THE BOY AT THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN by John Boyne

THE BOY AT THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN John Boyne (johnboyne.com) Doubleday (www.randomhouse.co.uk) £12.99 Although Pierrot Fischer’s father didn’t die in the Great War, his mother Émilie always maintained it was the war that killed him. It is 1936 and seven-year-old Pierrot Fischer lives in Paris with his French mother, his German father having drunk […]

THE GREAT SWINDLE by Pierre Lemaitre

THE GREAT SWINDLE Pierre Lemaitre (www.pierrelemaitre.com) Translated by Frank Wynne (www.terribleman.com) MacLehose Press (maclehosepress.com) £18.99 As the Great War approaches its end, Lieutenant Henri d’Aulnay-Pradelle decides to make one last bid for glory. Sending two scouts over the top, he shoots them in the back, and uses their deaths as the perfect excuse for one […]

DUST AND DESIRE by Conrad Williams

DUST AND DESIRE (A Joel Sorrell Novel) Conrad Williams (conradwilliams.wordpress.com) Titan Books (titanbooks.com) £7.99 London-based private investigator Joel Sorrell has gotten himself entangled in a most bizarre missing person case. Hired to look into the disappearance of his client’s brother, Sorrell begins to believe that he may be on a wild goose chase, especially when […]

THE BAZAAR OF BAD DREAMS by Stephen King

THE BAZAAR OF BAD DREAMS Stephen King (stephenking.com) Hodder & Stoughton (www.hodder.co.uk) £20.00 When people think of Stephen King, they most often think of the massive tomes that helped to make his name: The Stand, It, Needful Things. What we often forget is that King is as comfortable writing short fiction as he is writing […]

INFLUENCES: The Sum of our Experiences by JASON STARR

Name: JASON STARR Author of: SAVAGE LANE (2015) On the web: http://www.jasonstarr.com On Twitter: @JasonStarrBooks "Who are your influences?" This is a question all writers get, and I think I’ve given a different answer each time I’ve been asked. To some degree, it depends on my mood. If I’m feeling a little haughty and literary, […]

SAVAGE LANE by Jason Starr

SAVAGE LANE Jason Starr (www.jasonstarr.com) No Exit Press (www.noexit.co.uk) £6.99 Mark and Deb Berman’s marriage has hit a rough patch: she believes he’s having an affair with their next door neighbour, Karen. That may not be the case, but it doesn’t stop Mark constructing a rich fantasy life for Karen and himself, and the fact […]

GATOR BAIT by Adam Howe

GATOR BAIT Adam Howe Comet Press (www.cometpress.us) Currently Free on Kindle I fled the city: Two fingers short and sworn off dames for life. Hammond is on the run; after a serious beating by the latest in a long line of cuckolds, he is two fingers short, and with a man’s death on his almost […]

An Interview with ZEN CHO

Name: ZEN CHO Author of: SORCERER TO THE CROWN (2015) On the web: zencho.org On Twitter: @zenaldehyde Zen Cho is a Malaysian writer of SFF and romance. She was born and raised in Selangor, read law at Cambridge, and currently lives in London. Her debut historical fantasy Sorcerer to the Crown is out now in […]

SORCERER TO THE CROWN by Zen Cho

SORCERER TO THE CROWN Zen Cho (zencho.org) Macmillan (www.panmacmillan.com) £16.99 Regency London in a time of magical upheaval. The Sorcerer Royal is dead, his staff passed on to his successor, but his familiar gone. His successor has split opinion within the Royal Society of Unnatural Philosophers: Zacharias Wythe is Sir Stephen’s son in all but […]

LAST DAYS OF THE CONDOR by James Grady

LAST DAYS OF THE CONDOR James Grady (www.jamesgrady.net) No Exit Press (www.noexit.co.uk) £8.99 This month sees the release of the hotly anticipated sequel to Six Days of the Condor. It has taken forty years, but James Grady has finally revisited his most famous creation in Last Days of the Condor. To celebrate, No Exit Press […]