Gothikana by RuNyx

  Corvina Clemm had never expected to be going to university so to say she's surprised to receive an admission invitation to University of Verenmore would be putting things mildly, but she's not going to turn down the opportunity now she's been offered it.

Situated on a mountain top, cut off from the neighbouring town by dense forests, Verenmore is a place of mystery, dangerous cults, and unexplained deaths, but Corvina finds herself at home there. She also finds herself irresistibly attracted to her tutor Vad Deverell, a man who rumour would associate with strange deaths on campus. Their forbidden relationship could unravel some of Verenmore's mysteries; or it could end in disaster. 

I wasn't sure quite what to expect with this book but I'm finding that lately I'm enjoying quirky, gothic reads, so decided to try it - and I was hooked. Despite the familiar start - unexpected acceptance to a mysterious university/boarding school, with a host of unexplained events in its history - it soon goes its own way. Corvina is a strange protagonist, raised by her single mother in virtual isolation with no friends or family, and to be honest I didn't necessarily trust her intuitions, especially regarding Vad, but that ambiguity is part of the book's appeal.

It's a very readable book, one which keeps you turning the pages, but it's dark, very dark, filled with death and forbidden passion, and sex - lots of sex (don't imagine we're talking Harry Potter here, or even Wednesday Addams, grown up a little). In a preface to my review copy, the Author cautions readers about the subjects raised - death, suicide, parental neglect - and the explicit nature of the sex scenes; it's definitely an 'adult' read, not for younger teens. 

Sand Men by Christopher Fowler

Review by The Mole

Lea, Roy and their 15 year old daughter, Cara, have moved Dubai as Roy searches for work. Roy has been recruited to help build a luxury and exclusive holiday resort for the super rich - but health and safety standards are poor and workers keep dying deaths that should not be happening.

Lea is a journalist but is now expected to be a "stay at home" wife focussed on cooking and hosting dinners, but that's not enough for her - she wants to get into local journalism and pursue her own career. She starts to write articles for a local magazine, focussed on how great life is, and will be, at the resort when she hears about children who have gone missing from the construction town.

Christopher Fowler is probably best know for his Bryant and May stories -  stories of murder and detection with a fair bit of humour on the side - but this is a very different kind of novel. From the start the reader is aware that there is at least one mystery death and we are waiting for more. Lea, the main voice of the story, is unaware for a while and when she does hear then these "industrial accidents" are explained with a full technical cause. The pace starts slowly as Lea suspects nothing untoward and it takes a while before the pace really starts to race towards the book's conclusion but is it all paraphrenia?

Having read only the Bryant and May books before I was taken aback by the significant change of style in this book - everything is done differently - and once I got over that I thought it worked magnificently. Fowler is described as a master of horror and crime and this story reaffirms that title. A brilliantly plotted and told story of truly horrific crimes.

Put aside any expectations from Fowler's previous books and you will enjoy this from page one.

Publisher - Solaris

Genre - adult fiction,  crime mystery

Riding the Unicorn by Paul Kearney

review by Maryom 

Ex-soldier turned prison guard, John Willoby thinks he's going mad. In the middle of his daily routine, he'll find himself in another world where a tribe of horsemen travel through snowy mountains and forested hillsides to set up camp by a river. For those few minutes he believes he's truly somewhere else - and then he's brought back to the 'real' world with a jolt. Could it really all be in his head? It's much more appealing than reality with its dull job, broken down marriage and hostile teenage daughter, and so tempting with its outdoor life in clean fresh countryside, that John is inclined to remain there - even if to outsiders he appears to be a gibbering drunk slumped on the pavement.
In the other world, though, is Tallimon, a king's bastard son with designs on his father's position, looking for an outsider to carry out a special task that none of his soldiers will tackle. The sorcerer Aimon believes he's found the very man for the job  - John Willoby - if only he can be brought through the barrier between worlds.

I stumbled across Riding The Unicorn completely by accident - spotting a tweeted link to a sample - and what a find! I've rather got out of the habit of reading fantasy but this could lure me back in. A lot of it reminded me of being enthralled by Alan Garner's writing as a child, but it's very much an adult scenario. In his everyday life Willoby is trying to deal with the kind of problems than many of us face - his job, marriage and fatherhood haven't lived up to his expectations. It's no wonder than another sort of life appeals to him but he's smart enough to realise that the voices he hears, and the things he sees may be just an escapist delusion. As he falls increasingly under the spell of another world, the dynamics of Willoby's home life change; his wife seems to relish in her new role as the 'strong' half of the relationship - organising appointments and his life in general - whereas his daughter finds him more approachable.

I loved this but if you're a bit dubious about 'genre' books still take a chance. It has all the qualities that a good novel must have - most importantly, a story to hook you, and characters you can believe in and care about. Meanwhile for me, Paul Kearney is an author I want to read more by, and fortunately there's a back catalogue waiting for me..
 
Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Solaris
Genre - Fantasy, adult fiction