Book Review Desert World Allegiances by Lyn Gala

Desert World Allegiances
by Lyn Gala
Dreamspinner Press
SF, some M/M romance
4 Stars
ARC from Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher.
Permission granted to use cover art from the publisher.

Book Review: Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks

Round Ireland with a Fridge
by Tony Hawks
Travel/Humour
Ebury Press
5 Stars
Reviewer's purchased copy.

Blurb:

On his only prior visit to Ireland, songwriter/comic Tony Hawks had seen a man hitchhiking with a refrigerator. For years, he was wont to tell the tale during late-night drinking matches, and after one particularly heavy-duty night of partying, he awoke to find a bet scrawled pillow-side: a friend wagered 100 pounds that Hawks wouldn't travel Ireland for a month with a refrigerator at his side.

Book Review: Passage by Connie Willis

Passage
by Connie Willis
SF
Bantam Books
Reviewer's purchased copy.

Blurb:

A tunnel, a light, a door. And beyond it ... the unimaginable.

Dr. Joanna Lander is a psychologist specializing in near-death experiences. She is about to get help from a new doctor with the power to give her the chance to get as close to death as anyone can.

A brilliant young neurologist, Dr. Richard Wright has come up with a way to manufacture the near-death experience using a psychoactive drug. Joanna’s first NDE is as fascinating as she imagined — so astounding that she knows she must go back, if only to find out why that place is so hauntingly familiar.

But each time Joanna goes under, her sense of dread begins to grow, because part of her already knows why the experience is so familiar, and why she has every reason to be afraid.

Book Review: Time's Legacy by Barbara Erskine

Time's Legacy
by Barbara Erskine
HarperCollins
Genres: Romance, timeslip
ARC from amazon vine.

Blurb:

Ancient secrets buried deep in Glastonbury’s past.
And one woman’s quest to finally set them free.

Cambridge present day: Following the death of her mother, Abi Rutherford receives a mysterious bequest – a misshapen sphere of crystal known as the Serpent’s Stone which seems to hold echoes of concealed mysteries, long covered up by the church.

Western England 25AD: A stranger has come to the chilly Somerset wetlands, with a story of hope and reconciliation. But he is being followed by powerful forces, determined that he will not undermine Roman rule in Britain.

What connects these ancient events and Abi’s gift? And why do so many people seem desperate to hide the truth?

A strange shadow has fallen across the centuries, and a woman is in fear of her life. But is it danger that awaits her, or the final truth so long whispered across the echoes of time?

Book Review: The Pumpkin Man by John Everson

The Pumpkin Man
by John Everson
Dorchester Publishing/Delirium Books
Horror
4 Stars
ARC supplied courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley.

Blurb:

After her father’s gruesome murder, Jenn needed a place to get away from it all with some friends, to take her mind off her grief. The empty seaside cottage she inherited seemed perfect. Jenn didn’t know that the cottage held arcane secrets, mysteries long hidden and best left alone. She didn’t realize until it was too late that the old books and Ouija board she found there really do hold great power. And it was only after her friend’s headless body was discovered that she knew the legend of the local bogeyman was no mere legend at all. An evil has been unleashed, a terrifying figure previously only spoken of in whispers. But now the whispers will become screams. Beware…THE PUMPKIN MAN