Release Date: 07/10/11
BOOK BLURB:
Alex has run away and is hiking through the wilderness with her dead parents' ashes, about to say goodbye to the life she no longer wants to live. But then the world suddenly changes. An electromagnetic pulse sweeps through the sky zapping every electronic device and killing the vast majority of adults. For those spared, it's a question of who can be trusted and who has changed...Everyone still alive has turned - some for the better (those who acquired a superhuman sense) while others for the worse (those who acquired a taste for human flesh). Desperate to find out what happened and to avoid the zombies that are on the hunt, Alex meets up with Tom - an Army veteran who escaped one war only to find something worse at home - and Ellie, a young girl whose grandfather was killed by the electromagnetic pulse. This improvised family will have to use every ounce of courage they have just to find food, shelter, while fighting off the 'Changed' and those desperate to stay alive. A tense and involving adventure with shocks and sudden plot twists that will keep teen and adult readers gripped.
REVIEW:
The concept of this title was more than intriguing to me and whilst I liked the lead character and the first part of the story, the author seemed to lose cohesion as well as believability by the second part of the title, almost as if it had been well planned and required extending to turn it into a full novel. It does have some clever twists, some interesting notions but with the loss of cohesion alongside a mishmash of characters I soon found it hard to continue reading in any seriousness.
All in this was a great shame to be honest but with this being the first part in a trilogy it is balanced on a fine edge of either going into the realm of ridiculous or whether the author can pull it back. I’ll wait and see but if it doesn’t improve I’ll leave the third well enough alone.
Release Date: 15/07/11
BOOK BLURB:
The feisty and adventurous Kit is in a coma after being poisoned in China by her arch enemies the Baker Brothers. On board a ship to England, her friends are desperate for a cure. When they hear about an inventor who is working on electricity and Electro Therapy, the group change route to Tombstone, Arizona, western America, to find him. Luckily Kit is cured in time but it's not long before she is in mortal danger once again; one of the dastardly Baker Brothers has turned into a shape shifting Skinwalker and has cursed Kit. The gang must now travel to the Grand Canyon and enlist the help of a Shaman medicine man. But the Wild West is full of dangerous outlaws: ruthless cowboys and highway robbers. Can they navigate though the dangerous Wild West and make it to the Grand Canyon in time? An enthralling journey into the heartland of America filled with danger and discovery.
REVIEW:
The latest outing for Kit and to be honest after the way things had been left from the previous title one that many readers feared could have been the final one. It’s cleverly written, the cast growing physically as well as emotionally throughout the outing and when you add old foes, some clever writerly magic and an overall arc to savour, it more than makes a wonderful read for readers new and old to the series. Finally add to the mix a wonderful sense of prose, some great character interaction which when backed with the twists within makes this a title that the young reader really will clamour for more of. Great stuff.
Release Date: 03/02/11
BOOK BLURB:
A werewolf? I kept stumbling over that word; it made no sense to me. How could I be a werewolf? Werewolves didn't exist. When Tobias Vandevelde wakes up in hospital with no memory of the night before, he is told that he was found unconscious. In a zoo pen. The doctor rules out epilepsy and Toby's prank-loving friends are just as freaked out as he is. Then the wild-eyed Reuben turns up talking in hushed tones about Toby being a werewolf. Reuben's pale, insomniac friends seem equally convinced and offer to chain him up every full moon. They also claim to be part of some sort of vampire support group. This has to be a joke - right? It's only when he's kidnapped, imprisoned and in desperate need of rescuing that Toby begins to believe them...
REVIEW:
A bit of a blind choice for me, but I know Quercus and I know the quality of the writing that they bring to the table so I thought that it would be an interesting choice all in. What I didn’t quite expect was a tale that had a realistic flair to it before a leap into the fabulous Urban Fantasy world that many would like to exist under the surface of our own. Add to this a lead character that the readers will love, who has a wonderful grip on reality as well as a delightful dark sense of humour really brought this tale to life and as such was the star of the book.
Finally add to this a fairly unique authors sense of writing, some great prose and dialogue that will attract many readers into Catherines world. A real treat and one that, when I get the time, will ensure that I pick up The Reformed Vampire Support Group.
BOOK BLURB:
Simeon Dark is the most powerful sorcerer in the land of the Drift. Mysterious, cunning, a shape-shifter, only he can stop the evil Strood and save the Drift from dying. But where is he? Nin finds her way to Dark's mansion - a strange castle with a garden and lake spilling into the sky. There she finds a ribbon of shadowy light: could this be the unsaid spell and the clue to unlocking the mystery of Simeon Dark? Meanwhile, Strood is preparing his distillation machine, his pet tigers and some barrels of blood and is coming after her...Caro King has created a funny, rich, thrilling adventure, interwoven with fantastical creatures, myth and magic.
REVIEW:
To be totally honest I really wasn’t that enamoured by this title. I found the writing a bit clunky, the characters two dimensional and an overall plot that was pretty predictable from start to finish. That said this is the second title in the series and having missed out on the original I may be a overally critical of this offering as most of the growth work was probably accomplished on the original. If you enjoyed the first you may enjoy the second but for new readers I’d really advise either giving this one a miss or ordering it from your local library is you have to read it.
Release Date: 07/10/11
