Origin by J.T. Brannan
Headline , J T Brannan , Thriller / October 28, 2012

For millennia it has lain there undiscovered. Now the time has come… Research scientist Evelyn Edwards always knew the Antarctic held deep secrets but the discovery of a 40,000 year old body buried under the ice caps surpasses even her wildest expectations. But just as her team begins extracting the body the dream turns into a horrific nightmare as they are targeted for death by someone who wants to keep this secret buried. Evelyn barely escapes with her life… On the run, alone and desperate, Read more […]

The Red Knight by Miles Cameron
Fantasy , Giles Cameron , Gollancz / October 25, 2012

Twenty eight florins a month is a huge price to pay, for a man to stand between you and the Wild. Twenty eight florins a month is nowhere near enough when a wyvern’s jaws snap shut on your helmet in the hot stink of battle, and the beast starts to rip the head from your shoulders. But if standing and fighting is hard, leading a company of men – or worse, a company of mercenaries – against the smart, deadly creatures of the Wild is even harder. It takes all the advantages of birth, training, Read more […]

Ashen Winter by Mike Mullin
Horror , Mike Mullin , Tanglewood Press / October 20, 2012

It’s been over six months since the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano. Alex and Darla have been staying with Alex’s relatives, trying to cope with the new reality of the primitive world so vividly portrayed in Ashfall, the first book in this series. It’s also been six months of waiting for Alex’s parents to return from Iowa. Alex and Darla decide they can wait no longer and must retrace their journey into Iowa to find and bring back Alex’s parents to the tenuous safety of Illinois. Read more […]

The Assassin’s Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke

A man cannot live on apocalyptic fiction alone so for a bit of a change of pace here is some young adult fiction of a more adventurous nature… Ananna of the Tanarau abandons ship when her parents try to marry her off to another pirate clan. But that only prompts the scorned clan to send an assassin after her. When Ananna faces him down one night, armed with magic she doesn’t really know how to use, she accidentally activates a curse binding them together. To break the curse, Ananna and the Read more […]

Cloud Warrior: The Amtrak Wars Book One by Patrick Tilley
Orbit , Patrick Tilley , Sci-Fi / October 16, 2012

After spending the first seventeen years of his life in the under-ground world of the Lone Star Confederation, Steve Brickman, a newly-trained wingman, emerges to join a Trail-Blazer wagon-train selected to make the first deep-penetration strike into the territory held by the Plainfolk Mutes. The mission is part of a centuries-old conflict for possession of the blue-sky world in which both sides have fought with the ut-most ruthlessness. Steve is aware of the dangers but he has no inkling that Read more […]

Coldbrook by Tim Lebbon
Hammer , Horror , Tim Lebbon / October 11, 2012

THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT HAS CHANGED FOREVER THE REASON IS COLDBROOK The facility lay deep in Appalachian Mountains, a secret laboratory called Coldbrook. Its scientists had achieved the impossible: a gateway to a new world. Theirs was to be the greatest discovery in the history of mankind, but they had no idea what they were unleashing. With their breakthrough comes disease and now it is out and ravaging the human population. The only hope is a cure and the only cure and the only cure is Read more […]

The Stand by Stephen King
Hodder , Horror , Stephen King / October 9, 2012

We are a house divided when it comes to classic apocalyptic fiction. I’m a huge fan of Swan Song by Robert McCammon while Mrs Cheesecake just can’t get enough of The Stand… First came the days of the plague. Then came the dreams.Dark dreams that warned of the coming of the dark man. The apostate of death, his worn-down boot heels tramping the night roads. The warlord of the charnel house and Prince of Evil. His time is at hand. His empire grows in the west and the Apocalypse looms. When Read more […]

Zombie Apocalypse! Fightback edited by Stephen Jones
Horror , Robinson Publishing , Stephen Jones / October 5, 2012

There is nothing to fear but fear itself… and zombies! Following the outbreak of Human Reanimation Virus – more commonly known as ‘The  Death’ – from a hidden crypt beneath a south London church, the centuries-old plague quickly spreads throughout the world, turning victims into flesh-eating zombies. As we learn more about the mysterious Thomas Moreby – ‘Patient Zero’ – the surviving members of the human race begin their fightback against the legions of walking dead, and the Infected themselves Read more […]

What Gets Left Behind by Mark West
Horror , Mark West , Spectral Press / October 2, 2012

In 1981, Gaffney was terrorised by the Rainy Day Abductor. Local girls went missing. And two boys made a terrifying discovery. Now one of them has come home, to try and lay the past to rest. I read Mark West’s novelette, The Mill, last year and I was impressed by the author’s skill when it came to effectively conveying a sense of loss in his writing. What Gets Left Behind treads similar ground to The Mill, but rather than focusing on family this story is all about the bonds of friendship. West Read more […]

Great North Road by Peter F Hamilton
Macmillan , Peter F Hamilton , Sci-Fi / September 26, 2012

In Newcastle-upon-Tyne, AD 2142, Detective Sidney Hurst attends a brutal murder scene. The victim is one of the wealthy North family clones – but none have been reported missing. And the crime’s most disturbing aspect is how the victim was killed. Twenty years ago, a North clone billionaire and his household were horrifically murdered in exactly the same manner, on the tropical planet of St Libra. But if the murderer is still at large, was Angela Tramelo wrongly convicted? Tough and confident, Read more […]

Downside Girls by Jaine Fenn
Clarion Publishing , Jaine Fenn , Sci-Fi / September 25, 2012

The floating city of Kesh rests above the uninhabitable planet of Vellern. For the Topsiders life is about luxury and opulence, while for those of the Undertow day to day survival takes precedence. Kesh City is a democracy by assassination, where the Angels – deadly state-sponsored killers – remove those unworthy to hold office. When Vanna Agriet accidentally spills her drink over an Angel it could spell death, but instead it leads to a rather peculiar friendship. The downsider Geal hopes for Read more […]

The Nine Deaths of Dr Valentine by John Llewellyn Probert
Horror , John Llewellyn Probert , Spectral Press / September 21, 2012

The police in Bristol have been confronted by a series of the most perplexingly elaborate deaths they’ve ever encountered in all their years of murder enquiries. The only thing which connects them is their seemingly random nature and their sheer outrageousness. As Detective Inspector Longdon and his assistant Sergeant Jenny Newham (with the help of pathologist Dr. Richard Patterson) race against time to find the murderer, they eventually realise that the link which connects the killings is even Read more […]

Beast In The Basement by Jason Arnopp
Horror , Jason Arnopp , Retribution Press / September 18, 2012

In a big house in the English countryside, a reclusive and increasingly unstable author toils over a book which will close the best-selling trilogy of Jade Nexus fantasy novels.  Speculation and rumour are rife among hardcore Jade Nexus fans that their heroine will die at the hotly-anticipated novel’s conclusion – a possibility against which they have begun to loudly protest via social media as the release date nears. How do you deal with such intense pressure? How do you cope with distractions Read more […]