My Top Reads of 2011 (so far!)

Okay, so it’s a random date - 15th July, a Friday and I’m up at the Terror Scribes gathering in Chesterfield tomorrow (and really looking forward to it) - but I thought I’d share my top-10 reading list of the year so far.

To date, I’ve read 20 books in contention and 4 cartoons (Calvin & Hobbes and Snoopy) and I’m almost done with another, Rook Hastings' very good “Nearly Departed” (which, I imagine, will sneak into the top 10).

Anyway, here’s the list (subject to change, of course, as the year progresses) and it should be noted that my joint first spot is occupied by friends of mine. I also read both books in draft, to critique. I defend my choice though, since both books see their respective writers really firing on all cylinders.

joint 1st
Love & Freedom, by Sue Moorcroft

joint 1st
The Concrete Grove, by Gary McMahon

3:
The Elephant to Hollywood, by Michael Caine

4:
It's Only A Movie, by Mark Kermode

5:
The Silent Land, by Graham Joyce

6:
Nerd Do Well, by Simon Pegg

7:
Nowhere Hall, by Cate Gardner

8:
The Howling, by Gary Brander

9:
Abolisher Of Roses, by Gary Fry

10:
The Fog, by James Herbert

So there you have it, hopefully you’ll read this and get inspired to pick up something. If not, well, stuff you then!

As ever, you can find all my book reviews up at Goodreads.com.

My friend Jon...

We worked out, the other day, that my friend Jon & I have known each other for 21 years (half my lifetime). He pops in here, every now and again and mentioned that not many people seem to comment on the entries. I explained that most people commented via Facebook, where these blogs also appear, but he's not on any social networking sites so he didn't realise.

Here's a picture of the pair of us, from 1993, in the old Rising Sun pub in Kettering. Around this time, we were writing material for the "The Fields & Wild Experience", our comedy duo that came out of The Committee comedy troupe we were part of.

I'm far left, with the beard and all the hair, Jon's next to me.

Hope you enjoy seeing yourself here, old friend!

Video Vista reviews for July

The July 2011 edition of VideoVista is now live.

I have two reviews in it, "Dead Hooker In A Trunk" (4/10) and "The Trail Of The Screaming Forehead" (5/10).

Hope you enjoy them.

Some more "ill at ease" reviews...

Two more reviews posted online for “ill at ease” and they’re very good.

Over at The Black Abyss, Colin Leslie calls the collection “excellent anthology of solid horror writing”. Read the review here

At The Hellforge, Matthew Fryer says of the collection, “It’s modern horror that understands subtlety, full of real characters and plenty of shivers. These three authors clearly take pride in their work, all writing with lucid, thoughtful prose, and the time and effort shows.” Read the review here


Just in case this leads you to want to buy it, or get more information, you might find the following useful:

Purchase from Amazon in the UK here

Purchase from Amazon in the US here

Or get it from Smashwords here

In addition, you could also join our Facebook group

PH4Q - Mark West

A quick interview - as part of the PH4Q series - with me over at David T. Wilbanks’ “Page Horrific”, where I shamelessly name writers whose work I enjoy!

Check it out!