To The Last Page

The second book in Peter McLean’s grimdark fantasy War for the Rose Throne series continues on much as expected from Priest of Bones . In the first book, it was very much a case of Tomas Piety and his warriors, the ‘Pious Men’ returning from the wars to reconsolidate their power base in the city of Ellinburg that had been lost in his absence. He’s had to make certain sacrifices and commit some heinous murders to do that, but Peter McLean’s Ellinburg is a brutal world and you’re not exactly going to appealing to the authorities to regain control over the drug and prostitution establishments in the city. One of those necessary sacrifices to be made has been his marriage of convenience to Ailsa, a resourceful secret agent, a spy for the crown, a ‘Queen’s Man’, with influential connections in Dannsburg. He has consequently had to be less involved in hands-on activities, since he is trying to give the appearance at least of a respectable businessman as well as a priest, although there is ve...

In Jo Spain’s fifth DCI Tom Reynolds book the Irish police detective may have bitten off more than he can chew, taken a decision on something that there’s no going back on, will have to face the consequences of that choice and live with it. He has agreed to take on the responsibility of the role of Chief Superintendent of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation. That might not seem as big an issue as some of the deeper problems and attitudes ingrained in Irish society that Spain has had him come up against in previous cases, but the rigid inflexibility and old-boy’s network of the upper echelons of the police service who look after friends and influential people in corrupt institutions means he will have his work cut out for him in the future. In fact, the only reason Tom has taken on the promotion is that it gives him a chance to correct that perception and rid the force of its self-serving network of conservatism and bureaucracy. As if to give Tom (and the reader) some indicati...

The omens aren’t good for the unfortunate staff consigned to the scrapheap of the intelligence service in Slough House. Mick Herron traditionally starts his Jackson Lamb novels with a poetic image such as a ray of light briefly illuminating the gloomy interior of the dank building they inhabit or a cat wandering through the building, both imaginary since neither light nor sentient creature would willingly go near the place. The opening image of Joe Country is a burning owl escaping from a blazing barn falling to the ground in a clump of ashes - for real rather this time rather than as a poetic metaphor - sets the tone for what is to come. Joe Country shows us another place that MI5 operatives visit but none ever leave. Death. Not that the inhabitants of Slough House are unfamiliar with deaths in their ranks, and at least one of them has actually sort of come back from the dead – cheating death being a useful trick to have up your sleeve in the spy trade. No, the shadow of death in th...

Sam Beauclair is in trouble. His agent is waiting on the imminent submission of the new book Sam has been working on, but there’s no new book to submit. Sam has been unable to write anything to follow-up on his first successful novel, and he seems to have other personal problems to deal with. He is living in a cabin in the remote woodland location of Melvile, there are money problems, his home is being repossessed, and the situation is causing tension between him and his wife Sarah. There’s clearly more to Sam’s problems than a case of writer’s block. Sam knows that he has to move forward and, on a whim while visiting a local store for provisions, he picks up a notice for a brother and sister who need some painting work done to their house before the autumn sets in. It’s money and Sam could do with that, but more importantly it’s work, something that Sam can use to keep him occupied and his mind off his immediate problems. It’s also a way of re-establishing contact with other people in...

Across the Void seems a little calculated, the author trying to play all the bases and have something for everyone; it’s a space exploration science-fiction adventure, it’s a lone person disaster-survival adventure, it’s a romance and a conspiracy thriller. Coming from a writer who is a Hollywood screenwriter working under a pseudonym, as you might expect any real SF ideas end up taking a backseat in favour of providing constant thrills and entertainment, but – for a while at least – what an entertainment it is! Firstly however, there’s a gripping science-fiction element here. Former RAF pilot Commander Maryam Knox comes around in a medical unit on-board the NASA research vessel Hawking II, on their way back after an expedition to collect and test samples from Jupiter’s Europa moon to find that she’s the only surviving crew member. Communications are lost, systems are failing, the ship is in uncharted space and could be going further away from Earth, drifting at high velocity. She can...