|
Post by ian on May 18, 2010 14:58:31 GMT
Any suggestions folk?
|
|
|
Post by shaun on May 18, 2010 15:06:08 GMT
|
|
|
Post by Dreadlocksmile on May 18, 2010 18:03:02 GMT
A Matter Of Blood: The Dog-Faced Gods Trilogy Dreadlocksmile review:First published in 2010, British author Sarah Pinborough's novel `A Matter Of Blood' formed the first segment of `The Dog-Faced Gods' trilogy. The second book - `The Shadow Of The Soul' is due out in April 2011. Pinborough's name has already become established within the literary world, with a line of seven similarly dark novels under her belt, as well as contributions to the popular `Torchwood' series.
Set in a not-too distant gritty future, global recession has ravaged the world's economy, leaving the governments crumbling from within. One superpower dominates over this bleak horizon - a conglomerate of the world's wealthiest men, creating the financial juggernaut that is The Bank.
The police force takes to morally questionable practices, turning a blind eye to certain well respected criminal's activities in order for their insubstantial wages to be subsidised. Detective Inspector Cassius Jones is no different. The DI finds himself heading up the investigation on a mysterious serial killer than has begun plaguing the city. Not only that, but he has been lumbered with another case of a possible gang-related drive-by revenge killing gone horribly wrong.
As the DI juggles the two high profile cases, a pattern slowly begins to immerge connecting the two. The puzzling murders at the hands of a cryptic serial killer are leaving a disturbing poetry in their wake. "Nothing is sacred' is scrawled across each one of the victims chests in their own blood. And perfectly placed fly eggs are found lovingly secreted on the corpse's cold bodies. Each delicate egg miraculously undamaged.
Somehow everything is related. But the corruption of the city runs deeper through its dirt-filled veins than Cass Jones ever realised. And its about to become all too personal for the DI when his life is suddenly ripped open and dragged deep into the black abyss of this dark and twisted new world...Pinborough combines a gritty and down-trodden serial-killer thriller with a dark piece of supernatural-esque horror fiction; creating a haunting first instalment into what promises to be a truly dark trilogy. With stark similarities drawn from the likes of Clive Barker's imaginatively twisted horror fiction, Stuart Macbride's bleak impressions of the not too distant future and perhaps Dean R Kontiz's or Stephen Gallagher's gritty earlier work; the novel has a definite target audience in mind that thrives on such imaginatively downbeat styles of horror fiction. Detective Inspector Cass Jones is the typical attitude-filled anti-hero that you've come to expect from such fiction. Indeed, the principal character seems to have been plucked straight out of a James Herbert novel and thrust into the chaotic maelstrom of an early Clive Barker tale. Pinorough keeps the reader guessing for almost the entirety of the tale as to the true understanding and origins of the killer and his cruel motivations. The storyline begins as two parallel running plotlines, which in turn split off into further subplots, creating a number of initially baffling storyline branches that eventually begin to unite together once again, as the novel draws to a close. The novel's finale plays out a clever twist ending, hammering down almost a non-stop tattoo of action until the not-altogether-explained final sequence is played out and this first novel in the trilogy is somewhat loosely wrapped up. All in all, this first instalment into this gritty-horror trilogy delivers an oppressive storyline that seems to cling to the readers mind as the tale weaves a story of mystery and mounting suspense. Characterisation is typically downbeat, with the characters developed upon to a level that successfully captures their lives for the reader, without stodging up the flow of the storyline. The balance of supernatural horror and a serial killer crime thriller is well maintained, with just enough emphasis on each to keep the novel creeping down the carefully crafted pathway, without slipping too far down into the depths of one particular territory. The novel runs for a total of 356 pages. www.amazon.co.uk/review/RGTPOAVVZ5L0G/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm
|
|
|
Post by balrog21 on May 19, 2010 6:28:57 GMT
Douglas Clegg's - Neverland. A creepy southern gothic tale that is just plain rockin and creepy.
|
|
|
Post by samarad on May 19, 2010 6:59:18 GMT
'Futile Flame' by Sam Stone. She's a great writer. I love The Vampire Gene Series and can't wait for the next one.
If you want literary horror, then this is the book your looking for. It's also on the recommended list for BFS Best Novel and I believe she's been nominated for an award in USA.
|
|
|
Post by samarad on May 19, 2010 7:01:25 GMT
|
|
|
Post by nwdavies on May 19, 2010 7:27:59 GMT
Darkness on the edge of town - Brian Keene
|
|
|
Post by gwerydd on May 19, 2010 7:58:06 GMT
chizine.com/chizinepub/books/book-of-tongues.phpA Book of Tongues: Volume I of the Hexslinger Series by Gemma Files Two years after the Civil War, Pinkerton agent Ed Morrow has gone undercover with one of the weird West's most dangerous outlaw gangs-the troop led by "Reverend" Asher Rook, ex-Confederate chaplain turned "hexslinger," and his notorious lieutenant (and lover) Chess Pargeter. Morrow's task: get close enough to map the extent of Rook's power, then bring that knowledge back to help Professor Joachim Asbury unlock the secrets of magic itself. Magicians, cursed by their gift to a solitary and painful existence, have never been more than a footnote in history. But Rook, driven by desperation, has a plan to shatter the natural law that prevents hexes from cooperation, and change the face of the world-a plan sealed by an unholy marriage-oath with the goddess Ixchel, mother of all hanged men. To accomplish this, he must raise her bloodthirsty pantheon from its collective grave through sacrifice, destruction, and apotheosis. Caught between a passel of dead gods and monsters, hexes galore, Rook's witchery, and the ruthless calculations of his own masters, Morrow's only real hope of survival lies with the man without whom Rook cannot succeed: Chess Pargeter himself. But Morrow and Chess will have to literally ride through Hell before the truth of Chess's fate comes clear-the doom written for him, and the entire world.
|
|
|
Post by gwerydd on May 19, 2010 8:01:48 GMT
chizine.com/chizinepub/books/thief-of-broken-toys.phpOoooh...also The Thief of Broken Toys by Tim Lebbon When a father loses his son and his wife leaves him, he cannot tear himself away from the small fishing village where the boy's memories reside. They're all he has left. Thinking that his life is all but over, he takes to wandering the cliffs, carrying broken things that he always promised his son he would fix, but never did. They're a sign of his failure, and they keep little Toby close. And then he meets the thief of broken toys, and everything begins to change.
|
|
|
Post by houseofhorror on May 19, 2010 9:43:15 GMT
|
|
|
Post by moondemon on May 19, 2010 9:48:13 GMT
I would recommend Gary McMahon's novelette "The Harm" - yes it's short, but in packs punch after solid punch in its 64pages. A veritable tour de force of economical writing which gets to the cold heart of the matter quickly and precisely....
|
|
|
Post by twbrown on May 19, 2010 13:05:28 GMT
I would recommend Dead: The Ugly Beginning - new zombie novel by...me:) definitely not for the squeamish as it is the real thing with all its gory detail.
|
|
|
Post by Dreadlocksmile on May 19, 2010 13:59:24 GMT
I would recommend Dead: The Ugly Beginning - new zombie novel by...me:) definitely not for the squeamish as it is the real thing with all its gory detail. Interesting! The explosition in zombie/post-apocalyptic fiction over the last 5 years has been absolutely incredible! What would you say makes your novel(s) stand out from the rest T.W. Brown?
|
|
|
Post by carsonbuckingham on May 19, 2010 14:56:08 GMT
Sarah Langan's AUDREY'S DOOR
|
|
|
Post by Dreadlocksmile on May 19, 2010 15:12:59 GMT
Sarah Langan's AUDREY'S DOOR Plot synopsis: When 35-year-old architect Audrey Lucas moves into a shockingly affordable apartment building in Manhattan, she’s determined to make a fresh start, leaving behind her mother’s debilitating bipolar disorder, her own struggles with OCD, and a tangled relationship.
But it soon becomes obvious that something isn’t right, and it’s not just her eccentric, aging neighbors. Audrey uncovers a terrible secret—that a horrific act occurred in the very place she’s now calling home—and its lasting effects are exerting a power over her she’s not sure she can control...Hmmmmm...sounds like a very unoriginal and uninspired haunted house style horror novel. Any reason why you would recommend this above other new novels? N.B. Reasons / reviews of books that are being recommended would be helpful.
|
|