Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward (Viper, £16.99)
The latest from the horror/crime virtuoso combines supernatural, psychological and all-too-human terrors in a tale drawing on elements ranging from Peter Pan to historic serial abusers. Nowhere House was in a remote American mountain valley; when it burned down, the terrible crimes committed by Hollywood star Leaf Winham against young men were revealed. Subsequently, runaway children turned the valley into a fortress, surviving on food they could catch or grow, with occasional forays into the towns below. Riley has heard the rumours, but it is only when she sees a green-clad boy – or is it a girl? – hovering outside her bedroom window offering directions on how to find Nowhere that she realises this might be her chance to escape and save her little brother from their sadistic guardian. Her experiences are interwoven with stories from others drawn there: Marc, a journalist determined to get inside the fortress; Adam, the only one of Leaf’s victims to survive; the pioneers who built the first house in the valley, and more. A dark, grimly compelling and very twisty tale.
Pagans by James Alistair Henry (Moonflower, £9.99)
In this entertaining alt-history debut, we are in a 21st-century Britain where the Norman conquest never happened, split along religious and cultural lines. The Saxons are led by the High King, who rules the greater part of England; Scotland is behind a wall, allied to the Nordic Economic Union; and the indigenous Celts are second-class citizens. In the buildup to a London summit to discuss plans for British unity, a Celtic negotiator is found dead, nailed to a tree in Epping Forest. Detective Captain Aedith Mercia of the London police teams up with Drustan of the Dumnonian tribal police in a search for what seems to be a religiously motivated serial killer; they find evidence there could be a greater political threat. It’s a great read, combining clever world-building with engaging characters and an exciting story, and ending with a promise of more to come.
Pedro the Vast by Simón López Trujillo, translated by Robin Myers (Scribe, £9.99)
This short, intense novel by an award-winning Chilean author is speculative fiction about an ominous change to human life as we know it in the wake of ecological destruction. Four forestry workers are struck by a fungal infection affecting their brains. The sole survivor wakes from a coma; speaking with a new voice about being part of a greater whole rather than one sinful individual, he is declared a prophet by a religious cult. Told through alternating viewpoints, moving between conscious and unconscious experience, from the daily lives of an impoverished rural family to a scientist investigating fungal life, it is an unsettling, hallucinogenic trip that lingers in the mind.
Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman (Michael Joseph, £22)
The colony planet of New Sonora was originally settled by convicts and political dissidents; now their adult grandchildren are hard-working farmers on the brink of a new era as the opening of a Transfer Gate above the planet will allow instant travel between New Sonora and Earth. Our hero, young Oliver Lewis, learns that an eviction order has been served on the planet, and action planned to eliminate any “terrorists” remaining. A variety of war machines arrive, but no soldiers. The government has outsourced planet clearance to a company that manufactures video games: the killing machines will be controlled by excited young gamers back on Earth. The farmers now designated as targets have no weapons; they can only reprogramme their agricultural drones for protection and try to convince the people of Earth that they’re just like them. An entertaining story that skewers an uncomfortable aspect of today’s world: “Imagine a war where all the soldiers are actually paying money for the chance to fight in it. It’s brilliant.”
A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing by Alice Evelyn Yang (Dead Ink, £11.99)
This debut novel from a Chinese American writer uses a magical-realist lens to examine some of the darker strands of 20th-century Chinese history and the legacy of generational trauma. Qianze has had no contact with her father since he abandoned the family on her 14th birthday. When he turns up 11 years later, babbling about a prophecy, she is horrified, but compelled to be the “good Chinese daughter” and take care of him. Eventually, he reveals her family’s hidden history, and not only does he recall his own shameful experiences as a child during Mao’s Cultural Revolution, he’s able to channel the memories of his parents from years before he was born. Beautifully written, the novel seamlessly blends elements of the supernatural with everyday life, creating a powerful multitonal tale of cruelty, pain, love and survival.
