The Qwillery

Happy Monday!

There are three debuts out this week:

The Apothecary's Curse by Barbara Barnett;

FantasticLand by Mike Bockoven;

and

The Comet Seekers by Helen Sedgwick.




From formerly featured DAC Authors:

Chaosmage (Age of Darkness 3) by Stephen Aryan;

The Girl with Ghost Eyes by M. H. Boroson is out in Mass Market Paperback;

Made to Kill (L.A. Trilogy 1) by Adam Christopher is out in Trade Paperback;

Conspiracy of Ravens (Shadow 2) by Lila Bowen (Delilah S. Dawson);

The Witch House of Persimmon Point by Suzanne Palmieri;

Counterpart (Machinations 2) by Hayley Stone;

The Promise of the Child (Amaranthine Spectrum 1) by Tom Toner is out in Trade Paperback:

and

Genrenauts: The Complete Season One Collection by Michael R. Underwood.







October 9, 2016

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Eternal Frankenstein	Ross E. Lockhart (Ed)	H - Anthology

October 11, 2016

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Sons of Titan (h2tp)	David Annandale	SF - Grey Knights
Chaosmage	Stephen Aryan	F - Age of Darkness 3
Hag-Seed	Margaret Atwood	LF - Hogarth Shakespeare Series
The Apothecary's Curse (D)	Barbara Barnett	UF/HistF
The Abandoned Heart	Laura Benedict	Gothic - Bliss House 3
FantasticLand (D)	Mike Bockoven	H
The Girl with Ghost Eyes (h2mm)	M. H. Boroson	F/P
Conspiracy of Ravens	Lila Bowen	HistF - The Shadow 2
Totem	Darin Bradley	Dys - Dystopian Cluster 3
The Scent of Salt & Sand	Kristin Cast P.C. Cast	PNR - An Escaped Novella
Made to Kill (h2tp)	Adam Christopher	SF - L.A. Trilogy 1
The Librarians and The Lost Lamp	Greg Cox	CF - The Librarians 1
The Uncrowned King	Rowena Cory Daniells	F - King Rolen's Kin 2
Irish Ghost Stories	David Stuart Davies	GH - Macmillan Collector's Library
The Book of the Unnamed Midwife	Meg Elison	SF/AP/PA - The Road to Nowhere 1
Silver on the Road (h2tp)	Laura Anne Gilman	HistF - The Devil's West 1
Crimson Death	Laurell K. Hamilton	F/P/H - Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter 25
Unhonored	Tracy Hickman Laura Hickman	HistF - The Nightbirds 2
Scratch	Steve Himmer	SupTh
Cat's Cradle (e)(ri)	William W. Johnstone	H
Watchers In The Woods (e)(ri)	William W. Johnstone	H
Hammers on Bone	Cassandra Khaw	F/P
In the Shadow of Edgar Allan Poe: Classic Tales of Horror, 1816-1914 (h2tp)	Leslie S. Klinger (Ed)	H - Anthology
The Graveyard Apartment	Mariko Koike	H
City of Weird: 30 Otherworldly Portland Tales	Gigi Little (Ed)	SF/F/UF/H - Anthology
Tuskers III: The Omnivore Wars	Duncan McGeary	H - Tuskers 3
Treachery's Tools	L. E. Modesitt, Jr.	F - The Imager Portfolio 10
Inspector of the Dead (h2tp)	David Morrell	Gothic - Thomas and Emily De Quincey 2
The Wraiths of War	Mark Morris	DF/UF - Obsidian Heart Trilogy 3
The Witch House of Persimmon Point	Suzanne Palmieri	CW/Gothic
The Comet Seekers (D)	Helen Sedgwick	LF
Counterpart (e)	Hayley Stone	SF/GenEng - Machinations 2
Legacy of Caliban: The Omnibus	Gav Thorpe	SF - Legacy of Caliban
The Promise of the Child (h2tp)	Tom Toner	SF/SO - Amaranthine Spectrum 1
Genrenauts: The Complete Season One Collection (e)	Michael R. Underwood	SF/F
Blood on the Tracks	William Vitka	SF/AP/PA - Hellcat 2
The Delphi Effect	Rysa Walker	SF - The Delphi Trilogy 1

October 12, 2016

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Blue is a Darkness Weakened by Light: A Tor.com Original (e)	Sarah McCarry	F

D - Debut
e - eBook
Ed - Editor
h2mm - Hardcover to Mass Market Paperback
h2tp - Hardcover to Trade Paperback
Illus - Illustrator
ri - reissue or reprint
tp2mm - Trade to Mass Market Paperback



AH - Alternate History
AP - Apocalyptic
CF - Contemporary Fantasy
CW - Contemporary Women
CyberP - CyberPunk
DF - Dark Fantasy
Dys - Dystopian
F _ Fantasy
FairyT - Fairy Tales
Fict - Fiction
FolkT - Folk Tales
FR - Fantasy Romance
GenEng - Genetic Engineering
GH - Ghosts
H - Horror
HC - History and Criticism
Hist - Historical
HistF - Historical Fantasy
Hu - Humor
LC - Literary Criticism
LF - Literary Fiction
M - Mystery
Meta - Metaphysical
MR - Magical Realism
Occ - Occult
P - Paranormal
PA - Post Apocalyptic
ParaTh - Paranormal Thriller
PCM - Paranormal Cozy Mystery
PNR - Paranormal Romance
Psy - Psychological
R - Romance
SF - Science Fiction
SO - Space Opera
SP - Steampunk
Sup - Supernatural
SupTh - Supernatural Thriller
Sus - Suspense
Th - Thriller
TT - Time Travel
TV - Television
UF - Urban Fantasy


Note: Not all of these genres and formats are represented in the books above.

Happy last Monday in September!

There is one debut this week:

The Ferryman Institute by Colin Gigl.



From formerly featured DAC Authors:

Dishonored: The Corroded Man by Adam Christopher;

The Purloined Poodle (Oberon's Meaty Mysteries / Iron Druid) by Kevin Hearne;

and

Cloudbound (Bone Universe 2) by Fran Wilde.








September 27, 2016

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Operation Arcana	John Joseph Adams (Ed)	F - Anthology
Black Jade	Kylie Chan	UF - Celestial Battle Trilogy 3
Dishonored: The Corroded Man	Adam Christopher	SP - Dishonored
The Dreaming Hunt	Cindy Dees Bill Flippin	F - The Sleeping King 2
Mystic (h2tp)	Jason Denzel	F - The Mystic Trilogy 1
Dark Ghost (h2mm)	Christine Feehan	PNR - Carpathian Novel 28
Dandelion Dead	Chrystle Fiedler	CM - A Natural Remedies Mystery 4
The Force Awakens (h2mm)	Alan Dean Foster	SF - Star Wars
Brian and Wendy Froud's The Pressed Fairy Journal of Madeline Cottington	Wendy Froud Brian Froud	FairyT/FolkT/LM
Stardust (ri)	Neil Gaiman	LF/FairyT
Shadow Silence	Yasmine Galenorn	UF - Whisper Hollow 2
Raising Caine (tp2mm)	Charles E Gannon	SF/SO - Caine Riordan 3
The Ferryman Institute (D)	Colin Gigl	CF
Time Travel: A History	James Gleick	History/SocSci/Science
Darkest Journey	Heather Graham	Cr/R/M/GH - Krewe of Hunters 20
Forever Free (e)(ri)	Joe Haldeman	SF
The Coming (e)(ri)	Joe Haldeman	SF/Dys/AC
Guardian (e)(ri)	Joe Haldeman	AH
A Night Without Stars	Peter F. Hamilton	SF/SO/Th - Commonwealth: Chronicle of the Fallers 2
The Tengu's Game of Go	Lian Hearn	F - The Tale of Shikanoko series 4
The Fall of the House of Cabal	Jonathan L. Howard	H - Johannes Cabal Novels 5
The Haunting of Hill House (ri)	Shirley Jackson	GO/H/Psy - Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition
By Familiar Means	Delia James	PCM - A Witch's Cat Mystery 2
Bats (e)(ri)	William W. Johnstone	H
The Regulators (ri)	Stephen King	H
Gerald's Game (ri)	Stephen King	PsyTh
Ashley Bell (h2mm)	Dean Koontz	Sus/F
Bite Me (ri)	Shelly Laurenston	PNR - The Pride Series 9
Alien vs. Predator: Armageddon	Tim Lebbon	SF/H - The Rage War 3
The Silence (tp2mm)	Tim Lebbon	H/DF
The Bloodsworn	Erin Lindsey	F - A Bloodbound Novel 3
Prey: Book One: Hell's Heart	John Jackson Miller	SF - Star Trek
The Vanishing Year	Kate Moretti	Sus
Midian Unmade: Tales of Clive Barker's Nightbreed (h2tp)	Joseph Nassise (Ed) Del Howison (Ed)	H - Anthology
An English Ghost Story	Kim Newman	GH/H
The Immortal's Guide (e)	S.C. Parris	DF - The Dark World 2
Second Glance	Jodi Picoult	GH
The Gradual	Christopher Priest	HistF
Haunted Castles: The Complete Gothic Stories (h2tp)	Ray Russell	GO/H/Occ/Sup - Collection
Chills	Mary SanGiovanni	H/M
A Vampire's Honor	Carla Smith	PNR - Vampire's Promise 3
The Sinner	Amanda Stevens	Sus/Th/GH - The Graveyard Queen 6
Menagerie (h2tp)	Rachel Vincent	MR/F/DF/UF - The Menagerie Series 1
Star Wars: Secrets of the Galaxy Deluxe Boxed Set	Daniel Wallace	SF
The Road to Hell (h2mm)	David Weber Joelle Presby	SF/SO - Multiverse Series 3
Cloudbound	Fran Wilde	F - Bone Universe 2
Wearing Dad's Head: Stories	Barry Yourgrau	GB - Collection

September 28, 2016

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
The Black Guard	A. J Smith	F - The Long War 1

September 30, 2016

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
The Purloined Poodle	Kevin Hearne	UF - Oberon's Meaty Mysteries / Iron Druid

October 1, 2016

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
The House on Cold Hill	Peter James	H/GH
Salsa Nocturna: A Bone Street Rumba Collection (e)(ri)	Daniel José Older	UF - Bone Street Rumba Collection
Otared	Mohammad Rabie	Th/Sus
The Bell Tower (h2tp)	Sarah Rayne	Mys/H - A Nell West and Michael Flint Haunted House Story 6
Conversations with William Gibson (h2tp)	Patrick A. Smith	SF/F/HC

D - Debut
e - eBook
Ed - Editor
Ke - Kindle only eBook
h2mm - Hardcover to Mass Market Paperback
h2tp - Hardcover to Trade Paperback
ri - reissue or reprint
tp2mm - Trade to Mass Market Paperback



AC - Alien Contact
AH - Alternate History
AP - Apocalyptic
CF - Contemporary Fantasy
CM - Cozy Mystery
CoA - Coming of Age
Cr - Crime
CW - Contemporary Women
CyP - Cyberpunk
DF - Dark Fantasy
Dys - Dystopian
F - Fantasy
FairyT - Fairy Tale
FolkT - Folk Tale
FR - Fantasy Romance
GB - Genre Bender
GenEng - Genetic Engineering
GH - Ghosts
GN - Graphic Novel
GO - Gothic
H - Horror
HC - History and Criticism
Hist - Historical
HistF - Historical Fantasy
HistTh - Historical Thriller
HU - Humor
LF - Literary Fiction
LM - Legends and Mythology
M - Mystery
MR - Magical Realism
Occ - Occult
P - Paranormal
PA - Post Apocalyptic
PCM - Paranormal Cozy Mystery
PNR - Paranormal Romance
PRS - Paranormal Romantic Suspense
Psy - Psychological
PsyTh - Psychological Thriller
R - Romance
SF - Science Fiction
SFR - Science Fiction Romance
SO - Space Opera
SocSci - Social Science
SP - Steampunk
SpecFic - Speculative Fiction
Sup - Supernatural
SupTh - Supernatural Thriller
Sus - Suspense
Th - Thriller
TT - Time Travel
UF - Urban Fantasy

Note: Not all of these genres and formats are represented in the book above.

Happy Pi Day and Happy first Monday after Daylight Savings Time starts in the majority of the United States. I'm not a fan of Daylight Savings Time. We spend more months on Daylight Savings Time than Standard Time now. Some of the reasons put forth for this are simply ridiculous and not grounded in reality. I think we should pick a time and just stick to it.  Now back to books.

There are 2 debuts this week:

Snakewood by Adrian Selby;

and

Dissension (An Echo Hunter 367 Novel) by Stacey Berg.


From formerly featured Debut Author Challenge Authors:

The Machine Awakes (Spider War 2) by  Adam Christopher is out in Trade Paperback;

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins is out in Trade Paperback;

Cursed: A Collection of Coveted Short Stories by Shawntelle Madison;

The Daedalus Incident (Daedalus 1) by Michael J. Martinez is out in Mass Market Paperback;

The Last Mortal Bond (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne 3) by Brian Staveley;

and

Running Down A Dream (The Shattered Ones 3) by Minerva Zimmerman.

March 14, 2016

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Your Orisons May Be Recorded: A Tor.Com Original (e)	Laurie Penny	F
The Darkest Whisper (e)(ri)	Gena Showalter	PNR - Lords of the Underworld 4

March 15, 2016

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Powers: The Secret History of Deena Pilgrim	Brian Michael Bendis Neil Kleid	SH
Dissension (D)	Stacey Berg	SF/AP/PA - An Echo Hunter 367 Novel
Tomorrow War (h2tp)	J. L. Bourne	Tech/Th - Chronicles of Max 1
Progeny of Vale	Rhett C. Bruno	SF - The Circuit 2
The Machine Awakes (h2tp)	Adam Christopher	SF - Spider War 2
Dark Promises	Christine Feehan	PNR - Carpathian/Dark 29
New Blood	Matt Forbeck	SF - HALO
Smoke and Fire: Part 1 (e)	Donna Grant	PNR - Dark Kings
Second Life (h2tp)	Paul Griner	LF/Th
The Phoenix Descent	Chuck Grossart	SF
The Library at Mount Char (h2tp)	Scott Hawkins	CF
Black Wings of Cthulhu (Volume 4)	S.T. Joshi (Ed)	H - Anthology
Blood Oath (e)(ri)	William W. Johnstone	H - Satan Influenced 2
Black Creek	Gregory Lamberson	H
Pieces of Hate	Tim Lebbon	HistF - The Assassins Series 1
Thirty Hours with a Corpse: and Other Tales of the Grand Guignol	Maurice Level S. T. Joshi (Ed)	H
Cursed: A Collection of Coveted Short Stories (e)	Shawntelle Madison	PNR - Coveted Collection
The Daedalus Incident (tp2mm)	Michael J. Martinez	SF - Daedalus 1
Fall of the Dragons: The Dragon's Apprentice; The Dragons of Winter; The First Dragon	James A. Owen	HistF - The Age of Dragons
The Two of Swords: Part 14 (e)	K. J. Parker	F
Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century: 1948-1988 The Man Who Learned Better (h2tp)	William H. Patterson	Biography
Snakewood (D)	Adrian Selby	F
The Last Mortal Bond	Brian Staveley	F - Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne 3
A Man Lies Dreaming	Lavie Tidhar	HistTh/AH
Running Down A Dream	Minerva Zimmerman	UF - The Shattered Ones 3

March 17, 2016

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
The Haunted Heist	Angie Fox	PM - Southern Ghost Hunter Mysteries 3
The Stealers' War (e)	Stephen Hunt	F - Far-Called 3

March 18, 2016

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Man with No Name	Laird Barron	H - A Nanashi Novella
Operation Wild Tarpan (e)	Addison Gunn	SF/PA - Extinction Biome: Invasion 2

D - Debut
e - eBook
Ed - editor
h2tp - Hardcover to Trade Paperback
tp2mm - Trade to Mass Market Paperback
ri - reissue or reprint


AH - Alternate History
AP - Apocalyptic
CF - Contemporary Fantasy
F - Fantasy
H - Horror
HistF - Historical Fantasy
HistTh - Historical Thriller
LF - Literary Fiction
PA - Post Apocalyptic
PM - Paranormal Mystery
PNR - Paranormal Romance
SF - Science Fiction
SH - Superheroes
Tech - Technological
Th - Thriller
UF - Urban Fantasy

Part 1 here.

Boone Brux (2011)

Styx and Stoned
Grim Reality 2
The Painted Raven, May 15, 2015
Trade Paperback and eBook, 219 pages

Las Vegas! All expenses paid!

Normally, a trip like that would be a dream come true for a widowed, mother of three, who just happens to be grim reaper. Here’s the thing though, situations rarely work out as I imagine they should. And usually not in my favor.

This time isn’t any different. Instead of the endless free drinks and gambling I’d been hoping for, I get the opposite—demons, water zombies, and a bimbo ghost roommate, who gives new meaning to the phrase dead drunk.

But it’s not all bad. I’m making new friends, learning spectacular reaper skills, and saving souls. I just hope I don’t lose mine before I can get the Underworld all sorted out.

Christopher Buehlman (2011)

The Lesser Dead
Berkley, October 6, 2015
Trade Paperback, 368 pages
Hardcover and eBook, October 7, 2014

Christopher Buehlman’s Those Across the River delivered “an unsettling brew of growing menace spiked with flashes of genuine terror.”* Now, the World Fantasy Award-nominated author stakes a bloody claim on vampire mythology…

The secret is, vampires are real and I am one.
The secret is, I’m stealing from you what is most truly yours and I’m not sorry…

New York City in 1978 is a dirty, dangerous place to live. And die. Joey Peacock knows this as well as anybody—he has spent the last forty years as an adolescent vampire, perfecting the routine he now enjoys: womanizing in punk clubs and discotheques, feeding by night, and sleeping by day with others of his kind in the macabre labyrinth under the city’s sidewalks.

The subways are his playground and his highway, shuttling him throughout Manhattan to bleed the unsuspecting in the Sheep Meadow of Central Park or in the backseats of Checker cabs, or even those in their own apartments who are too hypnotized by sitcoms to notice him opening their windows. It’s almost too easy.

Until one night he sees them hunting on his beloved subway. The children with the merry eyes. Vampires, like him…or not like him. Whatever they are, whatever their appearance means, the undead in the tunnels of Manhattan are not as safe as they once were.

And neither are the rest of us.

WINNER OF THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION’S BEST HORROR NOVEL OF THE YEAR

*New York Times bestselling author F. Paul Wilson

Adam Christopher (2011)

The Machine Awakes
Spider War 2
Tor Books, March 15, 2016
Trade Paperback, 432 pages
Hardcover and eBook, April 21, 2015

Adam Christopher's The Machine Awakes is a far future space opera set in the universe of Burning Dark. In the decades since the human race first made contact with the Spiders—a machine race capable of tearing planets apart—the two groups have fought over interstellar territory. But the war has not been going well for humankind, and with the failure of the Fleet Admiral's secret plan in the Shadow system, the commander is overthrown by a group of hardliners determined to get the war back on track.

When the deposed Fleet Admiral is assassinated, Special Agent Von Kodiak suspects the new guard is eliminating the old. But when the Admiral's replacement is likewise murdered, all bets are off as Kodiak discovers the prime suspect is one of the Fleet's own, a psi-marine and decorated hero—a hero killed in action, months ago, at the same time his twin sister vanished from the Fleet Academy, where she was training to join her brother on the front.

As Kodiak investigates, he uncovers a conspiracy that stretches from the slums of Salt City to the floating gas mines of Jupiter. There, deep in the roiling clouds of the planet, the Jovian Mining Corporation is hiding something, a secret that will tear the Fleet apart and that the Morning Star, a group of militarized pilgrims searching for their lost god, is determined to uncover.

But there is something else hiding in Jovian system. Something insidious and intelligent, machine-like and hungry.

The Spiders are near.
[description from Hardcover]

The Shield, Vol 1: Daughter of Revolution
   Written by Adam Christopher and Chuck Wendig
Dark Circle Comics, June 7, 2015
Trade Paperback, 144 pages

Over the centuries, in our nation's times of need, a supernatural force appears to battle back the enemies of the United States: THE SHIELD.

Today, the country--the whole world--is on the edge of chaos. The middle class is dying as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Global warming's effects on the environment are drastic and dramatic, with superstorms and deadly droughts a common occurrence. The government increases its grip on the lives of ordinary people, controlling information and curtailing freedoms and privacy. For some, the government itself has become an enemy of the people, and revolution is on the minds of Americans all across the country.

The Shield returns--but what happens when she's not sure who the enemy is?

A modern action and conspiracy thriller by bestselling novelists Adam Christopher and Chuck Wendig featuring the dynamic artwork of David Williams, THE SHIELD: DAUGHTER OF THE REVOLUTION gives readers a topical, relevant and jarring new take on the classic hero.

THE SHIELD, VOL. 1: DAUGHTER OF THE REVOLUTION collects the first story arc of the ongoing THE SHIELD comic book series.

Isabel Cooper (2011)

Night of the Highland Dragon
Highland Dragon 3
Sourcebooks Casablanca, June 2, 2015
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 352 pages

“They say,” said the girl, “that people disappear up there. And I heard that the lady doesna’ ever grow any older.”
“The lady?” William asked.
“Lady MacAlasdair. She lives in the castle, and she’s been there years, but she stays young and beautiful forever.”

In the Scottish Highlands, legend is as powerful as the sword—and nowhere is that more true than in the remote village of Loch Aranoch. Its mysterious ruler, Judith MacAlasdair, is fiercely protective of her land—and her secrets. If anyone were to find out what she really was, she and her entire clan would be hunted down as monsters.

William Arundell is on the trail of a killer. Special agent for an arcane branch of the English government, his latest assignment has led him to a remote Highland castle and the undeniably magnetic lady who rules there. Yet as lies begin to unravel and a dark threat gathers, William finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into the mystery of the Highlands…and the woman he can neither trust nor deny.
He prays she isn’t the murderer; he never dreamed she was a dragon.

Virna DePaul (2011)

Filthy Rich
The Belladonna Agency 3
Bantam, October 27, 2015
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 384 pages

High finance and a sizzling office affair raise desire and passion to the boiling point in Virna DePaul’s seductive new contemporary romance—perfect for fans of Carly Phillips, Lori Foster, and Molly O’Keefe.

Cara Michal has had to fight every step of the way to earn her place in the glittering seven-figure world of Wall Street. Years ago her hardworking father, a small-time investment adviser, was wrongfully accused of fraud. Now Cara is at the top of her game, supporting not only herself but her mother and brother. The occasional night out dancing soothes Cara’s soul, even as a bitter need for revenge against the man who destroyed her father makes inner peace elusive.

Then, in a moment of heat, Cara kisses a sexy stranger at a party—only later to discover that the man is Branden Duke, her new boss, an infamous operator with a wicked reputation in bed and on the Street. Branden is a man who seemingly has it all—except a woman who connects with him on a physical and emotional level. Now that he’s found Cara, he’s not sure he can let her go, even if he should.

In spite of herself, Cara is drawn to this charismatic guy. He is a challenge like none she has ever faced in her life. Their passion for each other is unquenchable, surprising them both with its ferocity. Even as Cara wonders if she can trust this man with her heart and soul, the ecstasy of their love cannot be denied. But when the past threatens the present, the two are faced with a truth from which they may never recover.

Hello! did you miss me? I am sorry I didn't have a post for you last week. I didn't have enough read to tell you about so you got to enjoy (I hope) my review of Lost Causes by Mia Marshall instead. I had hoped to have read a big bunch of great books so I am sorry to disappoint with only two books one of which is a hit and the other a miss. So what did I read?


I have had The Hidden and the Maiden by Eben Mishkin on my NetGalley TBR shelf for months. I try to prioritize my NetGalley books but sometimes they don't always end at the top of my list. I actually started Mishkin's debut novel a couple of times before I decided to just get on with it and get it read. Mishkin tells the story of James, a failed sorcerer with a bad attitude and the rather more wimpy, medium Zephyr. The unlikely pair team up to stop the former cop, now conman Kenton Dean who has control of the god of death aka the grim reaper.  Dean just needs the magical Helena (the Maiden) to finish off his master plan but James and Zephyr are determined he won't succeed. Its now up to this unlikely pair to work together to save the day and The Maiden.

I have to say I really struggled with this book. In fact I spent the first third and the last quarter having no idea what was going on. The scenes with Zephyr and the ghost of his mother were extremely confusing at first and turned into something that I can only describe as unsavory. I don't think I would have figured out that James was a failed sorcerer without referring back to the book summary on Goodreads. Mishkin has an amazing imagination and I have to applaud his attempt to create interesting characters and a tangled, twisted plot full of folklore and mystery. However, to really have kept my interest Mishkin needed to dial down the crazy and develop his characters a lot more. For those of you who read reviews on Goodreads Mishkin's novel got a very high rating despite a number of reviewers saying they were also confused. Personally, if I struggle with a book it isn't going to get 5 stars from me.



The second book I read was another book on my NetGalley shelf - Made to Kill by Adam Christopher. This is a classic noir private investigator mystery with a twist. In Made to Kill the PI is a robot, the last robot - Raymond Electromatic. When a young woman comes into Raymond's office with a bag full of gold asking him to find a missing actor it's an offer he can't refuse. Raymond finds himself in the midst of some of the biggest Hollywood stars and a plot so sinister that even this bullet proof PI might not survive unscathed.

I really enjoyed Made to Kill. It is a quick and easy read with a plot that kept me guessing. Raymond is a great lead character and the fact that Raymond's secretary is a super computer made the whole story that much more fun. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes a good mystery and an even better anti-hero.


That is it for me this week. I hope to be a bit more productive next week next week but until then Happy Reading.

The Hidden and the Maiden
CreateSpace, March 2015
Trade Paperback and eBook

A wizard’s failed apprentice and a self-doubting medium embark on a race against time in Eben Mishkin’s fantastical debut, The Hidden and the Maiden.

The unsociable James Rathbone, once student to the last wizard, is forced into action when his dead master's secret elixir is stolen.

Con artist Kenton Dean uses the elixir to release the fallen god of death. He needs just one more thing for his plans to work: Helena Lawson, an heiress who holds unfathomable magical potential.

James sets off on a dangerous mission to rescue Helena and stop Kenton, but he cannot do it alone. Much to his chagrin, James must team up with Zephyr Wayne, a neurotic medium who’s convinced his powers are nothing more than the manifestation of his own psychosis.

As the only humans capable of seeing the threat, James and Zephyr must band together to save the world as they know it. But can James finally get his magic to work? And will Zephyr’s self-doubt ever allow him to unleash his full potential?

An absorbing blend of horror, fantasy, and real-world drama, The Hidden and the Maiden will leave readers guessing until the very last page.

Made to Kill
L.A. Trilogy 1
Tor Books, November 3, 2015
Hardcover and eBook, 240 pages

It was just another Tuesday morning when she walked into the office--young, as I suspected they all might be, another dark brunette with some assistance and enough eye black to match up to Cleopatra. And who am I? I'm Ray, the world's last robot, famed and feared in equal measure, which suits me just fine--after all, the last place you'd expect to find Hollywood's best hit man is in the plain light of day.

Raymond Electromatic is good at his job, as good as he ever was at being a true Private Investigator, the lone employee of the Electromatic Detective Agency--except for Ada, office gal and super-computer, the constant voice in Ray's inner ear. Ray might have taken up a new line of work, but money is money, after all, and he was programmed to make a profit. Besides, with his twenty-four-hour memory-tape limits, he sure can keep a secret.

When a familiar-looking woman arrives at the agency wanting to hire Ray to find a missing movie star, he's inclined to tell her to take a hike. But she had the cold hard cash, a demand for total anonymity, and tendency to vanish on her own.

Plunged into a glittering world of fame, fortune, and secrecy, Ray uncovers a sinister plot that goes much deeper than the silver screen--and this robot is at the wrong place, at the wrong time.

Made to Kill is the thrilling new speculative noir from novelist and comic writer Adam Christopher.

The Machine Awakes
Author:  Adam Christopher
Series:  Spider Wars 2
Publisher:  Tor Books April 21, 2015
Format:  Hardcover and eBook, 416 pages
List Price:  $25.99 (print)
ISBN:  9780765376404 (print)
Review Copy:  Provided by the Publisher

Adam Christopher's The Machine Awakes is a far future space opera set in the universe of Burning Dark. In the decades since the human race first made contact with the Spiders—a machine race capable of tearing planets apart—the two groups have fought over interstellar territory. But the war has not been going well for humankind, and with the failure of the Fleet Admiral’s secret plan in the Shadow system, the commander is overthrown by a group of hardliners determined to get the war back on track.

When the deposed Fleet Admiral is assassinated, Special Agent Von Kodiak suspects the new guard is eliminating the old. But when the Admiral’s replacement is likewise murdered, all bets are off as Kodiak discovers the prime suspect is one of the Fleet’s own, a psi-marine and decorated hero—a hero killed in action, months ago, at the same time his twin sister vanished from the Fleet Academy, where she was training to join her brother on the front.

As Kodiak investigates, he uncovers a conspiracy that stretches from the slums of Salt City to the floating gas mines of Jupiter. There, deep in the roiling clouds of the planet, the Jovian Mining Corporation is hiding something, a secret that will tear the Fleet apart and that the Morning Star, a group of militarized pilgrims searching for their lost god, is determined to uncover.

But there is something else hiding in Jovian system. Something insidious and intelligent, machine-like and hungry.

The Spiders are near.

Brannigan's Review

The Machine Awakes is a dark space opera by Adam Christopher and the second book in the Spider Wars series. This book takes an interesting turn as it doesn't really have anything to do with the events and characters from the first book. They're mentioned, but a reader would do fine jumping on board with this second book without missing a beat. I like this in a world building standpoint. It gives the universe a bigger feel. It helps that this book covers more locations than the first book. I also like this because I sometimes get bored with one main hero that seems to have so many amazing adventures, it's just so unrealistic. It's refreshing to meet new people and see new places.

For the most part, Christopher does a better job with his characters in this book than the first. They are more interesting and feel more developed. However, he could have made better use out of Caitlin, a capable character who doesn't need to be a constant victim. The psi-marines are very cool and I look forward to learning more about them. I also have to give him credit for making a very cool villain that he hasn't overused throughout the series.

One aspect of the first book that I missed in this one is the fear factor. I felt Christopher did such a great job with that and in the second book there is more of a sci-fi cop/conspiracy tone that I was fine with but didn't love as much as the horror in the first book. I also didn't care for the weird religious aspect of the story, but I rarely enjoy that part of books as I feel most authors make religious people sound crazy.

The Machine Awakes is a world-builder's dream. Christopher's universe keeps getting bigger, and I'm interested to see where he goes in book three. I would only recommend this book to adults because of its strong language, violence and adult situations. This series is perfect for those of us who like to see a whole universe come alive with an interesting villain who wants to destroy it all.

The Burning Dark
Author:  Adam Christopher
Series:  Spider Wars 1
Publisher:  Tor Books,  March 25, 2014
Format:  Hardcover and eBook, 336 pages
List Price:  $25.99 (print)
ISBN:  9780765335081 (print)
Review Copy:  Provided by the Publisher
Available in Trade Paperback (March 3, 2015)

Adam Christopher's dazzling first novel, Empire State, was named the Best Book of 2012 by SciFi Now magazine. Now he explores new dimensions of time and space in The Burning Dark.

Back in the day, Captain Abraham Idaho Cleveland had led the Fleet into battle against an implacable machine intelligence capable of devouring entire worlds. But after saving a planet, and getting a bum robot knee in the process, he finds himself relegated to one of the most remote backwaters in Fleetspace to oversee the decommissioning of a semi-deserted space station well past its use-by date.

But all is not well aboard the U-Star Coast City. The station's reclusive Commandant is nowhere to be seen, leaving Cleveland to deal with a hostile crew on his own. Persistent malfunctions plague the station's systems while interference from a toxic purple star makes even ordinary communications problematic. Alien shadows and whispers seem to haunt the lonely corridors and airlocks, fraying the nerves of everyone aboard.

Isolated and friendless, Cleveland reaches out to the universe via an old-fashioned space radio, only to tune in to a strange, enigmatic signal: a woman's voice that seems to echo across a thousand light-years of space. But is the transmission just a random bit of static from the past--or a warning of an undying menace beyond mortal comprehension?

Brannigan's Review

The Burning Dark is a dark atmospheric Science Fiction Horror novel by Adam Christopher.
I'm a big fan of novels that make outer space horrific and Christopher does just that. He picks the perfect setting, a decommissioning space station with a skeleton crew next to a purple star pulsing out radiation that can kill in five minutes of exposure. To make things even better, Christopher uses the shadows and sounds of this environment with outstanding skill to haunt the characters.

Christopher does a wonderful job of using the space radio. I love the idea of this juxtaposition between what is essentially a ham radio amongst future tech and the horror it unleashes and the physiological damage it causes.

With everything I loved about the book, I still had an issue with two things. Captain Abraham Idaho Cleveland is a bizarre protagonist for me. At the beginning of the story, he's saving worlds and fighting off spiders and then he's getting beaten up by marines and acting nerdy. I never felt like 'Ida' was a concrete character I could engage with. Even with his haunted past and weaknesses, I had a hard time empathizing with him. I also really got distracted by the amount of adult language that was used throughout the book. I understand it's dealing with men and women in the military and there's a lot of creepy things going on, but it threw me out of the story a lot. I'm not squeamish by any means. I grew up with a father who was in the military and worked in the oilfields, so I'm used to hearing plenty of swearing, but it seemed a bit much for me.

The Burning Dark is a wonderful blend of Science Fiction and Horror with a perfectly developed world that is used to enhance the horror and stress of the events in the book. Even with a weak protagonist and more language than I like, I plan on reading the next book in the series. Christopher's ability to create a standout setting and interesting story demands it.

I would only recommend this book to adults because of its strong language, violence and adult situations. This series is perfect for those of us who like science fiction horror genre blends.

Happy Monday!

There are 4 Debuts out this week:

Residue (Project Sentinel 1) by Steve Diamond;

Desert Rising (Desert Rising 1) by Kelley Grant;

The Vagrant by Peter Newman;

and

The Miracle Girl by Andrew Roe.


From formerly featured Debut Author Challenge Authors:

Within These Walls by Ania Ahlborn;

The Machine Awakes (Spider War 2) by Adam Christopher;

Pirate's Alley (Sentinels of New Orleans 4) by Suzanne Johnson;

and

Angles of Attack (Frontlines 3) by Marko Kloos.

April 20, 2015

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Residue (D)(e)	Steve Diamond	DF - Project Sentinel 1

April 21, 2015

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Within These Walls	Ania Ahlborn	H
Letters from the Dead (e)(ri)	Campbell Armstrong	H/Sus
The Wanting (e)(ri)	Campbell Armstrong	H/Sus
The Silver Witch	Paula Brackston	Hist/F
The Machine Awakes	Adam Christopher	SF - Spider War 2
Dark Skye (h2mm)	Kresley Cole	PNR - Immortals After Dark 15
Sealed in Sin	Juliette Cross	PNR - Vessel Trilogy 2
Temporary Human (e)	Craig Shaw Gardner	UF - Temporary Magic 3
When We Were Animals	Joshua Gaylord	F/CoA
Desert Rising (D)(e)	Kelley Grant	F - Desert Rising 1
Pirate's Alley	Suzanne Johnson	UF - Sentinels of New Orleans 4
Damocles	Phil Kelly Guy Haley Ben Counter Josh Reynolds	SF - Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine Battles
Angles of Attack	Marko Kloos	SF - Frontlines 3
After Midnight (Ke)	Allan Leverone	H
War of Shadows	Gail Z. Martin	F - The Ascendant Kingdoms Saga 3
The Night Mayor (ri)	Kim Newman	SF
The Miracle Girl (D)	Andrew Roe	F/Psy
Dark Bride	Jonathan Ryan	H -  3 Gates of the Dead 2
Red Girls: The Legend of the Akakuchibas	Kazuki Sakuraba	F
The Blondes	Emily Schultz	Satire/Ap
The Edge of Reason	Melinda Snodgrass	CF - Edge 1
Emergence (e)	William Vitka	H - The Hroza Connection 2
Positive	David Wellington	H
Poisonwell	Jeff Wheeler	F - Whispers from Mirrowen 3
The Affinities	Robert Charles Wilson	SF
The Architect of Aeons	John C. Wright	SF - Count to a Trillion 3

April 22, 2015

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn: A Tor.Com Original (e)	Usman T. Malik	F

April 23, 2015

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
The Last Quarrel (e)	Duncan Lay	F
Melancholy: Episode 2 (e)	Charlotte McConaghy	PNR - Melancholy
The Vagrant (D)	Peter Newman	F

April 24, 2015

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Scripture From the Past	C. J. Gleave	F - Alkoryn Chronicles 1
The Bones Would Do	Lee Morgan	Su - Christopher Penrose 2
After: Dying Light (Ke)	Scott Nicholson	PA/Th - After 6

D - Debut
e - eBook
h2mm - Hardcover to Mass Market Paperback
Ke - Kindle eBook only
ri - reissue or reprint


Ap - Apocalyptic
CF  - Contemporary Fiction
CoA - Coming of Age
DF - Dark Fantasy
F - Fantasy
H - Horror
Hist - Historical
PA - Post Apocalyptic
PNR -Paranormal Romance
Psy - Psychological
SF - Science Fiction
Su - Supernatural
Sus - Suspense
Th - Thirller
UF- Urban Fantasy

Adam Christopher

Elementary: The Ghost Line
Elementary 1
Titan Books. February 25, 2015
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 320 pages

A brand-new novel tie-in for the popular Elementary TV series.

A summons to a body found riddled with bullets in a Hell's Kitchen apartment is the start of a new case for Sherlock Holmes and Joan Watson. The victim is a subway train driver with a strange Colombian connection and a mysterious pile of money, but who would want to kill him? The search for the truth will lead the detectives into the hidden underground tunnels of New York City, where more bodies may well await them.

Made to Kill
L.A. Trilogy 1
Tor Books, November 2015
Hardcover and eBook



You can read about the cover reveal here on Tor.com. Brisk Money, the origin story of Ray (the robot detective), may also be found at Tor. com here.

Ben Aaronovitch

Foxglove Summer
Peter Grant / Rivers of London 5
DAW, January 6, 2014
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 336 pages

When two young girls go missing in rural Herefordshire, police constable and wizard-in-training Peter Grant is sent out of London to check that nothing supernatural is involved.

It’s purely routine—Nightingale, Peter’s superior, thinks he’ll be done in less than a day. But Peter’s never been one to walk away from someone in trouble, so when nothing overtly magical turns up he volunteers his services to the local police, who need all the help they can get. But because the universe likes a joke as much as the next sadistic megalomaniac, Peter soon comes to realize that dark secrets underlie the picturesque fields and villages of the countryside and there might just be work for Britain’s most junior wizard after all.

Soon Peter’s in a vicious race against time, in a world where the boundaries between reality and fairy have never been less clear….

Jenn Bennett

Grave Phantoms
Roaring Twenties 3
Berkley, May 5, 2015
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 320 pages

From the author of Grim Shadows and Bitter Spirits comes the new Roaring Twenties novel in the series hailed as “Boardwalk Empire meets Ghost Hunters, but so much better” (Molly Harper, national bestselling author of the Jane Jameson series).

Feisty flapper Astrid Magnusson is home from college and yearning for the one thing that’s always been off limits: Bo Yeung, her notorious bootlegging brother’s second-in-command. Unfortunately her dream of an easy reunion proves difficult after a violent storm sends a mysterious yacht crashing into the Magnussons’ docks. What’s worse, the boat disappeared a year ago, and the survivors are acting strangely…

Bo has worked with the Magnusson family for years, doing whatever is needed, including keeping his boss’s younger sister out of trouble—and his hands to himself. Of course, that isn’t so easy after Astrid has a haunting vision about the yacht’s disappearance, plunging them into an underground world of old money and dark magic. Danger will drive them closer together, but surviving their own forbidden feelings could be the bigger risk.

Adam Christopher

The Burning Dark
Spider War 1
Tor Books, March 3, 2015
Trade Paperback, 336 pages
Previously published in Hardcover and Digital

Adam Christopher’s dazzling first novel, Empire State, was named the Best Book of 2012 by SciFi Now magazine. Now he explores new dimensions of time and space in The Burning Dark.

Back in the day, Captain Abraham Idaho Cleveland had led the Fleet into battle against an implacable machine intelligence capable of devouring entire worlds. After saving a planet, and getting a bum robot knee in the process, he finds himself relegated to one of the most remote backwaters in Fleetspace, overseeing the decommissioning of a semi-deserted space station.
The station’s reclusive commandant is nowhere to be seen. Persistent malfunctions plague the station’s systems while interference from a toxic purple star makes even ordinary communications problematic. Alien shadows and whispers seem to haunt the lonely corridors and airlocks, fraying the nerves of everyone aboard.

Isolated and friendless, Cleveland reaches out to the universe via an old-fashioned space radio, only to tune in to a strange, enigmatic signal: a woman’s voice that echoes across a thousand light-years of space. But is the transmission just a random bit of static from the past—or a warning of an undying menace beyond mortal comprehension?




The Machine Awakes
Spider War 2
Tor Books, April 21, 2015
Hardcover and eBook, 416 pages

Adam Christopher's The Machine Awakes is a far future space opera set in the universe of Burning Dark. In the decades since the human race first made contact with the Spiders—a machine race capable of tearing planets apart—the two groups have fought over interstellar territory. But the war has not been going well for humankind, and with the failure of the Fleet Admiral’s secret plan in the Shadow system, the commander is overthrown by a group of hardliners determined to get the war back on track.

When the deposed Fleet Admiral is assassinated, Special Agent Von Kodiak suspects the new guard is eliminating the old. But when the Admiral’s replacement is likewise murdered, all bets are off as Kodiak discovers the prime suspect is one of the Fleet’s own, a psi-marine and decorated hero—a hero killed in action, months ago, at the same time his twin sister vanished from the Fleet Academy, where she was training to join her brother on the front.

As Kodiak investigates, he uncovers a conspiracy that stretches from the slums of Salt City to the floating gas mines of Jupiter. There, deep in the roiling clouds of the planet, the Jovian Mining Corporation is hiding something, a secret that will tear the Fleet apart and that the Morning Star, a group of militarized pilgrims searching for their lost god, is determined to uncover.

But there is something else hiding in Jovian system. Something insidious and intelligent, machine-like and hungry.

The Spiders are near.

Isabel Cooper

The Highland Dragon's Lady
Highland Dragon 2
Sourcebooks Casablanca, December 2, 2014
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 384 pages

Regina Talbot-Jones has always known her rambling family home was haunted. She also knows her brother has invited one of his friends to attend an ill-conceived séance. She didn’t count on that friend being so handsome…and she certainly didn’t expect him to be a dragon.

Scottish Highlander Colin MacAlasdair has hidden his true nature for his entire life, but the moment he sets eyes on Regina, he knows he has to have her. In his hundreds of years, he’s never met a woman who could understand him so thoroughly…or touch him so deeply. Bound by their mutual loneliness, drawn by the fire awakening inside of them, Colin and Regina must work together to defeat a vengeful spirit—and discover whether their growing love is powerful enough to defy convention.






Night of the Highland Dragon (Highland Dragon 3) is slated for publication in June 2015.

Karina Cooper

Transmuted
The St. Croix Chronicles 6
Carina Press, January 26, 2015
eBook 

In this final installment of Cherry St. Croix’s adventures, only one thing could compel the disgraced countess to return to Society—the threat of immortality.

All is not peaceful in the wake of the Midnight Menagerie’s ruin. Although the Karakash Veil has been forced to flee its stronghold, the mysterious head of the criminal organization is not content to fade away.

Above the foggy drift, a priceless diamond vanishes. In the dangerous Underground, a murderous rampage demands retribution. The hunt for the mastermind behind these misdeeds sends me back to Society—and into the unforgiving embrace of the world I’d left behind.

Nothing is what it seems. Enemies, allies—and a man who struggles with a nature even devotion cannot tame. Torn between the scars of the past and fragile new beginnings, I must create balance in the world I have chosen—and with the people I have come to love. The game has changed; should the Veil achieve the immortality it craves, I will have nowhere left to run.