WHAT THEY HEAR IN THE DARK By Gary McMahon http://spectralpress.wordpress.com/ Following the murder of their son, Eddie, Rob and Becky decide to renovate a house to try to take their mind off things, and to give them some time to heal and a project to work on together. But there is a room in the house that is completely empty of noise. The quiet room. The parents of the dead child are haunted, and in the quiet room the ghosts come in silence... McMahon does this kind of story so well it’s quite sickening. How he manages to tug at the heartstrings and draw you in so deeply in the space of a few pages (in this case just twenty two) is nothing short of remarkable. This is quiet horror in every sense, the theme echoing the contents of the story. Subtlety reins as we watch the characters attempt to deal with their loss, haunted both literally and metaphorically. This is another haunting story from McMahon that sticks with you long after reading it; one that plays on your mind and touches a sadness inside all of us who have ever lost anyone. Spectral Press have launched with this stellar title by McMahon, and with only one hundred copies available, I should imagine they will disappear fast. I’d like to see a printed version to see the quality of the finished product (one of the difficulties of reviewing an ebook), but obviously one of the problems with limited edition prints is availability. An evocative and compelling story that really gets you in the gut. Powerful and touching, McMahon delves into the true darkness of our hearts. By Stanley Riiks THE NAMELESS ONE By Kathryn Meyer Griffith www.myspace.com/kathrynmeyergriffith Interestingly, several notable e-publishers, including Damnation Books, have been buying up the rights to previously published novels by semi-established authors and re-publishing them, often as slightly modified ‘author’s revised’ editions, thus making
them available again for a whole new generation of fans to enjoy. This reminds me a little of the role the large trade paperback companies played in the traditional publishing set-up, whereby they would buy the rights to previously-published hardbacks and re-market them for the mass market. The Nameless One, previously published as part of an anthology in the early nineties, is one of a slew of KMG works being revamped and reissued in 2011. It is a delicious little slice of erotica with extremely dark undertones revolving around two young Egyptologists who come under the effects of a longforgotten demon when they uncover an ancient hidden tomb on a field trip. First the titular Nameless One invades their dreams and gives them voracious sexual appetites, which is all well and good, but then it begins to exert an altogether more unpleasant and malevolent influence. From then on it’s all about vengeance. KMG demonstrates an impressive knowledge of Middle Eastern history and culture, and The Nameless One is packed with symbolism and metaphor. This is a must for anyone with more than a passing interest in the myths of ancient Egypt. By C.M. Saunders POINT By Thomas Blackthorne www.angryrobotbooks.com Oh man! Edge, the first book in the series was on my Christmas list but no bugger got it for me! And that’s a damn shame, because after reading this I really wish I’d read it. Not that Point doesn’t work pretty much perfectly well by itself, but I have a feeling that the knowledge gained by reading the first book would definitely have improved the already excellent experience of reading this one. The story is set in a not too distance future where the USA is no more after a nuclear bomb has wiped out the West Coast, where knife-fighting is the biggest sport, and where teenagers are committing suicide in gangs of thirteen. Suzanne Duchesne is an expert in hypnotism who is called in by an MI5 completely lost and desperate to stop the Cutter Circles which are continuing to grow and spread. Her boyfriend is Josh Cumberland, ex-special forces, intent on bringing down the corrupt government of Bill