26/05/2014

The Oversight, by Charlie Fletcher


Publisher: Orbit
First publication date: May 6th 2014
Pages: 464
ISBN: 9780356502892


Synopsis


Only five still guard the borders between the worlds.
Only five hold back what waits on the other side. 


Once the Oversight, the secret society that policed the lines between the mundane and the magic, counted hundreds of brave souls among its members. Now their numbers can be counted on a single hand. 

When a vagabond brings a screaming girl to the Oversight's London headquarters, it seems their hopes for a new recruit will be fulfilled - but the girl is a trap. 

As the borders between this world and the next begin to break down, murders erupt across the city, the Oversight are torn viciously apart, and their enemies close in for the final blow. 

This gothic fantasy from Charlie Fletcher (the Stoneheart trilogy) spins a tale of witch-hunters, supra-naturalists, mirror-walkers and magicians. Meet the Oversight, and remember: when they fall, so do we all.

21/05/2014

Cuckoo Song, by Frances Hardinge


Publisher: Pan Macmillan
First publication date: May 8th 2014
Pages: 416
ISBN: 9780330519731


Synopsis


The first things to shift were the doll's eyes, the beautiful grey-green glass eyes. Slowly they swivelled, until their gaze was resting on Triss's face. Then the tiny mouth moved, opened to speak.

'What are you doing here?' It was uttered in tones of outrage and surprise, and in a voice as cold and musical as the clinking of cups. 'Who do you think you are? This is my family.'


When Triss wakes up after an accident, she knows that something is very wrong. She is insatiably hungry; her sister seems scared of her and her parents whisper behind closed doors. She looks through her diary to try to remember, but the pages have been ripped out. 

Soon Triss discovers that what happened to her is more strange and terrible than she could ever have imagined, and that she is quite literally not herself. In a quest find the truth she must travel into the terrifying Underbelly of the city to meet a twisted architect who has dark designs on her family - before it's too late...

17/05/2014

The Bear, by Claire Cameron


Publisher: 
Harvill Secker
First publication date: February 11th 2014
Pages: 224
ISBN: 9781448155736


Synopsis


A powerfully suspenseful story narrated by a young girl who must fend for herself and her little brother after a brutal bear attack.

While camping with her family on a remote island, five-year-old Anna awakes in the night to the sound of her mother screaming. A rogue black bear, 300 pounds of fury, is attacking the family's campsite, pouncing on her parents as prey.

At her dying mother's faint urging, Anna manages to get her brother into the family's canoe and paddle away. But when the canoe dumps the two children on the edge of the woods, and the sister and brother must battle hunger, the elements, and a dangerous wilderness, we see Anna's heartbreaking love for her family--and her struggle to be brave when nothing in her world seems safe anymore.

Told in the honest, raw voice of five-year-old Anna, this is a riveting story of love, courage, and survival.

13/05/2014

This House is Haunted, by John Boyne


Publisher: 
Black Swan
First publication date: April 25th 2013
Pages: 304
ISBN: 9780552778428


Synopsis


1867. On a dark and chilling night Eliza Caine arrives in Norfolk to take up her position as governess at Gaudlin Hall. As she makes her way across the station platform, a pair of invisible hands push her from behind into the path of an approaching train. She is only saved by the vigilance of a passing doctor.

It is the start of a journey into a world of abandoned children, unexplained occurrences and terrifying experiences which Eliza will have to overcome if she is to survive the secrets that lie within Gaudlin's walls.

07/05/2014

The Crimson Ribbon, by Katherine Clements


Publisher: 
Headline Review
First publication date: March 27th 2014
Pages: 352 
ISBN: 9781472204196


Synopsis


England 1646. The Civil War is raging and society turned upside down. 

What should be a rare moment of blessing for the town of Ely takes a brutal turn and Ruth Flowers is left with little choice but to flee the household of Oliver Cromwell, the only home she has ever known. On the road to London, Ruth sparks an uneasy alliance with a deserting soldier, the battle-scarred and troubled Joseph. But when she reaches the city, it’s in the Poole household that she finds refuge. 

Lizzie Poole, beautiful and charismatic, enthrals the vulnerable Ruth, who binds herself inextricably to Lizzie’s world. But in these troubled times, Ruth is haunted by fears of her past catching up with her. And as Lizzie’s radical ideas escalate, Ruth finds herself carried to the heart of the country’s conflict, to the trial of a king.

Based on the real figure of the extraordinary Elizabeth Poole, The Crimson Ribbon conjures a mesmerising story of two women’s obsession, superstition and hope.

04/05/2014

Hell Yeah! – Wrath of the Dead Rabbit (PC)



Let it Rip

Imagine being the Prince of Hell. What happens when your father dies? You become the king. Still with me? Good. Now imagine you’re the King of Hell, and one day, while doing something really embarrassing and unfitting of a King, one of them stupid paparazzi manages to snatch some pictures of you! And of course, thanks to the Hellternet, the pictures spread through all of Hell in an instant, so the solution becomes obvious: everyone must die. Everyone.