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Hi all. I have an easy reading recommendation for you this week - Lullaby by Daniel Barnett. You can check out my review here! Spoiler, the sun has disappeared, and strange goings-on are a-foot, wrapped around get writing.    On the personal side, it's hard to believe it's almost September. Where has the time gone? Adventures to South Wales aside, we've been tucked inside working from home, wondering where the summer sun is. I'm sure my youthful summers had blue skies. There'll be a small break in emails for a while as we move house and deal with all that excitement, and then it'll be back to the grindstone, and back to the writing. Speak soon!

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Your second freebie!

Twelve tales of monstrous beings, twelve different approaches. Write Like Hell: Kaiju is an anthology of stories focused on terrifying creatures, and the humans who must face them. From Viking sagas, to sci-fi thrillers, you'll find a host of imaginative and compelling fiction within these pages.

An untried sorceress teams up with an immortal gargoyle to stop a goddess from enslaving Earth. Chaos and romance ensues in this epic urban fantasy tale unlike anything you’ve read before. With over 2000+ pages of action-packed plot, rich world-building, noble gargoyles, and a little romance tossed in for good measure.

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REVIEW: Lullaby by Daniel Barnett (Nightmareland Chronicles #2)

See now, how to describe this without doing my own indie community a disservice? But this nagging thought really does ring true - reading Barnett is like reading a professionally produced title; something that has been through the wringer and honed with the help of an army of agents and editors. It's easy, colloquial, the best mix of POV and stream of consciousness, spotted with action, filling rivers of long paragraphs where each is a mini-journey.

"Mariah thought of those fleeting moments out in the desert when he had almost seemed awake. The warning squeeze of his fingers on her stomach before she found the plane. The long stare after she woke from her nightmare. The name, his daughter's name, whispered longingly in the dark."

This is book 2 in the Nightmareland series, and the sun is still gone. Night reigns. John and Mariah are fleeing across the desert, (sans Gunslinger) but this is very much Mariah's chapter - her emotional journey as she struggles to get to grips with her own changing body in a world turned upside down. Her chance to find strength, both emotional and physical, instead of relying on John. It's a good decision, artistically, as it allows her character to grow and become one that shares this story, rather than being part of John's. Not that she was secondary in part 1, but this feels more.

"Which side of the aisle had they been on? Mariah wondered. And who got the window? Probably the boy, she decided. Yes, they would have given the boy the window. She could tell it was a boy because of the red sneakers and the Spiderman pajamas. She could also tell he was still breathing. She covered her mouth and moaned."

It's horror in the vein of Joe Hill, threaded with paranormal elements, in good All-American settings. With unsettling images and an unflinching narrative, the characterisation leads the way, so much so that you can almost forget the lights have been turned off. But how can the moon still be visible without a sun? This is one of the mysteries I can't wait to resolve. The biggest negative? The whole series isn't ready to go right now!

Review: London

London by Frank Tayell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A very detailed exposition of the end of the world from the journal of a witness. Set in London, the zombie apocalypse erupts - unfortunately for Bill, or perhaps fortunately, he has a broken leg and has to watch from the safety of his top floor apartment as everything around falls apart.

We are fortunate that Bill is a political adviser, and as the story unfolds, so does more and more backstory, showing how Bill perhaps knows more than he lets on at the beginning. Befriending a hack that sends him underground videos and information is also helpful for us; the reader. Rather than being an anonymous survivor, and completely clueless about the realities of this infection, as the story unfolds we garner more info, making for a rounded story.

These snippets are fed us between the grounded reality of life in the apocalypse: stabbing zombies in the head and searching for loot - mostly food and water. There's some good research here, indicating what would happen - and when - to the various utilities, and the difficulty of attaining water. Clean water, at least. I'm not sure about boiling pasta in orange juice any time soon.

It's very much foundational in its setup and premise, being book one, but it's a solid base. Unless you forward planned on reading the rest I perhaps wouldn't read this one, unless you just love zombies. Enjoyed the London setting!


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The Long List Goodnight: Requests Currently Closed - ReadingList

A big thanks to everyone who has been in touch lately about their book. Great to see so much creativity on show! I'm not the fastest reader in the world, having to fit it between work, writing and kids (and gaming *cough*) - so I've put a halt on requests until I can catch up. Here's my reading list for now, chock-full of interesting stories!

Currently reading

Under the Amoral Bridge by Gary Ballard

Artemis Bridge is the know-who, go-to guy, the amoral fixer in 2028 Los Angeles with the connection for any illicit desire no matter how depraved. You need it, he can get it without questions or judgment. He prides himself on staying detached from the depravity, untouched by the filth, untouchable by the law. When a young hacker is assassinated before his eyes, he is burdened with a scandalous video of the mayor on the eve of the city's most important election of the century. With digital assassins and murderous thugs dogging his every step, he has only days before the corrupt mayor is re-elected, handing the Chronosoft Corporation complete control of the city. Unable to sell the video, he is forced further into a complex conspiracy.

Reading list

Indigo by DL Young

For over twenty years, Indigo Cruz has worked the markets of the Texas wastelands, hustling wares, cutting deals, and earning a hard-won reputation as a tough, shrewd trader. In a dangerous, brutal world, she's managed to carve out a comfortable, safe existence...

...until the day the Fundamentalist Church of Divine Wrath shows up on her turf, throwing her world into chaos.
Forced by the violent cult's leader to serve as a guide for a mysterious mission, Indigo finds herself trapped between factions warring for control of the Republic. But when she crosses paths with the runaway mind-reader Soledad Paz, will their chance meeting be the key to Indigo's survival or the final nail in her coffin?