Red Claw [Paperback]

'Red Claw is that rare treat, an intelligent action adventure replete with intellectual rigour, human insight and superb storytelling' Guardian 'It's been a while since I've read a science fiction novel as invigoratingly original in approach and theme as this one' Morning Star 'Red Claw moves at a relentless pace ... I was hooked' thebookbag.co.uk 'I keep going back to the front cover and marvelling at how awesome it is' Graeme's Fantasy Review 'A marvellous mix of the ridiculous and the sublime, mashing pulp sci-fi with a seedy Heinlein style utopian dystopia, and some pretty dark humour as well. It's The Lord of the Flies meets Starship Troopers. A truly dark tale of betrayal, big guns, and monsters ... This is one of the best novels released this year' Emotionally Fourteen

Professor Richard Helms heads up a tight-knit band of scientists and soldiers sent to explore New Amazon, a lush but savage planet seemingly determined to attack them at every turn. When they are done cataloguing every detail of this vast, unfamiliar ecosystem, they will burn it to the ground and make it fit for human habitation. But when the team falls under attack, Helms and his followers are forced to flee into the depths of the jungle. Here, old enemies and petty rivalries surface as they struggle to survive. They soon end up fighting for their lives - against the planet they are exploring, the robots designed to protect them and, most of all, against each other. For the countdown into madness is ticking. Palmer burns a new path for science fiction in this gripping, dark tale of man's place in the universe.

Philip Palmer is a film and television writer and producer who also writes for radio and theatre. He teaches screenwriting at Leeds Metropolitan University and runs a television drama series course in Brighton for Lighthouse.