Please note The Mayan Resurrection is the direct sequel to The Mayan Prophecy and the following review will likely contain spoilers for those that have not read the first novel. The prize was our salvation. The price was his soul. After sacrificing himself to preserve the human race, Michael Gabriel is imprisoned in a torturous, purgatory-like dimension in the Mayan netherworld. The Mayan prophecy states that the Hero Twins – Michael’s sons Jacob and Immanuel, born to his wife Dominique the year after his entrapment  – must travel to the Mayan realm in their twentieth year to free and resurrect him. Yet it also carries a warning. Born on the same day as the twins is a dark force that threatens their destiny. This, the Abomination – the female yin to their yang – represents evil in its purest form, and will not yield until they succumb to its temptation. The 21st December 2012, the winter solstice has come and gone and the prophecised apocalypse has been averted by Michael Gabriel. He has saved all of humanity by sacrificing himself. The Mayan Resurrection picks up a few months after the events in the climax of The Mayan Prophecy and follows…

Back in June I reviewed The Office of Lost and Found by Vincent Holland-Keen. At the time this quirky, off the wall detective debut was only available as an e-book. Today the following press release popped into my inbox and I thought it would be nice to share. The Office of Lost and Found’ is now available in hard copy. Published as an ebook through Anarchy Press, VHK has now made the book available through Lulu for those who still crave the pleasure of a physical book. Available now as paperback with a version of the ebook cover and as a hardback with the original ‘logo’ cover, these editions of ‘The Office of Lost and Found’ include notes and sketches by the author not previously released. Paperback: http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/the-office-of-lost-and-found—paperback-artwork-edition/16801793 Hardback/Casewrap: http://www.lulu.com/product/hardcover/the-office-of-lost-and-found—logo-cover—casewrap/16534562 eBook Link (Anarchy Books): http://anarchy-books.com/books/the-office-of-lost-and-found/  

Enter the mind of a serial killer who believes he is the rightful son and heir to an ancient dynasty of flesh-eaters.  Follow the frantic journey of a mother whose daughter is infected with the stuff of nightmares. Look through the eyes of Bo Mulvey, a man who possesses the ancient wisdom a blood thirsty evil needs to achieve its full and horrifying potential – the man whom the fate of the entire human race depends. At the beginning of this year I read One by Conrad Williams and I really enjoyed the stark, apocalyptic landscape that the author created. The subject matter was undoubtedly bleak but the writing was so strong I relished every page. I kept meaning to pick up more of Williams work but, as is often the case, other new releases clamoured for my attention and getting the opportunity to review his back catalogue moved further and further down my To Be Read list. Recently I have had a break in my schedule and this has given me the opportunity to rectify this omission. Bo Mulvey is a photographer who longs for some excitement in his life. He’s bored of the status quo and a chance meeting…

Meet Justice D, a Justice SIM umbilicated since birth who killed his own mother. Used by GOV as a hardcore merciless killer hunting down rebs in the dregs, Justice D has little emotion. His biggest hobby is upgrading his armour, weapons and augmentations, taking mandrake narco and listening to groovy groovy MM. For decades now, humanity has been colour-blind, a disability inflicted – so GOV believes – by a disease named HRG/Canker and carried by all animals across the planet. As the scientist Cantrell discovers the causes for Canker, so GOV begin a global culling of all animals in order to save Humanity… On a patrol in the dregs, Justice D is saved by a cat which he calls Emmy. He soon learns to love his cat, until GOV discover his secret… and send Battle SIMs to shut him down… I don’t believe it. He’s only gone and done it again!  One week after I review the latest Anarchy Books release, Monstrocity by Jeffrey Thomas, and another is already lined up for release. I can only assume that High Anarchy Overlord, Andy Remic, keeps these poor, slightly befuddled authors chained to a word processor in a windowless room somewhere demanding that…

Welcome To Low Town Here, the criminal is king. The streets are filled with the screeching of fish hags, the cries of swindled merchants, the inviting murmurs of working girls. Here, people can disappear, and the lacklustre efforts of the guard ensure they are never found. Warden is an ex-soldier who has seen the worst men have to offer; now a narcotics dealer with a rich, bloody past and a way of inviting danger. You’d struggle to someone with a soul as dark and troubled as his. Bu then a missing child, murdered and horribly mutilated, is discovered in an alley. And then another. With a mind as sharp as a blade and an old but powerful friend in the city, he’s the only man with a hope of finding the killer.  If the killer doesn’t find him first. Those of you who have been following The Eloquent Page for a while may remember that The Straight Razor Cure was on my list of books I was looking forward to reading in 2011. This week, I finally managed to get my hands on a copy and was able to see if it was a worthy inclusion on that list or…

Once again I’ve have managed to coax another review out of that marvellous fellow @SamaelTB,  which is not as easy as you might think. This time out he casts his beady eye over A Matter of Blood by Sarah Pinborough. As ever a big thanks goes to Sam for his efforts. The recession that grips the world has left it exhausted. Crime is rising in every major city. Financial institutions across the world have collapsed, and most governments are now in debt to The Bank, a company created by the world’s wealthiest men. But Detective Inspector Cass Jones has enough on his plate without worrying about the world at large. His marriage is crumbling, he’s haunted by the deeds of his past, and he’s got the high-profile shooting of two schoolboys to solve – not to mention tracking down a serial killer who calls himself the Man of Flies. Then Cass Jones’ personal world is thrown into disarray when his brother shoots his own wife and child before committing suicide – leaving Cass implicated in their deaths. And when he starts seeing silent visions of his dead brother, it’s time for the suspended DI to go on the hunt himself – only…

There are haunted places. Haunted houses. The metropolis of Punktown, on the planet Oasis, is a haunted city. An unassuming young man perceives the city’s dark tentacles in the lay of the streets, its roots in the labyrinth of subways, a polluted taint in the eyes of people around him. And this evil is building toward an apocalyptic culmination… The city is not only haunted… maybe it’s alive… Punktown is a vast sprawling alien metropolis that is home to many different species, including humans. Christopher Ruby is a lowly customer support analyst for a network service provider. His life is meandering along, and he is at a bit of a loose end until he meets the exotic, gothic Gabrielle. Gabrielle is naturally inquisitive and has a passing interest in the occult. She attempts some incantations and finds herself fundamentally changed by her exposure to forces that she doesn’t really understand. This experience creates a wedge between her and Chris and their relationship suffers as a result. Gabrielle is changed significantly; she is no longer the woman that Chris fell in love with. Their relationship deteriorates even further and this leads to a life changing confrontation for them both. Monstrocity has some interesting…

LET BATTLE COMMENCE… Thanks to his father’s gambling debts, young Jack Keats finds himself on the streets trying to graft enough coin to keep him and his two younger brothers fed. When a daring bank robbery goes awry, Jack narrowly escapes the scaffold on to be pressed into the Royal Aerostatical Navy. Assigned to the most useless airship in the fleet, serving under a captain who’s is most probably mad, Jack seems to be bound for almost certain death in the far-away deserts of Cassarabia.  Meanwhile on the other side of the world, Omar ibn Barir, the slave of a rich merchant lord, is unexpectedly freed and enters into the service of the Caliph’s military forces – just as war is brewing. Two very similar young men prepare to face each other across senseless field of war. But is Omar the enemy, or is Jack’s true nemesis the sickness at the heart of the Caliph’s court? If Jack and his shipmates can discover what Cassarabia’s aggressive new regime is trying to conceal, he might survive the most horrific of wars and clear his family’s name. If not… I have to admit that prior to picking up Jack Cloudie I hadn’t…

Please note that Instinct is the second Chess Team novel by Jeremy Robinson. This novel may contain minor spoilers if you haven’t read Pulse. When the President of the United States falls victim to a weaponized amd contagious strain of a genetic disease – one that kills its victims without warning or symptom – Special Forces commander Jack ‘King’ Sigler is on the case. He and his team of highly trained operators have been assigned to protect a CDC detective as she journeys to the source of the new strain: Vietnam’s Annamite Mountains.  Surrounded by old landmines, harsh jungle terrain, and more than one military force not happy about the return of American boots to the Ho Chi Minh trail, the fight for survival becomes a grueling battle. Pursued by the VLPA Death Volunteers, Vietnam’s Special Forces unit, the team’s flight through a maze of archaic ruins reveals an ancient secret that may stop the disease from sweeping the globe – even as it threatens both the mission and their lives.  Before we begin I have a question. Have you ever seen the movie Crank starring Jason Statham? It is a non-stop assault on the senses as Jason rampages across…

We want to live… In the ballroom, wallflower mannequins stretch their fingers towards Ron. He can’t ask them to dance. He’s already waltzing with other ghosts. Someone stole the world while Ron contemplated death. They packed it in a briefcase and dumped him in the halls of the ruined hotel–The Vestibule. A nowhere place. Last weekend I felt the urge to read another short story and who better to provide that necessary fix than Spectral Press. I’ve previously reviewed their first two releases – What They Hear in the Dark by Gary McMahon and Abolisher of Roses by Gary Fry. I enjoyed both so I was looking forward to reading the latest release, Nowhere Hall by Cate Gardner. When the reader is first introduced to Ron Spence he is standing at the edge of the road contemplating jumping in front of oncoming traffic. In a split second the moment passes but Ron is still plagued with doubt and anguish.  There is a real sense here that this is someone who is dying by degrees. Ron finds his way into foyer of a hotel called The Vestibule. As he roams the building he is faced with opulence on one hand and abandoned shell…

Mystery sensation Richard Castle, blockbuster author of the wildly bestselling Derrick Storm novels, introduces his newest character, NYPD Homicide Detective Nikki Heat. Tough, sexy, professional, Nikki Heat carries a passion for justice as she lead one of New York City’s top homicide squads. She’s hit with an unexpected challenge when the commissioner assigns superstar magazine journalist Jameson Rook to ride along with her to research an article on New York’s Finest. Pultizer Prize-winning Rook is as much a handful as he is handsome. His wise-cracking and meddling aren’t her only problems. As she works to unravel the secrets of a murdered real estate tycoon, she must also confront the spark between her and Rook. The one called heat. I’m not a huge fan of tie-in fiction. That’s not to say I dislike it, just that I don’t actively seek it out when it comes to my reading choices. There are always going to be exceptions to every rule and I think that the writing of one Richard Castle may just be that exception. For those uninitiated I’ll try and explain. Castle is an American television show which features a crime writer, Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion), who assists the police with…

On Leo’s sixteenth birthday. something bad happened. Something so traumatic his mind fractured, and darkness filled the crack. Twenty years on and the crack is a canyon. The schizophrenic hallucination that offered sympathy has taken to mocking him, and the memory of that long-ago birthday claws at his darkest fears, overshadowing even the murder of his younger brother Davey. But just when Leo thinks life can’t get and worse… Leo dies.  A demon returns after twenty years. An Angel follows close behind.  Leo is caught in an age-old conflict, his past lying at the dark heart of it all.  Leo Stamp is not a happy man. He has beautiful home, a thriving business and a car to die for but he is haunted by the ghosts of his childhood. The death of his sibling weighs heavy on his shoulders and has stayed with him for decades. Alone at night he voices his anxieties to a poster of James Bond on his wall. He is seeking answers to the horrors have plagued his life. His mental state continues to deteriorate and by page fifty Leo is dead. When he is given the opportunity at a second chance at life that is…

Buried in the Peruvian desert, sealed beneath a Greek-inscribed stone, lies a legendary relic which may hold the key to life itself, By extracting its DNA, Richard Ridley of Manifold Genetics hopes to bio-engineer the ultimate weapon – an army of soldiers who regenerate and continue to fight without stopping. The prefect killing machines… Enter Special Forces commander Jack “King” Sigler and his “Chess Team” of highly trained operators. Under the president’s orders, they must intercept Ridley’s genetic terrorists – and stop the unstoppable – using all the fire power at their command. But even the Chess Team is no match for a legend the refuses to die…and an enemy that can’t be killed. I have noticed an interesting trend over the last couple of years. When it comes to the thriller genre there is a definite lean toward including more fantastical elements in novels. Now it is true to say that some purists may find this cross-pollination unwelcome.  I, for one, totally disagree with that. This change appears to have reinvigorated the genre and opened up whole new avenues of storytelling. Pulse is a great example of this cross over writing. The novel blends together the high levels of action you would…