Behind the Book
Quotes
“Alison’s outstanding first novel is one of the finest debuts published this year and marks her out as an important new voice in the canon of supernatural fiction.”
Alan Kelly, This is Horror
“An impressive debut novel, I’d say – the sense of unease that’s present from the start builds to a pervasive paranoid uncertainty, and the underlying dread escalates to scenes of real terror. Atmospheric throughout, and disturbing to the end.”
Ramsey Campbell, “Britain’s most respected living horror writer,” Oxford Companion to English Literature
“Hugely enjoyable – perfect reading for a dark winter’s night.”
The Richard and Judy Book Club
“Littlewood’s first novel is an assured and finely-crafted piece of work, probably the best horror debut since Joe Hill’s 2007 novel, Heart-Shaped Box.”
Matt Craig of Shots, Page Horrific and Reader Dad
“A Cold Season is Yorkshire author Alison Littlewood’s first novel, and one of the first books to bear the name of the new imprint publishing it; that is to say Jo Fletcher Books, fresh out of Quercus. It’s a dark fantasy with dark designs on our hearts, and I dare say it sets a high watermark for both Alison Littlewood and the genre fiction division her impressive debut heralds. Cass and Ben are very well realised characters – as are the parents and teachers and pupils whose paths cross theirs – and the harrowing trials they are put through serve to bring us closer to them, even as mother and son are driven further and further apart.”
Niall Alexander, The Speculative Scotsman
“A thick layer of snow hides the sins of a creepy rural village in Alison Littlewood’s chilly debut novel, a confident, claustrophobic tale of a mother and son cut off from the world by the weather, drawn into an icy community with secrets to tell.”
SFX magazine
“A Cold Season is an intelligent, sensitive book. Its chills are delivered with precision certainly, but in subtle yet equally terrifying manner it’s the parts that aren’t scary which speak as loudly as the parts that freak you out.”
Spooky Reads
“A scary read that will chill you to the bone.”
Crimesquad
“This is a very spooky story – Disturbing in a Midsomer Murders kind of way.”
Daily Express
“I thoroughly enjoyed reading A Cold Season, and would highly recommend it to anybody who loves to curl up with a good, creepy thriller on a long, dark winter’s evening.”
Alan Toner, TheHorrorSite.net
“An utterly gripping, subtle and compelling occult horror story. This one’s just crying out to be made into a modern Hammer film. One of the best novels I’ve read all year. I loved it.”
Gary McMahon, author of The Concrete Grove and Pretty Little Dead Things
“With some wonderfully observed moments – especially between Cass and Ben – and some solid character building – Bert and his old dog Captain – this drags you in and then pulls the rug out from under your feet. From a shocking moment in the snow, up to the gruelling (and startling) climax, this is an excellent book, by a writer assured of her craft and ability and I, for one, can’t wait to see what she comes up with next. Very highly recommended.”
Mark West, author of The Mill
“Littlewood’s fiction is set in a world where the possible and the improbable rub shoulders, and strange stuff creeps through the gaps in out of the way places. She writes with a keen eye for the telling detail and the ability to conjure up subtle shades of emotion, her stories illuminated by compassion for our failures and undercut with anger at inhumanity. She is the real deal, a writer with a unique vision and the talent to make us see the world anew through her eyes.”
Peter Tennant, Reviews Editor, TTA Press
Reviews
Matthew Craig of Reader Dad
Paul Kane at Sci-Fi Bulletin
Mihai Miscatelli at Dark Wolf
Jason Baki at Kamvision
Author Interviews/Press links
“Genial, supremely talented and damn scary, Alison is about to take you on a journey around her mind… Good luck!” An interview at the Horrifically Horrifying Horror blog, with Shaun Hamilton in the question master’s seat.
In Penistone in Particular (page 17).
Featured author with an in-depth interview and book review in Black Static #27.
Interviewed at This Is Horror, along with a quick ‘getting to know you‘.
Interviewed at Ginger Nuts of Horror.
Featured author at Shadow Writer (where you can read chapter one).
Interviewed in SFX magazine issue 218.
Interviewed in the Yorkshire Post, 12/1/12 – a snippet is here.
A Cold Season is a ‘publisher’s pick’ for 2012
www.jofletcherbooks.com/2011/11/publishers-choices-for-2012/
Special edition
A special signed jacketed hardcover of A Cold Season, with artwork by David Gentry, is available from PS Publishing.
About Jo Fletcher Books
A Cold Season is published by Jo Fletcher Books, a new fantasy, SF and horror imprint of Quercus. Jo Fletcher formerly worked as a publisher at Gollancz, and her illustrious career has seen her work with authors including Sir Terry Pratchett, the late Sir Arthur C. Clarke, Charlaine Harris, Joe Hill, Neil Gaiman and Ursula K. Le Guin. She is also a noted editor, writer, poet and journalist, and has been published widely throughout the world.
“…hugely enjoyable – perfect reading for a dark winter’s night.”
The Richard and Judy Book Club
