In doing so, the book triumphed over a very strong shortlist, including collections by one Booker Prize winner in Anne Enright and two authors who have been Booker shortlisted in Shena Mackay and Ali Smith (the latter a winner of the Whitbread Prize).When announcing the winner, one of the judges – James Walton, journalist and chair of BBC Radio 4’s The Write Stuff – said, “I suspect Chris Beckett winning the Edge Hill Prize will be seen as a surprise in the world of books. In fact, though, it was also a bit of surprise to the judges, none of whom knew they were science fiction fans beforehand.”In 2012 the Sunday Times named Chris’ latest novel Dark Eden the best science fiction novel of the year, and it is currently shortlisted for the BSFA Award in the same category. NewCon Press are delighted to be publishing The Peacock Cloak, the latest collection from one of Britain’s most distinguished and accomplished genre authors. Contains twelve stories (85,000 words) all previously uncollected.

    His pretense is a disguise. His very existence on Taloo Station is no accident. Martin Wheeler—AKA Jaxon Rasner, is hiding from his past. After nearly a decade of living in obscurity, a team of killers is sent to end his life. Making matters worse, his estranged daughter is brutally abducted. Marked for death, he must return to the life he left behind as he races for survival throughout the Outer Ring, where he has no choice but to embrace the killer within.

    Hope is worse. Five years after their world was decimated by powerful aliens that killed their parents, two brothers are returning to get answers. One wants justice. One just wants to survive. But nothing on Planet Hell is what it seems. The brothers soon stumble upon a plot to interact with the aliens that could change everything. But they aren't the only people trying to understand the aliens--and most are willing to do anything to keep the powerful secrets for themselves. Shifting alliances, hidden agendas, and ruthless killers interact against a backdrop of invincible aliens willing and able to kill anything, and anyone, on a whim. Gritty and fast-paced, Planet Hell is a high-octane military sci-fi with a devastating mystery at its heart.

    A spaceship crashes on an alien planet. Its combat troops deploy. The aliens run for their lives. Until they can run no more. Then they fight back. Against a superior enemy, technology is key. But the aliens don’t have better tech. They have grit and catlike reflexes. And tails. Taj fights to unite a determined populace against a professional military vying for the planet’s future.Join those fighting to save family, friends, and their way of life in the latest exciting new Age of Expansion series, in the Kurtherian Gambit Universe. You don’t have to read any of the other KGU books to get into this series, but it would be way cool if you did. Read all about Bethany Anne in Death Becomes Her.

    Obsidian Worlds brings together his 11 best-selling sci-fi shorts into a mind-bending philosophical anthology.In Your Averaged Joe, a man’s headache is large enough to hold the multiverse. Q46F is an obsessive-compulsive android who finds love in a zombie-embroiled apocalypse. The end of the world isn’t all that bad – The Experience Machine will fulfil your every desire (and some you hadn’t considered). A sex bot dares to dream of freedom in Dinner with Flexi. But mind what you eat, because The Photons in the Cheese Are Lost. Don’t fret though: The Cryo Killer guarantees that your death will be painless, or your money back when you’re thawed. Unless, that is, you’re The Man with Two Legs.Plug into Obsidian Worlds for these and other immersive stories, including the hilarious Time-Traveling Chicken Sexer. Your brain will never be the same again.

    A young investigator with a secret informant. The electrifying new thriller.Lacy Stoltz never expected to be in the firing line. Investigating judicial misconduct by Florida's one thousand judges, her cases so far have been relatively unexciting. That's until she meets Greg Myers, an indicted lawyer with an assumed name, who has an extraordinary tale to tell.Myers is representing a whistle blower who knows of a judge involved in organised crime. Along with her gangster associates this judge has facilitated the building of a casino on an Indian reservation. At least two people who opposed the scheme are dead. Since the casino was built, the judge has made several fortunes off undeclared winnings. She owns property around the world, hires private jets to take her where she wishes, and her secret vaults are overflowing with rare books, art and jewels.No one has a clue what she's been doing - until now.Under Florida law, those who help the state recover illegally acquired assets stand to gain a large percentage of them. Myers and his whistle blower friend could make millions.But first they need Lacy to start an investigation. Is she ready to pit herself against the most corrupt judge in American history, a judge whose associates think nothing of murder?

    However, when unexpected guests attend Akira and Zane's wedding, her life will change forever. But for better or for worse? For fans of the Tassamara series, this short story (16,000 words) takes place at the wedding of the main characters from A Gift of Ghosts, after the events of A Gift of Time. One reviewer calls it, "a super fun, sassy, and supernatural story you don't want to miss!"

     Discover the books readers all over the world are going crazy for. In this special edition thriller pack, get three Sean Wyatt mystery thrillers for one low price. Sean Wyatt is a former government agent who is just trying to find a less stressful life until the secret service shows up on his doorstep. In The Grecian Manifesto, he travels the globe in an attempt to rescue the woman he loves while tracking down a mysterious object that may have the power to tell the future. In The Norse Directive, Sean finds himself zipping across the world to unravel an ancient mystery with ties to one of the holiest relics in Christianity. Along the way, he encounters an evil collector who will stop at nothing to acquire what would be his most prized piece yet. Game of Shadows sends Sean from Switzerland to South America in search of a top secret Nazi weapon that was lost during the evacuation of Germany by the German high command. But Sean isn't the only one looking for the experimental device, and if he doesn't work fast enough, it could mean the end of civilization as we know it. ˃˃˃ Interview with the author Q: What made you want to write an international mystery series like this?A: I grew up watching movies like Indiana Jones and The Goonies. Those movies were so fascinating to me. As a kid, I always wanted to be an adventurer that discovered ancient treasures, not for the financial wealth, but because I always thought, and still think, it must be so amazing to find something that someone left hidden hundreds or thousands of years before. At that moment, you are the first person to see that artifact in a long time. I also love suspense action fiction stories, terrorism novels and television shows, and especially enjoy a good thriller about conspiracies and secret societies. Jack Reacher, Jason Bourne, Jack Ryan, are all pulp heroes I can root for. It seemed logical to make Sean Wyatt like one of those guys, but one that also has a background in history, making him the Indiana Jones of action adventure thrillers.Q: There are several books in the Sean Wyatt series. In what order should they be read?A: The first three are a trilogy, but you can read them out of order if you really want to. I'd start with The Secret of the Stones and then go to The Cleric's Vault and The Last Chamber. The rest of the books in the series are stand alone novels.Q: Why should readers check out your Sean Wyatt novels?A: Social proof. All of the Sean Wyatt novels have been in the top ten best sellers in Thrillers and Mysteries, Suspense Thrillers and Mysteries, Historical Thrillers, and Political Thrillers. ˃˃˃ Discover what readers all over the world already have. Scroll up and grab a copy today.

    This edition brings together some of the best horror writers from the last few decades. Featuring stories from Ray Garton, Kelley Armstrong, Simon Clark, Gord Rollo, Chad Lutzke, Mike Duke, Christina Bergling, David Owain Hughes, P. Mattern & Kevin J. Kennedy.

    Her team of unexpected allies harbors its own destructive secrets, leading Nicole on a dangerous mission to the heart of the society. As time and options dwindle, can Nicole make one last stand to save herself and her friends?

    Raised in an orphanage, never knowing his parents, Quinn had a happy if unexceptional life. Until the day of “strange magnetism.” It compelled him to drive out to the middle of nowhere. It helped him find a coin worth a lot of money. And it practically saved his life when two government agents showed up in the diner in pursuit of him. Now Quinn is on the run from those agents and who knows what else, fleeing for his life.During a shoot-out at a forlorn dude ranch, he finally meets his destined companions: Bridget Rainking, a beauty as gifted in foresight as she is with firearms, and her grandpa Sparky, a romance novelist with an unusual past. Bridget knows what it’s like to be Quinn. She’s hunted, too. The only way to stay alive is to keep moving.Barreling through the Sonoran Desert, the formidable trio is impelled by that same inexplicable magnetism toward the inevitable. With every deeply disturbing mile, something sinister is in the rearview―an enemy that is more than a match for Quinn. Even as he discovers within himself resources that are every bit as scary.

    One Sheriff. And all the action one Spaceport can't hold. Darklanding is the wild, wild west of known space. Sheriff Thaddeus Fry will never completely leave the battlefields of Centauri Prime. His new assignment, the Sheriff's office of Darklanding, could be a do-nothing job, or it could get him killed. The first thing he learns is that his predecessor's headquarters were bombed, creating the vacancy that led to his appointment. The Company Man, is not who he expected, to say the least. His new accommodations are right in the center of Darklanding's misfits. He finds one native of Ungwilook willing to talk to him and tries to make him a deputy. What really matters on Darklanding, are the mines. Faced with a dangerous collapse that could kill hundreds of workers, he leaps into action and gets the story of Darklanding started. Fans of Firefly, Bonanza, and Tombstone will love this new series. Join us today and every 18 days, you’ll get a new episode of Darklanding.

    Would you start kicking some ass? Of course you would!This is the story of Human superiority in the galaxy, a gritty, realistic profile of a young Navy SEAL who doesn't like aliens very much -- and he makes them pay for disrupting his happy life back on Earth!

    The only problem is, there are many people who would want the child to be killed simply out of fear. And that isn't the only problem: Argus's daughter has also been discovered. If the Minister learns that he is the father, then both of their lives are at risk. Elsewhere, a new Captain is taking over policing the Republic, and she wants to make a strong first impression. She's tired of rampant greed controlling the world, so she will do anything to make the people responsible pay. Darius Gray, a member of the Ministry and guard of the most powerful man in the galaxy, has turned his back on the Republic and is amassing an army. He intends to start a war. The entire galaxy is falling to despair. No one knows where to turn or who to trust. The future of the galaxy rests in the hands of two small children whose birth rights promise pain and suffering.

    . . keeps racheting up the suspense.” –BooklistIn the shadow of Mount Hood, sixteen-year-old Tennant is checking rabbit traps with her eight-year-old sister Sophie when the girls are suddenly overcome by a strange vibration rising out of the forest, building in intensity until it sounds like a deafening crescendo of screams. From out of nowhere, their father sweeps them up and drops them through a trapdoor into a storm cellar. But the sound only gets worse . . .