When out-of-shape IT technician Roen woke up and started hearing voices in his head, he naturally assumed he was losing it. He wasn’t  He now has a passenger in his brain – an ancient alien life-form called Tao, whose race crash-landed on Earth before the first fish crawled out of the oceans. Now split into two opposing factions – the peace-loving, but under-represented Prophus, and the savage, powerful Genjix – the aliens have been in a state of civil war for centuries. Both sides are searching for a way off-planet, and the Genjix will sacrifice the entire human race, if that’s what it takes. Meanwhile, Roen is having to train to be the ultimate secret agent. Like that’s going to end up well… Any book that begins with a tense rooftop standoff swiftly followed by an unexpectedly dramatic escape has got to be worth a shot as far as I’m concerned. Spy type thrills and escapades are always a great deal of fun. The trickiest question though is how exactly do you make spies more exciting? Let’s be honest, they are quite exciting already. The answer, which The Lives of Tao successfully confirms, is to add two groups of ancient…

Keep repeating, it’s only a story, it’s only a story, it’s only a story… Welcome to Number One Oval Lane, the last house at the top of the hill. Robert Mitchell thought he lived there with his wife and children, but he doesn’t. Not anymore. A new family—the Corbeaus—has taken up residence, and they are on a deadly mission for mischief. Soon Robert will understand the true nature of ownership, and he will discover that real life is nothing more than a story…a horror story. We’re playing games now. We’re just beginning. Robert Mitchell is an everyman character; he could quite easily be you or me. I’m sure anyone could empathise with the situation he finds himself in. You get the feeling that he’s almost ill-suited to modern life. He has been ground down at every turn and has nearly reached his breaking point. He just wants to be left alone to live his life in peace, but the world wants to intrude and deny him that simple pleasure at every turn. Each time he thinks that things are taking a turn for the better something always manages to come along and ruin that feeling of calm. Then on the other…

Born and raised in Chicago, Detective John Lynch might just be about to die there too. Because one dark secret might be about to tear a whole city apart. A pious old woman steps out of the Sacred Heart confessional and is shot dead by a sniper with what at first appears to be a miraculous and impossible shot. Colonel Tech Weaver dispatches a team from Langley to put the shooter and anyone else who gets in the way in a body bag before a half century of national secrets are revealed. Detective John Lynch, the son of a murdered Chicago cop, finds himself cast into an underworld of political corruption and guilty secrets, as he tries to uncover the truth about what s really going on before another innocent citizen gets killed. In some weird cosmic synchronicity, I finish one book about a killer loose on the streets of Chicago only to pick up the next from my review pile and discover that it’s a book about a killer loose on the streets of Chicago. No need to panic though, the good news is that The Shining Girls and Penance could not be more different. Both are fun reads but, I’m…

Chicago 1931. Harper Curtis, a violent drifter, stumbles on a house with a secret as shocking as his own twisted nature – it opens onto other times. He uses it to stalk his carefully chosen ‘shining girls’ through the decades – and cut the spark out of them. He’s the perfect killer. Unstoppable. Untraceable. He thinks… Chicago, 1992. They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Tell that to Kirby Mazrachi, whose life was shattered after a brutal attempt to murder her. Still struggling to find her attacker, her only ally is Dan, an ex-homicide reporter who covered her case and now might be falling in love with her. As Kirby investigates, she finds the other girls – the ones who didn’t make it. The evidence is … impossible. But for a girl who should be dead, impossible doesn’t mean it didn’t happen… Seems it’s time for another one of those book related confessions. I’ve heard good things about Moxy Land, and apparently Zoo City is a bit special as well, but with the exception of a single short story I’ve never actually read any of Lauren Beukes work before. This embarrassing admission leads me to the following question – why…

Sometime guest reviewer, Sam Strong (@MrSamStrong) recently interviewed author Myke Cole (@MykeCole) on behalf of The Eloquent Page. Before I hand you over, I’d just like to thank to Myke and Sam for the great interview. Thanks guys. ~  ~  ~  ~ Arguably the best known of all role playing game (RPG) systems, Dungeons & Dragons has spawned many clones, transferred itself into every kind of media imaginable and has become nothing short of legendary. The other week, Pat Robertson, chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network, claimed that D&D has literally destroyed lives. In response to this, Myke Cole, author of Control Point and Fortress Frontier (and hopefully the next one in the series real soon), tweeted and people responded: This struck a chord with me. The idea of imagination, focused through an RPG, as a transforming force is very powerful. I dropped Myke an email and asked if he’d mind answering a few follow up questions. Here are his responses: SS: What was your first RPG experience? MC: Playing the old basic D&D boxed set with my brother in my mom’s basement. Yes, it’s true, I actually played D&D in my mom’s basement. My brother didn’t have anyone to play with,…

Built up over the millennia, layer upon layer, the City is ancient and vast. Over the centuries, it has sprawled beyond its walls, the cause of constant war with neighbouring peoples and kingdoms, laying waste to what was once green and fertile. And at the heart of the City resides the emperor. Few have ever seen him. Those who have remember a man in his prime and yet he should be very old. Some speculate that he is no longer human, others wonder if indeed he ever truly was. And a small number have come to a desperate conclusion: that the only way to stop the ceaseless slaughter is to end the emperor’s unnaturally long life. From the rotting, flood-ruined catacombs beneath the City where the poor struggle to stay alive to the blood-soaked fields of battle where so few heroes survive, these rebels pin their hopes on one man. A man who was once the emperor’s foremost general. A man, a revered soldier, who could lead an uprising and unite the City. But a man who was betrayed, imprisoned, tortured and is now believed to be dead… There is a corruption that reaches to the very core of The…

Time for another guest review, so without any further ado, it’s over to The Eloquent Page’s resident expert on all things werewolf, MadNad, for her thoughts on High Moor 2. The people of High Moor are united in horror at the latest tragedy to befall their small town. As dawn breaks, the town is left to count the cost and mourn its dead, while breathing a collective sigh of relief. John Simpson, the apparent perpetrator of the horrific murders, is in police custody. The nightmare is over. Isn’t it? Detective Inspector Phil Fletcher and his partner, Constable Olivia Garner, have started to uncover some unsettling evidence during their investigations of John Simpson’s past – evidence that supports his impossible claims: that he is a werewolf, and will transform on the next full moon to kill again. However a new threat is now lurking in the shadows. A mysterious group have arrived in High Moor, determined to keep the existence of werewolves hidden. And they will do anything to protect their secret. Anything at all. As Mr Cheesecake won the toss and got to review Graeme Reynolds’ first book in this series, High Moor, it seemed only fair that I got first…

When a rotting torso is discovered in the vault of New Scotland Yard, it doesn’t take Dr Thomas Bond, Police Surgeon, long to realise that there is a second killer at work in the city where, only a few days before, Jack the Ripper brutally murdered two women in one night. Though just as gruesome, this is the hand of a colder killer, one who lacks Jack’s emotion. And, as more headless and limbless torsos find their way into the Thames, Dr Bond becomes obsessed with finding the killer. As his investigations lead him into an unholy alliance, he starts to wonder: is it a man who has brought mayhem to the streets of London, or a monster? Earlier this week @Madnad took a look at Poison by Sarah Pinborough. Only two days later and I’m reviewing another new release from her. We find ourselves asking the tricky question – Is it possible to achieve the double and have two great Sarah Pinborough books released within the space of one week?* When it comes to darker fiction there is something wonderfully evocative about Victorian London isn’t there? Foggy streets and dark lonely alleyways feel like the ideal habitat for a sadistic killer. At…

Time to kick off what I’m tentatively calling “Sarah Pinborough Appreciation Week” here at The Eloquent Page. I can think of no better way to begin than with a guest review so without any further nonsense, let me hand you over to my better half @MadNad.  It’s Snow White, but not as you know her… Take a wicked queen, a handsome prince, a beautiful princess, and a poisoned apple… … and now read the true story of Snow White, told the way it always should have been… Like a lot of adults, I don’t usually read fairy tales. However, due to the popularity of shows like Grimm and Once Upon A Time, fairy tales are now once again in vogue and are being read not only by children. In the first of what is a trilogy of adult fairy tales, Sarah Pinborough has written a version of Snow White that has enough elements in it to appear familiar to those of you who read this as a child, but is retold in a way that will open your eyes to questions that your younger self never knew it had. The story is set in a timeless fantasy world of multiple…

On crowded streets, in the town squares and half-empty tower blocks, the lonely and lost try to make a connection. A weary gumshoe pounds the reeking sidewalks, seeking someone he knows he will never find. Violence loiters in blind alleys, eager to embrace the unsuspecting and the reckless. Lovers are doomed to follow treacherous paths that were laid long before they first met. This city is no ordinary place. Here, the underworld has surfaced; dreams melt into reality and memories are imagined before they are lived. Ghosts and monsters, refugees and travellers – the voices of Communion Town clamour to tell the stories of the city, stories that must be heard to be believed. The first thing that struck me about Communion Town was the premise. It’s an interesting idea, bringing together a collection of ten short stories that attempt to capture the heart and soul of an entire city. Each story focuses on different people at different times in the city’s history, but all trying to offer some insight into the place that they inhabit. The big question though, is does it actually work? Well, for the most part yes, it does. I’ll come back to that later. First…

Sometimes it’s nice to be able to take a break from my regular reading schedule. I stick almost exclusively to genre fiction, but I also like to be able to mix things up from time to time. When the following couple of books popped through my letterbox I realized I could have my cake and eat it. It’s time to take a look at some myths and legends, and learn the fact behind the fiction. Jason and the Argonauts by Neil Smith The voyage of Jason and the Argonauts and their hunt for the Golden Fleece is one of the most enduringly popular of all of the Ancient Greek heroic myths. Accepting the quest in order to regain his kingdom, Jason assembled a crew of legendary heroes, including Hercules, Orpheus, Atalanta, and the twins Castor and Polydeuces. With this band of warriors and demi-gods, Jason set sail in the Argo on a journey across the known world. During their quest, the Argonauts faced numerous challenges including the Harpies, the Clashing Rocks, the Sirens, Talos, the bronze giant, the sleepless dragon that guarded the fleece, and, of course, the fickle will of the gods of Olympus.    Like a lot of people,…

It is the Black Dawn, a time of environmental apocalypse, the earth wracked and dying. It is the Bright Day, a time long generations hence, when a peace has descended across the world. In each era, a child shall be chosen. Their task is to find a dark messiah known only as the Crowman. But is he our saviour –or the final incarnation of evil? Black Feathers, the latest novel from Joseph D’Lacey, is a story in two halves. The narrative alternates between a couple of separate, but interconnected journeys. The first strand is the story of Gordon Black, a young boy born into the present day just as the world we know is beginning to come apart at the seams. The evil that Gordon faces off against appears in the form of a group known only as The Ward. They have infiltrated every level of government and big business in an effort to control what precious few resources remain. The Ward’s sole purpose? To locate and destroy the individual known as The Crowman. I was reminded a little of Norsefire, the near faceless fascist villains that feature heavily in Alan Moore’s masterpiece V for Vendetta. You see, D’Lacey is being…

Battle Lines is the third book in a series and so there is a good chance that there may be minor spoilers in this review (honest, I’m not kidding around you know). Oh well, don’t say I didn’t give you fair warning. Dracula is on the verge of coming into his full power. Department 19 is on the back foot. Ladies and gentlemen: welcome to war. The stakes? Mankind’s very survival… As the clock ticks remorselessly towards Zero Hour and the return of Dracula, the devastated remnants of Department 19 try to hold back the rising darkness. Jamie Carpenter is training new recruits, trying to prepare them for a fight that appears increasingly futile. Kate Randall is pouring her grief into trying to plug the Department’s final leaks, as Matt Browning races against time to find a cure for vampirism. And on the other side of the world, Larissa Kinley has found a place she feels at home, yet where she makes a startling discovery. Uneasy truces are struck, new dangers emerge on all sides, and relationships are pushed to breaking point. And in the midst of it all, Department 19 faces a new and potentially deadly threat, born out…