Black Gate

One thing I look for in modern SF is exotic locales. When I read science fiction, I want intrepid explorers in strange landscapes… and what could be more exotic than a near-future Taipei plagued by viruses and strange pollutants? Cindy Pon’s new novel Want features a group of teens who take on a corrupt society to save their city, and soon discover that their enemies may be even more dangerous than they thought. It was published in hardcover this month by Simon Pulse.

Jason Zhou survives in a divided society where the elite use their wealth to buy longer lives. The rich wear special suits, protecting them from the pollution and viruses that plague the city, while those without suffer illness and early deaths. Frustrated by his city’s corruption and still grieving the loss of his mother who died as a result of it, Zhou is determined to change things, no matter the cost.

With the help of his friends, Zhou infiltrates the lives of the wealthy in hopes of destroying the international Jin Corporation from within. Jin Corp not only manufactures the special suits the rich rely on, but they may also be manufacturing the pollution that makes them necessary.

Yet the deeper Zhou delves into this new world of excess and wealth, the more muddled his plans become. And against his better judgment, Zhou finds himself falling for Daiyu, the daughter of Jin Corp’s CEO. Can Zhou save his city without compromising who he is, or destroying his own heart?

Want was published by Simon Pulse on June 13, 2017. It is 327 pages, priced at $18.99 in hardcover and $10.99 for the digital edition. The cover is by Jason Chan. Get more details at cindypon.com.

J-F. Dubeau is a Montreal writer who burst on the scene last year with The Life Engineered, which was nominated for the Dragon Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. His follow-up is very different indeed — a contemporary horror novel set in small town Quebec, where a dark spirit has held sway for centuries. Fangoria says “Move over True Detective. A rich, gothic story of murder and mystery, A God in The Shed is quite possibly one of the most enthralling novels I’ve read in the last ten years.”

The village of Saint-Ferdinand has all the trappings of a quiet life: farmhouses stretching from one main street, a small police precinct, a few diners and cafés, and a grocery store. Though if an out-of-towner stopped in, they would notice one unusual thing ― a cemetery far too large and much too full for such a small town, lined with the victims of the Saint-Ferdinand Killer, who has eluded police for nearly two decades. It’s not until after Inspector Stephen Crowley finally catches the killer that the town discovers even darker forces are at play.

When a dark spirit reveals itself to Venus McKenzie, one of Saint-Ferdinand’s teenage residents, she learns that this creature’s power has a long history with her town ― and that the serial murders merely scratch the surface of a past burdened by evil secrets.

I love the movie-like credits on the back, which include the editor and cover designer. I wish more publishers followed suit. A God in the Shed was published by Inkshares on June 13, 2017. It is 428 pages, priced at $15.99 for the trade paperback and $7.99 for the digital edition. The cover was designed by M.S. Corley.

Rio Youers’ short fiction has been published in Postscripts, Northern Haunts, 21st Century Dead, End of the Road, Seize the Night: New Tales of Vampiric Terror, and other fine venues. James McGlothlin called “Outside Heavenly,” his contribution to Best Horror of the Year: Volume Seven, “By far my favorite tale… outstanding. It really made the hairs on the back of my neck stick up.”

Youers’ novels include Westlake Soul (2012), which Matthew David Surridge said has “a lot of heart” in his Black Gate review, and Point Hollow (2015). His latest is a dark mystery that Joe Hill calls “An absolute rocket… a supernatural thriller that thunders along at Mach 5 from the first page to the last. Written with a brutal lyricism, a savage wit, and a killer instinct for suspense.” It was published this week by St. Martin’s Press.

Harvey Anderson is a twenty-six-year-old street performer from New Jersey. He enjoys his peaceful life, but everything turns upside down when he is abducted and beaten by a group of nondescript thugs. Working for a sinister man known as “the spider,” these goons have spent nine years searching for Harvey’s girlfriend, Sally Starling. Now they think they know where she lives. And whom she loves.

There’s only one problem: Sally is gone and Harvey has no memory of her. Which makes no sense to him, until the spider explains that Sally has the unique ability to selectively erase a person’s memories ― an ability she has used to delete herself from Harvey’s mind.

But emotion runs deeper than memory, and Harvey realizes he still feels something for Sally. And so ― with the spider threatening ― he goes looking for a girl he loves but can’t remember… and encounters a danger that reaches beyond anything he could ever imagine.

Political corruption and manipulation. A serial killer’s dark secrets. An appetite for absolute, terrible power. For Harvey Anderson, finding the forgotten girl comes at quite a cost.

The Forgotten Girl was published by St. Martin’s Press on June 13, 2017. It is 343 pages, priced at $27.99 in hardcover and $14.99 for the digital edition. The cover was designed by Danielle Christopher. Read an excerpt at Criminal Element.