#Blogtour Fresh Start by Johnny Worthen

It's an aboslute pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Fresh Start by Johnny Worthen. Published by Flame Tree Press, publication date June 2026. Tour courtesy of Random Things Tours.

About the Author

Johnny Worthen is an award-winning, multiple-genre, tie-dye-wearing author, voyager, and damn fine human being! Trained in literary criticism and cultural studies, he writes upmarket fiction, long and short, mentors others where he can and teaches at the University of Utah. Follow @JohnnyWorthen on X, Visit johnnyworthen.com

About the book

A ship, a gun, and a nice teal robe to find one killer on a planet of criminals: will Qays Mendoza get the answers he is looking for? New novel from the bestse ling author of the Coronam series.

On the edges of mankind’s domain there is a penal planet called Fresh Start where a sentence is at best exile to five generations, but more likely death in its harsh unforgiving wastes. It is to this planet the empire sends the worst of the worst and it is on this planet that Qays Mendoza searches for his old captain.

The galactic empire is falling, civilization contracts. Fresh Start is abandoned. Without oversight, the planet is wild, without guards; the Oubliette, the supermax prison on the supermax planet, lies open, and the Butcher of Raznak, a killer worse than the one Qays seeks, is on the loose.

With the help of a street waif called Patience, Qays seeks answers. His soul is stained with guilt and his spirit broken by complicity. Religion did not have the answer; duty did not explain it. Birthright and station were not enough. His answers lie somewhere on Fresh Start.

Review

First of all - I'm with Wallen. 

I love it when I find a gem of a storyteller and in this case a writer who also has the ability to write a incredibly clever multi-layered story in a science fiction scenario. I really enjoyed this read.

Humans, societies, communities, cults, political groups and civilisations, they eventually always evolve in the same way. Regardless of planet, era or space-time continuum. The same pockets of oppressors, the same religious zealots, the same type of persona who enoy inflicting pain and violence upon others, and of course the people who live in the space between trying to stay alive.

Qays is the very definition of a tortured and conflicted soul. His belief system has been rattled to the core, which is buried beneath a layer of guilt, grief and disbelief. He is on a quest to find answers and perhaps absolution from someone who made a decision that change the projectile their life and his own.

He is a walking contradiction, especially when the going gets tough. His inability to do what needs to be done in certain situations makes him a liability. A danger to himself and others. That broken spirit recognises the correct response, but the mind and body are unable to act upon it. His snarky retorts often enrages or confuses the people he engages with, who can't see it as the protective shield it functions as or rather the way to discourage people from digging any deeper.

What I really enjoyed about this book was the comparisons we can make to current situations, history has a way of repeating patterns, because we learn nothing and humankind is predictable. The other gold nugget is the moral of the decisions made by certain characters. Still with Wallen by the way. Superb read, highly recommend!

Buy Fresh Start at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Flame Tree Press, Publication date June2026. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour The Death of Shame by Ambrose Parry

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Death of Shame by Ambrose Parry.  The fifth instalment in the thrilling Raven and Fisher series. written by Ambrose Parry, the husband and wife duo of Chris Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman. Paperback published 4th June 2026 by Canongate books. Tour courtesy of Random Things Tours.

About the Author/s

Chris Brookmyre is an internationaly bestseling and multi-award-winning author and Dr Marisa Haetzman is a consultant anaesthetist of twenty years’ experience. The couple teamed up to write a series of historical crime thrillers, featuring the darkest of Victorian Edinburgh’s secrets. 

The Way of All Flesh was a Waterstones Thriller and Scottish Crime Book of the Month, was longlisted for the Theakston's Old Peculier Award and shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year. The Art of Dying and A Corruption of Blood were shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year. A Corruption of Blood was shortlisted for the CWA Historical Dagger in 2022. In 2024, Voices of the Dead was shortlisted for the CWA Historical Dagger and their short story A Spendthrift and the Swallow was shortlisted for the CWA Short Dagger Award. Follow @ambroseparry on X or on bsky.app/profile

About the book

When you are a prisoner of your secrets, the death of shame is the only path to liberty. Annabel Banks was promised work as a maid with a prestigious Edinburgh family. But on her first day, she’s nowhere to be found. Concerned relatives contact Sarah Fisher to help. Sarah might know her way around the city – its light sides and dark – but soon she’ll discover the plight of dozens of girls ensnared in its many brothels: lured, abused and left ruined in the eyes of the world.

Meanwhile, a prominent society figure throws himself from the Scott Monument. Will Raven is asked to establish whether the death was suicide or if someone else was involved. Drawing upon real historical events, The Death of Shame takes the Raven and Fisher series into a treacherous labyrinth of shame and the pitfalls of a culture obsessed with moral purity.

Review

It should come as no surprise that the exploitation of women is a highly profitable business in any era or place in history, and this story features said exploitation in the Victorian era. Perhaps not as visible due to a clear separation between money, class and status, never the twain shall meet unless someone wants to profit from the exploitation.

Ambrose Parry (husband and wife writig duo) have created a popular historical crime fiction series that has left its mark. The combination of social constrictions and expectations, with complex ever evolving characters, whilst battling the scandals and crimes in the Victorian era.

Raven is tasked with, or rather tasks himself, with solving the death of someone close to him. The relevations lead him on a dangerous path, one he can't really afford to be on because his marriage is already fragile. Meanwhile Fisher is drawn into a despicable quagmire of exploitation and despair. Eyes wide shut, as they say.

I recommend reading the historical note the author/s added. It really gives the story that added layer of depth and comprehension, even the title they picked. It also gives the reader a certain element of comparison - the beginning and roots of both media and technology in crime and exploitation of the vulnerable and the powerful, then look at the sevenheaded hydra of corruption it has become.

I have to say the ending was unexpected, and yet also the right way to go from a developent perspective. It opens the doors to Fisher and Raven, it might not fall into place, but it brings them out of the tightly knitted corner they were wedged into.

It's always an enjoyable read and experience, may there be many more.

Buy The Death of Shame at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Canongate Books, Publication date: ‎4 Jun. 2026. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour The Blackened Yonder: Planar Lost by J. Gibson

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Blackened Yonder: Planar Lost Book One by J. Gibson. Tour courtesy of Zooloo's Book Tours. Published by The Lost Press, Publication date ‏ 15 July 2021.

About the Author

J. Gibson is a doctoral candidate in education and published researcher in the field of criminal justice with a concentration on gender differences. Holding degrees related to criminology, sociology, and psychology, his primary interest is academia, but he has always had a passion for creative writing and the genres of horror and fantasy, as well as history. 

Follow J. Gibson - PlanarLost on Facebook, planarlost on Instagram, @planarlost on X, threads.com/@planarlost on Threads and planarlost.bsky.social Visit www.jgibsonwrites.com/

About the book

Magic is restricted. The dead walk. Damnation comes for all. When dark forces empty a village overnight, only the ravenous undead remain. Garron Latimer, the village priest, flees to the capital seeking salvation. 

Far south, Athenne joins the underground Saints of Aetheria to ignite revolution and unleash forbidden magic. But their ambitious agenda demands a terrible price. 

Torn between duty and defiance, Garron uncovers secrets that test his faith. Plagued by doubt, Athenne questions the Saints’ righteousness, knowing betrayal could destroy her.

Review

Who to start with? From the very beginning the plot is driven by two very distinct voices, the priest who encounters living damnation and is consumed by an encounter that has become the worm in his brain eating its way out. Then there is Athenne and the Saints of Aetheria, and whilst one could easily say they are what they present themselves to be, saviours and fighters who walk the path of righteousness, as the story unfolds that becomes a little less clear.

It's an ambitious plot with plenty of avenues for further plot exploration. A complex meld of fantasy, speculative, horror, spiritual and religious threads - a smorgasbord of genres. No clear distinction between, but rather a path woven with the tools and ideas of all to create an experience. It is however a little on the heavy side, a bit like when a cake is too dense. So hard to see the trees, or any tree at all when the forest allows no space for an easy enjoyable stroll and instead you need a machete to forge a path.

Give me the heart, the soul of the characters. Something to make the reader want to follow their story. Even in the depths of despair as the monsters eat your beliefs and there is no clear way to determine right or wrong, good or bad, evil or just evil adjacent. Don't give me a thesis on Planar Lost, give me the magical construct you envision in your mind, tell me the story.

Buy The Blackened Yonder: Planar Lost at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: ‎The Lost Press, Publication date: 15 July 2021. Buy at Amazon com.