REDDEVIL 4 by Eric C. Leuthardt

March 28, 2014

Three murders, three suspects caught in the act. For detectives Edwin Krantz and Tara Dezner, this Saturday in St. Louis is off to a bloody start. The scenes are shockingly similar but there’s seemingly no connection between the three killers, except for their doctor.

It’s 2053 and scientific achievements have significantly altered every aspect of daily life. Neroprosthetic implants connect people instantaneously, eliminating the need for phones and computers. Medical diagnostics have become more efficient and reliable, as have actual investigations. Dr. Hagan Maerici is a researcher and surgeon working on creating the world’s first true artificial intelligence.

Just as he begins to reach a breakthrough, however, he must turn is attention to the case at hand. All three suspects are his patients and all three are showing significant health deterioration in the wake of their arrests. Dezner is convinced that the medical anomalies are a ruse meant to disprove actual guilt, but Maerici is certain this isn’t the case. But aside from motive and connection, the thing that’s most mysterious is how the three killers have ended up in this state. And as long as the answer eludes them, they have no way of knowing if the crimes are isolated to their three suspects or if the city could be facing more to come.

Eric C. Leuthardt’s debut is a brilliant melding of science fiction and police procedural. And when I say brilliant, I do mean it – Leuthardt is a bio engineer and neurosurgeon.

The science aspects in RedDevil 4 can be a bit overwhelming for a layperson (like myself) but the story moves along at an incredible pace. The entire thing plays out in just over 36 hours as a whole and features almost non-stop action alongside a frighteningly easy to believe premise. In short, RedDevil 4 is an impossible to put down thriller.

3/14 Becky Lejeune

REDDEVIL 4 by Eric C. Leuthardt. Forge Books (February 4, 2014). ISBN 978-0765332561. 368p.

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

FEARIE TALES ed by Stephen Jones

March 23, 2014


STORIES OF THE GRIMM AND GRUESOME

From Cinderella to Hansel and Gretel, the tales of the Brothers Grimm have been told for generations. Anyone who has read the original versions (the unedited for kids versions) knows these are dark and bloody stories indeed, but this latest collection edited by Stephen Jones takes the tales one step further with fifteen of today’s top horror authors adding their own twists to a variety of Grimm classics. Some of the stories are well known—Robert Shearman takes on Hansel and Gretel with his “Peckish” and both Ramsey Campbell and John Ajvide Lindqvist offer up very different versions of Rumpelstiltskin—while other tales may be a bit lesser so—Angela Slatter tackles The Robber Bridegroom and Garth Nix offers up a weird western version of The Hare’s Bride—but each tale is preceded by its Grimm inspiration.

A few of my personal favorites include Peter Crowther’s “The Artemis Line,” a dark and creepy tale inspired by the Grimm’s story of changelings; Neil Gaiman’s oddly lyrical “Down to a Sunless Sea,” inspired by The Singing Bone; Michael Marshall Smith’s super fun “Look Inside”; and of course John Ajvide Lindqvist’s “Come Unto Me,” which plays on the Scandinavian legend of the tomte.

For anyone who enjoys horror and fairy tales, this is the perfect collection (and it makes for some nightmarish bedtime reading!). Whether you like your stories gory and gruesome or chillingly atmospheric, there’s something in Fearie Tales for everyone.

Fearie Tales is out now in the UK and will be available in the U.S. 9/23/2014

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Don’t Scare the Children
The Wilful Child
Find my Name by Ramsey Campbell
The Singing Bone
Down to a Sunless Sea by Neil Gaiman
Rapunzel
Open Your Window, Golden Hair by Tanith Lee
The Hare’s Bride
Crossing the Line by Garth Nix
Hansel and Gretel
Peckish by Robert Shearman
The Three Little Men in the Wood
Look Inside by Michael Marshall Smith
The Story of a Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was
Fräulein Fearnot by Markus Heitz
Cinderella
The Ash-Boy by Christopher Fowler
The Elves #1
The Changeling by Brian Lumley
The Nixie of Mill-Pond
The Silken Drum by Reggie Oliver
The Robber Bridegroom
By the Weeping Gate by Angela Slatter
Fräu Trude
Anything to Me is Sweeter, Than to Cross Shock-Headed Peter by Brian Hodge
The Elves #2
The Artemis Line by Peter Crowther
The Old Woman in the Wood
The Silken People by Joanne Harris
Rumpelstiltskin
Come Unto Me by John Ajvide Lindqvist
The Shroud

3/14 Becky Lejeune

FEARIE TALES ed by Stephen Jones. Jo Fletcher Books (24 Oct 2013). ISBN 978-1782064701. 430p. (UK)
Jo Fletcher Books (September 23, 2014). ISBN 978-1623658069 (US)

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

CONQUEST by John Connolly & Jennifer Ridyard

March 13, 2014


Book 1, The Chronicles of the Invaders Trilogy

Earth is on the brink of another Civil War. This time the enemy is the Illyri, a race of intelligent aliens who have mastered space travel using worm holes. They arrived on Earth just over sixteen years ago, breaking down infrastructure and quashing the military efforts of ever country, making this their new home. They say they want to live in peace, side by side with humans, but the human race isn’t going to go down quietly.

Syl Hellais, daughter of Lord Andrus – the Illyri governor of Britain and Ireland – was the first of her kind to be born on Earth. On her sixteenth birthday she’d hoped to head out and explore the village near their home but a string of violent attacks has her father in and out of political meetings. With that in mind, Syl is told to stay inside where she’s protected, an instruction she immediately sets about ignoring.

Syl’s little trip almost becomes fatal for both herself and her best friend. A number of explosions ring out around the village but the young Illyrians find themselves protected thanks to two human brothers, Paul and Steven Kerr. The brothers believe the girls are human and quickly drag them to safety. When they meet again, Paul and Steve have been convicted of terrorist attacks and are set to be executed.

This first in a new series from John Connolly and Jennifer Ridyard is definitely a different animal from what readers might expect of Connolly. It’s an overall fantastic start to a new science fiction series, one I believe will easily appeal to teen audiences as well as adults. (It does seem the series is being promoted as an adult one here in the States but is noted as “One of Amazon UK’s best young adult books of the year.”)

There’s a great deal of information introduced here – lots of setting the scene for the series as a whole, introducing the Illyri, their politics, their science, etc – and while Conquest may not stand well on its own (there’s a bit of a cliffhanger ending), it does serve as a captivating kick off.

There’s no word just yet on when the next title will release but I am absolutely dying to read it!

3/14 Becky Lejeune

CONQUEST by John Connolly & Jennifer Ridyard. Atria/Emily Bestler Books; First Edition edition (February 11, 2014). ISBN 978-1476757124. 448p.

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SHOVEL READY by Adam Sternbergh

March 3, 2014


New York is a wasteland filled with crime and filth. As a former garbage man, Spademan figures it’s still a decent place to call home. Where he once picked up literal trash he now tracks down a more figurative kind of waste acting as a killer for hire. His latest job involves the daughter of a well-known religious leader. This man has made a living offering salvation to those who can afford it. His evangelism is built on the limnosphere, a new kind of industry spawned from the internet except this one allows the user to live in an artificial world and those who can afford it never have to exist in reality again. But what this man is offering isn’t all that godly or perfect as becomes evident when Spademan meets his target. Now Spademan and everyone he knows are caught in the crosshairs.

Adam Sternbergh’s debut is unique in that this post apocalyptic world is limited to New York. The rest of the world exists and continues almost as usual. Residents in New York and the surrounding area have stayed in this lawless disaster area out of choice—like Spademan—or limitation.

The limnosphere adds another interesting twist and a creepy piece of potential future. It’s not so far-fetched that this created world could exist one day and that folks will actually be able to plug in, leaving the real world behind. Of course this also adds yet another reality for criminals to rule, which is a big part of Shovel Ready.

Shovel Ready is quite dark and more than a bit disturbing—maybe even a little beyond what you’d expect in a story where the hero is a contract killer. It’s also the first in a new series so if you’re a fan of quirky crime fiction and anti heroes, that means there will be more to come.

3/14 Becky Lejeune

SHOVEL READY by Adam Sternbergh. Crown (January 14, 2014). ISBN 978-0385348997. 256p.

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FIRE by Sara B. Elfgren and Mats Strandberg

February 22, 2014


THE ENGELSFORS TRILOGY BOOK II

This follow-up to The Circle begins with the start of eleventh grade and the remaining Chosen Ones who survived the previous year. Their showdown with the last demon blessed enemy was only the beginning of their fight to save the world and this time they have an additional enemy in the notorious Council.

The governing body amongst witches previously let Adriana serve as their representative but now they’ve arrived to take on the task of investigating and prosecuting Anna-Karin’s unauthorized use of magic from the year before. But the rest of the girls aren’t going to stand by and let it go down without a fight; their strength lies together and even Ida grudgingly comes to her fellow Chosen One’s defense.

Barred from developing their skills further and under the watchful eye of the Council, the Chosen Ones are limited in their ability to fight off yet another coming evil. Meanwhile, Engelsfors is getting a healthy dose of positive energy thanks to Elias Malmgren’s mother and her Positive Engelsfors movement. But this happy revolution soon turns sour as its detractors find themselves under fire.

Fire loses none of the energy set forth by its predecessor. The second installment of the Engelsfors trilogy not only moves the plot as a whole along but also holds its own as a worthy follow-up to The Circle.

As before the story switches between each of the characters’ viewpoints but this time even Ida gets a say. And not only do we get to finally see Ida’s POV, scary as that is in the beginning, we also get to learn more of Nicolaus’s background as well as Matilda’s story.

Of course the other big inclusion in this second installment is the introduction of the Council. There are a few new characters that come along with this and more revelations about the prophecy of the Chosen Ones.

The Engelsfors trilogy is really exceptional. I highly recommend both The Circle and Fire and can’t wait to get my hands on the final book, The Key. I’m also incredibly excited to hear that there’s a movie in development in Sweden with shooting set to begin in the coming months.

2/14 Becky Lejeune

FIRE by Sara B. Elfgren and Mats Strandberg. Overlook Juvenile (January 30, 2014). ISBN 978-1468306729. 704p.

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THE CIRCLE by Sara B. Elfgren and Mats Strandberg

February 21, 2014


THE ENGELSFORS TRILOGY BOOK I

High school is tough on everyone but for Minoo, Linnéa, Rebecka, Vanessa, Ida, and Anna-Karin it’s about to get downright dangerous. Tenth grade begins under an ominous cloud when a fellow classmate is found dead on school grounds. Elias Malmgren was bullied and picked on most of his life. Given that and the circumstances of his death everyone is ready to believe it is suicide, but his best friend Linnéa isn’t convinced. And she’s right. Under a blood red moon Linnéa and five of her classmates come together to discover that they are the Chosen Ones—six girls tasked to fight an evil that has been lying in wait for centuries. Elias’s death is just the beginning.

The Circle kicks off Elfgren and Strandberg’s Engelsfors trilogy. Already a hit in Sweden, the teen paranormal series debuted in the States just last year.

In the series there are witches, magic, and a prophecy as well as a mythology behind the witchcraft that’s quite fascinating. In addition to the paranormal aspects, however, Elfgren and Strandberg bring a realism to this series debut that’s often missing from teen fiction: each of the characters gets almost equal face time and a good amount of development throughout the story. Their problems range from regular high school issues —grades and concerns about what comes after school— to bullying, relationship issues, and family problems. They are average teens with average issues on top of being told they have to save the world.

The Circle is the kind of book that gets under your skin and leaves you wanting more.

2/14 Becky Lejeune

THE CIRCLE by Sara B. Elfgren and Mats Strandberg. Overlook Juvenile; Reprint edition (May 2, 2013). ISBN 978-1468306583. 608p.

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INFLUX by Daniel Suarez

February 20, 2014


A theme last seen in science fiction’s pulp era was that of “suppressed inventions”, i.e.; cars getting 1000 miles from a pint of alcohol, anti-gravity travel, pills and plants curing most major diseases for little or no cost. These discoveries were suppressed by people not wanting to lose high revenues from current methods and having the inventions take over the situation.

Suarez creates a U.S. government agency titled The Bureau of Technology Control. They are charged with ascertaining orderly progress in society by withholding or suppression of advanced findings in order to maintain social structure that does not rocket past what should be the ordinary rate of progress. The BTC has thrown off all U.S. government control and holds in secret technology that puts them at least 50 years beyond the rest of the world.

Jon Grady, a particle scientist, and his team come up with perfecting a device that will reflect gravity. This should bring him worldwide acclaim, but instead causes him to be swept up into the path of the Bureau of Technology Control that offers him a chance to work on his invention under their supervision and control. Jon refuses and is thrown into a high tech prison maintained by the BTC.

How he escapes and gets into contact with other prisoners that have refused to follow BTC dictates places the reader into one of the most imaginative and fascinating plots in science fiction to date. What happens to an agency set up to maintain orderly progression in society that places itself outside of the control of any other ordinary organization is certainly a study in Machiavellian cause and effect. Well done novel by Suarez, who has done several other books involving high technology and its consequences while not under control.

2/14 Paul Lane

INFLUX by Daniel Suarez. Dutton Adult (February 20, 2014). ISBN 978-0525953180. 416p

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EX-PURGATORY by Peter Clines

February 8, 2014


The fourth novel in Peter Clines’ bestselling Ex series.

Every day is the same for George Bailey. He gets up and goes to work at the local college where he works as a maintenance person. At night he might go out with his best friend, Nic. The next day it starts all over again, the only difference is whether or not his old car wants to cooperate. But when George sleeps, everything is different. In his dreams he’s strong and he’s constantly fighting masses of the walking dead. Weird as the dreams are, they’re still just dreams. But then George begins to see that same glazed and dead look in the eyes of people around him.

A second glance proves it’s just his imagination until Madelyn Sorenson arrives. Maddie claims that what George sees in his dreams is reality and in that world George is a superhero who can fly and spit fire. As more and more pieces of George’s dream world appear in his daily life, he starts to wonder if Maddie might be on to something after all. But if she’s right, then how did they end up here?

This fourth in Peter Clines’s awesome and action packed zombies versus superheroes series is fabulous. It’s got everything I’ve come to expect from one of Clines’s books plus a plot that will make your head spin.

2/14 Becky Lejeune

EX-PURGATORY by Peter Clines. Broadway Books (January 14, 2014). ISBN 978-0804136617. 352p.

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THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS by Rae Carson

January 31, 2014


Elisa’s life has always felt somewhat beyond her control and her fate is not one of her own choosing. She bears the Godstone and is destined for greatness… at least that’s how the legends read. Just one person is chosen every hundred years to bear the stone and Elisa has always felt that it was an honor bestowed upon her by mistake.

When her father promises her hand to the king in nearby Brisadulce, she understands that it is a political maneuver. She can’t help but feel the match is one her sister would be more suited to, but Elisa is a dutiful daughter. While traveling to her new home, the entourage is attacked and Elisa realizes that the Godstone has made her a target. She learns that her new marriage is meant to protect her but unfortunately, even in Brisadulce, Elisa has enemies. Those set to seek out the bearer of the Godstone will not give up their search and Elisa’s strength will be put to the test very soon.

Rae Carson’s teen fantasy trilogy kicks off with this impressive first installment.

The world building in The Girl of Fire and Thorns is especially spectacular. Not only has Carson created a history and a mythology around this world—one that’s quite unlike anything I’ve seen—but she’s also carefully constructed the government and politics of the world as well. And it’s this political backbone that is the core of the story as a whole as Elisa fights to gain support and control of her fate and that of her country.

1/14 Becky Lejeune

THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS by Rae Carson. Greenwillow Books (August 21, 2012). ISBN 978-0062026507. 448p.

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EX-COMMUNICATION by Peter Clines

January 21, 2014


The third novel in Peter Clines’ bestselling Ex series.

The Mount has grown into a flourishing community in spite of the horde of undead that clamor at the gates. As they ready themselves for their first official election, it seems the population has begun to split into two factions: those who believe the undead should be put down and those who believe they are still people.

The friction only grows worse when a girl with a very unusual power arrives. At the same time Barry seems to be coming under extreme stress, talking to people who aren’t there. When George learns the truth, it’s something of a blessing and a curse for the heroes who have worked so hard to keep their little settlement alive and well. And with Legion still planning his big revenge, it seems likely things could take a turn for the worse.

Peter Clines never ceases to amaze. Each new installment of the Ex-Heroes series is a new and unique chapter in the story. The characters continue to grow as they face new hurdles brought on by the zombie apocalypse and Clines always has something unexpected to add as well. This third book offers up not one but two “new” heroes, each with super cool back stories

1/14 Becky Lejeune

EX-COMMUNICATION by Peter Clines. Broadway Books (July 9, 2013). ISBN 978-0385346825. 352p.

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