Caroline

Having read William, (also by Mason Coile), last year, and been suitably creeped out by it (robot doll on a tricycle, anyone?), I was hoping for more of the same with Exiles. Reader, I was not disappointed. 🤖

The year is 2030. Mission Commander Blake and his crew of two, engineer Kang and medic Gold, are en route to Mars. This is not an exploration, these three will be the first settlers on the colony.

Three bots have been sent ahead of them, to ready the base for human inhabitation. 🤖

You can take it as a given that all is not well on the red planet. There's a sinister threat at the base, but what exactly is the threat? Is it alien 👾, or is it a rogue bot? 🤖 Well, you're just going to have to read the book for yourself to find out, aren't you?

Well paced and twisty, Exiles is akin to a sci-fi locked room mystery. A very claustrophobic room, on Mars.

Thanks to John Murray Press and Netgalley for the digital ARC.

I have been a huge fan of John Connolly since I read his debut novel Every Dead Thing, over 20 years ago. The Charlie Parker series is one of the best series around.
The Land of Lost Things is not a Charlie Parker book however, but it is definitely one of the best books I have read this year.
If the title sounds a little familiar, it's because in 2006 the author sent a book called The Book of Lost Things out into the world. The Book of Lost Things was a poignant fairytale of sorts, set in the land of Elsewhere. The central character of the story was David, a boy who had lost his mother and traveled to the land of Elsewhere in the hope of finding her again. There, he met many fairytale characters and strange creatures.
The Land of Lost Things is the sequel to The Book of Lost Things, the sequel we didn't know we needed, but wanted just the same. It is a return to Elsewhere, in the company of Ceres, a mother who fears she is losing her child and hopes to find her in this strange land.
It is a beautiful book. It would be unfair to compare it to its predecessor. They share a land and some characters, but each tale is different. They are both poignant, beautiful stories and the one thing that stands out in both of them is the author's love of books and stories.

I love short stories and especially love Stephen King's anthologies. I have read “Nightshift” many times and the stories are just as chilling now as when I first read it 30 odd years ago.

Another great read from Jefferson Bass featuring Dr. Bill Brockton and The Body Farm. in “The Bone Thief”, Dr Bill finds himself helping the FBI as they try to gather evidence of illegal body selling. An absorbing read with great characters and an interesting plot.

My first outing with Logan MacRae, and it definitely won't be my last. A cracking great read.