An Excerpt from ASHES OF THE SUN by Django Wexler

ASHES OF THE SUN Django Wexler (https://djangowexler.com/) Head of Zeus (https://headofzeus.com/home) £20.00 Prologue Gyre and Maya were playing ghouls and heroes. Gyre had to be the ghoul, of course. Maya would never tolerate being anything less than a hero. Summer was in full flower, and the sun was alone in a pale blue sky, with […]

ATTACK SURFACE by Cory Doctorow

Masha Maximow knows technology, and the many ways it can be used to invade a person’s privacy. And she should: she’s being paid big money to implement technology for just those reasons for all sorts of nefarious end-users, currently the right-wing government of the former Soviet republic of Slovstakia, who are using it to keep […]

INFLUENCES: What Inspired WIDOW’S WELCOME by D.K. Fields

WIDOW’S WELCOME D.K. Fields (dkfields.blogspot.com) Head of Zeus (headofzeus.com) £8.99 What inspired Widow’s Welcome? In short: “Mi dispiace, il mio italiano non va bene”. This became a mantra for us when travelling in Italy – “I’m sorry, my Italian is not good”. Whether Kath was trying to order peach ice cream but kept saying ‘fish’, […]

THE TREADSTONE RESURRECTION by Joshua Hood

ROBERT LUDLUM’S THE TREADSTONE RESURRECTION Joshua Hood Head of Zeus (headofzeus.com) £18.99 Adam Hayes is living and working as a carpenter in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest, his life far from perfect, but a far cry from his time in Treadstone, the top-secret CIA Black Ops programme that trained him, and many like him, […]

The 2014 Round-Up

As another year draws to a close, it’s time for my annual retrospective of what’s gone on at Reader Dad. There’s a lot to cover this year, so without further ado… THE ROUND-UP As the reading year closes, I have read 65 books this year, more than every year except last year, but I had […]

THE ABDUCTION by Jonathan Holt

THE ABDUCTION Jonathan Holt (www.carnivia.com) Head of Zeus (headofzeus.com) £12.99 WALL STANDING IS NOT TORTURE. AT 9 P.M. THIS EVENING, SHE WILL NOT BE TORTURED. WATCH IT LIVE ON CARNIVIA. When the teenage daughter of a high-ranking US soldier is abducted from one of Venice’s sex clubs, it seems that the protesters against the […]

THE EXPEDITION: A LOVE STORY by Bea Uusma

THE EXPEDITION: A LOVE STORY Bea Uusma Translated by Agnes Broomé Head of Zeus (headofzeus.com) £16.99 On 11th July 1897, three men – Salomon August Andrée, Nils Strindberg and Knut Frænkel – set off from the northernmost point of civilisation in a hot air balloon. Their destination: the North Pole. Three days later they are […]

The 2013 Round-Up

And so, once more, to the end of the year and the requisite retrospective of my reading habits over the past twelve months here at Reader Dad. Regular visitors and Twitter followers will know that 2013 has been a year full of ups and downs (more downs, unfortunately, than ups) for me, what with five […]

BROKEN ANGELS by Graham Masterton

BROKEN ANGELS Graham Masterton (www.grahammasterton.co.uk) Head of Zeus (headofzeus.com) £16.99 The body of a priest is found in a river just outside Cork. He has been tortured, castrated and bound with harp wire before dying. Detective Superintendent Katie Maguire of the Cork Guardai picks up the case and discovers that the dead priest is one […]

Hospital Reading Round-up, or: A Letter of Apology

Dear Reader, I hope you will forgive this break from the usual straightforward literary(?) criticism for this personal note to explain the relative quiet at Reader Dad of late, and to apologise to authors, publishers, publicists and potential readers for the lack of reviews written and published on the site since mid-February. Anyone who follows […]