Excerpt: A COVENANT WITH DEATH by Stephen Becker (Open Road)

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BeckerS-ACovenantWithDeathToday, we have a short excerpt from Stephen Becker’s New York Times-bestselling A Covenant With Death. The novel, first published in 1964, will be released by Open Road Media in eBook next week. If the title is familiar, it might be because the novel was adapted into a movie starring George Maharis and a young Gene Hackman, in 1967. Here’s the synopsis:

On a sultry day in the spring of 1923, Louise Talbot spends the last afternoon of her life lounging in the shade of a sycamore tree in her front yard. Beautiful and vivacious, Louise is the talk of Soledad City — every man lusts after her; every woman wants to know her secrets. She is found strangled to death that evening, and when the investigation uncovers her affair with another man, the citizens of the frontier town draw the obvious conclusion: Bryan Talbot murdered his wife in a fit of jealousy and rage.

Presiding over the trial is twenty-nine-year-old Ben Lewis. Appointed to the bench as a tribute to the memory of his late father, he fears he is too inexperienced to sentence another man to death. All the evidence points to Talbot, however, and it is a magistrate’s sworn duty to see that justice is served. But when a last-second twist casts the question of the defendant’s guilt or innocence in a shocking new light, Judge Lewis must decide whether to uphold the law — or let a murderer go free.

A thrilling suspense story and a fascinating inquiry into human nature and the true meaning of justice.

Read on for the excerpt, which is taken from early in the novel. Continue reading →

Covers: The Gorgeous UK Jackets of David Mitchell

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Sceptre has published David Mitchell’s novels in the UK with some truly gorgeous covers (above) — it’s a little hard to tell which of these are recent re-jackets, but I’m pretty sure a number of them are new.

I have still not read anything by Mitchell. I really don’t know why, to be honest. Alyssa’s mother waxes lyrical about his novels on a weekly basis, and I have to say she has excellent taste (I also bought Slade House for her for Xmas). I’ve heard such great things from so very many people about The Bone Clocks, but apparently reading Slade House will point out that they are all (at least in some small way) connected.

Despite writing the other week that I wasn’t going to set any reading goals in 2016, maybe I should propose one: read David Mitchell.

Here are links to the books: Ghostwritten, number9dream, Cloud Atlas, Black Swan Green, The Thousand Lives of Jacob de Zoet and The Bone Clocks.

Want to Read: Simon R Green’s HAWK & FISHER Series

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GreenSR-Hawk&FisherOmnibusEds

I spotted on Twitter a few minutes ago that Simon R. Green’s Hawk & Fisher sword-and-sorcery series had been re-issued as two eBook omnibus editions by his literary agent, JABberwocky.*

I first stumbled across information about the series a couple of years ago, but the books slipped from my mind because they weren’t widely available in the UK at the time. Which was a pity, as I had been really in the mood for this kind of fantasy series. The two eBooks — The Swords of Haven and The Guards of Haven — are available through most major eBook vendors, in the UK and US (I’m assuming elsewhere, too). Here’s the synopsis for the first book:

Hawk and Fisher: partners, husband and wife, Captains in Haven’s City Guard. Known, respected, and mostly feared, Hawk and Fisher fight crime, pursue justice, and protect Haven with their unique blend of strength, steel, and razor-sharp instinct. Haven’s citizens have never needed their protection more. The city is a hotbed of violence and corruption, where the natural and supernatural constantly collide, ready to boil over at any moment. Hawk and Fisher have their work cut out for them — for even by daylight, Haven is a dark place.

Swords of Haven brings together the first three novels in New York Times bestselling author Simon R. Green’s beloved Hawk & Fisher series:

Hawk & Fisher — A high-level city official is murdered during a dinner party and Hawk and Fisher have only a few hours to find the killer among the guests, including powerful spell-casters, cunning politicians, Haven royalty, and the victim’s own wife. 

Winner Takes All — Hawk & Fisher grapple with dark magics, devious politicians, and deadly assassins when they’re assigned to protect James Adamant, a fiery young politician whose plan to root out Haven’s corruption makes him very popular…as a target. 

The God Killer — No one is safe in Haven, not even the Gods! When divine residents of the Street of Gods fall prey to a murderer, Hawk & Fisher must team up with an exclusive tactical unit to catch the killer before all hell breaks loose in Haven. 

This looks like a fun sword-and-sorcery series. Strongly considering picking it up. Anyone read them when they were first available?

* JABberwocky has an eBook division that is bringing out-of-print and print-only titles back into circulation as eBooks. Sometimes, it’s just for books not available in certain territories. It’s a great project/programme, and they have a lot of titles available that I had long given up being able to find. So, even if you dislike Amazon, they’ve done a good job of making eBooks a viable format, which has helped bring these titles back. Open Road Media do a similar thing, on a much larger scale.

Interview with SUSAN PHILPOTT

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PhilpottS-AuthorPic2How would you introduce your new book Dark Territory to a potential reader?

Signy Shepherd is a kick-ass young conductor on a modern Underground Railroad that helps shuttle women in peril, away from danger. After triumphing over a brutal assassin in her first solo assignment, Signy’s newfound confidence is tested when she begins to suspect that the young mother she is rescuing in her latest case may not be the victim she claims to be.

Dark Territory is an old-fashioned railroad term meaning a section of tracks without functioning signal lights, and I think it perfectly describes Signy’s dilemma as she quickly loses control over the entire operation and finds herself isolated, and in the dark. Relying on nothing but her instincts, and with the cops hot on her tail, Signy is forced to make a choice that not only risks her own life but also those of the people she loves. Continue reading →

Guest Review: THE TYRANT’S LAW by Daniel Abraham (Orbit)

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Abraham-D&C3-TyrantsLawThe Dagger and the Coin, book three

The great war cannot be stopped.

The tyrant Geder Palliako begins a conquest aimed at bringing peace to the world, though his resources are stretched too thin. When things go poorly, he finds a convenient target among the thirteen races and sparks a genocide.

Clara Kalliam, freed by having fallen from grace, remakes herself as a ‘loyal traitor’ and starts building an underground resistance movement that seeks to undermine Geder through those closest to him.

Cithrin bel Sarcour is apprenticing in a city that’s taken over by Antea, and uses her status as Geder’s one-time lover to cover up an underground railroad smuggling refugees to safety.

And Marcus Wester and Master Kit race against time and Geder Palliako’s men in an attempt to awaken a force that could change the fate of the world.

Reviewed by Ryan Frye

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become a much more discerning reader. I have to work a lot harder to carve out reading time these days, so I’m much more picky about what I read. My pickiness reaches even greater heights when it comes to book series. Let’s face it, if it is hard to commit time to one book, it is even harder to commit to three, four, five, or – if it is a Sanderson or Erikson series – ten or more books. But, here’s the catch: I love epic fantasy. So, I’ve adopted a stance where the author has to keep me interested in the series book after book after book. It’s no longer a case of, “Well I liked the first book in the series, so I gotta read ‘em all.” If a series isn’t up to snuff, I’m done. I’ll move on. Harsh, maybe, but there’s so many books out there that sound amazing! Anyway, Daniel Abraham has been doing his part of keeping me interested in his Dagger and Coin series, so I gotta do my part and keep reading.

I guess, since people don’t like spoilers, I should note here that there will be spoilers for books one and two in this review… Obviously. Continue reading →

2015 was a Weird Year…

Civilian Reader Random

HanSoloLeiaYouHaveYourMoments

… but also exhibited some new, probably-permanent habits.

[This is going to be a wordy, free-ish-flowing post. It is all opinion, so I’m not going to continuously write “in my opinion”. Because only a moron wouldn’t understand that of course this is all opinion. It is jam-packed with generalizations. And I’m glib and hyperbolic at times. For effect. It is not prescriptive, nor is it meant to be. I apparently had a couple, small axes to grind that I wanted to write about. Or complain about, really. But with GIFs, so you know it’s meant to be light-hearted. Because apparently one can weaken the gravity of any situation with some well-chosen, amusing GIFs.] Continue reading →

Quick Review: THE IMMORTALS by Jordanna Max Brodsky (Orbit)

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BrodskyJM-TheImmortalsUSThe first must-read novel of 2016

Manhattan has many secrets. Some are older than the city itself. 

The city sleeps. Selene DiSilva walks her dog along the banks of the Hudson. She is alone — just the way she likes it. She doesn’t believe in friends, and she doesn’t speak to her family. Most of them are simply too dangerous.

In the predawn calm, Selene finds the body of a young woman washed ashore, gruesomely mutilated and wreathed in laurel. Her ancient rage returns. And so does the memory of a promise she made long ago — when her name was Artemis.

I read this quite a while ago, and rather stupidly didn’t write the review right away. The Immortals was at the top of my most-anticipated list for 2016 pretty much since I first spotted it on Edelweiss. I was extremely happy, therefore, to receive an advance review copy last year. It absolutely exceeded my expectations. Continue reading →

New Year, New Books… (Dec/Jan)

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Featuring: Megan Abbott, Kate Atkinson, John Ayliff, Elizabeth Brundage, M.R. Carey, Mike Carey, Linda Carey, Louise Carey, John Connolly, A.M. Dellamonica, Tim Federle, Patrick Gale, Addison Gunn, Antonia Hayes, Jeff Mariotte, K.S. Merbeth, Maggie Mitchell, Sarah Pinborough, Jennifer Ridyard, Marsheila Rockwell, James Rollins, Lilith Saintcrow, Emily Schultz, Peter Tieryas

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Continue reading →

Excerpt: STARBOUND by Dave Bara (DAW)

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BaraD-LC2-StarboundUSDave Bara‘s Starbound is the sequel to the author’s debut science fiction novel, Impulse. The author was one of the many hotly-tipped new science fiction authors of the past 12 months, and the novel seems to have clicked for a good number of SF fans. (There were so many interesting new series and SF novels published this past year.) I’ve not had a chance to read Impulse, yet (I do own it, though), but I’m certainly intrigued in the series. Here’s the synopsis for Starbound:

THE FIRST EMPIRE HAS RETURNED.

THE NEW GALACTIC UNION HANGS IN THE BALANCE…

The Lightship Impulse is gone, sacrificed while defeating First Empire ships the fragile new galactic alliance hoped it would never see again. 

For Peter Cochrane, serving as third officer on the Starbound and tasked with investigating a mysterious space station in a newly re-discovered system, the wounds of battle may have healed, but the battle is far from over.

Due to be published in North America by DAW Books in January 2016, the publisher has sent me this following excerpt to share. Continue reading →