During December, four avid readers shared their Top 5 reads of 2015. Now I have asked the same readers to reveal their most anticipated books for 2016 — following the same order as last time, i.e. Jennifer, Paul, Karen, and Janine.

If there isn’t a current cover, I’ll either deploy one from an earlier book in a series, or use none.

So here, without further ado, is Jennifer’s list:

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I am looking forward to reading Helen’s Daughter of Blood and any books written by the authors in my ‘best of 2015 reads’ list. But here are some others – they’re a mixture of books to be published in 2016, or they’re already published and on my ‘to read’ list.
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Crowfield Rising, Pat Walsh 

Young Adult  

The first two books in the Crowfield Mysteries series were published in 2010/2011 and Crowfield Rising, the third book, is to be published early in 2016 according to the author’s website. It’s a story about a battle between good and evil focused on a medieval English abbey and surrounding forest, and follows a young boy – William – who has been sent to live in the abbey after his family dies. The characters are engaging and the writing excellent as Walsh weaves historical detail and various mystical characters (such as a fallen angel, hob, fey, demon) into the story, and I’m really looking forward to this latest book which I believe will be the final in the series.  

 

Fire Touched, Patricia Briggs

Urban Fantasy

Fire Touched will be the ninth book in the Mercy Thompson series and is to be published in March 2016. Mercy Thompson is a mechanic who also happens to be a coyote shapeshifter, and the books follow her adventures in a world which is populated with humans, werewolves, fey, vampires and pretty much anything that goes ‘bump in the night’. The books are fun, with Mercy a kick-ass heroine, and the storylines are diverse and consistently good: I can’t wait for this next instalment.

 

Europe in Autumn / Europe at Midnight, Dave Hutchinson

Science Fiction / Fantasy

I haven’t read anything by this author but, based on the book description and reviews, I’m really keen to read Europe in Autumn and Europe at Midnight – both are apparently standalone books even though part of the same Fractured Europe sequence. It’s tagged as sci-fi but I understand it’s also a political thriller and various reviews have praised Hutchinson for his world building. Here’s the publisher’s (Solaris) description of Europe at Midnight:

“In a fractured Europe new nations are springing up, some literally overnight.

For an intelligence officer like Jim, it’s a nightmare. Every week or so a friendly power spawns, a new and unknown national entity which may or may not be friendly to England’s interests; it’s hard to keep on top of it all. But things are about to get worse for Jim. A stabbing on a London bus pitches him into a world where his intelligence service is preparing for war with another universe, and a man has come who may hold the key to unlocking Europe’s most jealously-guarded secret…”

It sounds fab!

 

Crashing Heaven, Al Robertson

Science Fiction

I don’t tend to read much science fiction – something to do with the ‘science’ I think. However, the premise of the book really appealed to me as it appears to combine sci-fi with thriller / detective noir, and the reviews have been overwhelmingly positive. Here’s what the book description says – from the publisher’s website, Orion Gollancz:

“With Earth abandoned, humanity resides on Station, an industrialised asteroid run by the sentient corporations of the Pantheon. Under their leadership a war has been raging against the Totality – ex-Pantheon AIs gone rogue.

With the war over, Jack Forster and his sidekick Hugo Fist, a virtual ventriloquist’s dummy tied to Jack’s mind and created to destroy the Totality, have returned home. Labelled a traitor for surrendering to the Totality, all Jack wants is to clear his name but when he discovers two old friends have died under suspicious circumstances he also wants answers. Soon he and Fist are embroiled in a conspiracy that threatens not only their future but all of humanity’s. But with Fist’s software licence about to expire, taking Jack’s life with it, can they bring down the real traitors before their time runs out?”
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Friends of the Dusk, Phil Rickman

Mystery, Supernatural

This is the latest book in the Merrily Watkins series which number about 13/14 books. Merrily Watkins is the Anglican vicar of a small English town but these are definitely not ‘cosy’ mysteries. As the diocese “deliverance consultant” i.e., exorcist,  Merrily is drawn into investigating mysteries with a supernatural element. Rickman is very good at using historical events as the basis for the mystery and blending that with the supernatural, English history/folklore, and contemporary issues faced by various communities. Great characters, intricate plotting, and the ability to convey a menacing atmosphere – I’ve found the Merrily Watkins series to be consistently good and quite unique.

~ Jennifer Lowe
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Jennifer Lowe has an MA in History and works in the justice sector. She doesn’t get to read fiction nearly as much as she would like, but primarily reads historical and mystery-thriller fiction. Books that combine elements of both and are well-written and researched, tend to be favourites.

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Check back in Monday 18 for the second installment of this series, with Paul Weimer.