Prayer by Philip Kerr

Prayer is the latest from Philip Kerr, out on Quercus (£18.99).

“Special Agent Gil Martins investigates domestic terrorism for the Houston FBI. He is a religious man who is close to losing his faith; the very nature of his job has led him to question the existence of a God who could allow the things that Gil sees every day.

But Gil’s wife Ruth doesn’t see things the same way and his crisis of faith provokes a fracture in their marriage. Gil’s world is breaking apart.

At the same time, Gil starts to investigate a series of unexplained deaths that bring this crisis of faith into uncomfortable focus. When Esther, a disturbed woman, informs Gil that these men have been killed by prayer, Gil questions her sanity. But as the evidence mounts up that there might be something in what she says, his new-found atheism is severely challenged, more so as he finds his own life is next on the line.”

Monsters by Ilsa J Bick

Monsters by Ilsa J Bick is the third volume in the Ashes trilogy – due from Quercus on 26 September (£7.99):

“Alex is tough. She has survived the EMP blast, she has lived among the flesh-eating Changed, and she has been separated from Tom for months. And she hasn’t given up.

But on the brink of starvation and in the grip of a winter that just won’t end, Alex discovers a new and terrible truth: The Changed are still evolving.

And … they’ve had help.”

Phantasmagoria by Terry Breverton. Book review

Breverton’s Phantasmagoria by Terry Breverton. Quercus £9.99

Reviewed by Peter Coleborn

The tag line is “A compendium of monsters, myths and legends”, and the book is just that. Terry Breverton has brought together a galaxy of the weird, the paranormal, the strange creatures and beliefs that our ancestors once believed. Unlike many such books, this one is not simply an A-Z of beasties. Instead, we have eight chapters dealing with specific themes, such as “Mysterious, Magical and Weird People”, “Mysteries of the Deep” and “Tales of Secret Treasures”. Each chapter is, then, arranged with A-Z entries, so we end up with bite-sized snippets of information on, for example, The Babushka Lady, William Lilly, Teothihucan, Mother Carey’s Chickens and the Loch Ness Monster. Because the book covers so much ground in its 380 pages, the individual articles do not go into much depth. However, if you are looking for a brief explanation or description, Phantasmagoria is a good book with which to start off.

Okay, yes, of course one may Google the Amphisbaena Tortoise or Chessie … but that’s not the point with this book. You can browse its pages, stopping at an article when something catches your eyes, and maybe discovering something you didn’t know, or something that you can use in your next story.

Breverton’s Phantasmagoria is a beautifully designed publication. The two-column pages are printed in a brown ink, embellished with many sepia-tinted illustrations. Maybe it’s not as filled out as the Element encyclopaedias, but Phantasmagoria will make a fine gift for anyone with an interest in monsters, myths and legends.

Sleep Walkers by Tom Grieves

Tom Grieves’ Sleep Walkers has been described as a “high concept thriller for fans of Inception and The Adjustment Bureau”. Sleep Walkers is released in August from Quercus (£16.99):

“Ben is your average married man: wife, two kids, steady job. Toby is your average schoolboy: fifteen years old, sweet-natured and shy. Two people, two separate, unremarkable lives. Except for their dreams. Dreams of violence. Dreams of rage. Dreams of torture. Dreams that are always followed - the next morning - by scratches, scars, pain. When their dreams and doubts become too powerful to ignore, one fact will become clearer than any other: that the truth they are running towards is the very thing that they should be running away from.”

The Guard by Peter Terrin

Coming from Maclehose Press, an imprint of Quercus, in September: The Guard by Peter Terrin (£16.99):

“Harry and Michel live in the basement of a luxury apartment block, guarding the inhabitants. No-one goes outside. The world might be at war - it might even have been plunged into nuclear winter. No-one knows. All Harry and Michel know is that if they are vigilant, 'the Organization' will reward them: promotion to an elite cadre of security officers remains their shining goal. But what if there were no-one left to guard? And if the promised relief shift arrives, how will they fit in to Michel and Harry's studied routine of boredom and paranoia?”

The Last Man Standing by Davide Longo

The MacLehose Press, an imprint of Quercus, deals with the translation of fiction into English (and to the publication of “a very few outstanding writers in English”). The imprint was founded by Christopher MacLehose.

The Last Man Standing by Davide Longo (was born in 1971 in the Province of Torino) and translated by Silvester Mazzarella is published in July (£12.99):

“Italy is on the brink of collapse. Borders are closed, banks withhold money, the postal service stalls. Armed gangs of drug-fuelled youths roam the countryside.”

Dead Rules by R S Russell

Dead Rules by R S Russell is now available from Quercus (£6.99). It says on the cover: “She loved her boyfriend to death,” and: “Sometimes falling in love means you have to kill somebody…”  

Jana and Michael are lovers, the perfect couple. But Jana dies and “… finds herself torn from Michael and transferred to Dead School… [There she meets] Mars Dreamcote, gorgeous and beguiling and mysterious…”

Dead Rules is aimed at a 12-plus readership, Randy Russell is an Edgar-nominated author who lives in North Carolina, and has written about Southern Appalachian folklore.

The Demi-Monde by Rod Rees

Look out for The Demi-Monde by Rod Rees: "The Demi-Monde is the most advance computer simulation ever devised. Thirty million people ruled by history's cruelest tryants, locked in eternal civil war. The intention: to create the closest thing to hell, preparing soldiers for the nightmarish reality of war. But something has gone badly wrong inside the Demi-Monde...

Heydrich. Beria. Torquemada. Robespierre. History's most notorious mass-murderers -- or at least simulacrums of these monsters -- plot to escape their virtual world; their sights are set on the real world."

The Demi-Monde is due in January 2011 from Quercus in trade paperback (£14.99) and hardcover (£16.99) editions.