S.J.Budd

  I've been a big fan of Theresa Braun for a long time and finally she has released her debut short story collection featuring 13 tales of horror! One of Theresa's many talents is that she's a master of creating characters you can really connect with. These stories fell really real to me like they could be real accounts! She's also great a sprinkling a little humour in her tales too. What I really liked with this collection was the variety. There's a lot of horror covered in these tales from a variety of tropes, we have vampires, serial killers, crazy conspiracy theories, the darkness within us all. In here you'll find short tales that pack a punch and longer tales to really sink your teeth into. Whilst I loved all these tales my standout favourites were Stillborn, this tale had me enthralled it was so out there and very cleverly written. Celestial Assignment had a lot of heart as well as darkness. Guilty as Cell was also a joy to read, of a fun night out gone v...

  In this original take of a murder mystery, we meet Isobel a young woman who should have her whole life ahead of her but she is forced to live in the shadows quietly. To survive she must avoid the other people in her village. People want her gone but her life will be the same no matter where she goes. Her only refuge from the harsh life she has, are books. She reads them with a voracious appetite and takes the advice to join a local book club that meets every two weeks to discuss their favourite books. Finally she has found some friends, but soon one of her friends is murdered, then another, and she is somehow their prime suspect. This isn't the first book I've read by Sarah Jane Huntingdon. I'd read Iron Maidens and loved it which gave me high expectations for The Colour of Evil. Readers, it did not disappoint!  I've come to love Sarah's style of writing, she has a really unique of bringing her characters to life of making you care about them from the first page. ...

  In the wake of her beloved brother's death Adelaide Frost escapes her troubled home life by taking a position at Ashthorne, once a grand stately home now in the wake of The Great War it is now a convalescence home for wounded soldiers. Upon arrival doubts and suspicions begin to creep in for Adelaide. There are only four patients despite the house being huge. Adelaide is not allowed to participate in the clandestine treatments administered by Doctor Roskopf and his assistant Nurse McGovern in the damp cellar of Asthorne House. Adelaide doesn't even think Doctor Roskopf is a real doctor, the patient's conditions seem to be getting worse, she should leave this place and find employment elsewhere but then she meets Evelyn Asthorne, the daughter of the owner of the house. Quickly they fall in love and discover there are many more secrets waiting for them in Asthorne House. This is was a really quick but enjoyable read. Perfect for fans of gothic horror. I liked how the plot m...

  I've very recently watched the rather excellent Netflix series, Black Summer, a dark relentless ride of what life could be like following an apocalyptic wave spreading across the globe, and The Growth by Adam Hulse is very similar. Would society stick together when faced with a situation that could wipe out the entire human race or would they turn on each other with anger and malice? In Adam Hulse's The Growth it's definitely the latter. Trouble starts when a growth is found in the sewers, the biggest fatberg ever to be discovered. A specialist team is sent down to deal with the matter but their attempts are feeble against it. Nothing can stop the growth as is travels across the UK! As readers we get to witness this atrocity through the lives of different people fighting for their lives and for their loved ones. A woman desperately searches for her missing girlfriend, in these times its very dangerous to be on the streets as a woman, but she is a boxing champion ready to ...