INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS SHOWCASE
# 3. Orenda Books
Orenda Books was established by Karen Sullivan in 2014 after she left her role as managing editor at Arcadia Books. The name of the business comes from the novel The Orenda by Joseph Boyden and is based on the Canadian First Nations word meaning: “The mystical power that drives human accomplishment”.
In Orenda Books first year of publishing it released six books that then raised to sixteen titles in its second year. I have been incredibly fortunate enough to have known Karen and Orenda Books as we both started in the same year and I have been incredibly fortunate enough to have read so many of the books published by Karen Sullivan. With an emphasis on crime/thrillers and many being translated. There has always been a big focus on debut authors, like many writers they have suffered the rejection process and yet they have gone on to write superb books under Orenda Books and with some of the authors then going on to be shortlisted for awards and Orenda Books themselves also going on to be shortlisted in publishing awards. With the exciting return of Ragnar Jónasson to Orenda Books to conclude his million-copy Dark Iceland Series with Winterkill due for release in December this proves that I can only see Orenda Books growing in strength in the years to come as Karen continues to find exciting new writers who have a story to tell that will capture the imagination of readers far and wide. For more information on the books released visit their website: Orenda Books
Here are a selection of the titles currently released and also titles soon to be released through Orenda Books:
A Song of Isolation by Michael J. Malone
Published: 17th September 2020
Summary:
Film star Amelie Hart is the darling of the silver screen, appearing on the front pages of every newspaper. But at the peak of her fame she throws it all away for a regular guy with an ordinary job. The gossip columns are aghast: what happened to the woman who turned heads wherever she went?
Any hope the furore will die down are crushed when Amelie’s boyfriend Dave is arrested on charges of child sexual abuse. Dave strongly asserts his innocence, and when Amelie refuses to denounce him, the press witch hunt quickly turns into physical violence, and she has to flee the country.
While Dave is locked up with the most depraved men in the country and Amelie is hiding on the continent, Damaris, the victim at the centre of the story, is isolated a child trying to make sense of an adult world.
Breathtakingly brutal, dark and immensely moving, A Song of Isolation looks beneath the magpie glimmer of celebrity to uncover a sinister world dominated by greed and lies, and the unfathomable destruction of innocent lives in an instant.
Betrayal by Lilja Sigurdardóttir
Published: 1st October 2020
Summary:
Burned out and traumatised by her horrifying experiences around the world, aid worker Úrsula has returned to Iceland. Unable to settle, she accepts a high-profile government role in which she hopes to make a difference again.
But on her first day in the post, Úrsula promises to help a mother seeking justice for her daughter, who had been raped by a policeman, and life in high office soon becomes much more harrowing than Úrsula could ever have imagined. A homeless man is stalking her – but is he hounding her, or warning her of some danger? And why has the death of her father in police custody so many years earlier reared its head again?
As Úrsula is drawn into dirty politics, facing increasingly deadly threats, the lives of her stalker, her bodyguard and even a witch-like cleaning lady intertwine. Small betrayals become large ones, and the stakes are raised ever higher…
The Coral Bride by Roxanne Bouchard
Release Date: 12th November 2020
Summary:
When an abandoned lobster trawler is found adrift off the coast of Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula, DS Joaquin Moralès begins a straightforward search for the boat’s missing captain, Angel Roberts – a rare female in a male-dominated world. But Moralès finds himself blocked at every turn – by his police colleagues, by fisheries bureaucrats, and by his grown-up son, who has turned up at his door with a host of his own personal problems.
When Angel’s body is finally discovered, it’s clear something very sinister is afoot, and Moralès and son are pulled into murky, dangerous waters, where old resentments run deep.
Exquisitely written, with Bouchard’s trademark lyrical prose, The Coral Bride evokes the power of the sea on the communities who depend on it, the never-ending struggle between the generations, and an extraordinary mystery at the heart of both.
Winterkill (Dark Iceland Series) by Ragnar Jónasson
Release Date: 10th December 2020 (HB)
Summary:
When the body of a nineteen-year-old girl is found on the main street of Siglufjörður, Police Inspector Ari Thór battles a violent Icelandic storm in an increasingly dangerous hunt for her killer … The chilling, claustrophobic finale to the international bestselling Dark Iceland series.
Easter weekend is approaching, and snow is gently falling in Siglufjörður, the northernmost town in Iceland, as crowds of tourists arrive to visit the majestic ski slopes.
Ari Thór Arason is now a police inspector, but he’s separated from his girlfriend, who lives in Sweden with their three-year-old son. A family reunion is planned for the holiday, but a violent blizzard is threatening and there is an unsettling chill in the air.
Three days before Easter, a nineteen-year-old local girl falls to her death from the balcony of a house on the main street. A perplexing entry in her diary suggests that this may not be an accident, and when an old man in a local nursing home writes ‘She was murdered’ again and again on the wall of his room, there is every suggestion that something more sinister lies at the heart of her death…
As the extreme weather closes in, cutting the power and access to Siglufjörður, Ari Thór must piece together the puzzle to reveal a horrible truth … one that will leave no one unscathed.
Chilling, claustrophobic and disturbing, Winterkill marks the startling conclusion to the million-copy bestselling Dark Iceland series and cements Ragnar Jónasson as one of the most exciting authors in crime fiction.
Deity by Matt Wesolowski
Release Date: 18th February 2021
Summary:
Online investigative journalist Scott King investigates the death of a pop megastar, the subject of multiple accusations of sexual abuse and murder before his untimely demise in a fire … another episode of the startlingly original, award-winning Six Stories series.
When pop megastar Zach Crystal dies in a fire at his remote mansion, his mysterious demise rips open the bitter divide between those who adored his music and his endless charity work, and those who viewed him as a despicable predator, who manipulated and abused young and vulnerable girls.
Online journalist, Scott King, whose ‘Six Stories’ podcasts have become an internet sensation, investigates the accusations of sexual abuse and murder that were levelled at Crystal before he died. But as Scott begins to ask questions and rakes over old graves, some startling inconsistencies emerge: Was the fire at Crystal’s remote home really an accident? Whose remains – still unidentified – were found in the ashes? Why was he never officially charged? Dark, chillingly topical and deeply thought-provoking, Deity is both an explosive thriller and a startling look at how heroes can fall from grace and why we turn a blind eye to even the most heinous of crimes…
Exciting, thrilling and gripping books available now or due for release in the weeks ahead some of the most perfect books to curl up with during the autumn and winter. If you are reading or going to read any of the titles from Orenda Books, drop me a line and let me know what you think.
Visit the Orenda Books Website for information on all their books and you can also find a manuscript submission page: Orenda Books
You can also find them on Twitter: @OrendaBooks and Instagram: @orendabooks
I hope you have enjoyed this week’s showcase. Look out for my next Independent Publishers Showcase next week. If you are an indie publisher and would like to add your name to the showcase, you can contact me via Twitter: @TheLastWord1962
The Last Word Book Review 