Unraveller by Frances Hardinge  

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Macmillan Children's Books; Main Market edition (1 Sept. 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 496 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1509836977
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1509836970

A book review by Tony Jones 

Living with curses becomes a way of life in Frances Hardinge’s superb
‘Unraveller,’ which is topped with lashings of charm, heart, and originality


A new Frances Hardinge novel is a major literary event and the sublime Unraveller continues her tremendous run of five truly outstanding YA novels on the bounce, dating back to 2014. Having won the Costa Prize (for The Lie Tree), the Robert Holdstock Award for Best Fantasy Novel (Cuckoo Song) from the British Fantasy Society and nominations for prestigious prizes including the Carnegie Medal, the James Herbert Award, the YA Book Award and the Andre Norton Award, she is an absolute expert in crafting highly original dark fantastic fiction. This author is a national treasure and the uncrowned queen of intelligent teenage fantasy (although her books often straddle genres and are notoriously difficult to classify) and calling her ‘The Queen’ really does not do her talent justice. Perhaps ‘Grand Wizard of Fantasy’ or ‘High Priestess of the Dark Arts’ or something else Terry Pratchetesque, of which her latest novel has loving nods towards, is more fitting.


Over the last decade Hardinge has written a mere six novels, in the world of YA this is a minimal output, but if one is to continually create entirely believable new fantasy worlds, simply put, you cannot bang out a novel every year without the quality and creativity dipping. Her previous novel Darklight (2019) was set on the incredibly well-developed island world of Myriad and most authors (especially in the world of YA) would simply have followed that sequel set in the same nicely established world. Not Hardinge, she bucks this YA formula entirely and instead provides us with another wonderful new world, completely different from Myriad, but every bit as believable, charming and idiosyncratic. The ability to curse others lies at the heart of Unraveller and the great Terry Pratchett himself would have been proud of this creation! YA literature is drowning with unnecessary sequels and overstretched trilogies and I greatly admire the way Hardinge cheerfully does her own thing. But I am not going to lie; I would also welcome a return to the wonderful island world of Myriad!


Hardinge very rarely sets her fiction in contemporary periods or settings. She has said this means the easy avoidance of annoying mobile phones, or other technology, and has a particular fondness for the early 20th century, whilst also often avoids romance. All too frequently a love interest is thrown into a novel because it is an expected part of the YA formula and I appreciated the fact that the two main characters in Unraveller (both around fifteen) were particularly good friends and there was no need to turn it into something stronger. Their friendship ran incredibly deep and it worked beautifully well, beating at the heart of a very engaging story.


If you have ever read Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels you’ll know that the librarian was an orangutang who was previously a wizard turned into an ape when a spell went wrong, however, he kind of enjoyed being an orangutang and nobody ever got round to turning him back into a human. One of the main characters in Unraveller has the ability to ‘unravel’ curses which have been inflicted upon other people, a skill which is exceedingly rare and one could imagine him fitting snugly into a Pratchett novel with the orangutang the type of curse which might materialise in Unraveller. Pratchett’s Discworld novels had an unwritten philosophy of ‘everything will be all right in the end’ and although Unraveller is dark fantasy, Hardinge adopts a similar philosophy and plays it pitch perfect as the characters go on an exciting adventure to find inner peace and harness their powers whilst solving a mystery. Hell, as Kellan and Nettle struggled they could have done with one of Pratchett’s finest creations, Granny Weatherwax, turning up to give them help and lessons in life! This book had tremendous heart and I am sure thoughtful kids aged twelve and above will enjoy tapping into its off-beat and peculiar style of magic.


As with all Hardinge novels a great concept lies at the core of Unraveller: the ability to curse. It is tricky to convey in words how this strange ability works so here is an example; siblings are cursed and are turned into two distinct types of birds, one bird without realising it kills and eats their human sibling without realising they were a much smaller bird. The surviving bird is later turned back into a person and then fully understands they have consumed their family member. How do they cope with the guilt? Tricky. That was one nasty curse! Here’s another: a man is turned into a worm which is repeatedly put on a fishing hook (by the guy who cursed him) and repeatedly gobbled up by fish before being put on the hook again. Curses are expected to last a long time and are guaranteed to be very unpleasant, long lasting and inventive.


However, early in the novel we realise that Kellen can ‘unravel’ curses, but he also has anger management issues and other problems. He travels with his best friend Nettle, who was previously cursed, turned into a bird and still communicates with her brother who has chosen to remain in bird form. Together they are recruited to investigate an organisation which is collecting life-destroying curses which takes them on a very odd journey across ‘The Wilds,’ the most dangerous and unmapped part of the country, where even telling somebody your name might give them power over you. The journey and exploits form a large part of the novel and was joyfully creative, full of quirky characters and clever nuggets which slowly and delicately revealed how this strange land and cursing ticked. Do not be put off by the YA ‘banner’ this novel has, anybody could read it and the fact that both Cuckoo Song and The Lie Tree won major adult prizes clearly illustrate the impressive range of this author.


Genuine child readers will need to read carefully to get their head around how the cursing system worked and I loved the prison where caught ‘cursers’ were sent (many by Kellen) to have them nullified. There was also a very entertaining sequence where the pair visit a ‘cursed’ village and they realise that the locals might not want the curse lifted! (They had their reasons and this was also a nod to something you might see in a Terry Pratchett novel).


The land of Raddith is a brilliantly described setting; beautiful, menacing, populated by strange creatures and full of inhabitants with real fear of the unknown and potential curses which could come unexpectedly and from anyone. It is so vividly described that children will truly be able to let their imaginations run wild in this fantastic land as they get wrapped up in the crazy exploits of Nettle and Kellen. This is fantasy fiction at its absolute best, which is loaded with beautifully crafted sentences, deep meaningful relationships and engaging mini mysteries as the story advances to a terrific ending. Highly recommended.


Tony Jones

Ricky's Hand by David Quantick 
​ Publisher ‏ : ‎ Titan Books (9 Aug. 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1803360461
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1803360461

A Book Review by Jim Mcleod 

An effective blurb for this well written and unnerving slice of Welsh folk horror. Unfolding as a series of interviews, press clippings and emails, this is not a traditional narrative.  Yet it works well. This is the first thing I’ve read by the well-regarded Bestwick, and I was really excited to dig in.

It’s a long book, split into distinct sections highlighting different parts of the central mystery of the titular mountain. We have strange occurrences, figures glimpsed in woods, madness and a fair amount of death. Each section is well written, with a creeping sense of dread to most of it.

Bestwick introduces a bewildering array of names and places in the first section and I found myself thumbing back to check names – and I say this as a Welshman. It soon clicks into place though, and the opening narratives are superb. Highlights include the police interview with Russell Ware and the diary of the boy with the abusive father which is well done even despite re-treading familiar ground.

The novel was originally published as a serial which means there is a fair amount of repetition, particularly in the middle. This can grate a little. However, when Bestwick goes further back in time, he brings a much-needed change of gear with a historical tale of a priest and a further one of a Roman centurion. Both of these sections are excellent and high points of the book. They lead into the final third, which is best of all. Bestwick introduces himself as a character, which I usually find wince inducing (think Stephen King in The Dark Tower or Martin Self in, well, just about anything), but it really works here and adds to the tale.

These last few sections turn this into a recommended read, but with a slight hesitation. It is probably best approached as originally intended – to be read over a period of months rather than days.

Ultimately, I enjoyed my time in North Wales and think you will too.

Four brand new Ronal Malfi novellas interconnected by a book theme
​

Ghostwritten by Ronald Malfi
​Publisher ‏ : ‎ Titan Books (UK) (4 Oct. 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1789099595
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1789099591

A Book Review by Tony Jones

Ronald Malfi continues his outstanding literary purple patch with Titan Books and his third stellar release in as many years. He follows the two excellent best horror thrillers Come With Me (2021) and Black Mouth (2022) with Ghostwritten, which consists of four novellas loosely interconnected by the theme of books. Serious students of Malfi will realise that this subject is nothing new to this author and a previous novella Mr Cables (2020) would have fitted within this collection like a glove. However, Malfi is on such a rich creative run one can fully understand why he did not wish to revisit a novella which had been published twice before. But if you have never previously come across it definitely check it out after reading this as it’s a beauty.


The four stories are standalone pieces and although there is a minor crossover of names here and there they could be read in any order. One of the blurbs notes that “the written word has never had sharper teeth…” and that nicely sums up what these unpredictable and fantastical 450-pages hold, a collection which has no weak links and one in which readers will undoubtedly argue over which is their favourite. Ultimately though it was exceedingly difficult to separate them (and there is no point) as the quality was exceptionally high, with a quote the blurb “books can be deadly” the common denominator.


The collection opens in style with The Skin of Her Teeth, featuring a cursed novel which eventually drives people to their deaths. Gloria Grossman is a book agent whose client Davis McElroy has been commissioned to write the film script of an extraordinarily successful horror novel and she begins to get jumpy when nothing is heard from McElroy and she decides to head out to his remote writing retreat. She discovers a dishevelled mess, rambling incoherently about how the book he is scripting is dangerous and that he has it nailed down in a box. Things get stranger and stranger until the meeting between McElroy and the original novelist John Fish when events begin to go really haywire. This was a sly opening section to the collection, where Dollar signs are never far away with Gloria keen to protect her investment. Cursed books are nothing new, but it is nice to bring the trusty trope kicking and screaming into the world of the 21st Century


The second instalment The Dark Brothers’ Last Ride is an entirely different beast from its predecessor in which two lowlife gangsters are hired to transport what they are told is a book in a locked briefcase to a remote destination. They are given extremely specific instructions on exactly where to go (and it’s not the quickest or most sensible route) but the most important rule to follow is whatever goes down; do not open the briefcase! We’ve all seen Joe Dante’s Gremlins and so these dumb rules are there are to be broken. The story is built around the fact that the brothers Danny and Tommy Drake are not getting on and loose cannon Tommy is desperate to see what is in the briefcase. What follows is one of the weirdest and wackiest road trips I have come across in a while as the pair head into very dark otherworldly territory. This story was blessed with a couple of very unsettling scenes, when the brothers are being seemingly stalked and another when they stop off in a deserted town and things just do not add up. The banter between the long-suffering Danny and his idiot brother Tommy was great fun, but remember, whatever happens do not open the briefcase! Yeah, right.


This Book Belongs to Olo was a cool play on the creepy kid tale mashed up with The Babadook. From the strange opening you will realise a treat lies ahead; a kid arrives at the local park wearing unfashionable clothes and an out-of-season Halloween mask and invites everybody there to his birthday party the following week. The locals recognise him as the odd kid who lives in the big house on the hill and mercilessly rib him, but many of them decide to go to his party anyway as they think he is rich. We quickly realise that this lonely child is incredibly bright but lacks social skills and is neglected by his author mother and stepfather whilst being looked after by his childminder. The build-up leads the reader to the party and the rather strange pop-up book which Olo has created and features some very cool scenes from within the book. Olo will quickly put your teeth on edge in a tale which smoothly blends police procedural, childhood bullying, loneliness, and neglect before heading into dark fantasy and the unsettling contents of his wonderfully sinister and deadly book.


The final entry The Story was probably my favourite and had the most scope to be developed into a full novel, it also finished a tad prematurely, but I’m probably only saying that because I thought it was great. It was just beginning to truly motor when it abruptly concluded! If you are in your forties or fifties you might remember the Fighting Fantasy adventure books by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone which started with The Warlock of Firetop Mountain back in 1982 and spawned a host of sequels. There were also extremely basic text driven adventures on the early home computers, with very limited vocabulary, around the same time. The Story is built around an online version of one of these choose-your-own adventure game which spirals into an uncanny reality where the players have to make genuine life or death choices. It all starts intriguingly slowly though and you will have great fun joining the dots; the police ask Grady to identify the body of an old friend and work colleague, Taryn, who he had not seen for several months. The podcaster and journalist, who specialised in the unexplained, left unanswered questions into why she committed suicide and Grady begins to investigate. This was an outstanding web of lies to get sucked into and beautifully structured with The Story seemingly out of reach to Grady. Until it wasn’t.


Ronald Malfi is a terrific horror novelist and his edge is just as sharp at novella length fiction also, even if the collection lacked genuine scares it was beautifully crafted and a pleasure to read. Should you not have come across his shorter fiction previously I also highly recommend his short story collection We Should Have Left Well Enough Alone.


Tony Jones

Darling by Mercedes M Yardley  
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Black Spot Books (23 Aug. 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 270 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1645481190
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1645481195

A Book Review by: Mark Walker

Darling has its demons. Cherry LaRouche escaped the claws of Darling, Louisiana at sixteen. When she is forced to return after her mother's death, Cherry and her children move back into her childhood home where the walls whisper and something sinister skitters across the roof at night. While Cherry tries to settle back into a town where evil spreads like infection, the bodies of several murdered children turn up. When Cherry's own daughter goes missing, she is forced to confront the true monsters of Darling.


If something seems too good to be true, it usually is. Only for Cherry, inheriting her childhood home when she is at the point of eviction from her current dive is an offer she cannot refuse. However, her memories of childhood with a strict, over-bearing mother and a house full of ghosts and things that go bump in the night, make her wish she had any other choice than to return to Darling, the town she grew up in. The place is also full of reminders of E, the man she ran away with, but who ditched her and his disabled son as soon as things got tough.

Coming back to Darling is a last resort and one fraught with trouble as Cherry must face the demons of her past; E’s brother, Mordachi, always held a candle for her, as did Runner another local boy. The local bitch wastes no time falling back into past habits and an old friend throws guilt into the mix as she laments Cherry abandoning her all those years ago.

Throw in her childhood home, which may or may not be haunted, and you really do not have a recipe for happiness.

Despite the underlying darkness that hangs over Darling, when her daughter Daisy goes missing, the town comes together to help Cherry search for her. But, as the days pass by, her hope fades. Darling’s rotten heart has infected Cherry’s life, like it has the lives of so many who never had the chance to try and escape like she did. Although, on the surface, the town rallies behind Cherry, once that surface veneer is scratched, old wounds open, old tensions bubble up and the town explodes in a finale of madness and terror that will leave it, and everyone, changed forever.

In Darling, Mercedes M. Yardley explores the relationships and tensions of a small town, highlighting both the good and the bad. While Cherry is initially welcomed, her presence also causes friction amongst old friends and rekindles old jealousies. Cherry was sure that there was something rotten in Darling as a child, which is why she could not wait to leave, but returning has convinced her. Her childhood home is a living, breathing entity, closing in on Cherry and tainting everything it touches. It tormented her mother, and it torments Cherry, a character in its own right. Many of the people in Darling sense something is wrong, that the town and Cherry’s house are not “right” but Cherry was the only one who had the chance to leave, but even she has been unable to escape completely.

Darling is paced well and does not waste any time getting into the plot proper after Cherry returns and her daughter goes missing. Mercedes skilfully fleshes out all her characters and the backstories that have shaped their lives, slowly filling in the gaps and presenting each as distinct and unique. Cherry’s children are more than simple identikit kids, shoe-horned in to simply serve as plot devices, their characteristics nicely informing Cherry’s and fleshing her out even more. She is a single mother fighting for her children, and the reader is made to care for her and pray that she gets the ending she deserves.

You will have to read for yourself to find out whether she does or not but, whatever happens, you can be sure you are in for a good time. I did have a fairly good idea about who had taken Daisy, but there are still plenty of surprises along the way and a couple of things I didn’t expect – enough to make me question my predictions on more than one occasion. Although small towns have been comprehensively explored in many films and books over the years, Darling is a great addition to the collection and, while it uses some of the usual tropes, it is different and compelling enough to make it a complimentary addition to the annals, rather than a lazy copy.
​
Darling is another book I may not have heard about or read if not for working with Ginger Nuts, and I am glad I came across it. It is not overtly scary or spooky, but it explores the relationships and dynamics of small towns which, ultimately, can be scarier than any ghosts or demons.

A definite recommendation and temptation into Mercedes’ world.

Throw Me to the Wolves (Cry Wolf) 
by Lindy Ryan  & Christopher Brooks 
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Black Spot Books (24 May 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 300 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1645481174
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1645481171

A Book Review by Jim Mcleod 

Werewolves have never had the same amount of coverage in the horror fiction world; for every book featuring a werewolf, there are a hundred books with a zombie or a vampire rampaging through the pages. I have never quite understood why this is the case; most readers would also be hard pushed to name their definitive werewolf novel, which never seems to be the problem for fans of their brethren. Even the Twilight effect appears to have passed our hairy friends by. Of course, this is from a pure horror stance; I haven't delved into the paranormal romance world, and I'm sorry, I never will, but quite why this has happened has I wish I knew, as the werewolf is rife for thoughtful exploration of the human condition, who here has never wished that they lose all control and rip out the throats of those who get on their nerves. I know I do!


Throw Me to the Wolves by Lindy Ryan and Christopher Brooks mixes witches and werewolves into an entertaining urban fantasy, stroke horror novel (god, don't you hate labels) that successfully pulls together a lot of well-used tropes and situations into a fresh and thrilling take on the sadly underused werewolf novel.  


Reading the synopsis, you might be forgiven that you are about to enter the sparkly world of a Twilight clone, but don't worry, as the only thing that sparkles here is Ryan and Brooks' prose and clever use of narrative structure.  


The basic plot summary is that ten years ago, a witch turned Britta Orchid into a werewolf while murdering the rest of Britta's family. After a local cop finds the witch's remains, Britta is drawn back to her hometown, where she battles the angry ghost of her brother and unruly werewolf packs. This old friend hates wolves but doesn't realise that Britta is one and a mysterious force that seems to be pushing things along in the background, to discover the truth of her past and what it means to be a werewolf.  


Now some of you might be thinking, OK, that sounds more like a paranormal romance. It's not for me, but don't worry; the authors keep this book far enough into the realms of horror and suppress most of the kissy, kissy stuff to ensure that even die-hard horror fans will get a kick out of this book.  


It was a joy to have not only a female protagonist driving this story but having one that was both comfortable with who she is and knowing that she is one of the most dangerous characters in the book, the sly confidence that Britta exudes throughout the book was a breath of fresh air. There is no clutching of pearls, or would that be dog balls, or fretful wringing of paws over who she is, although I did enjoy how the authors tackled how you fall in love when you are a supernatural immortal creature theme within the book.  


The novel goes to great lengths with the minor details and scene-setting; it is here where the only problem I have with the book lies. While the minor descriptive details are handled well, the more significant "world-building" details felt lacking. A better sense of place and time and the mechanics of the world of Throw Me to the Wolves would have lifted this book from being a very good read into an exceptional one. Things such as is the existence of witches and werewolves are common knowledge, or do they hide in the shadows, and what about other supernatural creatures? Some of the reactions to the characters revealing themselves to be more than human felt out of character for the rules of location that the authors had created. Doing this would have given the novel a more cohesive feel rather than, at times, just feeling that they had dropped these magical creatures into a police procedural. However, this is the first in a series of novels, so the authors will hopefully address this issue in future books. This is a minor point, and outwith this, Throw Me to the Wolves is an excellent entry into the world of Britta.  


Having said that, the opening chapter is a fantastic example of setting the scene and the mode; the tone of the writing here perfectly matches the languid mood of the Louisiana setting.  


The authors must also be applauded for not taking a straightforward approach to the narrative structure, with hints of Memento; this fractured approach to the narrative keeps the reader on their toes and is used effectively to keep the momentum of the story flowing with great enthusiasm.  


Throw Me to the Wolves is a strong entry in a new series of supernatural fiction; despite a very slight misstep with the mechanics of the novel's world, it is still an excellent read that brings a much needed new bite to the werewolf novel.  ​

Hooked by A.C. Wise  

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Titan Books (12 July 2022)
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1789096839
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1789096835

A Book Review by Tony Jones

James Hook is vividly brought to life in a refreshing spin on the Peter Pan story


I am the last person you might expect to pick up AC Wise’s Hooked, which develops the Peter Pan mythology from the point of view of the dastardly Captain Hook. On most days I swerve modern-day twists of established classics of yesteryear, but when a review copy arrived unannounced on my doorstep I decided upon an impromptu trip to Neverland. I had never read the JM Barrie original, and my knowledge of Pan and Hook does not extend beyond the classic Disney cartoon and the 1991 Spielberg film Hook, where Dustin Hoffman hammed it up as the pirate. However, you do not need any more detail than this basic knowledge to enjoy and have a full understanding of the rather bleak, but compelling, Hooked.


Hooked is also a sequel of sorts to Wendy, Darling (2021) which is set some years after the events of Peter Pan and concerns Pan stealing Wendy Darling’s daughter (Jane) and whisking her to Neverland. As Jane is a major character in Hooked there are plenty of references to what went on in Wendy, Darling, but I did not feel I needed to have read the original to enjoy Wise’s second novel. Wendy is also a character in Hooked and her reflections on her time in Neverland were fascinating, in hindsight realising Pan either used her as a surrogate mother/sister who did all the cooking and cleaning and was not fully allowed to participate in the adventures. Even though the book is principally about James Hook, it does also give a clever feminist perspective with both mother and daughter still struggling to accept their role in Pan’s world Neverland in which the whim of one person was a queer type of dictatorship.


Although Peter Pan is barely in Hooked his shadow dominates proceedings and as I have not read the Barrie original I am unsure whether the author ever alluded to a dark side (I doubt it) and this book is all about the darkness. Pan (as James Hook always referred to him) controlled Neverland with an iron fist and was a spiteful nasty child (or demon?) who enjoyed inflicting cruelty and using everybody else in Neverland as pawns in his never-ending battles with the pirate. The characters in the story have not truly recovered from their dealings with Pan, Hook in particular who we first meet in 1939, is still missing a hand and a foot. He disappears into the bottle to forget, but realises redemption might be possible, but only if he returns to the magical land he once escaped vowing never to return.


The story is predominately set in London in 1939, with a drunk James Hook coming to believe that a slither of Neverland magic may have filtered into our world after there is a murder. Realising something is amiss, he seeks out Wendy Darling and they immediately recognise each other, Wendy’s daughter Jane enters the fray after her roommate is murdered in the same manner. Jane is studying to be a doctor and struggles is a male dominated profession and is looked down upon by her peers. She also remembers her earlier run in with Pan from the previous novel, in which the boy mistook her for her mother. What happens next takes the three closer to Neverland and a reconciliation with what went before and the darkness which surrounds it.


Hooked was a literary and melancholic character driven fantasy read which explores themes of grief, survivor’s guilt and the struggle to leave the past behind. James Hook’s pain pours all over the pages and whilst the standard caricature is of a pirate who is forced to walk his own plank, this book goes considerably deeper and vividly portrays a man caught within a never-ending trap. What might it be like to be murdered millions of times (and brought back to life) by Pan only to be killed again with a vague sense of déjà vu of having been there before? It is made clear that even though Pan and Hook fought for an eternity, the pirate never as much as scratched the boy. For him it was like playing a rigged computer game which was impossible to win. Interestingly, there is also a subtle developing LGBTQ+ storyline with this character, which is strongly connected to his overwhelming pain.


The story convincingly flips back in time, picking up both Darling women and Hook around the period he escaped through a hole in the sky (more computer game similarities?) The recreation of Neverland was also beautifully drawn, however, returning as adults the group see the place in a much more sinister and unsettling light. On another level Hooked examines the masculinity of the original story and although it never exactly says what Pan is, he is far from the free magical presence in the Barrie original. For a book I did not expect to take to I found Hooked both moving and compelling, with the tragic figure of James Hook being vividly brought to life and the pantomime villain we are all familiar being nicely side-lined by AC Wise in this stylish and vibrant semi-reimagining of a timeless story.


Tony Jones