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Welcome to my June and July book haul here on ATIB! I have been focusing on new forms of posts so much that I completely forgot about putting together a book haul to acknowledge all the brilliant books coming my way. I do share them on Instagram so I can always show my appreciation. I like to use these posts to give everyone an idea of where I am at with my reading and to share interest in certain books. Thank you to all the publisher who are kind enough to send books my way, especially Gollancz and Titan, and I am eager to catch up with them all as soon as I can.

June/July 2018 Book Haul

Released 28.06.18 via Gollancz

This looks so far out there that it should be awesome. I love conspiracy theories and shady scientific stories so The Quanderhorn Xperimentations should suit me well.

Book Synopsis

England, 1952.

A time of peace, regeneration and hope. A Golden Age.

Unfortunately, it’s been 1952 for the past 65 years.

Meet Professor Quanderhorn: a brilliant, maverick scientific genius with absolutely no moral compass. Assisted by a rag-tag crew – his part-insect “son” (reputedly ‘a major breakthrough in Artificial Stupidity’), a recovering amnesiac, a brilliant scientist with a half-clockwork brain, and a captured Martian hostage – he’ll save the world.

Even if he has to destroy it in the process.

With his Dangerous Giant Space Laser, Utterly Untested Matter Transfuser Booth and Fleets of Monkey-driven Lorries, he’s not afraid to push the boundaries of science to their very limit.

And far, far beyond…

Release 20.09.18 via Gollancz

I need to start getting into huge epic fantasy series again. Chris Wooding’s The Ember Blade looks like a good place to start. It has tones of Arthurian Legend meets Game Of Thrones; I hope this novel is as good as it sounds!

Book Synopsis

Aren has lived by the rules all his life. He’s never questioned it; that’s just the way things are. But then his father is executed for treason, and he and his best friend Cade are thrown into a prison mine, doomed to work until they drop. Unless they can somehow break free . . .

But what lies beyond the prison walls is more terrifying still. Rescued by a man who hates him yet is oath-bound to protect him, pursued by inhuman forces, Aren slowly accepts that everything he knew about his world was a lie. The rules are not there to protect him, or his people, but to enslave them. A revolution is brewing, and Aren is being drawn into it, whether he likes it or not.

The key to the revolution is the Ember Blade. The sword of kings, the Excalibur of his people. Only with the Ember Blade in hand can their people be inspired to rise up . . . but it’s locked in an impenetrable vault in the most heavily guarded fortress in the land.

All they have to do now is steal it…

Released 03.07.18 via Titan Books

I have seen a lot of love for The Book Of Hidden Things within the book community. I am excited to read such a vivid and intriguing novel, despite the cover art. If it represents anything to do with the story too much then I may have to sit this one out.

Book Synopsis

Four old school friends have a pact: to meet up every year in the small town in Puglia they grew up in. Art, the charismatic leader of the group and creator of the pact, insists that the agreement must remain unshakable and enduring. But this year, he never shows up.

A visit to his house increases the friends’ worry; Art is farming marijuana. In Southern Italy doing that kind of thing can be very dangerous. They can’t go to the Carabinieri so must make enquiries of their own. This is how they come across the rumours about Art; bizarre and unbelievable rumours that he miraculously cured the local mafia boss’s daughter of terminal leukaemia. And among the chaos of his house, they find a document written by Art, The Book of Hidden Things, which promises to reveal dark secrets and wonders beyond anything previously known.

Francesco Dimitri’s first novel written in English, following his career as one of the most significant fantasy writers in Italy, will entrance fans of Elena Ferrante, Neil Gaiman and Donna Tartt. Set in the beguiling and seductive landscape of Southern Italy, this story is about friendship and landscape, love and betrayal; above all it is about the nature of mystery itself.

Released 28.06.18 via Quercus Books

I did an interview with Thea Lim and she made me really want to read An Ocean Of Minutes. It is very high on my TBR and I look forward to delving into a story about desperate love and time travel. This will be my first.

Book Synopsis

Polly and Frank are young and in love, a lifetime together before them. But one evening in 1980, as the Texas sun sets over their shoulders, the world is suddenly pulled apart by a deadly virus. Within months, Frank is dying. Polly can save him, but only if she agrees to a radical plan: to time travel to 1993 for a corporation who can fund his life-saving treatment. She can only go forward, she cannot go back. And she must leave everything she loves behind, including Frank.

All they have is the promise of a future together: they will find each other again in twelve years’ time, in Galveston, Texas, where the sea begins.

But when something goes wrong and Polly arrives late, Frank is nowhere to be found. Completely alone, Polly must navigate a terrifying new world to find him, and to discover if their love has endured.

An Ocean of Minutes is a devastating and timely novel about courage, yearning, the cost of holding onto the past – and the price of letting it go.

Released 28/06/18 via Gollancz (Orion)

OH YEAH. Ravencry was as good as I could have imagined and more. What a sequel! There is a ton of love for Ed McDonald this year and for very good reason. Ravencry is a success that takes the Raven’s Mark series to another level. More power, more misery and many more battles. Get involved!

Book Synopsis

For Ryhalt Galharrow, working for Crowfoot as a Blackwing captain is about as bad as it gets – especially when his orders are garbled, or incoherent, or impossible to carry out.

The Deep Kings are hurling fire from the sky, a ghost in the light known only as the Bright Lady had begun to manifest in visions across the city, and the cult that worship her grasp for power while the city burns around them.

Galharrow may not be able to do much about the cult – or about strange orders from the Nameless – but when Crowfoot’s arcane vault is breached and an object of terrible power is stolen, he’s propelled into a race against time to recover it. Only to do that, he needs answers, and finding them means travelling into nightmare: to the very heart of the Misery.

RAVENCRY is the second book in the Raven’s Mark series, continuing the story that began with the award winning epic fantasy BLACKWING.

Released 10/07/18 via Titan Books

This is next on my reading list! Adam Christopher’s last Raymond Electromatic outing was a brilliant treat. I hope we get plenty more exceptional robot P.I/Hitman antics this time around as well.

Book Synopsis

Another Hollywood night, another job for electric-detective-turned-robotic-hitman Raymond Electromatic. The target is a tall man in a black hat, and while Ray completes his mission successfully, he makes a startling discovery―one he soon forgets when his 24-hour memory tape loops to the end and is replaced with a fresh reel…

Time is running out for Ray and Ada, and if Ray and Ada want to survive their enemies, they need to do exactly what the man in the black hat says. A man that Raymond Electromatic has already killed.

Released 26/06/18 via Titan Books

Paul Tremblay is an author that I want to invest more time in. A Head Full Of Ghosts still sits with me even after reading it nearly two years ago. I need to get into TCATEOTW as soon as possible. I have heard great things about the novel already!

Book Synopsis

Seven-year-old Wen and her parents, Eric and Andrew, are vacationing at a remote cabin on a quiet New Hampshire lake, with their closest neighbours more than two miles in either direction.

As Wen catches grasshoppers in the front yard, a stranger unexpectedly appears in the driveway. Leonard is the largest man Wen has ever seen but he is young and friendly. Leonard and Wen talk and play until Leonard abruptly apologises and tells Wen, “None of what’s going to happen is your fault”. Three more strangers arrive at the cabin carrying unidentifiable, menacing objects. As Wen sprints inside to warn her parents, Leonard calls out: “Your dads won’t want to let us in, Wen. But they have to. We need your help to save the world.”

So begins an unbearably tense, gripping tale of paranoia, sacrifice, apocalypse, and survival that escalates to a shattering conclusion, one in which the fate of a loving family and quite possibly all of humanity are intertwined.

The Cabin at the End of the World is a masterpiece of terror and suspense from the fantastically fertile imagination of Paul Tremblay.

Released 15/05/18 via Titan Books

I could not wait for book three of the Warlock Holmes series. The first two books are such a laugh and explore a fascinatingly unique iteration of the world’s greatest detective. I think G.S Denning hit his stride in book two so I am eager to see what Warlock is getting up to next.

Book Synopsis

As they blunder towards doom, Warlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson find themselves inconvenienced by a variety of eldritch beings. Christmas brings a goose that doesn’t let being cooked slow it down; they meet an electricity demon, discover why being a redhead is even tricker than one might imagine, and Holmes attempts an Irish accent. And, naturally, Moriarty is hanging around… in some form or other.

Released 30/08/18 via Orbit (Little, Brown)

I am desperate to read Bloody Rose as I have heard nothing but praise but I still need to read Kings Of The Wyld first. I am behind on my Eames and that is unacceptable. Hopefully by the time you are reading this I will have started the series. Wish me luck!

Book Synopsis

Tam Hashford is tired of working at her local pub, slinging drinks for world-famous mercenaries and listening to the bards sing of adventure and glory in the world beyond her sleepy hometown.

When the biggest mercenary band of all rolls into town, led by the infamous Bloody Rose, Tam jumps at the chance to sign on as their bard. It’s adventure she wants-and adventure she gets as the crew embark on a quest that will end in one of two ways: glory or death.

IT’S TIME TO TAKE A WALK ON THE WYLD SIDE

Released 05/07/18 via Robinson (Little, Brown)

It is both awesome and sad to say that the Periodic Table is one of my all time favourite discussion topics. I know I come across as a badass but science is in my heart and it was an absolute pleasure to read Elemental. I had a great time within these pages and learned even more about the table than I already knew. Definitely one of the best popular science books for 2018.

Book Synopsis

If you want to understand how our world works, the periodic table holds the answers. This book shows you how to use it to understand all the ingredients necessary to make a world.

The Universe came into being 13.8 billion years ago. At this point, all of existence could be summed up as an endless soup of particles frothing at temperatures many times hotter than the Sun. It was chaos. Fortunately, as the Universe expanded, everything began to cool and the particles stabilised. It was around this time, as disorder gave way to order, that the elements were born. Fast forward to June 2016 and the periodic table of elements was finally completed with the discovery and addition of four new elements. At last we could identify all the ingredients necessary to make a world. But it doesn’t stop there. Human ingenuity knows no bounds; we have even begun to invent our own elements and have created an entire science devoted to their study: chemistry.

When it comes to chemistry, Tim James knows his stuff. In Elemental he tells the story of the periodic table from its ancient Greek roots, when you could count the number of elements humans were aware of on one hand, to the modern alchemists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, who have used nuclear chemistry and physics to generate new elements and complete the periodic table. In addition to this, James answers questions such as:

What is the chemical symbol for a human?

What would happen if all of the elements were mixed together?

How many bananas can you stand next to before you die of radiation sickness?

Which liquid can teleport through walls?

Why is the medieval dream of transmuting lead into gold now a reality?

Released 14/06/18 via Gollancz (Orion)

Rhyming Rings blew me away and when Gollancz asked if I would review White Knight/Black Swan I was incredibly pleased. Another enticing crime story from a fantasy legend. You need to check out Rhyming Rings if you haven’t already and keep an eye out for this review very soon.

Book Synopsis

A stunning, long-lost and highly sought-after crime novel by the legendary David Gemmell returns to print after twenty-five years.

David Gemmell was the UK’s number one fantasy and historical novelist until his death in 2006. A regular Sunday Times bestseller, and international sensation, his legacy lives on through his novels, his influence on the genre, and through the David Gemmell Legend awards.

White Knight/Black Swan was David Gemmell’s crime thriller debut, first published under a pseudonym in 1993 and long out of print, and highly sought-after by readers. Re-editing and republished under his own name, it’s a must read for fans of his heroic and powerful style.

An action-filled story set in working class London in the 1980’s, Jardine is a bouncer and gang enforcer with a heart of gold. To protect a friend, he goes up against an Irishman demanding protection money – only to realise too late that they work for the same employer.

One act of kindness will lead to murder, betrayal, blackmail and some long-hidden secrets…

Released 23/08/18 via Quercus Books

What do I need more of in my reading these days? Crime-Thrillers is the answer and I am beyond pleased that Quercus has sent me An Autumn Hunting. Tom is writing me a guest post as we speak and I will be sharing in August as part of the blog tour so keep your eye peeled.

Book Synopsis

No sooner has Akyl Borubaev been reinstated as an Inspector in the Bishkek Murder Squad than he’s suspended for alleged serious crimes against the state.

After an attempted assassination of a prominent minister goes spectacularly wrong, Akyl is a fugitive from his former colleagues and involved with one of Kyrgyzstan’s most dangerous criminals.

On the run, caught up in a illegal scheme that can only end badly, it’s time for Akyl to take a stand for everything he believes in.

Released 24/07/18 via Quercus Books

I did a great Q&A with JP Delaney last week and it has made Believe Me shoot to the top of my TBR. I didn’t read A Girl Before but there was a huge amount of love for it in the book community. I am ready for a psychological thriller that will blow my mind!

Book Synopsis

One aspiring actress from the UK pays for her acting class in New York the only way she can: as a decoy for a firm of divorce lawyers, hired to entrap straying husbands. When the police begin investigating one of her targets for murdering his wife – and potentially others – they ask her to help lure the suspect into a confession.

But with the actress pretending to be someone she’s not, differentiating the decoy from the prey becomes impossible – and deadly.

Thank you for stopping by to check out my latest book hauls. There are some spectacular reads on this list and I hope everyone manages to pick up at least one! Ravencry was definitely my 100% favourite read on this list and I know at lot of people agree with me. If you haven’t checked out Ed McDonald yet then you are seriously missing out. If you have read any of these books yourself then I would love to know what you thought. Thanks for your support, come back for another book haul soon!