The Bone Key Curse delivers a plot riddled with mystery & suspense

The Bone Key Curse by Mike Scantlebury is an adventure/thriller with a religious premise. Think of Raiders of the Lost Ark but bring it to modern day Bristol England where students from Bristol University have been excavating for years. The story centers on what they discover in the River Trym, which flows through north Bristol and empties into the River Avon. It’s an ancient ship, and it holds well-preserved secrets. Mickey and his team arrive on site due to a terrorist threat. He’s out of his element, but his co-worker, Amelia Hartliss, provides him with enough information to give him a foundational understanding of the importance of the find and why religious zealots might want to capture or destroy the artifacts. 

 

Book Review

 

This story explodes with action in the first chapter and introduces a plot riddled with mystery and suspense. Scantlebury weaves a web of intrigue as Mickey, and his team, follow ancient clues to catch the terrorists. The Bone Key Curse is book 7 in the Mickey from Manchester series and the first I’ve read. The story stands alone, but it would be fun to pick up this series from the beginning. I wish the characters were more developed so I knew them better and could care more about what happens to them, but overall, I give this book 4 stars and recommend it to readers who enjoy books like The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown or Altar of Eden By James Rollins. The Bone Key Curse entertains and keeps the pages turning.

 

As BookHookup, I am a longtime book reviewer. I received a free review copy of this book and have not been compensated for reviewing or recommending it. Some links in this post are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliate sites.

 

About Author Mike Scantlebury

 

Free-wheeling author Mike Scantlebury confuses a lot of readers. Most days he writes adventurous stories, but he has so many other creative interests as well, it’s hard keeping up. Sure, you can find his books in all good online book-stores, but there’s e-books and paperbacks too, as well as a slew of audio-books that he’s narrated himself. Is that why he’s on Sound Cloud? No, he’s also got songs up there, as well as podcasts. You can also find him on You Tube. Talking about writing? Of course, but also performing, (songs, yes, and he’s also made a series of short drama movies, with local friends).

For a dedicated author, it’s almost as though he has NO PLAN at all. Well, yeah, That’s why they started calling him ‘Free-wheeling’. He’s so laid back, you never know what he’ll be doing today.

Still, if you want to read what he’s written - novels, short and long - try the usual book outlets. But if you want to hear him TALK, search out audio-books, (as well as podcasts on Sound Cloud). If you want to hear him SING, it’s Sound Cloud again, (plus You Tube), and if you want to see him act, try You Tube (and Vimeo.com).

That voice? It will tell you one thing. Mike Scantlebury is from the West of England. In fact, he’s the North West’s only West Country crime writer. That sounds like fun. He deserves an Award for that in itself!

Astounding YA Dark Fantasy whodunit

Slipstream is a YA Sci-fi/Dark Fantasy thriller that opens with a gruesome murder of a young pregnant Asian heiress. When the authorities arrive, they find her sliced open and the baby gone. A necklace retrieved from the body turns out to be a high-tech amulet. The eccentric engraver who crafted it was a founding member of the defunct Pacific Rim Rapturits. It turns out the dead woman is his daughter and the half-sister of Detective Connor, who is working the case. Years pass with no breaks in the case until Connor learns that the baby lived, and her name is Raven. 

 

 

Alice Godwin uses Dark Fantasy as the canvas on which she paints this fantasy whodunit with the flare of a noir thriller. The opening chapter delivers just enough backstory to generate questions that frame the plot that unfolds in fractured pieces from varying points of view that fit together like a Japanese puzzle box. 

 

When the reader meets Raven, she is 16, lives in a post-apoplectic high-tech world where ecopods drive below the streets through a cobweb of underground freeways and some live in eco-tech housing and artificial closed ecological systems. Yet, Raven's world still suffers from inequality and injustice as power and wealth control lives and enrich the already-rich minority. 

 

Raven isn’t among the rich. She’s a gifted young lady with remote viewing skills, being reared by the carnies. Her visions fill her with dread, but she finds solace in a place called the Ghostlands where the whisperings of the web and electromagnetic humming that surround everything no longer haunt her. Here her head is silent. Here she enters a free-fall state into silver streams where things are tranquil and perfect–until Ceriful, a being from another reality crosses boundaries and brings the slipstream in his wake. Raven’s essence flows into it. He needs Raven to restore his realm. But, if she does, what does it mean for her world?

 

Book Recommendation

I recommend this book to those looking for their next fantasy mystery read. Filled with suspense, foreshadowing, and flashbacks, it delivers a surprise ending. Whether you’re interested in cozies or noir fiction, I’m sure this magical mystery will glue you to the edge of your seat. The opening chapters had a disjointed feel as scenes jumped to differing points of view and made for a slow start, but I realized those early chapters laid the foundation I needed to unlock the puzzle of this dark fantasy mystery. People who enjoy books like Beyond the Black Door by A.M. Stickland will find this book to their liking. I give it four stars and look forward to book 2.

 

As BookHookup, I am a long-time book reviewer, and I received Slipstream as a free review copy and have not been compensated for reviewing or recommending it. This review is posted in collaboration with #Black Phoenix Book Tours. Some links in this post are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliate sites.

 

  

About the Author Alice Godwin

Raised in the most southern of Australian cities, Hobart (Nipaluna), capital of the heart-shaped island of Tasmania (Lutruwita), gateway to the Southern Ocean and Antarctica. Impacted by the mystical land of her childhood, Alice can recall days of climbing through Eden-like forests and around glacial waterfalls, where mystical ravens and colorful parrots flew through the Antarctic Beech forests, adding to her sense of wonder in the world around her.

 

Her family were European exiles from various countries from Turkey to Lithuania. She is the first mother in four generations to give birth to her children in the same country she was born in. Her first job was in the Editorial Library of The Mercury newspaper in Hobart before joining the chaotic, colourful world of fashion in a design studio off Chapel Street in South Yarra, Melbourne. Eventually she headed further north to Sydney and some interesting years working at the Museum of Contemporary Art situated between the iconic Harbour Bridge and the Opera House on Circular Quay.

 

Around this time she began writing and her first short story was shortlisted in the Northern Territory awards and printed in their anthology ‘Extra-Territorial’ and so she continued, stopping briefly for a few years when her two sons took her on other adventures. She has had forty short stories published in magazines, anthologies, and literary journals in Australia, USA and UK. She won the Australian Horror Writers Assoc short story of the year (2008), Wyvern Publications UK YA short story competition and has been shortlisted for the Irish Aeon Award.

 

Alice Godwin’s Social Media

http://www.alicegodwin.com/

https://www.instagram.com/mermaiddreams88/

https://www.facebook.com/AliceGodwinAuthor/

Hague Publishing’s Social Media

https://haguepublishing.com/blog/

https://www.facebook.com/HaguePublishing

Gritty intergalactic PI whodunit

Hot Ash by Russ Colchamiro is an intergalactic sci-fi mystery that melds urban grit, futuristic technology, and crime into fast-paced pulp fiction you can’t put down. The story is told through the classic first-person narration of the protagonist, intergalactic private spy for hire, Angela Hardwicke.

 

Hardwicke and her partner-in-training, Eric Whistler, are hired by Camile Engquist following the mysterious death of her wealthy, elderly husband, Iggy, who built a real estate development company from the ground up. The widow had worked by his side for years and was set to step in and run the company but somehow the will was changed without her knowledge just before he passed. The stepkids get it all and pushed her out without a cent. Camile claims her stepkids stole her inheritance and Hardwicke thinks there may be some merit to the woman’s claims and takes the case.

 

Hardwicke works the case with her young protégé, Eric Whistler. Their relationship provides another layer of interest to the story. He’s like a dog that wants to be let off the leash to prove himself and she says he isn’t ready. As the story progresses there’s much more to it than that.

 

Russ Colchamiro does a masterful job of creating a dystopian Sci-fi backdrop in this fast-paced mystery that dives into the real estate development taken over by the wealthy Engquist kids. The case takes Hardwicke and Whistler down the path of corporate succession where they find themselves deep in the world of the haves and have-nots. Clues raise questions that take the case in a whole new direction pointing to synthetic concrete and a drug known as Hot Ash. What does one have to do with the other, if anything? And what do they have to do with Iggy Engquist’s death, if anything? The answer to those questions takes Hardwicke and Whistler off-world to an imposing domed city with clean air and a sinister underbelly. What they find is more dangerous and runs deeper than they could have imagined.

 

This story is superbly written with an authentic gritty PI who-dun-it feel. It’s unpredictable, action-packed, and fast-paced with well-developed characters, including a strong female protagonist in Hardwicke. She’s an engaging hard-boiled but vulnerable sleuth. Clever but second-guesses herself at times, and Whistler makes a perfect complementary sidekick. Another big positive in my mind is that the Sci-fi techno-babble makes sense. It delivers a futuristic setting filled with out-of-this world technology, shady characters, fistfights, shootouts, double-crosses, and backstabbing. The thing I enjoyed most about Hot Ash is that I couldn’t figure it out until the author tied things up in a tidy package at the end and delivered them to my lap. 

 

I give Hot Ash a solid five stars and recommend this book to Sci-fi enthusiasts who enjoy a good murder mystery with a PI who fights to stay alive while prowling the shady parts of town and the dark minds that govern them. I think those who enjoy crime thrillers, in general, will be happy with this story. As a word of caution, this book does contain plenty of strong language and violence. It’s not excessive and befits the story.

 

While Hot Ash is a stand-alone mystery, it is number three in a series that can be read in any order, and now that I’ve read it, I’ll be checking out Crackle and Fire (Book 1) and Fractured Lives (Book 2).

 

As BookHookup, I am a long-time book reviewer and I received Hot Ash as a free review copy and have not been compensated for reviewing or recommending it. This review is posted in collaboration with #Black Phoenix Book Tours. Some links in this post are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliate sites.

 

 About the Author

 

Russ Colchamiro is the author of the sci-fi mystery novels Crackle and Fire and Fractured Lives, featuring his hardboiled intergalactic private eye Angela Hardwicke. He is also the author of the rollicking time travel/space adventure, Crossline, the SFF backpacking comedy series Finders Keepers, Genius de Milo, and Astropalooza, editor of the sci-fi mystery anthology Love, Murder & Mayhem, and co-author of the noir anthology Murder in Montague Falls.

 

A member of the Mystery Writers Association, Hot Ash is Russ’s third book in his Angela Hardwicke series and has written more than a dozen short stories for various anthologies. He is also the host of the long-running podcast Russ’s Rockin’ Rollercoaster, interviewing a who’s who of science fiction, crime, and mystery authors. Russ lives in New Jersey with his wife, two ninjas, and his black lab Jinx.

 

Russ Colchamiro's Social Media

https://russcolchamiro.com/ 

https://twitter.com/authorduderuss 

https://www.instagram.com/authorduderuss/