Great review for Warrior Stone

A recent great Amazon reviews for Warrior Stone.

C Horner (thank you C) says 'Stone Rocks', and adds:

“Warrior Stone : Underland” is reminiscent of Neverwhere, and if you liked that you’re likely to enjoy this. Harkess has put a lot of thought into the world he’s created, with the different races; the bureaucratic, cunning Grenlix, the Hrund who provide the muscle, the dangerous, scarcely-seen Angels, who are in no way angelic. He has also done a very good job of getting inside the head of an awkward teenage girl – Claire might be flitting between the Real and Underland, but the problems she encounters in both realms will be familiar to all, from school bullying to embarrassing encounters with attractive boys."

Review: 'Graham's Charlotte' by Drew Farnsworth

Well that was refreshing. Bumped into this entirely by accident, and so glad I did. Now, I dont do summaries of the story (too much chance of spoilers and others have already told the tale), but let me tell you what I thought about the book.

Its a spy adventure/techno-thriller. Whilst its set in a school environment, it neatly avoids most of the cliches and stereotypes of the location (unlike ‘I am Number 4’), and actually turns several of them on their heads. The strong female lead is not so unusual in YA, but Mads is believable and appealing in her uncertainty.

The style reminds me strongly of Malorie Blackman (especially her collection ‘Deadly Dare Mysteries’), or Kimberly Pauley’s ‘Sucks to be Me’ books. The action is tight paced, the secondary characters dense enough not to feel like cardboard cut-outs, and whilst the book touches on schoolyard politics, it doesn’t dwell on them or get bogged down in unnecessary romance.

My only gripe with the book is the title. It does make sense within the context of the book, but its not descriptive or indicative of the content. Dont let it put you off.

Quite my most enjoyable YA read since ‘Shift’ by Kim Curran. Recommended

Warrior Stone: Underland Available Now

I am absolutely delighted to announce that my latest novel, Warrior Stone: Underland is now available as an ebook from Amazon. Paperback to follow soon.

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Underland is a twisted copy of The Real that uses industrialised magic to power a weird mix of stolen technology. It’s just enough like The Real to make travellers over-confident and get them into trouble. Which is just what happened when Claire Stone accidentally falls through rushing home one night. Claire is offered a job as a Warrior, hunting down and destroying shape shifting monsters.What adventure-hungry lover of fantasy could refuse? Everything seems great, until a friend goes missing and the Warrior has to turn Hunter.

Cover Art by Linzi Goldstone