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Here is your chance to discover some hot and dark new material from a couple of UK authors. (And, yes, things can be hot and dark at the same time.)

Faith In The Flesh is, itself, a pairing of two distinct parts: "The First Law" and "From Bad Flesh." Two stories that -- at first glance -- appear to have little or nothing in common. Look again.

The characters of Faith In The Flesh are the fortunate survivors of an attack at sea. When they are cast adrift in an unstocked lifeboat, all believe that they are only waiting for a slightly tardy death to claim them. New hope comes in the form of an island that may be the answer to their prayers. So, why does each man shudder at the blessing of this "safe" haven?

Gabe is one of millions facing a lingering, agonizing death after the Ruin has wiped out most of mankind. To escape the ravages of this fatal disease, he will journey to another island to find the one man rumoured to hold the cure. But, is the disease the lesser evil? And, is survival really the best choice in a world demolished?

Lebbon offers his characters a second chance in worlds that are self-destructing around them. A world that appears to want nothing more to do with the burden of humans.

Turn now to The Dreaming Pool, a lovely, unspoiled hideaway, that, unfortunately, reeks of evil. Jack Bradley has always known that something is horribly wrong with the children's swimming spot; where else would his murdered father's corpse be found? He wants nothing more than to get the funeral over with and sever the hellish contact with his family for good.

Events and mysterious characters are about to make that quick getaway just a fond wish. Something evil is at work in the little Welsh village where his father lived and died, and, like it or not, it is going to fall to Jack to discover the truth. The truth and the means to save not just the village, but the world from a plot that can't be allowed to succeed.

Two very different books. Two very different authors. One recommendation: read them both. Lebbon's and Greenwood's horrific tales have something in common that is too seldom seen in the horror genre -- "real" people. Not tortured artists, or inbred human creatures, but people like you see and deal with everyday. Working folks who just happen to catch a bad break. People like us. Hmmm... maybe that's why you don't see people like us in horror; we want to make damn sure the terrors that keep us rivetted to the page happen to other people. Those people have something wrong with them, don't they?

Lisa DuMond writes science fiction and humour. She co-authored the 45th anniversary issue cover of MAD Magazine. Previews of her latest, as yet unpublished, novel are available at Hades Online.