RELICS by Tim Lebbon

RELICS Tim Lebbon (www.timlebbon.net) Titan Books (titanbooks.com) £7.99 Angela Gough’s life is happy and normal until the day her boyfriend, Vince, leaves for work and doesn’t come back. Mysterious notes through the door, which may be in his handwriting tell her to stay away, not to look for him, but Angela isn’t about to let […]

INFLUENCES: Finding My Own Voice by MATT WESOLOWSKI

Name: MATT WESOLOWSKI Author of: SIX STORIES (2017) On Twitter: ConcreteKraken It’s taken me years to find my own voice. I’ve spent the majority of my writing life mimicking; from a bargain-bin Enid Blyton when I was a kid, a teenage cut-price James Herbert to a snide Stephen King or else 50% off all Lovecraft, […]

THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS by John Boyne

THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS John Boyne (johnboyne.com) Illustrated by Oliver Jeffers (www.oliverjeffers.com) Doubleday (www.penguinrandomhouse.co.uk) £14.99 Bruno is nine years old when his father’s job forces the family to pack up their beautiful Berlin home and move to the desolate Polish countryside. This is Out-With, a cold and unpleasant place where neither Bruno nor […]

IT by Stephen King

IT Stephen King (stephenking.com) Hodder & Stoughton (www.hodder.co.uk) £10.99 (he thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts) In May 1985 six people receive a phone call from a friend they have long forgotten reminding them of an oath they swore when they were just eleven years old. The phone […]

‘SALEM’S LOT by Stephen King

‘SALEM’S LOT Stephen King (stephenking.com) Hodder & Stoughton (hodder.co.uk) £9.99 This review/essay originally appeared as part of the King For A Year project, and appears here in its original form, by permission. …the Lot’s knowledge of the country’s torment was academic. Time went on a different schedule there. Nothing too nasty could happen in such […]

GUEST POST: The Problems With Time Travel by MARK MORRIS

Name: Mark Morris Author of: THE WOLVES OF LONDON (2014) THE SOCIETY OF BLOOD (2015) THE WRAITHS OF WAR (2016) On the web: http://www.markmorrisfiction.com On Twitter: @MarkMorris10 I’ve been a big fan of Doctor Who ever since I was terrified by the Yeti, the Ice Warriors and the Cybermen when I was four, […]

INFLUENCES: On ‘The Rock’ by GINA WOHLSDORF

Photo © Rachel Sundheim Name: GINA WOHLSDORF Author of: SECURITY (2016) On the web: http://www.ginawohlsdorf.com I was wracking my brain about which influence to discuss in this post. The truth is, everything I’ve read, watched and lived has had an influence on my fiction. I think that’s why I started writing to begin with, way […]

SECURITY by Gina Wohlsdorf

SECURITY Gina Wohlsdorf (www.ginawohlsdorf.com) Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill (algonquin.com) £17.99 The grand opening of Manderley Resort, an eyesore on the Santa Barbara Beach, is rapidly approaching. Hotel manager Tessa and her team of chefs, cleaners, and restaurant managers are preparing the hotel and the ballroom for the celebratory gala, while locked away on the […]

THE WOLF ROAD by Beth Lewis

THE WOLF ROAD Beth Lewis (bethlewis.co.uk) The Borough Press (www.boroughpress.co.uk) £12.99 At the age of seven, a young girl finds herself lost in the vast forests of British Columbia. Stumbling across a shack, she attempts to steal some jerky and finds herself staring down the barrel of a gun. The gun belongs to a man […]

THE CITY OF MIRRORS by Justin Cronin

THE CITY OF MIRRORS Justin Cronin (enterthepassage.com) Orion Books (www.orionbooks.co.uk) £20.00 The Twelve have been defeated and with them, the hordes of virals that sprung from their bloodlines. Amy is gone and Alicia has fled into the wilderness, her infection forcing her to seek isolation. As the years pass, the people of Kerrville grow complacent: […]