by Simone Pertuiset Rating: ***** When Simone Pertuiset chanced upon a painting by Edouard Manet, “ Monsieur Pertuiset, Chasseur de Lions ” in an Art History class, her curiosity was piqued given the relative rarity of her surname. Family investigation confirmed that the subject of the painting, Eugene Pertuiset, was an ancestor. Although interesting, Simone did not think much more about Eugene until fate intervened again when she happened upon a journalistic piece exploring

by PD Alleva Rating: **** From the Carnival of Chaos to the Carnival of Souls, Jigglyspot, the half-human, five-foot clown presides over both and more for his demonic paymasters. There is nothing Jiggly won’t fix or arrange aided by his loyal troop of fiendish clowns and, with the Summer Solstice at the Cannibal Café approaching, he needs to find bodies, lots of bodies… Jigglyspot and the Zero Intellect is an intense and gore-splattered epic psychological horror that moves

by John James Minster Rating: **** The Vengeful Dead is a collection of 11 short horror stories, which, overall, as the title implies, have the connecting theme of revenge from beyond the grave. The Vengeful Dead is an addictive and readable anthology. The book will not change your life, but it will afford you a solidly entertaining, full-throttle, gore-laden few hours, and I enjoyed galloping through it. The stories do occasionally lack depth. However, there are contrasts

by William McClain Rating: ***** Spring 1939, Weymouth, England, and fifty-eight-year-old Alice Standfield has just buried her husband, Edgar. Apprehensive at what the future might hold yet secretly excited to re-discover herself and her interests after being stifled under four decades of marriage, Alice has a few months alone to do just that before the gathering clouds of war grow darker over Weymouth and her two youngest grandchildren, Martin and Irene, are evacuated from L

by Julie Cabitto Rating: **** William Newman was born in Virginia, in 1744. In his ninety-ninth year, two of his granddaughters, Martha and Varinda, suggest, given his remarkable life, that he allows them to write down as much of it as he can remember. William Newman’s Adventures is the record of that life, memory by memory… Cabitto has written a lovely, warm, and heartfelt novel which is unsurprising as Newman is one of her ancestors. His story and the time in which he live

by George Veck Rating: ***** Fifty-year-old Colin Tudur Parry has allowed himself to be walked all over for as long as he can remember. He only works as a bin-man to hand his wages over to his grasping, crafty wife Clare, and indolent twenty-year-old stepson Dale as they shamble around in his remote, dilapidated farmhouse in North Wales. Desperate and deluded, Colin decides to make a stand and turn his football refereeing hobby into a full-time job which doesn’t sit well with

by Sally Gardner Rating: ***** Set in Regency London, The Weather Woman unfolds the story of Neva Tarshin, orphaned at three years old and adopted by a skilled clockmaker, Victor Friezland, and his housekeeper, Elise. Neva is supremely intelligent and possesses a unique, and potentially lucrative talent, she can predict the weather. But, how can she share her remarkable gift and foresight as a woman?... Like its heroine, The Weather Woman is a beautifully imagined and uncon

by P.C. Darkcliff Rating: ***** The Traitor’s Spell is the third installment in Darkcliff’s epic fantasy series * . Baard Thon, the former logger of Icecreek, and his wonderfully engaging troop of loyal followers are back, battle-scarred and weary, yet determined to take down the remaining two Wrathlords. But they will need more than determination, especially if Baard is to fulfill his dream of studying silver-level magic with the Archmage in the mysterious Aganopean Empire

by John A. Heldt Rating: ***** Annie’s Apple opens six years after The Fountain * , the first installment in Heldt’s Second Chance Series that saw elderly siblings Bill, Paul, and Annie Carpenter materialize in early 1900s San Francisco as much younger versions of themselves. Annie’s Apple sees Bill, Cassie, and Annie in New York, 1911, while Paul and Andy, Cassie’s brother, are in Arizona embroiled in the military campaign against the Mexican revolution. While Bill and Ca

by Andrew W. Pearson Rating: **** Forty-seven-year-old failed screenwriter Anthony Wilson leaves Hollywood behind to help run the Asian arm of his twin brother’s AI company. Once in Macau, Anthony’s client is a prominent and infamous casino operator, Cash Cheang. Cash wants Anthony to design a facial recognition software package for his casino and enlists him to help sell a new crypto coin. As the money piles up, so does the laundering, corruption, and betrayal. But is the bi