Synopsis: Every small town has ghosts. King’s Branch has Marla. A reclusive young woman who lives with her mother in a creepy Gothic house, Marla Gorman is the stuff of urban legends. Some believe she’s a prisoner. Others claim she’s a witch. The evening of the first murder, Detective Carl Lancaster sees Marla leering at him from her bedroom window. […]
Reviews
Review: Demon Engine by Marten Norr
Synopsis Sally Delavega, the best demon-binder the world has ever seen, would do anything to banish the two hundred ghosts trapped in his head—even if it means swimming up from the bottom of his tankard. When the Navy that destroyed his life comes sailing back to offer enough coin to get the job done, Sally […]
Review: A River From The Sky (Book #2 of the Natural Engines Duology) by Ai Jiang
Synopsis Fleeing from the bone palace and crashing into the waters below its steep walls, Lufeng and her siblings reach Gear, with its huge deadly water wheels, where their sister Sangshu is waiting for them. In the chaos of the enormous waves, within moments they’re snatched away and taken into rebel territory, where they learn […]
Review: Morbid Curiosities by S. Hati
Synopsis: An ambitious teen enrolls at an elite science institute in Morbid Curiosities, a young adult thriller from author S. Hati. When the Institute’s invitation arrived at my doorstep, it felt like it had been inked in my blood, sweat, and tears. Aarya’s life plan has been set for as long as she can remember: […]
Review: The Hunger of the Gods (Bloodsworn Saga #2) by John Gwynne
Synopsis: The Hunger of the Gods continues John Gwynne’s acclaimed Norse-inspired epic fantasy series, packed with myth, magic and bloody vengeance Lik-Rifa, the dragon god of legend, has been freed from her eternal prison. Now she plots a new age of blood and conquest. As Orka continues the hunt for her missing son, the Bloodsworn sweep […]
Review: The Faith of Beasts (The Captive’s War #2) by James S.A. Corey
Synopsis: The monstrous Carryx empire was built by subjugation and war. Thousands of species are bound to their Sovran’s command in an endless, blood-soaked test: be useful in the eternal conflict or be slaughtered. Dafyd Alkhor, highest among their human captives, is feared and despised by the very people he champions. Ruthless in carving out […]
Review: Children of Ruin (Children of Time #2) by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Synopsis: Thousands of years ago, Earth’s terraforming program took to the stars. On the world they called Nod, scientists discovered alien life—but it was their mission to overwrite it with the memory of Earth. Then humanity’s great empire fell, and the program’s decisions were lost to time. Aeons later, humanity and its new spider allies […]
Review: Abyss by Nicholas Binge
Synopsis Severance meets Lovecraft in this surreal tale of corporate horror and existential dread. Joe always had potential, but he doesn’t expect much, and he hopes that his new job as an admin assistant won’t expect much of him. But when he enters the offices of Ponos—a company he’s never heard of and knows nothing about—he […]
Review – Mushroom Blues (The Hoffman Report #1) by Adrian M. Gibson
Synopsis ENTER THE FUNGALVERSE. Blade Runner, True Detective, and District 9 meld with the weird worlds of Jeff VanderMeer, Philip K. Dick, and China Miéville in Adrian M. Gibson’s award-winning fungalpunk noir debut, now with a foreword from acclaimed author Nicholas Eames and six pieces of original interior artwork. Two years after a devastating defeat […]
Review: Headlights by C.J. Leede
Synopsis: Special Agent Daniel Stansfield is ready for a change. Burnt out and defeated by the job, it’s his last day with the FBI. But before he can turn in his badge, he’s summoned back to Denver, the city he ran from four years ago, with a chilling message: it’s happening again. Seemingly innocent people are […]
SPFBO XI Review: Blackwater (Serpents and Shadows Book 1) by Emily Blakeney
Synopsis There is much to be done when the kingdom isn’t looking. Iona Strider is a ruthless pickpocket cursed with a disobedient shadow. Violent, too. Worse, she can’t remember who cursed her, or why. But she does know one with each passing day, her control of the shadow dwindles. In her relentless pursuit of answers, […]
Review: Hex House by Amy Jane Stewart
Synopsis: ELLY Elly is running. Pregnant and still in her wedding dress, she flees the cottage that her new husband has rented for their wedding night. Because he’s not what people think he is – and she knows that, one day, he’ll hurt her in a way she can’t fix. Freezing and lost in the […]