The Return by David A. Riley

Not a book published by Parallel Universe Publications - actually by Blood Bound Books in the States - this was written by PUP owner David A. Riley.


The Return is a combination of Lovecraftian horror and crime noir, set in a terminally sick north of England town, torn by cults, crime and the darker denizens of the Cthulhu Mythos.

One reviewer wrote: "For me, this is David A Riley's best book to date. A tight, pulse-pounding thriller, mixing hard-boiled crime with horror - a new angle for the Mythos of Lovecraft - with pace, character and enough action to keep the pages turning. Well constructed, with a credible landscape and a bagful of grotesqueness."

Douglas Draa, editor of Weirdbook, wrote: "You don't even have to be a "Mythos" fan to receive maximum enjoyment! David A. Riley's "The Return" is an amazing read. Do you like gritty noir? Brit Horror? Masculine (but not macho) protagonists? Eldritch Horror in bleak industrial slums? "The Long Good Friday" meets "the Mythos"? The writing is dense and sleek. Never boring enthralling page turners. Do you like to read just a few more pages even though you need to sleep? Then this is THE BOOK!"

A further reviewer had this to say: ""The genres of crime and horror have always skipped hand in hand like a deranged Jack and Jill (see "Falling Angel" and "The Damnation Game") and with "The Return" David A Riley continues this tradition. If you like your cosmic horror to be tinged with the darkness of the human condition that can be seen in noir-ish crime then this is the book for you.
Riley evokes a wonderful sense of place in the rundown Grudge End, a place that is dying but the creatures that dwell within will tear the world apart as they try to enact their own return just as our protagonist does returning to the place where he is from now that he has nothing left.
I would recommend this book to both fans of Lovecraftian fiction and those who like their horror tales to be fused with the gritty reality of the old ones - a kind of "Cthulhu tries to Get Carter""

You can buy copies of this book on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com. Or direct from the publisher, Blood Bound Books.

Kindle versions of the novel are also available.

The cover is by the brilliant Croatian artist Andrej Bartulovic.

Promotional price of 99p for Kindle version of Fractious Fairy Tales by Jessica Palmer

As a promotion we have reduced the price of downloading the kindle version of Jessica Palmer's Fractious Fairty Tales to 99p ($1.26 in the States).

Ebook:
amazon.co.uk £0.99
amazon.com $1.26  

The paperback version is, of course, still available, and an absolute steal at:
amazon.co.uk £9.99
amazon.com $12.99

What one reviewer thought of Fractious Fairy Tales:

"Terry Pratchett was renowned for taking familiar tales and converting them into comforting metaphors in the Discworld. That is not the way of Jessica Palmer.
Rather, she takes the crumbling skeletons of childhood fairy stories and fleshes them with satirical icons from the modern world to create a universe that is not Grimm but GRIM.
An author with many genres to her credit, from teen fantasy, through textbooks and cultural analysis. But this collection has more in common with her early horror work, twisted with a warped sense of humour that befits the daughter of a clown.
As with her other recent collection, "Other Visions of Heaven and Hell", you should leave your preconceptions on the coffee table. You will not, and could not, have anticipated this. But you will enjoy it, mostly!"

Also take a look at Jessica Palmer's Other Visions of Heaven and Hell.

Jessica Palmer has had 28 books published, both fiction and nonfiction. Her novels – horror, fantasy and science fiction – were released by Pocket Books in the United States and Scholastic in the United Kingdom. She has written two textbooks about Native American history, which were published by McFarland, and an encyclopedia of natural history released by Harper Collins’ label Element Books and later by Thorson in the UK.
 
Jessica has also written ten science-and-technology manuals on the topics of explosives and radiation. These were distributed globally. It was this work that brought her to Great Britain in 1988.
 
The daughter of a professional clown, Jessica refers to her switch to writing fiction as an exercise in damage limitation. She taught classes and conducted workshops on creative writing and publishing at North Shropshire College in Whitchurch, Stanmore College and the Islington Arts Factory in London.
 
As a journalist, Jessica won awards in New Mexico and Texas for writing features, public service and breaking news – the most recent in 2013. Jessica has also written satirical columns for newspapers, including “A Slice of Life” and “How to Make Love to your Personal Computer.”
 
Her two loves are writing and animals. She started a nonprofit in Kansas for wildlife rescue and has held a wildlife rehabilitation permit since 2002.
 
Other Visions of Heaven and Hell are a series of sometimes inter-related stories about our ideas of Heaven and Hell, sometimes hilarious - sometimes horrific - but always entertaining.

Order Direct from us

trade paperback:
Amazon.co.uk £9.99
Amazon.com   $12.99          Barnes & Noble $12.99

ebook:
amazon.co.uk £2.99
amazon.com     $4.30

Seven full-colour & four black & white prints by Jim Pitts now available

We now have 7 full-colour and 4 black and white prints by Jim Pitts available. Each is printed on high-quality paper and is signed by the artist. Please follow this link.

More prints will be added shortly.

Full-colour £7.00 each
Black and white £5.00 each
plus p&p
(Order 5 or more prints and postage and packing are free.)

Jim Pitts art prints

Parallel Universe Publications will soon be making available signed, high quality prints of the work of Jim Pitts, each signed by the artist, both black and white and in full colour, ideal for framing and displaying on your wall.
More information shortly.

The Fantastical Art of Jim Pitts - price reduction to £25.00 plus p&p

We have reduced the price of The Fantastical Art of Jim Pitts from £30.00 to £25.00 per copy plus postage.

Our charges now, including shipping costs, are:
£28.90 for UK orders
£34.75 for European orders
£39.75 for airmail postage to the rest of the world
£34.80 for surface mail postage to the rest of the world (which can take up to 45 days)

This is a numbered, limited edition of 250 copies, each of which is signed by the artist.

Please go to Order Books Direct.

Two 4-star ratings for Into the Dark by Andrew Jennings on Goodreads

No reviews so far for Andrew Jennings' novel Into the Dark, but so far it has received two 4-star ratings on Goodreads.

We recently released free downloads of the kindle version, hopefully to get some honest reviews in exchange. So far there haven't been any. If you downloaded this novel, why not give it a review, good, bad or indifferent?

Edge-Lit, Derby July 14th - Parallel Universe Publications Stand

A great day out was had by David A. Riley and Jim Pitts manning the Parallel Universe Publications stand at Edge-Lit 7 in Derby on Saturday the 14trh July.

David A. Riley

Photograph: C.C. ADAMS - right to left: David A. Riley, Jim Pitts

Jim Pitts

Free e-book promotion for Into the Dark by Andrew Jennings

From tomorrow, Saturday the 2nd of June till the 6th, the e-book version of Into the Dark by Andrew Jennings will be free.

If you download this horror novel, would you please seriously consider giving it a review on amazon, whether you like the book or not.

"There's a serial killer at loose in London. Janice, who has a chronic fear of the dark, stumbles into a relationship with the man who may secretly be the murderer. Nedither know that in the North of England, in a place previously owned by his dead mother, activities are taking place that may unleash a horror that could spell the end of civilisation in Britain - an ancient evil that would make the activities of any serial killer look like child's play by comparison. Could a psychotic killer be the only man capable of ending this?"

Amazon.co.uk 
Amazon.com

Carl Barker's Parlour Tricks reviewed by the British Fantasy Society

Sandra Scholes has reviewed Carl Barker's collection Parlour Tricks on the BFS website.

"What is most noticeable is how well-written the stories are. He doesn’t need a slick introduction from an already well established author to tell others how good he is at the written word. When you read From Chatterton Hill you already tell he can write with a style that both engages and gives you the thought that you will want to continue reading the next story and so on"

To read the full review click onto this link.

First amazon review for Jessica Palmer's Fractious Fairy Tales - a solid five-stars

Jessica Palmer's insanely whacky Fractious Fairy Tales has been given its first review on amazon - and it's a solid five-stars.

"Terry Pratchett was renowned for taking familiar tales and converting them into comforting metaphors in the Discworld. That is not the way of Jessica Palmer.
Rather, she takes the crumbling skeletons of childhood fairy stories and fleshes them with satirical icons from the modern world to create a universe that is not Grimm but GRIM.
An author with many genres to her credit, from teen fantasy, through textbooks and cultural analysis. But this collection has more in common with her early horror work, twisted with a warped sense of humour that befits the daughter of a clown.
As with her other recent collection, "Other Visions of Heaven and Hell", you should leave your preconceptions on the coffee table. You will not, and could not, have anticipated this. But you will enjoy it, mostly!"