This Week’s New Releases: 14/12/09 ~ 21/12/09

Summary (Amazon UK)

There is big and evil magic abroad upon the face of the Earth. History has been changed. The Germans have won WWII. America is a nuclear wasteland. And worst of all, the breakfast menu at The Wife’s Legs Cafe in Brentford is serving Bratwurst rather than the proper big boys’ British banger. Something is Not Right. And when the world’s all wrong and it needs setting right, who’re you gonna call? Hugo Rune, that’s who. A man who offers the world his genius, and asks only, in return, that the world cover his expenses. And so, with the aid of his faithful acolyte and companion Rizla, the guru’s guru, also known as the hokus bloke, the Lad Himself and the Retromancer*, sets out to rewrite history the way it should be. Together they return to war-torn London, to solve the twelve cosmic conundra based on Hugo Rune’s personal tarot deck, each one leading them closer to a final terrifying confrontation. They must match their wits against beautiful spies, advanced alien technology, killer robots and death rays, do battle with an ancient god, and come face to face once more with Hugo Rune’s arch-enemy, the sinister Count Otto Black, all the while finding time to drink ale, talk the toot and dine out in some of London’s swankiest eateries. Without ever paying the bill.

Kiss of Evil

Richard Monatanri (Arrow Books)

Publication Date: 17 Dec 2009

Paperback: 384 pages

Genre: Crime/Thriller

Summary (Amazon UK)

Christmas is just around the corner; the season of peace and goodwill. But this year, for Detective Jack Paris, the Christmas spirit is eclipsed by the hunt for a sadistic and twisted serial killer…When an accused murderer is acquitted on a technicality then found dead of an apparent suicide, a spree of brutal murders terrorizes the citizens of Cleveland. This vicious and vengeful killer tortures his seemingly unrelated victims in unimaginably violent ways, leaving them all with a strange symbol carved into their flesh. When Detective Paris discovers that these murders are the grim handiwork of one maniac obsessed with the dark side of the ancient religion, Santeria, he’s pulled into a web of danger and sexual deviance. Jack must catch the killer before he kills again. But on Christmas Eve, Jack finds himself right where the homicidal maniac wants him: questioning his loyalties, facing an impossible choice, with the barrel of a gun pointing at his temple and the whole world watching…

Fallen

Lauren Kate (DoubleDay)

Publication Date: 17 Dec 2009

Paperback: 464 pages

Reading Level: Young Adult

Genre: Fantasy, Romance

Summary (Goodreads)

Seventeen-Year-Old Luce is a new student at Sword & Cross, an unwelcoming reform school in Savannah, Georgia. Luce’s boyfriend died under suspicious circumstances, and now she carries the guilt over his death with her as she navigates the unfriendly halls at Sword & Cross, where every student seems to have an unpleasant—even evil—history.

It’s only when she sees Daniel, a gorgeous fellow student, that Luce feels there’s a reason to be here—though she doesn’t know what it is. And Daniel’s frosty cold demeanor toward her? It’s really a protective device that he’s used again… and again. For Daniel is a fallen angel, doomed to fall in love with the same girl every 17 years… and watch her die. And Luce is a fellow immortal, cursed to be reincarnated again and again as a mortal girl who has no idea of who she really is.

Fallen Dragon

Peter F. Hamilton (Orbit)

Publication Date: 14 Dec 2009

Paperback: 832 pages

Genre: Science Fiction