In The Dark by Mark Billingham

The Blurb On The Back:

A Deadly Crash

A rainy night in London. It seems that an act of casual gang violence has cost an innocent victim their life. But the reality is even more chilling ...

A Dangerous Quest

A pregnant woman struggles desperately to uncover the truth, and makes herself a target in the process. Just weeks from giving birth, how will she survive in a world where death is an occupational hazard?

A Shocking Twist

In a city where teenage gangs clash with career criminals and where loyalty is paid for in blood, anything is possible. Secrets are uncovered as fast as bodies, and the story’s final twist is as breathtakingly surprising as they come.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

A stand-alone novel that’s set in the Tom Thorne universe, this is an interesting novel with a unique central character but the twist is too easy to guess. Nevertheless, I’d like to know more about Helen Weeks and she’s definitely a strong enough character to justify her own series.

The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima

The Blurb On The Back:

Times are hard in the mountain city of Fellsmarch. Reformed thief Han Alister will do almost anything to take care of his mother and his sister Mari; but ironically, the only thing of value he owns, he can’t sell. For as long as Hans can remember, he’s worn thick silver cuffs engraved with runes. They’re clearly magical, for as he grows, they grow, and he’s never been able to remove them.

While out hunting one day, Han and his Clan friend, Dancer, confront three young wizards setting fire to the sacred mountain of Hanalea. After a confrontation, Han takes an amulet from one of them, to ensure the boy won’t use it against them. But the young arsonist is Micah Bayar, son of the High Wizard, and Han soon learns that the Bayar family will stop at nothing to get it back. For the amulet has immense power and once belonged to the Demon King, the legendary wizard who nearly destroyed the world a millennium ago.

Meanwhile, Raisa ana’Helena, Princess Heir of the Fells, has her own battles to fight. She is almost sixteen years old and her mother, the Queen, believes she should soon be married. But Raisa has only just returned to court, after spending three years of relative freedom with her father’s family at Demonai camp, and is reluctant to become little more than an ornament in a glittering cage. She aspires to be like Hanalea, the legendary warrior-queen who vanquished the Demon King and saved the world. But other forces are guiding her mother’s hand; forces that will put both the queendom and Raisa’s fortune in great danger.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

There’s a hell of a lot of world building in this novel and the mythology and detail is well thought through. Aimed at the YA market, the teen characters will probably appeal to the target audience, although I found Raisa to be an irritating, self-absorbed ninny. However, there’s very much a sense of set-up in this book, which results in a leisurely pace – at times too leisurely. I look forward to reading more, but more really needs to happen for this trilogy to hold on to my attention.

The Reach of Children by Tim Lebbon

The Blurb On The Back:

Daniel is ten years old when his mother dies. She dies young, and with so much left to give. He does not understand. He cannot let her go.

After the funeral, his father begins talking to a large wooden box that suddenly appears beneath his bed. And when Daniel whispers to the box one day when his father goes out ... it answers back.

It’s a voice he does not know. But this voice knows so much.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

There are aspects of this novella that didn’t quite work for me, but I still think that it’s worth a look. The sense of wrongness that increases in every page, coupled with the very real feeling of loss that pours from the characters make this a master class of writing and it’s for that reason that you should check it out.