Bookgeeks

Tide of Souls, by Simon Bestwick

Reviewed on August 12, 2009

Seeing this on the shelves was a joy to behold, not only because it’s the latest in Abaddon’s Tomes of the Dead imprint, (the previous tome I read, Al Ewing’s I, Zombie was a successful if somewhat quirky amalgam of sf (alien invasion), noir crime (private investigator), horror (bucket loads of the gory stuff) and [...]

The Lovers, by John Connolly

Reviewed on July 2, 2009

My world stops for a John Connolly book.
Everything else is put aside as the latest developments in the dark world of Charlie  Parker unfold in beautifully plotted suspense. The Lovers is the seventh Charlie Parker book in what can be called a series to date, and the ninth to feature him; so that’s about sixteen [...]

The Forest of Hands & Teeth, by Carrie Ryan

Reviewed on June 29, 2009

What makes the zombie apocalypse so alluring to both readers and writers is not necessarily the zombies themselves, but the freedom such a scenario allows for the portrayal of human relationships. Against a gruesome backdrop of flesh eating automatons nothing else matters but the fight for survival. The lengths to which those ‘unfortunate’ enough to [...]

Red, by Paul Kane

Reviewed on June 5, 2009

Paul Kane’s an author I’ve kept my eye on ever since his short fiction began appearing regularly in the genre small press in the late 1990s. Over the last few years his output has been unnaturally prolific and of a very high standard. This is evidenced by a strong showing on the Long List of [...]

Filth Kiss, by C.J. Lines

Reviewed on April 28, 2009

C.J. Lines returns us to those gloriously gory days of the 1980s in tone and in setting with his debut novel, Filth Kiss, via the independent Hadesgate Publications.
A brutal 190 page-turner readable in a couple of hours, Lines wastes no time immersing the reader in the lives of  his main characters, the Davies brothers. Jeff [...]

Garbage Man, by Joseph D’Lacey

Reviewed on April 16, 2009

In 2008 Joseph D’Lacey unlocked the pen and set free MEAT, a dystopian and possibly post-apocalyptic novel that coupled religious cults and corrupt governance with unspeakable food production sources and techniques – authoritarian hierarchies and processes enabling the isolated town of Abyrne to survive without help from an outside world that might not even be [...]

The Absence, by Bill Hussey

Reviewed on March 23, 2009

Bill Hussey’s 2008 debut novel, Through a Glass, Darkly, was a convincing tale of supernatural terror with a compelling edge of contemporary darkness, brought forth from a mind deeply immersed in the Great British horror tradition, but with an imagination certainly not mired  in its too-easily clichéd trappings – a fine combination indeed. Now it’s [...]

Patient Zero, by Jonathan Maberry

Reviewed on March 19, 2009

Jonathan Maberry’s got a history. A history that involves zombies. His previous book, Zombie CSU, was an attempt to draw together all the factors that might cause and spread an undead outbreak, and examine said factors with a detached forensic magnifying glass, or more likely, a powerful electron microscope. This history has obviously contributed to [...]

My Work Is Not Yet Done, by Thomas Ligotti

Reviewed on February 13, 2009

Thomas Ligotti knows something we don’t, something so dark and indescribable that we might go insane should we encounter it first-hand. We should be thankful to him, then, that he merely hints at whatever he sees in his writing, but even toned down you’ll find it difficult to ignore or deny the profound black emotions [...]

Hater, by David Moody

Reviewed on January 12, 2009

David Moody’s been following his own path for several years now. Via his Infected Books, he self-published to relative acclaim, and impressive sales, whilst developing a deservedly healthy fan base. He’s arguably best known for his Autumn series – across five books, Moody involved the reader in a darkly raw and realistic, very British zombie [...]

Bill and Joe’s Big Horror Adventure

Reviewed on October 14, 2008

In February 2008 Bloody Books published the first full length title in their brand new horror line. The book was MEAT. and Stephen King immediately endorsed the novel saying of its author “Joseph D’Lacey rocks!” and horror fans across the world have echoed his sentiments.
Five months later, Bloody Books released their second horror novel, Through [...]

The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 19, edited by Stephen Jones

Reviewed on October 2, 2008

October can’t come around quick enough sometimes.
Stephen Jones‘ 19th annual selection of some of the most accessible and harrowing genre fiction out there is the foremost reason for me, (as is the onset of what will hopefully be a glorious autumn, a time when we lovers of the spook can anticipate those long nights settling [...]

Flood, by Stephen Baxter

Reviewed on September 30, 2008

This is a damn scary book.
Stephen Baxter’s depiction of the rise of the sea across the planet over a period of thirty six years, from 2016 to 2052, has its roots in Spain in 2011,  when five workers are kidnapped by religious extremists, the years of torture and abuse allowing them to form a close [...]

The Mammoth Book of Zombie Comics, edited by David Kendall

Reviewed on September 8, 2008

David Kendall’s latest Mammoth project, (his previous was the The Mammoth Book of Best War Comics) sees him compiling an enjoyable selection of zombie comics from the last twenty five years, plus one   bona-fide classic, the source material of which was first published in 1938.
Kendall, (or the marketing crew at Constable and Robinson), posits [...]

Magazine Review: Black Static 5

Reviewed on August 19, 2008

I’m busy losing myself in David Moody’s Autumn apocalypse, so expect a review of that series soon. In the meantime, and interspersed between my regrettably irregular reviews, I’m planning on popping up some comments and links to genre magazines I subscribe to, and refer to regularly, as well as a few web places that may [...]

The Angel Maker, by Stefan Brijs

Reviewed on July 28, 2008

The small Belgian village of Wolfheim turns out almost to a person to greet the returning Dr. Victor Hoppe after a spell of 20 years in academia. With him are his three baby sons, each one, (some might say), blighted with the physical characteristics of their father: hair-lipped and bright red hair. There’s no sign [...]

Read by Dawn, Volume 3

Reviewed on July 26, 2008

UK publishing is seeing a long overdue revival in horror anthologies at the moment. Humdrumming’s First Book of Horror Stories will hopefully be the first of many; the Black Book of Horror from Mortbury Press is already at volume three; and, of course, we shouldn’t forget the always welcome Mammoth Book of Best New Horror [...]

Zombiemania, by Dr. Arnold T. Blumberg & Andrew Hershberger

Reviewed on July 8, 2008

Professor Cabal: ‘You’re saying the knights have returned? That’s great!’
Maria: ‘Look at you. Kind and soft like a porcupine.’
Roger (to Betty just before he dies): ‘Don’t speak. That’s the only way you’ll be safe.’
Tombs of the Blind Dead (Spanish version), 1971
A bit of an oldie this, but one of those seminal books that’s destined to [...]

Through A Glass, Darkly, by Bill Hussey

Reviewed on June 4, 2008

Bloody Books return with their second title, a very different but equally memorable companion to Joseph D’Lacey’s Meat.
Bill Hussey’s debut novel, Through A Glass Darkly is an unnerving joy to read, dark words that demand a rainy afternoon with no distraction. Hussey’s obviously been brought up on that wonderfully nutritious diet of Hammer films, M.R. [...]

Day By Day Armageddon, by J.L. Bourne

Reviewed on April 6, 2008

J.L. Bourne’s vision of undead Armageddon was originally documented on his website, where he released the story in regular sections, gradually building up a decent readership, hooked by the convincing detail and logical thoughtfulness behind the unfolding events.

Permuted Press was digging a twisted little fiction furrow all of its own; evolving organically, from mainly [...]

Meat, by Joseph D’Lacey

Reviewed on March 5, 2008

Bloody Books, publishers of the Read By Dawn anthology series, (itself related to the annual Scottish Dead by Dawn horror film festival through Adele Hartley’s curatorship of both ventures), ups the ante with their latest release, Meat, by Joseph D’Lacey.
Back in the day, I remember losing myself in the visceral volumes of Clive Barker’s Books [...]

A new and disturbing trend?

Reviewed on February 26, 2008

I’m an aspiring writer – what did you expect? Who isn’t? (Actually Simon’s not, yet).
I have a cool idea. It’s non-fiction. It has even had some publisher interest.
I write a well-researched proposal document detailing the structure and layout of the book, target audiences, pop in a few simple online marketing ideas, provide biographies, thoughts for [...]

Deeper, by James A. Moore

Reviewed on February 25, 2008

This geek needs horror, lots of it, so does this blog. It especially needs it because yesterday there was a nice, long review of Deeper by James A. Moore in draft form. I was tinkering, adding the cover image. It was all ready to go, and then Wordpress took it all away, forever. So I’m [...]