Sam Kates

I've enjoyed everything Sam Kates has written. This is classic sci-fi and I loved it!

The Elevator

Amazon.com

My review - 

Matt is somewhat hung-over and longing to reach his floor in the building where he works, just so he can sink a coffee. Three other people enter the lift with him, people he doesn’t know, and the lift goes up to the top floor, the sixth. This is where their nightmare begins. The doors open onto a different world. We follow their experiences which form a wonderful, classic set of sci-fi of scenes.

This novella is long enough to get to grips with the different scenarios but quickly establishes the fearful, apparently inescapable predicament they find themselves in. It makes you want to take the stairs in future. An excellent read.

Sam Kates

Sam has written horror and short stories but this is a science fiction novel, and very well done indeed.

The Cleansing

Amazon.com The Cleansing

My review -

This is an apocalyptic science fiction novel in which a group of about 5,000 people, for reasons we don't find out until later, have engineered the downfall of most of humanity through the dissemination of a deadly virus. The story is told both from the viewpoints of those who are perpetrating this act of genocide and some of those who go through it and in one or two cases, come out weak but alive. The race causing the death of humankind is spread around the world which allows us to see different members of this group and to witness their varying views of what they are doing.

There are huge ramifications to this story and we learn later in the book about the origins of mankind and why this act is deemed necessary. The whole of the story is not resolved as this is Book 1 and we are left, after an exciting chase, with something of a cliff hanger ending. I found this an engaging and gripping read and I really look forward to reading more about this world in what will then be post-apocalyptic times.

I received a pre-publication copy of this book.