Library Loot (67) & review copies

Library

The Doctors Who's Who by Craig Cabell
Doctor Who is the world's longest-running science fiction television series, and has had children hiding behind sofa's since it was first broadcast in 1963. Eleven actors have played the famous Time Lord, starting with William Hartnell, and it has been a career landmark for all of them. Indeed, no other role in television history is as iconic, demanding, or as anticipated by its legions of fans as that of the famous time traveller with two hearts. Find out: * Who was a bouncer for The Rolling Stones before taking control of the Tardis. * Who was nearly blown up in the Second World War aboard HMS Hood. * Who had a fondness for woolly hats and had a grandson who would become Harry Potter's nemesis. * Who played a transvestite barmaid before becoming a Doctor Who heart-throb. Go back in time and read the human story behind a TV legend.

Before We Say Goodbye by Gabriella Ambrosio, tr. Alastair McEwen
It is seven a.m. on a spring morning in Jerusalem. Eighteen-year-old Dima trudges through the mud to college and reflects on many things, including her forthcoming marriage to her cousin Faris. Seventeen-year-old Myriam skips school to sit on the tree-lined hill overlooking the city and think about her friend Michael, whose death she still mourns. And Dima’s and Myriam’s families – one Palestinian, one Israeli – go about their ordinary, separate lives; for today is like every other day. Yet in seven hours’ time, everything will have changed. For ever.

Claire de Lune by Christine Johnson
Hanover Falls hasn't had a werewolf problem in over one hundred years. But when people suddenly start dying in Claire Benoit's town, panic spreads fast. At Claire's sixteenth birthday party, the gruesome killings are all anyone can talk about. Claire, however, is more interested in the fact that the gorgeous Matthew Engle keeps chatting and flirting with her as if she's the only girl there. But that night, she discovers something that takes away all sense of normalcy: she's a werewolf. As Claire is initiated into the pack of female werewolves, she must deal not only with her changing identity, but also with a rogue werewolf who is putting everyone she knows in danger. Claire's new life threatens her blossoming romance with Matthew, whose father is leading the werewolf hunt. Now burdened with a dark secret and pushing the boundaries of forbidden love, Claire is struggling to feel comfortable in either skin. With her lupine loyalty at odds with her human heart, she will make a choice that will change her forever...

Fade by Lisa McMann
For Janie and Cabel, real life is getting tougher than the dreams. Disturbing things are happening at Fieldridge High, yet nobody's talking. When Janie taps into a classmate's violent nightmares, the case finally breaks open - but nothing goes as planned. Not even close. Janie's in way over her head, and Cabe's shocking behaviour has grave consequences for them both. And if that isn't bad enough, Janie has discovered Martha Stubin's journals, and what she learns through them chills her to the bone. For not only is her fate as a Dream Catcher sealed, but what's to come is so much darker than she'd ever feared...It seems that some nightmares never end...

Review

Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles by Michael Moorcock, read by Clive Mantle (audio book) (14th Oct, AudioGO)
‘There are dark tides runing through the universe...’ Miggea – a star on the very edge of reality. The cusp between this universe and the next. A point where space-time has worn thin, and is in danger of collapsing... And the venue for the grand finals of the competition to win the fabled Arrow of Law. The Doctor and Amy have joined the Terraphiles – a group obsessed with all aspects of Earth’s history, and dedicated to re-enacting ancient sporting events. They are determined to win the Arrow. But just getting to Miggea proves tricky. Reality is collapsing, ships are disappearing, and Captain Cornelius and his pirates are looking for easy pickings. Even when they arrive, the Doctor and Amy’s troubles won’t be over. They have to find out who is so desperate to get the Arrow of Law that they will kill for it. And uncover the traitor on their own team. And win the contest fair and square. And, of course, they need to save the universe from total destruction. A thrilling, all-new adventure featuring the Doctor and Amy, as played by Matt Smith and Karen Gillan in the spectacular hit series from BBC Television written by the acclaimed science fiction and fantasy author Michael Moorcock

Elixir by Hilary Duff (16th October, Simon & Schuster Childrens Books)
Clea Raymond has felt the glare of the spotlight her entire life. The daughter of a renowned surgeon and a prominent Washington DC politician, Clea has grown to be a talented photojournalist who takes refuge in a career that allows her to travel to the most exotic parts of the world. But following Clea's father's disappearance while on a humanitarian mission, Clea's photos begin to feature eerie, shadowy images of a strange and beautiful man - a man she has never seen before. When fate brings Clea and this man together, she is stunned by the immediate and powerful connection she feels with him. As they grow closer, they are drawn deep into the mystery behind her father's disappearance, and begin to discover the centuries old truth behind their intense bond. Torn by a dangerous love triangle and haunted by a powerful secret that holds their fates, together the pair find themselves in a race against time to unravel their pasts in order to save their futures...

Dancing Jax by Robin Jarvis (3rd Feb 11, HarperCollinsChildren'sBooks)
A brilliant supernatural thriller with a modern twist, and a triumphant return from one of Britain’s best-loved writers.

At the end of a track, on the outskirts of an ordinary coastal town, lies a dilapidated house. Once, a group of amateur ghost hunters spent the night there. Two of them don’t like to speak about the experience. The third can’t speak about it. He went into the basement, you see, and afterwards he screamed so hard and so long he tore his vocal cords.

Now, a group of teenagers have decided to hang out in the old haunted house. Dismissing the fears of the others, their leader Jezza goes down into the basement… and comes back up with a children’s book, full of strange and colourful tales of a playing-card world, a fairytale world, full of Jacks, Queens and Kings, unicorns and wolves.

But the book is no fairytale. Written by Austerly Fellows, a mysterious turn-of-the-century occultist, it just might be the gateway to something terrifying…and awfully final. As the children and teenagers of the town are swept up by its terrible power, swept into its seductive world, something has begun that could usher in hell on earth. Soon, the only people standing in its way are a young boy with a sci-fi obsession, and his dad – an unassuming maths teacher called Martin…