Department 19: Darkest Night cover revealed

If you have been around the past few years there you will have definitely heard me and several other bloggers babble on about how amazing Will Hill and his Department 19 series is. Well, 2015 sees this  epic saga come to a conclusion with the publication of the fifth and final book, Darkest Night. 

I for one am incredibly excited but also excuciatingly scared. I have even put off reading book 4, Zero Hour because I don't want the series to end and I want to make the wait between the two books as short as possible as I have heard that the ending of Zero Hour leaves readers gasping for more and knowing Will and his cliffhangers I am not sure I could cope with it all.

That said I am so excited to see how everything wraps up. It has been building up so well and Will is a masterful storyteller! 

Well, now, the cover for the final book has been unveiled and it is an absolute stunner.

ARGHHHHH!!!!! The colours! The bones!!!! Everything!!!! Oh god!!!! It's incredible and I love it. It matches so well with the rest of the series! It's out in June I believe and I can't wait to see what happens!!!

Department 19 Book Four update...

So, as you may have seen I've been a bit quiet lately so there are some things to catch up on. And one is the title announcement and cover for the fourth book in Will Hill's incredible Department 19 series. I'll be honest, I was a bit scared when new covers started popping up for the series and was so pleased when Will said that the hardbacks will stay in the same style through to the fifth and final book in the series. Phew! Thank goodness for that... so... the title for the latest instalment is... Zero Hour. I had kind of expected this for Book Five as it's what we've been counting down to the last few books. The moment when the good vs evil battle will truly commence. So this has me even more excited for what we might see in the final instalment... Anyway, back to Zero Hour...

Thankfully, as I have already said, the cover remains in the style of the previous covers which are stunning in their own right... So here it is...

I mean... Look at it... I just need a moment...

It's so cool! I love it and just know that like the previous books, it'll look even better in the physical form. It's out in March 2014 and I can't wait! Knowing Will, it's sure to be another knock out instalment!

And for good measure... the synopsis!!

Department 19 still stands against the darkness. But for how much longer? Book 4 in the explosive series from bestselling author, Will Hill. 

As Dracula continues his rise, the men and women of Department 19 wait for good news. But hope is in short supply – the country is beginning to fall apart as the public comes to terms with the horror in their midst; a cure for vampirism remains years, even decades away; and their supposed ally Valentin Rusmanov has not been heard from in weeks. 

Jamie Carpenter and his friends are working hard to keep the forces of evil at bay, but it is beginning to feel like a lost cause…Until familiar faces from the past bring news that could turn the tide. News that takes Matt Browning to America on a desperate search for a miracle, and sends Jamie and Larissa Kinley into the darkest corners of eastern Europe, where something old and impossibly powerful waits for them. 

Something that could stop Dracula for good. 

But the clock is ticking. 

Night is falling. And Zero Hour is almost here…

Department 19: Battle Lines by Will Hill [Review]

Written by: Will Hill.
Published by: HarperCollins.
Format: Hardback.
Released: 28th March 2013.
Rating: (Of course...) 5/5.

Official synopsis: "Secret government unit Department 19 is recovering from evil vampire Valeri Rusmanov's deadly attack on their base. The Department’s newest member, teenage operator Jamie Carpenter, is tasked with training up a new squad, as his friends and colleagues desperately search for ways to try to stop what is coming. The timing couldn't be worse for a coordinated, global attack on a number of maximum security prisons and hospitals—with the already-dangerous inmates now on the loose and turned into vampires. One of the escapees has a deep connection to one of the darkest moments in the history of Department 19 and embarks on a quest that threatens to expose the existence of vampires to the public. And with each day that passes, the regenerated Dracula gets stronger, bringing Zero Hour closer. In this third instalment of the epic Department 19 series, Will Hill delivers higher—and sharper—stakes than ever before."

Do you ever read a book and wonder just how, exactly, the author is going to top it with the next instalment? I did when I read The Rising, the second book in Will Hill's Department 19 series. I'd loved the first book, but the second book blew me away even more - it was my favourite book that I read last year! He can't top this, I thought... It's just too damn epic... Well guess what folks? He did. Will Hill topped it and done so in spectacular style.

Jamie and friends at the Loop are still recovering from the attack on their base in the concluding scenes of the previous book. With Department leader, General Henry Seward, gone, taken by Valeri during the attack, and with many killed during those bloody few hours, the department is struggling to get back on its feet. They're managing - recruiting and training every day.

But things are about to get worse. All over the world, high security prisons are being targeted by the legions of vampires that sense Dracula's return, that sense that Zero Hour is not far off, and an army is amassing. Prisoners soon turn up with a horrifying thirst for blood - but they seem different, stronger, more powerful, more dangerous.

It's down to the department to stop them as well as track down Dracula before it's too late - the clock is ticking.

And meanwhile, Larissa is in America, at the legendary Area 51 which turns out to be the US's version of the Department back in the UK!

Holy cow I cannot express just what Will Hill and his books do to me. It's like they're all that matter in the world for however long it takes you to read it's behemoth 700 or so pages. You might think that reading a book that long would be a chore some times but with Will, that is not the case - the book is so full of action, gore, blood and teen angst that the pages just fly by at breakneck speed, and when you reach the end you feel a hollow sensation in the pit of your stomach. A sadness even that you've come to the end and now a horrifying and torturous twelve month wait begins for the next instalment.

I'm not really going to say much more - if I do I'll spoil the book and I know how angry I'd be if it was spoiled for me. Just know that Will Hill is once again on top form and showing just why he deserves every success that comes his way. His writing, as ever is clear, fluid and engaging and drives you perfectly through the twists and turns of the story contained within.

Battle Lines just proves to me even more why this series is fast becoming one of my favourite. It's so well executed. The story itself, the monsters - they don't feel clichéd at all, they're exactly what they should be, blood thirsty, bone crunching, human eating monsters. The characters are all believable and well rounded, and they contrast together brilliantly. It is well on it's way to being my top read of 2013, like it's predecessor was for 2012!

I don't think anything I can say can truly explain or show just how much I love these books. I just wish I could hibernate from right now till next March when Book 4 comes out. God it's so far away. ARGH!!!

My thanks to HarperCollins for my review copy!

2013: Books of Interest (Part 2)

I did, rather shamefully, miss a title I can't wait for from February but the post got so long... Anyway... Fragments by Dan Wells is the sequel to this years amazing Partials. A book I adored and I cannot wait to see just what happens next...

"Kira Walker has found the cure for RM, but the battle for the survival of humans and Partials is only just beginning. Kira has left East Meadow in a desperate search for clues as to who she is. That the Partials themselves hold the cure for RM in their blood cannot be a coincidence-it must be part of a larger plan, a plan that Kira knows she is a part of, a plan that could save both races. Her allies are Afa Demoux, an unhinged drifter and former employee of ParaGen, and Samm and Heron, the Partials who betrayed her and saved her life, the only ones who know her secret. But can she trust them?

Meanwhile, back on Long Island, what's left of humanity is gearing up for war with the Partials, and Marcus knows his only hope is to delay them until Kira returns. But Kira's journey will take her deep into the overgrown wasteland of postapocalyptic America, and they will both discover that their greatest enemy may be one they didn't even know existed.

The middle installment in the pulse-pounding Partials saga is the story of the eleventh hour of humanity's time on earth, a journey deep into places unknown to discover the means-and even more important, a reason-for our survival."

MARCH sees the release of a book that I am so excited about, I just might wee a little the moment my copy drops in my letter box!

Department 19: Battle Lines is the third book in Will Hill's phenomenal Department 19 series. I fell in love with book one, and last years sequel, The Rising, only cemented my love for Will and his freaking awesome work! There are two (only two... welp) books to come after Battle Lines so I intend to savour every blood-dripping, scream ripping and nightmare inducing second of it!

"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."

It also sees the release of The Life Beyond by Susanne Winnacker. The sequel to the fantastic The Other Life, I cannot wait to see what happens next!

"15, 323 hours since Sherry listened to one of her father's bedtime stories. 30, 657 minutes since she heard his laughter. Sherry's father's life is hanging in the balance... And if he turns into a Weeper, Sherry and Joshua know that the only way to save him lies on the other side of the fence - the barrier cutting them off from the rest of the world. With Tyler and Rachel, they set off into the unknown, driven by the promise of a cure, and the hope of reclaiming the life they once knew. But they find that there are more than just Weepers standing in their way... There is no going back. There is only beyond."

Another release that I cannot wait for is the new book from Mr. Tom Clempson! His first book, One Seriously Messed-Up Week in the Otherwise Uneventful and Mundane Life of Jack Samsonite was one of my favourite books from 2011 and the wait for this second instalment, the equally long-titled One Seriously Messed-Up Weekend in the Otherwise Un-Messed-Up Life of Jack Samsonite, has been a murderous one. Devilishly funny and rude, appealing to the giggling little boy in all of us (or girl...) and perfect for fans of The Inbetweeners, I cannot wait to read it and giggle along at every page just like I did with the first book!

"Jack Samsonite's Foolish Plan for Being Amazing at Everything (including getting a life, getting into Film School, and getting into a girl's knickers).

1.Make an amazing(ly bad) short film about zombies . . . or maybe superheroes . . . or just three idiot friends. It has to be deep and meaningful and (most importantly) has to have a scene where I kiss a girl on the mouth.

2.Write the world's best university application ever! (Or at least one that doesn't make me seem like a nob).

3.Don't get expelled trying to complete 1 & 2.

It can't possibly fail . . . right?"

APRIL sees the release of a book that I am very excited about. It's called Taken and it's written by Erin Bowman, and at the moment there's no UK publisher that I'm aware of for the book, but I managed to snag a copy for my Kindle thanks to the awesome website Edelweiss! It sounds fantastic, it's keeping with the current influx of dystopia fiction, but this one sounds a little different. I aim to read it soon, so a review for this one is a dead cert...

"There are no men in Claysoot. There are boys—but every one of them vanishes at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. The ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends…and he’s gone. They call it the Heist. Gray Weathersby’s eighteenth birthday is mere months away, and he’s prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a strange note from his mother and starts to question everything he’s been raised to accept: the Council leaders and their obvious secrets. The Heist itself. And what lies beyond the Wall that surrounds Claysoot–a structure that no one can cross and survive. Climbing the Wall is suicide, but what comes after the Heist could be worse. Should he sit back and wait to be taken–or risk everything on the hope of the other side?"

April also brings on another US import! The Program by Suzanne Young!

"In Sloane’s world, true feelings are forbidden, teen suicide is an epidemic, and the only solution is The Program. Sloane knows better than to cry in front of anyone. With suicide now an international epidemic, one outburst could land her in The Program, the only proven course of treatment. Sloane’s parents have already lost one child; Sloane knows they’ll do anything to keep her alive. She also knows that everyone who’s been through The Program returns as a blank slate. Because their depression is gone—but so are their memories. Under constant surveillance at home and at school, Sloane puts on a brave face and keeps her feelings buried as deep as she can. The only person Sloane can be herself with is James. He’s promised to keep them both safe and out of treatment, and Sloane knows their love is strong enough to withstand anything. But despite the promises they made to each other, it’s getting harder to hide the truth. They are both growing weaker. Depression is setting in. And The Program is coming for them."

Spooky Reads - Recommendations this Halloween!

October, and in fact autumn and winter in general, is the perfect time of year to snuggle up and read a good book. And there are plenty out there. But at this time of year in particular, around Halloween, a good spooky, often scary, read is just what the doctor ordered. Something to get your adrenaline going, get you scared, make you jump, or even squeal.

Today I'm going to be highlighting some books that I think you should all add to your Halloween/Spooktastic reading lists! First off, I haven't read all of these books. One is next on my to read pile and I shall be making a start this weekend... so here we go...

(Please note, for your ease, I have linked the titles to Amazon. Just click, and away you go!)

Zom-B by Darren Shan.

One that I haven't read yet but cannot wait to start. I've heard nothing but praise for this and with zombies, it's perfect for Halloween. Apparently, it's gory as hell, but what else do you expect from Mr. Shan? The cover says it all. The master of horror! The first in a twelve book saga, it sounds like one to miss at your own peril!

Official synopsis: "Zom-B is a radical new series about a zombie apocalypse, told in the first person by one of its victims. The series combines classic Shan action with a fiendishly twisting plot and hard-hitting and thought-provoking moral questions dealing with racism, abuse of power and more. This is challenging material, which will captivate existing Shan fans and bring in many new ones. As Darren says, "It's a big, sprawling, vicious tale...a grisly piece of escapism, and a barbed look at the world in which we live. Each book in the series is short, fast-paced and bloody. A high body-count is guaranteed!"

 Oblivion by Anthony Horowitz.

The finale in the epic The Power of Five series, this book is equal parts horror and awesome. From start to finish it is a rollercoaster as you see the complete and utter destruction upon the world, wrecked by the Old Ones. A stunning conclusion, my full review is coming next week, but make sure you check out the book itself, weighing in a hefty, and justifiable, 672 pages. And of course the first four books in the series, Raven's Gate, Evil Star, Nightrise and Necropolis!

Official synopsis: "Having escaped from Hong Kong, the Five Gatekeepers - Matt, Pedro, Scott, Jamie and Scarlett - are scattered in a hostile and dangerous world. As they struggle to re-group and plan their next move, the malevolent King of the Old Ones gathers his forces in Oblivion: a desolate landscape where the last survivors of humanity must fight the ultimate battle."

 The Other Life by Susanne Winnacker.

It's dark, creepy, and there are the Weepers - I can't even desribe the fear that they struck in me when I read the book late last year. And with the release of the second book, The Life Beyond just beyond the horizon, March 2013, there's no better time than now to pick up the first instalment!

Official synopsis: "The Other Life: who we were before the virus. How we'll never be again. It's been 3 years, 1 month, 1 week and 6 days since Sherry has seen daylight. When things went wrong up above, she was sealed off from the world in a bunker with her family. But when they run out of food, Sherry and her dad must venture outside. There they find devastation, desolation...and the Weepers: savage mutant killers. When her dad is snatched, Sherry joins forces with gorgeous but troubled Joshua - an Avenger, determined to destroy the Weepers. But can Sherry keep her family and Joshua safe, when his desire for vengeance threatens them all? The seeds of first love are sown amongst the death and destruction of a nightmare future in this incredible debut novel. Beautifully formed and gut-wrenchingly gripping, it's essential reading."

 Department 19: The Rising by Will Hill.

The second book in what is already shaping up to be a fantastic series, it is a big book, coming in at just over 700 pages, but boy is it worth it. It packs a massive punch, and there are buckets of blood, guts and gore to keep you entertained the whole way through. Again, the timing is perfect for you to pick up both the first book, simply Department 19, and The Rising, because the third book, Battle Lines, is due in March, so get on it! What are you waiting for?

Official synopsis: "The pulse-pounding sequel to DEPARTMENT 19 – “The best action horror story I have ever read” according to Bookzoneforboys… 91 DAYS TILL ZERO HOUR. THAT'S 91 DAYS TO RUN. 91 DAYS TO HIDE. OR 91 DAYS TO PRAY FOR DEPARTMENT 19 TO SAVE YOU… After the terrifying attack on Lindisfarne at the end of the first book, Jamie, Larissa and Kate are recovering at Department 19 headquarters, waiting for news of Dracula’s stolen ashes. They won’t be waiting for long. Vampire forces are gathering. Old enemies are getting too close. And Dracula… is rising."

Unrest by Michelle Harrison.

Hands down, this is perhaps the most un-nerving, terrifying books I have read this year, if not in a long time. The chills I got when reading this - it's insane! I can't even desribe it. Just... go. Get it. It's got ghosts. Enough said! Michelle, you're a genius! But you did stop me from sleeping. Thanks, thanks a bunch!

Official synopsis: "Seventeen-year-old Elliott hasn't slept properly for six months. Not since the accident that nearly killed him. Now he is afraid to go to sleep. Sometimes he wakes to find himself paralysed, unable to move a muscle, while shadowy figures move around him. Other times he is the one moving around, while his body lies asleep on the bed. According to his doctor, sleep paralysis and out of body experiences are harmless - but to Elliot they're terrifying. Convinced that his brush with death has opened up connections with the spirit world, Elliott secures a live-in job at one of England's most haunted locations, determined to find out the truth. There he finds Sebastian, the ghost of a long-dead servant boy hanged for stealing bread. He also meets the living, breathing Ophelia, a girl with secrets of her own. She and Elliott grow closer, but things take a terrifying turn when Elliott discovers Sebastian is occupying his body when he leaves it. And the more time Sebastian spends inhabiting a living body, the more resistant he becomes to giving it back. Worse, he seems to have an unhealthy interest in Ophelia. Unless Elliott can lay Sebastian's spirit to rest, he risks being possessed by him for ever, and losing the girl of his dreams..."

So, there you go. Whatever you decide to read this Halloween, even if it isn't scary at all, happy reading!