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Half Wild
The sequel to UKYA’s largest export in quite some time is finally here and with it, an audible sigh of relief! Starting off almost exactly where Half Bad finished, in a lovely alpine location somewhere in Europe, Nathan – having been endowed his three gifts by his Father – is waiting for Gabriel to find … Continue reading
The Last Leaves Falling
You’ll remember the ‘ALS Ice Bucket Challenge’ that took social media by storm this summer; it was an unmissable and serendipitious collision of social sharing and charitable giving. In fact, you may have participated yourself, and you probably donated to a charity that helps those people with ALS (or Motor Neurone Disease in the UK), … Continue reading
Salvage
I don’t have much to say about Salvage; in many ways, Keren Davies’ novel is very much self-explanatory as a contemporary bildungsroman that explores the tensions of adoption, both for the parents and the children, and the never-ending nature vs nurture debate. Salvage is told from the alternating perspectives of Aidan and Cass, two siblings … Continue reading
Lobsters
If the American coming-of-age story is that of road trips, crazy house parties and bigot-induced tragedies then its British counterpart is surely the awkward fumbling and grumbling that make Lobsters such a hilarious tale of love at first sight. Tackling the rom-com genre by beating it with banality, both Ellen and Ivison manage to craft … Continue reading
I Predict a Riot
As part of her I Predict a Riot blogtour, Catherine Bruton talks to ThirstForFiction about “Killing Your Darlings” – ie. killing your own characters as an author! Catherine Bruton’s third novel moves its gaze to more serious situations than her previous novels We Can Be Heroes and Pop!, setting its story in the midst of … Continue reading
Half Bad
Publishers have been searching for “the next Harry Potter” for years but finally a worthy successor has been found in Sally Green’s Half Bad – and one that, whilst it shares themes with that Great British export, is also its own superb story. Some of the links between the two are easily made – from … Continue reading
The Beating of His Wings
Thomas Cale, Left Hand of God, God’s vengeance on humanity, is not what he once was. His strength is deteriorating, his soul thinning; his quality of life, in general, is at an all-time low – even compared to his time with the Redeemers in the Sanctuary. But with the uncertainty of his survival, Cale is … Continue reading
Anarchy
If Advent was Gawain’s story, then Anarchy is Marina’s: deserted by everyone dear to her, she’s left waiting for them to return to Pendurra, the house she has never left in 12 years of life. Afraid and alone, she decides to leave everything she knows and walk out into an abandoned Cornish countryside dominated by … Continue reading
The Screaming Staircase
Fifty years ago, a horrifying ghost epidemic began. All across the world, a sudden influx of mean-spirited (excuse the pun!) apparitions meant that walking out at night wasn’t ever safe again. In the wake of this, several “psychic investigation agencies” were formed to protect your safety. But only one is brave enough to enter one … Continue reading
Rose Under Fire
A more conventional World War Two and Holocaust tale than its predecessor, Rose Under Fire is a strong return for Elizabeth Wein into the world of female-lead historical fiction in a market dominated by tales of masculine heroism and courage. This is Rose’s story: an American, somewhat naïve ATA pilot delivering planes around the UK … Continue reading
One Seriously Messed Up Weekend In the Otherwise Un-Messed-Up Life of Jack Samsonite
Two years have passed since One Seriously Messed Up Week and Jack is now in Year 13…and he still hasn’t lost his kissing-virginity. This time though, he’s a man with a plan… As you would expect, One Seriously Messed Up Weekend follows in the vein of the original, bringing together a frankly bonkers plot which … Continue reading
Infinite Sky
CJ Flood’s debut novel follows a relationship as ill-fated as Romeo and Juliet. Infinite Sky is driven by the inevitability of conflict in the aftermath of a blossoming friendship between Trick, an Irish Traveller and thirteen-year-old Iris, upon whose land he is illegally staying. Much like Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy, Iris is forbidden from meeting … Continue reading
The Case of the Good-looking Corpse
Also known as ‘The Case of the Petrified Man’ in the US. Business is a little thin on the ground for P.K. Pinkerton, Private Eye. That is, until a distraught negro girl bursts into his office, scared for her life; she has witnessed the murder of her mistress, and the killer is after her. Can … Continue reading
Crusher
If someone bludgeoned your father to death with an acting award, wouldn’t you want to know who was behind the attack? Even if it meant becoming a killer yourself? For Finn Maguire, recently orphaned, that’s an easy question to answer. In contrast to his wife whose erotic trilogy 50 Shades of Grey, for better or … Continue reading
The City’s Son
Legend has it that the streets of London are alive. Legends tell of statue-people, of glass light-bulb nations that inhabit street lamps and forgotten trains that patrol the tracks as wraiths, but the greatest legend of all is the Goddess of the Streets, Mater Viae. For thousands of years she ruled, righteously, powerfully, and full … Continue reading
The Last Four Things
Recaptured by the Redeemers, Cale’s taste of freedom is short-lived. His only escape from the hold Bosco has on him is to do his bidding- and become the wrath of God on this destitute Earth. Even the best reviewer isn’t always faultless, and I must admit that as I reviewed The Left Hand of God, … Continue reading