Alien Hunters (1) by Daniel Arenson

Midnight is a Pirilian, she is purple with yellow eyes and indigo hair. She was incarcerated by the Skelkiens, a predator race, but she escaped and is now on earth searching for a saviour, with a blazing fire fight with a starry setting this is how the book explodes in your face.

These Skelkiens are bad news and not just to Midnight, after they destroyed her world they are desperate to see her torn to shreds so that they can access her magic as their energy source.

Back on Earth is Riff, a blue musician who manages to annoy the local cult leaders (Skelkiens) who previously murdered his mother (told you they are bad news), after a particularly bad music set in the bar he lives in a magical, cryptic note is left by his magician father.

Riff and an ex-girlfriend, Romy, who happens to be a warrior, his brother who is also an ex Knight manage to buy a weird spaceship that looks like a dragon and comes with two even stranger crew, set off to find Midnight who has been prophesied to them by Riffs father, and so the story begins!

The topic allows the author to really put some amazing critters, ideas, cults, myths and characters in. It also allows for a lot of leeway as this is set many thousands of years into the future.

I did get fed up with all the repeated information in the story as DA kept reiterating the past, the characters and plotline which was really unnecessary. There are also some issues with “copied work” (I won’t say plagiarism as that’s a bit strong) and the lack of actual science, some of the characters are so cliché as to be bad, but not so bad as to be funny.

That said this is full of humour and lots of goings on, with some unlikely heroes and lots of fun, danger and excitement. The book IS written in a tongue in cheek way as to evoke all the kitsch of the sci-fi world.

Alien Hunters 

British Fantasy Convention 2015

So this was my first British Convention, I was really nervous and terrified that no one would speak to me or that, even worse, Graeme Reynolds who invited me would pass me by!   Wow was I wrong..... thankfully.    I walked into the hotel bar, spotted Graeme and was instantly given a HUGE hug and he handed me a signed copy of High Moor 3 (more on that later!), and that's basically how the convention went for me.   A bit of terror, huge hugs, the bar and lots of books.

The first panel was The World As We Know It (Edward Cox, Jan Edwards, Peter McLean, Al Robertson & Sue Tingey with Penny Reeve as moderator).   

Unfortunately I was unable to hear most of it due to the microphones either not working or the guests not realising you needed to actually lift them up. It was a shame not to have heard it as the panel were clearly having a laugh at something! 

The joy of learning about new authors and seeing my favourites in the flesh is hard to describe. Whilst I want to worship them and lick their toes I do enjoy finding out that they are human and not something to be worshipped making me much more loyal.     

The panel itself was very illuminating, Edward Cox has some very interesting concepts and Al Robertson took getting on board a plane to new levels of sci-fi; basically showing that daily life is actually magic.    

I loved hearing how they write about elements/characters/storylines and how they develop them.  Of course mythical critters, folklore and mutually assured dragons is how we are going to achieve World Peace, so glad I found that out.

The second panel I attended was Chills, Shocks & Empty Bladders: Writing “The Fear” :the amazing Ramsey Campbell did not overshadow the other guests (Neil Buchanan, Sara Townsend, Simon Bestwick & Lynda Rucker with Emma Audsley as moderator) in the slightest, he merely proved what an awesome gravitational force he is and what a total gentleman.   I really liked the smaller, more intimate, venue room.   

The one comment that really struck me was that horror is cathartic, for me that was a revelation. Having had this phrase pop into my head several times now I can fully appreciate how horror saved my sanity from an early age and has stayed with me as the one constant in my life; whatever monster was in those pages I could deal with, I could escape from; it made the real  monsters in my life less scary, that holds true today.   

It did make me snigger that they all confessed to being scaredy cats and who knew that Rupert the Bear could be so terrifying! But then again Worzel Gummidge scared the poop out of me as a kid; what normal person takes their head off!

After this I was dragged off for one of the worst meals of my life in the hotels brasserie, for some reason they had decided to reduce their normally lovely menu to three choices that did not appeal in the reading, ordering or eating of them. I have seen more fish (in my seafood pie) in an empty anchovy can and the salad looked like it had just had CPR. Forget extra drinks or even the offers of pudding as the waiters chose to ignore us after plonking the plates down.     I suppose we should count ourselves lucky we got to sit down at all really as the first attempt at arranging a table was met with disgusted looks by the head waiter and a flat refusal to sit eight of us together despite an empty restaurant, when two of us went back and asked for two tables of four suddenly all was well, perhaps dragging them together is what then got us the shoddy table service.

However, this experience may have blotted the day, it did not ruin it as I was far too excited and was happily now following my new friends off to my first “reading” with Chris Barnes and Matt Shaw; a fabulous story was narrated in that beautiful Scottish accent, although I feel I have now marked my card by telling my new friends that his version of the horrifying Connie in the High Moor series will forever only bring Mrs Doubtfire to mind post enjoying the audio version.

The real and very gorgeous boys.....

As we sped into the evening I continued to stalk my new convention buddies (Carrie & Neil) into the Conference Theatre for The Atrocity Exhibition, not sure what I was expecting but an hilarious game show was not it, but I was delighted with an hours’ worth of giggles and interesting non facts. Wonderfully hosted by Donna Scott who kept forgetting her own team names (Mark West & Kim Larkin-Smith vs Gareth L. Powell & Emma Newman) but did keep those naughty people in check although giggling deliciously at their often bonkers answers did provide me with a few more smirking moments.  I think the highlights for me where the face eating, murder beavers and button holes!

The next reading was by Carrie Buchanan who captivated me with her breathy, heartfelt reading of her brothers Road to Palladium; it was no surprise then to find out she is the voice of Stormblade Productions.

After deciding that the Karaoke was not my thing I headed back into the reading room armed with a fresh drink to be delighted and horrified by further readings; Will MacMillian Jones was so kind as to give me an almost private reading and then remembered me the next day whilst I was trolling the Dealer Room (he did convince me to buy a 1^st Edition of one of his YA books for my nieces xmas present!).   Other delights were Terry Newman, Simon Bestwick, Marion Pitman, Michael Millar and the joyful Craig Saunders.   Poor Craig, after the reading I managed to trap him (on a chair) against the wall, in the bar, with a bribe of a Guinness whilst I picked his brain on life, the Universe and everything.

I went to bed at the reasonable hour of 2.30am, I understand that others stayed up until 4am!

Up with the lark like a kiddo on xmas day, I ran down to breakfast and managed to snag one of my favourite authors (Graeme Reynolds of the Highmoor trilogy) all to myself!   It was a real pleasure moment as I gazed at him over a plate of sausages, eggs and beans; I think I managed to speak coherently but then again he could have just been hung over and nodding in all the right places, or trying to keep his brains from falling out; and here is proof of my beautiful signed book.

and in return I was able to present him with a little gift too! (lets hope he doesn't find the little microphone and satnav receiver inside!)

The next panel was Monster Mash-Up: Were-vamp-zomb-zilla….With Wings! (Carrie Buchanan, Cassandra Khaw, Tim Lebbon, Will MacMilliam Jones & Adele Wearing – Jon Oliver was moderator).  

Do you ever get that feeling that someone is pointing at you? In a moment of terror at being singled out I became aware (like that scene from Jaws on the beach) that the lovely Adele Wearing, who I now know is from Fox Spirit Books, was pointing about my multitude of foxy items hanging off my bag, this of course endeared me to her for the rest of the panel and I nearly ignored what all the others were saying!    

The main comments and thoughts that stood out for me were the idea that monsters are just humanity's faults made into characters; how these artists brought those concepts to life differed enormously.    The other interesting comment was the “new” Asian monsters that are creeping into modern, Western horror; there was a word of caution from Ms Khaw that these critters should be given the respect they deserve from their origins in folklore and not bastardised too much.  It almost felt like a threat (wink) but it gave me the chills.    Some members of the panel, who shall remain nameless, forgot they were there when asked a question, so engrossed in the discussion were they; fully understandable!

12pm and a book launch for Adam Neville's Lost Girl was pretty impressive with a queue almost out the door for signings.   However, our little gang was huddled in the corner, after some more anonymous fan-girling (not me this time!) as we waited  to watch Jim Mcleod of  Ginger Nuts of Horror fame to be floored by a personalised book presentation; enjoy THAT post on his blog.

At 2pm the next panel was being seated and then unseated due to a fire alarm, there are rumours as to who set it off, my money is on the kitchen staff and those burnt to cinder repulsive burgers.   The panel was Turn Up The Volumes: Marketing & Selling Books (Sophie Calder, Jo Fletcher, Graeme Reynolds, Matt Shaw & Danie Ware with Adele Wearing as moderator).    I thought Adele did very well in not allowing any one person to overshadow the others PoV and both Graeme and Matt did admirably in showing that Indie Publishing is not only established but knocking socks of Traditional Publishing.   My only thought really as I was nodding away and rolling my eyes at some of the name dropping was: Where were the readers? The bloggers? The reviewers? Now I know I am biased but it’s often the word of mouth reviews or blog posts that get me interested in buying a book. That group of marketing should have had a voice, IMO.

I then had a mooch around the Dealers Room and again thought the organisers had missed the opportunity to provide tables for artists other than publishers; cover artists, audio, merchandise, films etc

At 5pm I was gobsmacked to see this little fella in huge boots jump on a table and start reading; apparently I had stumbled into the launch of GodBomb! by Kit Power. Later his reading at 23.45 was so very well delivered, not only was the story gripping and heart wrenching but his performance of the story made the whole audience jump in certain places and oooh in others, I asked him when it would be available on Amazon as I was very impressed with his launch reading too, only to be presented with a signed copy. Go me!   

Whilst the downside of the whole convention was the horrifying crap they dished up as food and then charged you exorbitantly for, the saving grace was breakfast.     Thankfully I was able to join a super cool gang of people for a very nice Indian meal and ended up giving a lift to the super cool Kit Power and his UBERcool parents! His dad was Twitteratting about the #Fcon2015  whilst waiting for his Cobra! 

Post poppadums and naan breads we dashed back for the disco, only taking time out for  another reading.   Neil Buchanan is such a calm, gentle and quiet man until you hear him read his work. It is not an over exaggeration to say that at his reading the originally rowdy (yes drunk, it was a theme) crowd were silent from about two lines in, all the way through to the end when for about 5 seconds we all sat there in shock (and me in awe) until a lady who was waiting to read next suddenly piped up with “that was disgusting”, followed by Graeme Reynolds croaking out “what is wrong with you?” which kind of summed it really.      I really fan girled about ten mins later when, walking down the corridor to the bar, Neil threw his script in the bin and I (nearly) screamed “what are you doing!” only to fish it out again and clutch it to my chest!  It’s now proudly sat on my shelf, my only regret is not getting him to sign in, but it does have his sweat on (sorry too much information huh). 

Whilst many of the readers were exceptionally nervous prior to their readings, without fail NONE of them let their work down.

Back to the Disco, without a shadow of a doubt the most fun time!    The only shame was it finishing at 1am?? Shocking! We are not 12 year olds at a school disco… this was hard core partying!   And by that I mean Hey Micky (which will stay with me forever, thank you Mark West) followed by Fire Starter, The Macarena, Dancing Queen and Ace of Spaces (or Nasal Spray as was whispered in my ear by Neil Buchanan; giving me a squirmy eye twitching moment – see back to fan girl moment).   Not only was this eclectic mix enjoyed by all I was astounded to see that the dance floor was 8/2 men/women…….. yup!   Although I did fear for some of their, and my, safety at some points; especially the guy who thought it was in a hybrid mix of Riverdance and Ring, a Ring of Roses!  When the lights came on we all skulked away to have much more chatting in the bar and I finally gave into sleep at 3am.

A greasy breakfast was most welcome on the Sunday morning as I seemed to have soaked up someone else’s hangover (I don’t drink) but managed to stumble to my final panel Sounds Like A Story: the science and psychology of audio fiction with the silky sexiness known as Chris Barnes (James Goss & Emma Newman with Alasdair Stuart as moderator – Del Larkin-Smith was off getting told he was organising 2016 Fcon!). 

This panel was probably the most informative of all the panels for me as it opened up a whole new world not least the amusing podcast Tea & Jeopardy by Emma Newman, a nice cup of tea, some cheeky cake, some brilliant interviews and a bit of jeopardy from the barking mad Butler Latimer.  

I am now making my way through Pseudopod too.      One of the funniest things I did jot down and then search out on YouTube was  ID4UK; basically it's the  Independence Day film with THE Sir Patrick Moore, it's a must listen and I guarantee you will giggle!

Thoughts overall - I LOVED IT!!  Have already booked my ticket for next year where I can join forces with my new Con bestie (Carrie) and terrorise Jim McLeod's knees...... 

Collateral Damage (Demon Squad 8) by Tim Marquitz

The acknowledgements at the starts of books are always lovely, however the story behind one the characters in this book is heartbreaking; way to go TM on supporting amazing people.

This chapter of the Demon Squad universe starts off in the usual TM tongue in cheek humour way!  Frank and Karra have finally got their little bundle of joy, Abigail.

However, peace never reigns for long in the Trigg household as Trinity, the new murderous baddies on the scene, raise the roof and bring mayhem and murder.

Trinity (you know, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost) are on a mission for revenge and blood but they are not alone, in fact they have some old enemies of Triggs to back them up and make his life miserable, as he has to move back into Hell to live everything is relative.

Some nice little reminders of previous goings on are cleverly interjected to bring readers up to speed and refresh memories of characters, doings and places.

TM still manages to weave a complex, yet easy to follow, web of intrigue deftly laced with religious “history” making use of folklore to his advantage.

I am always delighted to see that CB (Chatterbox) is still going strong, he of the fine voice and maggoty eyeballs.

Grenade boy wins the most gruesome death award in this book – eeeeew. Although another character does come to a rather sticky end late in the story.

Bonus Content – short story of Lucifer

Lucifer is busy killing other “Devils” on alien planets, all at God’s Will to thwart the onslaught of the Aliterean Consortium gaining ground, and enjoying it.

A 20min read of wonderful fight sequences and the brilliant imagination of TM as he thinks up new critters on foreign worlds.

The reason behind the advancing forces of the Consortium finally being revealed, but to what end?

2^nd Bonus Content!

A little ditty called the Great Brain Robbery! Just enjoy :)

Collateral Damage

Exsanguinate by Killion Slade

What an opening chapter!!

This novel has a great opening premise three sisters who run a horror based gaming site; Cheyenne is the main narrator however she is scared of all things scary, especially haunted houses! Dakota is her baby sister and basically the wild child. Counter that with Sheridan the older sister, who is the brains of the outfit, stir in lots of love, giggles, a traumatic matriarch death and a kooky father and you have a fabulous set of characters ready to love.

Then the gaming side of things kicks in, but this really gives a good edge to the story chiefly as Cheyenne’s avatar is basically her alter ego who just happens to be in a two year virtual relationship with Roxas, and boy oh boy does he have a whopper of a secret!

I adored the dogs Beano and Stormaggeddon! They do play an integral part in the story in keeping our heroine sane! As for PADME, Cheyenne’s holographic PA system, she is brilliant and I want one, now.

Up until the haunted house chapter it was all quite pleasant and whilst you could feel a gentle build up of potential horror, even if it was just the fancy dress outfits (the ravenous bush had me in stitches) and I was ready and expecting some gore and splatter but then all hell broke loose and I think I fell into a different novel.

The sudden intensity of the writing and sheer horror of what was going on gave me goose bumps but I was now hooked and needed to get through the terror to see if Cheyenne made it out alive.

On a negative note, there was quite a lot of online gaming speak at the beginning and if you are a total non-player like myself, you might get a bit confused; but it soon pans out and you get used the phrases. I totally loved all the little added extras (links to secret pages), almost like secrets, not sure how a print version would cope with that concept but rock on the e-version!

Also, after the haunted house scene there were so many fabulous ideas, new worlds, new characters and such that it was very intense for a little bit in the middle there and could have almost done with some more filler or at least a slower explanation of everything.

However, when Cheyenne finally heals and her new self is revealed from all the scarring and wounds, a whole underworld is opened to her. The real and the virtual world soon integrate to become a novel of hide and go seek with monsters, kidnapped sisters and plots of world domination.

From this point I could not have put the book down had my house been burning down, thankfully it wasn’t, although my hubby had to fend for himself AND feed the cats!

I loved all the snappy telling,  pokes of humour, brilliant supernatural characters and adored the romance element and what women doesn’t want a man to rub her feet!

All the other members of the ExsanguiNation gaming company all come with their own little secrets and make for any interesting lunch and day out at the super spa! (and that’s super as in supernatural! Does your dragon need a manicure??).

Riveted until the final words, which bytheway were cruel in their temptation of the next in this series (and I hope it’s a long one!), I found this to be a whirlwind roller coaster ride of fun, surprise and bottom clenching moments.

I thought the reference list at the end was an amazing way to finish as it really gave a little jolt of reminders of special places in the book.

Kilion Slade is a brand new author and wow what a way to start.

Exsanguinate

Exit Wounds: Demon Squad by Tim Marquitz

We are thrust straight back into the story line and TM does an amazing job of intertwining new information with old to bring you back up to speed since the last DS novel (which was far too long ago may I point out).

Frank and his gang are on the run in a strange land, hiding from monsters they are unsure of as Scarlett is in between worlds trying to find her God so she can die and be away from the pain – but others have plans for her.

TM deftly switches between Frank and Scarlett PoVs – managing to bring me, the reader, deep into each very distinct world and personality.

An engrossing read I read this in one long, long sitting as I was pulled too deep into the story to leave it. Emerging 7hrs later very hungry but…. very satisfied. A small tease at the end of this book but lots of questions are answered, but am still longing for the next instalment.

Whilst you may be reading about monsters, demons and gore with lots of splatter and treachery you cannot ignore the amazing word play and seemingly limitless vocabulary that TM has.

Frank “Trigg” Triggaltheron is still an asshole that I love to hate, whatever body he is currently stuffed in. Chatterbox won my heart long ago and still manages, despite the dead rot and maggots, to hum, sing or mumble some great tunes and come out with some fantastic one liners.

Scartlett is a true to her heart heroine, whatever she believes in you cannot fault her for her dedication and she never resorts to using her beauty unlike some of the scheming bitches in this series. Her first person PoV thread that runs throughout the book works perfectly IMO to build the tension and give a different feeling to the book.

I really enjoyed the phoenix element of rebirth to certain critters!

If you have not read the previous 6 books in this amazing series then I suggest you do so, especially as they are on offer currently.

Whilst I still find the first in the series a little “raw” in its writing style you cannot miss the underlying skill of TM and this makes for fascinating reading as you literally see his amazing writing talent grow and shift throughout the series to what book number seven is.

The cover work is always spectacular and draws you in whilst giving a glimpse and guidance as to what Trigg looks like, always in love with Chatterbox I look forward to more artwork with him as the focus (sort of!).  I would really like to see the other characters more deeply portrayed in both cover work and writing, I really want to know some back history now, how DRAC was set up? How Katon etc came to be how they are, some spin off novellas perhaps?

I can’t wait to see where TM is going to take this series next! 

Exit Wounds: Demon Squad

Dystance: Winter's Rising by Mark Tufo

Born and raised in some dire conditions love and friendship still flourish enough to give hope in this new dystopian world that MT has dreamed up.

Born and bred to fight and die in a war that has been ongoing for as long as their clan can remember friends Winter, Cedar & Tallow, are given a life line after a huge discovery and some revolutionary acts.

Winter is the prime hero in this story and she is indulged with two love interests, although I found her confusion, deep feelings and then switchero a little shallow I must remember she is a mere 17yrs old,  MT gives her calm and wisdom beyond her young years. Cedar is thankfully the comedic scene stealer.

Cedar manages to fall in love several times with various kilt wearing gents via her new found love of reading romance, always seems to pop up from behind some rock to over hear a private conversation and generally bringing some humour to a harrowing situation/setting.

Thrown into this seemingly endless and selfish war machine, the trio struggle to survive the onslaught, barely equipped, under nourished and most definitely not trained to fight.

As the various clans in the war spar and try to gain ground or make alliances it is Winter who shines, discovering a unique talent and is shown her true destiny.

But can she live long enough to fulfil it?

I enjoyed the lack of guns and the epic sword fighting scenes.

The treachery, deceit and double crossing is amazing and I can’t wait to get my paws on the next instalment.

Another element to bring the Talbot clan into another universe, that little bugger gets around. Even the epilogue is filled with Talbotisms!

*Spoiler alert*

How I loved reading about Trip again!

Dystance

The Triangle Trilogy (infected series) by Scott Sigler

Scott Sigler is one of the best authors around for that wonderful sci-fi, horror and comedy blend. His style is easy to read, has amazingly well rounded characters and all the science “stuff” is well explained, even if some is a little Alien!

Apparently there is a little room at AT&T that screens the phone lines for key words, such as murder, bomb, kill and Triangles....and so the tracking begins.

Deputy Director of the CIA, Murray Longworth is a great character, with a complex history, just not very likeable but then when you have to do what he has to do, not sure I would be likable either.

Dew & Malcolm pick the short straw of being excellent field agents, again with some really great back stories, IMO this is what makes this an awesome novel and ultimately fantastic trilogy, each character is fleshed out, I truly felt a bond to these characters and missed and grieved for them as their stories played out.

The other main players are an epidemiologist, Margaret and her little sidekick, parasitologist, Amos. They are assigned their own Agent Clarence. Apart from all the betting and banter that goes on these three make a great team, which is seriously needed when you realise what has come to take a peek at Earth.

Are the characters a little cliché? Yes of course, but then wouldn’t bland characters be just that? Boring!

Scary Perry Dawson, what a man to pick for an alien invasion. Perry maybe scary for many reasons but thankfully he has his BFF Bill to keep his temper in check for him, Perry has his reasons for having anger management issues but at 6’ 4” and 268lbs you need discipline. 

The first horror scene comes via some cranked up Frank Sinatra, a pair of legs being hacked off, a huge house fire, axes to the guts and the possibility of contamination of an unknown germ – riveting.

The “germination” process of the alien seeds is amazingly described; some complex biology information is neatly and easily explained.

As it becomes clear that Perry is infected with the Magnificent Seven the paranoia kicks in, so does the hunger. However, Perry does his best to make the Magnificent Seven become more manageable. Whilst attempting this he manages to capture The Betrayer (one of the worst torture scenes I have read), do some self-surgery, eat the weirdest food concoctions, talk to little blue triangles, see out of his butt cheek and whittle his way down to the Three Amigos.

On the flip side of the story Dew is trying to play catch up with the other infected as Margaret & Amos try to discover the cause of the rotting bodies and “crazed” victims.

It is now a race against time to get to the Gate; will it be Colonel Ogden and his elite team or the Triangles, and just what is coming through anyway….

The descriptions of the hatching and the showdown between Scary Perry and The Three Amigos was nail biting.

As Showtime arrives it feels like all hell has broken loose, and maybe it has, SS leaves you on a massive cliff, not so much hanging as teetering on the edge trying to hold balance. There is an element of rushed finale but knowing this a trilogy explains this.

Whilst this book can be read as a stand-alone I would recommend you buy the trilogy as you won’t be able to put this down.

Infected

A new President gets a doozy of a joke played on him; maybe.

Scary Perry has survived his trial with the Magnificent Seven but is minus a few body parts, but he does have some enhancements. He can now sniff out the Triangles which is great advantage in this Alien war, however the anger management issues are still there with some horrific killing scenes, SS does not shy away from the horror. Scary Perry maybe on the good side now but he continues to be a sonofabitch!

Col. Ogden is back on a full time mission, with his elite team of exterminators, again with SS you always get a great back history to fill out these characters so that when they die, get maimed, make choices, you are right there with them, usually wincing.

The sexual frisson between Clarence and Margaret has finally fruited and the banter love/hate relationship between Clarence and Amos provides the humour element in this second installment of horror via the blue Triangles.

Margaret really grows as a character in this book and you don’t get the feeling that she is the token genius female anymore!

We learn more about the source of the infection and discover The Orbital and its intentions, this only serves to ramp up the potential terror of the situation. Poor Perry must brave his demons as a new infection takes hold and The Orbital has changed its strategy.  This new infection has a bigger agenda as the little angel that is Chelsea Jewel finds out.

The insights in to the higher functioning of Government was no real surprise but it did resonate that they are human too, but for how long?

The tension in this 2^nd part of the trilogy comes in waves as each team race to discover the transmission vectors, the Gate sights, infected victims and all the while discovering what new talents that the Triangles are developing.

Chelsea Jewel is the central character of the newly infected family and she brings a whole new element to the Triangles attempts at invasion; a childs greed.

SS has really let his imagination go wild in this book and all the better for us readers. I loved the fantastical route he has taken, some really genuine scares and horrors.

There are also some horrific deaths and touching moments in this book, made my arm hair stand up!

The detailed military element is also there for all the gun nuts!

Really looking forward to the concluding part in this fantastic trilogy.

Contagious

Fantastic prologue shoves you right back in to the Triangles world of horror.

The complex science (fiction based in truth is always the best stuff) is very neatly and simply explained again by SS. He really excels at this element of writing.

Updates are given about the last five years via flash backs and “chat pages”. I really enjoyed the use of modern media to convey public opinion and show how Margaret and Clarence have been existing since the last Triangle showdown.

New and old characters are updated and fleshed out in true SS style.  Even old theories are updated and explained.

The two main story lines this time are Jeff and Cooper the boat men, with Bo Pan and Steve hiring their services to locate the Orbital; lots of shady espionage stuff going on this time too which lends a spooky tense feel to it.

Swift jumps between the two main stories really build the tension and with the little peaks from the Triangle perspective give an added bonus of horror.

With all of SS there is never any skimping on the gore factor.

As mayhem and destruction occur it’s scarier than a zombie apocalypse as you don’t know who is infected.

It’s not just individuals or families that are infected this time, the Triangles are aiming globally.

The finale is excruciating to read but I was riveted the whole time, at over 12hrs reading time this is an epic book and nicely rounds off the Triangle trilogy.

Pandemic