It isn’t easy being the head of security on an inter-planetary transport ship between Earth and Titan. Lieutenant Cal Hartland is not impressed when he’s tasked to oversee the reintegration to Earth of mind readers who have been banished to a colony on Mars. Despite the fitting of cortical inhibitors, Cal is suspicious that the Minders are still dangerous, a fear that becomes personal when he has a startling emotional reaction to the leader of the small group, Commander Zero. Just as Cal is struggling to accept his feelings for the Martian, a mutilated body is discovered in the bowels of the ship. Why does Zero appear to know more about this terrible murder than any neutralised mind reader should? Trapped in the endless darkness of space and with the body count growing, can Cal trust anything about the enigmatic and beautiful Zero? Views: 28
‘A monster with a perfect disguise stalks the city streets, preying upon the weak and vulnerable, defiling even those already dead. A savage predator in a world which cannot even see what is attacking it.
Can the people of this city trust the strangers who brought this creature to their world enough to accept their help before it’s too late? Or will the creature’s confidence and power be allowed to grow.
In the crucible of despair strange alliances are being forged to find and kill the monster preying upon the city. Alliances that may also help resurrect the ruined airship that hangs almost lifeless above the city streets.’
The second episode in the Glass Darkly series by Peter Knyte, a vintage style action and suspense story set against the backdrop of a 1930s America that never happened.
Frequently asked questions – answered by the author.
Question: Where did the inspiration for the Glass Darkly series come from?
Answer: For the main-part the inspiration came from two sources: My lifelong love of great science fiction, and the well-established steam-punk scene which has really started to flourish in the UK and other countries over the past few years.
Question: What about other authors, your website mentions that you’ve enjoyed reading Jules Verne, H.G. Wells and numerous other writers of classic fiction, but are there any more recent authors you consider to be an influence on your writing?
Answer: Mark Hodder is one of my current favourites, his Burton and Swinburne books are pure genius, crazy genius most of the time, but fantastic with it. Jim Butcher is another great outside the box author.
Question: Both your Glass Darkly and your Flames of Time stories are set in the 1930s, is there something about this period that you find particularly interesting and will we continue to see your stories in this period?
Answer: I’d like to say there’s some great and convoluted reason for setting my stories in the 1930s, but in actuality I set my Flames of Time series in the 30s because of a simple plot device relating to when the narrator is telling the story. Once I’d decided on the time period and started doing my research I realised there was so much about those inter-war years that seemed so similar to how we live today, while there were obviously other aspects which are almost un-recognisable. It’s this blend of the familiar and alien that I thought would make a great setting for the low-fantasy type of stories that I like to tell. Views: 28
THE BOOK CLUB PICK OF 2016! The River House is a spellbinding debut novel, resonant of childhoods past and the beauty of the Australian countryside. It is the late 1940s, and the Broody River runs through a maze of sandbanks into the Coral Sea. On its southern bank lies the holiday town of Baroodibah. But its northern shore is wild - unsettled except for the River House, an old weatherboard box on stumps where the Carlyle family take their holidays. For four-year-old Laurie Carlyle the house and its untold stories fire the imagination. It is a place of boating trips and nature collections, of the wind howling, the sheoaks sighing and the pelicans soaring into the blue sky. But when a squabble between Laurie and her older brother Tony takes an unexpected turn, she detects the first hints of family discord. As the years pass, the River House holidays seem to shine a light on the undercurrents in the family: the secret from her mother's past, the bitterness between Tony... Views: 28
TROPICAL HEATPenny Kline didn't come to Honduras on a pleasure trip. She's here to rescue her kidnapped niece, the only family she's got left. What she didn't plan on was walking into a covert ops mission—-or being wrapped up in the hard-muscled arms of Rafe Ortega. The cool-as-ice operative's touch may get her all hot and bothered, but no man can have a hold on her heart until her niece is home where she belongs.Even in the tropics, Alpha Security operative Rafe can take down the bad guys without breaking a sweat. Hostage extractions. Clandestine missions. Those are the things he's been trained to handle. Relationships? Not so much. But one look at this strong, sexy redhead and he's seized by a fierce urge to protect her at all costs. Now Penny and Rafe will have to up their game because they're about to go into a master criminal's lair without backup, and the danger—-and passion—-is about to explode . . . Views: 28
