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“Saigon Dark” by Elka Ray – The Forge of Lifelong Retribution

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Life seldom gives us what we want, and when it does it seems there is always some sort of perversion attached to the deal. In Saigon Dark, Elka Ray shows us just how curious the unexpected twists of fate can be as we are presented with Lily Vo, a young single mother of a boy and a girl living in Saigon.

On a tragic night, her infant daughter wanders off into the backyard and drowns in the small pond. Desperate, in shock and grief, Lily decides to bury her daughter on her own, and at that moment fate throws the most unexpected wrench in her plans as she ends up taking in the abused infant daughter of her neighbours, marking the beginning of her painful odyssey.

“Return to Hiroshima” by Bob Van Laerhoven – The Nuclear Eulogy

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Bob Van Laerhoven has always been a very apt author when it comes to weaving complex stories, and few get more intriguing and complicated than his most recent novel, Return to Hiroshima.

The book tells the intersecting stories of a Belgian diplomat’s son, a police inspector, a Yakuza lord who may or may not be a demon, his potentially-insane daughter, a lowly punk with ultra-nationalistic ideals, and the infamous Japanese Secret Service Unit 731. All of their paths cross in the nuclear past of Hiroshima’s war history.

Interview with Earl Javorsky – Perspective from a Lifelong Wordsmith

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Earl Javorsky is the kind of author who, despite having nearly always been in the writing game, has only begun seeing himself published recently. So far his works include Trust Me, Down Solo and Down to No Good, each of them earning a fair share of critical acclaim in literary circles.

In this email interview we’ve conducted with him we discuss the various paths his career as a writer has led him on and his perspective on various topics in the realms of literature.

“Marina” by Carlos Ruiz Zafon – The Attic of the Soul

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Carlos Ruiz Zafon is the type of author whose imagination expands well beyond the conventions of normalcy and colours the world in shades we never knew existed.

His novels often pull us into the world’s underbelly, and in Marina we once again dive deep beneath Barcelona’s veneer as we follow the story of fifteen-year-old Oscar who vanished from his boarding school for seven days.

What he witnessed during that time wasn’t meant for his eyes, and his journey begins with a strange cemetery ritual and a rose at an unmarked grave.

“Days of Panic” by Jack Hunt – Leaving the World Behind

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Jack Hunt has quite a bit of experience in penning post-apocalyptic stories, often fantasizing about how people would react to different scenarios. In Days of Panic he takes us into the heart of New York as four strangers find themselves in need of each other in the wake of a devastating EMP blast, completely annihilating the country’s electric grid.

A bike messenger, a support representative, a homeless man and a convict; the clock is ticking for all of them as the city that never sleeps falls into chaos and disarray.