Red Eye Blog Tour: My Magnificent Seven Scariest Books by Alex Bell (author of Frozen Charlotte)

And so the nightmares continue....

Yes, the Red Eye blog tour is back at The Book Zone, this time with author Alex Bell telling us about her Magnificent Seven Scariest Books. Alex is the author of Frozen Charlotte, one of the two books released this month by Red Eye, Stripes Publishing's new YA horror imprint. I've just finished Frozen Charlotte and it is very creepy and pretty terrifying on a psychological level. And if you have a phobia about porcelain dolls (which are creepy as hell at the best of times) the you certainly won't want to be reading this one at night time.


And so, over to Alex and her seven scariest books:


1. The Haunting of Toby Jugg by Dennis Wheatley - The first half of this book contains some of the best understated, unnerving horror I've ever read. You definitely feel the terror and helplessness of the main character in this one.

2. The Shining by Stephen King - I read this classic horror tale whilst staying in a very old hotel in New Orleans. As haunted hotel stories go, this has got to be one of the best. It’s a shame the topiary animals were replaced by a hedge maze in the film.

3. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James  - One of my favourite classic ghost stories – this creepy tale has an unreliable narrator and an ambiguous open ending as well as some pretty terrifying encounters in the house and the grounds.

4. This House is Haunted by John Boyne – John Boyne can write anything and excel at it. His ghost story is very much in the Dickensian tradition and contains some of the most bone-chilling scenes I’ve ever come across. A total masterpiece.

5. Florence and Giles by John Harding – I love this re-imagining of The Turn of the Screw. The language is a real treat and like nothing else you’ve ever come across before.

6. Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane – Not a horror book as such but Shutter Island definitely creeped me out with its themes of paranoia, madness and self-destruction.

7. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson – Another classic ghost tale, this one definitely delivers its fair share of scares.

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Huge thanks to Alex for taking the time to write this for us. The Red Eye Blog Tour is about to come to an end, so please head on over to http://reading-in-between-the-lines.blogspot.co.uk for its final stop.

Review: Lex Trent: Fighting With Fire by Alex Bell

Lex Trent is reigning champion of The Games contested between fickle Gods using human playing pieces. He has it all: Fame. Glory. Wealth. An enormous ego. 

But The Games are about to begin again and the Goddess of Luck wants Lex to defend their title. A challenge he can’t resist, despite the risk of death, because the final round will take place in the Wild West, giving Lex the chance to claim the legendary Sword of Life (who wouldn’t want that?). With Lex’s mix of skill, quick wittedness and no small amount of outright cheating, he can’t lose! Can he?

Luck may usually be a lady to Lex...but in the Wild West they play by their own rules...and Lex has never been that good with rules.


I remember trying to write the review of the first Lex Trent book more than a year ago - I found it a really difficult task for two reasons: firstly, it is a fantasy story, and this is a genre I have often struggled with; and secondly, there was just so much going on that I was a little scared of spoiling any of the many treats awaiting a first time reader. Now, more than twelve months on, I find myself having exactly the same difficulties with its sequel.

Lex Trent is back, taking part in another set of games that keep the gods so amused, and he is as obnoxious as ever. In fact, it is partly his arrogance that sees him taking part in the games for the second time - he just can't bear the thought of someone else taking his title off him. Yet again I found myself leaping between totally loathing this main character and excitedly rooting for him. I'm not sure I have ever come across a character like him in all my years of reading.

Part of the great appeal of the first book were the characters with whom Alex Bell surrounded Lex Trent during his adventures. This strength in her writing is even more apparent in this sequel, with the creation of two fantastic secondary characters - Jeremiah East, an upper-class twit whose family have a long connection with the Trents, and Jesse Layton, a wisecracking cowboy straight out of the Wild West. Both of these characters are extremely well created and the banter between them and Lex sets us up for many moments of sparkling and hilarious dialogue.

Alex Bell's writing almost defies description. At times it feels like Terry Pratchett, but that may just be down to its comedy fantasy leanings, and I have not read a huge amount of the Discworld novels to be able to accurately qualify that statement. Then all of a sudden there will be a scene or line of dialogue that is as close to Monty Python as you are likely to find in modern YA fiction. Alex Bell obviously has a warped and surreal sense of humour, and an imagination to match this. It would not surprise me if Ms Bell often broke down into fits of laughter as she wrote some of the scenes in this book - I was certainly laughing out loud at times.

If you enjoyed the first book in the series then you will love this one; in my opinion it is even better than Lex Trent vs The Gods. My thanks go to the generous people at Headline for sending me a copy to review.

Review: Lex Trent versus The Gods by Alex Bell

Law student Lex Trent’s world is inhabited by fearsome magicians, ageing crones and a menagerie of Gods and Goddesses. And while Lex is seemingly dedicated to his legal studies he’s always enjoyed a challenge – which is why he leads a double life as the notorious cat burglar ‘The Shadowman’ who has been (luckily) evading capture for years.

But Lex’s luck is about to run out, because the Goddess of Fortune has selected him to be her player in the highly dangerous Games. Losing is not an option for Lex (particularly as it so often involves dying) but can he really win each of the perilous rounds? Given that the reward for doing so is money, fame and glory – all things that Lex is quite keen on – he’s going to do whatever it takes to make sure he will… and he’s certainly got good experience of cheating.

I am not a huge fan of fantasy, but I really cannot work out why. I love The Lord of the Rings - it is one of my all time favourite books, but other supposedly excellent fantasy works just don't interest me. Even Terry Pratchett! There... I've said it, and I know that will upset a lot of people. Don't get me wrong - I have read some of his books, and enjoyed reading them, but I don't sit there waiting for the next book to be published, and I can probably count on one hand the number of Pratchett books I have read. So, having been sent a copy by the nice people at Headline, it was with no small degree of trepidation that I opened this supposedly brilliant YA fantasy book that one reviewer had already likened to this aforementioned comedy/fantasy author. Would this be the first scathing review on this blog?

And the answer is..... no! In fact, far from it. I loved this book, despite it being a fantasy story, and the main reason is the fantastic titular character that Alex Bell has created. Lex Trent is the ultimate anti-hero - I went from cheering him on to despising the depths to which he would stoop to fulfil his own selfish and dishonest desires. Of course, because of Lex being such a scoundrel, boys will love this book; they will want to be like Lex, so should we be worried that we might have an increase in mischievous behaviour in schools should this book gain the popularity is deserves?

As well as the brilliant development of Lex's character (and that of the other principle characters in the story), this book really stands out because of the author's fantastic imagination - she has created a fantasy world where the Gods have their own churches, take human form to interact with their mortal subjects and where these very same Gods delight in The Games, where they play with humans as if they were pieces on a chess board. In fact, refuse to take part in The Games and this is exactly how you may find yourself for the rest of eternity. In this fantasy world we also find many mythical creatures, ships that fly above the waves rather than through them, and incredibly, a world split in two, with the two halves joined by ladders of all things!

Some boys may need a little patience as they start this book as it takes a while to get going. The opening chapters are used to set the scene and introduce us to Lex, but once the action kicks in they will certainly feel rewarded for their perseverance as from this moment the pace becomes breathless, with Lex going from one nail-biting escapade or swindle to the next with barely a pause. Lex Trent versus The Gods is published by Headline and is in stores now.