Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 15th January, 20202 #Brainfluffbookblog #CWC #WOW

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week’s Can’t-Wait offering – The Apollo Deception by Mitch Silver

#crime #thriller #whodunit

After China announce a space mission to place their own flag next to the one US astronauts planted during the Apollo 11 mission, few people bat an eyelid. Shortly after this statement Charlie Stephens, a 81-year-old former filmmaker, is murdered. The incident is made to look like an accident, but why? Going through his father’s effects, Gary Stephens – a director of beer and yogurt ads – discovers seven cans of old 35mm film. Dated before the landing, they’re identical to the footage NASA claims was shot by the Apollo 11 crew. The US flag is not and has never been in the Sea of Tranquillity, and only Tricky Dick and a handful of others knew it. Why was the real nature of the Apollo 11 mission kept hidden? And what measures will be taken to keep the secret buried?

Just to make it absolutely clear, I am NOT of the school that believes the Apollo Moon missions were some elaborate hoax – but I thought this looked like a really cool premise for a high-stakes thriller.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 8th January, 2020 #Brainfluffbookblog #Can’tWaitWednesday

 

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week’s Can’t-Wait offering – Bone Silence – Book 3 of the Revenger series by Alastair Reynolds

#science fiction #far future #gothic space opera #pirates #YA adventure

Two sisters ran away from home to join the crew of a spaceship. They took on pirates, faced down monsters and survived massacres . . . and now they’re in charge. Captaining a fearsome ship of their own, adventures are theirs for the taking. But Captain Bosa’s fearsome reputation still dogs their heels, and they’re about to discover that, out in space, no one forgives, and no one forgets . . .

I was so thrilled to be approved for this Netgalley arc and am rubbing my hands at the prospect of tucking into this one! I’ve loved the series so far – read my reviews of Revenger and Shadow Captain – and I’m hoping the final instalment will be brought to a triumphant conclusion.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 9th October, 2019 #Brainfluffbookblog #Can’tWaitWednesday

40276268 – vintage old pocket watch and book

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

 

This week’s Can’t-Wait offering – Body Tourists by Jane Rogers

#science fiction #near future #London setting

In this version of London, there is a small, private clinic. Behind its layers of security, procedures are taking place on poor, robust teenagers from northern Estates in exchange for thousands of pounds – procedures that will bring the wealthy dead back to life in these young supple bodies for fourteen days. It’s an opportunity for wrongs to be righted, for fathers to meet grandsons, for scientists to see their work completed. Old wine in new bottles.

But at what cost?

 

As soon as I saw the author’s name, I immediately requested this one – I’ve heard nothing but good things about this writer. The blurb and cover also attracted me. It’s due to be released on 14th November by Sceptre and I’m very much looking forward to tucking into this one…

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 2nd October, 2019 #Brainfluffbookblog #CWW

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week’s Can’t-Wait offering – Doing Time – Book 1 of The Time Police by Jodi Taylor

#Time travel #near future #spinoff series from the Chronicles of St Mary’s series

BLURB: At some time in the future, the secret of time-travel became available to all. Chaos ensued as people sought to take advantage. Because there will always be nutters who want to change history…

And so the Time Police were formed. Internationally sanctioned thugs whose task it was to keep the timeline straight by any and all means possible. And they succeeded. The Time Wars are over. The Time Police won. But who will win the peace?

As soon as I saw the cover and the blurb, it was a no-brainer that I’d request this one. I love the madcap adventures of the other nutters – the history buffs who inhabit St Mary’s – as they visit a variety of momentous occasions throughout history for the purposes of research, see my review of Just One Damned Thing After Another. And I won’t have long to wait. This offering is being released on 17th October – yippee!

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 28th August, 2019 #Brainfluffbookblog #Can’tWaitWednesday

40276268 – vintage old pocket watch and book

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week’s Can’t-Wait offering – Brightfall by Jaime Lee Moyer

#Medieval fantasy #Robin Hood retelling #Murder mystery

It’s been a mostly quiet life since Robin Hood denounced Marian, his pregnant wife, and his former life and retreated to a monastery to repent his sins . . . although no one knows what he did that was so heinous he would leave behind Sherwood Forest and those he loved most.

But when friends from their outlaw days start dying, Father Tuck, now the Abbott of St. Mary’s, suspects a curse and begs Marian to use her magic to break it. A grieving Marian bargains for protection for her children before she sets out with a soldier who’s lost his faith, a trickster Fey lord and a sullen Robin Hood, angry at being drawn back into the real world.

Marian soon finds herself enmeshed in a maze of betrayals, tangled relationships and a vicious struggle for the Fey throne . . . and if she can’t find and stop the spell-caster, no protection in Sherwood Forest will be enough to save her children.

I can’t lie – though I was intrigued by the blurb, once again it was allll about the delightful cover… This one is due out on 5th September and I will be reviewing it in due course.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 31st July, 2019 #Brainfluffbookblog #Can’tWaitWednesday

40276268 – vintage old pocket watch and book

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week’s Can’t-Wait offering – Know Your Rites – Book 2 of the Inspector Mystery series by Andy Redsmith

#Murder mystery #fantasy whodunit #humour

Inspector Nick Paris is back in this magical crime mystery perfect for fans of Douglas Adams and Ben Aaronovitch.

Inspector Nick Paris, now also known as ‘the one who stopped the demons’, has become an unlikely celebrity in the magical world. He is desperate to return to tackling more ordinary crimes on his home turf of Manchester.

However, the fates aren’t in his favour when he is called upon again by his more unusual police colleagues to solve a gruesome killing. The only suspect is a dwarf trying to make it in the rap business. But are there more mysterious matters afoot? Paris is thrust back into the world of magic and murder – but who will face the music?

I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in this entertaining series – see my review of Breaking the Lore – so was delighted when I realised there was a sequel out – and even more delighted when I was approved to receive in arc. It is coming out on the 22nd August and I’m hoping to read it in the coming week.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 24th October, 2018 #Brainfluffbookblog #Can’tWaitWednesday

40276268 – vintage old pocket watch and book

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week’s Can’t-Wait offering – Murder in the Dark – Book 6 of the Ishmael Jones series by Simon R. Green

#Murder mystery #paranormal whodunit #crime duo

“The past is England’s dreaming, and not all of it sleeps soundly…”
Ishmael Jones and his partner Penny have been despatched to assist a group of scientists who are investigating a mysterious black hole which has appeared on a Somerset hillside. Could it
really be a doorway to another dimension, an opening into another world?

I’ve really enjoyed this series – Into the Thinnest of Air and Death Shall Come were both great fun and full of creepy mayhem. So I’m looking forward to this latest offering, due out on 1st December.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 26th September, 2018 #Brainfluffbookblog #Can’tWaitWednesday

40276268 – vintage old pocket watch and book

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week’s Can’t-Wait offering – Soulbinder – Book 4 of the Spellslinger series by Sebastien de Castell

#fantasy #magic #feisty pet/travelling companion #humour

The fourth book in the page-turning SPELLSLINGER fantasy series.

Perfect for fans of The Dark Tower, Firefly, Guardians of the Galaxy, Terry Pratchett, Ben Aaronovitch and Jim Butcher.

That’s as much as the blurb says, which is a pleasant change from all those blurting efforts that give away far too much of the story. And I think it says it all… I have only read the first two books, but have promised myself a treat – and it’s going to be the these two books to continue this entertaining series that I’ve loved to date.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 19th September, 2018 #Brainfluffbookblog #Can’tWaitWednesday

40276268 – vintage old pocket watch and book

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week’s Can’t-Wait offering – The Consuming Fire – Book 2 of The Interdependency series by John Scalzi

#epic science fiction #political thriller #space travel

The Interdependency, humanity’s interstellar empire, is on the verge of collapse. The Flow, the extra-dimensional conduit that makes travel between the stars possible, is disappearing, leaving entire star systems stranded. When it goes, human civilization may go with it—unless desperate measures can be taken.

Emperox Grayland II, the leader of the Interdependency, is ready to take those measures to help ensure the survival of billions. But nothing is ever that easy. Arrayed before her are those who believe the collapse of the Flow is a myth—or at the very least, an opportunity that can allow them to ascend to power.

While Grayland prepares for disaster, others are preparing for a civil war, a war that will take place in the halls of power, the markets of business and the altars of worship as much as it will take place between spaceships and battlefields. The Emperox and her allies are smart and resourceful, but then so are her enemies. Nothing about this power struggle will be simple or easy… and all of humanity will be caught in its widening gyre.

I have read the preview chapters, provided by Netgalley and mostly enjoyed them, after loving the first book. Scalzi uses omniscient pov in this book, which gives it a slightly old fashioned feel, harking back to those epic adventures written in the last century. He manages to pull it off successfully, which isn’t all that easy to do. That said, there is a rather indigestible info-dump in the first chapter. Fortunately, it doesn’t last all that long, because Scalzi’s more usual, bouncy, irreverent voice punches through and whisks us up into this unfolding catastrophe. I’m really looking forward to getting hold of the whole book…

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 5th September, 2018 #Brainfluffbookblog #Can’tWaitWednesday

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week’s Can’t-Wait offering – A Muddle of Magic – Book 2 of the Fledgling Magic series by Alexandra Rushe

#portal fantasy #adventure #feisty heroine #magical monsters

What’s a nice Southern girl doing in a place like this?

Whisked from humdrum Alabama to the fantastical land of Tandara by a mage who won’t take no for an answer, Raine Stewart finds herself tangled in a muddle of magic. A Dark Wizard is out for her blood, a demonic golem has orders to dispatch her . . . and she stinks at magic. Being a wizard, even a baby wizard, is harder than Raine thought.

Raine and her companions find sanctuary amongst the famed warriors of the snow-capped nation of Finlara, and Raine is reunited with her dear friend, the frost giant Tiny Bartog. In short order, she unearths a magic mirror, a dread curse, and a tragic, ill-fated love affair.

Safety, however, is an illusion. The dreaded Magog’s Eye is still missing, and war looms. It seems an entire world hangs in the balance, waiting to see whether Raine will be able to harness her magic. But with a little help from her friends, she’ll survive . . . she hopes.

This one is great fun, with lots of magical creatures and Raine’s happy knack for making friends keeps her alive in this vibrant, fascinating but lethal world where she has made a very powerful enemy. I thoroughly enjoyed the adventure and will be reviewing it in due course.