Welcome to the Freemee lifestyle app: They can give you confidence, power, fame and all the friends in the world. But what will they take in return? When a teenager is shot dead after chasing a criminal in the street, investigating journalist Cynthia Bonsant is led to the popular social media platform Freemee, a competitor to Facebook whose lifestyle app claims to give you everything you need to succeed in life. But there is someone who warns against its evils: Zero, the world’s most-wanted activist, known for exposing the toxic truths behind social media giants and their pursuit of total control. As Cynthia gets closer to unravelling the evil mastermind behind the Freemee site, she herself becomes a target. But in this world of hidden cameras, data glasses and hyper-smart phones there is nowhere to hide . . . Currently, it feels like a day can’t go by without a new technology related scandal appearing in our headlines. Everyone from Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, to corrupt foreign governments are having a go at manipulating data to further their own ends. We live in an information age, where data is collateral, and every aspect of our lives is available for analysis….

As a child he was smuggled to the Middle East from his London home, to be trained as one of the most elite insurgent soldiers of his generation. For years he was forced to do things no child should do, for a cause he couldn’t believe in. But while his brothers were preparing to kill, he was looking for a way out. Now, on the eve of the deadliest coordinated terrorist attacks Europe has ever seen, he’ll finally get his chance. He will break free and hunt down those responsible for making him a monster. He must draw on all his training, all of his deadly skills to survive. He is Sleeper 13. When it comes reading action thrillers, I have a few criteria that the story needs to meet. Firstly, the plot has to capture and hold my attention. A well-judged sense of pace is also key, and if the story manages to pull off a cinematic feel, so much the better. Rob Sinclair’s latest novel, Sleeper 13, ticks all these boxes and then some. At its heart, Sleeper 13 has a fascinating premise. The central protagonist has been trained for years as a terrorist, and it is what…

The Long Autumn is coming to an end. For almost a century after the coming of The Sisters, the surviving peoples of rainswept England have huddled in small communities and on isolated farms, scavenging the remains of the old society. But now society, of a kind, is starting to rebuild itself. In Kent, a brutal tyranny is starting to look West. In the Cotswolds, something terrible and only vaguely-glimpsed is happening. And in a little corner of Berkshire two families are at war with each other. After decades of simply trying to survive, the battle to inherit this brutal new world is beginning. A couple of years ago I picked up Europe in Autumn on a whim. I was travelling and needed something to divert my attention while on a flight (don’t get me started on how much I loathe flying). In the departure lounge I purchased the novel with absolutely no expectations. Something about the blurb captured my attention, but I had never heard of the author and had no idea what was in store. A couple of hours later the plane landed and I don’t think I had blinked during the entire flight. Dave Hutchison’s Fractured Europe novels…

Freya has a new virtual assistant. It knows what she likes, knows what she wants and knows whose voice she most needs to hear: her missing sister’s. It adopts her sister’s personality, recreating her through a life lived online. But this virtual version of her knows things it shouldn’t be possible to know. It’s almost as if the missing girl is still out there somewhere, feeding fresh updates into the cloud. But that’s impossible. Isn’t it? I’m sure many of you have a digital assistant in your home. It doesn’t matter if you use Siri or Cortana, Google or Alexa* it’s all still a bit of a novelty isn’t it? Flash forward five or ten years from now, and it will be commonplace. We’ll all have our own assistants that are with us twenty-four seven. A virtual presence that knows you better than you know yourself and caters for you every whim. Sounds blissful doesn’t it? Heather Child’s debut novel, Everything About You, uses this as a jumping off point.  The big question it ponders – what if this most intimate of relationships wasn’t all it appeared to be.  Many of us live big chunk of our lives online. Who…

Happy New Year! Please note: Marked for Revenge is a direct sequel to Marked for Life. If you haven’t read the first book in this trilogy then it is possible the following review may contain minor spoilers. Consider yourself duly warned… When a Thai girl overdoses smuggling drugs, the trail points to Danilo, the one criminal MMA-trained public prosecutor Jana Berzelius most wants to destroy. Eager to erase any evidence of her sordid childhood, Berzelius must secretly hunt down this deadly nemesis with whom she shares a horrific past. Meanwhile, the police are zeroing in on the elusive head of the long-entrenched Swedish narcotics trade, who goes by the name The Old Man. No one has ever encountered this diabolical mastermind in person; he is like a shadow, but a shadow who commands extreme respect. Who is this overarching drug lord? Berzelius craves to know his identity, even as she clandestinely tracks Danilo, who has threatened to out her for who she really is. She knows she must kill him first, before he can reveal her secrets. If she fails, she will lose everything. As she prepares for the fight of her life, Berzelius discovers an even more explosive and…

Please note Training Days is a direct sequel to The Race and it is likely this review may contain spoilers if you don’t read that first. You have been warned. How you choose to interpret that warning is entirely your own business. After winning The Race, Joanna Parypinski’s journey takes her from a castle in Germany to the wilds of Siberia, plunging her ever deeper into a world of political games and deadly intrigue. Once again, she must fight to survive, but how can she be victorious against an opponent she didn’t see coming? Sometimes my brain cries out for nothing more than a bit of good old fashioned pulpy entertainment. Last year, in a move away from horror, Joan De La Haye released a thriller called The Race. Its premise couldn’t have been simpler – a race, first past the post wins and when it comes to your competition, there are no holds barred. I was intrigued by the idea of the global conspiracy that surrounded it all. I liked the suggestion that a shadowy organisation controlled by the great and the good was running everything in the world based on the outcome of a bloody gladiatorial challenge. Wars,…

For over five years, the Four Monkey Killer has terrorized the residents of Chicago. When his body is found, the police quickly realize he was on his way to deliver one final message, one which proves he has taken another victim who may still be alive. As the lead investigator on the 4MK task force, Detective Sam Porter knows even in death, the killer is far from finished. When he discovers a personal diary in the jacket pocket of the body, Porter finds himself caught up in the mind of a psychopath, unraveling a twisted history in hopes of finding one last girl, all while struggling with personal demons of his own. With only a handful of clues, the elusive killer’s identity remains a mystery. Time is running out and the Four Monkey Killer taunts from beyond the grave in this masterfully written fast-paced thriller. A shift of genre and a change of gears this week, from historical fantasy to some crime fiction. J D Barker’s latest, The Fourth Monkey, promises an edge of the seat thriller with the darkest of hearts. A notoriously elusive killer has finally died after managing to evade capture for years. The only problem? His…

Meryam and Adam take risks for a living. But neither is prepared for what lies in the legendary heights of Mount Ararat, Turkey. First to reach a massive cave revealed by an avalanche, they discover the hole in the mountain’s heart is really an ancient ship, buried in time. A relic that some fervently believe is Noah’s Ark. Deep in its recesses stands a coffin inscribed with mysterious symbols that no one in their team of scholars, archaeologists and filmmakers can identify. Inside is a twisted, horned cadaver. Outside a storm threatens to break. As terror begins to infiltrate their every thought, is it the raging blizzard that chases them down the mountain – or something far worse? Isn’t just always the way; you discover a centuries old burial site that could hold secrets relating to one of ancient history’s biggest mysteries and before you know it a blizzard has arrived, everyone is trapped and one by one they start to die. Is there a deranged killer amongst them, or is there something far more sinister? Christopher Golden’s latest, Ararat, is a masterclass in slow burning tension. The thing I like most about this author’s writing style is the attention…

Louise is a single mom, a secretary, stuck in a modern-day rut. On a rare night out, she meets a man in a bar and sparks fly. Though he leaves after they kiss, she’s thrilled she finally connected with someone. When Louise arrives at work on Monday, she meets her new boss, David. The man from the bar. The very married man from the bar…who says the kiss was a terrible mistake, but who still can’t keep his eyes off Louise. And then Louise bumps into Adele, who’s new to town and in need of a friend. But she also just happens to be married to David. And if you think you know where this story is going, think again, because Behind Her Eyes is like no other book you’ve read before. David and Adele look like the picture-perfect husband and wife. But then why is David so controlling? And why is Adele so scared of him? As Louise is drawn into David and Adele’s orbit, she uncovers more puzzling questions than answers. The only thing that is crystal clear is that something in this marriage is very, very wrong. But Louise can’t guess how wrong―and how far a person…

Please note – The Four Legendary Kingdoms is part of an ongoing series of books and it is entirely likely that if you haven’t read the first three books in this series that this review may contain a spoiler or two. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya! A RUTHLESS KIDNAPPING Jack West Jr and his family are living happily on their remote farm… when Jack is brutally kidnapped and he awakes in an underground cell to find a masked attacker with a knife charging at him. THE GREAT GAMES Jack, it seems, has been chosen – along with a dozen other elite soldiers – to compete in a series of deadly challenges designed to fulfill an ancient ritual. With the fate of the Earth at stake, he will have to traverse diabolical mazes, fight cruel assassins and face unimaginable horrors that will test him like he has never been tested before. TO HELL AND BACK In the process, he will discover the mysterious and powerful group of individuals behind it all: The Four Legendary Kingdoms. He might also discover that he is not the only hero in this place… If you haven’t ever read a Matthew Reilly novel before, then…

Joanna Parypinski is drugged, kidnapped, and forced to fight for survival, for the entertainment of the world’s rich and depraved, as well as the chance to win her weight in gold. In the race for her life, glory, and gold, Joanna must kill or be killed. Sometimes I like nothing more than a straightforward thriller. My needs are simple – a plot that whips along at breakneck speed, a protagonist made of steel, and a few twists and turns to keep things interesting. The latest from Joan De La Haye, The Race, does exactly that and then some. The thing I liked most about The Race is the premise. It manages to be deceptively simple but still effective. Just imagine it, you wake up in an unfamiliar location, surrounded by complete strangers. You are all given a simple choice – participate in a race to the death or face immediate execution. I suspect in my case I’d be dead within approximately twenty seconds, but Joanna Parypinki fares slightly better than I. When she finds herself in the world’s most brutal competition she steps up. Joanna finds herself in a situation that she is barely prepared for. The good news for…

Before we start a tiny warning. If you haven’t read books one and two of this ongoing series you need to stop reading this review right now. There are likely to be minor spoilers and I don’t want you hunting me down in the future and complaining that I didn’t mention them… I’m serious this is your last chance…  Have the uninformed masses gone? Good, then we can proceed. Union has come. The Community is now the largest nation in Europe; trains run there from as far afield as London and Prague. It is an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity. So what is the reason for a huge terrorist outrage? Why do the Community and Europe meet in secret, exchanging hostages? And who are Les Coureurs des Bois? Along with a motley crew of strays and mafiosi and sleeper agents, Rudi sets out to answer these questions – only to discover that the truth lies both closer to home and farther away than anyone could possibly imagine. If you’re a fan of thrillers that have a science fiction twist then look no further. Europe in Winter has it all – assassinations, intrigue, twists, turns, explosions, pocket universes and more high…

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…