Highlanders' Revenge: Win or Review

Happy Halloween! This post is not Halloween related at all but is in fact me rambling on about my own book for a bit, I'll try and keep it short and sweet.

(If you are in the mood for a scary read then check out my 6 Horror Books to Read for Halloween.)

I just wanted to write a quick post to let you know a few new things that are happening with my novel Highlanders' Revenge. You can read more about the book here, but in brief; I co-wrote a World War Two fictional novel with my uncle under the pseudonym Paul Tors. It was published by Troubador and is available to buy as paperback or ebook on Amazon or through the publisher.
We've got some great feedback so far and are feeling really thankful to everyone who's bought and read it.
We've got a couple of exciting things happening too.

The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch (Peter Grant / Rivers of London #6)

Book Review

I was so lucky to receive an advance copy of the latest Peter Grant novel, The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch.

Total jammy git, in fact.

I've only recently got into the Peter Grant series, having read The Rivers of London earlier this year. I loved it so much I quickly read the rest of the series and have been waiting impatiently on this one.

The Hanging Tree sees Peter Grant, copper and trainee wizard, back in London and still on the trail of the Faceless Man.

6 Horror Books to Read for Halloween

This is such a typical book blogger post for this time of year, but it's one that I really wanted to do as I love to read a good scary book around Halloween. Not that it has to be October 31st in order to read spooky stories, but there's something about October that makes me want to hide under the covers and scare myself.

So, here are 6 of my favourite scary books to read for Halloween.

All That Man Is by David Szalay

Book Review

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2016

Yes! I've managed to get this review in before the Man Booker Prize winner is announced on the 25th. It was touch and go for a while because it took me forever to finish All That Man Is by David Szalay (Vintage Publishing) and I wasn't sure I was going to do it in time.
There's no question that this isn't a well written book, but God it bored me silly.

Nightmares: A New Decade of Modern Horror compiled by Ellen Datlow

Book Review

Nice spooky ghost stories for Halloween, that's what I thought about Nightmares: A New Decade of Modern Horror (Tachyon Publications) when I first saw it. But that's not exactly what I got.

Nightmares is an anthology of short horror stories, compiled by "editor extraordinaire" Ellen Datlow. This is the followup to Darkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror and covers the decade 2005 to 2015. It includes 24 stories from some of the most iconic horror authors, including Garth Nix, Gene Wolfe, Richard Kadrey and many more.

Seldom Seen by Sarah Ridgard

Book Review

I mentioned Seldom Seen (Windmill Books) by Sarah Ridgard in my September Favourites and promised I'd do a proper review.

I didn't know anything about the book before I read it, except that the author is from Suffolk like myself and the book is also set in the county.

It is set near to the little town of Framlingham, famous for its 12th century castle. I was actually in Framlingham this weekend for their annual Sausage Festival (yes, I snigger every time I say that too) and I had big plans to photograph the book with Framlingham Castle in the background. But, in typical British way, it hammered down and the photo session didn't happen. We also spent most of the time in the pub instead of sampling sausages (can't think of a decent wet sausage joke, someone else make one up).

Anyway, the book has a lovely cover by illustrator Tom Duxbury, so looks pretty good with or without a castle in the background. I have this edition but the first editions are in yellow.

I also discovered that Seldom Seen was long-listed for the Desmond Elliott Prize in 2013.

And then I read the blurb, and it was swiftly put to the top of my tbr list.

Read it for yourself.

September Favourites

I thought I'd start doing a monthly favourites; a collection of the best books I've read each month.

I read even more books than usual in September as I was spectacularly jet lagged at the beginning of the month after getting back from Canada, then I had a bastard of a cold all last week, so there has been even more lying around and reading done than usual.

So, here a few of the favourite books that I've read this month.