Arthur C. Clarke Award winner Tade Thompson makes a triumphant return to science fiction with this unforgettable vision of humanity’s future in the chilling emptiness of space.
The colony ship Ragtime docks in the Lagos system, having travelled light years from home to bring one thousand sleeping souls to safety among the stars.
Some of the sleepers, however, will never wake – and a profound and sinister mystery unfolds aboard the gigantic vessel. Its skeleton crew are forced to make decisions that will have repercussions for all of humanity’s settlements – from the scheming politicians of Lagos station, to the colony planet of Bloodroot, to other far flung systems and indeed Earth itself.
Far From The Light of Heaven is available in ebook and paperbackback now. You can purchase your copy using the links below.
Far From The Light Of Heaven us a very readable, absorbing and gripping book that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Firstly I’m a big fan of books set in space as I feel they give the author great scope to use their imagination and it’s always fascinating to see what they come up with . This book was no exception and I loved the author’s vision of space and his ideas for future people living on other planets. I thought it was interesting to see that there were other languages in his vision, which were recognisable as languages on earth, as this isn’t something I remember from other books where everyone seem to speak English or some kind of alien gobbledegook.
The book is told mainly from the point of view of Michelle “Shell” Campion the captain of the Spaceship Ragtime. Shell is a very brave determined lady who is desperate to prove herself on this mission and step out of her famous father’s shadow. I loved her back and forth banter with Finn, the detective sent to try and solve the mystery of the missing people with her, especially as its soon aparent that neither of them trust the other.
Overall I really enjoyed this book which drew me in from the first page. There were lots of very interesting twist that kept me guessing and lots of mayhem to keep me very entertained right up to the last shocking reveal.
Huge thanks to Tracy Fenton for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Orbit for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
Tade Thompson is the author of the Rosewater novels, the Molly Southbourne books, and Making Wolf. He has won the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Nommo Award, and the Prix Julia Verlanger and been a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award, the Locus Awards, the Shirley Jackson Award, and the Hugo Awards, among others. He lives and works on the south coast of England.
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another Tunes For Tuesday. Today I’m featuring Cigarette Breath which is the new single from Dead Shoto.
Dead Shoto is from New York in the states where he lives with his family. He is also the proud owner of a skateboard company and studied graphic design at college. I first found out about his music from twitch were he often streams his favourite games. His lyrics are clever and often thought provoking, but very adult so don’t listen if you are easily offended.
You can follow Henry on twitch and social media by clicking on the links below.
Dead Shoto’s music is available on all major streaming platforms which I’ve included below. There will be a proper music video for this song coming soon so hopefully I’ll be able to share it in future posts! I’ve included the YouTube video for Cigarette Breath below.
Dead Shoto was kind enough to do an interview with me last time I featured him, so if you’d like to learn more about him and his music you can read the interview via the link below.
A resident of small-town Visberg is found decapitated
A festival
A grim celebration in a cultish hilltop community after the apple harvest
A race against time
As Visberg closes ranks to keep its deadly secrets, there could not be a worse time for Tuva Moodyson to arrive as deputy editor of the local newspaper. Powerful forces are at play and no one dares speak out. But Tuva senses the story of her career, unaware that perhaps she is the story…
Bad Apples is available in ebook and hardback now. You can purchase your copy using the links below.
Ooh I do enjoy a Will Dean book and always look forward to new ones coming out. Bad Apples is another creepy, dark and addictive read from this talented author which, in my opinion, is his best book yet.
It was great to be back with Tuva and the characters from previous books. It was really evident how much Tuva had grown in this book and I like the new, confident more street wise Tuva we see in this book. She’s definitely a very brave lady as there were a few situations in this book I’d have run away, screaming from. There are some familiar faces from previous books including the fabulous troll sisters who I was pleased to see make an appearance. There are also some new faces which helped bring a new element to the story and were fun to learn more about.
The author has included some fascinating facts about Halloween, or Pan night in Sweden, traditions which make English traditions seem rather tame. It was interesting to learn more about them and these help to create some of the atmosphere and intrigue in the book which I thought was clever. Through these Tuva finds herself in some unusual situations which were a bit of an eye-opener to be honest.
Overall I really enjoyed this book which is perfect for reading on the run up to Halloween. It’s very twisty with the book often going in directions I wasn’t expecting. There’s lots of misdirection too and I couldn’t figure out who was guilty which I always find really fun. The ending was brilliant and I can’t wait to read more from this fabulous series.
Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Point Blank for my copy of this book. Highly recommended!
About The Author:
Will Dean grew up in the East Midlands and had lived in nine different villages before the age of eighteen. His debut novel, Dark Pines, was selected for Zoe Ball’s Book Club, shortlisted for the Guardian Not the Booker prize and named a Daily Telegraph Book of the Year. The second Tuva Moodyson mystery, RedSnow,won Best Independent Voice at the Amazon Publishing Readers’ Awards, 2019, and was longlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year 2020. His third novel, Black River, was chosen as Observer Thriller of the Month. Will Dean lives in Sweden where the Tuva Moodyson novels are set.
On the remote Scottish island of Skelthsea, Elspeth Swansome takes on a position as a nanny.
Her charge, Mary, hasn’t uttered a word since the sudden death of her twin, William – just days after their former nanny disappeared. But no one will speak of what happened to William.
Just as no one can explain the lullabies sung in empty corridors. Nor the strange dolls that appear in abandoned rooms. Nor the faint whistling that comes in the night . . .
As winter draws in, Elspeth finds herself increasingly trapped.
But is this house haunted by the ghosts of the past?
I do love a spooky read in the run up to Halloween. There’s something lovely about being able to snuggle under a blanket while reading a scary book as it gets colder and the nights get earlier so this book instantly appealed to me.
I was quickly drawn into the story and into Elspeth’s new life on the remote Scottish island of Skelthsea. Elspeth’s new job definitely comes with a few challenges as a dual tragedy a few years before has caused Mary to become mute and there are some very strange, creepy things happening in the house which made my hair stand on end. This is definitely not a book to read just before bed as I kept swearing I could hear the lullabies at times. I even woke up my highly impressed husband to check I was just imagining it.
The author does a great job of setting the scene for this book with the vivid descriptions of the house and isolated island, battered by harsh weather, helping to add to the overall creepy atmosphere in the book. The characters are all fantastic creations who I thought seemed quite realistic and who I found easy to relate to. Throughout the book we learn more about the history of the family and how Mary came to live on the island with her aunt which was very intriguing and helped add to the mystery in the book.
Overall I loved this book and will definitely be recommending it to others. The author’s writing has a great quality to it reminding me of a classic story at times. I liked the way the tension is slowly increased until I felt completely transported into the story and able to feel the cold the author describes as well as the fear of the characters. There were lots of twists that I didn’t see coming and the ending was shocking but a great way to finish the story. I can’t believe this is the author’s debut and look forward to reading more from her in the future.
Huge thanks to Ella from Michael St Joseph for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
Rebecca Netley grew up as part of an eccentric family in a house full of books and music, and these things have fed her passions.
Family and writing remain at the heart of Rebecca’s life. She lives in Reading with her husband, sons and an over-enthusiastic dog, who gives her writing tips.
The Whistling is Rebecca Netley’s debut novel and won the Exeter Novel Prize.
A poacher vanishes, two young girls go missing, a tourist disappears… magic or murder?
Evil is at play in a South African game reserve.
A poacher vanishes into thin air, defying logic and baffling ace tracker Mia Greenaway.
Meanwhile Captain Sannie van Rensburg, still reeling from a personal tragedy, is investigating the disappearance of two young girls who locals fear have been abducted for use in sinister traditional medicine practices.
But poachers are also employing witchcraft, paying healers for potions they believe will make them invisible and bulletproof.
When a tourist goes missing, Mia and Sannie must work together to confront their own demons and challenge everything they believe, and to follow a bloody trail that seems to vanish at every turn.
Blood Trail is available in ebook and paperback now. You can purchase your copy using the links below.
‘The man you were tracking killed the rhino?’ Jeff asked Oscar. Oscar nodded, a grave look on his face. ‘Yes, we picked up his tracks by the carcass. It was the same man.’ ‘And he vanished.’ Foster snapped his fingers. ‘Poof, into thin air. Magic.’ Oscar looked up at him. Foster again put his hand on Oscar’s shoulder. ‘It’s not your fault, bru. We’ve all been outsmarted by these bastards one time or another, but we’ll catch that one and we’ll drill him, hey?’ Oscar gave a small nod. ‘Do you know,’ Foster locked eyes with Jeff, ‘that there are now more gunfights per year in the greater Kruger Park – including here – than there were at the height of the old South African Defence Force’s war in Namibia?’ ‘I did not know that,’ Jeff said. ‘Do you ever get scared, Graham? Do you pray for protection?’ ‘God is on our side,’ Foster said, his eyes not wavering from Jeff’s. ‘Of that I have no doubt. You can write that in your laptop.’
About The Author:
Tony Park was born in 1964 and grew up in the western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. He has worked as a journalist, public relations consultant and a press secretary. He also served 34 years in the Australian Army Reserve, including a tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2002. He is the author of 18 other thriller novels, all set in Africa. Tony and his wife, Nicola, divide their time equally between a home in Australia and a house on the edge of the Kruger National Park in South Africa.
A child who does not know her name…In 1903 fishermen find a wrecked boat containing a woman, who has been badly beaten, and a young girl. An ambulance is sent for, and the two survivors are taken to All Hallows, the imposing asylum, hidden deep on Dartmoor. The woman remains in a coma, but the little girl, Harriet, awakens and is taken to an attic room, far away from the noise of the asylum, and is put in the care of Nurse Emma Everdeen.Two motherless boys banished to boarding school…In 1993, All Hallows is now a boarding school. Following his mother’s death and his father’s hasty remarriage, Lewis Tyler is banished to Dartmoor, stripped of his fashionable clothes, shorn of his long hair, and left feeling more alone than ever. There he meets Isak, another lost soul, and whilst refurbishment of the dormitories is taking place, the boys are marooned up in the attic, in an old wing of the school.Cries and calls from the past that can no longer be ignored…All Hallows is a building full of memories, whispers, cries from the past. As Lewis and Isak learn more about the fate of Harriet, and Nurse Emma’s desperate fight to keep the little girl safe, it soon becomes clear there are ghosts who are still restless.Are they ghosts the boys hear at night in the room above, are they the unquiet souls from the asylum still caught between the walls? And can Lewis and Isak bring peace to All Hallows before the past breaks them first…
The Room In The Attic is available in ebook and paperback now. You can purchase your copy using the links below.
I’m a huge fan of this author so you can imagine my excitement when I discovered she had a new book out. As I might have mentioned once or twice I love books that involve spooky houses with a history so this book instantly appealed to me. Even better the house used to be an asylum which has always fascinated me. It was really interesting to learn more about this history and trying to piece together how the two timelines were connected.
The author has clearly done her research and I drank in all the vivid details which really helped me imagine things in my mind. There are a lot of interesting topics discussed in this book not least the attitude towards women in the 19th century which made me very indignant to read about but also very grateful to realise how far we had come.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and will be recommending it to everyone. I was griped from the beginning and had to keep reading as I was very intrigued by the characters and wanted to find out what would happen next. The two timelines are told in alternate chapters and I liked the way they complemented each other, gradually revealing all the clues to the reader.
Huge thanks to Rachel from Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Bold wood for my copy of this book via netgalley.
About The Author:
Louise Douglas is the bestselling and brilliantly reviewed author of 6 novels including The Love of my Life and Missing You – a RNA award winner. The Secrets Between Us was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick. She lives in the West Country.
Two houses, hundreds of miles apart . . . yet connected always.
When life throws Molly Butterfield a curveball, she decides to spend some time with her recently widowed granddad, Wally, at Hawthorn Place, his quirky Victorian house on the Dorset coast.
But cosseted Molly struggles to look after herself, never mind her grieving granddad, until the accidental discovery of an identical Arts and Crafts house on the Norfolk coast offers her an unexpected purpose, as well as revealing a bewildering mystery.
Discovering that both Hawthorn Place and Acacia House were designed by architect Percy Gladwell, Molly uncovers the secret of a love which linked them, so powerful it defied reason.
What follows is a summer which will change Molly for ever . . .
The Secrets Of Hawthorn Place is available in ebook and paperback now. You can purchase your copy using the links below.
The Secrets Of Hawthorn Place is a wonderful, magical dual timeline book which I thoroughly enjoyed reading.
Firstly I love dual timeline books so this book instantly appealed to me plus there were two amazing sounding houses to explore so I was a very happy reader. I loved learning more about the houses and trying to work out the connection between the two of them. They are the kind of houses I’d love to explore and could probably lose hours in. They reminded me a bit if some of the National Trust houses I’ve been in.
The characters were all wonderful creations that I enjoyed following throughout the book. I liked how the author had written them so that the reader couldn’t help but like them despite their flaws. I had a particular soft spot for Percy, especially his tempestuous relationship with violet. His part of the story helps provide the reader with some fascinating historical details about architecture design which I found very interesting.
Overall i really liked this book which I finished in a couple of days. The two timelines were equally fascinating as each other and I enjoyed the gradual revealing of secrets as the reader slowly learns about the link between the two houses. The twist towards the end was very clever and I’ll definitely look forward to reading more from this author in the future.
Huge thanks to Rachel from Rachel’s Random Resources for my copy of this book and to Headline Accent for my copy of this book via netgalley.
About The Author:
Jenni Keer is a history graduate who embarked on a career in contract flooring before settling in the middle of the Suffolk countryside with her antique furniture restorer husband. She has valiantly attempted to master the ancient art of housework but with four teenage boys in the house it remains a mystery. Instead, she spends her time at the keyboard writing women’s fiction to combat the testosterone-fuelled atmosphere with her number one fan #Blindcat by her side. Much younger in her head than she is on paper, she adores any excuse for fancy-dress and is part of a disco formation dance team.
Visit her website: jennikeer.co.uk and find her on Facebook/jennikeerwriter and Twitter @JenniKeer
A love story that will break your heart. Perfect for fans of Karen Swann and Lulu Taylor.
Some bonds can never be broken
One terrible moment changes everything for teenagers Kate and David. Brought together during the darkest of times of the Troubles, a spark of hope is ignited between them – a hand held in the darkness, a promise whispered. Neither of them will ever forget those moments.
It’s another ten years before they meet once more, and their lives are now so different. The promise they made to each other on that fateful day still binds them, but now they have so much more to lose. Have they missed their one chance at happiness? They only way they will ever know is to risk everything to be together. Is that too high a price to pay for love…?
The Promise is available in ebook and paperback now. You can purchase your copy using the links below.
The Promise is a beautiful, emotional book that manages to be both heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time.
I love a story of forbidden love and this book was no exception. I felt quickly drawn into the story and into the lives of the characters. The book is set in Ireland and follows the unrest caused by religious divide there. This is something I remember seeing on TV as a kid or hearing stories of from my dad who was posted there so the story seemed very more real to me.
The blurb promises an emotional read and the author definitely delivers on that promise as I often found myself welling up as I read. The author has an amazing way of making the reader feel like they are actually there watching everything unfold and that they know the characters so I felt every twist as if it was happening to me which I thought was very effective.
Overall i loved this book and have continued to think about it long after I’ve finished reading. It’s a beautiful love story which has more depth to it then I was expecting which I really enjoyed. It’s also a story of hope both in the sense of what the reader hopes for the characters but also, maybe, hope for peace in Ireland one day.
Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Harper for my copy of this book. If you’re looking for a book to curl up and escape into I highly recommend this one.
About The Author:
Emma Heatherington has penned more than thirty educational short films, plays and musicals as well as eleven novels, two of which were written under the pseudonym Emma Louise Jordan. Emma’s novel, The Legacy of Lucy Harte, was an eBook bestseller in both the UK and US. She lives in her native Donaghmore, Co Tyrone, with her partner Jim McKee and their children Jordyn, Jade, Dualta, Adam and Sonny James.
James Quinn, author of the Gorilla Grant spy novels, will take you on a new adventure with his first short story anthology based around espionage, deception and intrigue.
A former spy investigates the murder of an old colleague – and uncovers a conspiracy that takes him back to the horrors of the Second World War.
A Close Protection Driver runs the gauntlet against assassins in the heart of Mexico City and is determined to keep his VIP alive… no matter the cost.
A Russian spymaster tells the tale of his nefarious plan to get an agent inside the Oval Office and to bring down American democracy, with devastating results for the future.
Enter a world of masterful suspense, action-packed adventures and thrilling twists with James Quinn’s ‘Clandestine’.
Clandestine is available in ebook and paperback now. You can purchase your copy using the links below.
MY WRITING DAY By James Quinn I always smile when I’m asked about my writing routine. It usually goes along the lines of “So how many pages have you written today Mr Quinn?” or “What should a real writer be writing every day?” It’s at that point that I usually begin to cringe and mumble something vague in the hope of deflecting the question before sneaking off to the bar for another glass of wine.
First of all I still don’t consider myself a “proper” writer – whatever that means? I don’t have a writing degree, have never attended writing classes and have never received a diploma for any of the above.
I mean I’ve had half a dozen books published and they have performed reasonably well, but I still see myself as a security consultant that happens to write rather than someone who writes and is faintly connected to intelligence work. Is there Imposter syndrome at play here? Nah, not really, I just love to read and I love to write, I always have since I was a little kid (I won a school book voucher for my story about Ant-Man when I was in Primary school) and it’s something that I can always see myself doing. Writing to me is like breathing; it’s the exhalation to readings inhalation. It has always been there and despite the title of this piece, the short version is I don’t have a set routine for writing. It doesn’t work like that for me; never has, and probably never will!
I mean I wish that wasn’t the case. How I envy those organised writers that are up early and fresh faced, a latte by their sides, and a clear blank page in front of them ready to produce their opus! Mine is a little more chaotic than that, which for someone that has spent a career organising in minute detail various “information gathering” projects it is a little disconcerting. Maybe it’s me breaking free of my chains and being non-conformist.
For me writing is a very natural, organic thing. If I try to force the words they just never happen, so I’m happier to walk away and let it flow forth when it is ready. But when it finally does it comes thick and fast like machine gun bullets! Nothing for months on end and then a veritable fire-fight of words! I’m a night-time writer and a 3 am stalker of words. Why? Because that seems to be when the ideas come and to try to sleep through that is just impossible to do. So, I’m up; the office light on so as not to disturb anyone else, rough bits of paper with insane scribbling on…and then the laptop transports me in the middle of the night to a different world. But despite all that, it’s never a chore, in fact it feels the most natural thing in the world.
And I write, fast, in short bursts, not stopping and not changing things (that’s for later). My latest book – Clandestine – was completed that way. It took me three months of solid work, every day because I had something to say and words to put down. And what happens when the flow stops or the ideas don’t make sense? That’s both the easy AND the hard part; I stop. I put it all away and wait for the next jolt of inspiration. I can hear you all gasp in horror!! But James, you must keep trying, try to make it happen! Write damn you – WRITE!! But the thought of sitting there staring at a blank page trying to force the words or the story out – that’s just my idea of hell! So what breaks the cycle? For me it’s travel, whether walking along the beach or getting on a plane to an overseas destination, that breaking of routine that fires the furnace, that makes the story move and the characters do wonderful things. I observe what is around me or I take the time to walk and think, clearing my head. Pretentious? Oh, probably. Realistic, hell yeah it is. It works and that’s all that matters, Travel also gives me the chance to do the on the ground research that I may need and once that has been gathered and organised it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty; the actual writing. So when I do write it’s because I have something to stay. I write in my office usually, occasionally a hotel room, and it has to be quiet and that’s my only criteria. Oh and coffee…..we can’t do nothing without coffee. That’s a given.
And then it starts, rolled out in my head like I’m watching a movie; scenes, plot links, dialogue, action scenes. It all comes together and I’m like an orchestra conductor…..hell, I’m goddamn Mozart!!! And then the phone rings…it’s work…can I be somewhere in two days time….err…yes, I suppose, but what I’m really thinking is that I want to carry on being Mozart for a while longer!
So the chain is broken again for a while and I have to leave my secret writing world for a more realistic (but no less secret) world of normal life. But even that is not so bad; I’m an intelligence gatherer, so I see it as killing two birds with one stone, as an opportunity to people watch, listening to conversations in the coffee shops and bars, witnessing a situation unfolding in an airport or on a city street. After all, a writer is the spy that steals other people’s lives for his own ends.
All of them are fresh material that can be stored away for a rainy day to be used in the next book or even a future book and then be remembered for when the machine-gun writing starts again. So write how you want. Do what works for you. Your way is different to Stephen King’s, Lee Child’s, John Le Carre’s…hell even James Quinn’s! But it is no less valid. But above all else, write to make you happy and to have fun. I look forward to reading you. JQ
James Quinn is the author of the “Gorilla Grant” series of spy novels. A professional security consultant and corporate intelligence operative, he currently resides in the UK but likes to travel extensively around the globe.
His latest release is “Clandestine” – a short story anthology, based around espionage, deception and intrigue. His 2022 project is The Fisherman, which introduces a new character to the world of covert intelligence.
About The Author:
James Quinn is the author of the “Gorilla Grant” series of spy novels. A professional security consultant and corporate intelligence operative, he currently resides in the UK but likes to travel extensively around the globe. His next projects are “Clandestine” – a short story anthology, based around espionage, deception and intrigue – and The Fisherman, which introduces a new character to the world of covert intelligence.
Good evening everyone today on Tunes For Tuesday I’m featuring the lovely Laura Joy and her fabulous new album Yellow Cardinal.
I first discovered Laura through twitch when a friend recommended her to me. I immediately loved her amazing voice and the cosy vibe of her stream. Laura streams from her kitchen which makes her streams seem more intimate and that you’re listening to a friend play. Her chat are always super friendly and I always look forward to her early morning streams.
Laura was kind enough to answer some questions about her music for me, so if you’d like to learn more about Laura from the lady herself then please read on.
If you would like to follow Laura on social media or on twitch please click on the links below.
Laura’s music is available on all major streaming platforms which I’ve linked below. I have added the YouTube videos for Yellow Cardinal and one of her gorgeous covers for you to listen to here.
I’m a singer-songwriter based in Phoenix, AZ. I just released a new album called Yellow Cardinal now available on my website, bandcamp, and all streaming platforms.
What first got you into music?
I’ve always loved it. Singing came naturally, guitar came in my 20s.
Who inspired you to make music?
I dunno, I just did it. It was the one thing that ALWAYS made me happy AND I felt like I could do well as a kid.
How would you describe the music that you typically create?
Melodic. Thoughtful. But also upbeat.
What is your creative process like?
Sometimes it just comes to me and I write a song really fast, and sometimes I have to grind it out for days. Deadlines help me stay focused.
Who would you most like to collaborate with?
I’m kind of awkward about collaborating. I really need to feel comfortable with a person for it to work.
If you could go open a show for any artist who would it be?
I’d like to open a show for Jewel. Or Jackson Browne.
What is one message you would give to your fans?
Thank you.
What is the most useless talent you have?
Nothing’s coming to mind!
Do you sing in the shower? What songs?
I don’t sing in the shower so much anymore because I’m singing constantly outside of it, lol
What would you be doing right now, if it wasn’t for your music career?
Managing an arts program or a theater.
Where have you performed? What are your favourite and least favourite venues? Do you have any upcoming shows?
I’ve performed all over the United States and even did a few gigs in North England. All of my upcoming shows are listed on my website http://www.laurajoymusic.com. Find me on bandsintown or join the email list for alerts.
How do you feel the Internet has impacted the music business?
Poorly. Too much content is free and expected to be free. It’s easy to get lost in all the noise. But the upside is anyone can do what they want, and the gatekeepers are less relevant.
What is your favourite song to perform?
Anything I’ve written. Sorry, super biased. ;P
What is the best advice you’ve been given?
Be yourself. Trust yourself. Trite, I know. But it’s important.
If you could change anything about the industry, what would it be?
Streaming needs to pay more.
What’s next for you?
Who knows? I’ll keep making music, though.
Thanks so much for answering my questions Laura, best of luck with the new album!
Playlists:
You can now listen to all previously featured Music Monday and Tunes For Tuesday artist on the special playlists I’ve created on Spotify. If you like what you here why not give the playlists a follow!
Over The Rainbow Blog 