A quiet Irish town the discovery of something metal long buried under the sand. Unearthed is a submarine and inside a last gasp Nazi chemical weapon from the end of the Second World War.

The healthy get ill and die, but rise again, to stalk the town and seek to bite and infect the living. Cut off and quarantined by the army, the townsfolk desperately fight to stay alive and try and make for an ancient keep during low tide in the estuary.

Nice to see a zombie plague set in another country from the US and with likable characters the story zips along nicely with well choice and creative prose.

If you like a good zombie book and fancy something a little different this is worth a punt.

One puzzle is the arrival of British soldiers in a helicopter at one point which adds nothing to the plot and why they are there at all, is never explained?

Santa Rosa, CA (January 21, 2010)- On January 1st, 2010 Damnation Books, LLC took the reins of Eternal Press, moving the previously Canadian based publisher to the United States. Both companies specialize in ebooks and also paperback editions of their fiction.

The two companies remain separate brand entities but will share staff and resources. Damnation Books is found online at www.damnationbooks.com and Eternal Press at www.eternalpress.ca however, Eternal Press will be moving to a new website address soon. Readers and writers can visit the current site and will be redirected once the change occurs.

Ally Robertson former CEO of Eternal Press stated, “I handed over the Eternal Press reins to Kim Richards Gilchrist of Damnation Books LLC. I did so with great faith that by combining her efforts and resources she will take these two companies to the forefront of the E-pub industry. My decision to step down and stay on as the Head of Production and Art departments is a result of my confidence in her to take Eternal Press to heights I couldn’t. I wish all the best for both companies and know that with team work almost anything is possible.”

Kim Richards Gilchrist, CEO of Damnation Books, LLC and now, Eternal Press followed, “We are thrilled to bring Eternal Press to America. By sharing staff and resources, we expect both publishers to grow, beginning in 2010. Ally Robertson is staying on to head the production department, where her design expertise will benefit most.

“Eternal Press will continue to bring great romance, historical, contemporary, science fiction, fantasy and erotic fiction . We plan to expand the GBLT titles and reopen to Young Adult stories. Damnation Books remains dedicated to dark fiction, bringing you great horror, thrillers, dark fantasy, science fiction, erotica and will be opening up to dark-themed gay fiction. Both companies strive to bring quality reading at affordable prices in ebook (including kindle and iphone) and paperback editions.”

More information can be obtained by contacting Marketing Manager, Sheryl Connelly, via email at eternalpresspromotions@gmail.com.

I’ve read other great works by Heather: THE SÉANCE, HAUNTED and GHOST WALK to name a few, all of which were fun reads, so when I saw DUST TO DUST I was pretty excited to sit down and get started.

Sadly, I was disappointed. While it shared promise with ties to the book of Revelation (a personal favorite of mine), Mayan prophecies of the world ending in 2012 and the realm of the supernatural, it ended up just being a bunch of blah. Characters with great potential were left untouched, while the ones we were supposed to care for I found boring if not annoying. And finally, there’s the twist towards the end that made it hard for me to finish reading.

I hate writing negative reviews about a book, especially seeing as I know how much work goes into writing one, but part of our mission statement is to give honest opinions—good or bad.

My Verdict:

I was bored and had a hard time finishing. I thought maybe I was being too harsh so I read other reviews online and again, sadly, I was not alone in my opinion. You could certainly do worse; however, this one is safe to skip. Instead go watch an episode of NBC's HEROES.

The back-cover:

Not long ago, Scott Bryant would have described himself as an ordinary guy. But one act of heroism has changed his life forever—or at least until the apocalypse occurs. Because the end of the world is on its way.

Suddenly and inexplicably possessed of superhuman strength, Scott finds himself allied with the enigmatic and alluring Melanie Regan in a quest to find the mysterious Oracle in hopes of averting the absolute destruction that threatens.

Melanie herself has been falling into trances, sketching terrifying visions of future events—and she wants answers. She knows better than Scott where to look for help, but even she cannot fathom the powers that have thrust them together in an epic battle of good against evil.

The earth itself will soon turn against its inhabitants, and now mortal and immortal must join forces if any are to survive.

Danny has spent years focusing on medical school and now that it’s over all he wants is to finally start his life. He wants to marry his girlfriend, start his residency and settle down. But instead of saying yes to his proposal, Danny’s girlfriend says she’ll think about it, and on the day of his final exam, he finally gets the answer in the form of a note.
She’s leaving for London where she will travel across Europe on the Magic Bus to Kathmandu.

Devastated and not wanting to let “the one” get away, Danny decides to take on this strange journey in hopes of finding her, where he can get some resolution. But when the bus arrives in Kabul, the day the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in ‘79, Danny is not only fighting for his life, but fighting a war.

This story pulled you in right away. There was love, there was the mystery of strange countries and people, and an adventure that almost all of us dream of going on. The only thing that gnawed at me while I was reading it was that I was being told what was happening, instead of being immersed in the story through the characters and landscapes.
Otherwise…good stuff from Levy.

Jillian has just lost her sister to suicide. But instead of grieving, she throws herself in the search for a killer, for she’s convinced that her sister did not kill herself with pills.
Dr. Garrity has lost his best friend to post-traumatic stress disorder. But instead of letting sleeping dogs lie, he searches the streets obsessively for his missing friend. Both soon discover the horrifying connection between two seemingly random people, with each other and the last surgeon.

As per usual Palmer fashion, this clever thriller kept me guessing until the very end. There were just enough twists and sketchy characters to make any hardcore thriller reader happy and enough romance to satisfy the lonely hearts. Dr. Garrity was a perfect example of post-traumatic disorder, something that most soldiers are plagued with after war, and of which civilians (and bureaucrats) seem not to understand. Jillian a strong woman, who never sacrifices her instinct and intuition, for simple answers. Perfect characters for everyone to identify with, learn a lesson, and take courage from .

There are definitely no disappointments with Palmer’s lastest…there’s a reason why every one of his novels has made the bestseller list and this apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Variance Publishing has just announced its latest release SILVER by Steven Savile.

Sometimes the truth is anything but honest.

Sometimes the stories everyone knows by heart are lies.

Sometimes lies are all we have left.


Two thousand years ago, thirty silver Tyrian shekels were paid to secure the most infamous betrayal of all time. Melted down by the grandsons of Judas Iscariot, Menahem and Eleazar ben Jair, in the dark heart of the Sicarii fortress, Masada, the silver was re-forged as a dagger. When the Sicarii zealots committed mass suicide in AD73 the dagger of Iscariot and the truth of his sacrifice were lost. Until now.

A religious cult calling itself the Disciples of Judas has risen in the Middle East. Its influence is pernicious, its reach long. In thirteen cities across Europe thirteen people martyr themselves in the name of Judas, promising forty days and forty nights of terror. They twist the words of ancient prophecies to drive home the fear. On the last day, they promise, faith will fall. Everything you believe in will be proved wrong. Everything you hold true will fail.

Day by day the West wakes to increasingly more harrowing acts of terror. Fear cripples the capitals of Europe, who will be the next to fall? London? Rome? Berlin?

In a race against time – and prophecy – believing the terrorists intend to assassinate the Pope as part of their plan to bring down the Catholic Church, Sir Charles Wyndham’s team of combat specialists, codename Ogmios, tracks a labyrinthine course through truth, shades of truth and outright lies that takes them from the backstreets of London to the shadow of Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin all the way into the heart of the Holy See itself.

Forty days and forty nights of fear. And today is day one.

Living in Hong Kong, as a Neil Diamond impersonator, Neil is destitute, abandoned and unloved. He is desperately trying to cling to the last hope that can make all the abeyance worthwhile. His weary body and spirit, suddenly begin to make tragic decisions that go against obvious ethics, slowly changing a man’s convictions to appease his ego.

The desperation that arises from this character’s choices versus the voice of reason very much mirrors humanity’s. Neil’s struggles are our struggles. Through very meticulous prose, some of the best I’ve seen, I often found myself ignoring the slowness of the plot, knowing that there was a greater story to be told. Perhaps, there was even salvation.

Hiram Grange and the Twelve Little Hitlers

Pour yourself a glass of Absinthe, oil your Webley and sit down and enjoy the irreverent bleak ride that is the monster hunter life of our anti-hero in this series of Novella.

It begins with an Agatha Christie rhyme of what’s gonna happen and it delivers a path of death and drug and booze filled destruction that is played for sick fun, but makes the ending and final solution even more barbaric and cruel.

Hiram Grange is back and has to hunt down twelve clones little Hitlers from every quirky corner of the US, but will he live to see the end as he is pulled down into the abyss of self-destruction.

Twelve Little Hitlers is more morbid and morose than it’s bastard sire Village of the Damned and a little less fun, but where do we go from here I cannot wait to see, wherever it is, it’s gonna be green alcohol fuelled ride and I’m lucky to be one of the passengers.

Young, attractive teens? Check. Romantic conflict? Check. Hot young guy driving really fast on a motorcycle? Check. Clichéd spooky keep with a horrid past? Check. Lots of hard body testosterone flying around? Check.

Possessed, has us following Rayne as she struggles to leave the craziness of her everyday life behind. Like many teens today, she’s desperate to find a place where she belongs, a place where she can be at peace and one that is far away from how she currently just exists. In her quest for freedom she’s hired on as staff at Morton’s Keep, to work in the tea room, serving its visitors as they tour the creepy old landmark and inquire about its rumored sordid past.

Not long after her arrival she meets with a young group of attractive teens that take her in as one of their own almost immediately. However, she soon learns that there may be other motives behind her new-found friends.

I’m really not sure what to think after reading Possessed It read quickly and was actually entertaining, but I felt like the story kept going nowhere. In fact, you really don’t learn anything about Rayne’s friends and the black past of Morton’s Keep until the last five or six chapters.

To be fair, I’m not a Young Adult Fiction fan; however, I can’t help but think that Possessed will be a great hit among its intended audience. It follows the same seductive formula not too unlike that of the Stephanie Myer’s, Twilight Series, which is really hot among young readers right now.

My verdict:

If you want a quick, easy and guilty pleasure read, check out Kate Cann’s, Possessed.

Keep reading!

- Dan.

Un-freaking-believable.

That’s the first word that comes to mind as I sit down to write this review. It has been a long time since I’ve read a book in a single sitting. Joe Hill’s HORNS is simply incredible and just goes to prove that he has the talent to stand on his own rather than ride the shirt-tails of his father. In short: Joe Hill rocks!

HORNS, tells the story of a broken man who wakes one day to find devilish horns have sprung from his head. At first he’s shocked and believes he’s dying, but he soon discovers that these horns have a great power—albeit an unpleasant one. Throughout the story he reminds us of what it means to be human, to love, to err, to hate and to kill. He shows us the darker side of human nature as well as the lighter side of forgiveness and love. In the end Joe has us questioning ourselves, our motives, and rightly so, the choices we make and the reasons (or lack thereof) for making them.

Joe took me on an emotional rollercoaster of a ride—an awesome one at that. I felt what Ig felt, I hated as Ig hated, I wanted revenge as Ig did and in the end, had I acted on my initial impulses, I would have learned how very wrong I could’ve been for doing so. In HORNS, Joe reminds us how impulsive we are as a people, how open we are to suggestion and how we tend to react without all the facts. Several times I learned that if I had been Ig and had reacted immediately (as sometimes I do), I would have committed unspeakable acts for all the wrong reasons and hated myself as a result. Whether he intended to or not, Joe teaches a valuable lesson in not jumping to conclusions, patience, truth and forgiveness. How many times I have stood in line, silently cursing the slow person in front of me, only to discover after that this person had a handicap and a simple thing like reaching for a wallet or signing a check was a major accomplishment for them. I’ve done it and I’ve felt horrible afterwards. HORNS will have you thinking twice next time you start to get irritated with someone or something.

My verdict:

I absolutely loved HORNS and you will too. Look for it on February 16, 2010 and make sure to add this to your must reads for 2010. You won’t be disappointed; I promise.

Keep reading!

- Dan.