Book Reviews - Tor/Forge Blog

The First Days receives a starred review in PW

May 16, 2011May 10, 2024torforge

“This outstanding first effort, the first book in a trilogy, will appeal greatly to zombie fans, but the undead are merely the catalyst for a far more disquieting tale of societal collapse.”

The First Days by Rhiannon Frater has received a Starred review in this week’s Publishers Weekly!

Below is the full review:

“This world is fragile.” This truth lies at the core of Frater’s intensely compelling first novel. When Jenni wakes up one morning and discovers her husband devouring their baby, she flees into a world suddenly populated by zombies. She is rescued by Katie, a lawyer haunted by her abandonment of her now-undead wife. The two traumatized women escape the city and discover unsuspected reserves of strength as they meet other survivors, some waiting for the government to save them and others trying to support one another through the chaos. Katie and Jenni join a group in a fortified site and are faced with the enormous task of rebuilding the world. This outstanding first effort, the first book in a trilogy, will appeal greatly to zombie fans, but the undead are merely the catalyst for a far more disquieting tale of societal collapse.” (July)

What others are saying about The First Days:

Fatally Yours
Buy Zombie
Random Musings
Horror Drive-in

What's New

Starred Reviews for Alex Bledsoe’s Dark Jenny

March 1, 2011May 10, 2024torforge

“Fans of Bledsoe’s other blends of fantasy and noir will love his latest, and new readers will be able to jump right in. Try suggesting this to fans of Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files.” – Booklist

opens in a new windowDark Jenny by opens in a new windowAlex Bledsoe gets not one but TWO starred reviews!

From Booklist:

The third Eddy Lacrosse novel finds Eddy and friends snowed in at his tavern-office when a large coffin is delivered. The explanation entails a long story that goes back to Eddie’s early years as an investigator and

to the legendary island of Grand Bruan. Readers soon realize that Grand Bruan is an noirish alternate version of Great Britain; that its king, Marcus Drake, is alternate reality’s King Arthur; and that Eddy’s

tale is another take on the final days of Camelot. Originally hired to keep an eye on a philandering husband, Eddy just happens to be present when one of the Knights of the Double Tarn is poisoned, and

Queen Jennifer is accused of the crime. Worse, her loyal defender, Elliott Spears, is absent, along with Cameron Kern, the King’s old advisor (and magician). Bledsoe’s clever combination of noir and myth

makes for an engaging story, and placing investigator Eddy at the center offers a fresh twist. Bledsoe’s characters are especially memorable, including Dave Agravaine, a bully who likes to hit women;

overweight and overworked but loyal Bob Kay; and Marc’s nephew, Dread Ted Medraft—not to mention the giggleweed-smoking Kern. Fans of Bledsoe’s other blends of fantasy and noir will love his latest, and

new readers will be able to jump right in. Try suggesting this to fans of Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files.

From Publishers Weekly:

Bledsoe whips up a perfect blend of Arthurian legend and hard-boiled detecting in the third novel featuring “private sword jockey” Eddie LaCrosse (after 2009’s Burn Me Deadly). While tracking a client’s wayward husband on the island kingdom of Grand Bruan, which is ruled by King Marcus Drake and his Knights of the Double Tarn, LaCrosse falls under suspicion when a knight dies of a poisoned apple he snatched from a tray prepared specially by Queen Jennifer. Fortunately, the detective manages to convince the king’s seneschal that he may not be guilty, and is asked to help identify the real criminal. The mystery and its ramifications for the Grand Bruan royals will seem familiar to readers of Thomas Malory, but Bledsoe skillfully combines humor, action, deduction, and emotion to make the material fresh and engaging for fans of both fantasy and noir.

opens in a new windowDark Jenny releases March 29th, 2011.

And be sure to check out the first two Eddie LaCrosse adventures in The Sword-Edged Blonde and Burn Me Deadly, available now.

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The Quantum Thief gets a starred review in Kirkus!

March 1, 2011May 10, 2024torforge

“Spectacularly and convincingly inventive, assured and wholly spellbinding: one of the most impressive debuts in years.”

opens in a new windowThe Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi gets a starred review in the March 1 edition of Kirkus Reviews!

Below is the full review:

A sort of paranoid-conspiracy, hard sci-fi whodunit: the Scotland resident, Finnish author’s jaw-dropping debut.

Notorious thief Jean le Flambeur serves an indeterminate sentence in the surreal Dilemma Prison governed by artificial intelligences, or Archons, at the behest of Earth’s ruling “upload collective” called the Sobornost. The Archons’ notion of rehabilitation is to compel the prisoners, incarcerated in infinitely repeating transparent cells, to play murderous mind games with infinite copies of themselves. Soon enough, though, along comes spacer Mieli in her alluring sentient spaceship to rescue le Flambeur—providing that he’s willing to work for her. The thief has little choice, it’s either accept or stay and be shot through the head over and over. And so they’re off to Mars, where the multi-legged city of Oubliette wanders the landscape, terraforming as it goes. Here, time itself is currency; memory, and hence reality, is held collectively, privacy is a fetish preserved by unbreakable encryption and enforced by powerful “tzaddiks,” but everybody’s strings are being pulled—even the string-pullers’—by hidden higher authorities. Mieli’s employer, known only as the pellegrini, wants le Flambeur to perform a particular if unmentioned service, while the thief has his own ulterior motives for cooperating: years ago he hid large chunks of his memories here, and now he needs to recover them to attain his own vengeful goals. Meanwhile, brilliant young detective Isidore Beautrelet, having just solved the murder of a prominent chocolatier, accepts another assignment—involving an arch villain named…le Flambeur. All this barely hints at the complex inventions and extrapolations, richly textured backdrop and well-developed characters seamlessly woven into a narrative stuffed with scientific, literary and cultural references.

Spectacularly and convincingly inventive, assured and wholly spellbinding: one of the most impressive debuts in years.

The Quantum Thief releases May 10th, 2011.

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The Beloved Dead gets a starred review in PW and Library Journal

February 14, 2011May 10, 2024torforge

The Beloved Dead by Tony Hays gets a starred review in the February 14th edition of Publishers Weekly!

Below is the full review:

Hays merges a suspenseful serial killer story line with a persuasive recreation of fifth-century Britain in his superior third Arthurian mystery (after 2010’s The Divine Sacrifice). Arthur ap Uther, “the Rigotamos, the High King of all Britannia,” who’s preparing for a politically expedient marriage, dispatches his chief adviser, Malgwyn ap Cuneglas, to escort his bride-to-be, Gwyneira, and her father, Aircol, back to Arthur’s stronghold. On the way, Malgwyn gets caught up in the search for a savage murderer, who sexually abuses young girls before slitting their throats. The investigator has to wonder whether the killings, which reawaken painful memories from his own past, are aimed at destabilizing Arthur’s authority, perpetually under threat from envious rivals. That Arthur remains in love with Malgwyn’s admirable cousin, Guinevere, only exacerbates tension between Malgwyn and the legendary king, who emerges as a plausible flesh-and-blood ruler. Both Arthur fans and historical whodunit devotees will be more than satisfied. (Apr.)

The Beloved Dead also received a starred review in the 2-1-2011 print edition of Library Journal. Below is the full review:

The Beloved Dead: In his third outing (after opens in a new windowThe Killing Way and opens in a new windowThe Divine Sacrifice) Malgwyn, Arthur’s one-armed scribe and most trusted adviser, is to escort Arthur’s intended bride to Castellum Arturius, where the royal wedding will take place. On the eve of departure, a young woman is brutally raped and murdered, but Malgwyn has no time for an investigation. On the way, two more women are killed. Upon his return, Malgwyn finds that his cousin Guinevere, who has had a long-standing relationship with Arthur and is not dealing with the impending marriage very well, has sought sanctuary in a monastery and is the prime murder suspect.

VERDICT Hayes has captured the Arthurian legend and made it his own. Many complex plot threads and believable characters make this a series to be savored by historical mystery and Arthurian fiction fans.

The Beloved Dead releases Marcyh29th, 2011, and be sure to check out the trade paperback edition of The Divine Sacrifice by Tony Hays, available March 1st, 2011.

What's New

Lucky Stiff gets a starred review!

January 19, 2011May 10, 2024torforge

Lucky Stiff by Deborah Coonts gets a starred review in Library Journal.

Below is the full review:

Lucky Stiff: In an ironic twist, loan shark Numbers Neidermeyer’s body is found in a shark tank in a Vegas casino. Everyone, it seems, wanted Numbers dead, and soon Lucky O’Toole (Wanna Get Lucky?), customer relations pro at the Babylon, is drawn into the case. She was one of the last people to see Numbers alive, and one of her best friends is the primary person of interest. Other lively subplots include Lucky’s mother, a Vegas madam, auctioning off a young woman’s virginity; Lucky’s boyfriend being offered a music deal that will result in a long tour; and a top Mafia godfather asking Lucky for a favor she can’t refuse. VERDICT Watching Lucky navigate the dangerous shoals of the male-dominated world of gambling is a delight. Las Vegas is the perfect setting for this witty tale of misdirection and larger-than-life characters. Fans of J.A. Konrath’s Jack Daniels series will love this.

What others are saying about Lucky Stiff:

“This wonderfully funny and entertaining mystery stars Lucky O’Toole, head of customer relations at a Las Vegas resort. Readers who like cozy mysteries with a lot of sass, great dialogue and a plot that flies will love this.”
Romantic Times

“[A]s lively and endearingly wacky as Wanna Get Lucky?”
Kirkus Reviews

“Very much in the spirit of Carole Nelson Douglas’ Midnight Louie mystery series (sans talking cats), Coonts covers similar Sin City territory with a dash of CSI and Janet Evanovich in her second glitzy, lighthearted novel featuring Lucky O’Toole.”
Publishers Weekly

Lucky Stiff
Coonts, Deborah (Author)
Feb 2011. 368 p. Forge, hardcover, $24.99. (9780765325440).