Life can be scary – we all pretty much know that and, as we all get older, sometimes it gets really scary.

But, we prepare, we go on roller-coasters (well I don’t, but that’s because I’m a wimp), we go to see scary movies and, probably most importantly of all, we read scary books. All of those things are cathartic and help us grow and prepare for stuff.

And that’s why I’m more than happy to spread the word about Tommy Donbavand, his fantastic books, and his fight against one of life’s real monsters.

Like many teenagers, my first memories of being really excited by books came from horror books and, in particular, those of Stephen King.…

Filed under: Book news, General ramblings, News No Comments »

Filed under: Book news No Comments »

Out now from Titan Books, CRACKED is the first in a new crime series from Barbra Leslie.

Why I Fell In Love with Crime Novels – 

Picture the scene, if you will.

It was a cold late autumn in rural Nova Scotia. The snow was falling early, and meteorologists were (correctly, as it turned out) predicting one of the snowiest winters on record. My mother had a badly-broken ankle from falling over the vacuum cleaner in her den, and I had come from Toronto (and the hell of my own making I had created there: an addiction to crack cocaine) to care for her – and for myself, at the same time.…

Filed under: Book news No Comments »

Really excited by this news, having been a fan of The War of the Worlds in every format so far:

Gollancz sign up sequel to The War of the Worlds from leading SF novelist

Gollancz is delighted to announce the acquisition of World rights to The Massacre of Mankind. Gollancz Commissioning Editor, Marcus Gipps, bought world rights from Chris Schelling of Selectric Artists.

The Massacre of Mankind is a sequel to one of the most famous and influential SF books ever – The War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells. The novel is written by the multi-award-winning co-author of The Long Earth novels with Terry Pratchett, Stephen Baxter.…

Filed under: Book news No Comments »

Out early December from Titan Books.

Why I love To Write About Victorian London

By Vaughn Entwistle

To write about Victorian England, and “the great smoke” (London) in particular is to follow in the footsteps of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s greatest creation, Sherlock Holmes. First described in graphic detail in the novels of Charles Dickens and then made notorious by the grisly deeds of Jack the Ripper, the image of web cobblestone streets, poorly lit by gas lamps suffocating beneath dense fog, is forever seared into the public imagination. As an author I find it interesting that fiction has done more to define our image of Victorian London than any amount of fact.…

Filed under: Book news No Comments »

The Hidden Legacy began life as two news items which I’d picked up from the radio while driving to work and put to one side in case I might one day be able to use them both as material for separate short stories. The first concerned an 11-year-old schoolgirl who had killed the child she was babysitting back in the late 1960s. Nearly forty years later, having been released under an assumed and protected identity, she was seeking a court injunction to prevent her identity being made public, using as her justification the fact that she now had a teenage daughter who knew nothing of her past.…

Filed under: Book news, Coming soon, Criminal Activity No Comments »

Carmilla
An Audible Original Drama
by J. Sheridan Le Fanu, dramatised for audio by Robin Brooks for Audible Originals

AVAILABLE FROM 28 OCTOBER 2015 ON AUDIBLE

Directed by Fiona McAlpine for Audible Originals
Dramatised for audio by Robin Brooks

A masterpiece of erotic Gothic horror – encompassing mystery, suspense, forbidden lust, violence and lots of blood.

A brand new audiobook adaptation of J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s classic gothic novella, Carmilla – starring Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones and Downton Abbey), David Tennant (Doctor Who and Broadchurch) and Phoebe Fox (Life in Squares and The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death) – is available to download for free on www.audible.co.uk/freecarmilla…

Filed under: Book events, Book news, General ramblings, News No Comments »

‘If you don’t know what you’re doing – killing people can be murder’

Coming this Halloween | The Bluffer’s® Guide to Murder by Dr James Hamlin

“If I’d read this years ago, I wouldn’t be in prison right now. The chapter about becoming forensically aware is definitely essential reading”

CHRIS DAVIES, “THE SOHO RIPPER”

Ever wanted to get away with murder? Well, now you can…

Written by crime expert Dr James Hamlin, The Bluffer’s® Guide to Murder is the only book on the market to offer would-be killers simple step-by-step advice on murder – from planning to execution.

Learn how to successfully destroy trace evidence at a murder site, how to satisfy the authorities with your carefully-prepared alibi and how to hold your own in the interview room against even the most tenacious police detectives.…

Filed under: Book news, Coming soon No Comments »

LIKE. SHARE. FOLLOW . . . DIE

The ‘Hashtag Murderer’ posts chilling cryptic clues online, pointing to their next target. Taunting the police. Enthralling the press. Capturing the public’s imagination.

But this is no virtual threat.

As the number of his followers rises, so does the body count.

Eight years ago two young girls did something unforgivable. Now ambitious police officer Nasreen and investigative journalist Freddie are thrown together again in a desperate struggle to catch this cunning, fame-crazed killer. But can they stay one step ahead of him? And can they escape their own past?

Time’s running out. Everyone is following the #Murderer.…

Filed under: Book news, Criminal Activity No Comments »

Introducing the new eBooks Blog from Sainsbury’s Entertainment on Demand

· Famous names such as Santa Montefiore and Victoria Hislop among contributors

· Blog brings booklovers closer to their favourite authors with exclusive video interviews, a book club, articles, extracts and reviews

If you love books, want to learn more about your favourite authors and what inspires them, or get special tips on what to read next, then you are in for a treat. Sainsbury’s Entertainment on Demand has recently launched its new eBooks Blog – an online home for bookworms.

With articles by esteemed authors and editors, interviews, extracts, reviews and a regular Book Club, the Sainsbury’s Entertainment on Demand eBooks Blog is a refreshing new online community for book lovers like no other.…

Filed under: Book events, Book news, General ramblings No Comments »