Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived at the Geek Compound.
The Waking Dark
by Robin Wasserman
Cover by Ian Sanderson
Promo copy:
A taut, haunting read, The Waking Dark is “a horror story worthy of Stephen King” (Booklist) and will appeal to the readers of Gillian Flynn and Rick Yancey.
They called it the killing day. Twelve people dead, all in the space of a few hours. Five murderers: neighbors, relatives, friends. All of them so normal. All of them seemingly harmless. All of them now dead by their own hand . . . except one. And that one has no answers to offer the shattered town. She doesn’t even know why she killed—or whether she’ll do it again.
Something is waking in the sleepy town of Oleander’s, Kansas—something dark and hungry that lives in the flat earth and the open sky, in the vengeful hearts of upstanding citizens. As the town begins its descent into blood and madness, five survivors of the killing day are the only ones who can stop Oleander from destroying itself. Jule, the outsider at war with the world; West, the golden boy at war with himself; Daniel, desperate for a different life; Cass, who’s not sure she deserves a life at all; and Ellie, who believes in sacrifice, fate, and in evil. Ellie, who always goes too far. They have nothing in common. They have nothing left to lose. And they have no way out. Which means they have no choice but to stand and fight, to face the darkness in their town—and in themselves.
Dearly, Beloved
by Lia Habel
Cover by David Stevenson
Promo copy:
Lia Habel’s spellbinding mash-up of sweeping period romance, futuristic thriller, and zombie drama rises to a whole new level of innovative storytelling with Dearly, Beloved.
A high-tech, post-apocalyptic society dressed in the trappings of an antique era isn’t New Victoria’s only contradiction. Ever since the outbreak of the mysterious plague known as “The Laz” turned thousands into the living dead, those with a heartbeat and those without one have been forced to coexist. But can a nation so drastically divided survive? Though some of its zombies are mindless monsters, hungry for living flesh, others can still speak, reason, and control their ravenous appetites. And at least one unlikely couple—privileged Nora Dearly and dashing zombie ex-soldier Bram Griswold—have found true love, despite their “differences.” Still, tensions continue to grow between pro- and anti-zombie factions. As paranoia, prejudice, and terrorist attacks threaten to turn into full-scale war, scientists—living and otherwise—desperately seek a cure. But their efforts, and Nora and Bram’s budding relationship, may be doomed when a whole new strain of “The Laz” appears—and the nation of New Victoria braces for the next wave of the apocalypse.
Wrath-bearing Tree
A Tournament of Shadows Book Two
by James Enge
Cover by Steve Stone
Promo copy:
Gods Clash with Gods, and the powers beyond gods, as the origin story of Morlock Ambrosius continues!
The masked powers of Fate and Chaos are killing gods in the land of Kaen, facing the Wardlands across the Narrow Sea. Vocates Aloê Oaij and Morlock Ambrosius cross into the unguarded lands, seeking to uncover the reasons for the godslaying, and to avert any threat to the lands the Graith of Guardians has sworn to protect. After crash-landing on the hostile coast of Kaen, the two Guardians confront vengeful frightened gods, a calmly murderous dragon, a demon called Andhrakar, and a bitter old necromancer named Merlin Ambrosius. Amid these dangers they find that they can trust no one but themselves—and each other.
Angel Falling
Written by Jeffrey Kaufman
Pencils by Kevin West
Inks by Mark McKenna, Bob Wiacek, Jack Purcell, and Kevin Yates
Cover by Jeffrey Kaufman, Dave Stewart, and Stan Johnson
Promo copy:
Angel is a woman who wakes up on top of dumpster half naked with no memory of who she is. It doesn’t take long to figure out that Angel is one of the most deadly people on the planet. She’s being watched over by Connor Jacobs, a seventeen year old autistic kid with physical photo memory who knows where they both come from, but doesn’t want to go back. The story will spin you round and round as these two characters are hunted and forced to confront their past.
The God Tattoo
Untold Tales from the Twilight Reign
by Tom Lloyd
Cover by Larry Rostant
Promo copy:
A short story collection fleshing out the world of the critically-acclaimed Twilight Reign series, a tremendous work of mature epic fantasy.
The history of the Land may remember the slaughter at Moorview or the horror of Scree’s fall, but there were other casualties of the secret war against Azaer–more tales surrounding those bloody years that went unrecorded. In the shadow of memorials to the glorious dead, these ghosts lie quiet and forgotten by all but a few.
A companion collection to the Twilight Reign quintet, these eleven stories shine a rather different light on the Land. Look past the armies and politics of the Seven Tribes and you will find smaller moments that shaped the course of history in their own way. But even forgotten secrets can kill. Even shadows can have claws.