Author: Joseph Pietris

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Epeolatry Book Review: Unexploded Remnants by Elaine Gallagher

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Our reviews may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through the links in this article we may receive a small commission or referral fee. This happens without any additional cost to you.

Title: Unexploded Remnants
Author: Elaine Gallagher
Genre: Sci-fi, Sci-fi Adventure
Publisher: Tordotcom
Publication Date: 25th June, 2024

Synopsis: An A.I. wages war on a future it doesn’t understand.
Alice is the last human. Street-smart and bad-ass.
After discovering what appears to be an A.I. personality in an antique data core, Alice decides to locate its home somewhere in the stargate network. At the very least, she wants to lay him to rest because, as it turns out, she’s stumbled upon the sentient control unit of a deadly ancient weapon system.
Convincing the ghost of a raging warrior that the war is over is about as hard as it sounds, which is to say, it’s near-impossible. But, if Alice fails and the control unit falls into the wrong hands, the balance of power her side of the Milky Way could fall apart. As Alice ports throughout the known universe seeking answers and aid she will be faced with impossible choice after impossible choice and the growing might of an unstoppable foe.

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Epeolatry Book Review: Being Followed by Derek Muk

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Title: Being Followed
Author: Derek Muk
Genre: Horror, thriller
Publisher: Demain Publishing
Publication Date: 31st January, 2024

Synopsis: Claire Goldman is a strong, independent woman with a pro-feminist background to substantiate it. She doesn’t like to be pushed around or intimidated. But when she starts receiving threatening letters because of a book she wrote it gives her pause. And she is human, after all!
Enter her ex-husband and college sweetheart, Albert, who will do whatever it takes to protect her from harm’s way and wants to rekindle that flame of romance and love they once possessed from when they were younger.
Will the two of them get over the stigma of being each other’s ‘ex’ and reunite successfully and will they manage to escape from the wrath of dark evil that threatens to smother and destroy not just Claire and Albert but the rest of the nation as well?
Derek Muk says of ‘Being Followed’: “My book is a topical, modern-day, real-life, current events horror story (mixed in with mystery, suspense, thriller, and romance) that mirrors what’s going on in the U.S. and I think readers will relate to that. The book was inspired by racial tensions sparked by the 2017 Charlottesville, Virginia rally, the January 6 coup/storming of the U.S. capitol, the murder of George Floyd, and the fascist atmosphere of the Trump Presidency.”
(cover by Adrian Baldwin)

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Epeolatry Book Review: Serial Encounters, ed. Jane Nightshade

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Title: Serial Encounters
Author: Various, ed. Jane Nightshade
Genre: Horror Anthology
Publisher: Hellbound Books
Publication Date: 5th March, 2024

Synopsis: Have you ever wondered what may happen if you were ever to happen upon a notorious serial killer while going about your daily life – before they earned their notoriety? 
Jane Nightshade’s Serial Encounters brings you 18 chilling tales of mayhem and murder that tackle that very question from some of the edgiest indie horror authors in the business. Consider the following:
Killer clown John Wayne Gacy drops off his famous clown suits at a dry-cleaners, and the teenage girl who works there finds something extremely disturbing about them.
Another unwitting teenage girl unwisely dates David Berkowitz, The Son of Sam killer, and finds herself possessed by David’s very unusual dog.
An auto mechanic working late in Seattle encounters a tall, handsome law student who is in one hell of a hurry to get his Volkswagen Beetle repaired. The polite, well-spoken law student gives his name as Ted…
These and a bundle of other spine-chilling forays into the murderous world of real-life serial killers await you in tales of terror from: Jane Nightshade, N.J.Gallegos, Bret McCormick, Jayna Locke, Damon Nomad, Trev Hill, Tom Howard, Mord McGhee, Charles Reis, James Musgrave, Dave Davis, Ethan K. Lee, Kevin Hopson, G.N. Anderson, Ann O’Mara Heyward, Carson Demmans, and D.W. Milton.

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Epeolatry Book Review: The Body Harvest by Michael J. Seidlinger

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Title: The Body Harvest
Author:Michael J. Seidlinger
Genre:  horror
Publisher: CLASH Books
Release Date: 23rd July, 2024

Synopsis: Will is a fraud. Olivia is a wreck. They meet at a grief share group and quickly bond over their brokenness. They also have a peculiar hobby; they seek out sickness. Will hunts for the latest strain of flu. Olivia doesn’t feel comfortable in her body if she isn’t suffering from a fever. They become virus chasers, finding confidence in their ability to conquer every affliction they come across.
They soon discover an online community of chasers called The Source and realize that their hobby isn’t all that odd when seen from the right distance. And then the mysterious Zaff literally walks into their life, claiming that he has the goods, knows where the latest outbreak will drop. Intrigued, Will and Olivia decide to take their hobby to the point of obsession, believing that if they can conquer the newest strain, nobody can hurt them.

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Epeolatry Book Review: Archangels of Funk by Andrea Hairston

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Title: Archangels of Funk
Author: Andrea Hairston
Genre: Sci-Fantasy
Publisher: Tordotcom
Release Date: 7th May, 2024

Synopsis: Run from your past. Hide from your future. Protect your present.

The Water Wars have scrambled the world. Flood refugees are on the run. Disrupters and the nostalgia militia roam the roads wreaking havoc. Invisible Darknet Lords troll the internet, solidifying their power, while Cinnamon, her three Circus-Bots, and two dogs work with a community of farmers, Motor Fairies, and Wheel-Wizards to provide housing, health care and education for flood refugees.

As Cinnamon confronts threats from the Darknet Lords and the nostalgia militia, she must determine how best to honor her elders and her history while building a future for herself and her charges.

It’s not going to be easy.

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Epeolatry Book Review: The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst

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Title: The Spellshop
Author: Sarah Beth Durst
Genre: Cottagecore Romance, Fantasy
Publisher: Bramble
Release Date: 9th July, 2024

Synopsis: A lush cottagecore tale full of stolen spellbooks, unexpected friendships, sweet jams, and even sweeter love.
Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people. Thankfully, as librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she and her assistant Caz―a magically sentient spider plant―have spent the last decade sequestered among the empire’s most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the city’s elite.
Then a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames. She and Caz flee with all the spellbooks they can carry and head to a remote island Kiela never thought she’d see again: her childhood home. Taking refuge there, Kiela discovers, much to her dismay, a nosy―and very handsome―neighbor who can’t take a hint and keeps showing up day after day to make sure she’s fed and help fix up her new home.
In need of income and reluctantly inspired by the beauty and people of the island who have welcomed her into their hearts, Kiela discovers something that even the bakery in town doesn’t have: jam. With the help of an old recipe book her parents left her and a bit of illegal magic, her cottage garden is soon covered in ripe berries that become the town’s, and her handsome neighbor’s, new favorite confection.
But magic can do more than make life a little sweeter, so Kiela decides to open the island’s first-ever and much-needed secret spellshop.
Her plan comes with risks―the empire condemns the use of unsanctioned magic, and the consequence of sharing spells with commoners is death. But Kiela has only just found a place that feels like home and people who feel like family, and she’ll risk anything for a chance at happiness.
Like a Hallmark rom-com full of mythical creatures and fueled by cinnamon rolls and magic, Sarah Beth Durst’s The Spellshop will heal your heart and feed your soul.

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Epeolatry Book Review: Fiasco by Constance Fay

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Title: Fiasco
Author: Constance Fay
Genre: Space Opera Sci-fi; Action and Adventure Romance
Publisher: Bramble
Release Date: 4th June, 2024

Synopsis: Equal parts steamy interstellar romance and sci-fi adventure, Constance Fay’s FIASCO is a perfect wild romp amidst the stars.

Cynbelline Khaw is a woman of many names. She’s Generosity, a cultist who never quite fit in. She’s Bella, the daughter who failed to save her cousin’s life. And then there’s Cyn, the notorious bounty hunter who spaced a ship of slavers.

She’s exhausted, lonely, and on her very last legs—but then a new client offers her a job she can’t refuse: a bounty on the kidnapper who killed her cousin. All Cyn has to do is partner with the crew of the Calamity, a scouting vessel she encountered when she was living under a previous alias. One tiny little issue, she’s been given an additional bounty: deliver the oh-so-compelling medic, Micah Arora, to the treacherous Pierce Family or all her identities will be revealed, putting her estranged family in danger.

Hunting a kidnapper doesn’t usually mean accidentally taking your sexy new target to dinner at your parent’s house, a local mystic predicting you’ll have an increasingly large number of children, or being accompanied by a small flying lizard with a penchant for eating metal, but, as they field investigative hurdles both dangerous and preposterous, Cyn and Micah grow ever closer. When a violent confrontation reveals that everything Cyn thought about her past is wrong, she realizes that she has the power to change her future. The first part of that is making sure that Micah Arora is around to be a part of it.

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Epeolatry Book Review: Projections by S.E. Porter

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Title: Projections
Author: S.E. Porter
Genre: Dark Fantasy, Swords and Sorcery
Publisher: Tor Books
Release Date: 13th February, 2024

Synopsis: Love may last a lifetime, but in this dark historical fantasy, the bitterness of rejection endures for centuries.
As a young woman seeks vengeance on the obsessed sorcerer who murdered her because he could not have her, her murderer sends projections of himself out into the world to seek out and seduce women who will return the love she denied―or suffer mortal consequence. A lush, gothic journey across worlds full of strange characters and even stranger magic.
Sarah Porter’s adult debut explores misogyny and the soul-corrupting power of unrequited love through an enchanted lens of violence and revenge.

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