Next summer, Viper is due to publish The Rush, the new novel from Beth Lewis — author of the widely-acclaimed The Wolf Road. I’ll admit, it was the cover that caught my attention first (it’s frankly stunning), but after reading the synopsis it went right on my Must Read 2025 list. Here’s what it’s about:
Gold fever has taken him. I believe he means to kill me…
Canada, 1898. The Gold Rush is on in the frozen wilderness of the Yukon. Fortunes are made as quickly as they’re lost, and Dawson City has become a lawless settlement.
In its midst, three women are trying to find their place on the edge of civilisation. Journalist Kate, along with her dog Yukon, has travelled hundreds of miles after receiving a letter from her sister warning that her husband means to kill her. Martha’s hotel and livelihood are under threat from the local strongman, who is set on buying up the town. And down by the river, where gold shimmers from between the rocks, Ellen feels her future slip away as her husband fails to find the fortune they risked so much to seek.
When a woman is found murdered, Kate, Martha and Ellen find their lives, fates and fortunes intertwined. But to unmask her killer, they must navigate a desperate land run by dangerous men who will do anything for a glimpse of gold…
I’ve always had a fondness for novels set in this time period (also a fascination with this period in history in general). I’m really looking forward to reading this.
Beth Lewis’s The Rush is due to be published by Viper Books in the UK, on June 12th, 2025. (At the time of writing, I couldn’t find any information about a North American publisher and/or release.)
In October, 
Today, we have an excerpt from When We Were Enemies by Wall Street Journal best-selling author Emily Bleeker. A story about families, legacies, and the long impact of secrets, set in the present day and also during World War 2. Here’s the synopsis:
Earlier this month, 
Next month, Head of Zeus are due to publish The Silence of Scheherazade by Defne Suman, a historical novel set at the beginning of the 20th century. Along with that eye-catching cover, it sounds really interesting, too. Here’s the synopsis:
I have always loved history, was lucky enough to study it at the highest level, and after teaching for a while have been even luckier to make a living writing non fiction history books. At the same time, I have always loved historical novels. At their best they give a flavour and feel for a place and an era much faster than reading conventional history. So when I came to write historical novels, accuracy was very important to me. A novel will only work if readers get caught up in the plot and want to spend time with the characters, but the world it conjures up has to feel real, at least on its own terms, and that is as true of fantasy or science fiction as it is for stories set in the past. The world of the story has to be convincing enough for readers to visit it in their imagination. Many readers and authors do not care too much if that world bears little or no relation to the reality of the past as long as it is consistent. That is fine, after all, reading should be about pleasure and we all have different tastes. However, I am a professional historian and find it hard to switch off, which makes me an unrepresentative reader, and I only stick with a novel if I feel that the research behind it and the author’s sensitivity for the period are good. Since, like most authors, I write books – whether novels or non fiction – that I would like to read, that is how I try to write my stories. So each novel begins with research. 
Let’s start with an introduction: Who is Clifford Jackman?
Let’s start with an introduction: Who is Jack Whyte?
Let’s start with an introduction: Who is Lucy Adlington?
Let’s start with an introduction: Who is James Heneage?
Civilian Reader 