THE DEAD CITY by Dylan J Morgan

5 out of 5 stars

SciFi/Dystopia/Military 

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
On Goodreads HERE

The Dead City is the sequel to The Dead Lands, which I loved ~ and I'm happy to report that I thoroughly enjoyed this, too!

The sly, greedy and sociopathic Colonel Paden from planet Erebus has commanded a fleet to go to the city of Magna on planet Hemera, to recover lost riches hidden there after a nuclear strike wiped it out a hundred years before.  The party of 400 soldiers is led by Lieutenant Marshal, and as soon as they set foot in the dead city of the title, they are besieged by the thousands of mutant beings who live there, descendents of those who survived.

The main characters are Paden, Marshal, soldier Ryan and his beloved sister Jayde, the evil Murdoch who has a bone or six to pick with Ryan and a hankering for his sister, and several other 'goodies' who are given varying fates: Boone, Darrell, Burke, Laila.

The mission is dangerous if not suicidal, and Marshal contemplates mutiny as more and more of his men lose their lives.  Dylan Morgan is the master of bleak dystopian description and atmosphere, and though this is a fairly long book consisting mostly of soldiers fighting mutants and dying horrible deaths, it never seemed either repetitive or tedious, because of the backstories, hopes, fears and relationships between all the people, and the 'oh my God what's going to happen when I turn the page' factor.  The characterisation is as good as in all his books, and I couldn't get enough of the despicable Colonel Paden!  I made a note that Chapter 10 is particularly good, but there are other highlights, including a chapter from a mutant's point of view, which is quite an eye-opener and a great idea (there's one in The Dead Lands, too).

I wasn't expecting a happy ever after ending and I certainly didn't get one, though a final, dark and terrifying twist is revealed at the end - nice one, and it left promise of another book to come, which I am seriously looking forward to!   Definitely recommended if you like books of this genre and don't wince at blood, gore and horrific injuries.  Oh, and if Mr Morgan can get me any of that Tetralaphel given to the injured soldiers, I'd be forever in his debt!!

October Rain by Dylan Morgan is reviewed HERE, with links to other books by him that I've reviewed, including The Dead Lands.  All have Amazon buy links. 

OCTOBER RAIN by Dylan Morgan

5 out of 5 stars

Futuristic, dystopian novella

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE 

Reviewed by me as part of Rosie Amber's Book Review Team

I liked this novella a lot!  It takes place many, many years in the future, after Mars has been colonised by the dying Earth, and thousands have moved to artificially constructed cities on the inhospitable red planet.  But now life on Mars is coming to an end, too, and the lucky ones are moving out to Titan, a satellite of Saturn.

Government agent Steele has one last mission, before he can join his wife and daughter on the journey to Titan—a dangerous and terrifying one...

 

I've read quite a few of Dylan Morgan's books, and this one reminded me of The Dead Lands, my favourite, with all its expertly orchestrated suspense and bleak atmosphere.  This writer knows how to do 'bleak'!  The pace is perfect, the plot unpredictable, the characterisation spot on.  It's not for the faint-hearted, or those who want to be assured that everything will turn out all right in the end. 

My only complaint is that it's so short, even though it fits perfectly into the length of a novella - I think it could have been a novel, though, or maybe the first in the series - come on, Dylan, surely this can't be all there is??!  It's a great idea; made me want to know what happened before, and what will happen after.  One of those books that made me want to keep clicking the page turner on my iPad, hoping for more :)

THE DEAD LANDS by Dylan Morgan reviewed HERE 

 
FLESH by Dylan Morgan reviewed HERE 

 
THE SICKNESS by Dylan Morgan reviewed HERE

 
 

THE SICKNESS by Dylan J Morgan

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK  HERE
On Amazon.com HERE

Reviewed by me as part of Rosie Amber's Review Team

First of all I have to say what a terrific cover this book has!

James Harris is a divorced, part time dad, living on a run down London estate.  He has a warm, close relationship with his wayward, punky daughter, Ruth - which goes a long way to make up for the horror of his childhood and the breakdown of his marriage.  But something's happening in the isolated village of Nash, where he grew up, and a phone call from his sister moves him to return....

Dylan Morgan is so adept at writing the underlying sinister atmosphere of the one horse town or small, 'Straw Dogs' type village - he did the American version in his excellent 'Flesh', which I read earlier this year.  Travelling through Nash, I felt the silence, the claustrophobia, the despair, from the depressing mood of the sparsely populated pub, to the darkness of his former family home; there almost seems to be a sepia tone over the whole book.

This book is subtly rather than in-your-face creepy, at least at first, and the story unfolds at a steady pace, the supernatural element and details about James's dreadful childhood being released gradually, building up to an explosive end; this is a writer who totally 'gets' suspense.  The characters are so well drawn, even the minor ones, particularly Ruth's creepy stepfather.  I loved Ruth, she's a great kid, tough and ballsy but with a sometimes most mature outlook, and James is very likable, too.  

Definitely recommended for all lovers of supernatural horror.

FLESH by Dylan J Morgan reviewed HERE

THE DEAD LANDS by Dylan J Morgan reviewed HERE

HOSTS by Dylan J Morgan reviewed HERE

HOSTS by Dylan J Morgan

3.5 out of 5 stars (well, probably about 3.8 actually)

Horror

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE

 

 

I've read The Dead Lands and Flesh by this author and thought they were masterpieces of their genre, so I thought I'd try Hosts too. I know it was Morgan's first novel and so his style was not yet developed, but for a debut novel it has much to commend it.

Snow Peak is a small resort town in Canada, in which a deadly parasite threatens fatality for everyone.

The strengths - the terrific establishing of atmosphere. Dylan Morgan is so good at this; in Snow Peak there arrives the snow storm to end all storms. I almost felt cold reading it. His characterisation is also very good indeed, and he also has a real knack of introducing a new POV (character point of view) at just the right time, to keep the novel fresh and interesting. There's also some interesting information about cryonics at the beginning. The story itself is good, too, and Morgan does 'small town' very well, I've noticed before. The weaknesses? Nothing that couldn't be sorted out with a good proofreader and editor to make it as succinct and sharp as his later work; it rambles a bit in places, but I've rarely read a debut novel that doesn't. I saw this book as almost a trial run for the brilliance of Flesh and The Dead Lands, which I can't recommend too highly, and it's definitely worth reading if you're not too squeamish!

THE DEADLANDS by Dylan J Morgan reviewed HERE 

FLESH by Dylan J Morgan reviewed HERE

 

FLESH by Dylan J Morgan

5 out of 5 stars

Horror, thriller

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE

I bought this straight away after I'd read the brilliant The Dead Lands by the same author, and enjoyed this as much. I've become a fan!

Vacant is a one horse, hicksville town in Wisconsin with secrets ... Dylan Morgan does the 'scary redneck' atmosphere very well indeed. Although this is a horror story, it's not all blood and gore, as is perhaps suggested by the title. As with The Dead Lands, Flesh is about the people, not the monsters. Morgan is just an excellent storyteller; I read this in just over a day. As a writer myself I often find it hard to read books without constantly picking the editing to bits, but this was so good I just read it, my 'editing hat' dropping off without my noticing. The pace is perfect, the change in character point of view is spot on, with just the right amount of information released at the right time. Oh, and the ending is great, I didn't predict it at all!

This book is sometimes tweeted thus:  "Her meal: French fries and peas with a two ounce grilled section of her husband’s cheating ass." 

I love that!  If you like Stephen King, you'll love Dylan Morgan - buy it!


THE DEAD LANDS by Dylan J Morgan reviewed HERE

HOSTS by Dylan J Morgan reviewed HERE

 

THE DEAD LANDS by Dylan J Morgan

5 GOLD STARS

Post apocalyptic, sci-fi, thriller, dystopia

On Amazon UK HERE 
On Amazon.com HERE

Reviewed as part of Rosie Amber's book review team

This is, without a doubt, in the top five 'indie' books I've ever read, and one of the best books I've read in a few years, full stop.

Right. I thought I didn't like Sci-Fi. I'm not that into spaceships and mutant beings, which is what I thought ScFi was... duh.  I've since had the full genre explained to me, by the way.  Anyway - it was my love of the whole post-apocalyptic thing that made me want to read this book, as well as its excellent title. I am so glad I made that choice!

Basic plot: a motley crew of soldiers are sent from one planet to save the president of a second planet. President has lain in cryogenic suspension since an end-of-world nuclear war a hundred years before.

Dylan Morgan is one hell of a writer. Each character comes alive immediately; we are given no description, physical or otherwise, but I could tell EXACTLY what each person was like almost as soon as they were introduced - a rare talent indeed. The Dead Lands is told mostly from the point of view of Lane, a former soldier and current bounty hunter, but also with guest appearances from other members of the team and connected characters, including one chapter from the point of view of one of the mutants. Very, very clever indeed, and actually put a different slant on the whole thing.

Morgan's writing is clear, concise, never rambling. He understands dramatic impact, suspense, pathos, emotion, though I suspect all this is executed automatically, as it is with those who can write this well. If you like this sort of book you will LOVE this, and I think you will even if, like me, you suspect it might not be your sort of thing. Why? Because Morgan realises something important. A truly great novel is all about the CHARACTERS, not about the plot. The plot is terrific, too, but this story is about human nature: love, loss, greed, betrayal, despair, optimism, friendship, family and strength.

Highly, HIGHLY recommended. I suspect that I do like SciFi after all... and that I might be raving about this book for quite a while. 

(Here's a review from another book blogger who really loved this book as well - read Between the Lines' account HERE )

(and another one from A Woman's Wisdom book blog HERE) 

FLESH by Dylan J Morgan reviewed HERE

HOSTS by Dylan J Morgan reviewed HERE