Where Are We Going and Are We Nearly There Yet? by Paul Hodson - REVIEW
A story could take you anywhere… and in Where Are We Going and Are We Nearly There Yet?, Paul Hodson invites us on a journey without a map — a wide-ranging, deeply humane reflection on what it means to be human in a world that feels simultaneously ancient and new. The title sounds almost whimsical, the question of an impatient child in the back seat, but it is also a cry from civilisation itself: have we made progress, and if so, towards what?
The Secret Adventure Machine (The Big Apple) by Sandra Jackson-Trench - REVIEW
A story could take you anywhere — and in Sandra Jackson-Trench’s The Secret Adventure Machine, “anywhere” means quite literally anywhere. One minute you’re an eight-year-old boy in suburban Birmingham, clutching your new MadTab 2.0 tablet; the next, you’re chasing villains through New York, dodging spies in Beijing, and discovering that imagination might be the most powerful technology of all.
The Allegations by Angela Lester - REVIEW
Some books whisper their secrets; others tighten the air around you until every breath feels complicit. Angela Lester’s The Allegations does both. It begins with the shock of a child’s discovery — a scene so intimate and quietly harrowing it imprints itself on the reader’s mind — and then unfolds into a psychological labyrinth of memory, guilt and the elusive nature of truth. By the time you realise where Lester has taken you, you’ve long surrendered to her spell.
Murder and Malice by Hugh Greene - REVIEW
In Murder and Malice, Hugh Greene invites readers into a world where intellect, power and morality intersect — and quietly implode. It’s a sophisticated psychological thriller that unravels in a world of universities, research funding, and the uneasy marriage between knowledge and corruption. The tone is deliberate and elegant; the violence is intellectual as much as physical. Greene writes as if he’s dissecting the soul of modern ambition with the precision of a pathologist.
Utopia? by R.A. Rowlingson - REVIEW
Dystopian fiction has long fascinated readers with its ability to reflect the cracks in our own societies through exaggerated, often terrifying, futures. In Utopia?, R.A. Rowlingson takes up this challenge with remarkable assurance, offering not merely another bleak vision of tomorrow but a layered narrative that combines political intrigue, social critique, and deeply human storytelling.
The Oak and the Eagles by Patrick Tooban - REVIEW
Patrick Tooban has achieved something rare: a historical novel that feels at once grand in scope and intimate in detail, scholarly in grounding yet poetic in telling. The Oak and the Eagles is not just a story about a forgotten figure of Celtic history — it is an invitation to step into a world where oak and eagle, prophecy and memory, flesh and spirit, are woven into the fabric of life. Readers who accept that invitation may well find themselves lingering by the fire, listening for the echoes of Calgach’s tale long after the book is closed.
To Keep Us All Safe by Stephen Ford - REVIEW
To Keep Us All Safe is much more than a dystopian narrative. It is a mirror held up to our fears, our sneakily extorted compromises, and our resilience. It asks us to look closely at the language of safety, to question who benefits from it, and to remember what is lost when freedoms are bartered away. It is a novel that lingers, whispering questions long after the final letter has been read.
No Free Speech for Hate by Stephen Ford - REVIEW
No Free Speech for Hate is a work of conviction, scholarship, and humanity. It is bold without being strident, rigorous without being dry, and urgent without being alarmist. In the current climate—where words have never carried more weight, and where democracies everywhere are being tested—it feels like essential reading.
A Dying Titan by Mike Connor - REVIEW
Jack Landon, a thirteen-year-old Goth with a knack for getting into trouble, is sarcastic, stubborn, vulnerable, and instantly sympathetic – the kind of protagonist you root for even when he makes questionable decisions. His life is turned upside down when he finds himself pursued by a mysterious man, stunned by a robot, and whisked into a completely unfamiliar reality. Here he meets Dorothy, a so-called Guardian Angel who is equal parts wise, chaotic, and hilarious. She offers Jack biscuits, sweets, and tambourines as if these are the essentials for surviving both adolescence and interdimensional crises.
Aftermath by Patrick Smart - REVIEW
At first glance, Aftermath might appear to be a straightforward war story — paratroopers dropping into enemy fire, crackling radios, the weight of a revolver in a soldier’s hand. But Patrick Smart isn’t writing a soldier’s adventure yarn. He is writing about what happens after. The title itself is the clue. This is less about glory on the battlefield and more about the scar tissue left behind: the fractured psyches, the attempts to find routine after chaos, the sense that violence has bled into everyday life in ways that no discharge papers can erase.
Traitors, Cannibals, Highlanders & Vikings by Carolyn J. Nicholson - REVIEW
Nicholson has a gift for taking meticulously researched history and turning it into something vivid, immediate, and unexpectedly moving. This isn’t a dry recitation of dates and facts — it’s an immersive journey, in every sense of the word. Our guide is Caroline Morton, a young widow living in Halifax, Nova Scotia, who sets out to write a novel about her family history. One year later, she hasn’t managed the first chapter. Then, in a wonderfully mischievous twist, her ancestors decide to intervene.
The Ghost Writer by Ian Siragher - REVIEW
Some book titles whisper; others announce themselves with a kind of eerie authority. The Ghost Writer sits somewhere in between: quiet, unsettling, and suggestive of hidden hands shaping both the page and the lives upon it. From the outset, I knew this was not going to be an ordinary read.
Having already devoured The Three Wives of Charlie Mellon, this is the second novel I’ve read from Ian Siragher, and I was curious to see where his imagination would lead this time. This novel is sharper, more enigmatic, and comparatively a deeper shade of grey — a story that lingers like a shadow you can’t quite shake.
The Last Witch on Skye by Carolyn J. Nicholson - REVIEW
Carolyn J. Nicholson’s The Last Witch on Skye is a radiant tribute to oral tradition, Celtic folklore, and the quiet resilience of those who live between worlds—be they witches, fairies, or misunderstood humans. With her debut into middle-grade fantasy, Nicholson gifts readers a story rich with mischief, wit, cultural texture, and emotional depth, all wrapped in a narrative voice that is both timeless and tender.
The Story of Queen Mary II and the Mysterious Jean Tijou (and related matters) by Malcolm Adrian Fay - REVIEW
In the sphere of historical inquiry, few works dare to intertwine documented fact with speculative reasoning as boldly, and with such baroque elegance, as The Story of Queen Mary II and the Mysterious Jean Tijou. Malcolm Adrian Fay does not merely present a book; he offers what he terms a “historical case file” - a genre-defying composition in which archival records, circumstantial evidence, artistic symbolism, and logical conjecture combine to illuminate one of the most tantalising enigmas of 17th-century Britain: the concealed life and alleged royal affiliation of the elusive artist-blacksmith Jean Tijou.
White Pigeon by Geoff Tyler - REVIEW
Few books manage to provoke such a blend of fascination, discomfort, and reflection as Geoff Tyler’s White Pigeon: A Man Who Stayed, with a Wife Who Strayed. What begins as a seemingly straightforward memoir about a late-life romance between an English scientist and a beautiful Rwandan woman unfolds into something much more confronting, tangled, and compulsively readable.
"Dying to Stay Young" by Glynis Drew - REVIEW
From the moment I opened "Dying to Stay Young," I knew I was in for something special. Glynis Drew's latest offering doesn't just tell a story—it grabs you by the throat and refuses to let go. This isn't your typical crime thriller—Drew has crafted something that transcends genre boundaries to become something far more profound.
The Burnout Ladder by Alan Muskett - REVIEW
Ultimately, The Burnout Ladder is a timely and valuable contribution to the burnout conversation. It’s especially useful for professionals working in high-pressure environments, as well as coaches and therapists who want a clear, empathetic resource to share with clients. Muskett’s experience across corporate leadership, hypnotherapy, and mindfulness gives him a rare interdisciplinary voice—and one that is sorely needed in our current moment.
North East of Eden by Gabor Szabo - REVIEW
North East of Eden is not an easy read. And it’s not a heavy read either. It’s a human one. Honest, unfiltered, sometimes chaotic — true to life. It doesn’t offer answers. It doesn’t tie anything up neatly. But it does something better: it stays with you. Like a voice calling out from somewhere just beyond reach.
And if you’ve ever loved someone you lost through silence, distance, or bureaucracy — if you’ve ever been a child waiting for a grown-up to come back and try again — this book will find you.
The Second Coming: Judgement Day by Paul Georgiou - REVIEW
Reading The Second Coming: Judgement Day felt like being handed a mirror and asked, gently but firmly, to look longer than I usually do. It’s a novel that disguises its urgency in wit, its depth in levity, and its questions in character. And it’s written by someone who understands that the most radical thing we can do might not be to save the world—but to ask, honestly, why we keep destroying it.
Confetti and Ashes by Shahd Alshammari - REVIEW
Poetry plays a big part in this book, but I have never understood its appeal. Maybe that’s just me. It has always felt elusive, too abstract, as though it demands something from me that I was never willing or able to give. But by the end of Confetti and Ashes, I understood its power. Alshammari’s writing is littered with poetry. The beginning of every chapter starts as it means to go on, not used as decoration or a distraction, but as distilled reflections of memory or views.