My Book Haul/In My Mailbox

The Story Siren hosts a weekly meme where bloggers can share what goodies they've purchased/received this week. If you get a chance head over to The Story Siren and check out what everyone is up to!
I've had a very good week - and once again managed not to spend any money - my bank manager will wonder if I'm feeling ok! :)

Unclean Spirits - M.L.N. Hanover
Publisher: UK - Orbit

Jayné Heller thinks of herself as a realist, until she discovers reality isn't quite what she thought it was. When her uncle Eric is murdered, Jayné travels to Denver to settle his estate, only to learn that it's all hers -- and vaster than she ever imagined. And along with properties across the world and an inexhaustible fortune, Eric left her a legacy of a different kind: his unfinished business with a cabal of wizards known as the Invisible College.
Led by the ruthless Randolph Coin, the Invisible College harnesses demon spirits for their own ends of power and domination. Jayné finds it difficult to believe magic and demons can even exist, let alone be responsible for the death of her uncle. But Coin sees Eric's heir as a threat to be eliminated by any means -- magical or mundane -- so Jayné had better start believing in something to save her own life.
Aided in her mission by a group of unlikely companions -- Aubrey, Eric's devastatingly attractive assistant; Ex, a former Jesuit with a lethal agenda; Midian, a two-hundred-year-old man who claims to be under a curse from Randolph Coin himself; and Chogyi Jake, a self-styled Buddhist with mystical abilities -- Jayné finds that her new reality is not only unexpected, but often unexplainable. And if she hopes to survive, she'll have to learn the new rules fast -- or break them completely...

I got a bit of a random email last week from Orbit UK, telling me that although I hadn't the newsletter subscription giveaway, they were going to send me a copy of the book anyway! Either way, I'm happy I've got a copy of Unclean Spirits as I've want to read it for a while and in fact have already finished it - expect a review during the week!

The Watcher - Charles Maclean
Publisher: UK - Penguin

Friday rush-hour. Martin Gregory, laden with packages, just manages to catch the 4.48 train. Tomorrow is his wife's birthday - he has a surprise in store - and he plans to devote the weekend to her and their beloved dogs. But Saturday morning, Martin rises early and does something so horrific, so inexplicable and so out of character his only option is to run . . .And from this shocking incident the journey begins. With the help of a therapist he can't trust, and friends who no longer trust him, Martin's quest for meaning takes him down shifting realities and twisted corridors of time into the deepest recesses of the human mind. It is a world of menace and obsession from which neither he - nor the reader - can escape, for Martin Gregory is either lost in a dark maze of madness and horror, or frighteningly sane.

This came through in the post from Penguin last Saturday but I didn't get a chance to add it to last weeks IMM. I haven't read any true horror for a while so this will be a little different for me!

Home Improvement: Undead Edition - Edited by Charlaine Harris & Toni L.P.Kelner
Publisher: Ace

There's nothing like home renovation for finding skeletons in the closet or otherwordly portals in the attic. Now, for any homeowner who's ever wondered, "What's that creaking sound?" or fans of "how to" television who'd like a little unreality mixed in with their reality shows, editors Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner return with an all-new collection of the paranormal perils of Do-It-Yourself.

This was a swap and I like the occasional anthology - it makes a nice break from some heavy reading!

Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs
Publisher: UK - Quirk

A mysterious island.
An abandoned orphanage.
A strange collection of very curious photographs.
It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

This looks particularly spooky - and I'm overjoyed to have won a hardback copy from Kay at Dead Book Darling and Quirk!

Hell Train - Christopher Fowler

Publisher: Solaris

Four passengers meet on a train journey through Eastern Europe during the First World War, and face a mystery that must be solved if they are to survive. As the ‘Arkangel’ races through the war-torn countryside, they must find out:

What is in the casket that everyone is so afraid of?

What is the tragic secret of the veiled Red Countess who travels with them?

Why is their fellow passenger the army brigadier so feared by his own men?

And what exactly is the devilish secret of the Arkangel itself?

The cover of this is just soo spooky. I won this from the wonderful Suzanne Johnson - blogger at Preternatura and debut author come April. She has a great blog and I can't wait until Royal Streets comes out!

The Accidental Vampire - Lynsay Sands
Publisher:UK - Gollancz

Ever since an accident turned her into a knockout vamp, Elvi Black's been catching her z's in a coffin, staying out of the sun, and giving up garlic. She knows there's more to being undead than what she saw in Dracula, but she can't very well ask her mortal friends about proper biting etiquette. But when her neighbors placed a personal ad for her in the local paper, she never imagined she'd meet Victor Argeneau, a vampire who could have his pick of any woman; dead or alive.
Rich, powerful, and dropdead gorgeous, Victor's the perfect man for a novice neck-biter like Elvi. He's willing to teach her everything he knows, but he'll have to do it fast. Someone's out to put a stake through her new vamp life, and only Victor can keep her safe - and satisfied; for all eternity.

I won this from the lovely ladies, Jess and Donna at Book Passion For Life - it looks like quite a yummy romance!

Quite a good week for me! What did you pick it up this week?