Aline Riva - Author
THE BOOKS
Don't expect tales of sweetness and light - I write about the dark side of life, and all that lies beneath the surface. Do not expect helpless women swept off their feet by invincible men - I write about scarred and damaged people, I write about what lies beneath the veneer and along the way my books may shock and captivate you at the same time. I make ugly beautiful and embrace all that is fragile and less than perfect.
If it's never been reflected in my eyes to some degree, it will not be in my fiction.
Expect stories that will make you dream - and sometimes give you nightmares too...
Playing Dead
​When Lucinda Drew is found dead following a house fire, the world mourns the death of the young superstar - another to die too soon at the age of twenty-seven. But Lucinda is not dead, her death has been faked, she is yet another celebrity who has chosen to walk away from her old life and start again away from the pressures of fame.
But what begins as a chance to start again quickly spirals into something dark and terrifying when she learns what it means to 'play dead' - when Felix, formerly a rock star named Jude Finch, who the world believes has been dead for twenty years, is assigned to help her adjust to her new life, acting as her 'shadow'.
A Cyborgs Tale (The Roman Bowditch Chronicles)
Three hundred years after the war to end all wars, Roman Bowditch, an old prototype cyborg is the only man left alive who recalls the Old World, and has seen the New World rebuild, looking back into history to start again.
Living for three centuries in a brutal land where men ride steel horses and fight electronic dragons, and torture and extreme and sometimes forced cybernetic conversion is considered acceptable, he feels quite alone - until he meets Leon, the Cyborg King and his fiancee Clara.
Then Roman finds a place in his half-mechanical heart for both of them - in different ways - and becomes Lord Bowditch, royal dragon slayer.
The Call of Distant Shores (The Roman Bowditch Chronicles)
Book 3 of the Roman Bowditch Chronicles. Three years on from the Viking's defeat, the Steel Heartland is at peace - and King Leon is planning to take his ship The Discovery across the unknown waters.
When Captain Quicksilver begs to join him, Leon refuses to allow him a place on the voyage, blaming the damage he suffered due to the blood thorn poisoning. Roman asks Leon to reconsider, but the King is adamant that there is no room on board for the crippled Captain - until Quicksilver's condition worsens, and in a moment of compassion, Leon agrees to allow Quicksilver a place on the expedition.
The New Land (The Roman Bowditch Chronicles)
Book Two of The Roman Bowditch Chronicles. With Roman frozen in cryogenic sleep after his disastrous encounter with the dragon, King Leon decides to sever the dragon slayer's robotic hand to use it to unlock the door the Old World. It then emerges that Roman was wrong - there are survivors who still live in the seemingly dead world, and the King encounters the son of a scientist, Alton Van Toller, who assures him he can use his skills to repair Roman's damage.
Melancholy
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In 1910 the coastal town of Steeplewick is transformed as the Valentine brothers, Felix, Carl and Bertie build a huge fairground called Poseidon's Playground.
Felix is a wealthy businessman with a dark secret - he suffers with mental illness. Bertie is sympathetic to his fragile brother, but Carl plots with Dr. Rufus Warren, owner of a lunatic asylum, to murder Felix for his money.
But Felix has fallen in love with Amy, hired by Bertie to care for his brother whilst working under the guise of housekeeper. Amy persuades Felix to refuse the dangerous ‘therapy’ that Dr. Warren offers him.
The Mask of Mr Le Noir
In 1900 Daisy Hatherley falls for Isaac Black, a gentleman thief who may - or may not - have signed a pact in blood with the devil.
She travels with him and his fairground, and as they travel, Isaac steals by night, aided by his companion Christian Maplethorpe, whose face is covered by a mask to hide scars from terrible burns.
When Daisy learns Christian runs the freak show, she is fascinated. And when he suffers an accident and is unable to work, she takes over the running of the show, disguised as a man who she names Raymond Le Noir. She soon finds Le Noir's personality blending in with her own, and concludes he is simply a part of her that has never before had a chance to shine.
Ghost Beach Island
When detective Bella Martin uncovers a tale about a formula that cures all disease and halts aging, developed in wartime by the Nazis, she initially dismisses the story of the eternally young Daniel Lazarus as a myth - until she finds proof that the formula worked, and that Lazarus is still alive, preserved forever by an experiment that took place more than sixty years before.
Encouraged by Justin Woolfe, a young man whose survival depends on the discovery of the miraculous formula, Bella investigates further - and is soon on a journey, accompanied by Justin, to find the elusive Daniel Lazarus.
Signs and Wonders
ISBN-58-2459886032524
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Joy Barclay is happy with Todd La Roche, who is the love of her life - but does not tell him she is frequently visited by the spirit of Zak Amarillis, an artist who has been dead for many years, as she has come to accept this and no longer questions his ghostly visits.
But Zak warns her that strange times are approaching. Shortly after this Todd is involved in a near fatal accident, despite seeming to be critically injured, he makes a recovery that is nothing short of miraculous. But it is no miracle, Zak has meddled with the power of the Dark Angel, an ancient between worlds dweller to send him back - and now its energy lives inside him as a force he must learn to control.