Hellooooo!

Ok it’s not Monday but work has been more than bit busy. Here are some books that caught my eye for the next two weeks

Girl A by Abigail Dean - Out Now from Harper Voyager - £14.99 Hardback

‘Girl A,’ she said. ‘The girl who escaped. If anyone was going to make it, it was going to be you.’

Lex Gracie doesn’t want to think about her family. She doesn’t want to think about growing up in her parents’ House of Horrors. And she doesn’t want to think about her identity as Girl A: the girl who escaped. When her mother dies in prison and leaves Lex and her siblings the family home, she can’t run from her past any longer. Together with her sister, Evie, Lex intends to turn the House of Horrors into a force for good. But first she must come to terms with her six siblings – and with the childhood they shared.

Beautifully written and incredibly powerful, Girl A is a story of redemption, of horror, and of love.

This thriller has been gaining a huge amount of buzz last few months and it sounds fascinating.

The Shape of Darkness by Laura Purcell - Out Now from Raven Books - £12.99 Hardback

Wicked deeds require the cover of darkness...

A struggling silhouette artist in Victorian Bath seeks out a renowned child spirit medium in order to speak to the dead - and to try and identify their killers - in this beguiling new tale from Laura Purcell.

Silhouette artist Agnes is struggling to keep her business afloat. Still recovering from a serious illness herself, making enough money to support her elderly mother and her orphaned nephew Cedric has never been easy, but then one of her clients is murdered shortly after sitting for Agnes, and then another, and another...

Desperately seeking an answer, Agnes approaches Pearl, a child spirit medium lodging in Bath with her older half-sister and her ailing father, hoping that if Pearl can make contact with those who died, they might reveal who killed them. But Agnes and Pearl quickly discover that instead they may have opened the door to something that they can never put back...

What secrets lie hidden in the darkness?

Love this author’s Bone China and spooky thrillers are so in my wheelhouse. Plus that is a gorgeous cover!

Under A Dark Angel’s Eye - The Selected Stories of Patricia Highsmith - Out Now from Virago - £20.00 Hardback

Patricia Highsmith was one of the great twentieth-century novelists, celebrated for classics The Talented Mr Ripley, Carol and Strangers on a Train, but she was also a masterful and prolific short-story writer. This definitive new collection, featuring two stories that have never been published before, confirms Highsmith as a genius of the genre. Peerlessly disturbing, exhilarating and savagely funny, Highsmith's stories still have the power to startle, presenting a world that is frighteningly familiar and as relevant today as when they were written.

Highsmith is an author I’ve been reading to read more of and is often linked to Shirley Jackson who I love so this will be intersting to read and see how close that compariosn is

The Expert System’s Champion by Adrian Tchaikovsky - Out Now from Tor - £2.09 Kindle ebook

It's been ten years since Handry was wrenched away from his family and friends, forced to wander a world he no longer understood. But with the help of the Ancients, he has cobbled together a life, of sorts, for himself and his fellow outcasts.

Wandering from village to village, welcoming the folk that the townships abandon, fighting the monsters the villagers cannot—or dare not—his ever-growing band of misfits has become the stuff of legend, a story told by parents to keep unruly children in line.

But there is something new and dangerous in the world, and the beasts of the land are acting against their nature, destroying the towns they once left in peace.

And for the first time in memory, the Ancients have no wisdom to offer...

I really enjoyed the first novella in this series that saw an off world civilisation that has gone badly wrong so I am intrigued where we go next.

Across The Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire - Out now from Tor - £6.96 Kindle eBook

"Welcome to the Hooflands. We're happy to have you, even if you being here means something's coming."

Regan loves, and is loved, though her school-friend situation has become complicated, of late.

When she suddenly finds herself thrust through a doorway that asks her to Be Sure before swallowing her whole, Regan must learn to live in a world filled with centaurs, kelpies, and other magical equines--a world that expects its human visitors to step up and be heroes.

But after embracing her time with the herd, Regan discovers that not all forms of heroism are equal, and not all quests are as they seem...

A standalone Wayward Children story containing all-new characters, and a great jumping-on point for new readers.

Another Wayward children tale - Its a MUST have for me

Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor - Out now from Tor - £6.96 Kindle ebook

“She’s the adopted daughter of the Angel of Death. Beware of her. Mind her. Death guards her like one of its own.”

The day Fatima forgot her name, Death paid a visit. From hereon in she would be known as Sankofa­­—a name that meant nothing to anyone but her, the only tie to her family and her past.

Her touch is death, and with a glance a town can fall. And she walks—alone, except for her fox companion—searching for the object that came from the sky and gave itself to her when the meteors fell and when she was yet unchanged; searching for answers.

But is there a greater purpose for Sankofa, now that Death is her constant companion?

Okorafor is an author I will always want to read. This tale sounds as always intriguing

Coming very soon

Brother Red by Adrian Selby - Out 28/1 from Orbit

When the trade caravan Driwna Marghoster was hired to protect is attacked, she discovers a dead body hidden inside a barrel. Born of the powerful but elusive Oskoro people, the body is a rare and priceless find, the centre of a tragic tale and the key to a larger mystery...

For when Driwna investigates who the body was meant for, she will find a trail of deceit and corruption which could bring down a kingdom, and an evil more powerful than she can imagine.

I will be reviewing this very soon but I thought the last novel (The Winter Road) in this series of standalone yet linked tales was amazing so I have high hopes for another great tale exploring a very unusual fanatsy land

Relics, Wrecks and Ruins edited by Aiki Flinthart Out 31/1- £9.99 Kindle eBook

Futures and Pasts, Fearless and Frightening.
This is a must-read collection for all fans of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror. A celebration of legacy and endurance.
•Bizarre remains of a lost civilisation emerge from the ice.
•The ghosts of a drowned town wait to be awakened.
•A witch with a dragon problem.
•What Elvis will do to protect his fellow artists from annihilation.
•An ancient spaceship carries the last, fragmented memories of Earth.
•Broken souls of the dead are passed on to the new-born.
•…These and many more tales showcase the hopes, remnants, and fears of humanity.

Having been diagnosed with terminal cancer, Aiki Flinthart reached out for works from as many of her favourite authors as would answer the call. And many did.
Between these pages you’ll find stories by some of the world’s best science fiction, fantasy, and horror writers. Find new favourite authors and re-join old friends.
Their fabulous works are threads woven with a sure hand into a tapestry of the weird, the worrying, and the wonderful that make up mankind.

Grab a copy of Relics, Wrecks, and Ruins today. You’ll also help fund a mentorship for emerging authors.

I will be reviewing this at the weekend but this book I can tell you already has A grade talent under an amazing editor’s direction creating something special

Spec Ops Z by Gavin G Smith Out 2/2 from rebellion - £8.99 paperback

When Vadim Scorlenski and his elite Spetznaz squad are sent to New York at the height of the Cold War, they're told it's a 'training exercise.' They discover, too late, that the 'practice' chemical weapon they're carrying is all too real. They go to their deaths...

...and awaken to a city overwhelmed by the walking dead, even now spreading across the globe. Somehow holding onto their identities amid the mindless monsters, Scorlenski and his squad of zombie commandos set out to return to Russia.

Someone's going to pay.

I really enjoyed Smith’s gritty SF tales so am very much looking forward to this tale and I am apparently going to enjoy a lot of splatter - sold!!

The Lady From The Black Lagoon by Mallory O’Meara - book - Out 4/2 from rebllion £8.99 paperback

The Lady from the Black Lagoon uncovers the life and work of Milicent Patrick—one of Disney’s first female animators and the only woman in history to create one of Hollywood’s classic movie monsters.

As a teenager, Mallory O’Meara was thrilled to discover that one of her favourite movies, Creature from the Black Lagoon, featured a monster designed by a woman, Milicent Patrick. But for someone who should have been hailed as a pioneer in the genre, there was little information available. For, as O’Meara soon discovered, Patrick’s contribution had been claimed by a jealous male colleague, her career had been cut short and she soon after had disappeared from film history. No one even knew if she was still alive.

As a young woman working in the horror film industry, O’Meara set out to right the wrong, and in the process discovered the full, fascinating story of an ambitious, artistic woman ahead of her time. Patrick’s contribution to special effects proved to be just the latest chapter in a remarkable, unconventional life, from her youth growing up in the shadow of Hearst Castle, to her career as one of Disney’s first female animators. And at last, O’Meara discovered what really had happened to Patrick after The Creature’s success, and where she went.

A rare piece of non fiction for me but this is the tale of the woman who designed one of the most famous horror costumes of all time! I am definitely intersted in this story

Winter’s Orbit byEverina Maxwell - out 4/2 from Orbit - £8.99 paperback

The Iskat Empire rules its vassal planets through a system of treaties - so when Prince Taam, key figure in a political alliance, is killed, a replacement must be found. His widower, Jainan, is rushed into an arranged marriage with the disreputable aristocrat Kiem, in a bid to keep rising hostilities between two worlds under control. But Prince Taam's death may not have been an accident, and when Jainan himself is a suspect, he and Kiem must navigate the perils of the Iskat court, solve a murder, and prevent an interplanetary war . . .

Another book that has been gainign much buzz and it’s a premise and approach I think I should really enjoy

Children God Forgot by Graham Masterton - £20 hardback from Head of Zeus

Forsake the living. Forget the dead. Fear the children... The brand new chilling page-turner from the master of horror 

A TERRIFYING BIRTH 
A young woman is rushed to the hospital with stabbing pains in her stomach. The chief surgeon delivers a living child with the face of an angel and the body of a tentacled monster. The doctors are unanimous that the baby must die.

AN ESCAPE FROM THE DARK 
Engineer Gemma is plunged into darkness in a tunnel beneath London. Before she escapes, a strange green light illuminates a cluster of ghostly figures. Gemma is certain they were children.

A SUPERNATURAL THREAT 
DC Jerry Pardoe and DS Jamila Patel, of Tooting Police, have investigated the occult before - but nothing as strange and horrible as what they must confront in the city sewers. Down here in the dark, where the dead come back to life, witchcraft is the only force that can save you

Library of the Dead by T L Huchu - £14.99 hardback from Tor

When ghosts talk, she will listen . . .

Ropa dropped out of school to become a ghostalker – and she now speaks to Edinburgh’s dead, carrying messages to the living. A girl’s gotta earn a living, and it seems harmless enough. Until, that is, the dead whisper that someone’s bewitching children – leaving them husks, empty of joy and life. It’s on Ropa’s patch, so she feels honour bound to investigate. But what she learns will change her world.

She’ll dice with death (not part of her life plan . . .) as she calls on Zimbabwean magic and Scottish pragmatism to hunt down clues. For Edinburgh hides a wealth of secrets. And in the process, she discovers an occult library and some unexpected allies. Yet as shadows lengthen, will the hunter become the hunted?

Reviewing soon but a new contemporary fantasy series this time in lovely Edinburgh certainly appeals

The Last Snow by Stina Jackson - out 4/2 from Corvus - £16.99 hardback

What secrets are hidden within the walls of a desolate farmhouse in a forgotten corner of Lapland?

Early spring has its icy grip on Ödesmark, a small village in northernmost Sweden, abandoned by many of its inhabitants. But Liv Björnlund never left. She lives in a derelict house together with her teenage son, Simon, and her ageing father, Vidar. They make for a peculiar family, and Liv knows that they are cause for gossip among their few remaining neighbours.

Just why has Liv stayed by her domineering father's side all these years? And is it true that Vidar is sitting on a small fortune? His questionable business decisions have made him many enemies over the years, and in Ödesmark everyone knows everyone, and no one ever forgets.

Now someone wants back what is rightfully theirs. And they will stop at nothing to get it, no matter who stands in their way...

fancy a trip to Lapland and some noir come this way!

Anything caught your eye? Back in a fortnight!