The Eloquent Page 2013 Preview

I do hope that everyone is having a relaxing and enjoyable festive season. Now that most of the serious over-indulgence is done with for another year, I thought it was about time to take a look at what new book-related loveliness is due in 2013.

Here are my top ten books I’m looking forward to reading in the next six months or so. Hope you enjoy.

Ack-Ack Macaque by Gareth Powell
	Publication Date: 3rd January
	Publisher: Solaris
	Genre: Simian Steampunk Science Fiction
	The Blurb: In 1944, as waves of German ninjas parachute into Kent, Britain’s best hopes for victory lie with a Spitfire pilot codenamed ‘Ack-Ack Macaque.’ The trouble is, Ack-Ack Macaque is a cynical, one-eyed, cigar-chomping monkey, and he’s starting to doubt everything, including his own existence. A century later, in a world where France and Great Britain merged in the late 1950s and nuclear-powered Zeppelins circle the globe, ex-journalist Victoria Valois finds herself drawn into a deadly game of cat and mouse with the man who butchered her husband and stole her electronic soul. Meanwhile, in Paris, after taking part in an illegal break-in at a research laboratory, the heir to the British throne goes on the run. And all the while, the doomsday clock ticks towards Armageddon.
The Eloquent Page says: Man, I would probably buy this book based on the name alone. Add to that a cover that kicks ass (I do love a Zeppelin) and a book blurb that mentions a Spitfire-flying monkey. I’m sold.

A Treacherous Likeness by Lynn Shepherd
	Publisher: Corsair
	Publication Date: 7th February
	Genre: Historical Murder Mystery
	The Blurb: In the dying days of 1850 the young detective Charles Maddox takes on a new case. His client? The only surviving son of the long-dead poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, and his wife Mary, author of Frankenstein. Charles soon finds himself being drawn into the bitter battle being waged over the poet’s literary legacy, but then he makes a chance discovery that raises new doubts about the death of Shelley’s first wife, Harriet, and he starts to question whether she did indeed kill herself, or whether what really happened was far more sinister than suicide. As he’s drawn deeper into the tangled web of the past, Charles discovers darker and more disturbing secrets, until he comes face to face with the terrible possibility that his own great-uncle is implicated in a conspiracy to conceal the truth that stretches back more than thirty years. The story of the Shelleys is one of love and death, of loss and betrayal.
The Eloquent Page says: Last year I read Tom-All-Alones, also by Lynn Shepherd, not knowing quite what to expect. It was exceptional. I’m hoping for more of the same.

Pantomime by Laura Lam
	Publisher: Strange Chemistry
	Publication Date: 7th February
	Genre: Fantastical Young Adult Adventure
	The Blurb: R.H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic is the greatest circus of Ellada. Nestled among the glowing blue Penglass – remnants of a mysterious civilisation long gone – are wonders beyond the wildest imagination. It’s a place where anything seems possible, where if you close your eyes you can believe that the magic and knowledge of the vanished Chimeras is still there. It’s a place where anyone can hide.Iphigenia Laurus, or Gene, the daughter of a noble family, is uncomfortable in corsets and crinoline, and prefers climbing trees to debutante balls. Micah Grey, a runaway living on the streets, joins the circus as an aerialist’s apprentice and soon becomes the circus’s rising star. But Gene and Micah have balancing acts of their own to perform, and a secret in their blood that could unlock the mysteries of Ellada.
The Eloquent Page says: Ok, ok. Regular readers of the site will know that I’ve already read and reviewed this but it’s publication date is 2013, so it’s going on the list because I think this is a fantastic debut and I genuinely think everyone should read it.

Child of Vengeance by David Kirk
	Publisher: Simon & Schuster
	Publication Date: 14th February
	Genre: Far-Eastern Historical Exploration
	The Blurb: Scholar. Warrior. Samurai. His name was Bennosuke, son of the great Munisai Shinmen, known throughout the empire as one of the greatest warriors who ever lived. His destiny was to become a great warrior like his father – a Samurai, one of the most feared and respected in the world. But before fame comes action, and Bennosuke must prove himself on the battlefield before he can claim his inheritance. And in his way stands the vengeful Kensaku, son of Lord Nakata, the face of the enemy, a man who is determined to kill Bennosuke. It is a battle between honour and vengeance, pride and reputation. And Bennosuke must look death in the eye before he can call himself a warrior. Before he can call himself Musashi, the greatest warrior of all time…
The Eloquent Page says: I’ve an interest in all things relating the Far East and it’s colorful history. Now that I’m reading more historical fiction this looks like a good fit.

Fade to Black by Francis Knight
	Publisher: Orbit Books
	Publication Date: 26th February
	Genre: Fantasy Debut Fantasy
	The Blurb: From the depths of a valley rises the city of Mahala It’s a city built upwards – where streets are built upon streets, buildings upon buildings. A city that the Ministry rules from the sunlit summit, and where the forsaken lurk in the darkness of Under.Rojan Dizon doesn’t mind staying in the shadows, because he’s got things to hide. Things like being a pain-mage, with the forbidden power to draw magic from pain. But when the fate of Mahala depends on him using his magic, he can’t hide for ever.
The Eloquent Page says: I really don’t know a great deal about this book but that cover is beautiful. I’m looking forward to this debut very much. Sounds intriguing.

Department 19: Battle Lines by Will Hill
	Publisher: Harper Collins
	Publication Date: 28th March
	Genre: Young Adult Horror
	The Blurb: Dracula is on the verge of coming into his full power. Department 19 is on the back foot. Ladies and gentlemen: welcome to war. The stakes? Mankind’s very survival…As the clock ticks remorselessly towards Zero Hour and the return of Dracula, the devastated remnants of Department 19 try to hold back the rising darkness.Jamie Carpenter is training new recruits, trying to prepare them for a fight that appears increasingly futile. Kate Randall is pouring her grief into trying to plug the Department’s final leaks, as Matt Browning races against time to find a cure for vampirism. And on the other side of the world, Larissa Kinley has found a place she feels at home, yet where she makes a startling discovery.Uneasy truces are struck, new dangers emerge on all sides, and relationships are pushed to breaking point. And in the midst of it all, Department 19 faces a new and potentially deadly threat, born out of one of the darkest moments of its own long and bloody history. Zero Hour is coming. And the Battle Lines have been drawn.
The Eloquent Page says: Book 2 of this series made my best of review for 2012. I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!

The Age Atomic by Adam Christopher
	Publisher: Angry Robot
	Publication Date: 4th April
	Genre: Retro Golden Age Sci-Fi
	The Blurb: The Empire State is dying. The Fissure connecting the pocket universe to New York has vanished, plunging the city into a deep freeze and the populace are demanding a return to Prohibition and rationing as energy supplies dwindle.Meanwhile, in 1954 New York, the political dynamic has changed and Nimrod finds his department subsumed by a new group, Atoms For Peace, led by the mysterious Evelyn McHale. As Rad uncovers a new threat to his city, Atoms For Peace prepare their army for a transdimensional invasion. Their goal: total conquest – or destruction – of the Empire State.
The Eloquent Page says: Adam Christopher is swiftly becoming a force to be reckoned with. Each new novel he writes only builds on this reputation. A return to The Empire State. Oh hell yes, I think so.

Red, White and Blood by Christopher Farnsworth
	Publisher: Hodder
	Publication Date: 11th April
	Genre: Political horror
	The Blurb: A political operative and a volunteer are brutally murdered. Written in their blood on the wall of the crime scene: IT’S GOOD TO BE BACK. In 145 years, Nathaniel Cade, the President’s vampire, has fought one particular evil over and over again: the source of urban legends and nightmares across the country. It has gone by many names and guises, but is best known by the one that all children instinctively fear: the Boogeyman. No matter how Cade kills him, the Boogeyman always comes back. When the killer begins targeting the president’s people on the campaign trail, Cade and his human handler, Zach Barrows, are tasked with cleaning up the mess before it spills over into the upcoming election. Cade and Zach must stop the one monster Cade has never been able to defeat completely. And they must do it before the Boogeyman adds another victim to his long and bloody list: the President of the United States himself.
The Eloquent Page says: I’ll admit I was a little late to the party re this series but I’m all caught up now and I’m so looking forward to book three.

Mayhem by Sarah Pinborough
	Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books
	Publication Date: 25th April
	Genre: Horror/Historical/Crime (I’ll be honest I think it will probably fit in all three based on the blurb)
	The Blurb: When a rotting torso is discovered in the vault of New Scotland Yard, it doesn’t take Dr Thomas Bond, Police Surgeon, long to realise that there is a second killer at work in the city where, only a few days before, Jack the Ripper brutally murdered two women in one night. Though just as gruesome, this is the hand of a colder killer, one who lacks Jack’s emotion. And, as more headless and limbless torsos find their way into the Thames, Dr Bond becomes obsessed with finding the killer. As his investigations lead him into an unholy alliance, he starts to wonder: is it a man who has brought mayhem to the streets of London, or a monster?
The Eloquent Page says: Another book that I don’t know a great deal about but you can’t go far wrong with a rotting torso can you?

Red Moon by Benjamin Percy
	Publisher: Hodder
	Publication Date: 9th May
	Genre: Horror
	The Blurb: Every teenage girl thinks she’s different. When government agents kick down Claire Forrester’s front door and murder her parents, Claire realises just how different she is. Patrick Gamble was nothing special until the day he got on a plane and, hours later, stepped off it, the only passenger left alive. A hero. President Chase Williams has sworn to eradicate the menace. Unknown to the electorate, however, he is becoming the very thing he has sworn to destroy. Each of them is caught up in a war that so far has been controlled with laws and violence and drugs. But an uprising is about to leave them damaged, lost, and tied to one another for ever.The night of the red moon is coming, when an unrecognizable world will emerge, and the battle for humanity will begin.
The Eloquent Page says: I love the blurb for this one. Doesn’t give too much away but promises something suitably big.

So there you have it. Just ten of the many books I am looking forward to reading soon. Hopefully, there’s something in the list that may be of interest to you. I’m certainly going to try to read and review as many of them as I can.

Happy 2013 and keep reading 🙂