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…

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…

It is ten years since the attack that reduced Pittsburgh to ashes. Today all that remains is the Archive: an interactive digital record of the city and its people. John Dominic Blaxton is a survivor, one of the ‘lucky ones’ who escaped the blast. Crippled by the loss of his wife and unborn daughter, he spends his days immersed in the Archive with the ghosts of yesterday. It is there he finds the digital record of a body: a woman, lying face down, half buried in mud. Who is she … and why is someone hacking into the system and deleting the record of her seemingly unremarkable life? This question will drag Dominic from the darkest corners of the past into a deadly and very present nightmare. When thousands die in a tragedy does the death of one more victim mean anything? That’s the jumping off point for Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Thomas Sweterlitsch. In near future America a bomb levels Pittsburgh. The entire US is consumed by grief at the scale of the atrocity. Using the latest technology to create a virtual representation of the city, an electronic archive is created to recapture all events in the city leading…

A bomb goes off in down town San Francisco. Twelve people are dead. But this is no ordinary target. This target exists on the fault line where sex and money meet. Daniel Madsen is one of a new breed of federal agents armed with a badge, a gun and the Bureau’s latest piece of technology. He’s a fast operator and his instructions are simple: find the bomber – and before he strikes again. In order to understand what is at stake, Madsen must plunge into a sleazy, unsettling world where reality and fantasy are indistinguishable, exploitation is business as usual, and the dead hand of corruption reaches all the way to the top. There’s too much money involved for this investigation to stay private. Skinjobs are the latest thing in adult entertainment, synthetic creations that flawlessly mimic humanity. They are starting to replace their organic forebears in the world’s oldest profession. When a “dollhouse” is destroyed in an act of terrorism, a federal agent and a CCTV operator are drawn into a shadowy conspiracy. Who is it that is trying to destroy the newest sector of America’s tech economy? Agent Daniel Madsen lives his job. He is at the forefront…

In 2014 humanity didn’t stand a chance. A series of fatal climatic disasters struck, entirely drowning the planet. Now, just one hundred and twenty-five souls remain, surviving on a flotilla of damaged ships. But their survival isn’t guaranteed. Facing severe threats to their numbers by a fatal bacterium and increasingly warring factions, they discover a serial killer within their midst. When the murderer targets Eva Morgan’s friend, her investigations draw her into a deadly mystery and a race against time before the killer’s actions destroy the fragile existence on the flotilla. The further she digs, the more secrets she uncovers, and the truth becomes a pawn in a game for ultimate survival.   Regular readers of The Eloquent Page will know that I can’t ever let an opportunity to revel in good apocalyptic fiction pass me by. I just love this devilish little sub-genre. I wish I could tell you exactly why, but in all honesty I’m not sure I can. All I know is that apocalyptic fiction really resonates with me, just can’t get enough of it. The latest work I’ve cast my beady eye over is SALT by Anachron Press supremo, Colin F Barnes. So let’s sit back,…

On the eve of the biggest storm in west coast history, virologist Fara McManus shows up at work in a secret government lab where microbiologist Dr. Jeremy Corcoran has been working on a new bioweapon, using the homeless as human guinea pigs. Concerned for the subjects, Fara decides to stay. Especially now. Between the raging storm outside and the rage-inducing chemicals in the patients, a million things could go wrong. But the last thing Fara expects to happen is an armed attack on the lab, an explosion of gunfire, and an army of men smashing the barriers. Releasing the infected. Spreading the virus…into the world. On a night like this, there is no shelter from the storm. At first glance you may be forgiven for thinking, based on the title alone, that this is a novelisation of a B-movie you’d normally find on the likes of the SyFy channel*. I’m certainly willing to admit that it was the slightly geeky sounding name that initially hooked me. That title, along with the book blurb above, conjures up all manner of weird and wonderful images. The big question though – does the book live up to this promise? The majority of the action…