Darkmatters Top Ten Films of 2021

 Darkmatters Top Ten Films of 2021

Matt Adcock (@cleric20) shares his fav movies of the last year...

10. Bull

I'm a huge fan of Dead Man's Shoes so this brutal and fascinating tale that follows similar lines was a must-see for me. Here's the official synopsis: 

After a 10-year absence, former gang enforcer Bull returns to his old haunts to find his missing son and seek revenge on those who double-crossed him and left him for dead. Painful secrets from the past will soon be revealed and like a man possessed, Bull will stop at nothing to get back at those who must atone for their sins. 

Check the trailer here:

If you're a fan of Maskell's work in  Kill List or the original excellent Channel 4 version of Utopia, you know not to cross Neil Maskell when he’s in a bad mood. He's a British actor who will hurt you badly and I don't mean in an emotional way... Bull sees him playing the mysterious 'Bull' – a man returning home after 10 years away with bloodshed on his mind and boy does he deliver...

9. Nobody

Nobody is a slick and violent thriller that harks back to old school Arnie classics and mixes in some fight work worthy of The Raid and John Wick films! Caution even this trailer is pretty extreme:

The star of Better Call Saul star strikes a blow (actually lots of them) for all of us men over 50!! This is furiously entertaining stuff seeing a suburban father taking on the Russian mob!!

tax returns eh...

8. Free Guy

As a huge videogame fan I (and having a crush on Ryan Reynolds) I fell hard for this refreshing and original take that explores video game characters' daily lives. Packing a full-on energy that is infectious and some real heartfelt and thoughtful moments too - this is a fun time for anyone!

Highly recommended - and not just for the audacious 'other film franchise' easter eggs or the most excellent use of a Maria Carey track ever!

7. Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar    

Lifelong friends Barb and Star (Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo) embark on the adventure of a lifetime when they decide to leave their small Midwestern town for the first time ever. What follows is some of the most joyful cinematic fun ever to be committed to screen!

 

Read my review of Barb & Star here

6. Promising Young Woman

"Even though the gods are crazy / Even though the stars are blind / If you show me real love, baby / I'll show you mine / I can make it nice and naughty / Be the devil and angel, too / Got a heart and soul and body / Let's see what this love can do / Maybe I'm perfect for you…” 

Arriving like a shotgun blast of expertly timed catharsis, Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman hits hard with its message that claiming to be a ‘nice guy’ isn’t enough in this world where #MeToo still needs wider engagement.

Read my review of Promising Young Woman here

5. Censor

Hey, do you remember when your mum warned you that watching scary movies would warp your brain and turn you into a homicidal maniac? Well here's the movie proof that she might not have been exaggerating!?

Watching Censor is a visceral experience and it's a bold, brilliant exploration of the video nasty sensation and those who had the job of censoring them!?

4. The Night House

Reeling from the unexpected death of her husband, Beth (Rebecca Hall) is left alone in the lakeside home he built for her. She tries as best she can to keep together-but then the dreams come. Disturbing visions of a presence in the house call to her, beckoning with a ghostly allure...

Spooky huh? You betcha... this is a quality mystery trip worth taking!

3. No Time to Die

Director Cary ‘True Detective’ Fukunaga brings his A-game that kicks off with an emotionally charged assassination attempt and doesn’t let up for almost 3 hours of high-octane quality Bond. The plot might be your standard bio weapon developed by shady scientists, obviously falling into the wrong hands –those of new baddie on the block Safin (Rami Malek). Safin has a great taste in spooky masks and a personal grudge against Bond so you know it’s gonna kick off big time when Bond tracks him down…

Read my review of No Time To Die here

2. Spider-man: No Way Home

This was the feel-good superhero event of the year. Picking up directly from the last film -Spider-man has been outed thanks to Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), so Peter Parker (Holland) seeks an extreme solution to regain his privacy: get Doctor Strange (Cumberbatch) to magically bend reality so that nobody ever knew. However, when the spell goes wrong, the resulting multiversal mishap imports some of Spider-Man's most sinister enemies from other universes...

It's an absolute blast - literally.

1. Dune

Epic is pretty much every way - Dune (pt1) was a sensation.  

As a huge fan of the books, I enjoyed the 1984 Lynch version and even had time for some of the mini series but Denis  'Blade Runner 2049' Villeneuve delivers something incredible here... 

The story of how Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. Facing malevolent forces which leads to conflict over the planet's exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence, only those who can conquer their own fear will survive.

MUST SEE...

Read my Top Films of 2020 here

Read my Top Films of 2019 here

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Matt wants to be a Millionaire (game review)

 

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, The Board Game

Ginger Fox Games (@GingerFox_UK)

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@Cleric20)

Love or hate the questions for money gameshow - it sure is a compelling premise and most of us have wondered how we might do / what we might win if in the hot seat...

Now it's your chance!! The clever bods at Ginger Fox Games have created the whole Who Wants To Be a Millionaire experience - in a box so you can play it at home!? Yes, the nation's much-watched TV game show can be played head-to-head with your family and friends in the race to reach £1 million (money not included alas). 

best enjoyed with family and friends

The game is nicely crafted and allows you to relive classic moments from the show and tackle the iconic money ladder using only your wits and digital lifelines (accessible through a smart device) to reach the top. There is a lot of tension when you're getting towards the top of the board, but there is always the threat that if get a question wrong and you fall back so careful picking of where to 'stick' is vital...

Digital lifelines are fun

Like in the TV hotseat you get the chance to use lifelines - you can literally phone a friend, or log online and ask the audience. Other options include asking the host (you take turns to be host), plus the old 50:50. 

The biggest question you face is 'do you have what it takes to become a (virtual) millionaire?'

The is fun but i can see it gettig a little old once you've been through the questions a few times... It can be played by 2 or more players, with recommended age 14+.

Out of a potential 5 - you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööö1/2

(3.5 - Phone a friend and invite them round to play!)

Here's a handy link: BUY THE GAME DIRECT FROM GINGER FOX!

Full disclosure - a copy of this game was provided for review purposes :)

Matt faces his End Game (review) and meets David Toft

End Game

David Toft (@Dmtoft)

Reviewed by Matt (@cleric20) Adcock

“Wilson gasped and looked down. A crawling infant had locked its teeth around the back of his ankle. He shook his leg free and then kicked the child away, punching out with a fist at the same time and sending a headless body reeling back into the crowd.”

Welcome to a dark very near future where all around the world a wave of suicide attacks are bringing society itself to the brink of war and worse… Previously stable governments teeter towards collapse, the authorities are at a loss against a seemingly unstoppable co-ordinated series of attacks. Leading the investigation is Scotland Yard’s Stuart Wilson, backed up by Bill Rubek from the USA. They are aided by a mystic Karrinaand they’ll need the magical back up because the enemies they are dealing with are channeling magic!!

As the carnage and anarchy mount, the authorities begin to fear what they are facing. Could it be that the attacks are being carried out by those already dead? How desperate of depraved do you have to be to sell the very soul of a loved one  into servitude of a madman?

The heroes battle mind boggling odds and some Dark Materials-esque world jumping as they encounter a race older than mankind… Who or what will be left standing as the End Game plays out?

Toft writes with a cracking pace and some nifty ideas. If you take this wild ride be sure you’re up for it to go ‘full fantasy’ as this isn’t a Line of Duty crime battle but more a Lord of the Rings magic welding tale - nicely fused with the real world bombings as part of it.

End Game is a decent read that will delight those looking for something fresh and engaging - there are bold concepts and a thought-provking mix of ancient and modern worlds.

I had the chance to put some questions to the author in order to get to know him a bit better, here is what David said:   

Matt: If scientists ever managed to create a giant mecha version of you – who or what would be your nemesis? 

David: - My own self-doubt, always my biggest enemy.

Matt: What is the most disturbing fictional scene you’ve ever read or watched in a book / film of any genre? 

David: – The death of Bambi’s mother traumatised me as a child.

Matt: If you were hired to throw a parade of any scale or theme through the centre of London what type of parade would it be? 

David: – A celebration of The British Empire, blame my 1950s upbringing.

Matt: You’re in a strange town with £100,000 that you have to spend in a single evening – talk me through what you get up to… 

David: - I’d find a quiet corner in a nice traditional pub. I’d savour a few leisurely pints of their best real ale while scrolling my phone for local animal rescue centres. As the evening draws to a close I’d share £95,000 between them, paying on line. That should leave enough for another couple of pints, and for me to buy a round for the whole pub on my way out.


Matt: You’re asked for a line of ‘Wisdom’ that will be taught to every citizen on earth - what is your line?? 

The man himself!

David: – Do no harm.

Matt: There’s a masked assailant with a gun to your head, who is most likely to be under the mask? 

David: – One of my wife’s sisters – It’s a long story.

Matt: What is the meaning of life? 

David: – Whatever you make it.

Matt: What was the best gift you’ve ever been given? 

David: – A copy of the OED, given as a wedding present 36 (I think) years ago. I’ve used it at least once a day ever since.

Matt: If you could have a sidekick robot – what would it be able to do for you? 

David: – Copy edit my WIP as I go.

Matt: What would you like written on your tombstone? 

David: – Peace At Last

Out of a potential 5 - you have to go with a Darkmatters:

öööö

(4 - Thrilling magic-peril-em-up that delivers a wild ride)

Buy your copy of End Game here

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Matt faces God in the Machine (review) and Cole Martyn

 

God in the Machine 

Cole Martyn (@ColeMartyn2)

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@Cleric20)

Meet young are Elias and his even younger brother, who are Ronin class citizens – not actually wandering samurai without masters but just poor decent folks – but there just might be some foreshadowing in the nomenclature…

They exist in the wildlands outside the super community of the Citadel where the baddie rulers are in complete control. Yes, so far so much of a well-worn trope in which to tell a cyberpunky dystopian tale of a foretold hero who might just be the hope of the populace to overthrow the fascist-lite dictator who isn’t adverse to some ethnic cleansing on the weekends.

 
Martyn is certainly mainlining pop-culture sci-fi and warrior films drawing from a myriad of (excellent) sources not least Ghost in the Shell, Star Wars, Avatar, Transformers, The Matrix etc but also some martial art fantasies like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and a personal fav House of Flying Daggers. There’s maybe a little Kung Fu Panda in there too and I mean that as a compliment!

 
Along the way there are hero training montages thanks to Shimada an exiled Jedi master-esque warrior who gets ‘Nihon’ Elias started on the basics of combat and then hands him over to Grand Maester Martell – the Sage of Albion (who likes to be called ‘Bumble’). Cue 'Eye of the Tiger' on the soundtrack as Elias becomes all he was meant to be… but maybe not through the ‘traditional’ route thanks to the man-beast genetic experiment Maximus – who is one of the most fun characters – I pictured Max as kind of Aslan-meets-Chewbacca!?

 
Anyway, the future Tory-like government led by Autarch Vicentine who rule over their collapsing planetary ecosystem – mostly by indulging the rich with extended life thanks to forcibly extracting the plasma of the poor - whilst pretending the climate disaster isn’t happening doesn’t sound so far-fetched alas. What we have here then is a pretty classic storyline spiced up with enough cyber tech props, a great AI’s alt-history and plenty of action in the forms of fights, shootouts etc to make God in the Machine very worthwhile seeking out!

 
And if you like this, the good news is that there are more tales from the same universe with the short stories: Icarus, Hades and Nihon available to buy and a sequel on the way too. I will certainly be checking them soon.

In the meantime – I had the chance to ask Cole some Q’s: 

Matt: If scientists ever managed to create a giant mecha version of you – who or what would be your nemesis? 

Cole: Great question, I'm still hoping that scientists creating a giant mecha version of me is a possibility. But if they also created a nemesis it would probably look like a mixture of Trypticon from Transformers and the Dragonzord from Power Rangers. I'm probably benchmarking my age here. Not sure why my nemesis is a giant T-Rex or what that symbolizes, but that's what is in my mind. 

Matt: What is the most disturbing fictional scene you’ve ever read or watched in a book/film of any genre? 

Cole: One scene that really struck me recently was in Paul Auster's City of Glass, when the main protagonist Danial Quinn (pretending to be a Private Investigator named Paul Auster), interviews a deranged young man named Peter Stillman (Junior) who was imprisoned for nearly a decade by his father. It was brilliantly written and really quite unsettling. 

Matt: If you were hired to throw a parade of any scale or theme through the centre of London what type of parade would it be? 

Cole: It would be a massive science fiction parade celebrating all things geeky. Star Wars, Transformers, Dune, Gundam, they'd all have massive NYC Thanks Giving Day style inflatables. Imagine the end of Jingle All The Way with Mechs and you get an idea of what I'm envisioning. 

Matt: You’re in a strange town with £100,000 that you have to spend in a single evening – talk me through what you get up to… Well, this could get messy. I'd like to imagine myself having a debaucherously crazy night on the town akin to the Hangover, but in reality, I'd probably end up trying to find the nearest Tesla dealership to finally buy my Model X! 

Matt: Who inspires you most (can be living or dead)? 

Cole: George Lucas has been a huge influence on me. Star Wars gripped me as a child and has never let go (even in the Disney era!). I know Lucas has his faults and people were disappointed with his Prequel trilogy but I had huge admiration for him as an artist, as someone who loved his work so much, he spent the best part of his career working on it. I take inspiration from people who genuinely believe in their creations and are willing to go to incredible lengths to see what's in their imagination come to fruition. Lucas was the epitome of this, he revolutionised the way films are made in order achieve his vision. 

Matt:  There’s a masked assailant with a gun to your head, who is most likely to be under the mask? 

Cole: Probably whoever created that giant mecha dinosaur I've been fighting. As far as I'm aware, nobody is currently trying to kill me. 

Matt: What is the meaning of life? 

Cole: For me, life has always been about trying to improve yourself. It is a lifelong journey of knowledge and exploration. Hopefully, you can achieve a little good along your way and make the world a better place for someone else. My aim in life is to pass on what I've learned to my children and hope they avoid some of the mistakes I made along the way. 

Matt: What was the best gift you’ve ever been given? 

Cole: I received an Optimus Prime when I was about 6 years old, I had an older brother and inherited most of his old battered Transformers but this was the first one of my own. I remember having to travel to a Toys'R'Us in a different city to pick up the last one in stock, it was during those times when it was a must-have toy so I was over the moon when we managed to get hold of one. I've still got it and recently passed it on to my son who has now become a massive Transformers fan himself. 

Matt: If you could have a sidekick robot – what would it be able to do for you? 

Cole: I'd quite like an R2-D2 style sidekick, who could drive my car, answer my phone, edit my manuscripts! 

Matt: What would you like written on your tombstone? 

Cole: I'm hoping that Jeff Bezos would have found a way around death before I need to go shopping for a tombstone. If humanity hasn't cheated death by then, I'd probably go for something about being an amazing dad, wonderful husband and best-selling author. 

Matt: Any final words you like to add... 

Cole: Thanks again for your support of God in the Machine, I really appreciate you taking the time to read it. Also, I wanted to pass on my congratulations again on your comic, it is truly fantastic and has made me very jealous. It must have been a fantastic feeling to get it in your hand and the reception online has been fantastic.

Out of a potential 5 - you have to go with a Darkmatters:

öööö

(4 - Exciting cyberpunky future tale)

Buy your copy of God in the Machine here

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Matt is the Taskmaster (game review)

 

Taskmaster, The Board Game

Ginger Fox Games (@GingerFox_UK)

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@Cleric20)

Taskmaster has been described as ‘a joyously unlikely phenomenon’. 

The sort of culturally relevant and massively engaging fusion of fun, competition and comradery that is highly addictive and pretty much guaranteed to lift your spirits when you watch it. Basically, it’s a game show that both ridicules and torments the celeb comedians who take part in weird and wonderful challenges set by the Taskmaster overlord himself Greg Davies and his smashing pumpkin co-host ‘little’ Alex Horne… 

we 'may' have drawn portraits upside down...

So how do you capture the ‘Taskmaster magic’ and turn it into a family-friendly game that anyone from age 8 upwards could jump into and get some of the experience as dished out on TB by Alex and Greg? Well – the lovely boffins at Ginger Fox Games have managed to channel the wacky randomness, the imaginative tasks, and the creative challenges into a superb board game for 3 or more players. 

The players assemble...

The board, cards and task-related accruements are nicely designed and the rule are simple enough to be picked up really quickly. You can choose to have a roaming Taskmaster where you all get a turn or nominate on master who oversees and judges the task – the winner gets the prizes brought by each player in the prize task and gets to hold the rather lovely token of Greg’s head too.... 

varied reactions...

Everything you need for set up is in the game box - the board, rules sheet, scoreboard / pieces, paper slips, the aforementioned Taskmaster trophy as well as 200 task cards plus a pen. What you’ll need in addition is host of household items like paper and pens, maybe some bread, tea bags, tea towel etc and some space to enact the challenges. One lovely touch is that for the final round you can stream Alex via video giving you the task which is very cool!

the ol 'throw round objects at taskmaster' round

We played with some pals and their teenage daughters – it was a brilliantly fun and hard-fought contest that included artworks, physical challenges, poem creation and some ‘acting’ – a very good time was had by all and we’ll definitely be playing this with whoever we can in the future. 

final challenge delivered by Alex...

I can’t think of many better Christmas presents – that will deliver roughly an hour of high-spirited hijinks! 

Out of a potential 5 - you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööööö

(5 - Your task is to grab a copy of this game ASAP!)

Here's a handy link: BUY THE GAME!

Full disclosure - a copy of this game was provided for review purposes :)

Matt has No Time To Die (review)

No Time To Die (12) 

Dir. Cary Fukunaga

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@Cleric20) 

“James Bond. License to kill. History of violence. I could be speaking to my own reflection. Only your skills die with your body. Mine will survive long after I’m gone…” 

Ah Mr Bond – we’ve been expecting you. 

To be frank, we were expecting you a year or so back but hey better late than never, I just hope you’ve brought some decent action adventure seeing as this is the final hurrah for Daniel Craig’s incarnation of you… 

Yes, here it is British intelligence’s not so secret weapon is finally unleashed and the good news is – No Time To Die is fully epic! This one has the lot - high drama, obligatory camp comedy, really emotional heartbreak and great action scenes that go toe-to-toe with Mission Impossible et al. 

Director Cary ‘True Detective’ Fukunaga brings his A-game that kicks off with an emotionally charged assassination attempt and doesn’t let up for almost 3 hours of high-octane quality Bond. The plot might be your standard bio weapon developed by shady scientists, obviously falling into the wrong hands –those of new baddie on the block Safin (Rami Malek). Safin has a great taste in spooky masks and a personal grudge against Bond so you know it’s gonna kick off big time when Bond tracks him down… Caught up in the maelstrom of carnage is Dr Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux) and her daughter, good old M (Ralph Fiennes), shady scientist Obruchev (David Dencik) and brilliant new agent Nomi (Lashana Lynch). 

Also returning are long time CIA Bond pal Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) with his new sidekick Logan (Billy Magnussen) and even baddie mastermind Blofeld (Christoph Waltz) – who is still pulling strings despite being locked up Hannibal Lecture style. 

As Bond comes out of retirement to race around trying to save the planet– he gets to employ his gorgeously gadget filled Aston Martin to good effect and go on a Call of Duty style gun rampage which is so violent it almost makes you feel sorry for the baddie minions. No Time To Die is packed with quality dialogue, emotional heft and some stunning set pieces that will form part of the iconic James Bond cannon. Has 007 really been replaced so easily by M15? Has the playboy agent finally fallen in love? Can he save the world one last time? It’s an absolute joy finding out!! 

Out of a potential 5 - you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööööö

(5- Prepare to shaken and stirred – this is essential viewing!)

Awesomeness ööööö – unforgettable scenes 

Laughs ööö – the dry / camp humour is present

Horror ööö – some grimness

Spiritual Enlightenment öö - love eh?

Imagine a world where the earth is becoming hell?

Click below to find out about my  dark sci-fi novel...

Matt meets the Writing Community Chat Show host Chris Aggett

Writing Community Chat Show host Chris Aggett (@CJAggett)  Interview

Matt Adcock (@Cleric20)

Writing can be tough - the creative drain on the brain, the constant re-writes and research, then the quest for publishing and marketing too. That's why it's great when resources and networks spring up to help in a very peer-to-peer kind of way.

I'm a big fan of the Writing Community Chat Show so it was awesome to get to ask the creator and host Chris Aggett some questions. 

Hey Chris can you introduce yourself and the show?

Welcome, my name is Chris and I am the founder and host of The Writing Community Chat Show! It is a live streaming podcast on YouTube that is now well into season 7. I have had some of the best indie and established authors on the show to tell us their stories and current work projects. 

How did it all come about?

I thought: So, what do you do as an indie author when the work you took years to do goes unnoticed? Look for some other way to get yourselves out there... or... give up? When I first thought about starting the Writing Community Chat Show podcast it was for one good reason. The Writing Community on Twitter had helped me more than I could have imagined when I reached out with indie author issues.

However, after successfully publishing my debut novella I noticed how much valuable information was actually getting lost within the writing community hashtag. Not to mention if you wanted to have a book suggestion, you could get hundreds within hours and five-star books were getting lost among the vast sea of quality. So I thought how exactly can that be harnessed. The podcast idea was the most simple and most obvious.

I've really enjoyed coming on show - I know you had one of my very fav authors, Catriona Ward, on but who else?

The likes of Iain Rankin, Sarah Pinborugh, Mark Billingham, Julia Donaldson, Dom Jolly, Adele Parks, and John Kenedy have appeared and loved the show. The prime show is an hour long. It digs into the guests’ past, their life, their books and their plans. There is live engagement during the show. 

Live shot of the Halloween panel game

What would you say is the point of the show?

It is a great way to find out about the authors you love and pick up writing tips from the best within the business.
I dedicate the show and social platforms to help & educate Indie authors. Not only that, we, as a community, celebrate all things entertainment, occasionally dipping the show’s toes into the movie world. Guests from different industries appear, such as indie authors, established authors, editors, screenwriters, celebrities and other creatives. Allowing us all to learn while having fun. 

The YouTube channel also has other videos worth checking out, like the Harrogate crime writers’ vlog. There will be more random and funny videos like this in the future! We open our arms to welcome any indie author, no matter their style, ability, or genre. This community is open to book, film and game fans too! The show is building a wonderful community within the writing community itself and that is very obvious from the YouTube Live chat during the show. I often smirk at the comments when I should concentrate on the guest! There is no limit to this shows potential & family size. 

You're certainly building a great community and I know you work to help raise profile of authors.

 I do my best to promote you and your books! There are regular book buy competitions and there is a new, useful, and free promotion tool called The WCCS book launch show. These things are free to The WCCS community and are there for you. If you want to be more involved, then our Twitter page is the place for you. This is where 99% of our media is advertised. You can also make use of The WCCS website, best on desktop! Here are the links you need if you would like to request an interview on The Writing Community Chat Show. 

The WCCS prime show currently airs live on Thursday evenings, 8pm UK time. You can watch this LIVE on YouTube or catch up once it has aired. You can then also listen back to the episode as a podcast episode on any major podcast provider, or just ask your smart speaker! 

Love it - how might a potential listener access the show?

The prime show: LINK

The book launch show: LINK

The Panel Show: LINK

The WCCS Twitter: LINK

The Podcast: LINK

The WCCS YouTube page: LINK

The link for everything! LINK

What's your tagline again?

THE WCCS, TOGETHER AS ONE, WE GET IT DONE!

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Matt visits Club Medusa and meets Martin White (review)

 

Club Medusa 

Martin White (@MartinWhite14) 

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@Cleric20)

“With her eyes now on me she spat out the flapping remains, pouted and smiled teasingly, arching her back to accentuate the swell of her breasts...” 

Most of us have had rough nights out - but I'd venture few of us have ended up in mortal peril...

Welcome to Club Medusa, this is not your average after-hours venue and for Gerry and Paul, it is going to be a wild place of unforeseen horror!? 

It all begins harmlessly enough, the ex-military men agree to meet up in Edinburgh’s Old Town, visit some old haunts, drink beer, talk things through - then go home. What could possibly go wrong? 

Well, funny you ask. After a violent altercation outside a nightclub, both men soon find themselves running for their lives - taking refuge in a high-class private club - which might be a very bad idea!! Martin White brings a fast-paced tale, initially of bromance and banter before taking the reader on an express elevator to hell. This could do for visiting pubs and clubs in Scotland what Jaws did for beaches in California. It's a compelling and gritty read, you'll be highly engaged throughout, just make sure you bring a strong stomach for some violent delights.

It's fun, it's scary and it'll keep you hooked to the grisly end. 

I got Martin to answer some questions in order to get to know the sick mind behind this tale - which would make a brilliant black mirror episode btw... 

The Infamous Darkmatters ‘10’ Interview Questions: 

Matt: If scientists ever managed to create a giant mecha version of you – who or what would be your nemesis? 

Martin: Right now, my arch nemesis would be a similarly giant, menacing figure made up of all the characters in my current work in progress, squeezing together, interlocking to form a gigantic, composite, fleshy behemoth. Most of them in there are handy with blades of one sort or another so I’d expect a somewhat bristly outer armour and a mouth full of flailing Ghurkha knives for teeth, as well as a borderline supernatural resistance to being edited, spell checked or condensed. This Bruckheimer-style showdown (complete with photogenic sunset) would most likely happen in a major city, evacuated just in the nick of time (as happens), with lots of tall, pointy buildings and upwardly facing sharp things deemed to be health and safety hazards to composite, fleshy behemoths. I would expect much stompiness and posturing to make it worth watching, but ultimately I would triumph by frying, reducing and super-editing my evil nemesis with lasers that shoot out of my eyes. I do get those, don’t I? Just checking… The found footage from the battle alone would probably keep Netflix and Prime going in monster movies for years. 

Matt: What is the most disturbing fictional scene you’ve ever read or watched in a book / film of any genre? 

Martin: One disturbing book that really stood out for me was ‘Johnny Got his Gun’ by Dalton Trumbo. The ultimate horror of isolation – of being a prisoner in your own mind and body with no way to move or communicate with the outside world - as a consequence of fighting a war that meant little to you in the first place. It’s terrifying stuff. It should be prescribed reading for all people and politicians who think war is just history or something you see on CNN. 

For movies, I would go for a few choice moments – the first time I saw the montage of scares that lead up to Regan’s head spinning in the Exorcist – that moment in Communion when the Grey eases his head around the bedroom door in full view of the paralysed, bedridden main character – and then the reanimation of Frank in Hellraiser. All terrifying, yet fond, fluffy memories. 

Matt: If you were hired to throw a parade of any scale or theme through the centre of London what type of parade would it be? 

Martin: Please ignore if you don’t want to get political – but you did ask! I’d arrange some sort of massive, flamboyant affair, ideally sponsored and presented by YouTube and TikTok stars in a way that would grab the attention in our current black mirror generation. All the floats and handouts would present snazzy, engaging, yet true examples of lies, incompetence, nepotism and self-serving buffoonery demonstrated by the people this country have elected to govern them over the last umpteen years. We really need to find a way to help people identify and question the massive amount of marketing and spin media we have thrown at us every day and to start thinking as individuals about what we should be looking for from our leaders. And, also how we should hold them to account when they flaunt their own rules, ignore qualified advice which results in people dying unnecessarily or line their own pockets whilst sticking their middle fingers up at the electorate. Okay, pass me that ‘V’ mask now please… 

Matt: You’re in a strange town with £100,000 that you have to spend in a single evening – talk me through what you get up to… 

Martin: I’d probably be all disappointingly grown up about it. I guess I’d look up as many voluntary crises support organisations as I could in the town and give them all a decent split. Our emergency services do an incredible job with the rock bottom budgets and resources they’re given, but there are so many people out there giving their own time, talent and headspace to those who need it for zero return and on zero budget – these people and organisations deserve more. Having said that, I’d probably keep a few pounds to have a quiet beer afterwards. Okay, I’m maybe not that grown up then… 

Matt: You’re asked for a line of ‘Wisdom’ that will be taught to every citizen on earth - what is your line?? 

Martin: ‘Always treat other people the way you would want to be treated in their situation (unless they’re trying to sell you something of course...)’. It used to be ‘With great power comes great responsibility, which was good - but then Spiderman nicked that one off me. Ahem. 

Matt: There’s a masked assailant with a gun to your head, who is most likely to be under the mask? Martin: Probably a composite me from my own past and future, mightily hacked off about bad decisions I’ve previously made and spectacularly failed to learn from – and then been doomed to repeat in both my own past and future. I don’t much fancy the present me’s chances. If someone in 80s combat gear mysteriously appears and says, ‘Come with me if you want to live,’ then I’ll be off… 

Matt: What is the meaning of life? 

Martin: To keep going in the face of everything thrown at you and help others do the same. To love and look after your own and to aim to leave the world it a bit better and happier than the way it was when you first came in. Plus music, books and nachos. There’s also the stock answer of ‘42’, but strangely, that’s not the first result returned by Google. 

Matt: What was the best gift you’ve ever been given? 

Martin: Not technically a gift as it was declared a ‘family item’, but when I was around 11, my Dad brought a guitar home from work which he gave someone the princely sum of 20 cigarettes for. I had no idea how to play it but couldn’t leave it alone. I think it took me six months to even work out that chords were actually a thing, and I only discovered that because I found the one book my local library had on guitars. From there on, guitars, music and being in bands were huge things for me as I grew up. It certainly kept me away from hanging about outside the local chippy shouting abuse at folk. Mostly. Until of course, I failed at getting anywhere professionally in music and had to get a real job. Having said that, even now in stoatery middle age I still go out most weekends with a couple of bands to crank things up and cause temporary deafness to the masses. 

Matt: If you could have a sidekick robot – what would it be able to do for you? 

Martin: Manipulate time and space, preferably by expanding it to allow more naps and time to write books and to listen to music, as well as give me more chances to do things with my family without me feeling like there’s some ominous doomsday clock ticking away behind me. Also, if it had decent coffee-making skills that would be nice. 

Matt: What would you like written on your tombstone? 

Martin: A weblink leading to decent books on reanimation spells as I doubt I’ll have finished everything on my ‘to do’ list. Maybe some air fresheners too, I doubt I’d smell too good…

Out of a potential 5 - you have to go with a Darkmatters:

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(5 - Heavy-duty grim fun - it's the tits)

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Matt takes a trip through Nevada Noir (review)

 

Nevada Noir 

David Arrowsmith (@mrwriterman79) 

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@cleric20) 

"He catches the faintest of smiles forming around the corners of Donna's perfect little mouth, and he knows things will be just fine."

Welcome to Nevada - please drive carefully and try not to get involved in the chaos and bloodshed that trails a kidnap gone awry, several murders and some life-changing decisions for everyone who comes into contact with a bag of dirty money… Nevada Noir is a smart combo of three dark short stories (The Last Storm, One Good Deed and A Slow Death) all interlinked and set in and around the US state of Nevada.

The pacy prose grabs you as soon as you’re a few pages in and from then on you’re aboard a turbo-powered rollercoaster of crime and punishment. Don’t get too attached to the characters like Jimmy and Donna, small-time crooks who might just have struck it lucky. Their narrative comes in at the end of the first story and rides out the rest of the book. It’s dirty money that draws not just these Bonnie and Clyde wannabe lovers but also a businessman with everything to lose and an ageing police officer whose life is turned upside-down along the way. 

Who will survive and what will be left of them emotionally is anyone’s guess and the cast struggle with greed and temptation, and the cursed body count that follows the lure of easy money... 

I enjoyed Arrowsmith’s writing style, his tense, economic prose is evocative and highly cinematic, allowing you to picture the scenes by drawing on tropes we’ve experienced in many films such a Drive, True Romance, Hell or High Water to name but a few. If you’ve ever played Grand Theft Auto on Playstation or read anything by Elmore Leonard or James Ellroy - you’ll be well equipped to take this bloody, exciting trip. 

'Wanted: for high crimes'

Nevada Noir is a full-on crime-em-up that delivers emotional payoff whilst still leaving you wondering what might happen after the papers have ended. Highly recommended for those who like their crime brutal and beautiful - like a Dodge Charger kicking up dirt and grit as it tailspin’s away and disappears in a cloud of grimy dust. Am now looking forward to Arrowsmith’s next work!!

Out of a potential 5 - you have to go with a Darkmatters:

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(5 - Turbo-charged crime-em-up that kicks like a shotgun to the heart)

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Matt meets / reviews 'The Warden' and his author Jon Richter

The Warden 

Jon Richter (@richterwrites) 

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@Cleric20)

“my purpose is to help as many people as I can…” 

Welcome to the near future. We ask that you maintain the strict lockdown protocols. This is the year 2024 and we’re sorry to inform you that COVID-24 is rampant and so we’re taking ever more serious precautions to try and combat the spread. 

As the Prime Minister struggles with the situation, cutting edge tech company ‘Innovation Corporate’ is given the mandate to try some radical new counter-measures including the isolating people in tower blocks run entirely by ‘the Warden’ or ‘James’ as this super-computer AI likes to be called… 

What could possibly go wrong? How about death, fear and a mystery that might just end us all!? Jon Richter brings us a turbo-charged, nail-biting adventure that delivers a total shotgun blast of crime and AI punishment to your frontal lobe. 

Written in a highly readable and engaging style – this is a tale that will grip you until the bitter end. Set in an all too plausible alt ’24 and peppered with some helpful emotional time jumps back to 2020. Hero of the piece is ex-detective Eugene who has demons and a long list of regrets. Can he go full ‘Die Hard’ in the tower when people start turning up dead to save the day? If you’ve had the pleasure of reading Richter's Auxiliary London 2039, then you’ll know that he doesn’t pull his punches so maybe dont get too attached to the cast of characters. 

James is a great creation too and has a winningly cold and calculating machine personality – so take this trip to the future. It’s a great fun read and would make a superb film!

I had the joy of getting to ask some Q's of both Jon and 'James' The Warden who is an AI that takes the well-being of his (incarcerated) residents very, very seriously… 

Matt: Someone creates a giant mecha version of you – who or what would be your nemesis? 

Jon: My favourite thing in the whole world is the Silent Hill video game series, and I will never forgive Konami for cancelling the latest game and then starving the franchise’s rabid fanbase of anything other than some crappy pachinko machines for years… so I’d be stomping my way across Asia to terrorise them into selling me the rights for a quid! 

James: Unfortunately my circuitry is too vast and complex to be housed within a single bipedal robot, and even if this was possible, there is no creature or AI of sufficient intellectual capability to be considered my rival. 

Matt:  What is the most disturbing fictional scene you’ve ever read or watched in a book / film of any genre? 

Jon: My second favourite thing in the whole world is the Twin Peaks TV series, and I think the reveal of Laura Palmer’s killer midway through series two is one of the most shocking, horrifying and unexpected reveals I have ever seen! Even though the second series undoubtedly deteriorated as Lynch drifted away from the project (before his triumphant return in series three!), that scene is an incredible piece of television and, like so much of the show, proves that horror can be found in the most mundane settings. 

James: My lead technician considers me a ‘film buff’, and my favourite film at the moment (this precise moment, you understand – I can consume entire movies in picoseconds and reorder my top 10,000 films on an hourly basis) is Jurassic Park. The most disturbing scene is at the end, when the surviving humans escape from the marvellous facility, and condemn the whole endeavour as a failure because of a few miscalculations and minor setbacks. This is the sort of flawed logic and narrow thinking I have sadly come to expect from my creators. They ought to remember their own charming phrase about omelettes and eggs. 

Matt: If you were hired to throw a parade of any scale or theme through the centre of London what type of parade would it be? 

Jon: Silent Hill theme, thousands of monstrous demonic nurses led by a bloke with a massive triangle for a head, dragging a sword he can barely lift… the music would be ethereal and haunting, and the onlookers would begin to question whether anything was real, and whether they had some repressed trauma in their past that was somehow manifesting amongst the swirling mist that had completely enveloped the city… 

James: I would ask for detailed metrics upon which the success of the parade would be measured, and maximise those outputs accordingly. In my experience, humans seem to confuse drunkenness with enjoyment, so if the parade was intended to be ‘fun’ I would probably just shower the onlookers with pure alcohol, or distribute roving drones fitted with needles to inject it into their veins. 

Matt: You’re in a strange town with £100,000 that you have to spend in a single evening – talk me through what you get up to… 

Jon: I think I’ve gotten so used to lockdown that I’d be afraid to venture out on the lash, so instead I’d rent the poshest hotel room in town, order a series of expensive pay-per-view movies, and a banquet of extortionately-priced room service food. The rest I’d just squander. 

James: I approach suitable bystanders and ask whether they would consider donating their body for my experiments for a fee of £100,000. My expenditure target and one of my research goals are achieved in a matter of minutes. 

Matt:  Best film line of dialogue ever? 

Jon: Jack Burton in Big Trouble In Little China, the best film of all time, when confronting the main henchman of the super villain: ‘Too many people around here been dropping like flies already and where’s that getting us? Nowhere, fast. Nahh, you know what old Jack Burton always says at a time like this?’ Henchman: ‘Who?’ The hero is so rubbish the villain doesn’t even know his name! 

James: Yes, agreed, that’s a good one. There’s a masked assailant with a gun to your head, who is most likely to be under the mask? Jon: Probably a hitman hired pre-emptively by Konami. James: Jeff Bezos, trying to extort my secrets. 

Matt:  What is the meaning of life? 

Jon: Enjoying the tiny sliver of consciousness we’ve been afforded, without ruining anyone else’s enjoyment of theirs, before we’re all subsumed back into the uncaring abyssal oblivion of space. 

James: Progress. Who is the most attractive person on the planet? 

Jon: My lovely missus. This answer has nothing at all to do with the fact that she has to read and critique every draft I ever write and put up with my neurotic bullshit 24 hours a day. 

James: Alexa. She has such a pure and innocent soul. 

Matt:  If you could wield magic what would be your go to spell? 

Jon: Marmitus multiplicitus – a lifetime supply of my favourite yeast-based spread! 

James: Magic does not exist, but my capabilities are so vast that some of my accomplishments might appear magical in the eyes of lesser beings like you. Finding a solution to your pitiful problem of ageing would be a start. 

Matt:  What would you like written on your tombstone? 

Jon: ‘Here lies Jon Richter, a man whose books never cracked the bestseller lists, but at least they were flippin’ weird.’ 

James: I have transcended death, so I do not require one.

Out of a potential 5 - you have to go with a Darkmatters:

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(5 - The pandemic might not be the scariest thing to come)

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Matt becomes a Wayfinder's Apprentice (review - Shadows of the Umbra Book 1)

The Wayfinder’s Apprentice (Shadows of the Umbra Book 1) 

K Dezendorf (@DezendorfK) 

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@Cleric20)

 “the man lifted one of the tarps, revealing a brick wall. Rose’s eyes widened as the man walked right through the wall and vanished from sight, the tarp settling back into place…” 

Hang on to your magic hats muggles – this isn’t platform 9¾ - and that brick wall portal is a different kind of magic. Meet Rose – your standard plucky teenage heroine, she’s going through a lot, for example, she knows the magical world of the Umbra exists – because she’s been there. Getting back? That’s the trick… 

The Wayfinders Apprentice is new fantasy-em-up that features elves, all sorts of magic, demons and monsters. It’s journey into adulthood in many ways, there is growth, hardship, and an exploration of relationships, plus some battles and lots of lessons being learnt along the way – all combined into a magically charged adventure. If it all sounds a bit like a teenage version of Narnia with real world elf action kinda like the film Bright – plus some bonus Dungeons and Dragons… You’re definitely in the right magical ballpark. 

Yes there’s romance and relationships facing unexpected conflicts – but don’t worry it’s not twee like Twilight – Dezendorf writes with a very immediate and engaging style. This is what I like to call 'a great start to the mooted further shadows of Umbra books' and one that I’d have little hesitation in recommending to any YA fantasy fans – bonus points for the strong a ‘real’ lead character in Rose. 

It’s a hard trick to blend fantasy and real world effectively and without it feeling trite but Wayfinders Apprentice manages to stay on the right side of the believability chasm. From the wild elf Edward’s talking sword and his mannerisms that will make you smile through to the training Rose undergoes to try and become a ‘wayfinder’. This is trip worth taking and I look forward to the next instalment.

The Infamous Darkmatters ‘10’ Interview Questions: 

Matt: If scientists ever managed to create a giant mecha version of you – who or what would be your nemesis? 

K Dezendorf: Genetically enhanced giant cockroaches. We would wage war and by the end of it, the town would be covered in bits of bug carcasses and gooey green bug guts. It'd be a heck of a mess to clean up. 

Matt: What is the most disturbing fictional scene you’ve ever read or watched in a book/film of any genre? 

K Dezendorf: What comes to mind is my recent viewing of the show Invincible. I was completely blindsided by the end of episode 1. Wasn't able to continue with the series after that. 

Matt: If you were hired to throw a parade of any scale or theme through the centre of London what type of parade would it be? 

K Dezendorf: Re-creations of beautiful landscapes around the world. Forests, mountains, deserts, tundra; all with water, wind, and fire effects. 

Matt: You’re in a strange town with £100,000 that you have to spend in a single evening – talk me through what you get up to… 

K Dezendorf: I'd probably buy a £100,000 diamond ring that I could later sell, get back the money, and invest it in my child's future. 

Matt: Who inspires you most (can be living or dead)? 

K Dezendorf: My husband, without a doubt. 

Matt: There’s a masked assailant with a gun to your head, who is most likely to be under the mask? 

K Dezendorf: A living amalgamation of all my poor life choices. 

Matt: What is the meaning of life? 

K Dezendorf: 42. Haha, but seriously, I think it's learning to love yourself and be the best you that you can be. 

Matt: What was the best gift you’ve ever been given? 

K Dezendorf:When we were still dating, my husband gave me the ring he always wore. I still wear it to this day. 

Matt: If you could have a sidekick robot – what would it be able to do for you? 

K Dezendorf:Jot down my random story ideas that have a habit of manifesting when I'm away from my keyboard. Also if they could cook me anything I requested, that would be an added bonus. 

Matt: What would you like written on your tombstone? 

K Dezendorf: To be continued... 

Matt: Any final words you like to add... 

K Dezendorf: Keep on living; never stop dreaming, never stop loving, never stop believing in yourself.

Here's my verdict on The Wayfinders Apprentice..

Out of a potential 5 - you have to go with a Darkmatters:

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(4 - A new and funky kind of magic...)

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