Carthage, 146 BC. This is the story of Fabius Petronius Secundus – Roman legionary and centurion – and of his general Scipio Aemilianus, and his rise to power: from his first battle against the Macedonians, that seals the fate of Alexander the Great’s successors, to total war in North Africa and the Siege of Carthage. Scipio’s success brings him admiration and respect, but also attracts greed and jealousy – for the closest all...

To claim the powers of the legendary golden lotus, Tori Harding, a Victorian woman, must journey to Bharata, with its magics, intrigues and ghosts, to claim her fate, and face a choice between two suitors and two irreconcilable realms.  It is 1857. After millennia of seafaring, and harried by the kraken of the deep, in a monumental feat of engineering Anglica has built a stupendous bridge to Bharata. Bharata’s magical powers are ...

Thomas is thirty-two. He comes from the small town of Barkley. He has a wife there, Sarah, and a child, Mary; good solid names from the Good Book. And he is on his way home from the war, where he has been serving as a conscripted soldier. Thomas is also dead – he is one of the Walkin’. And Barkley does not suffer the wicked to live. I often hear the cry “Oh no, not another zombie novel”. Now I’ll be the fir...

There’s a murderer loose in Greystones, a small estuary village tucked against the wintry, wooded trails of O’Halloran Hill. The gory body count begins to rise, sending the media into an all-out feeding frenzy. The village is swamped with police and onlookers, and everybody wants to catch ‘The Vampire Killer’. While the hunt is on James Stixx and his partner-in-crime, Faye Burns discover that beneath the surface is a whole diffe...

It’s about high time we had a guest review so here’s one right now. Something a bit different today though, Mr Sam Strong has pricked up his ears and has taken a listen to an audio book. A killer is on the loose . . . Joel is fascinated by the art of Rithmatics – with its lines of power and ability to bring chalk drawings to life – but only a few have the gift and he is not one of them. When Rithmatic students f...

Please note Pigeonwings is a direct sequel to the events in Clovenhoof. I would advise reading book one before losing yourself in the chaotic nonsense that is book two. Oh, and this review might contain spoilers if you haven’t read book one. As punishment for his part in an attempted coup in Heaven, the Archangel Michael is banished to Earth. The holiest of the angelic host has to learn to live as a mortal, not an easy job when yo...

Control is the direct sequel to Shift. If you haven’t read that first then it is possible, in this reality, that there may be minor spoilers ahead in this review.  Scott Tyler is not like other teenagers. With a single thought he can alter reality around him. And he can stop anyone else from doing the same. That’s why he’s so important to ARES, the secret government agency that regulates other kids like him: Shifters. Theyâ€...

Detective Robert Hunter of the LAPD’s Homicide Special Section receives an anonymous call asking him to go to a specific web address – a private broadcast. Hunter logs on and a show devised for his eyes only immediately begins. But the caller doesn’t want Detective Hunter to just watch, he wants him to participate, and refusal is simply not an option. Forced to make a sickening choice, Hunter must sit and watch as an u...

London, 1859. Novice detective, Campbell Lawless, stumbles onto the trail of Berwick Skelton, an elusive revolutionary, threatening to bring the city to its knees with devilish acts of terror. Thrust into a lethal, intoxicating world of sabotage and royal scandal – and aided by a gang of street urchins and a vivacious librarian – Lawless sets out to capture his underworld nemesis before he unleashes his final vengeance. Murder. Vice...

  Recently I sent out a call asking the creative author-ey types of Twitter if they would be willing to submit to some burning questions. A few foolish fools brave souls (twenty four to be exact) answered the call. Here, in case you missed any first time around, are links to every single response. I’d like to take this opportunity once again to thank all the contributors. These super talented folks write,  edit, produce and ...

Q1. What is your favorite word? Magenta. Closely followed by republic. So you can totally expect me to write a book called “The Magenta Republic” one day. Q2. What is your least favorite word? Onus. Closely followed by kudos. Urgh. They make my skin crawl. Q3. How has social media helped your career? It’s been pretty much essential – I met my first publisher (Angry Robot) on Twitter. I met my agent via a friend, ...

1971. A middle-aged man, wracked with grief, walks along the beach at Whitstable in Kent.  A boy walks approaches him and, taking him for the famous vampire-hunter Doctor Van Helsing from the Hammer movies, asks for his help. Because he believes his stepfather really is a vampire… I like the premise of Whitstable, it’s most definitely intriguing. Taking a celebrity like Peter Cushing and crafting a horrific tale around events o...

Q1. What is your favorite word?  Iktsuarpok is an Inuit word for the feeling of anticipation you get when expecting a visitor, which causes you to keep going outside to see if you can see them approaching. I like it because it reminds me of the feeling you get as an author, when you’ve sent off a manuscript and you’re waiting for a reply from an agent or editor – you just keep hitting refresh on your inbox in the hop ...