Matthew Buscemi ★★★ The Other is an on-the-nose futuristic sci-fi cum political thriller. Set in the last remaining human enclave of what appears to be our planet, the novel explores the differences between and possible outcomes of liberalism and populism. It’s the dying days of the presidential campaign in the Reclamation, the group of cities…… Continue reading The Other
Dark Screams: Vol. 9
Edited by Brian James Freeman & Richard Chizmar ★★★ This ninth volume of the Dark Screams anthology series offers a collection of six stories from different authors. This is very much a mixed bag, and is worth reading for three of the tales, while the other three are relatively weak. The stories included are:Kelley Armstrong…… Continue reading Dark Screams: Vol. 9
Cold Spectrum
Craig Schaefer ★★★★★ A fantastic fourth instalment in the Harmony Black series, and the strongest to date, Craig Schaefer has done himself proud with Cold Spectrum. Adrift from their chain of command and not knowing who to trust, Harmony and the rest of her team are desperate to learn more about Cold Spectrum. Betrayed by…… Continue reading Cold Spectrum
The History of Bees
Maja Lunde (Translated by Diane Oatley) ★★★★ I’m always rather dubious of translated books, but this story has flowed seamlessly from the original Norwegian text, published in 2015, into this English version. It follows the lives of three people, spread over a period of 250 years. The accounts are intermingled, but instead being jarring that…… Continue reading The History of Bees
The Thursday Murder Club
Richard Osman ★★★★★ The Thursday Murder Club is the debut novel from Richard Osman, he of Pointless and House of Games fame. He’s always come across as an intelligent guy with a way with words, so giving it a go was a no-brainer. I’m so glad that I did – I absolutely adored it. Set…… Continue reading The Thursday Murder Club
Nightshifter
L.E. Horn ★★★★ As a vet in Manitoba, Canada, Liam is used to dealing with the aftermath of wild animal attacks on farm animals. When he’s called out to treat a young bison bull, he’s puzzled by the size of the wounds left by its attacker; even more so when he discovers that two other…… Continue reading Nightshifter
Urban Enemies
Edited by Joseph Nassise ★★★ Anthologies are a wonderful way to find ‘new’ authors, and are a bit like a day trip. You get to dip into new worlds, have a quick look around, and decide if you’d like to return for a proper holiday. Sometimes all the authors are unknown to you, other times…… Continue reading Urban Enemies
The Silent Wife
Karin Slaughter ★★★★★ A worthy follow-up to The Last Widow, The Silent Wife is the tenth book in Slaughter’s Atlanta GBI series, featuring Will Trent, Faith Mitchell, Sara Linton. The story switches back and forth between two alternate times and places – modern day Atlanta, where we find Sara, Will and Faith investigating a murder…… Continue reading The Silent Wife
The Last Widow
Karin Slaughter ★★★★★ For reasons that I can no longer remember, I originally gave up on Karin Slaughter after her 2004 Grant County series novel, Indelible – this is a mistake which will be quickly remedied. The Last Widow is the ninth book in her Atlanta GBI series, which seems to follow on from Grant…… Continue reading The Last Widow
Survivor Song
Paul Tremblay ★★★★★ “THIS IS NOT a fairy tale. Certainly it is not one that has been sanitized, homogenized, or Disneyfied.”Tremblay warns you right from the beginning that what you are about to read isn’t going to be yet another happily-ever-after fable where the heroes (or in this case heroines) overcome adversity, kill the wicked…… Continue reading Survivor Song
The Book Dragon 