Book Review: Moonfall by A.G. Wyatt

Moonfall is an interesting take on the genre, where the moon has disintegrated and fragments fall to earth raining destruction. It deals mostly with the aftermath and follows the fortunes of Noah Brennan, a drifter accompanied only by Bourne (his empty gun) who while wandering the wastelands is captured by a group of militia who mistake him for one of their enemies and imprison him. As he discovers more about his surroundings and the people he is dealing with, he becomes involved in a battle for survival and must make a choice between doing the right thing or what’s best for himself.
Wyatt’s post apocalyptic world is dark and realistic, a harsh, twisted landscape where the weak are preyed upon and the strong fight each other for control of what remains of civilisation. Noah is a complex character struggling with his past who initially appears sullen, selfish and hardened by his experiences, but as we see him interact more with those he comes across he becomes a warmer character with a wicked sense of humour and much more to offer. As the story progresses, the plot gathers pace and culminates in events that test Noah’s resolve and conscience and ultimately lead him to make hard decisions about his future, while occasional glimpses into the past and references to current culture refresh the narrative and build an intriguing but incomplete backstory that hopefully will be built upon in later novels.
Moonfall is one of the better attempts at post apocalyptic fiction I’ve read this year. It’s a well-written, heady mix of action, tension and grim reality that serves as a great primer for the rest of the upcoming series.

Amazon 

Amazon UK

Review: Shadows Burned In By Chris Pourteau

Shadows Burned In is a fresh take on the old haunted house story we all know and run away screaming from in terror from, which has other agendas. In fact on closer inspection it really isn’t a ghost story at all. Sure there’s a creepy house with a creepy back story and other supernatural moments but this is something much more ambitious.

Set in the near future, where schools are now mostly closed and children learn from home in virtual classrooms and spent most of their spare time playing online immersive games, Elizabeth, a young girl relocated to her father’s home town becomes fascinated with a derelict house with a shady past. Her father David too has a connection to the house as we see from flashbacks to his youth, but is battling the demons of his own childhood while trying to come to terms with the slow disintegration of his relationship with his wife and daughter.

We also see a glimpse of prison life as an ageing prisoner Wayne Alan Kitts attempts to make a brutal and daring escape at any cost, with horrifying repercussions. The author makes no attempt to sugar coat this character or his experiences at the hands of both prisoners and guards. He is a violent machine bred by violence who has passed the point of no return and aims to use his escape to commit even more vile acts. There’s no redemption, Shawshank or otherwise to be had here, which makes him more frightening than any supernatural entity.

It’s a story of contrasts, of conflict, of opposites. It’s a serious study of the cycles and effects of abuse on different generations. Part speculative fiction, part coming-of-age drama that also looks at the brutality and inhumanity of prison life, all overshadowed by a looming structure that serves to embellish the story rather than dominate it, Shadows Burned In is a tense, absorbing debut with an important message for the modern reader.

Eamon Ambrose

AMAZON

AMAZON UK/IRELAND

SMASHWORDS

Book Review: Cyber Storm by Matthew Mather

It’s pretty safe to say we all take technology for granted these days. It controls all our communications, utilities and for some people, daily life down the most minute detail. We’ve become so dependent on technology we could soon be nearing a point where we can’t live without it.

But what if we had to?

CyberStorm follows the story of an unprecedented attack on the United States, disabling it’s entire communications network and causing massive power outages and disabling utilities, coupled with adverse weather conditions and it’s effects on the residents of a New York apartment building seen through the eyes of Mike Mitchell, an upper middle class businessman already struggling to keep his life and family together.

Using whatever means available the residents hunker down for what they hope is a temporary inconvenience but soon learn that they are shut off from the outside world and locked in a desperate fight for survival. Greatly helped by prepper neighbour Chuck who has stockpiled supplies they are hopeful but both external and internal forces are conspiring against our survivors and their circumstances start to deteriorate very quickly.

The pace is steady and realistic and thankfully at no point glamourises the situation the survivors are faced with with silly action sequences or needless Hollywood shootouts. It is a careful study of the depths some people will go to to survive with some going so far as to give up certain aspects of their humanity and decency while others are guided by conscience and the instinct to protect their family at all costs. There are fine moments of suspense and some snappy twists and turns excellently placed throughout carrying the story to it’s final satisfying conclusion.

Author Matthew Mather cleverly uses his frankly impressive tech background to great effect at certain points dealing with the very nature and effect of the cyber attack and also where one of the characters cleverly resurrects existing technology to suit their needs, providing an essential advantage to the survivors. At times the story becomes almost educational, and because the world events surrounding the collapse are very real and contemporary, the reader will most certainly at some point look around at the resources available to them and wonder if it’s enough and how they would react facing a similar situation.

CyberStorm is a thrilling read. Frightening, thought-provoking yet ultimately entertaining and with as much sentiment as it does adrenaline it is a strong addition to the genre.  No small wonder then that 20th Century Fox have bought the movie rights and have announced it will be scripted by House Of Cards screenwriter Bill Kennedy.

Available now

Amazon

Amazon UK & Ireland

Book Review: Neurocomic Graphic Novel by Dr. Matteo Farinella and Dr. Hana Ros

Ever wondered what makes you tick? How your brain works?What it’s made of?It’s a pretty complex piece of kit, and one who’s wellbeing we are  becoming increasingly aware of.

Advances in neuroscience have heightened our curiosity towards the brain and it’s inner workings and in an effort to further increase awareness, neuroscientists Dr. Hana Ros and Dr. Matteo Farinella have created a unique graphic novel unravelling the mysteries of the mind.

Beautifully bound in hardback with gold and silver embossing on the cover, Neurocomic is drawn simply in plain black and white and leads us on an amazing journey through the human brain, through forests of neurons, castles and memory caves, guided along the way by pioneers of neuroscience.

It’s genuinely educational and the graphic novel format is perfect for this purpose using drama, humour and peril to arouse the interest of the reader and help them understand the functions of the very thing they are using to read this book and why those functions work (and sometimes don’t.)

 

With mental health becoming more and more at risk in modern society, it’s essential to provide a basic education in how the most important organ in our bodies works, and the beauty of Neurocomic is that it does so very simply, without resorting to jargon or condescending the reader and accomplishes more in a short graphic novel than a lot of educational textbooks have in teaching the essentials of brain function.

www.neurocomic.org

 

Book Review: Nick And Tesla’s High Voltage Danger Lab by “Science Bob” Pflugfelder and Steve Hockensmith

Book Review: Atlantic Island By Fredric Shernoff

I have to admit I haven’t read many Y.A. titles of late, the last being Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, but when this arrived in my eReader the (Jason Gurley designed) cover got my attention (sorry I do sometimes judge a book by it’s cover, or at least bump it up on my reading list!)

Atlantic Island begins with a group of teenagers on a break in Atlantic City who shortly after arriving are caught up in an unknown catastrophe which leaves a huge chunk of the city mysteriously transported as an island to a seemingly unknown location. Once the survivors come to terms with their situation, politicians take control, tasked not only with finding out what happened but planning for the future.

However the internal struggle within their leadership is allowing a maniacal force to push for control, forcing the group, led by seventeen year old Theo Essex to fight not only for their own survival but for the freedom of every survivor left.

The story is fast-paced and thankfully Shernoff wastes no time allowing the characters to be thrust into their impossible situation before developing them, and it’s interesting to see how they initially adapt to their circumstances, given their age. To some extent we don’t really need to know what they were like before The Event (as the incident is referred to) as they now have a clean slate and just need to concentrate on survival but as in most disaster situations, not everyone makes the best use of this opportunity.

Once the power struggle escalates on the island, Theo finds himself the unwilling leader of his group and much of the story is focused on both his struggle to accept his role and his determination to embrace it once he does accept it.

There are definite coming-of-age elements to the story but instead of a bunch of whiny Glee teenagers we get a pretty grounded bunch making the best of their situation (and not singing about it every five minutes!) and as the events unfold to the riveting conclusion we see the bonds of their initial friendship strain through some pretty scary events and some canny plot twists nicely topped off with a sweet cliffhanger leaving the reader both shocked and curious for more.

Overall it’s a gripping story and while it’s easy to spot the influences it defiantly stands on it’s own two feet as an action-packed and entertaining addition to the Y.A. genre.

Now available on Amazon Kindle
Eamon Ambrose

Book Review: 100 Ghosts by Doogie Horner (Quirk Books)

Once again Quirk Books knocks it out of the park with this beautiful book from the supremely talented Doogie Horner. Doogie is responsible for some of Quirk’s best book cover designs
and 100  Ghosts is no exception.
An hilarious collection of variations on the iconic bedsheet ghost pictures we all know and love we get to see what that ghost would look like when they’re a pirate, or Scottish, or Marilyn Monroe, among 97 others.

A beautifully designed hardcover with a wonderfully simple layout and colour scheme this tome of spectral shenanigans will be loved by all ages and will be on top 10 Halloween book lists for many years to come, including mine (coming soon!).

EXCLUSIVE : Book Review: Dust by Hugh Howey (Wool Trilogy Part 3)

Spoiler warning: If you haven’t read Wool or Shift yet this review reveals a large part of the plot so be warned!

I loved Wool. The story arc, the characters, the twists and turns. Hell, I was actually starting to feel at home in the Silos, imagining the sights and smells, wondering how I would fare if I woke up tomorrow morning there, what job I would take, all the while following Juliette’s thrilling journey to the outside and back. It left me gasping for more, something a book hasn’t done in a long, long time. The series has been hugely successful to date and has generated so much interest it even caught the eye of movie director Ridley Scott who bought the movie rights.

What also intrigued me was that Hugh Howey was a self-published author, something which, up to that time I had never really delved in to and this in turn opened new doors to other fantastic authors.

When I began to read book two Shift, I quickly realised it was a prequel of sorts and I was going to have to wait a while before I could rejoin Juliette & Co. – it didn’t matter. Shift was equally thrilling and answered so many questions while introducing some essential characters and reinforcing some existing ones. The backstory was essential, and made the long wait for Dust, the final instalment in the series totally worthwhile.

Dust picks up where Wool ended. Juliette has survived her journey back from Silo 17 and has been appointed Mayor. Far from resting on her laurels she’s got a hell of a lot of work to do, the first being to uncover the huge digging machines found in schematics in Silo 17 and dig through to there to rescue Solo and the children she discovered. She faces many obstacles and fierce opposition from certain members of her own community due to the problems caused by her refusal to clean and the uprising that followed. Dissent is growing within the Silo once again and Juliette is facing a race against time to discover the truth, though this time she has a little more help, including her new beau Lukas (now head of I.T.).

Meanwhile back at Silo 1, Donald has plans of his own. Although Juliette taunts him regularly, his relationship with Lukas is a little more stable and he is now helping him uncover the secrets of the silos through the servers. He is however posing as his former boss Thurman who he has killed and put back in to stasis in his place and it’s only a matter of time before he is discovered. Having woken his sister Charlotte he has enlisted her to work on the drones located in the armory, one of which he has already flown to a seemingly safe area outside. However things take a turn for the worse – for everyone.

Although Dust is written quite differently to the other two books (they being an omnibus of the original short stories) it still fits perfectly in the series and does it’s damnedest to satisfy a reader who has already heavily invested in a story that’s as equally fascinating as it is terrifying, rich in character development, occupying a unique world which will resonate in the literary world for many years to come, and also expand thanks to the phenomenal fan fiction culture it has spawned.

The pace is relentless. If the entire series is a rollercoaster ride, Dust is the white-knuckle section, that part where your photo is taken with a terrified-yet-thrilled expression. We know from chapter one this is a race against time for the people of Silo 18 but we have no clock and no idea how much time is left.  Skipping mainly between Silo 1 and 18, the action and tone is quite different between the two, with Silo 1 having a much colder, clinical feel, it’s workers emotionless and without conscience many unaware of the power they ultimately possess or indeed what their own fate will be in Thurman’s dastardly masterplan. Meanwhile in Silo 18 Juliette battles not only the physical and mental scars of her terrifying ordeal, but the rising tensions within her world.  Her experience has changed her and she is more focused now than ever. The fate of these people are in her hands and hers alone and they will live or die on the decisions she makes yet she feels a deep need to exact vengeance on Donald and the inhabitants of Silo 1 for what they have done.

The world of the Silos is now more familiar to us as are it’s characters which gives the narrative much more freedom, with a much more cinematic feel than before, much more plot-driven but also much more emotional yet (thankfully) not overly sentimental. There is no safety net, no character we can safely say could not be struck down at any moment in any of the back-breaking twists peppered throughout. We are watching these people’s lives unfold and in many cases, unravel and if you’ve gotten this far without caring what happens to them then you have the hardest of hearts. Howey also expertly tiptoes around the many clichés associated with this genre keeping the proceedings fresh and original, steering this dystopian juggernaut to it’s final thrilling conclusion, which while it seems a little rushed, is ultimately satisfying and serves as not only a fitting end to a deeply engaging and entertaining series but also a literary high-five for the human spirit.

Finally I’d like to thank Hugh for being so gracious as to entrust me with one of the few digital copies available of the book in advance for review and insisting that I be as honest as possible, which I have done. While I am a fan, I’m also a reviewer and this has been one of my toughest to write so far. There are not many mainstream authors who would engage directly with fans and bloggers in such a hands-on and friendly fashion and it’s this fresh attitude that has helped to make Hugh Howey the success he is and will continue to be.

Now, let’s get Ridley Scott to make this movie!

 

 

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Book Review: Countdown City (The Last Policeman Book II) by Ben H. Winters

Ben H. Winters’ Edgar Award-winning The Last Policeman was one of the standout SF surprises of last year. A clever, witty, intelligent pre-apocalyptic mystery with a lot of heart and a fine hero in it’s eminently likeable protagonist, Henry Palace.

But there is still a story to be told. While Henry had solved his former case, he now faces forced retirement from the Concord Police Department due to the ever-worsening breakdown in society as asteroid Maia hurtles ever closer to Earth and the need for crime solving has been replaced with the need for maintaining even the most basic order.

However Henry’s a detective. That’s what he does, and continues to do. A request from his former babysitter Martha to find her missing husband Brett Cavatone sends him off on another adventure, this time on two wheels (his police-issue vehicle has been replaced with a bicycle, along with a trailer to carry Houdini, his newfound Bichon Frise from book one.)

Not unlike Henry’s former case, a disappearance of this type is not uncommon these days, with those not opting for suicide going “bucket list” or finding themselves with various religions. Nevertheless, he is convinced that something is amiss as Martha claims his disappearance is totally uncharacteristic and he has disappeared while on an errand for her father, one of the few restaurant owners left in Concord. As the investigation progresses we see Hank come in contact again with his rebellious sister Nico, who’s association with a mysterious group may be linked to Brett’s disappearance.

We also see the return of some characters from The Last Policeman as Henry tries to maintain his tenuous relationship with his former colleagues in the C.P.D., they themselves pushed to breaking point as Concord and the world at large deteriorates around them. Things are changing fast and Concord has become a much darker and dangerous place than we remember in The Last Policeman. Fear and paranoia are growing at an exponential rate. Food and water is becoming scarce, orphaned children are roaming the streets. Refugees from Asia (the projected point of Maia’s impact) are attempting to enter by sea, now policed by armed militia attempting to keep the borders closed.

What’s a little unsettling is how the tone of Henry’s matter-of-fact narrative remains the same regardless of what’s happening around him, all the while carefully negotiating his rapidly crumbling surroundings and engaging only those he needs to. You do get the distinct impression that he is trying his best not to let what’s happening change him, but as the story progresses chinks in his armour do start to show. It’s not necessarily a weaker Hank Palace in this book, but he does have to work a lot harder to keep it together. His resources are extremely limited now and he does all he can to hold on to some semblance of his former life, even down to still wearing his suit.

We also get a little more insight to his relationship with his sister Nico. Hank puts aside his disappointment at her past behaviour to ask her help in finding Brett but he loves her and feels the need to protect her regardless of what she’s done although at times in this book it’s Hank that needs protecting more than Nico as she’s a lot tougher and resourceful than her brother gives her credit for.

Although the tone of Countdown City is much darker, Winters paints a picture of a society where even under the most impossible of circumstances a glimmer of hope can still exist among the despair and violence. It’s an astute observation of how quickly such a decline can happen and the lengths people will go to to survive, if only for a short time and it raises many philosophical questions but never preaches. It’s a fine companion to The Last Policeman and just as enjoyable and though we may know the ultimate conclusion of this story, what happens in the meantime is well worth the investment.

WIN! Rare First Edition Copy of Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

It’s competition time!

I’ve got a rare hardback first edition/first printing copy of Ransom Riggs’ New York Times bestseller Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children from Quirk Books to give away to one lucky reader. See my review here

This book is set to skyrocket in popularity with the upcoming movie now in production being directed by none other than Tim Burton and penned by Kick Ass and X-Men First Class screenwriter Jane Goldman and the second book in the series “Hollow City” set for release January 2013 so this first edition is a must-have for collectors and fans alike.

The book is now available on paperback also.

There are several ways you can enter – just click the Rafflecopter link below:

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please have a read through some of my other reviews and share this post as much as you can.

Many thanks to the authors and publishers who have been so helpful to me up to now!

Eamon

UPDATE: The winner was @PipersBookNook (Adriana C.)- congratulations and your book will be winging it’s way to New York very soon!