorious golden sunlight - a city above the cloud layer, looking down on the ever-changing cloud formations below. From up here, the worst thunderstorms are little but flashes of light amongst the cloud cover, their force directed away from the cities and the tiny two- and four-seater aircraft its inhabitants use for travel. The world below the clouds may be disturbed, but in the tranquil world above, populated by winged people, life is good. Life isn’t so good for Azreal Gabrielson. He’s one of the Airborn too. With a stretch and a beat of their eight-foot wings his people can flit effortlessly around their cities, living a life of airy ease and beauty …and in this world Az is an oddity, a painfully isolated exception: Az Gabrielson is a wingless boy. And he’s about to be sent on a mission.

Comment:

I like the idea of a boy who’s special by not having wings… I haven’t heard much about it though. Any one else?

Title: Escapement
Author: Jay Lake
Publisher: Tor Books
Release Date: 25 Jul 2008

Synopsis:
Paolina Barthes is a young woman of remarkable intellectual ability - a genius on the level of Isaac Newton. But she has grown up in isolation, in a small village of shipwreck survivors, on the Wall in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. She knows little of the world, but she knows that England rules it, and must be the home of people who possess the learning that she so desperately wants. And so she sets off to make her way off the Wall, not knowing that she will bring her astounding, unschooled talent for sorcery to the attention of those deadly factions who would use or kill her for it.

Comment: Here’s another book that I’m excited to see it’s UK release. Again I’ve been hearing some great stuff. Ooo, and the semi-prequel Mainspring was also out in paperback this month.

Links:

SFSignal - Review
Fantasy Book Critic - Review

Title: A Good and Happy Child
Author: Justin Evans
Publisher: Vintage
Release Date: 03 July 2008

Synopsis
George Davies has a problem: he can’t bring himself to hold his newborn son. Desperate to save his dwindling marriage and redeem himself as a father and husband, George visits a therapist and begins to delve into the childhood memories that may be the root of his issues. Ten-year-old George, in the wake of his father’s harrowing and unexpected death, is experiencing ominous visions - some friendly, others outright terrifying. Unable to control those visions, George starts to display erratic behaviour and eventually becomes violent. When a mysterious murder is ultimately revealed, the stakes are suddenly much higher for him and his family. Are the visions just the product of a grief-stricken child’s overactive imagination? Symptoms of mental illness? Or is ten-year-old George possessed by a darker, more malevolent force?

Comment:

There are some books that you find in bookshops and immediately have to by. This was one of those choices. I’m fascinated by the battle between darkness and light.

Links:

The Independent - Review

Title: Murder Most Fab
Author: Julian Clary
Publisher: Ebury Press
Release Date: 03 July 2008

Synopsis
Hello, I’m Johnny Debonair and this is my book - “Murder Most Fab”. Buy it. You won’t regret it. Everything that has happened so publicly is explained. Of course, I’d prefer it if you remember me as I was at my height, before the past caught up with me so spectacularly - TV’s Mr Friday Night with an enviable lifestyle and the nation at my feet. My fame might have looked easy to you at the time, but getting to the top of the celebrity ladder is hard work. It took talent, beauty, commitment and, uniquely in my case, a number of unfortunate deaths. If we were being picky you might describe me as a serial killer, but I really don’t see myself that way. It sounds trite to say ‘one thing led to another’ but it’s true.As you’ll discover I owe something of my rise and my fall to three individuals: my mother, an eccentric country girl who taught me exhibitionism by hanging naked from the clocktower of Hythe town hall; Catherine, my best friend, then partner in business - a devil in red heels, who, in her clear Essex accent, taught me how to ‘look after number one’; and, Timothy, who broke my heart and caused me to seek refuge in sex, money and celebrity.

But in the end you have to take responsibility for your own actions. No one was forcing me, were they? I hope you, the public, can forgive me and enjoy this sordid tale for what it is - my final entertainment for you.

Comment: I gave this 7/10 in my review last year. I loved the writing and I’m looking forward to what Julian Clary writes next.

Title: Crime
Author: Irvine Welsh
Publisher: Jonathan Cape
Release Date: 03 July 2008

Synopsis
Now bereft of both youth and ambition, Detective Inspector Ray Lennox is recovering from a mental breakdown induced by occupational stress and cocaine abuse, and a particularly horrifying child sex murder case back in Edinburgh. On vacation in Florida, his fiancee Trudi is only interested in planning their forthcoming wedding, and a bitter argument sees a deranged Lennox cast adrift in strip-mall Florida. He meets two women in a seedy bar, ending up at their apartment for a coke binge interrupted by two menacing strangers. After the ensuing brawl, Lennox finds himself alone with Tianna, the terrified ten-year-old daughter of one of the women, and a sheet of instructions that make him responsible for her immediate safety.Lennox takes her across the state to an exclusive marina on the Gulf of Mexico, and quickly suspects that he has stumbled into a hornet’s nest: a gang of organized paedophiles, every bit as threatening as the monster that haunted him back in Edinburgh. His priority is to protect the abused girl, but can the edgy Lennox trust his own instincts?

And can he negotiate her inappropriate sexuality, as well as his own mental fragility, while still trying to get to grips with the Edinburgh murder and the emotions it unleashes in him? A novel about the corruption and abuse of the human soul and the possibilities of redemption, “Crime” is a thrilling journey into the bright glamour of the Sunshine State and a seething underworld of utter darkness.

Comment:

There are some writers that you should just read because they profiles are so high. Welsh is one of them. I will read something someday.

Title: The Broken World
Author: Tim Etchells
Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd
Release Date: 03 July 2008

Synopsis
Writing an online ‘walk-through’ to a computer game of Borgesian complexity can take up a lot of time. So much so, it can be difficult to see things turning sour in the real world. As our narrator grapples with his players’ guide, life starts to intrude in troublesome ways. Things aren’t going so well with the live-in girlfriend and the job preparing ‘cooked circular food’ is getting increasingly hard to stomach. To top it all, the best friend is clearly depressed and acting weirder by the day. But despite all this, his attention is focussed on The Broken World - an engrossing, possibly addictive, adventure that takes him from town to town in a struggle with zombies, agents, puzzles and mysteries. It’s not clear which of these worlds - the real or the online - is the more challenging, or where survival tips are more urgently needed. What is clear is that he must work out solutions to problems involving life and love and happiness, not just in The Broken World, but in the real one too.

Comment:

Ooooh this sounds good.

Links:

Big Dumb Object - review

Title: Teatro Grottesco
Author: Thomas Ligotti

Publisher: Virgin Books
Release Date: 10 July 2008

Synopsis
Thomas Ligotti is often cited as the most curious and remarkable figure in horror literature since H. P. Lovecraft. His work is noted by critics for its display of an exceptionally grotesque imagination and accomplished prose style. In his stories, Ligotti has followed a literary tradition that began with Edgar Allan Poe, portraying characters that are outside of anything that might be called normal life, depicting strange locales far off the beaten track, and rendering a grim vision of human existence as a perpetual nightmare.The stories collected in “Teatro Grottesco” feature tormented individuals who play out their doom in various odd little towns for which Ligotti is noted as well as in dark sectors frequented by sinister and often blackly comical eccentrics. The cycle of narratives that includes the title work of this collection, for instance, introduces readers to a freakish community of artists who encounter demonic perils that ultimately engulf their lives. These are selected examples of the forbidding array of persons and places that compose the fiction of Thomas Ligotti.

Comment:

I really, really need to read more horror. I’m reading and loving Heart Shaped-Box by Joe Hill at the minute and it’s a good scare so far.

Title: Sweetheart
Author: Chelsea Cain
Publisher: Macmillan
Release Date: 18 Jul 2008

Synopsis
‘Turn yourself in,’ Archie said. He pressed the fingers of one hand into his right temple, trying to slow the pulse of blood that beat against his skin. Susan was taking notes, recording everything. He didn’t care. ‘I’ll do anything you want,’ he said. ‘You know what I want.’ She let that linger in the air between them. ‘Tell me,’ he said. ‘I want you,’ Gretchen said. ‘I’ve always wanted you.’ Investigative journalist Susan Ward is about to print the story of her career - proving long-rumoured allegations about a respected senator’s affair with a young girl.But the day before her story is published, the senator is killed in a car crash. Detective Archie Sheridan is trying to rebuild a life with his family. But he remains haunted by beautiful, ruthless serial killer Gretchen Lowell - the woman who tortured him then saved his life. Now she is safely behind bars, Archie is determined to stay away from her. And when a mysterious child leads him to two bodies in Forest Park, Archie must focus his attention on the case. But then the unthinkable happens: Gretchen escapes.

The only thing this gorgeous psychopath cares about is Archie - and with her on the loose, everyone he loves has become a target.

Comment:

Cheslea Cain wrote what was one of the books of the year last year in my opinion with Heartsick. I’m curious to see where she takes Gretchen and Archie’s relationship next.

Title: Season of the Witch
Author: Natasha Mostert
Publisher: Bantam Books
Release Date: 14 July 2008

Synopsis
Gabriel Blackstone has an unusual talent. A computer hacker by trade, he is also able to enter the minds of others. But he uses his gift only reluctantly - until he is contacted by an ex-lover who begs him to find her step-son, last seen months earlier in the company of two sisters. And so Gabriel visits Monk House, a place where time seems to stand still, and where the rooms are dominated by the coded symbol of a cross and circle. As winter closes in, Gabriel becomes increasingly bewitched by the house, and by its owners, the beautiful and mysterious Monk sisters. But even as he falls in love, he knows that one of them is a deadly killer. But which one? And what is the secret they are so determined to protect?

Comment:

More magic!

There are probably load I’ve missed and this list could go on forever but I hope it’s given you one or two books you’d like to buy. I would have loved to have made the comments longer but I’m running out of steam fast.

As this is a little late you should be able to buy them all now.