Missing-linc.com comprises a group of misfit sleuths scattered across the States. Their macabre passion is giving names to the unidentified dead. When Ellie Caine starts investigating the corpse known as the Boy in the Dress, the Boy’s killer decides to join the group. The closer they get to the truth, the closer he will get to them. The Boy was Teddy Ryan. He was meant to have been killed in a car crash in the west of Ireland in 1989. Only he wasn’t. There is no grave in Galway and Teddy was writing letters from New York a year after he supposedly died. But one night he met a man in a Minnesota bar and vanished off the face of the earth. Teddy’s nephew, Shaun, is no hero, but he is determined to solve the thirty-year-old mystery. He joins forces with the disparate members of Missing-linc to hunt down the killer. The only problem: the killer will be with them every step of the way . . . When I heard Sarah Lotz was writing a crime novel, I have to admit I was more than a little intrigued. I’m a huge fan of her horror fiction. In fact, I’ll…

One foul night while her husband is away, an old friend turns up on Claire’s doorstep and begs for her help. She knows she should refuse, but she owes him. Despite her better judgement, Claire finds herself helping to bury something in the woods. The question is, will it stay buried, and can Claire live with the knowledge of what she has done? I’ll begin with an admission. I was late to the party when it came to The Three by Sarah Lotz. Once I read it though, I quickly realised I was going to be a fan of her work. I devoured Day Four, it was also superb. Since then, the prospect of a new title by this author has filled me with a near uncontrollable glee. Recently I was fortunate enough to receive a copy of Sarah Lotz’ latest novella from NewCon Press, and the good news is that it’s another masterclass in storytelling. There is something endlessly fascinating about watching a character unravel. Claire starts this story content with her life. After years of uncertainty she has settled down and is happy with her lot. When an old friend appears unexpectedly she quickly finds her life, and…

Another year draws to a close, and I find myself in the midst of the little book vacation I always give myself. A couple of weeks off means I can come back to the blog refreshed and reinvigorated for the coming year. It also gives me the opportunity to reflect upon what I’ve read over the past twelve months. Now, it’s time for the annual Eloquent Page awards. The rules are as arbitrary as ever. I make up the categories myself and the only real requirement are that the winners are taken from within the books I’ve read this last year. I’ve tried to reduce the number of books I read in a year; I’m aiming for one a week. In the past the blog has taken over my life a little, but in 2015 I came pretty close to my target. The grand total was 60 books. So without further ado on to the awards themselves. The They Will Be Missed Award – Sadly, all good things to an end. The biggest disappointment for me in 2015 was that way back in January, the final book in the Ack Ack Macaque series, Macaque Attack by Gareth Powell arrived. *Sniffle*…

Four planes. Three survivors. One message. It seemed like the end of the world… but it wasn’t. This, however, just might be. Four days into a five day singles cruise on the Gulf of Mexico, the ageing ship Beautiful Dreamer stops dead in the water. With no electricity and no cellular signals, the passengers and crew have no way to call for help. But everyone is certain that rescue teams will come looking for them soon. All they have to do is wait. That is, until the toilets stop working and the food begins to run out. When the body of a woman is discovered in her cabin the passengers start to panic. There’s a murderer on board the Beautiful Dreamer… and maybe something worse. Last week I read The Three and it just about blew my tiny little mind. I love writing with an apocalyptic flavour, and The Three delivered that in spades. Within minutes of finishing the final page, I had already picked up its sequel and had jumped straight in. Day Four builds on the delightfully dark premise of The Three and takes the reader to the next level. Where The Three is primarily focussed on the…

Four simultaneous plane crashes. Three child survivors. A religious fanatic who insists the three are harbingers of the apocalypse. What if he’s right? The world is stunned when four commuter planes crash within hours of each other on different continents. Facing global panic, officials are under pressure to find the causes. With terrorist attacks and environmental factors ruled out, there doesn’t appear to be a correlation between the crashes, except that in three of the four air disasters a child survivor is found in the wreckage. Dubbed ‘The Three’ by the international press, the children all exhibit disturbing behavioural problems, presumably caused by the horror they lived through and the unrelenting press attention. This attention becomes more than just intrusive when a rapture cult led by a charismatic evangelical minister insists that the survivors are three of the four harbingers of the apocalypse. The Three are forced to go into hiding, but as the children’s behaviour becomes increasingly disturbing, even their guardians begin to question their miraculous survival… It’s the bane of a reviewer (well, this particular reviewer at least) – so many books, so little time. When The Three was originally released back in 2014 it almost completely passed…