Sixteen years. That’s how long Clyde Barr has been away from Colorado’s thick forests, alpine deserts, and craggy peaks, running from a past filled with haunting memories. But now he’s back, having roamed across three continents as a hunter, adventurer, soldier of fortune, and most recently, unjustly imprisoned convict. And once again, his past is reaching out to claim him. By the light of a flickering campfire, Clyde received a frantic phone call for help from Jen, the youngest of his three older sisters. Then the line goes dead. Clyde doesn’t know how much time he has. He doesn’t know where Jen is located. He doesn’t even know who has her. All he knows is that nothing short of dying will stop him from saving her. Tagging along with Clyde on this strange, desperate, against-all-odds rescue mission is a young woman named Allie whose motivations for hurtling into harm’s way are fascinatingly complex. As the duo races against the clock, it is Allie who gets Clyde to see what he has become and what he can be. Time for another debut novel and this time out we’re into the realms of the old school thriller. When we first meet Clyde…

Please note – Europe at Midnight is a sequel to Europe in Autumn and this review will likely contain spoilers if you haven’t read the first book in this series. Dont say I didn’t warn ya! In a fractured Europe, new nations are springing up everywhere, some literally overnight. For an intelligence officer like Jim it’s a nightmare. Every week or so a friendly power spawns a new and unknown national entity which may or may not be friendly to England’s interests. It’s hard to keep on top of it all. But things are about to get worse for Jim. A stabbing on a London bus pitches him into a world where his intelligence service is preparing for war with another universe, and a man has appeared who may hold the key to unlocking Europe’s most jealously guarded secret.. I only read Europe in Autumn last week. I enjoyed it so much I went straight from that into Europe at Midnight. Near future Europe is falling apart, nation by nation. The United Kingdom is now far from united, and on the European mainland many other countries are following suit. As if this constantly shifting political landscape wasn’t complicated enough, it…

A fractured Europe, a cook-turned-spy, a mighty web of espionage – but what happens when conspiracy threatens to overwhelm even reality itself? Europe in Autumn is a dystopian SF espionage thriller that evokes the Cold War novels of John Le Carré and the nightmarish world of Franz Kafka, taking place in a war and disease-torn Europe of hundreds of tiny nations. Rudi is a cook in a Kraków restaurant, but when boss asks him to help a cousin escape from the country he’s trapped in, a new career – part spy, part people-smuggler – begins. Recruited by the shadowy organisation Les Coureurs des Bois, Rudi is schooled in espionage. When he is sent to smuggle someone out of Berlin and finds a severed head inside a locker instead, a conspiracy begins to wind itself around him. With kidnapping, double-crosses and a map that constantly re-draws itself, Europe in Autumn is a modern science fiction thriller like no other. Ok, I’ll admit it. I am more than fashionably late when it comes to this particular party. What can I say? The life of a book reviewer is a battle against the same ever encroaching horror – so many books, so little…

If you seek, they will find…The travels of Marco Polo are known throughout the world. But what if his story isn’t complete? What if his greatest adventure has yet to be discovered? Guided by a journal believed to have been dictated by Polo himself, the Hunters set out in search of his final legacy: the mythical treasure gathered during Polo’s lifetime of exploration. But as every ancient clue brings them closer to the truth, each new step puts them in increasing danger… This is the first novel I’ve read by Chris Kuzneski and it was pretty good fun. The action rattles along at a good pace and there are plenty of twists and turns. A quick Internet search reveals that there are a couple of books in The Hunters series already published.  There appears to be a couple of references to these previous novels scattered throughout the narrative, but I never felt like I was missing out on anything massively relevant. I have a tendency to devour thrillers pretty quickly. I find them easy reading and I love it when the action kicks off on page one and doesn’t quit until the book is done. The good news is that…

A plane crash in the Arizona desert. An explosion that sets the world on fire. A damning pact to hide an appalling secret. And one man bound to expose the truth. He is Solomon Creed. No one knows what he is capable of. Not even him. When Solomon Creed flees the burning wreckage of a plane in the Arizona desert, seconds before an explosion sets the world alight, he is acting on instinct alone. He has no memory of his past, and no idea what his future holds. Running towards a nearby town, one name fires in his mind – James Coronado. Somehow, Solomon knows he must save this man. But how do you save a man who is already dead? When it comes to thrillers, I’m always looking for a novel that will keep me on my toes. I want fiction that delivers the unexpected and throws me the odd curveball or two. Simon Toyne’s latest, Solomon Creed, is a great example of how a thriller should be. An inscrutable main protagonist stumbles into the middle of a tricky situation and has to not only to survive, but also learn something about his own mysterious origins. Between Creed and…

Please note Vostok is a sequel to The Loch. If you haven’t read that first then there is a good chance you’ll miss out on some important elements of this on-going story. Also this review may contain a few minor spoilers. East Antarctica: The coldest, most desolate location on Earth. Two-and-a-half miles below the ice cap is Vostok, a six thousand square mile liquid lake, over a thousand feet deep, left untouched for more than 15 million years. Now, marine biologist Zachary Wallace and two other scientists aboard a submersible tethered to a laser will journey 13,000 feet beneath the ice into this unexplored realm to discover Mesozoic life forms long believed extinct and an object of immense power responsible for the evolution of modern man. When I am looking for a story that I know I am going to enjoy, I always find myself drawn to fiction featuring monsters. There is something insanely entertaining about humanity going up against creatures that they haven’t seen before, and are totally unprepared for. The Loch by Steve Alten had exactly that premise, and I enjoyed that for the most part, so when the opportunity to read the sequel came along I was…

Loch Ness holds secrets, ancient and deadly. Does a monster inhabit its depths, or is it just myth? Why, after thousands of reported sightings and dozens of expeditions, is there still no hard evidence? Marine biologist Zachary Wallace knows, but the shock of his near-drowning as a child on Loch Ness have buried all memories of the incident. Now, a near-death experience suffered while on expedition in the Sargasso Sea has caused these long-forgotten memories to re-surface. Haunted by vivid night terrors, stricken by a sudden fear of the water, Zach finds he can no longer function as a scientist. Unable to cope, his career all but over, he stumbles down a path of self-destruction…until he receives contact from his estranged father…a man he has not seen since his parents’ divorced and he left Scotland as a boy. Angus Wallace, a wily Highlander who never worked an honest day in his life, is on trial for murdering his business partner. Only Zachary can prove his innocence – if he is innocent, but to do so means confronting the nightmare that nearly killed him seventeen years earlier. I’ll admit it; I am a sucker for a good thriller. You just can’t…

It is a secret the Chinese government has been keeping for 40 years. They have found a species of animal no one believed even existed. It will amaze the world. Now the Chinese are ready to unveil their astonishing discovery within the greatest zoo ever constructed. A small group of VIPs and journalists has been brought to the zoo deep within China to see its fabulous creatures for the first time. Among them is Dr Cassandra Jane ‘CJ’ Cameron, a writer for NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC and an expert on reptiles. The visitors are assured by their Chinese hosts that they will be struck with wonder at these beasts, that they are perfectly safe, and that nothing can go wrong… When it comes to thrillers from Matthew Reilly, phrases like ‘high octane’ and ‘intense action’ don’t even come close to adequately convey how much insanity he manages to cram into every novel. I’ve come to expect twisty-turny plots that rattle along at a breakneck pace and that I’ll be so caught up that I’ll be frightened to even blink. The good news is that The Great Zoo of China is no exception to this rule. Cassandra Jane ‘CJ’ Cameron is cut from…

Legend holds that when Britain is in its darkest hour, King Arthur will return to save the country, if not the world. That legend is dead wrong. When a Grove of Druids sacrifices the lives of a group of innocents, including the fiancée of a member of SEAL Team 666, the ancient king is brought back from the dead and sets his sights on subjugating humanity and cleansing his land of all who are not true Britons. Because of political sensitivities, Triple 6 is ordered to stand down, but that order is ignored when one of the team seeks his own vengeance. Now, the members of America’s elite supernatural-hunting force must decide what is more important: their orders or their loyalty. With its plethora of supernatural and otherworldly myths and legends, I suppose it was only a matter of time before SEAL Team 666 set foot on good old Blighty’s shores. Britain has such a rich mythological heritage to pick from, I’m sure Weston Ochse was spoiled for choice. Like the other books in this series, Reign of Evil is all about the ride. Don’t over think what’s going on. Just sit back, relax and prepare for the mayhem. As…

A cruise ship loses power in the North Atlantic. A satellite launches in the South Pacific. Professor Malcolm Clare—celebrated aviator, entrepreneur, and aerospace engineer—disappears from Stanford University and wakes up aboard an unknown jet, minutes before the aircraft plunges into the high seas. An extortionist code-named “Viking” has seized control of a private warfare technology, pitting a U.S. defense corporation against terrorist conspirators in a bidding war. His leverage: a threat to destroy the luxury liner and its 3,000 passengers. Stanford doctoral student Austin Hardy, probing the disappearance of his professor, seeks out Malcolm Clare’s daughter Victoria, an icy brunette with a secret that sweeps them to Saint Petersburg. Helped by a team of graduates on campus, they must devise Trojan horses, outfox an assassin, escape murder in Bruges, and sidestep treachery in order to unravel Viking’s scheme. Failure would ensure economic armageddon in the United States. When it comes to a good techno-thriller, I’m looking for a number of key elements. Sabotage by Matt Cook does a pretty good job of ticking almost all the boxes on my extensive checklist. There are a plethora of far-flung locales, some believable tech (nothing ever feels massively outlandish or overblown) and some…

Kick Lannigan, 21, is a survivor. Abducted at age six in broad daylight, the police, the public, perhaps even her family assumed the worst had occurred. And then Kathleen Lannigan was found, alive, six years later. In the early months following her freedom, as Kick struggled with PTSD, her parents put her through a litany of therapies, but nothing helped until the detective who rescued her suggested Kick learn to fight. Before she was thirteen, Kick learned marksmanship, martial arts, boxing, archery, and knife throwing. She excelled at every one, vowing she would never be victimized again. But when two children in the Portland area go missing in the same month, Kick goes into a tailspin. Then an enigmatic man Bishop approaches her with a proposition: he is convinced Kick’s experiences and expertise can be used to help rescue the abductees. Little does Kick know the case will lead directly into her terrifying past… I like to throw the odd crime novel into my reading schedule every now and again. Like historical fiction, I’ve only started reading crime in the last couple of years, but in that short period of time I’ve been lucky enough to read some fine examples…

It’s 1944. D-day is imminent and top-secret code-words OVERLORD and NEPTUNE have appeared in a national newspaper, the latest in a series of words suspiciously connected to the top-secret landing the Allies are preparing. A national emergency, everything points to crossword compiler, teacher Carl Bookman. Even more incriminating is the fact that he is of German origin, with a brother working on breaking German codes at Bletchley Park. Sixty years later, crossword compiler John Fellowes is tirelessly continuing the work that his grandfather Carl started at the Bookman Bureau. Times are bleak as computers are challenging crossword setters’ livelihoods and the bureau faces closure. When John discovers his grandfather may have been a Nazi spy, he is devastated and sets out to clear his name. With the help of Amanda, the bored but enterprising accountant from downstairs and his colleagues Turner, a deeply embittered chess grandmaster and Overend, a hyper-intelligent bridge player, he attempts to find out the truth behind the crosswords. The employees of Bookman Bureau are a suitably unconventional bunch. A passion for puzzles and games is how they earn their living. When the owner of the business discovers a potential skeleton in the family closet, they can’t…

Celebrities are mobbing London’s laser clinics as a deranged wannabe bumps off A-listers, believing he can absorb their powers and become famous by taping their tattoos to his body. Washed-up pop star Jackie Thunder isn’t joining the stampede. Jackie figures that if he can get on the killer’s hit list, without the inconvenience of being murdered, he’ll gain the publicity needed to reignite his career. But there’s more at stake than Jackie can possibly imagine. His desperate ploy for attention plunges him into the heart of a decades-old demonic plot to destroy great music through murder, mayhem and manipulation. With humanity’s collective soul at stake, how far will Jackie go to reach the top? Back in 2012, I read Michael Logan’s debut novel, Apocalypse Cow, and thoroughly enjoyed the undeniably bonkers plot. C’mon, what’s not to love? Zombie bovine mayhem with a deliciously subversive heart, I thought it was great. Fast forward to 2014 and Mr Logan is back. No cows on the menu this time, instead it’s time to use the vagaries of fame as the backdrop for his latest tale. Poor old Jackie Thunder has passed his prime. His glory days are long gone and he is fading…