by admin | May 24, 2025 | Science Fiction |
No one fights dirtier than an archaeologist.
Dr. Nel Bently has barely dug into Chile’s dry earth when her pristine site is vandalized. Her archaeologist’s dream of a ground-breaking project funded by a private patron turns into a nightmare: local activists Los Pobladores take issue with anyone brave–or stubborn–enough to set boots on their land. And foul-mouthed Nel is stubborn as they come.
Despite the danger, Nel refuses to surrender her site to vandals. Easier said than done, however, with the greenest crew she’s ever trained, absurd radiocarbon dates, and angry militants who may actually have a point.
When Los Pobledores land a blow that turns Nel’s world upside down, she realizes her mysterious benefactor is playing chess with their lives. Grief-stricken and angrier than ever, Nel is ready to fight dirty.
THE X-FILES meets LARA CROFT in this queer, snarky science fiction adventure about where we came from, and where we’re going from International Bestselling author V. S. Holmes. Scroll up and one-click now to embark on the adventure!
Praise for Travelers
An excerpt of Travelers is included in the Peregrine Lunar Lander as part of the Writers on the Moon Time Capsule.
“…Holmes immerses the reader in the dirty and painstakingly slow processes of on-the-ground archaeology. There’s enough readerly fascination to snag attention, while wincing at Nel’s behaviour. Setting up an engaging but unlikeable main protagonist is a feat. Holmes leaves no option but to keep reading. A romp through pre-history using the framework of universal history, Travelers opens unexpected storylines to play out in the next three episodes. Readers who like stubborn, badly behaved but splendid characters will have a ball. The vibe is deadpan, gumshoe noir. She may be no Lara Croft, but Nel is some adventurer.”
– Aurealis Magazine
“A fantastic, short yet powerful sci-fi adventure…A memorable, entertaining and investing read, author V.S. Holmes’ “Travelers” is a must-read start to an incredible sci-fi saga. With emotional and action-packed twists and turns and an ending that leaves open some great story possibilities for future books, the author has crafted a masterful narrative and memorable characters that many readers will be able to identify with.”
– Anthony Avina
“I think I’m in love with this series. Grounded in the solid bedrock of real archeological techniques and experience, it takes off from there into the fantastic. I love it the way I love Tony Hillerman’s writing: it challenges me to research new areas of study without once losing the draw of a gripping narrative. Even better, it shows truly rounded queer characters whose sexuality is just one facet of a complex and engaging personality. From page 1 Nel tromped through my imagination with a screw-you-too grin and a trowel in her back pocket. Her description of the field life feels incredibly real. This book rocks.”
-O. E. Tearmann, author of The Hands We’re Given
“The whole concept this story is based on and built around is fascinating, the way V.S. Holmes has written the characters and plot is brilliant… a suspenseful read with lots of surprises, a touch of romance, and a whole lot of promise…”
-Serena Yates of Rainbow Book Reviews
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by admin | May 24, 2025 | Dystopian & Apocalyptic |
An entertaining, page-turning, and genre-bending thriller set in a futuristic Britain.
A year after the events of Utopia Five, Lee Sands receives a surprise from brother Nemo: a holiday in the resort of Conundra – the only civilised place on Earth outside the observation of the Panopticon.
Moments after arrival, Lee witnesses the assassination of a woman and receives an invitation to the office of the Warlock of Conundra – the founder and controller of the city. Was the death real or just part of Conundra’s network of storylines?
When Nemo reveals that Panopticon citizens are disappearing and those disappearances seem to be linked to both Conundra and Lee and Nemo’s virtual worlds, the pair are plunged into the mystery of a missing man Lee knows only too well.
With the help of a sinister transhuman technocult, Lee and Nemo race to uncover the secret of the founding of Conundra and their own role in the corruption of the state.
“The only series I’ve read that touches on every topic I care about: Artificial Intelligence, surveillance, climate change, individual vs state, space, programming, infosec” – Marco Abis
Conundra is a gripping science fiction thriller set in a high-surveillance future. It is both a standalone action novel and the second in the Panopticon series.
Praise for the Panopticon series
“I loved this book” – James Cox, reviewer Amazon
”an unexpectedly deep and conceptual sci-fi techno thriller. Take all the moral quandaries of modern technology and give them a mix with ecological disaster and you’ve got yourself a good idea of the future this book is set in” – OldBird, Amazon
“Thought-provoking on the world today and future – couldn’t put it down!” – J Collins, Amazon
”The author writes some compelling characters and reveals a near future which asks what happens if some of the things we see today get turned up to 11” – Neville White, Amazon
“Full of innovative and thought-provoking ideas. Story was engaging and fast-paced” Jon, Amazon
“all too believable picture of one possible (probable?) future” – NIck B, Amazon
“a page-turning thriller, and shot through with mordant humour” – PJ Barber, Amazon
“Great fast paced story backed with a lot of detail and a huge amount of thought about how the world might develop!” – Mark Mitchell, Amazon
“Kept me hooked throughout” – Amazon Customer
“Nice to read such an original book. I couldn’t put it down” – SgravenHage, Amazon US
“A thought provoking and intelligently written sci-fi novel that I couldn’t put down” Nikki, Amazon
“A fun read, compelling world, great premise” O, Amazon
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by admin | May 24, 2025 | Thriller & Suspense |
Claire’s scream instantly transformed Damon’s nomadic existence. Army snipers do not scream. Not in an ordinary world. But the world hadn’t been normal since the first corpse became a ‘redhead’ statistic.
Now it was Claire’s turn…
It was known that victims lived only 51 days.
It was known that millions had died in prison cells.
It was known that the government was dragging children from their homes.
But the known unknowns beckoned…
Unknown if transmitted by air, contact, flea or mosquito.
Unknown if manmade, mutation of evolution, or alien hitchhiker.
Unknown if neighbor will betray neighbor to collect bounties from Uncle Sam.
And the purveyors of conspiracy…
Social media shouts, “These are the new lepers!”
What might be growing in an unknown lab at an unknown location?!
Elites are suppressing immediate answers in the hope of future profit!
…of course, unknown unknowns lurk in the shadows.
Damon had ridden a motorcycle through a typhoon ravaged jungle. Landed in Washington with money-power at his fingertips. Witnessed a missile attack and landmine explosion. Then…Claire screamed.
Leaving Damon seven weeks and two days to do the impossible via the improbable and reveal the unthinkable.
But standing in Claire’s condo, as the echo of her voice fades into the deserted streets of the District of Columbia, he knows they have only one option…
FLEE!
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by admin | May 23, 2025 | Womens Fiction |
Short stories that are “achingly true to life when it comes to the many ways mothers and daughters grow together and apart, over and over again” (O, The Oprah Magazine).
“Mothers and daughters go at it in the way only mothers and daughters can, with full hearts and claws out, in Natalie Serber’s funny, bittersweet collection” of short fiction named a New York Times Notable Book (Vanity Fair).
In a battle between a teenager and her mother, wheat bread and plain yogurt become weapons. An aimless college student, married to her much older professor, sneaks cigarettes while caring for their newborn son. On the eve of her husband’s fiftieth birthday, a pilfered fifth of rum, an unexpected tattoo, and rogue teenagers leave a woman questioning her place. And in a suite of stories, we follow capricious, ambitious single mother Ruby and her cautious, steadfast daughter, Nora, through their tumultuous life—stray men, stray cats, and psychedelic drugs—in 1970s California.
“The characters are irresistible . . . Serber writes with exquisite patience and sensitivity, and is an expert in the many ways that love throws people together and splits them apart, often at the same time.” —TheWall Street Journal
“From its first page, Serber’s debut collection plunges us into the humid heat and lightning of a perfect storm: that of American mothers and daughters struggling for power, love, meaning, and identity. . . . Serber’s writing sparkles: practical, strong, brazenly modern, marbled with superb descriptions.” —San Francisco Chronicle
“Mothers and daughters burst from these pages in stories about food, boyfriends, birthdays, husbands and more.” —Houston Chronicle
“In the tradition of Lorrie Moore and Tobias Wolff, Natalie Serber’s stories uncover the secret hearts of seemingly ordinary people. Funny, heart-felt, and keenly perceptive, this is a book worth shouting about.” —Dan Chaon, author of If I Loved You I Would Tell You This
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by admin | May 22, 2025 | Dystopian & Apocalyptic |
“War was uglier than we’d imagined. The Draft was reinstated, taking our men and boys. Troops stripped the shelves as they came through. Within days, stores were empty; people began to starve. Hospitals closed due to a lack of staff and supplies. Police stopped answering calls, stopped coming to work at all. Production halted. Communications faded. Then the power went off…and it didn’t come back on.
“The fall of society triggered a hard, new life where survival became our only focus. We reverted to primitive behaviors, using the war as an excuse to commit unspeakable atrocities and humanity slipped deeper into the abyss of possible extinction. Lawlessness blanketed the post-apocalyptic lands with hatred and violence that seemed to have no end. The future, cold and dark, offered little comfort. The only chance we had for peace, for safety, came from a tired voice on the radio.”
“This is Safe Haven. We offer food, shelter, and protection to all survivors. Does anyone copy? …hello? Is anyone alive out there?”
“Answering that call was a dangerous risk in a world now filled with nightmares, but it was better than having no hope at all. We left our dens and our dregs and followed Safe Haven; not everyone made it there. Some of those who did were too far gone to be trusted. The apocalypse left its mark on all of us and Safe Haven wasn’t immune to that. It was a place of safety, of light, of duty and honor. It was a refuge for all survivors. It was also a place of death and darkness, where murder and madness walked hand-in-hand.”
Life After War. A story that will live in your mind forever.
2022 PenCraft Award Winner.
2022 Reader’s Choice Runner-up.
Length: 798 Pages
Number: Book One
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