Hungry for You by A M Harte is a short fiction collection that examines the links between love, relationships and death.  There are ten short tales each with their own take on these themes. My personal favourites are listed below. Promises – An infected man watches as his girlfriend begins to turn into a zombie. In just three short pages Harte nicely sets the tone for what to expect from the other tales in the book. Hungry for You – This story was one of the highlights of the collection for me. It reads like a police procedural but with added zombies. Some interesting ideas about how the undead are seen, and used by the living. This reads like a prologue to a larger story and I would be keen to read more. A Prayer to Garlic – I like when an author takes an existing mythos and turns it on its head. What happens when an unfeeling creature like a zombie begins to care? Dead Man’s Rose–A women is trapped in an abusive relationship. She finds the strength to deal with her predicament only to end up even more trapped than before. The author uses both types of entrapment…

Joanna Raines has a degenerative condition that affects her vision. In an effort to save her sight she has been the recipient of an eye transplant. In Dead Man’s Eye by Shaun Jeffrey the reader joins Joanna while she is on the mend. Still physically and emotionally fragile, she witnesses a traumatic accident where she sees a man losing an arm. After the accident Joanna is aware of a black shadow surrounding the injured man. Initially she thinks nothing of it, her new eye playing tricks on her, but when their paths cross again at the local hospital Joanna realises that something terrible has happened. The injured man, Lincoln Parker, has been possessed by a demon and Joanna is the only person that is aware of its presence. Most of the action in the story takes place in and around the hospital where Lincoln is recuperating. This location works well. A vast maze of corridors, many rooms and a huge basement are used as an effective backdrop to the ongoing chase that develops between Joanna and the demon that is hunting her. Malachi, the demon, makes for a downright nasty villain. His human host is a body builder so he…

The Eye of the Moon by Anonymous is the follow up to The Book with No Name, presumably written by the same author. I read the first novel a couple of years ago and thought it was a fun, easy read that contained some entertaining elements. Based on that, I decided to give the sequel a try. The story is once again set in the fictional sleazy American border town of Santa Mondega and follows various low lives as they try to get their hands on a magical crystal, the mysteriously monickered The Eye of the Moon. This gem has many powers and will grant the wearer a raft of supernatural abilities. There is a near endless list of characters who want the stone for their own nefarious schemes. In the mix we have vampires, werewolves, ancient Egyptian mummies, monks, bikers, bartenders, serial rapists, mental patients and the worlds most successful murderer – The Bourbon Kid. This is my main problem with the novel. There was such an enormous cast of characters that I felt the overall story suffered. With such a large dramatis personae, I had difficulty determining who I should be routing for. I wanted a standout character…

Rob and Becky bought the old place after the death of their son, to repair and renovate – to patch things up and make the building habitable. They both knew that they were trying to fix more than the house, but the cracks in their marriage could not be papered over. Then they found the Quiet Room. Written by Gary McMahon What They Hear in the Dark is an intimate tale about love and loss. Rob and Becky have suffered a terrible tragedy and are trying to put the past behind them and continue with their lives. They have a new home, and hope to make a new start. It quickly becomes evident, however, that neither of them has been able to move on. When the story begins Becky and Rob have reached the stage where they are barely able to communicate with one another. The spirit of their murdered son seems to hang in the periphery of their lives. The story takes a turn when they discover a strange windowless room in their new house that is utterly quiet. Becky and Rob have very different perspectives of the Quiet Room. Becky is reassured, feels at peace and closer to the…

Last year I enjoyed reading the anthology Zombie Apocalypse! So I thought I would take the chance to dip my toes into the waters of shorts fiction once again. Sticking with horror, I was given the opportunity by Mortbury Press to read volume six of the Black Book of Horror. There are fifteen short stories in this volume ranging from paranormal horror to psychological horror. Overall, the anthology was very good, but rather than give too much away I thought I would give some feedback on the entries that were personal highlights for me. Six of the Best by John Llewellyn Probert – In the first story the psychic medium on a ‘Most Haunted’ style television show is plagued by gruesome visions of the dead.  A strong start to this anthology with an unexpected and unpleasant twist. This sets a high standard for the other stories to measure up to. Traffic Stream by Simon Kurt Unsworth – I liked the notion of taking a mundane activity, in this case giving directions over a phone to a colleague, and turning into something horrific. An Unconventional Exorcism by R. B. Russell–A quirky and darkly comic tale that is more funny than horrific….

This is you. This is now. And your number is up. For reasons that are too complicated to touch upon here I have long been a fan of apocalyptic and post apocalyptic fiction. Novels about the end of the world have always sparked my imagination and over the years I have read a fair number. Some, like Swan Song by Robert McCammon, and Blood Crazy Simon Clark, I keep going back to again and again. I always look forward to reading a new example of the genre and so was happy when I finally managed to pick up a copy of One by Conrad Williams. The novel follows deep sea diver Richard Jane, in the immediate aftermath of an extinction level event as he tries to travel from the north of Scotland to London in order to find his son, Stanley.  The country’s infrastructure has been swept away in an instant, and rather than hours, it takes him weeks to get back home. Every step of the way Jane is presented with some fresh horror. Throughout the journey, Jane comes to realise the true scope of the tragedy that has occurred. Towns and cities are ruined, survivors are few and far between, and…

Thanks to @Madnad, my better half, for taking some time out of her busy schedule to provide another review. Subterranean Press recently released a limited reprint of this book, which was originally published in 1989 by Grafton (Harper Collins). In honour of this, it deserves a re-read and a review as I am sure that there are a few people out there completely unaware of this gem. It is a werewolf story completely unlike any other I have ever read and even 20 years after it was released is still a good read. Forget Underworld, forget The Howling, and definitely forget Twilight… this Lycanthrope is more ‘James Bond’ than ‘Lucian’. The prologue offers us two tales – one of a wolf and one of a man – and introduces us to the two aspects of Michael Gallatin. Born Mikhail Gallatinov to an aristocratic family in Csarist Russia, Michael now works as a British spy and is sent on an important mission into Nazi occupied France. The book works almost like two novels in one, flitting between the two halves of Michael’s life and at times, is in danger of spoiling the pace of the story. The first story is an…

I’m very lucky in that I have had the chance to read some excellent novels in the past twelve months. I also took the plunge and launched The Eloquent Page back in July so I thought that now we are creeping towards the end of 2010 I would take the opportunity to reveal my literary highlights of the year. Not all of the books listed below were published in 2010 but I read them this year so as far as I’m concerned that meets my flimsy attempt at criteria. The books that I have reviewed on the site contain links back to the original reviews. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larrson – Brutal, daring and utterly gripping. Some of the subject matter is harrowing but once the story gets going you will be completely hooked. A superior thriller that establishes a hard as nails heroine in Lisbeth Salander. Well worth checking out the original Swedish language film as well. The Road to Bedlam by Mike Shevdon – I purchased Mike Shevdon’s debut novel Sixty One Nails on a whim and was totally captivated by the story. The sequel continues developing the tale of Niall and Blackbird. This…

“You died twenty years ago. Welcome back…“ Over the last couple of years, I have become a fan of the publisher Abaddon Books and have taken the opportunity to read as many of their ongoing series as I can get my hands on. I enjoy The Afterblight Chronicles, and Pax Britannia has become a personal favourite (more on that in the next review).  I recently picked up the first book in another series called The Infernal Game. The Infernal Game: Cold Warriors by Rebecca Levene charts the fortunes of the members of the Hermetic Division, the United Kingdom’s supernatural investigation agency. Disbanded at the end of the cold war the agency is reformed when rumours resurface regarding the mysterious Ragnarok artefacts. These items are said to grant their possessor great power. Due to the nature of their work the Hermetic Division is top secret and their existence is only known by a select few. The reader gets to follow new recruit, Morgan Hewitt, a marksman from the army who is seconded into the new team. As Morgan begins to learn the secrets of the Division he discovers that magic is real and there is an ongoing battle between the forces of…

“Life sucks, then you die. Period. Unless you’re James Stark, a hitman in Hell for eleven years before escaping back up to Hell-on-earth L.A. – looking for revenge, absolution….love, maybe. But Hell’s not through with Stark. Heaven’s not either.” Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey is an urban fantasy featuring an unstoppable anti-hero wreaking his vengeance on the people who wronged him. Condemned to Hell by his peers, James Stark fights his way back out of the Pit and he wants payback. During the time he has been away, he has been forced to fight in the gladiatorial arenas of Hell to prove his worth. Stark has become the monster that kills other monsters. He is Hell’s only human hit man and earned the nickname Sandman Slim. The novel is written from the first person perspective so the reader immediately gets to know exactly what is going on in Stark/Sandman Slim’s head. He suffered endless torment during his eleven years ‘Downtown’ but the result is on his return to Earth, he is much harder to kill than before. I really enjoyed Stark’s attitude when dealing with all and sundry. Doesn’t matter if they are human, angel or devil, Stark deals with everyone…

To round off Zombie Appreciation Month I’ve decided to read Handling The Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist. Set in Stockholm, during the midst of a heatwave, strange things are starting to occur. Electrical appliances won’t switch off and everyone is suffering from unexplained headaches. Over the course of a single night, every person that has died in the previous two months is reanimated, including those that have been buried. The ever pragmatic authorities move from one disastrous idea to another when trying to find a solution to the problem. The dead are all collected and taken to a hospital but the staff are unable to cope with the demands of caring for the deceased.  It seems that when brought together in groups, the ‘reliving’ are able to channel the emotions of the living. They also cause spontaneous telepathy amongst the living. These mental stresses prove too difficult for the doctors and nurses to manage.  Unsure sure of how to proceed, the government try to relocate the reliving to disused housing and secure them behind an electric fence. There is a certain degree of ambiguity regarding the cause of reanimation. I liked this as it gave the author an opportunity to let his…

“The Good News: We Survived. The Bad News: So Did They“. Imagine a world where scientists have cured cancer and defeated the common cold. Sounds idyllic, but what if this medical breakthrough leads to the creation and distribution of a virus that reanimates the dead. In Feed by Mira Grant we find an Earth where humanity has done just that.  The infected are a fact of life and everyone has been forced to live with the constant threat of zombies. In addition everyone has the virus. Unlike most of the other zombie novels I have read this month there is a rather optimistic feeling to the novel’s  opening. The world has changed since the time of the initial outbreak, but humanity has persevered. We have learned to adapt.  Everyone knows to take precautions when venturing outside, and when moving between secure locations regular blood tests are the order of the day. The way people receive information has also changed. When the first outbreak occurred it was the blogging community who were first to raise the alarm. Individuals have moved away from traditional media and get their news direct from web based sources. Distinct types of bloggers have evolved including Newsies who,…

“They’ll chase you, they’ll rip you open, they’ll feed on you…” I have a confession to make. I’m thirty six years old and when I first decided to do a zombie themed month on The Eloquent Page I didn’t even consider including any young adult fiction. In the last couple of years I have read exactly two books that could be described as YA fiction. Both were pretty good, and I’ll be reviewing one of them next month but I never thought something like zombie fiction could really exist for a younger readers.  Let’s be honest, flesh eating killers tend not to be the most upbeat bunch. In my experience, a lot of zombie fiction isn’t really what you would consider ideal for a younger audience. I guess, in hindsight though, that is the challenge – creating a zombie novel that does work for teens. Initially, I was somewhat sceptical of The Enemy by Charlie Higson. A couple of years ago I tried to read Silverfin, his first Young James Bond novel and failed rather epically. It’s not that the book was bad, I just tried to read it at a time when I could not give it the attention…