Book reviews

Some of John Marrs' best books are clever thought experiments - science fiction-ish 'what-ifs' - and this book falls firmly into that category.Here, a new reality show offers would-be parents a chance to look after their virtual child from birth in the metaverse, with...

A fascinating dive into the murky world of online romance fraud.I liked how the author was always sympathetic to the victims. It would be easy to say 'they should've known' but as Holmes shows, many of the victims are at incredibly low points in their lives when the...

A nail-biter so tense I often had to look away and catch my breath.We're now three books into (I'm assuming) four of this apocalyptic adventure where all the adults are dead (bar one or two) and the children are still trying to figure out how to survive and build a...

From the cover, I initially thought this would be a cosy crime, perhaps populated by older ladies, but no. Instead, it's a coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of the Yorkshire Ripper killings.Miv is our main character, who lives in a small Yorkshire town....

A suspense thriller reminiscent of TV hit Succession if it took an even darker turn.The plot: Emily hasn't spoken to her friend Belle in years. Now married to the head of a huge wealthy family, Belle invites Emily onto a cruise with her for moral support. And maybe...

The fourth entry in the Stranger Times series starts with someone floating above Manchester. Until they stop floating and land very messily at the feet of one of our main characters... Once again the staff of supernatural happenings magazine 'The Stranger Times'...

Another good read in this series. Book 2 picks up directly from the end of book 1 and I wouldn't advise trying to read it as a standalone if you want to make the most of the story. As before, there are a bunch of kids trying to survive in a nearly adultless,...

I thought this was a wonderful rom-com. All that is required from you, as a reader, if you are to truly enjoy it, is to have the ability to suspend disbelief a little over some timey-wimey magical 'stuff'. Essentially, this is a book in the vein of fantastical (but...

This is a long, complex novel with hard SF ideas at the foundation of its premise and characters you grow to love at its heart. It's going to be tough to summarise in a review. It begins when scientist Hadiz Tambuwal, based in Lagos, develops a form of amateur...

Five stars from me. But do take into account that this is a fun, light, very silly and really quite sweary SF book. It's not going to hit that hard for everyone. (But maybe it will!)Charlie is a substitute teacher with money troubles and a yearning desire to buy a...

The Day The Earth Turned is book one in a post-apocalyptic YA series - and it surpassed my expectations. It begins after a pandemic or two or three. All (or almost all) the adults are dead. The focus is on a small town (village?) and its outskirts, and the two big...

A compelling domestic suspense novel that also manages to tell a story of families surviving across the ages. After her mum and step-dad are murdered, and step-brother Martin sentenced for their deaths, Nancy realises she has to disappear. She flees to her mother's...

None of This is True is a read-in-one-day, expertly put-together psychological thriller, and I thoroughly enjoyed every single page. It begins with Josie and Alix crossing paths at a local pub one day, and realising they are both celebrating the same birthday on the...

My second book with 'Zero' in the title in a row, and the second review in a row where I'm going to do a TV comparison... In this case, Going Zero reminds me of Channel 4's The Hunted x BBC 1's The Capture. In other words, a thrilling chase vs the technology all...

If you were forced to sum up Camp Zero with a single comparison, you could say: "Climate change meets The Handmaid's Tale" - thought that is, of course, an oversimplification. Set in the far north of Canada, on of the few remaining cool spots in the world, there a...