Blog Archives
sOne of the library book sale finds was a pristine paperback of Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon. This is the thriller novel that put serial killers on the map. The book was first published in 1981. There were other novels that had serial killers (James Ellroy) but Harris took it to the next level. The mass […]
October: The leaves are changing, the days are getting shorter, the temperatures are getting colder. I generally set aside more blood and thunder fiction and read weird/supernatural/horror until Halloween. A series that has really grown on me is Wordsworth’s Tales of Mystery & the Supernatural. This series started in 2006 and lasted until petering out […]
True Believer is the second novel in the James Reece series by Jack Carr. Again, a description that is better than what I can do: “When a string of horrific terrorist attacks plagues the Western world during the holiday season, the broader markets fall into a tailspin. The attacks are being coordinated by a shadowy […]
I covered Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, a history of British thriller novels a few weeks back. The thriller novel is alive and well. A friend of mine tipped me to the “James Reece” series by Jack Carr. Carr is a former Nany SEAL with 20 years in special warfare including being a sniper and counter […]
Back around 1997 or 1998, Howard A. Jones contacted me on the internet. I was the official editor of the Robert E. Howard United Press Association at the time. People would seek me out on how I could help them sell their Conan pastiche novel to Tor Books or get on the syndicated Conan T.V. […]
I like reading books about books. Paperbacks From Hell covered paperback horror from the sixities through the early nineties. Mike Ripley’s Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang cover British “thrillers” from the early 50s (Casino Royale) to the late 70s (The Eagle Has Landed). I picked up the trade paperback edition from 2019. The hardback was first […]
The rotating reading of genres is never ending. If I read a western, it is generally about the U.S. Army on the frontier. I will deviate to read about ranchers or gunfighters if by favorites like Gordon D. Shirreffs or T. V. Olsen. On the other hand I will read a western by an unknown […]
To my surprise, Rough Edges Press announced a new Sgt. Hawk book by Patrick Clay. I was very happy when the series was reprinted last year and the lost 5th novel was published. Sgt. Hawk and the Lost Temple is a brand new novel. The novel starts with Sgt. Hawk and Cpl. Conlon pulled off […]
XLZABK001 by Jon Zaremba is a brand new collection of stories in different genres. Jon has a description of himself at the end of this book: “I retired as a musician with dozens of albums in my catalog, most of which were self-released. The majority of this collection’s contents was crafted as text interpretations of […]
Swashbucklers: men fencing with epees wearing puffy shirts. D’Artagnan, Robin Hood, Captain Blood, Zorro. A genre that certainly has a cinematic past but before the movies there was the prose in books. The Big Book of Swashbuckling Adventure is a 475 page large paperback that I just read. Somehow I missed it when it came […]
The Earth is Flat by Tanith Lee is a new collection from DMR Books. This was just published in March. The book is 274 pages containing fourteen stories, five from her “Flat Earth” sequence. The other nine stories are in a section called “Tales from Elsewhere.” Contents: Story Original Appearance The Origin of Snow Tanith […]
HighNoon on Proxima B is a brand new anthology from Baen Books. It is the companion volume to Gunfight on Europa Station. David Boop is the editor, 241 pages, trade paperback format, $18.00. Cover by Dominic Harman. Contents: Foreword (High Noon on Proxima B) • essay by David Boop Justice and Prosperity • novelette by Milton J. Davis Five […]