Saturday, February 28, 2015

We Are All Completely Fine by Daryl Gregory

This novella largely served to convince me that I need to read the rest of Daryl Gregory's stuff. This, like The Devil's Alphabet, is a fine, unique piece of work. The premise is novel and the execution is nearly flawless. He deftly handles a large cast of characters (for a novella) interacting in a group setting without once stumbling and confusing the reader. All of the characters are interesting, distinct, and are fully realized in record time.

This piece is dark and creepy and humorous when appropriate. I'd like to read more about these misfits. And, as it turns out, I suppose I'll get to read more about at least one of them in a forthcoming novel, Harrison Squared, a prequel to this story. This seems like a weird way to go about things, since this novella seems to have neatly encapsulated the events of that forthcoming novel. In effect, nearly cancelling out any need to read it.

But after being thus far impressed with everything I've read by Mr. Gregory, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and pick that one up, too.

Recommended.


Sunday, February 22, 2015

We're giving away Dead Roses!

With Valentine's Day behind us, it's time to give away some Dead Roses. Yes, this is from the same people who gave you Bad Apples last year.

Enter a Booklikes Giveaway to win 1 of 3 eBook copies of Dead Roses: Five Dark Tales of Twisted Love. Ends: March 9, 2015

Or click here for a chance to win 1 of 2 paperback copies of Dead Roses. Ends: March 15, 2015

And, if you've not already read Bad Apples: Five Slices of Halloween Horror, you can enter a giveaway to win 1 of 3 paperback copies of that, as well. Ends: March 1, 2015

Best of luck to all who enter!

Dead Roses: Five Dark Tales of Twisted Love will be released on March 16, 2015.

Signed Limited Edition hardcovers and paperbacks are available for pre-order here.

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Kiss Me, Judas by Will Christopher Baer

The jumping off point for this novel isn't particularly original. It's something that seems like (or may even be) an urban legend. The main character goes back to his hotel room with a prostitute he's met at a bar and the next morning wakes up in a bathtub full of ice with one less kidney to his name.

But I've long been a sucker for this oft-told tale and all of its variations, so I must admit this was a large part of why I picked this thing up.

Even still, I was a bit apprehensive. This is advertised as kind of a literary noir type of read and I fully expected our hero with the missing kidney to delve into a hellish underworld to track down the organ thieves and exact a most terrible revenge. But only after much suffering, of course, and double-crosses, and horrifying revelations.

But, man, was I happy to find that this is NOT what I got. This book, this story, turned out to be something altogether different.

This thing is really good.

And I'm not going to tell you any more about it.

I'll just leave you with this list of things that may turn off potential readers:

1) It's told in first person, present tense by an unreliable narrator.
2) There are no heroes or anti-heroes in this book.
3) There are no quotation marks to be found in any of the dialogue.
4) Nearly every character is reprehensible and/or commits reprehensible acts.

This is crime/noir at its darkest.

You've been warned.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Bubba Ho-Tep by Joe R. Lansdale

This is an excellent novella. Lansdale describes the world in which this story is set with a sort of over-the-top, vivid cynicism that forces you to laugh out loud for fear of spiraling into the depths of despair. This is wholly appropriate considering this story is set in a retirement home populated with lonely and dying elderly persons who are largely treated like humanity's dirty little secret by the staff and society at large.

Sadder still are the heroes of this story, two old men who may have taken on the personalities of celebrities to overcompensate for their overwhelming feelings of uselessness and inconsequence. It's better for them, it seems, to go to their graves as JFK and Elvis than to die as the men they were, men even their families have long forgotten.

Oh, and there's a mummy sneaking into the retirement home in the middle of the night to kill elderly folks and steal their souls.

Don't forget about the mummy.


Sunday, February 15, 2015

THE RIGGLE TWINS is FREE on Amazon!

As I've previously announced, my novelette The Riggle Twins is presently on the 2014 Bram Stoker Award's preliminary ballot. To celebrate, I've decided to give the story away for FREE on Amazon through Wednesday of this week.

The Riggle Twins first appeared in last year's Bad Apples: Five Slices of Halloween Horror. Yesterday, it was announced that the same people who brought you that thing are putting out another thing next month called Dead Roses: Five Dark Tales of Twisted Love. So, if you're interested in either anthology, this story should give you the flavor of these books.

If you grab it, I do hope you enjoy it.

Get The Riggle Twins FREE from Amazon!

Saturday, February 14, 2015

From the Creators of Bad Apples: Dead Roses: Five Dark Tales of Twisted Love

Happy Valentine's Day! 

I am pleased to announce that my newest novella, Loving the Goat, will be appear in forthcoming horror anthology Dead Roses: Five Dark Tales of Twisted Love

Check out the complete table of contents below:

Love Lies In Eyes by Evans Light 
Cinder Block by Edward Lorn
Eleanor by Jason Parent
Panacea by Adam Light
Loving the Goat by Gregor Xane







Release Date for hardcover, paperback, and eBook editions: 

March 16, 2015 

Signed limited edition hardcover and paperback editions are now available for pre-order. Signed edition orders include the eBook.

Pre-Order a Signed Edition of Dead Roses: Five Dark Tales of Twisted Love!




Saturday, February 7, 2015

The Cipher by Kathe Koja

But what did it all mean?

If you don't like reading books where that's the question you're left with after turning the final page, this might not be the thing for you.

This book is like a Rorschach splatter, and I'm not telling you what I think it all meant to me. I'd be embarrassed, I think, to expand on the matter with anyone other than a close friend.

It's dark. It's nasty. The only good people in this story are on the periphery.

If you like body horror. If you like art house films that shove the camera into the mess of humanity, then you'll likely enjoy the ever-loving shit out of this book.

Negatives? I think it would have worked better as a novella. And the OCR transition to eBook wasn't quality-checked as well as it could have been. There were some twisted fits of textual weirdness here and there throughout.