Top Ten Tuesday – Books I was SO EXCITED to Get, but Still Haven’t Read (Waiting on Wednesday list)

On May 17, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn List4 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. For this latest Top Ten Tuesday, participants are required to list their favourite books that the were excited to get but still haven’t had a chance to read. There is also a side requirement to list the length of time since you’ve received or heard about the book, which adds some interesting complexity to the list.

Now, one of the saddest things about being a reviewer is that there are always far too many books coming out every year to keep up with. Despite my best efforts, at the end of each year there are always multiple books that I am extremely sad that I never got the chance to read. These books have built up over the years, and I currently have an extended list of awesome sounding novels sitting around waiting to be read. Many of these have been captured in my weekly Waiting on Wednesday posts, and I am quite ashamed to say that quite a substantial number of novels I previously highlighted in these posts haven’t been read. As such, I thought I might slightly alter the underlying basis of this list slightly by looking at the ten oldest Waiting on Wednesday posts I have where I never actually got around to reading the book.

This ended up being a rather interesting list to pull together as I have highlighted quite a few great novels over the years. However, it was fairly easy to find the ten oldest Waiting on Wednesday posts on my blog where I haven’t read the book, and I added them to this list in descending order. I did have to make a few exclusions for a couple of books which still haven’t been released yet, and I also had to filter out some posts where I failed to review a book after reading it. Still, this left me with a rather interesting top ten list of cool books that I really need to check out. So let us see which are the ten books I have been waiting the longest to check out.

Top Ten List (Descending by Date of Waiting on Wednesday Article)

10. The Shadow Saint by Gareth Ryder – Hanrahan -6 November 2019

The Shadow Saint Cover

The sequel to one of the more intriguing debuts of 2019, The Gutter Prayer, The Shadow Saint is a fantastic sounding grimdark fantasy novel that I really need to take off the shelf and read.

9. Anyone by Charles Soule – 31 October 2019

Anyone Cover

An awesome sounding standalone science fiction novels from one of my favourite Star Wars authors, Charles Soule (author of Light of the Jedi, and several awesome comic series). Anyone is an interesting thriller set around a future where people can transfer their consciousness into other bodies. I love the sound of this concept and I hope I can make time to read it at some point.

8. The Obsidian Tower by Melissa Caruso – 15 August 2019

The Obsidian Tower Cover

Easily one of the books I most regret not reading is The Obsidian Tower by Melissa Caruso. The first book in the Rooks and Ruins series, which serves as a sequel to her impressive debut Swords and Fire trilogy (made up of The Tethered Mage, The Defiant Heir and The Unbound Empire), this book has been high on my to-read list for ages, but I can never seem to find the time to read it. This is a real shame, as I have heard that this is an exceptional novel, and I am sure the following books in the Rooks and Ruins series are going to be really incredible as well.

7. #Murderfunding by Gretchen McNeil – 3 July 2019

#MurderFunding Cover

A fun and deadly young adult thriller, #MurderFunding is the sequel to the great 2018 read, #MurderTrending, and it is one I have been hoping to read for a while. This delay is because I unfortunately didn’t get a copy of this when it first came out. While I did eventually grab a copy a few months ago, I still haven’t had the chance to read it, even after reading the great prequel novel #NoEscape. I honestly need to sit down and try to read this at some point, as I will probably just power through it and finish it off in a day.

6. Grave Importance by Vivian Shaw – 19 June 2019

Grave Importance Cover

The third book in the Dr. Greta Helsing series, Grave Importance is an excellent book about a doctor who specialises in helping the undead, and who finds herself wrapped up in a mystery involving mummies. I loved the first two books in this series, Strange Practice and Dreadful Company, and I really regret having not seen how the series continued. This is another mistake I really should try to rectify, especially as my copy of Grave Importance is constantly judging me from a nearby bookshelf.

5. The Institute by Stephen King – 9 May 2019

The Institute Cover 1

I loved the sound of this unique and interesting Stephen King novel when I heard about it in 2019, however, I didn’t get a chance to read The Institute when it first came out. Despite hearing some amazing things about it, I have never gone back to check it out, even after having a blast with King’s two 2021 novels, Later and Billy Summers. I will have to carve some time out for The Institute at some point, although there are also many, many other Stephen King books I also want to read.

4. Salvation Lost by Peter F. Hamilton – 1 May 2019

Salvation Lost Cover

Another book that I deeply regret not reading, Salvation Lost is the fantastic sounding sequel to the great 2018 read, Salvation by science fiction master Peter F. Hamilton. I absolutely loved Salvation when it came out, and I honestly cannot fathom why I keep failing to read Salvation Lost, it is completely mind boggling.

3. The Andromeda Evolution by Daniel H. Wilson – 13 March 2019

The Andromeda Evolution Cover

The recently released sequel to Michael Chrichton’s iconic technothriller, The Andromeda Strain. I was very interested to see what they did in this sequel, written 50 years after the release of the first book, however, I was never able to fit it into my reading schedule.

2. The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling – 16 January 2019

the luminous dead cover

An interesting and compelling sounding science fiction horror novel that caught my eye a few years ago. I failed to even get a copy of this book when it came out, although it is still on my radar to read. Hopefully I will get a chance at some point, but it may be a while.

1. Alien: Echo by Mira Grant – 19 December 2019

Alien Echo Cover

The final entry (and oldest post) on this list is Alien: Echo, which I have so many regrets about not reading. An amazing Alien tie-in novel from one of the best authors of horror fiction, the talented Mira Grant (Into the Drowning Deep is still one of my favourite horror novels), I have no idea why I never tried to read this, but I am constantly berating myself for not checking it out, especially as I know I am going to love it. Hopefully I pull myself together at some point to read it, so we’ll see how that goes.

Well, that’s the end of this latest list. As you can see, there are several awesome novels that I really need to try and read at some point, especially as I have been thinking about most of them for multiple years now. All 10 books above sound extremely cool, and I desperately need to carve some time out to read them. In the meantime, let me know which books you most regret not reading, and if you’ve enjoyed any of the entries on this list, I would love to hear what you thought about them.

Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Horror Novels (Updated – 2021)

On October 27, 2021 By The Unseen LibraryIn Horror, List7 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. In this latest edition of Top Ten Tuesday, readers get a Halloween Freebie, meaning that they can list whatever topic they want, although a horror or Halloween theme is encouraged. So, with that in mind, I thought I would take this opportunity to update a previous list where I highlighted my favourite horror novels of all time.

Last year for Halloween I did a list where I looked at my top ten favourite horror novels. While horror is not my favourite genre, I ended up producing a rather interesting list with some unique entries that I was pretty happy with. I decided last year that I would come back and update this list every Halloween, especially if I had some new horror novels to add to it. Well, in the last year, I had the opportunity to check out some excellent and intense horror reads, and I intend to try and find out if they can fit into my list.

To sort out this update, I took a critical look at the previous version of the list and made some hard decisions about whether any of the horror novels I read in the last year might fit in better. I ended up making some changes to list, with new entries replacing some of the existing books. While I was sad to see some of the previously featured novels removed, I honestly felt that the new entries are better horror novels. This resulted in a fun new version of this list, and I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

Honourable Mentions:

Nights of the Living Dead edited by George A. Romero and Jonathan Maberry

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

An interesting read from earlier this year that got a lot of attention, The Final Girl Support Group focused on a group of final girls from alternate versions of classic slasher films who are targeted by a brand-new killer. While this book is more of a thriller than a horror read, it serves as a clever homage to the slasher genre, and fans of horror fiction will love it’s compelling and reference laden story.

Dreadful Company by Vivian Shaw

Awakened by James S. Murray and Darren Wearmouth

Top Ten List (unranked):

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry

The Dark by Jeremy Robinson

I had to add this brilliant and compelling horror/science fiction read onto this list. The Dark is the latest novel from author Jeremy Robinson that focuses on an apparent demonic invasion of Earth. Filled with gore, monsters and body mutations, The Dark gets pretty gruesome and scary in places, which blends perfectly with the intense action and Robinson’s quirky humour. An outstanding read, this fantastic horror novel comes highly recommended.

The Anomaly by Michael Rutger

Code Zero by Jonathan Maberry

Later by Stephen King

Earlier this year I had the chance to read the latest novel from the modern master of horror fiction, the great Stephen King, the utterly compelling Later, which focuses on a young boy who can talk to the recently deceased. While Later is primarily a character-driven story about a complicated youth’s life, it can get pretty scary in places, especially once the protagonist encounters true evil. A deeply compelling read with some interesting connections to one of King’s most iconic horror novels, this is an excellent and unique book that is worth reading.

Star Wars: Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber

Devolution by Max Brooks

Ink by Jonathan Maberry

I have already featured several great books from Jonathan Maberry on this list, but there was no way I could exclude one of his latest horror reads, Ink. While most of the other Maberry novels with horror elements focus either on zombies or Lovecraftian monsters, Ink features a particularly horrendous tale of a depraved being who steals a person’s tattoos and the precious memories associated with them. Set in one of Maberry’s most iconic settings, Ink had a very disturbing narrative, and I deeply appreciated this unique and book that the author came up with.

A People’s History of the Vampire Uprising by Raymond A. Villareal

That’s the end of this latest Top Ten Tuesday list. I think that the new horror novels were great additions to the list, and I like how this latest version turned out. Each of the above novels, both new inclusions and existing ones, are outstanding reads that come highly recommended to all horror fans. I look forward to seeing how this list evolves once again this time next year, especially as there are some awesome sounding horror novels, such as Road of Bones by Christopher Golden and Dead Silence by S. A. Barnes, set for release in the next few months.

Top Ten Tuesday – Titles or Covers that Made Me Want to Read/Buy a Book

On August 3, 2021 By The Unseen LibraryIn List2 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. For this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, participants are tasked with listing the top titles or covers that made them want to read or buy a book. This is a pretty cool topic and it gives me an excuse to highlight some of my favourite covers and titles.

I have a somewhat eclectic method of choosing what books I want to read. While I mostly tend to read novels due to the author, plot description, recommendations from other reviewers, or because it is an entry in a series or franchise I like, quite a few first catch my eye due to colourful or crazy covers, or titles that really stand out (or a combination of the two). I have a lot of love for authors who invest in beautiful covers to highlight their novel’s style or plot features, and I also really enjoy cool and catchy titles. It honestly did not take me long to come up with a list of fun covers and titles, and I was eventually able to whittle it down into a Top Ten List. I tried to avoid using any novel where something else drove me to check the novel out, although there are a couple of cool Star Wars examples I had to include. I really enjoyed all the cool covers/titles below, especially as there are usually some great stories contained within them.

Honourable Mentions:

Star Wars: Vader – Dark Visions by Dennis Hallum

It has Darth Vader decked out as a black knight, how could I possibly resist this comic?

Child of a Mad God by R. A. Salvatore

A People’s History of the Vampire Uprising by Raymond A. Villareal

Black Leviathan by Bend Perplies

Top Ten Tuesday:

Mecha Samurai Empire by Peter Tieryas

Let us start with an extremely cool cover and a very fun name, Mecha Samurai Empire. I still remember the first time that I saw this book, as I was instantly drawn to the samurai mecha standing in front of a Japanese flag. I also was very intrigued by the name, Mecha Samurai Empire, and I had to know more about it. While the plot details did sway my decision, I already knew I was going to buy this book the moment I saw it. It really did not disappoint either, with an exciting and clever story about mechas in an alternate United States that lost World War II. This is such a great book, and the sequel, Cyber Shogun Revolution, follows the trend by having a fantastic cover a catchy title.

The Traitor God by Cameron Johnston

With a sleek, compelling name and a very well-crafted cover, The Traitor God quickly drew my attention before I even read the plot synopsis. This cover perfectly captures the dark feel of the novel, and the mysterious title is a fantastic part of the plot. This was a fantastic book, and led to a great sequel, God of Broken Things, which also featured an outstanding cover.

#Murdertrending by Gretchen McNeil

I don’t know what drew me to #Murdertrending more, the unique, twitter-handled title, or the fun cover where a group of stick figures are in danger. It probably was the title, and I liked the way in which McNeil was building up the novels critique of the social media obsessed world. Overall, this cover/title combo really grabbed my attention and forced me to buy this book.

The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne

I have mentioned a few times that one of the reasons I checked out The Shadow of the Gods was because of positive reviews from other fantasy fans. However, long before I heard about how good the story was, I found myself rather drawn to The Shadow of the Gods’ incredible cover. The giant dragon facing off against a lone hero is exceptionally drawn, and I loved how the artist brings this scene to life in its own distinctive and unique way. Suffice to say, this cool cover had The Shadow of the Gods well on my radar before it came out, and I probably would have read this novel, even if I had heard nothing from other reviewers.

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Gideon the Ninth was another book where the cover dragged me in, although in all fairness, it is a pretty damn impressive cover. The beautifully drawn artwork features a red-haired swordswoman with skull-themed face paint walking through a mass of exploding skeletons. I mean, if that does not draw your interest and attention, nothing will. In addition, when I received the book, it was a fantastic hardcover with black edging to the pages, which really gave of a mysterious and powerful theme to it. I was so hooked even before I found out it was a novel about lesbian, space-faring necromancers, and seeing the plot only convinced me to read it quicker. This was an outstanding novel, which Muir followed up last year with Harrow the Ninth, another novel with an extremely epic cover.

Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw

Strange Practice features a great cover with a doctor standing above a vampire filled coffin. That outstanding cover contained so much detail, and I loved the combination of classic vampire aesthetics with a modern London backdrop to it. The combination of black and white walls and characters against blood red floors, coverings and cityscape works surprisingly well, and it helps to deliver a very striking cover. This awesome art really dragged me towards this book, and I had a wonderful time reading this and its fun sequel, Dreadful Company, which also featured an amazing cover.

City of Bastards by Andrew Shvarts

Ok, for this one, it was all about the name. City of Bastards is such an evocative title, and it definitely caught my attention when I first saw it as it opens up so many different story and tonal possibilities. Couple that with the pretty neat cover, which makes amazing use of colour (the purple and the blood red really work well together), and I was rather hooked on this book before I even picked it up and read what it was about.

Star Wars: Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber

A few years ago, while randomly skimming online, I saw the cover for Star Wars: Death Troopers, which really had me hooked (hah). Something about that visual of a bloodied Storm Trooper helmet suspended by a meat hook really struck me, and it drove me to grab an audiobook version of that book that very night. Thank goodness I did, as this was a really fun novel, that features zombies on a Star Destroyer attempting to eat Han and Chewie. An outstanding book that is one of my favourite horror novels, thank goodness I saw this cover.

The Bone Ships by R. J. Barker

Now, I must admit that I probably would have read this book even without seeing the name or cover. I had already enjoyed Barker’s excellent Wounded Kingdom series (made up of Age of Assassins, Blood of Assassins and King of Assassins), so I would have been curious about his next series. However, the moment I saw the cover for The Bone Ships, I knew that this book would be something special that I would need to read. The incredible cover featuring a beautifully rendered dragon, is just amazing, and the title The Bone Ships, really fires up the imagination. The combination of these features made The Bone Ships a must read from me well before I’d seen the plot, and it fully convinced me to get The Bone Ships, which ended up being one of the best books (and audiobooks of 2019).

Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by K. J. Parker

When I first saw Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City, I initially wasn’t to impressed by the cover. However, there was something about the unique name that got me curious enough to check out some more details and that’s when I found out that this was a fun sounding fantasy novel. I had an absolute blast reading this novel, which was one of the best books of 2019, and it also led me to the sequel, How to Rule an Empire and Get Away With It, one of the most hilarious books I read last year. I honestly might have missed this series if that catchy name and cover didn’t grab my attention, which would have been a real shame.

Well that brings another Top Ten Tuesday to a close. As you can see from the above, there are some truly awesome and fun covers and titles in my reading history. Each of these featured novels come highly recommended, and I hope you also like the titles and cover art. I hope you enjoyed my latest list and let me know what covers or titles drew you to a book in the comments below.

Top Ten Tuesday – Book I Need to Clear Off my to-read List

On March 9, 2021 By The Unseen LibraryIn List3 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. For this week, Top Ten Tuesday participants have been given a spring-cleaning freebie where we can do any list we want provided it falls within the general them of spring-cleaning. In this spirt (even though it is autumn where I am) I have decided to list the top ten books that I need to “clean” off my to-read list by reading and reviewing them.

Over the years I have received or written about a huge number of different awesome novels, many of which I would love to read and feature on this blog. However, there are only so many hours in the day, so quite a few books fall through the cracks, or more accurately they end up on a bookshelf, silently judging me. I do fully intend to read these books at some point, especially as in several cases I have enjoyed previous entries in the series. So, in the spirit of spring-cleaning, I have decided to focus this list on books I want to read that are currently clogging up my bookshelf (or digital equivalent).

Using these criteria, I was able to come up with a list filled with an interesting variety of different books. I tried to mainly feature amazing-sounding books that have been on my shelf for an extended period, but in a few cases I chose some more recent novels that I particularly want to check out. I have featured several of these books in Waiting on Wednesday articles in the past, which adds to the reasons why I want to check them out. Hopefully, this list will light a bit of a fire under me to encourage me to read some, if not all of these books, soon. So let us see what was on the list.

Honourable Mentions:

Duplicity by Richard Evans

Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennett

Ashlords by Scott Reintgen

Grave Importance by Vivian Shaw

Top Ten List:

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

The first entry on this list is one of the books that I most regret not reading last year, The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton. The Devil and the Dark Water is the second novel from Turton following his epic debut, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, which was one of my favourite books of 2018. Due to how awesome Turton’s first novel was, I have been really keen to check out The Devil and the Dark Water for a while but have just not been able to add it into the reading schedule. This is definitely one of the top books I want to read soon, and I look forward to seeing what sort of outstanding narrative Turton came up with in his second novel.

Salvation Lost by Peter F. Hamilton

I have been meaning to check out Salvation Lost for a very long time ever since I finished off the preceding novel, Salvation. Salvation was an exceedingly epic science fiction novel set on a futuristic Earth, filled with some cool technology, fantastic mysteries, and a subtle alien invasion. I am a little annoyed with myself that I have completely failed to read Salvation Lost, especially as the third novel in the series, The Saints of Salvation, came out last year. I really want to read this book this year and I know that I am going to love the complex tale contained within.

War Lord by Bernard Cornwell

This is another book that I am quite surprised I have not gotten around to reading yet. War Lord is the latest book from one of my favourite authors, Bernard Cornwell, and serves as the final entry in his long running The Last Kingdom series. I have loved this series for a very long time, and I think I may be holding off reading it because I don’t want the series to end. Still, this is one that I really must read this year and it should turn out to be another fantastic historical read.

#MurderFunding by Gretchen McNeil

The young adult thriller #MurderFunding is the intriguing sequel to the insanely entertaining #MurderTrending. It sees several teenagers get brutally murdered on live television as they get caught up in a dangerous conspiracy. I love the premise of this series and I am hoping to read this book soon, especially after I just finished off the prequel novel #NoEscape a couple of months ago and absolutely loved it.

Star Wars: A New Dawn by John Jackson Miller

Anyone who reads this blog knows that I love Star Wars novels, so it should come as no surprise that one will show up on this list. While I have plans to eventually read all the Star Wars tie-in novels, both in the current canon and in the Star Wars Legends range (an admittedly big job), the entry that I have been meaning to check out the longest is A New Dawn by John Jackson Miller. Serving as a tie-in to the outstanding Star Wars Rebels animated series, A New Dawn is an awesome-sounding origin tale of two of the series’ main characters, and I have had it loaded on my phone for over a year. I am particularly keen to check it out after enjoying one of Miller’s other novels last year, Star Trek Discovery: Die Standing, which was a particularly clever and impressive read. Hopefully I will get through A New Dawn at some point this year, although I may have to prioritise several upcoming Star Wars novels first.

Alien: Echo by Mira Grant

This next entry is an intriguing young adult science fiction novel that ties into the Alien franchise, Alien: Echo. I must admit that while I have never had an amazing amount of interest in the Alien films or expanded universe, this is one book that I am particularly keen to check out. The main reason for this is that it was written by the outstanding Mira Grant. Grant is a talented author who has come up with some epic horror reads, including the incredible Into the Drowning Deep (killer mermaids!), the cool-sounding Newsflesh trilogy, and even a great entry in a Night of the Living Dead anthology. Due to how awesome her previous books are, I really want to see her take on an Alien novel and I have a feeling that Alien: Echo is going to be pretty amazing.

The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons

The Ruin of Kings is an intriguing fantasy novel that I have been trying to read for over two years now. I really loved the concept of The Ruin of Kings, the first book in the A Chorus of Dragons series, when I received it and I then went on to hear some amazing reviews from a substantial number of fellow reviewers, making it an extremely appealing option to check out. I will have to read it at some point, especially as I also received copies of The Ruin of Kings’ two sequels, The Name of all Things and The Memory of Souls. A fourth book in the series, The House of Always, is set for release in a couple of months (with a really gnarly octopus cover on it), and it would be cool if I could read The Ruin of Kings before that.

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

I had to include the epic novel Words of a Radiance on this list as I have been thinking about reading it for some time. The second novel in Brandon Sanderson’s massive and highly acclaimed Stormlight Archive series, Words of Radiance follows on from the outstanding The Way of Kings, which is quite frankly one of the best fantasy books I have ever read. Words of Radiance continues the amazingly complex story started in The Way of Kings, and I really want to see what happens to the captivating characters next. However, I honestly have just not had the time to check out Words of Radiance due to the sheer length of the book. The Way of Kings was the longest audiobook I ever listened to and Words of Radiance is even longer, with a 48+ hour runtime. Finding that sort of window in my reading schedule is hard, but it will probably be worth it, especially as it will allow me to finally get onto the copies of the third and fourth books of The Stormlight Archive that are currently on my shelf (I received copies of Oathbringer and Rhythm of War), both of which I have not touched because I wanted to read Words of Radiance first.

The Obsidian Tower by Melissa Caruso

This is the latest novel from rising fantasy star Melissa Caruso, set in the same world as her awesome Swords and Fire series. I absolutely loved all three novels in the Swords and Fire series (The Tethered Mage, The Defiant Heir and The Unbound Empire), so I am extremely keen to see how Caruso continues her epic universe. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to read The Obsidian Tower when it came out and it has languished on the shelf ever since. I really want to read this book and I will have to check it out soon before Caruso releases her next novel, The Quicksilver Court, in November this year.

Bright Steel by Miles Cameron

The final entry on this list is the outstanding sounding release Bright Steel by Miles Cameron. Bright Steel is the third and final entry in the Masters & Mages series, which charts the adventures of a farmer’s son who is thrust into the midst of world-altering events. I had an incredible time reading the first two novels in the series, Cold Iron and Dark Forge, both of which were amazing five-star novels, and I have been hoping to read this final book for some time. I will probably get around to finishing this trilogy off later this year, although I will be reading Cameron’s latest novel, Artifact Space, first.

That is the end of this latest Top Ten list. I think it came out quite nicely and hopefully it will entice me to read some of the above novels soon. All of the above sound really cool and I am highly confident that I will have a blast reading each and every one of them. While I get around to doing that, why don’t you let me know which books you want to clean off your to-read list, as well if you have enjoyed any of the above

Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Horror Novels

On October 27, 2020August 30, 2021 By The Unseen LibraryIn Horror, List14 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. In this latest edition of Top Ten Tuesday, readers get a Halloween Freebie, meaning that they can list whatever topic they want, although a horror or Halloween theme is encouraged. So, in the spirit of the holiday, I decided to attempt to list my favourite horror novels of all time.

Now, before I start this list I do have to admit that horror is really not my favourite genre of fiction. While I do not actively avoid horror novels or movies, I really do not go out of my way to read/watch them and my knowledge and appreciation of the genre might be a little lacking as a result. However, over the years I have had the opportunity to read several great horror books that I quite enjoyed and I have featured my absolute favourites in the list below.

It did take me a little while to come up with this list, but I am pretty happy with how it turned out. Be warned that the books on this list, while all technically horror books, do match my literary preferences, so you are going to see a few unusual entries, such as horror hybrid novels or horror novels with unusual topics. I did cheat a little by including several novels by Jonathan Maberry, including four books from his Joe Ledger series, but each of these entries is really awesome and makes exceptional use of their associated horror elements. There is also a bit of a reliance on zombie fiction throughout the entries on this list, although I think this reflects the current fascination with zombie movies and television shows rather than my specific preferences. The end result is a very “me” list of horror novels, but I think that each of the ten novels below, as well as the entries in my honourable mentions section, are really good horror novels and each of them come highly recommended in their own right.

Honourable Mentions:

Goosebumps/Ghosts of Fear Street novels by R. L. Stine

I can’t do a list of my favourite horror novels without mentioning some of the first horror books I ever read. Like a lot of people, I grew up on the awesome stories of R. L. Stine. My parents bought my brother and me a ton of Goosebumps novels, as well as some of his Ghosts of Fear Street books. I have a lot of fond memories of these books and I found most of them to be fairly scary when I was younger. I am not sure how much these books would stand up if I read them now as an adult, but several awesome entries do still stick in my mind after all these years including the Goosebumps books Night of the Living Dummy (love me some Slappy), Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes, A Shocker on Shock Street and Deep Trouble, as well as the Ghosts of Fear Street novels Why I’m Not Afraid of Ghosts and Halloween Bugs Me! Definitely a fun horror series for younger readers, I look forward to eventually getting my future kids onto these books.

Nights of the Living Dead edited by George A. Romero and Jonathan Maberry

Dracul by Dacre Stoker and J. D. Barker

Awakened by James S. Murray and Darren Wearmouth

Top Ten List:

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

I think it says a lot about my horror choices that the first book on my list is about killer mermaids. Into the Drowning Deep is exceptional book that actually turns a mermaid attack into a pretty terrifying experience. Grant did an amazing job of this book and Into the Drowning Deep comes very highly recommended.

Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry

The first of the Joe Ledger novels I mentioned above, Patient Zero, is an awesome book that features an elite counterterrorist unit as they attempt to stop terrorists spreading a deadly zombie virus across America. I have a lot of love for the thriller aspects of Patient Zero, however, the highlights of this book are the gruesome and terrifying zombie sequences, which sees the protagonists get overwhelmed by hordes of the infected. This results in a number of impressive horror scenes, and I had to include this book on my list as a result.

The Anomaly by Michael Rutger

The Anomaly is an excellent horror novel from 2018 which follows an unfortunate film crew after they get trapped in a series of ancient caves and are forced to face the terrible horrors waiting for them inside. There are a lot of amazing elements to this book, but I personally appreciated the intense and claustrophobic atmosphere that Rutger was able to produce, especially as most of the novel takes place in the dark.

Code Zero by Jonathan Maberry

This is another impressive entry in the Joe Ledger series that sees the protagonists once again go up against the zombie virus they encountered in Patient Zero. Maberry does an exceptional job resurrecting this horror element in this book, and it is one of my favourite Joe Ledger novels as a result. Readers can expect another series of terrifying zombie attack sequences in Code Zero, especially as Maberry works in a few intriguing new twists to keep the reader’s undivided attention.

Star Wars: Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber

I am a rather big fan of Star Wars fiction, but I had never been scared while reading a Star Wars novel until I came across Death Troopers. Death Troopers is part of the Star Wars Legends canon and features an Imperial prison ship, which of course contains Han and Chewie, encountering an abandoned Star Destroyer filled with a zombified crew. Watching a bunch of Star Wars characters attempt to escape from zombies is really cool, and Schreiber comes up with a number of gruesome scenes that will definitely stick in your mind. Also, if you really want to get a fright out of this book, make sure to check out the audiobook version of Death Troopers, as the various sound effects they include are extremely disturbing.

Kill Switch by Jonathan Maberry

For this Joe Ledger novel, Maberry switches it up a little and features a Lovecraftian horror storyline, with the protagonist getting a glimpse into other dimensions filled with all manner of dark creatures (including of course some zombies from another Maberry horror series). This proved to be an intriguing change of pace, and I quite enjoyed seeing this new horror story unfold.

Devolution by Max Brooks

Devolution is an awesome and fun horror novel from earlier this year. World War Z author Max Brooks expertly makes use of a whole new horror monster when he explores the fate of an isolated community who are attacked by a tribe of sasquatches. Brooks really turns these creatures into a frightening and deadly force of nature, and readers are in for an exciting and well-written tale of survival and brutality.

Deep Silence by Jonathan Maberry

The final Joe Ledger novel on this list is actually the first novel from Jonathan Maberry that I ever read. Deep Silence is an excellent book that sees the author return to the Lovecraftian horror vibes he utilised in Kill Switch. The Lovecraftian scenes in Deep Silence are really distinctive and scary and help to make an excellent horror novel, especially when the protagonist also has to deal with a horde of civilians driven into a murderous rage by the visions they encounter.

Dreadful Company by Vivian Shaw

Dreadful Company is an interesting addition to this list that follows the adventures of a human doctor who provides specialised medical care to horror creature in order to keep them healthy. While this book is not as scary as some of the others in this list, it does contain an excellent story that references a number of iconic horror novels. This ends up being a really good read, and I think a lot of horror fans will appreciate Shaw’s take on the genre.

A People’s History of the Vampire Uprising by Raymond A. Villareal

The final entry in this list is A People’s History of the Vampire Uprising by Raymond A. Villareal. A People’s History of the Vampire Uprising is an awesome and fascinating book that examines the potential rise of vampires as the dominant species in the world through a series of different perspectives. This book features a number of clever and captivating storylines, and I really enjoyed this fun twist on the classic vampire tale.

Well that’s the end of this horror themed Top Ten Tuesday. I am fairly happy with how this list turned out and I really enjoyed each of the scary entries above. I had a lot of fun coming up with this list, and it turns out that I have actually read a number of great horror books over the years. I might revisit this list next Halloween, although I think that will depend on how many horror novels I read in the next 12 months. I have got a couple of upcoming horror novels on my radar at the moment, including Ink by Jonathan Maberry and Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff, and it will be interesting to see how they turn out. Until then, everyone have a safe and spooky Halloween and make sure to let me know what your favourite horror novels are in the comments below.

Top Ten Tuesday – Books to While Away the Lockdown

On March 31, 2020March 31, 2020 By The Unseen LibraryIn List2 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. The official topic for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday was Ten Signs You’re a Book Lover. While that did sound like an interesting topic, I thought I would do something a little different. Today was actually my first day working from home due to the current coronavirus outbreak. While my city is not officially locked down yet, I am going to be spending a lot of time indoors for the next couple of months, which I fully intend to use as an opportunity to catch up on some reading that I have been meaning to do. Unfortunately, it is very likely that I am going to get a limited number of new books coming in, due to businesses shutting down and release dates being knocked back (the main bookshops in my city literally just announced they were closing their doors today). Luckily, I have a huge number of books already on my shelf which I have been hoping to read for some time. As a result, I thought I would take this opportunity to list the top ten books from previous years that I want to go back and read during this homebound period.

Over the last couple of years, I have been building up a massive collection of books which I have been meaning to read. This is a pretty eclectic mixture of novels from across the various genres, featuring an interesting range of topics and authors. I am hopefully going to get around to reading all of them at some point, but for this list I went through and selected the top ten (with an honourable mentions section) that I want to try and check out first. I figure that this list will be a good focusing tool, and hopefully by the time this whole crisis is over I will have managed to get through a reasonable chunk of them. For this list, I am limiting my choices to those books that I physically have on my shelf right now, and I won’t be including books that I want to read that I have to go and buy. I have to admit that this is a pretty random collection of books, and I haven’t always chosen the best books on the shelf. These are the ones that I want to read first, either because I enjoyed the previous entries in the series, I have heard good things about them or because the plot sounds really interesting and I want to finally check it out. So let’s see which books made the list.

Honourable Mentions:

State of Fear by Tim Ayliffe – 22 July 2019

State of Fear Cover

The sequel to the excellent 2018 Australian thriller The Greater Good.

The Warehouse by Rob Hart – 13 August 2019

The Warehouse Cover

The Second Sleep by Robert Harris – 20 August 2019

The Second Sleep Cover

Top Ten List (By Release Date):

The Deathless by Peter Newman – 14 June 2018

the deathless cover

This first entry on my list is rather intriguing-sounding fantasy novel that I picked up a couple of years ago but never got a chance to read. I have been quite keen to check this out for a while and I even featured it on my Top Ten Books I Wish I Read in 2018 list. Newman has already written two fantastic-sounding sequels to this book, so I definitely need to pick up my game and have a go at reading The Deathless.

Watch the Girls by Jennifer Wolfe – 10 July 2018

Watch the Girls Cover

This next book is a rather cool-sounding thriller novel, which I rather regret not reading back in 2018. I really liked the interesting concept that Watch the Girls had, and I always thought that this would be quite a fun book to read.

The Winter Road by Adrian Selby – 13 November 2018

The Winter Road Cover

Now this is one that I have been really trying to read for ages. The Winter Road was probably one of the more awesome-sounding fantasy novels of 2018, with amazing plot about a massive merchant caravan trying to get through a dangerous wilderness. I honestly have no idea how I never got around to reading this one, and I will be extremely happy if I finally get a chance in the next few months.

The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons – 5 February 2019

The Ruin of Kings Cover

The Ruin of Kings is one of the biggest fantasy releases of last year, and I have been hoping to check it out since I first got it. Unfortunately, it has just been sitting unread on my shelf instead, even though I included it on my Top Ten Books I Wish I Read in 2019 list. The third and final book in this series is just around the corner, so I really cannot afford to waste any more time with this one.

The Bear Pit by S. G. MacLean – 11 July 2019

The Bear Pit Cover

The Bastille Spy by C. S. Quinn – 1 August 2019

The Bastille Spy Cover

This was one of the more fascinating historical fiction releases of last year, and I am truly sorry I did not get around to enjoying The Bastille Spy. Following a female British spy who helps free and smuggle noblemen from revolutionary France, this book sounded absolutely incredible. I really need to have a look at this book soon, as the sequel is hopefully coming out soon.

Magebane by Stephen Aryan – 6 August 2019

Magebane Cover

The third and final book in the Age of Dread trilogy, Magebane sounded like an extremely fun and explosive fantasy novel, which I did hope to check out last year. I really enjoyed the previous novel in the series, Magefall, so I have high hopes for this latest book.

Grave Importance by Vivian Shaw – 20 August 2019

Grave Importance Cover

Duplicity by Richard Evans – 1 September 2019

Duplicity Cover

Salvation Lost by Peter F. Hamilton – 29 October 2019

Salvation Lost Cover
Well that’s my list. I am hopeful that I will get a chance to check out all of the books featured above in the next few months, and I am sure that they will keep me extremely entertained and sane during my time at home. I hope everyone is staying safe during these hard times, and I wish you all luck during the difficult coming year. In the meantime, let me know which of the books above you enjoyed and what novels you are hoping to read during your lockdown period.

Top Ten Tuesday – Books I Wish I read in 2019

On January 21, 2020January 21, 2020 By The Unseen LibraryIn List12 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. For this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, I am going to take a look at the top ten books I wish I had read in 2019. 2019 was an absolutely great year for books and I managed to get through a massive pile of fantastic reads (make sure to check out my top reads of 2019 list). However, there are always going to be some outstanding releases that you miss, and 2019 was filled with some amazing books that I wish I had gotten a chance to read. So, I thought I would take the time to highlight which 2019 releases I most regret not getting the chance to read. Hopefully by including them on this list, I will encourage myself to read some of them throughout this year.

Readers of my blog might remember that I did a similar list to this at the start of last year, with my Top Ten Books I Wish I Read in 2018 list. For this earlier list, I looked at which books I most regretted not reading in 2018, and made it a priority to try and get through them at some point. I actually made a little bit of progress getting through the books on this list last year, as I ended up reading three out of the 10 books that featured on this earlier list (like I said, a little bit of progress). Each of these three books that I ended up reading in 2019, which included Cold Iron by Miles Cameron, The Ember Blade by Chris Wooding and King of Assassins by R. J. Barker (review still pending), were extremely epic books, and each of them received a full five out of five stars from me. I am still going to try and read some of the other books that were featured on this 2018 list in the future, but it is definitely time to look to the releases of 2019. Hopefully I will enjoy some of the inclusions on this new list as much as the books I went back to check out last year.

For this list any book with a 2019 release date that I have not yet read is eligible to be included. I had a feeling before I started that this will be a pretty diverse list as there were quite a few intriguing-sounding novels out there that I did not get a chance to try out. It turned out that there were quite a few books out there that I wish I had read last year, but I was eventually able to work out what my top ten were. I think that each of the novels featured on this list have a great amount of potential, especially those where I have already read an earlier book in the series. So, let us get to the list.

Honourable Mentions:

Grave Importance by Vivian Shaw

The Russian by Ben Coes

Nottingham by Nathan Makaryk

The Second Sleep by Robert Harris

Top Ten List:

The Institute by Stephen King

For the second year in a row, the latest Stephen King tops my list of books I wish I had read. While The Institute sounded extremely interesting, I just could not fit it into my reading schedule. I think that I will really have to try and get through this book at some point this year.

The Ruin of Kings and The Name of All Things by Jenn Lyons

I’m going to do a double feature for this second entry and feature the first two books in Jenn Lyons’s A Chorus of Dragons series. Both of these books were released last year, and they sounded like particularly intriguing pieces of fantasy fiction that I really wanted to read. Unfortunately, I had to prioritise other books in front of The Ruin of Kings, and I did not want to take a look at The Name of All Things until I’d gotten through the first book. The end result is that I didn’t read either of them, which is a real shame. I must try and have a go at reading both of them this year, especially as the third book in the series, The Memory of Souls (which has a rather cool picture of an elephant on its front cover), is set for release in August.

Salvation Lost by Peter F. Hamilton

This is probably the most surprising novel I did not read last year. Salvation Lost is the sequel to 2018’s Salvation, which was one of my favourite books in 2018. I have been meaning to read this sequel since about July, and yet somehow, I keep completely failing to even pick it up. I will hopefully get to this one very soon, and it is probably the book on this list I am most likely to read next.

The Bear Pit by S. G. MacLean

The Bear Pit is another book whose preceding novel, Destroying Angel, I found to be pretty spectacular. I was really looking forward to The Bear Pit, especially as it featured a really cool sounding mystery in a fascinating historical period. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a copy of this book (the one copy I saw in the shop was damaged, the horror, the horror) and so didn’t get around to reading it. I will read this book at some point in the future and I cannot wait to dive into another one of MacLean’s compelling and complex murder mystery storylines.

Alien: Echo by Mira Grant

An Alien book, written by horror extraordinaire Mira Grant! How have I not read this book yet? I was really looking forward to Alien: Echo earlier in the year, especially after I enjoyed Grant’s last novel, Into the Drowning Deep. I actually have a copy of this book currently sitting on my shelf, silently judging me, and I will have to carve out some time to get through this one.

We Are the Dead by Mike Shackle

We Are the Dead was a rather intriguing-sounding 2019 fantasy debut that I very much regret not getting a copy of. I have heard some pretty amazing things about this book, and I really wish that I had managed to check it out. The sequel, A Fool’s Hope, is set for release in July, and I will have to make an effort and read We Are the Dead before this second book comes out.

Duplicity by Richard Evans

This was the second book in Evans’s Democracy series, the first book of which, Deceit, was also featured on my favourite reads of 2018 list. Deceit was an excellent political thriller that expertly portrayed chaotic events that occur within Australia’s Parliament House. I was really looking forward to the sequel, especially as it was going to look at Australia’s electoral process, but unfortunately I just didn’t get a chance to read it. This is another one I am probably going to try and read in the next couple of weeks, and I think it is going to be a really outstanding piece of Australian fiction.

The Taking of Annie Thorne by C. J. Tudor

This was fantastic-sounding novel that I heard some good things about from other reviewers. The Taking of Annie Thorne, also titled The Hiding Place, was another dark thriller from Tudor, acclaimed author of The Chalk Man, which featured another of the author’s clever-sounding plots. I really want to check this one out in its audiobook format as it was narrated by Richard Armitage, and I look forward to hearing him tell the story.

Star Wars: Dooku: Jedi Lost by Cavan Scott

Somehow I failed to read all the Star Wars books that were released last year, which is just disappointing. Dooku: Jedi Lost is a deeply intriguing Star Wars novel that somehow failed to turn up on my radar until after its release. This piece of Star Wars fiction began life exclusively as an audio production, although a printed version has since been produced. The book examines the life of Star Wars antagonist Count Dooku and shows why he left the Jedi Order and how he was seduced by the Dark Side of the Force. Because it is a Star Wars novel, I already know I am going to love it, and it is pretty much guaranteed that I will listen to this at some point. I am really looking forward to learning more about the history of Count Dooku, and from the sounds of it, this book will have some strong ties to one of my favourite Star Was book of 2019, Master & Apprentice.

The Wolf’s Call by Anthony Ryan

The final book on this list is The Wolf’s Call by bestselling fantasy author Anthony Ryan. The Wolf’s Call is the first book in Ryan’s new Raven’s Blade series, which follows the adventures of a legendary warrior forced to fight another bloody war. This book has a really intriguing-sounding plot and received some very high praise from reviewers, so I will have to try and read it at some point. I might actually read the three books in Ryan’s Raven’s Shadow series first, as they are set in the same world.

It looks like I have a lot catch-up reading to do if I am going to make a dent in this list. There are some truly amazing-sounding novels on this list and I fully intend to get through all of them at some point, although with all the outstanding books coming out in 2020, it might take me a little time. In the meantime, let me know what books you most regret not reading in 2019 in the comments below.

Book Haul – 17 November 2019

On November 17, 2019November 17, 2019 By The Unseen LibraryIn Book Haul2 Comments

Before the new week starts up I just wanted to do a quick Book Haul post to look at the books I have received in the last couple of weeks. This haul is combination of books I have received from publishers, as well as a few books/comics that I bought myself. Most of these are sequels to some great novels/comics I have read in the past, as well as a couple of releases from some new authors that sound pretty interesting. Let’s dive in.

Starsight by Brandon Sanderson

Starsight Cover

Starsight is easily the book I was most excited about getting a copy of. Starsight is the epic sequel to Skyward, and it is a book that I have been looking forward to ever since I finished the Skyward last year, having previously featured Starsight in both a Waiting on Wednesday and My Top Ten Most Anticipated July-December 2019 Releases list. I actually just finished this book today and it was pretty amazing. Planning to get a review up for it soon so stay tuned.

Seven Crows by Kate Kessler

Seven Crows Cover.jpg

This is a cool sounding thriller that I am looking forward to checking out.

Josephine’s Garden by Stephanie Parkyn

Josephine's Garden Cover.jpg

This is an interesting historical fiction novel that looks at the life of Empress Josephine of France, should be fun to check out.

Grave Importance by Vivian Shaw

Grave Importance Cover

Grave Importance is the third book in Shaw’s fantastic Dr. Greta Helsing series. I really enjoyed the first two novels in the series, and I have been looking forward to this latest instalment for it for a while.

Traitors of Rome by Simon Scarrow

Traitors of Rome Cover

Another book that I have been looking forward to for a while. Scarrow is easily one of my favourite authors, and Traitors of Rome is a book that I really want to finish by the end of the year.

Angel: Volume One – Being Human by Bryan Edward Hill and Gleb Melnikov

Angel Volume 1 - Being Human.jpg

BOOM! Studios reimagining of the entire Whedonverse continues in this first volume of a brand new series of Angel comics. I really loved their new versions of the Buffy and Firefly canons, and I look forward to seeing their take on one of Joss Whedon’s most intriguing characters.

Uncanny X-Men: Wolverine and Cyclops – 2 by Matthew Rosenberg and Carlos Gomez

Wolverine and Cyclops 2 Cover.jpg

The second volume of a new series of Uncanny X-Men that sees the returning Wolverine and Cyclops team up once again. The first volume of this new series was pretty good, and I am interested to see where the story goes in this volume, especially with all the massive events occurring in other areas of the X-Men universe.
Looks like I have a lot of reading to do in the future, I should probably get started.

Waiting on Wednesday – Grave Importance by Vivian Shaw

On June 19, 2019June 19, 2019 By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, Horror, Waiting on Wednesday5 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy. Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.

For my latest Waiting on Wednesday segment, I look at a book that promises to be quite entertaining and features an incredibly eye-catching cover, Grave Importance by Vivan Shaw.

Grave Importance Cover.jpg

For the last two years I have had the pleasure of enjoying Vivian Shaw’s debut series, the Dr. Greta Helsing series: Strange Practice in 2017 and Dreadful Company in 2018. This has been a fun and intriguing series that combines intriguing mysteries and supernatural adventures with fascinating monster medicine. The titular series protagonist, Dr. Greta Helsing, is a London doctor whose unique practice caters to the city’s hidden creatures who go bump in the night, including vampires, mummies, ghouls and demons. Helsing and her monster companions also find themselves wrapped up in a series of magical or demonic incidences which require their intervention.

I have really enjoyed the first two books in the series and have been keeping an eye out for the third book, Grave Importance, for a few months now. I am quite excited by this third book, as it has an awesome-sounding synopsis and I think that it has a lot of promise.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A charmingly witty fantasy adventure in the world of Strange Practice, starring Dr. Greta Helsing, doctor to the undead, who must solve a dangerous medical mystery at a secret French spa for mummies.

Oasis Natrun: a private, exclusive, highly secret luxury health spa for mummies, high in the hills above Marseille, equipped with the very latest in therapeutic innovations both magical and medical. To Dr. Greta Helsing, London’s de facto mummy specialist, it sounds like paradise. But when Greta is invited to spend four months there as the interim clinical director, it isn’t long before she finds herself faced with a medical mystery that will take all her diagnostic skill to solve.

A peculiar complaint is spreading among her mummy patients, one she’s never seen before. With help from her friends and colleagues — including Dr. Faust (yes, that Dr. Faust), remedial psychopomps, a sleepy scribe-god, witches, demons, a British Museum curator, and the inimitable vampyre Sir Francis Varney — Greta must put a stop to this mysterious illness before anybody else crumbles to irreparable dust…

…and before the fabric of reality itself can undergo any more structural damage.

There are a number of great plot elements contained within the synopsis above that have me excited for Grave Importance. In particular, the continued use of monster medicine and the inclusion of a great troupe of supporting characters should make for an awesome read.

The focus on monster medicine in the previous books was probably one of my favourite things about the Dr. Greta Helsing series. The plot synopsis seems to strongly indicate that this book will be featuring a lot more monster medicine, as Helsing is investigating a unique medical malady among the mummies she is tending. That sounds perfect to me, and I hope that Shaw spends quite a large part of the book examining this medical mystery.

It also sounds like Shaw will be featuring some cool characters in her latest book. The first two novels have both featured a fun group of supporting characters, most of whom are monstrous or magical in origin. The synopsis above features references to several of these existing characters, and I will be very happy to see them come back. It also looks like Shaw has created a few new characters for this third novel, and several of their descriptions make them sound like fun inclusions. I think that this combination of existing and new characters will add a lot to the story and should make for an entertaining read.

Grave Importance is shaping up to be another great entry in the enjoyable Dr. Greta Helsing series. It sounds like Shaw is stacking the plot with some excellent story elements, and it should prove to be a lot of fun. Grave Importance is coming out in late August 2019, and I look forward to reading and reviewing it.

Dreadful Company by Vivian Shaw

On August 23, 2018August 22, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, Horror, Thriller5 Comments

Dreadful Company Cover.jpg

Publisher: Orbit

Publication Date – 24 July 2018

Amazon Book Depository

Those looking for an entertaining, intriguing and different take on the horror genre should investigate Dreadful Company, the latest book from author Vivian Shaw, which contains a thrilling story based around the doctor to your favourite fictional monsters.

Greta Helsing is London’s medical practitioner for the undead, providing specialised treatment to the city’s hidden community of ghouls, vampires, mummies and zombies. After being called to Paris to attend a supernatural medical conference, Greta’s plans to enjoy a stimulating discourse and debate on monster medicine is ruined when she is suddenly kidnapped off the street. Her abductors turn out to be a coven of young and murderous vampires led by the unhinged Corvin, who bears a particular grudge against Greta’s vampire friend Ruthven. Even more concerning, a member of Corvin’s coven is using magic to summon small and friendly magical creatures. While the creatures may be harmless, the ripples they are causing in reality are not, and represent a significant threat to our world.

While Greta is trapped in the tunnels and catacombs below Paris, her friends arrive in the city to save her. Legendary elder vampire Ruthven and Greta’s vampyre boyfriend, Sir Francis Varney, team up with Paris’s guardian werewolf, two immortal paranormal investigators and the city’s resident demon to free Greta and put an end to the dimensional instability. But Greta and her companions are about to find out that there are weirder and more dangerous things than a collection of bloodthirsty vampires in the tunnels underneath Paris.

Dreadful Company is Shaw’s follow-up to her 2017 debut novel, Strange Practice, and is the second book in her Dr Greta Helsing series. Dreadful Company returns several of the protagonists from the first book while also adding in a healthy number of new and exciting characters. A third book in the series is already planned; I will definitely be keeping an eye out for Grave Importance next year.

Shaw’s latest book contains a fun and electrifying adventure that pits several ancient beings and their doctor against a coven of vampires and the magical catastrophe they have created. The author tells her story through a range of characters to show many different perspectives of the adventure taking place. Not only is every single protagonist – including returning characters Greta, Ruthven and Varney, as well as new characters the werewolf St Germain, the remedial psychopomps Brightside and Dammerung and the demon Irazek – a point of view character, but so are several of the young vampires who serve as the book’s antagonists. This allows Shaw to tell a much wider story. Not only is the central adventure explored in greater detail from a several angles, but the motivations, shared histories and the underlying thought processes of the story’s key players are presented to the reader.

Shaw has made a smart decision to change the book’s main setting from London to Paris. Many writers can get bogged down in one location during their series, but Shaw did a fantastic job adapting her story to a completely new and unique cityscape, a trend that she will apparently continue to follow in her 2019 addition to the series. Shaw makes full use of several iconic Paris locations, particularly the catacombs and tunnels underneath the streets, which are the perfect setting for a horror story. Overall, Dreadful Company contains a rather exciting adventure story that makes spectacular use of its horror and fantasy elements, while also making use of the humour and history of its many point-of-view characters to lighten the darker tone of the book and create a unique and entertaining read.

I was extremely happy that Shaw included more examples of monster medicine within Dreadful Company. The examination of the medical techniques used on supernatural characters was one of the best features of Strange Practice, and was a very unique and compelling element of this first book. There are a number of wonderful general monster medicine scenes throughout the book, including a supernatural medicine conference where topics include ‘An overview of the various treatment modalities for tissue degeneration in Class A revenants’ (how to stop bits falling off zombies). Readers will really enjoy Dreadful Company’s interesting focus on the medicine of vampires. Shaw did spend a little time exploring the biology and treatment of vampires in the first book, which is expanded upon in Dreadful Company. There are several discussions about vampire anatomy and physiology, including some of the features of the different vampire subspecies. There is also a detailed look at the effect of certain substances on vampiric characters, including drugs and garlic, as well as the surprisingly devastating absinthe. The protagonist is also forced to treat a number of different vampire characters for a variety of different conditions, including an overdose, stab wounds and an infection caused by a ghoul bite. Once again, Shaw’s inclusion of monster medicine was an amazing part of this book, and I am looking forward to the third novel in the series, Grave Importance, which will focus on the care of mummies.

Aside from the examination of vampire biology, Shaw has also included a fascinating look into the different vampire mentalities, particularly when it comes to the old school versus the young bloods. The two elder vampire characters, Ruthven and Varney, are reformed from their violent past and are instead trying to live normal and peaceful lives alongside humans. The younger vampires, on the other hand, are bloodthirsty creatures who don’t follow any rules, kill indiscriminately and indulge in drugs and wanton behaviour. The differences between the behaviours of these two different types of vampires are quite noticeable, especially when the younger vampires try to live up to all of the vampire stereotypes, such as sleeping in coffins, wearing elaborate clothes and makeup, making up dumb names for themselves, developing a superiority complex and trying out various ways to make themselves glitter. While these inclusions are extremely fun, the readers will really experience chills when they see how angry the usually calm characters Ruthven and Varney get when they encounter these younger vampires and realise what taboos they have broken.

In addition to the creative and captivating use of vampire characters throughout the book, Shaw has referenced several other classic horror creatures and villains. There are several allusions to Frankenstein and The Phantom of the Opera, with the protagonists actually visiting the Phantom’s underground lair at one point. There are also other creatures, such as magically summoned hair monsters, well monsters and a whistle-summoned spirit, all of which play an interesting role in the plot. Some great humour also comes from the inclusion of several ghosts, many of whom can be found having a lively party in Paris’ iconic Père Lachaise cemetery. Highlights of this scene include a snarky Oscar Wilde and a musical Jim Morrison, both of whom have some great interactions with the new characters, Brightside and Dammerung.

Dreadful Company sees new author Vivian Shaw return with another fun and thrilling horror novel that contains a fast-paced adventure and a light comedy enhance tone. Shaw has invested in a range of new characters, a fresh setting and some appealing fantasy and horror elements. The author’s clever and memorable inclusion of monster medicine once again shines through as the book’s best feature, as well as the detailed examination of the vampire psyche. An absolutely amazing second outing from Shaw, Dreadful Company is a fantastic read that will prove to be both unique and captivating to a huge range of readers.