ARIA: Left Luggage by Geoff Nelder (REVIEW)

Science fiction is a genre that generally falls into two widely different scopes (the epic, action-packed, space opera; and the intimate, character-focused, story of ideas), and two equally diverse themes (that of the truly 'alien' threat from beyond the stars; and that of the the 'human' threat, emerging from much closer to home).With ARIA: Left Luggage, Geoff Nelder opts for the more intimate scope, but pairs it with the alien threat. It's...

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Kameron Hurley Ebook Giveaway (courtesy of Night Shade)

From the Night Shade Books Newsletter:Would you like a free ebook? Of course you would. How 'bout two?In anticipation of the forthcoming release of Rapture, Kameron Hurley's bone-shattering conclusion to the epic Bel Dame Apocrypha trilogy, that's exactly what Night Shade Books is giving away. We don't want you to miss out on any of the "smart, dark, visceral and wonderfully, hectically entertaining" action of this trilogy! So we are giving away...

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Waiting On Wednesday - American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson BennettSome places are too good to be true.Under a pink moon, there is a perfect little town not found on any map.In that town, there are quiet streets lined with pretty houses, houses that conceal the...

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Iceberg by Clive Cussler (REVIEW)

With my reading habits thrown off by a broken e-reader, I've been forced to delve into the towering stacks of paperbacks that clutter my shelves. It's not nearly as convenient, and has certainly put me a bit behind with those titles I've been sent for review, but it's kind of nice to catch up on some of my pleasure reading. That's not to say the arrival of a replacement e-reader wouldn't be a HUGE relief, but I'm coping.Plucked from the dusty depths...

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Feature & Follow Friday

Feature & Follow Friday is a blog hop that is designed to provide some much-appreciated exposure to the bloggers participating, and to expand their following. Hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read, each of whom feature a chosen blog for the week, it's an interesting way to get to know one another.Question of the Week: What writing device or trick most irritates you when reading a book? For example, if an author...

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The Vampire Hunters by Scott M. Baker (REVIEW)

More than any other 'monster' in literary history, the vampire has experienced a significant evolution (not to mention bastardization) over the last few decades. It has been romanticized, eroticized, moralized, and humanized, until what was once a straightforward staple of horror fiction has become a genre all on its own. It used to be that you knew what to expect when somebody handed you a vampire book, but now you're just as likely to get...

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Sasha Plotkin's Deceit by Vaughn Sherman (REVIEW & GIVEAWAY)

With battles of wits rather than brawn, and clashes of personalities rather than gadgets, Sasha Plotkin's Deceit suggests a kind of literary authenticity. In telling his tale, Vaughn Sherman forgoes the big-budget action sequences, the crazy gadgets, and the overt sexuality of his cinematic peers to focus instead on the human element of covert espionage.Set during the height of the cold war, this is a story of betrayal and blackmail played out on...

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Waiting On Wednesday - Two Graves by Preston and Child

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:Two Graves by Douglas Preston & Lincoln ChildFor twelve years, he believed she died in an accident. Then, he was told she'd been murdered. Now, FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast discovers that his beloved wife Helen is alive. But...

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Feature & Follow Friday

Feature & Follow Friday is a blog hop that is designed to provide some much-appreciated exposure to the bloggers participating, and to expand their following. Hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read, each of whom feature a chosen blog for the week, it's an interesting way to get to know one another.Question of the Week: When you step out of your usual genre what do you read? Best books in that genre?I generally...

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Killing Down the Roman Line by Tim McGregor (REVIEW)

What do you do when a stranger shows up in your quaint little Canadian town to accuse your ancestors of a horrific act? What do you do when he holds you and your fellow citizens responsible for a murder that took place long before you were born? More importantly, what do you do when you begin to doubt the official history, and suspect that there may just be something to his demands for vengeance?Such is the basic premise of Killing Down the...

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Waiting On Wednesday - Earth Thirst by Mark Teppo

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:Earth Thirst by Mark TeppoThe Earth is dying. Humanity — over-breeding, over-consuming — is destroying the very planet they call home. Multinational corporations despoil the environment, market genetically modified crops to control the food...

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Shudder by Harry F. Kane (REVIEW)

Take the most thrilling season of Law & Order: SVU, combine it with the darkest episodes of Criminal Minds, add in a few sci-fi touches (à la J.D. Robb), and give it all a social-media sort of consciousness, and you just might begin to get an idea of what to expect from Shudder by Harry F. Kane.In Kane's near-future world, humanity is sustained (to an extent) by an artificial environment, protected (I use the term loosely) by an outsourced police...

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Interested in collaborating with Clive Barker? Hell yeah!

From the official Clive Barker Facebook page:Calling all writers, poets and filmmakers. Here's your chance to collaborate with Clive Barker. Take a look! Submissions begin next week!http://techgnotic.deviantart.com/journal/Odyssey-II-with-Clive-Barker-331804956400 Word Submissions60 days16 Deadlines8 Chapters8 Works of Art6 Short Films3 Poems1 Incredible StoryClive Barker starts us off with the Prologue for Odyssey II and selects the submissions...

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Little Green God of Agony - Free Online Stephen King Comic

FROM STEPHENKING.COM:Noted comic artist Dennis Calero (co-creator of X-Men Noir and Devil Inside) has adapted Stephen's "The Little Green God of Agony" for serial instalments to appear Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for the next eight weeks beginning October 15th!"It rocks most righteously," Stephen says of Calero's finely-drawn adaptation. Calero's take: "I have been a huge Stephen King fan for as long as I can remember. To be able to...

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Feature & Follow Friday

Feature & Follow Friday is a blog hop that is designed to provide some much-appreciated exposure to the bloggers participating, and to expand their following. Hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read, each of whom feature a chosen blog for the week, it's an interesting way to get to know one another.Question of the Week: What book do you think would make a great Halloween movie? Please explain in graphic detail of...

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Kingdom by Anderson O'Donnell (REVIEW)

Part near-future dystopian science fiction thriller, and part cult horror novel, Kingdom is a chilling journey through the underworld of Tiber City. It's a story about greed, debauchery, idealism, and the shaky foundations of even our best intentions. Politics, science, and humanity - none of it is safe from the dirty, distorted lens that Anderson O'Donnell allows to peek into every darkened alleyway, and behind every closed door.Told through three...

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Waiting On Wednesday: Tears in Rain by Rosa Montero

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:Tears in Rain by Rosa MonteroDeath is inevitable. Especially when you have an expiration date.As a replicant, or “techno-human,” Detective Bruna Husky knows two things: humans bioengineered her to perform dangerous, undesirable tasks; and...

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Bone Wires by Michael Shean (REVIEW)

With Bone Wires, Michael Shean weaves a story that pays homage to multiple genres and tropes, creating a whole that is definitely more than just the sum of its parts. On the surface, this is a police procedural played out against a science fiction backdrop. Beneath the skin is an alternately shiny/gritty surface is an undercurrent of horror, backed by its serial killer atrocities, marked by a throbbing vein of socio-political commentary, centred...

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The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson (REVIEW)

As much as I've enjoyed the Mistborn saga, The Way of Kings, and his work on the final Wheel of Time novels, Elantris is one of the few works by Brandon Sanderson that I have yet to read (along with Warbreaker).Fortunately, while The Emperor's Soul is set in the same world as Elantris, it is a completely separate story, and doesn't require any advance knowledge of the world Sanderson has created.Clocking in at under 200 pages, this lacks the intense...

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The Donors by Jeffrey Wilson (REVIEW)

The Donors is one of those rare books that manages to challenge, and indeed alter, your perceptions. I started the book in complete sympathy with the 'lizard men', so much so that I looked forward to their appearance on the page. It made me feel guilty, and a bit dirty, but I took no small amount of pleasure in the pain they inflicted upon the human monsters of the tale.Until, that is, the course of the story began to change, and the certainties...

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The Alpha Wolf Bent Me Over by Donald Armfield (REVIEW)

I first got to know Donald Armfield as a sergeant in the Bizarro Brigade, so I knew that whatever he sent me to read wasn't going to be your average, run-of-the-mill, mainstream bit of fiction. I expected it to be a bit strange, to toy with some taboos, and to dispense with any sort of rigid narrative structure.Well, The Alpha Wolf Bent Me Over is pretty much exactly what I expected, the literary equivalent of an 80s slasher flick,...

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