Occasionally I manage to convince Mrs Cheesecake to write a review for me. This is her latest review. I’d just like to take a moment to thank her for her work. The enduring love story of Anthony and Cleopatra has been retold many times throughout history. In Queen of Kings, Headley has given this famous tale a darker and more mythological twist. We join the lovers at the point in history when Octavian Caesar, great nephew of the late Julius, is camped outside the city of Alexandria. Octavian sends a false message to Cleopatra’s beloved Anthony and he kills himself believing his queen has betrayed him. On discovering the deceit, Cleopatra is driven to making an impossible deal, and uses dark magic to summon one of the old gods, the goddess Sekhmet, and strikes a bargain – her soul for her husband’s life. Sadly, through an unfortunate accident, the resurrected Anthony dies again.  One could say, to lose your husband once is unfortunate; to lose him again is careless. As is often the case when humans make deals with deities, the consequences of the bargain are never fully realised until it is too late. The last pharaoh of Egypt becomes…

Renegade City. Futurist Gothika. Mecca of the damned. Where uber rock-band, Origin, is deified and the world’s dark sub-cultures coexist under the umbrella faith of ‘Belief’. But Roses, the great, Gothic messiah is dead, the tribes are in turmoil, and Renegade’s own home-bred rebels, the Drifters, are quickly becoming a law unto themselves. The last thing that Druid, Origin’s drummer and reclusive high lord of the Drathcor, wants to do is hunt his brother’s killer, especially since he’s not sure of foul play, or even the purity of his motives. Against all of his expectations, however, he is soon embroiled with the underbelly of dissension, dirty politics, and a non-believer as jaded with Renegade’s great and secret show as he is – a black-eyed girl named Jezebel.  Druid is tasked with saving the whole city. Street punk, Jezebel will settle for saving her on brother. Ever since Harish in touch with his inner-animal and left her with the scars to prove it, she has made her quest to return him to the fold. One bleak winter’s night, she succeeds in tracking him to the festering Gothic ruin of the south watchtower, home to the very same ghosts that Druid is…

The Beast is loose. After countless years trapped inside the World House, its sinister prisoner is loose and pure evil has been loosed upon the world. Now the motley band of explorers, treasure hunters and thrill seekers must unit to imprison it once more.   Nothing to it… A little less than a month ago I was sat in the audience for the raffle at Alt.Fiction and Restoration by Guy Adams came up as one of the prizes. The affable Mr Adams was hosting said raffle and when his latest book appeared he made the suggestion that as this was a direct sequel to The World House it might be a good idea not to jump straight into Restoration but try is predecessor first. Never one to shy away from a challenge I immediately decided to ignore his advice and read Restoration without reading The World House first. I was curious to see if it was possible to read this sequel without any prior knowledge. I was willing to accept that I may miss some of the references to the first novel but I was still wanted to see if I could enjoy this second novel under its own merit. Set apart…

Imagine a place where all your nightmares become real. Dark urban streets where crime, debt and violence are not the only things to fear. Picture a housing project that is a gateway to somewhere else; a realm where ghosts and monsters stir hungrily in the shadows. Welcome to the Concrete Grove.  This deprived area is Hailey’s new home, but when an ancient entity notices her, it becomes something much more threatening. She is the only one who can help her mother as she joins in a dangerous dance with loan-shark Monty Bright. Only Hailey can see the truth of Tom’s darkest desires as he tries to become part of their family. And only Hailey can lead them all to the heart of the estate where something older than this land stirs and begins to wake… Hailey and her mother, Lana are trying their best to get by. They have fallen on hard times after a family tragedy and each have ended up way out of their depth. Hailey is in thrall to the strange powers that control the Grove while Lana has fallen foul of the local gangster, Monty Bright. Lana is put through the emotional and physical ringer as…

His former CIA colleagues want him dead and Interpol want to arrest him, but all Hawker wants to do is find a way out. Government agent Danielle Laidlaw may be his only solution. She needs a pilot for her secret mission to find the lost Mayan city of Tulan Zuyu. In return for Hawker’s services, she promises a way home that doesn’t involve a body bag. But, as an unseen enemy stalks the rainforests, leaving battered corpses in its wake, they are about to discover that they’re not the only people looking Tulan Zuyu and the secrets it may hold. When the seasons change, my attitude towards books tends to shift slightly. During the months that we laughably call the great British Summer I enjoy a bit of what I like to call beach reading. What is beach reading you may ask? Well, I suppose the best way to describe it is books, that tend to fall into the category thriller, that don’t require much in the way of emotional investment. Now that is not to say that they are bad books, far from it. They offer the literary equivalent of a summer blockbuster, or a thrill ride. You enjoy…

Meet Stan Markowski of the Scranton PD’s Occult Crimes Unit “Like the rest of America, Scranton’s got an uneasy ‘live and let unlive’ relationship with the supernatural. But when a vamp puts the bite on an unwilling victim, or some witch casts the wrong kind of spell, that’s when they call me. My name’s Markowski. I carry a badge. Also, a crucifix, some wooden stakes, a big vial of holy water, and a 9mm Beretta loaded with silver bullets… When I read an author’s work for the first time I tend to go with my gut instincts. If I’ve not started to enjoy a novel after the first couple of chapters then there is a reasonably good chance that the book in question isn’t going to win me over. I’m pleased to say, that I was completely sold on the premise of Hard Spell within nine pages. As soon as I read the paragraph describing goblins high on crystal meth I knew this novel had captured and, more importantly, was going to retain my interest. In an alternate United States where supernatural beings are the norm, the reader is introduced to Stan Markowski, and the other men and women of the…

Thomas Locke can find anything. You know the hurricane that hit a while back? Word is he found the butterfly that started it. So, when a desperate Veronica Drysdale hires Locke to find her missing husband, it makes perfect sense. Except the world of Thomas Locke doesn’t make sense. It puts monsters under the bed, makes stars fall from the sky and leads little children to worship the marvels of road-works. This world also hides from Veronica a past far darker and stranger than she could ever have imagined. To learn the truth, Veronica is going to have to lose everything. And that’s where Locke’s shadowy business partner Lafarge comes in… Before we begin I have a couple of questions. How do you feel about novels that feature a character reincarnated as a toaster? Would you have a problem if the toaster was called Leonard? If you have issues with either of these questions I would advise reading no further. I can tell you now, that this novel is not for you. Perhaps you might wish to consider doing something else instead? I’ve been told gardening is a very popular pastime? Ahh your still here, jolly good. You’re interested aren’t…

1062, a time many fear is the End of Days. With the English King Edward heirless and ailing, across the grey seas in Normandy the brutal William the Bastard waits for the moment when he can drown England in a tide of blood. The ravens of war are gathering. But as the king’s closest advisors scheme and squabble amongst themselves, hopes of resisting the naked ambition of the Norman duke come to rest with just one man: Hereward… To some a ruthless warrior and master tactician, to others a devil in human form, Hereward is as adept in the art of slaughter as the foes that gather to claim England’s throne. But in his country’s hour of greatest need, his enemies at Court have made him outlaw. To stay alive – and a freeman – he must carve a bloody swathe from the frozen hills of Northumbria to Flanders’ fields and the fenlands of East Anglia. The tale of a man whose deeds will become the stuff of legend, this is also the story of two mismatched allies: Hereward the man of war, and Alric, a man of peace, a monk. One will risk everything to save the land he…

Once, Ig lived the life of the blessed: born into privilege, the second son of a renowned musician, the younger brother of a rising late-night TV star. Ig had security and wealth and a place in his community. Ig had it all, and more – he had the love of Merrin Williams, a love founded on shared daydreams, mutual daring, and unlikely midsummer magic. The beautiful, vivacious Merrin was gone – raped and murdered, under inexplicable circumstances – and Ig the only suspect. He was never tried for the crime, but in the court of public opinion, he was and always would be guilty. Now Ig is possessed of horns, and a terrible new power – he can hear people’s deepest, darkest secrets – to go with his horrible new look. He means to use it to find whoever killed Merrin and destroyed his life. Being good and praying for the best got him nowhere. It’s time for a little revenge; it’s time the devil had his due. I think that Joe Hill has managed to tap into a genuine primal fear with this novel. What if you could read their minds with a single touch? Now part of you…

It is 1888 and Queen Victoria has remarried, taking as her new consort the Wallachian Prince infamously known as Count Dracula. His polluted bloodline spreads through London as its citizens increasingly choose to be vampires. In the grim backstreets of Whitechapel, a killer known as ‘Silver Knife’ is cutting down vampire girls. The eternally young Genevieve Dieudonne and Charles Beauregard of the Diogenes Club are drawn together as they both hunt the sadistic killer, bringing them ever closer to England’s most bloodthirsty ruler yet. Anno Dracula is a novel that has been on my ‘to read’ list for years. Mrs Cheesecake has mentioned it in passing many times. She read the short story version when it was first published as Red Reign, in the collection the Mammoth Book of Vampires in 1992.  Her enjoyment of this prompted her to seek out the novel when it was released later that year. Mrs Cheesecake suggested that I give this a whirl when the re-release appeared again recently. I read Bram Stoker’s Dracula many moons ago, what self respecting horror fan hasn’t?  Anno Dracula is pitched as a direct sequel based on the premise that Van Helsing and his group failed. Dracula has…

Beneath Lausanne cathedral, in Switzerland, there is a secret buried before time began. Something unknown to angels and men. Until now… Marc Rochat watches over the city at night from the belfry of the cathedral. He lives in a world of shadows and beforetimes and imaginary begins. Katherine Taylor, call girl and dreamer, is about to discover that her real-life fairy tale is too good to be true. Jay Harper, private detective, wakes in a crummy hotel room with no memory. When the telephone rings and he’s offered a job, he knows there is no choice but to accept. Three lives, one purpose. Save what’s left of paradise before all hell breaks loose… The Watchers is the debut novel by Jon Steele.  It explores the nature of good and evil, and how these forces affect everyone. Three residents of the historic town of Lausanne are caught up in a mystery surrounding the whereabouts of an Olympic official. As with all the best thrillers, there is more to this than initially meets the eye. Mark Rochat, Katherine Taylor and Jay Harper make for a genuinely intriguing group of characters.  Steele takes great pains to flesh them out and make them all…

Please note if you haven’t read Feed, part one of the Newsflesh Trilogy, this review contains some spoilers. Also it’s brilliant and you totally should. Nothing stays buried for long… Shaun Mason is a man without a mission. Not even running the new organisation he built with his sister has the same urgency as it used to. Playing with dead things just doesn’t seem fun when you’ve lost as much as he has. But when a researcher from the Centre for Disease Control fakes her own death and appears on his doorstep with a ravenous pack of zombies in tow, Shaun’s relieved to find a new purpose in his life. Because she brings news: the monster who attacked them may be destroyed, but the conspiracy is far from dead. Now, Shaun hits the road to find what truth can be found at the end of a shotgun. Feed was hands down one of my favourite reads of 2010. It brought new life, if you’ll pardon the pun, to the zombie novel. Pitched somewhere between The West Wing and Day of the Dead it was a terrific read and I have been looking forward to the arrival of it’s sequel, Deadline,…

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very peculiar photographs. A horrific family tragedy sets sixteen year old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that Miss Peregrine’s children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow – impossible though it seems – they may still be alive. Jacob has grown up listening to his grandfather’s tall tales about the island he lived on during the Second World War. These stories about monsters and strange children with powers were a delight to Jacob as a youngster, but as he grew up, he became disillusioned with his grandfather’s flights of fancy. When his grandfather unexpectedly dies, Jacob finds himself drawn back to these stories. He decides to undertake a journey to try and separate the truth from the lies. There are some fantastic characters in this novel and normally I would take great delight in describing them to you, but in this case I…