Book: Sinema 3: The Troy Consortium by Rod Glenn

Hannibal Whitman returns in the third instalment of Rod Glenn’s serial-killer thriller series.

The world thinks Whitman is dead but he has been secretly rescued, rehabilitated and trained by a secretive organisation known as The Troy Consortium. Their purpose is to eliminate any form of threat to Great Britain that the courts can’t deal with.

Whitman, his appearance altered, is soon set up with a new identity, but it isn’t long until the consortium hand him his first murderous assignment.

Things work well for a while and despite Han’s longing for certain elements of his previous life he begins to settle into his new persona, and excels in his work for the consortium.

Events take a surprising turn when the powers-that-be decide to get rid of all of their “assets” leaving Han and his new-found allies no option but to fight back.

Following some spectacularly violent action scenes, which have become the hallmark of this series, we find ourselves back in the setting for the first Sinema novel, Haydon.

Haydon is now a ghost town of Whitman’s making which is haunted by the spirits of former friends that became victims in the notorious “experiment”.    

The reformation of a diabolical character continues here as this time out we are firmly behind Whitman, especially when a feared adversary threatens his former lover.

Sinema 3 is a continuation of the previous books and won’t work if you haven’t read the others, but if you’re a fan of serial-killer stories that aren't predictable whodunits then do yourself a favour and read this fantastic trilogy.

Click the Rod Glenn label for my reviews of the previous books and more.

Ric’s Rating: Essential.    

Book: Holiday Of The Dead

Wild Wolf Publishing assembles some of the most exciting horror authors around to bring us this zombie anthology containing thirty eight tales featuring our favourite flesh eating foes.

The stories vary in length and content but all feature the basic premise of the dead returning to life with the inevitable catastrophic results.

Stand outs include:

Jennifer by Iain McKinnon in which the hero of the piece may not be what he seems.

Apocalypse Noo by Vallon Jackson which takes us on a scenic trip to Loch Tay in Scotland where the locals are anything but friendly. Vallon Jackson is a pseudonym for Matt Hilton, author of the Joe Hunter thriller series.

Thanksgiving Feast by A.M Boyle which is a surreal tale of an old turkey farmer and a special knife.

Seahouses Slaughterhouse by Rod Glenn which sees the return of Han Whitman, the brilliant anti-hero from Rod’s Sinema novels, see reviews elsewhere here.

My recommendation for tackling this book would be to dip in and out of it reading just one or two stories per sitting. Reading it like a novel can ruin the effect as some of the tales tend to merge.

Check elsewhere here for info. on a recent multi-author Holiday Of The Dead event in Glasgow which I attended.

Ric’s Rating: 72%

Book Event: Holiday Of The Dead

Waterstone's in the heart of Glasgow was the venue for this multi-author event and in attendence were Rod Glenn, Tony Wright, Matt Hilton, Iain McKinnon, Iain Paton and John McCuaig.

Holiday Of The Dead is a collection of stories featuring the undead.

Here is the blurb:

The zombie apocalypse can really put a downer on your holiday... 38 holiday-themed zombie stories from new and established authors including Night of the Living Dead co-writer, John Russo, Tony Burgess, Shaun Jeffrey, Rod Glenn, Ian McKinnon, Matt Hilton, David Dunwoody, Wayne Simmons, Bowie V Ibarra, Joe McKinney, Remy Porter, A P Fuchs and Eric S Brown. Over 500 pages crammed full of flesh-eating horror and dark humour from the cream of UK, US and Canadian talent. Theme parks, serial killers, seaside resorts, Christmas, Thanksgiving and fishing trips. You'll scream, you'll laugh and you might even shed a tear... Holiday zombie horror has never been so entertaining.

Each author read from their contribution to the collection. It was a heady mix of destruction and carnage and as you might expect there were quite a few twists. Lets just say that the zombies aren't always the most dangerous characters in these tales.

After the event all authors spent time signing books and chatting to fans.

Heres me with Rod Glenn, author of the fantastic Sinema books (see reviews elsewhere here).

Matt Hilton, author of the cool Joe Hunter thriller series (you'll find a review of the very first one elsewhere here) also took time out for a chat. Matt goes by the pen name of Vallon Jackson in this book.

It was my very first book event and I'm sure it won't be the last. Check back soon for a full review of Holiday Of The Dead.

Book: Sinema 2: Sympathy For The Devil by Rod Glenn

Preceded by a very insightful foreword from the author this sequel catches up with Han Whitman a year after the events of the first book. Feeling more like a continuation than a new novel I’d say that reading Sinema: The Northumberland Massacre (see review elsewhere here) is essential before you pick this one up.

Haunted by his actions Whitman decides that in order to restore balance he must eliminate one “guilty” person for every innocent that was slain. So in the biggest role-reversal since Arnold Schwarzenegger became the good guy in T2, Whitman begins to identify and eliminate various types of criminals.

Meanwhile, the son of a victim and the lone survivor of the massacre team up to track Whitman down.

These and other elements, such as a blossoming relationship with a police officer and dreams of the past give this book a completely different feeling to the first. Gone is the revulsion, this time you can understand the mission (or experiment as the character calls it) and there are even some moments of dark humour. It’s wild ride that takes you into the past of the main character and explains how he became an outwardly ordinary but deeply scarred individual.

Rod Glenn’s original Sinema novel will live with me for some time and here he has managed to expand and enrich the story while delivering another thrilling tale. This instalment is a more conventional serial killer novel and fans of the hit tv show Dexter will love it.

Ric’s Rating: 80%

Book: Sinema: The Northumberland Massacre by Rod Glenn

A video store owner decides to test himself. His mission is to exceed the numbers of victims of Britain’s most notorious mass murderers. In order to accomplish this he adopts a new identity, aspiring author Han Whitman, and ingratiates himself with the locals of a village called Haydon, then sets about systematically eliminating them.

Whitman is gradually accepted by most of the villagers and soon begins a relationship with the barmaid at the Inn where he is staying. A feeling of contentment ensues but he is determined to proceed with his plan of annihilation, whatever the cost.

This reminds me a lot of the recent Uwe Boll film Rampage (see review elsewhere here) but in that film the main character’s life was going to shit before he went off on one. In this case there is a severe lack of motivation, which may be closer to the real life horror of these types of incidents, but it makes for a less entertaining story as you cannot understand or root for this guy. Whitman’s cruelty knows no bounds and no one is safe. Man, woman, child and animal are all victims here and it can be a harrowing read.

That being said, this type of writing takes guts and Rod Glenn pulls no punches as he takes the reader on an often alarming and uncomfortable ride. When the killing starts the ferocious pace does not let up and you are compelled to see it through to the pulsating final confrontation.

This is a hardcore serial killer thriller that won’t appeal to those used to cosy whodunits. But if you can handle it you will be treated to a book that delivers a level of excitement often absent in current crime novels.

Ric’s Rating: 89%