- Review: Hive
- Series:
- Author: Marc Davies
- No of Pages: 299
- Release Date: August 6th 2012 by Burst Books
Synopsis: 
For centuries the Hive has waged a secret war, pitting psychic powers against the monstrous appetites of the Silencers. Now its visionary leader has an ambitious plan to tip the balance, and the conflict threatens to boil over onto the streets of modern day London.
Nineteen-year-old Luke is thrust into the conflict when he foils an assassination attempt on the charismatic Dr. Jean-Paul Lysayer, a world renowned expert on telepathy. Down on his luck, and torn between an old flame and blossoming desire, the last thing Luke needs is to be used as a pawn in the eternal conflict.
But the Hive needs Luke’s unique abilities, and when he uncovers evidence of a conspiracy it will take all his street-smarts to stay alive long enough to separate friend from foe.
Excerpt:
We raced against time, frantically clicking on links that disappeared even as we viewed them. Repeated error messages forced us to chase obscure mentions of Lysayer now, websites that fed information from other websites, blogs and forums. They dropped like flies, forcing us to move on ever faster.
An email popped up on screen from Poppy Smoke. It said, Try this. A URL was pasted below, together with an alphanumeric password.
Ben looked at me. “This guy is beyond shady. Anything he suggests that we haven’t found ourselves….”
“Do it,” I said.
He shrugged, clicked and entered the password when prompted. An index page loaded, displaying discussion threads. My eyes picked auction: FBI hit list and unreleased WikiLeaks files from the list.
“Freedom hackers.” Ben’s face turned white. He went to close the browser.
“Wait!” I grabbed the mouse.
“Do you have any idea how illegal this is?” he asked. “There’s probably a team of agents tracking access to this site as we speak.”
“Please.” I shook his shoulders. “I have to find out why she wanted to kill me and why I’m the only one who remembers.”
“Okay,” he said eventually.
There was a simple text search facility at the top of the page. Ben typed Lysayer into it. A discussion thread loaded, the topic called Hive, though it was also linked to Lysayer’s name.
Ben scrolled down. There was only one entry.
If you’re reading this, it’s already too late. The Hive will find you and make you forget.
Don’t miss out on the Giveaway!!
What inspired me to become a writer?
One of the most frequent questions I get is, “What inspired you to be a writer?”
For me, the answer is easy: my high school English teacher.
Let me elaborate. Like many kids, high school was a difficult time for me. There were all the usual issues with growing up, going through puberty and figuring out my place in the world.
What made things really bad, though, was that my parents went through an ugly divorce when I was 14. Police were involved, there was a custody battle and a court case that lasted three and a half years. Every day seemed to bring some new, life changing disaster. We didn’t know if there would be enough money to pay the rent, or if my brothers, sisters and I would be staying together from one week to the next.
It was a lot for teenager to deal with. I’m a strong believer that everyone finds some way to cope with such situations, and Mr Rowe gave me mine: escapism.
Mr Rower wasn’t an orthodox teacher, and for that I’m incredibly lucky. From what I can tell, most English teachers back then focused on a formal study of English literature and grammar. English classics were the only books considered worthy of being on the agenda: Jayne Eyre, Shakespeare, Pride and Prejudice, Clockwork Orange. You get the picture.
Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against those books. But they were never going to hold the attention of a teenage boy with rampaging hormones and more serious matters on his mind.
Being an unorthodox teacher, Mr Rowe was happy to bend the rules so long as he got results. He encouraged us to read whatever interested us, no matter the subject. Getting us interested in reading and writing was the main goal.
Being easily influenced, and wanting to read what the other boys were reading, I decided to give science fiction and fantasy a go (they were aimed mainly at male readers back then; women hadn’t taken up the genres yet). So it was that I discovered my love of genre fiction. I found that reading about faraway places allowed me to escape my real world concerns. It also got me through the worst years of my life.
It was also when I first started writing. Mr Rowe was a crafty old teacher, and when he saw me developing an obsession for genre fiction, he did everything he could to encourage it. Instead of setting essays for homework, he focused on creative writing. Most teachers would give clearly defined parameters and instructions, but he preferred to let us decide what we wanted to produce. Some kids might run amuck with the lack of structure, but if he caught us chatting during class he would quickly get our attention by throwing a blackboard duster in our faces.
It might not have worked for every student, but it was perfect for me. And with every book I read, I thought to myself, “This is what I want to do. I want people to get lost in a world of my creation and forget all their worries for a while.”
And that is what inspires me to be a writer.
About the author:
Marc started writing as a teenager, and has always been obsessed with science fiction and fantasy. He has a soft spot for books with fast plots, unusual characters and twisted humor. The more unusual, the better. He predominantly reads sci-fi and fantasy, depending on mood.
Marc is an active member of several writers groups, including the Online Workshop for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror, and maintains a blog at http://www.marcdavies.net. He lives in an old house owned by a Golden Retriever and a Labrador, with a mountain of books, an impressive collection of half-finished wine bottles, and the occasional ball of drifting dog hair.
Contact Information
Purchase Links
Burst Books – Imprint of Champagne Books
My Seryniti 
[…] Hive by Marc Davies (Book Feature) […]
This book looks sweet! I love dystopian books. The cover is soo creepy lol.
I just recently found out that I’m a dystopian lover! Well, recently meaning this year! LOL.. I have yet to read this but it’s definitely on my TBR!