Tag: NetGalley

Book Review – Little Spark by Jess Kidd

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About the Book

A secret cannot stay locked away forever

Bodkin Bell, orphan, pickpocket and survivor, doesn’t know where she came from, but she knows she’s different. Gaslights flare as she walks past. Cutlery spins. Shocks fly from her fingertips.

For years, she was ‘Little Spark’, the star of an electrifying sideshow – until the act went too far and she ended up in a London gaol.

Now she’s been offered a way out. A chance to serve at Point Mote, a vast, desolate house marooned on the misty Kent marshes. There, she will assist a reclusive family of cunning inventors in the creation of automata: miraculous, lifelike machines for which gentlemen collectors will pay handsomely.

But this house of wonders hides mysteries too. As Bodkin starts to question why she is really there, she unearths secrets that have been buried bone-deep for years – and a truth beyond all imagining. One that was never meant to be found.

Format: Hardcover (352 pages) Publisher: Canongate Books
Publication date: 13th August 2026 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

If you’re freaked out by the idea of automata so realistic you could mistake them for the real thing or so grotesque you’ll wonder at the mind that conceived them, then prepared to be unnerved by some of the machines created by the former owner of Point Mote and its new heir, Ramshaw. And, as it turns out, that’s not the worst of it because there are even more sinister things going on.

This is the world in which Bodkin finds herself, chosen to serve part of her prison sentence – the result of a momentary loss of control – in a huge but rather dilapidated manor house on the Kent marshes surrounded by high walls to keep interlopers out – or perhaps to keep the inhabitants in.

Bodkin’s unclear exactly why she’s there, presuming it’s pure chance she was selected by the formidable Lady Hesperia Halsey, Ramshaw’s aunt. But even a gloomy old house is better than prison plus she’s confident that Cornelius Bell, the man who has been her mentor since she was a child, will arrive to rescue her. Indeed, she’s convinced her transfer to Point Mote is all part of his plan. But is Cornelius, a proven trickster, gambler and teller of tall tales, someone she can rely on?

I loved Bodkin. She’s determined, resilient and resourceful. However, the unique physical characteristic that made her such a theatrical marvel sets her apart from others, in more ways than one. ‘She lives with a chest which jangles like a fistful of spoons, hums like a hive, ripples like a bucket of eels. A heart that doesn’t beat so much as teeters and skids like a spinning top on a wet floor.’ In the course of the book Bodkin learns things about her early life, things that have up until now existed as mere fragments of memory.

Point Mote is a house of secrets – many of them macabre – and a place of tragic events. Its eerie atmosphere is combined with an element of madness and obsession. This is a time when scientific experimentation overlapped with the desire of the rich for sensation, the more excessive and outlandish the better. If you’ve read the author’s earlier book Things In Jars you’ll know the kind of thing I mean.

If you reckon you’ve got it all figured out be prepared for a few surprises. Little Spark is a brilliantly atmospheric, deliciously creepy mystery with a completely captivating main character.

I received an advance reader copy courtesy of Canogate via NetGalley.

In three words: Atmospheric, sinister, engaging
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About the Author

Jess Kidd was brought up in London as part of a large family from County Mayo. She is the author of several acclaimed novels for adults including Himself, The Hoarder, Things in Jars and The Night Ship, and a book for children, Everyday Magic. In 2017, Kidd won the Costa Short Story Award and in 2020 she was picked by The Times as one of the best emerging Irish writers. (Photo: Author website)

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Book Review – The Eagle & the Wolf by Gordon Doherty @GordonDoherty @HarperCollins #20BOS26

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About the Book

As Hun hordes and Germanic tribes maraud through Imperial lands, two legendary men – Attila the Hun and the “Last of the Romans” General Flavius Aetius find their fortunes entangled with the chaos.

Flavius Aetius, a noble Roman son, is an outsider in a savage land. He has been banished, given as hostage to the barbaric Huns and sent to the edge of the world.

What the Huns do not know, however, is that his father and mother have been murdered in a coup. He is an orphan, with no value at all. His life hangs on a lie.

In this new harsh world, he manages to find one grudging ally, a young boy named Attila.

A brotherhood is formed. One that, the shamans foretell, will shatter the world.

Format: Hardcover (448 pages) Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication date: 13th August 2026 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

Gordon Doherty has become one of my go-to authors for exciting historical fiction set in the Roman age. I’ve read a number of the books in his ‘Legionary’ series, including the most recent and, sadly, the final instalment Devotio – as well as the ‘Rise of Emperors’ trilogy co-written with Simon Turney. What I’ve come to expect is action-packed stories rich in authentic historical detail. I’m happy to say The Eagle & the Wolf, the first in the new ‘Age of Attila’ series, delivers in all those respects.

I’m probably not alone in having learned about the Huns in history lessons without actually knowing much detail about how they lived. The author sets that right by piecing together the scant information that exists to provide the reader with fascinating detail about their culture, religous beliefs and lifestyle. For example, that at this time the Huns were not a homogeneous group but a collection of nomadic tribes each ruled by their own king.

In the first few weeks following his capture and arrival in the Hun camp, Flavius Aetius is a young man who feels alone in the world. He does not understand the Hun language, finds the food unpalatable, is alarmed at the strange physical appearance of the spiritual leaders of the tribe and is fearful there are some in the camp who know his secret, that he is not the valuable hostage they believe. He plans an escape only to realise the harsh landscape make that impossible. Gradually he is introduced to the ways of the tribe by a young man, Attila, who himself carries a burden. Cleverly, the author has Flavius discover some of the more lurid myths about the Huns are just that, myths. He develops a growing appreciation for their superb horsemanship and skill with bow, spear and lasso. Under Attila’s tutelage he starts to acquire these skills himself whilst also demonstrating his own gift for quick thinking.

Suddenly everything changes and it is now Attila who is uprooted from the tribe and sent to Rome while Flavius is forced to remain, the result of a betrayal by the last person he would have expected.

When they are renuited years later both Flavius and Attila have things they are prepared to risk everything to protect. Unfortunately, there are others who know that too. And although both men have gained valuable military knowledge, they’ve also learned neither the Huns nor the Romans has a monopoly on treachery. There are men on either side who are prepared to do anything to gain power and who will be utterly ruthless when it comes to dispatching their enemies, often in the most gruesome manner imaginable.

The book is set in a turbulent period in the history of the Roman Empire when it could no longer be regarded as a single entity, its decline very much apparent and the signs of its fall there to see. The author guides the reader through the complexities of the shifts of power and the forming and reforming of allegiances, some between former enemies.

The climax of the book takes place at the strategically important city of Arelate, under siege by the Visigoths for many months. Lifting the siege becomes both a military objective and a very personal mission for Flavius. He may have been brought up on Homer’s epic poem the Iliad rather than the Odyssey, but Flavius proves himself just as wily as the latter’s eponymous hero. Sometimes what looks to be the case really isn’t.

If you long for descriptions of the cut and thrust of battle this is one of the points in the book where you won’t be disappointed. Prepare yourself for the ‘thunderclap’ of shields clashing together and the ‘shriek’ of iron weapons meeting while arrows rain down and the Hun forces come together in their ‘whirling cyclone’ formation.

As always, there’s much to be learned from the Historical Notes and the Glossary. I can also recommend checking out the author’s Instagram reels.

Gordon describes The Eagle & the Wolf as ‘the first volume of what promises to be an epic saga’ and hopes we’ll stick around for volume two. I know I will.

I received an advance review copy courtesy of HarperCollins via NetGalley. The Eagle & the Wolf is book 14 of my 20 Books of Summer.

In three words: Epic, action-packed, authentic
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About the Author

Gordon Doherty is a Scottish writer, addicted to reading and writing historical fiction. His love of history was first kindled by visits to the misty Roman ruins of Britain and the sun-baked antiquities of Turkey and Greece. His expeditions since have taken him all over the world and back and forth through time (metaphorically, at least), allowing him to write tales of the later Roman Empire, Byzantium, Classical Greece and even the distant Bronze Age. (Photo: Goodreads author page)

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