Jack Corman is failing at life. Jobless, jaded and facing the threat of eviction, he’s also reeling from the death of his father, one-time film director Bob Corman. Back in the eighties, Bob poured his heart and soul into the creation of his 1986 puppet fantasy The Shadow Glass, but the film flopped on release and Bob was never the same again. In the wake of Bob’s death, Jack returns to his decaying childhood home, where he is confronted with the impossible — the puppet heroes from The Shadow Glass are alive, and they need his help. Tipped into a desperate quest to save the world from the more nefarious of his father’s creations, Jack teams up with an excitable fanboy and a spiky studio exec to navigate the labyrinth of his father’s legacy and ignite a Shadow Glass resurgence that could, finally, do Bob proud.  I still remember it vividly; when I was eight years old The Dark Crystal was released. I remember being enthralled and terrified in equal measure. This wasn’t like anything I had ever seen before. There was a darkness in the story that I had never encountered. The good guys were undoubtedly good, but the…

When COVID-19 sweeps through New York City, Jamie Gray is stuck as a dead-end driver for food delivery apps. That is, until Jamie makes a delivery to an old acquaintance, Tom, who works at what he calls “an animal rights organization.” Tom’s team needs a last-minute grunt to handle things on their next field visit. Jamie, eager to do anything, immediately signs on. What Tom doesn’t tell Jamie is that the animals his team cares for are not here on Earth. Not our Earth, at at least. In an alternate dimension, massive dinosaur-like creatures named Kaiju roam a warm and human-free world. They’re the universe’s largest and most dangerous panda and they’re in trouble. It’s not just the Kaiju Preservation Society that’s found its way to the alternate world. Others have, too–and their carelessness could cause millions back on our Earth to die. A quick stop off at Wikipedia reliably informs me the word kaiju literally translates as ‘strange beast’. In a host of genre fiction and blockbuster movies, you’ll often find your common or garden strange beast being viewed as a threat. They stomp around mindlessly destroying entire cities with a breath of nuclear fire or spending their time…

Have you ever wondered if fish can sing? Seen bikinis kill? Been curious about whether or not there’ll be any justice at the end of the world, or if dogs are really psychopomps? Don’t worry if you haven’t, because C.A. Yates has already thought about all these things and more. Her debut collection gathers together most of her work with Fox Spirit Books, plus other outlets, and some new and previously unpublished work under one roof… which, admittedly, makes for some strange bedfellows. That’s how we like it though, right? It’s been a while since I’ve indulged my craving for fiction in the short form. Time to remedy that oversight. Gird your loins people, it’s time to enter the weird and wonderful world of C. A. Yates. This anthology is stuffed to the gunnels with fantastical fiction. Here are some thoughts about just a few of my favourites. How To Be The Perfect Housewife – Sometimes, when the mood takes me, I have to explore the pitch-black corners of my sense of humour. This darkly comic vision, which reads like a demented episode from Tales of the Unexpected, scratched that particular itch. A Kick in The Head – In every…

As an Emperor’s Justice, Sir Konrad Vonvalt always has the last word. His duty is to uphold the law of the empire using whatever tools he has at his disposal: whether it’s his blade, the arcane secrets passed down from Justice to Justice, or his wealth of knowledge of the laws of the empire. But usually his reputation as one of the most revered—and hated—Justices is enough to get most any job done.  When Vonvalt investigates the murder of a noblewoman, he finds his authority being challenged like never before. As the simple case becomes more complex and convoluted, he begins to pull at the threads that unravel a conspiracy that could see an end to all Justices, and a beginning to lawless chaos across the empire. For reasons too complicated to explain, it has been one hell of a week. The only hope of retaining any shred of my tattered sanity was escaping into some truly exceptional genre fiction. The good news is that The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan arrived at the top of my review pile. The early buzz I’ve heard promised something great and I’m glad to report I was not disappointed. I was reminded…

Please note, The One Impossible Labyrinth is the final book in the Jack West Jr series. If you haven’t read the previous six novels then this is not the place for you. There will be minor spoilers. THE END IS HERE Jack West Jr has made it to the Supreme Labyrinth. Now he faces one last race – against multiple rivals, against time, against the collapse of the universe itself – a headlong race that will end at a throne inside the fabled labyrinth. AN IMPOSSIBLE MAZE But the road will be hard. For this is a maze like no other: a maze of mazes. Uncompromising and complex. Demanding and deadly. A CATACLYSMIC CONCLUSION It all comes down to this. For it ends here – now – in the most lethal and dangerous place Jack has encountered in all of his many adventures. And in the face of this indescribable peril, with everything on the line, there is only one thing he can do. Attempt the impossible. In a break from tradition, this review is going to be short and sweet. If you’re here, then chances are good you’ve read the rest of this series. This is the final book…

Outcast is a direct sequel to Inscape. If you haven’t read the first book in this series, then what follows will contain minor spoilers. Consider yourself duly warned! TRUTH. LIES. IT CAN BE HARD TO TELL THEM APART. When a bomb goes off at InTech HQ, everything changes for Tanta’s corporation. Order becomes disorder. Safety becomes danger. Calm becomes chaos. Tanta is tasked with getting to the bottom of the attack before violence and unrest overtake the city. But even though the evidence points towards rival corporation Thoughtfront, Tanta can’t shake the feeling that she’s missing something. There’s a dark secret at the heart of the case, one that will reveal more about her own corporation than Tanta would like. And the closer Tanta gets to the mystery, the more she comes to realise something terrible: Sometimes facing the truth can be the hardest thing of all. Back in January 2021, I had the opportunity to read the rather wonderful science fiction thriller Inscape by Louise Carey. It was great, you should all read it. This week, the sequel, Outcast, is released. Guess what? It’s also great and you should all definitely read it as well. The action picks up…

A newly-fallen angel accused of murder, Cassiel must save an elven girl and face demons—both literal and personal. She knows she isn’t the best person for the job, but she’s the only one who can do it. The police are ill-equipped to handle demons, even with magic, and time is running out. Cassiel and her friends—a disabled human veteran, a reformed elven gangbanger, and an ex-marine orc—face the hardest fight of their lives.  Moving on from the creepy cosmic science fiction from earlier in the week today I’m taking a gander at the new urban fantasy novel Fallen by E. Prybylski. There is an interesting duality in the main character. As an ancient heavenly warrior, Cassiel is imbued with the arts of conflict. It is her purpose, the reason to exist. This is perfectly illustrated at one point when she is presented with a gun for the first time. She has never seen one before but she knows everything about how it works, how to maintain it and how to use it. The flipside to all this deadly knowledge is her innocence and naivety when it comes to absolutely anything else. Initially, Cassiel takes everything quite literally, which does lead…

The night the sky fell, Jack and Nora Abernathy’s daughter vanished in the woods. And Mia’s disappearance broke her parents’ already fragile marriage. Unable to solve her own daughter’s case, Nora lost herself in her work as a homicide detective. Jack became a shell of a man; his promising career as a biologist crumbling alongside the meteor strikes that altered weather patterns and caused a massive drought. It isn’t until five years later that the rains finally return to nourish Seattle. In this period of sudden growth, Jack uncovers evidence of a new parasitic fungus, while Nora investigates several brutal, ritualistic murders. Soon they will be drawn together by a horrifying connection between their discoveries—partnering to fight a deadly contagion as well as the government forces that know the truth about the fate of their daughter. Happy New Year, welcome to 2022 and what promises to be another epically good year for genre fiction. This week we are off to a flying start with The Unfamiliar Garden by Benjamin Percy. Before we get down to it, I should point out that though this is the second book in the series. Knowledge of book one is not required* as references made…

There is a saying amongst the killers of the Midnight Court, when rivals cross paths, blades always follow. Shey Jing is an honourable warrior, Sebastian Schiller a louche, schism touched bounty hunter known as ‘the Mosquito’. They are given a simple choice when they cross paths with the Roach King; work together or die together. But simple isn’t easy when two people hate each other. Thrown together by capricious Fate, the arrachid and the Mosquito must overcome their many, many differences and complete their mission. Only then can they get on with the real business of fighting over who gets to kill the Guild Blade they’re hunting. …and just like that, we’ve reached the final review of 2021. This year has been something else hasn’t it? There have been more than a few emotional ups and downs. My one constant throughout has been the ability to escape into a good book. I’m glad to say we end the year on a high. The latest novel by K T Davies, The Spider and The Fly, has been let loose on an unsuspecting populace and it is an absolute belter. Before we begin, it is worthwhile noting that The Spider and The…

Please note, Ghosts is book four in The Voices series. If you haven’t read the three books that precede this then there will most definitely be spoilers ahead.  Seven years ago, the voices came. Some people could hear and others despised them for it. As death and destruction spread, a ghostly figure was waiting in the shadows. Now the Flitting Man is ready to show his face – and no one is safe. Pilgrim was made for this broken world. He’s chosen his path and will stop at nothing to see it through. Lacey grew up in this changing world. She’s lost almost everything to the Flitting Man, but her fight isn’t over yet. Albus sees this world as others cannot. And the friends that he’s kept safe are facing terrible danger. Addison belongs to a very different world. She might just be the future, if she survives… If you are a regular reader of The Eloquent Page, then you know I normally write long rambling reviews about the books I read. I wax lyrical about how the writing made me feel. What I liked and what I thought of the characters, basically all manner of book-related waffle. I find…

A BURNING PYRE The smell of roasting meat alerts police to squatters in an abandoned London factory. But when they arrive, the place is empty… except for a gruesome pile of scorched human heads. AN ANCIENT RITUAL DS Jamila Patel and DC Jerry Pardoe have solved bizarre crimes before, but nothing as spooky as this. Arcane markings on the factory wall lead them to a terrifying cult in thrall to a Neolithic god. A god who demands the ultimate sacrifice from his followers. A CULT OF CANNIBALS Now Londoners are being abducted off the city streets, to be mutilated, roasted and eaten. Can Patel and Pardoe save the next victim from this hideous fate? Or will they themselves become a human sacrifice? Last week we had a washed-out, alcoholic German hostage negotiator breaking all the rules. This week it’s a barbaric cannibal cult hiding in the dark streets of our nation’s capital. It’s true what they say, the life of a book reviewer is never boring. The good news is that The Shadow People by Graham Masterton is proper old school horror with some serious bite*. As expected, things are pretty damned visceral from the get-go. Within a couple of…

Good morning, Berlin. It’s 7.35 AM. And you’re listening to your biggest nightmare. This morning a dangerous psychopath is playing an old game with new rules. He’s taken six people hostage at Berlin’s leading radio station. Every hour, a telephone will ring somewhere in Berlin. Maybe it will be in your house. Or your office. And if you can’t play the game, a hostage will die. Renowned police psychologist Ira Samin is rushed to the scene, where she is forced to negotiate live on air. With the nation listening, the kidnapper makes his sole demand: find his fiancee and bring her to the station. But she is dead. Burnt to a crisp in a devastating car accident eight months ago. Facing an impossible demand and a police commander who seems hell-bent on keeping secrets, Ira must race against the clock to resolve one of the hardest negotiations of her career. All the while, somewhere in Berlin… a telephone is ringing. From the outside, there is something mesmeric about a hostage situation. It feels almost voyeuristic. We’re repelled but transfixed in the same breath. Classic movies like The Taking of Pelham 123, Dog Day Afternoon and Inside Man capture that rabbit…

Please note, The Fall of Babel is the final novel in The Books of Babel sequence. If you haven’t read what has transpired before it is highly likely the review that follows will contain spoilers. Don’t say you have not been warned! As Marat’s siege engine bores through the Tower, erupting inside ringdoms and leaving chaos in its wake, Senlin can do nothing but observe the mayhem from inside the belly of the beast. Caught in a charade, Senlin desperiately tries to sabotage the rampaging Hod King, even as Marat’s objective grows increasingly clear. The leader of the zealots is bound for the Sphinx’s lair and the unimaginable power it contains. In the city under glass at the Tower’s summit, Adam discovers a utopia where everyone inexplicably knows the details of his past. As Adam unravels the mystery of his fame, he soon discovers the crowning ringdom conceals a much darker secret. Aboard the State of Art, Edith and her crew adjust to the reality that Voleta has awoken from death changed. She seems to share more in common with the Red Hand now than her former self. While Edith wars for the soul of the young woman, a greater…