Category Archives: Can’t-Wait Wednesday

Oct14

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 14th October, 2020 #Brainfluffbookblog #CWC #WOW

Posted on October 14, 2020 by sjhigbee

BLURB: Dashryn Cowl has run out of places to hide. The erstwhile sorcerer of the Imperial College fled the Bolgravian Empire when his high-flying family fell from grace, but the tyrannical empire is still hunting for him.
So when he gets his hands on a map showing a place outside the known lands rich in istariol, the mineral that fuels sorcery, he sees a way back to power. There’s only one problem: it means masquerading as an Imperial Cartomancer (an instant death sentence) and finding some dupes to help him mine the istariol in secret, no questions asked.
But somehow, amid the dangers of the road (floods and avalanches, beasts, barbarians and monsters), a strange thing begins to happen: Dashryn starts to care about his ragtag followers and their strange odyssey into the ruins of an ancient forgotten civilisation.
But his past won’t let him be: the implacable Imperial Bloodhound Toran Zorne has caught his scent, and Zorne has never yet failed to bring his quarry to ground.
At the edge of the map, there’s no going forward and no going back . . .

Yes – I’ve fallen behind with my Netgalley arcs, because this one is due out tomorrow and I haven’t even read it, yet. But I am very much looking forward to it. The cover is awesome and I really like the sound of it. I’m also a fan of Hair’s writing – see my reviews for the fantastic Olympus trilogy that he’s written with Cath Mayo – Athena’s Champion, Oracle’s War, and Sacred Bride. If the writing is half as punchy, intelligent and nuanced in Map’s Edge, I shall be thoroughly enjoying this one. Had anyone else read it?

Sep23

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 23rd September, 2020 #Brainfluffbookblog #CWC #WOW

Posted on September 23, 2020 by sjhigbee

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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 Postscript Murders – Book 2 of the Harbinder Kaur series by Elly Grittiths -release date 1st October

#crime #literary murder mystery #police procedural

BLURB: PS: thanks for the murders.
The death of a ninety-year-old woman with a heart condition should absolutely not be suspicious. DS Harbinder Kaur certainly sees nothing to concern her in carer Natalka’s account of Peggy Smith’s death. But when Natalka reveals that Peggy lied about her heart condition and that she had been sure someone was following her… And that Peggy Smith had been a ‘murder consultant’ who plotted deaths for authors, and knew more about murder than anyone has any right to…

And when clearing out Peggy’s flat ends in Natalka being held at gunpoint by a masked figure… Well then DS Harbinder Kaur thinks that maybe there is no such thing as an unsuspicious death after all.

From the sleepy seaside town of Shoreham, to the granite streets of Edinburgh and the shores of Lake Baikal, The Postscript Murders is a literary mystery for fans of Antony Horowitz, Agatha Christie and anyone who’s ever wondered just how authors think up such realistic crimes…
PS: Trust no one.

I’m a fan of Elly Griffiths’ Ruth Galloway series – see my reviews of The Crossing Places and The Janus Stone – so when I saw this was the second book in a new series, I immediately requested it. I hoping to read the audiobook edition of the first book, The Stranger Diaries first. Is anyone else an Elly Griffiths fan?

Sep16

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 16th September, 2020 #Brainfluffbookblog #CWC #WOW

Posted on September 16, 2020 by sjhigbee

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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 Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton -release date 1st October

#historical thriller #crime

BLURB: It’s 1634 and Samuel Pipps, the world’s greatest detective, is being transported to Amsterdam to be executed for a crime he may, or may not, have committed. Travelling with him is his loyal bodyguard, Arent Hayes, who is determined to prove his friend innocent.

But no sooner are they out to sea than devilry begins to blight the voyage. A twice-dead leper stalks the decks. Strange symbols appear on the sails. Livestock is slaughtered.

And then three passengers are marked for death, including Samuel.

Could a demon be responsible for their misfortunes?

With Pipps imprisoned, only Arent can solve a mystery that connects every passenger onboard. A mystery that stretches back into their past and now threatens to sink the ship, killing everybody on board.

I didn’t read his previous best-selling success, The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle but I was in the mood for a change when I requested this one – and delighted to be approved for a Netgalley arc. Is anyone else reading this one soon?

Sep2

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 2nd September, 2020 #Brainfluffbookblog #CWC #WOW

Posted on September 2, 2020 by sjhigbee

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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 – Kept From Cages – Book 1 of the Ikiri duology by Phil Williams – release date 22nd September

#supernatural thriller #quirky characters

BLURB: Reece’s gang of criminal jazz musicians have taken shelter in the wrong house. There’s a girl with red eyes bound to a chair. The locals call her a devil – but Reece sees a kid that needs protecting. He’s more right than he knows.

Chased by a shadowy swordsman and an unnatural beast, the gang flee across the Deep South with the kid in tow. She won’t say where she’s from or who exactly her scary father is, but she’s got powers they can’t understand. How much will Reece risk to save her?

On the other side of the world, Agent Sean Tasker’s asking similar questions. With an entire village massacred and no trace of the killers, he’s convinced Duvcorp’s esoteric experiments are responsible. His only ally is an unstable female assassin, and their only lead is Ikiri – a black-site in the Congo, which no one leaves alive. How far is Tasker prepared to go for answers?

I thoroughly enjoyed Phil’s Ordshaw series – see my reviews of Under Ordshaw, Blue Angel and The Violent Fae – so when he offered me the chance to read an arc of Kept from Cages, I jumped at the chance. Looking forward to this one, because Phil’s books are always peopled with interesting quirky characters who ping off the page. And they are all nuanced and three-dimensional – even the ones you love to hate…

Annddd… this is the last day that my space opera adventure, RUNNING OUT OF SPACE is FREE! Click on the title link, or the cover on the sidebar if you want to claim a copy from your nearest Amazon store

Aug26

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 26th August, 2020 #Brainfluffbookblog #CWC #WOW

Posted on August 26, 2020 by sjhigbee

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BLURB: Beyond the walls of Koli’s small village lies a fearsome landscape filled with choker trees, vicious beasts and shunned men. As an exile, Koli’s been forced to journey out into this mysterious, hostile world. But he heard a story, once. A story about lost London, and the mysterious tech of the Old Times that may still be there. If Koli can find it, there may still be a way for him to redeem himself – by saving what’s left of humankind.

I loved the first book in this series – see my review of The Book of Koli – so I’m really excited by the sequel coming out so soon after the first book. And I was delighted to get hold of an arc – yippee! Carey is very good at writing shattered societies – I was blown away by his enthralling The Girl with All the Gifts – see my review.

Aug19

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 19th August, 2020 #Brainfluffbookblog #CWC #WOW

Posted on August 19, 2020 by sjhigbee

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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 – Fearless by Allen Stroud – release date – 8th September

#military science fiction #space opera #feisty heroine

BLURB: AD 2118. Humanity has colonised the Moon, Mars, Ceres and Europa. Captain Ellisa Shann commands Khidr, a search and rescue ship with a crew of twenty-five, tasked to assist the vast commercial freighters that supply the different solar system colonies.

Shann has no legs and has taken to life in zero-g partly as a result. She is a talented tactician who has a tendency to take too much on her own shoulders. Now, while on a regular six-month patrol through the solar system, Khidr picks up a distress call from the freighter Hercules…

I am always a sucker for a fabulous spacescape – so this cover immediately caught my attention. And then the blurb. How interesting – a protagonist with a significant disability! That also caught my attention – and then the deal was clinched by the mention of the freighter Hercules. Because… SPACE SHIPS😊!

Looking forward to tucking into this one, as I am in need of a cracking space opera adventure in my life…

Aug5

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 5th August, 2020 #Brainfluffbookblog #CWC #WOW

Posted on August 5, 2020 by sjhigbee

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#crime #metoo #murder mystery

BLURB: Florida journalism undergrad Rebecca Sorley is like any other college student. She tries to keep up with her studies, her friends, and her hot-tempered roommate, Ellie, who regularly courts trouble with the law.

When a male student’s remains are found in alligator-infested waters, the university warns students to stay away from the reptiles. But then a second body shows up, and the link is undeniable. Both men belonged to the same fraternity and had a reputation for preying on and hurting women.

Ellie has previously threatened to kill men who don’t take no for an answer. Rebecca and her friends thought Ellie was kidding. But now a vigilante killer is roaming campus—someone who knows how to dispose of rapists. Someone determined to save female students from horrible crimes.

I am often repelled by the casual use of young women in murder mysteries, who are often killed in horrible ways, after having suffered rape and assault. So my attention was caught by a book that turned the tables – it is male sexual predators who are the victims of the rising body count… So this one should be intriguingly different.

Jul29

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 29th July, 2020 #Brainfluffbookblog #CWC #WOW

Posted on July 29, 2020 by sjhigbee

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#dystopian science fiction #family relationships

BLURB: They’ll call her a bad mother.
Cole can live with that. Because when she breaks her son Miles out of the Male Protection Facility – designed to prevent him joining the 99% of men wiped off the face of the Earth – she’s not just taking him back.
She’s setting him free.
Leaving Miles in America would leave him as a lab experiment; a pawn in the hands of people who now see him as a treasure to be guarded, traded, and used. What kind of mother would stand by and watch her child suffer? But as their journey to freedom takes them across a hostile and changed country, freedom seems ever more impossible.
It’s time for Cole to prove just how far she’ll go to protect her son.

What caught my eye was that this is a story about a mother trying to save her son in a world where the majority of men have died off. I have enjoyed Beukes writing – see my review of Zoo City and Moxyland – so I am intrigued to see what she is proposing to do with this scenario…

Jul22

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 22nd July, 2020 #Brainfluffbookblog #CWC #WOW

Posted on July 22, 2020 by sjhigbee

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BLURB: Princess Sun has finally come of age.
Growing up in the shadow of her mother, Eirene, has been no easy task. The legendary queen-marshal did what everyone thought impossible: expel the invaders and build Chaonia into a magnificent republic, one to be respected—and feared. But the cutthroat ambassador corps and conniving noble houses have never ceased to scheme—and they have plans that need Sun to be removed as heir, or better yet, dead. To survive, the princess must rely on her wits and companions: her biggest rival, her secret lover, and a dangerous prisoner of war.

Take the brilliance and cunning courage of Princess Leia—add in a dazzling futuristic setting where pop culture and propaganda are one and the same—and hold on tight:

This is the space opera you’ve been waiting for.

The great Kate Elliott writing space opera! AND retelling the amazing story of Alexander the Great, but set in space – with a heroine… *bouncing on my seat with excitement* AND I’ve been approved for a Netgalley arc!!

Annddd… I need to calm down a bit. Picking up a book with toooo much anticipation is a sure-fire way for massive disappointment. But – that will be something of a struggle regarding this one! Fingers crossed that it’s as awesome a read as I’m hoping for.

Jul15

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 15th July, 2020 #Brainfluffbookblog #CWC #WOW

Posted on July 15, 2020 by sjhigbee

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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 – Ink and Sigil – Book 1 of the Ink and Sigil series by Kevin Hearne – release date 27th August, 2020

#urban fantasy #magical whodunit #humour #elderly protagonist

BLURB: Al MacBharrais is both blessed and cursed. He is blessed with an extraordinary white moustache, an appreciation for craft cocktails–and a most unique magical talent. He can cast spells with magically enchanted ink and he uses his gifts to protect our world from rogue minions of various pantheons, especially the Fae.

But when his latest apprentice, Gordie, turns up dead in his Glasgow flat, Al discovers evidence that Gordie was living a secret life of crime. Now Al is forced to play detective–while avoiding actual detectives who are wondering why death seems to always follow Al. Investigating his apprentice’s death will take him through Scotland’s magical underworld, and he’ll need the help of a mischievous hobgoblin if he’s to survive.

This is a spin-off from the hugely popular Iron Druid series, which I loved – see my review of Hounded – so I’m looking forward to this one with a great deal of anticipation. There should be some enjoyable knockabout humour, and I’m also pleased to see a protagonist in his sixties, so not in the first flush of youth. As he’s in the throes of a magical curse that means he can only speak at cost of his life, I’m intrigued to see how that plays out without compromising the flow and pace of the story. But this is Kevin Hearne, people! So it should be awesome.