Christopher Golden – Of Masques and Martyrs (Pocket Books, £7.99) ****

Do we dismiss the fear of ghosts and vampires too easily?

The answer is “yes” if this book is to be taken seriously. Thankfully it’s only fiction.

If you enjoy blood, gore and horrific descriptions of degradation, then this third novel from the Shadows Saga must be a winner.

The future of humanity is at stake as Hannibal with his Shadow and Vampire followers wage war against the world and themselves.

Only Peter Octavia stands strong.

The author’s vivid imagination gives us a convincing storyline of monstrous nightmares.

Not for me though.

Patricia Roberts, Brighouse

Maureen Lee – Martha’s Journey (Orion, £6.99) ****

Martha has no idea why the Great War is being fought, she’s never heard of Women’s Suffrage or realised that women can’t vote.

As her childhood was too busy for much schooling, she cannot even read or write, not that that’s anybody’s business.

For Martha, struggling to meet ends meet in a squalid tenement in Liverpool with a drunken work-shy husband, a wayward eldest son, and four more children besides, there are far more important things to worry about than politics.

However, there’s nothing she’s afraid to do when her 14-year-old son is enlisted illegally, and no-one in authority is prepared to do a thing to stop him dying in action.

Gemma Richards, 32, office worker, Bingley