Michele Lee

Black Jack Derringer #1: Ace of Spades by Karen Koehler

Black Jack Derringer: The Ace of Spades is like one of those little four-piece Whitman’s Samplers. You end up with a good idea of what the story’s going to be, but it’s over and gone just when you’re really ready for more.

Wild Alice West is not a woman for breeding or homemaking or any of the other things the Wild West-flavored land called the Skillet considers women good for. She’s a bounty hunter, plagued by a bit of bad luck, a mouth that constantly gets her in trouble, a society that can’t respect her and the fastest shot she’s ever met. (She’s humble too….)

Full Review at DarkScribeMagazine.com

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March 5

Kid Tails

After much consideration I’ve decided to split BookLove into two. All reviews of adult books will continue to appear at BookLove. My reviews of kid books, as well as kids’ reviews of kids books, will appear at the new site Kid Tails which remain PG rated so that if kids surf onto the review site they won’t find Coraline reviewed side by side with a paranormal erotica novel.

Kid Tails is also open to submissions (unpaid) of reviews from kids and grown ups alike (especially from teachers and librarian and classes who want to talk about their favorite books). Here’s the dish:

Kid Tails is a book journal site for kids and kid books! By focusing only on kids and kids books we can keep our site clean and kid friendly.

We are looking for YOUR opinion about books. We accept reviews from all ages (including grown ups), from students, parents, teachers, librarians and whole classes!

We will try to post a new review every Monday (and increase our rate as we get more reviews). You can email reviews to ZombieMichele@gmail.com Please include your name & age (for children’s reviews), name (for adult review), the site the review first appeared on (if the review is a reprint), or your teacher’s name and class (if it’s a class review).

All books reviewed should be for Young Adult audiences or younger. We would like at least two to three lines for a review telling us what the book is about, whether you liked it or not and what the best part was (also please tell us if this book has a theme, like Christmas, or spring, or vampires). Adults are welcome to add comments about the appropriateness of the book for young audiences and how well it could be integrated into teaching plans or parent-child reading sessions.

We will also post reviews of books we have already reviewed (because this will give different opinions or show grown ups which books kids like the best).

Questions and comments can be sent to ZombieMichele@gmail.com.

Thanks and we look forward to reading with you!

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March 3

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith

I must confess–I love snark. Dry humor, witty insults, intellectual irony. Give me The Devil’s Dictionary or any absurdist play and I’ll suck it up. This is probably why I find myself drawn to authors like Terry Pratchett and genres like urban fantasy, where wit and attitude are delicious little bonbons inside the story.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls (prequel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) had me from page one.

“Mr. Ford was as well behaved as any corpse could be expected to be. In fact, he lay stretched out on the bier looking almost as stiff and expressionless in death as he had been in life, and Oscar Bennet, gazing upon his not-so-dearly-departed neighbor, could but think to himself, You lucky sod.”

Mr. Hockensmith, you had me at “well behaved corpse”.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls is a ironic, sassy romp through the England of classic literature (and zombies). It’s a “Hell Yes!” inducing book for anyone who ever had to dissect stodgy, self-important prose in high school English class.

Despite deserved criticism on the concept (but I doubt any of these mash ups are intended to be lasting, stately examples of “literature”) this book brings a sorely needed element to the both the zombie and high literary genres–humor. P&P&Z: Dawn of the Dreadfuls is a reminder that reading, first and foremost, is supposed to be an enjoyable experience. In times like this, especially, we need to know that it’s okay kick back and enjoy, rather than analyzing and studying until the world around us lacks context and meaning. We can temper the horrible, the bloody and the overbearing and self important with skilled writing, enchanting characters and make reading a pleasurable way to spend the time again.

And speaking of fun If you go here (Quirk’s webpage) and post that my review sent you there we (that is you too!) will be entered to win one of 50 Quirk Classic Prize Packs (worth over $100), which include:

- An advance copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls
- Audio Books of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
- A password redeemable online for sample audio chapters of Dawn of the Dreadfuls
- An awesome Dawn of the Dreadfuls Poster
- A Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Journal
- A box set of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Postcards

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March 3

Final 2009 Stoker Ballot

*I found this lost in my drafts.

Congrats to all the nominees!!

The 2009 Stoker Awards Final Ballot has been released:

Superior Achievement in a Novel

Audrey’s Door, Sarah Langan (Harper)
Patient Zero, Jonathan Maberry (St. Martin’s Griffin)
Quarantined, Joe McKinney (Lachesis)
Cursed, Jeremy Shipp (Raw Dog Screaming Press)

Superior Achievement in a First Novel

Breathers, S. G. Browne (Broadway Books)
Solomon’s Grave, Daniel G. Keohane (Dragon Moon Press)
Damnable, Hank Schwaeble (Jove)
The Little Sleep, Paul Tremblay (Henry Holt)

Superior Achievement in Long Fiction

Dreaming Robot Monster, Mort Castle (Mighty Unclean)
The Hunger of Empty Vessels, Scott Edelman (Bad Moon)
The Lucid Dreaming, Lisa Morton (Bad Moon)
Doc Good’s Traveling Show, Gene O’Neill (Bad Moon)

Superior Achievement in Short Fiction

“Keeping Watch”, Nate Kenyon (Monstrous: 20 Tales of Giant Creature Terror)
“The Crossing of Aldo Ray”, Weston Ochse (The Dead That Walk)
“In the Porches of My Ears”, Norman Prentiss (Postscripts 18)
“The Night Nurse”, Harry Shannon (Horror Drive-In 7/09)

Superior Achievement in an Anthology

He Is Legend: An Anthology Celebrating Richard Matheson, Christopher Conlon, ed. (Gauntlet)
Lovecraft Unbound, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Dark Horse)
Poe, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Solaris)
Midnight Walk, Lisa Morton, ed. (Dark House)

Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection

Martyrs and Monsters, Robert Dunbar (DarkHart)
Got to Kill Them All and Other Stories, Dennis Etchison (Cemetery Dance)
A Taste of Tenderloin, Gene O’Neill (Apex)
In the Closet, Under the Bed, Lee Thomas (Dark Scribe)

Superior Achievement in Non-fiction

Writers Workshop of Horror, Michael Knost (Woodland)
Cinema Knife Fight, L.L. Soares & Michael Arruda (Fearzone)
The Stephen King Illustrated Companion, Bev Vincent (Fall River)
Stephen King: The Non-Fiction, Rocky Wood & Justin Brook (Cemetery Dance)

Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection

Double Visions, Bruce Boston (Dark Regions)
North Left of Earth, Bruce Boston (Sam’s Dot)
Barfodder, Rain Graves (Cemetery Dance)
Chimeric Machines, Lucy A. Snyder (Creative Guy)

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March 1

Skull Full of Kisses by Michael West

With Skull Full of Kisses Michael West throws his tales into the long list of single-author collections available to horror readers today. With ten tales of love and monsters, Skull Full of Kisses gives readers more meat than many other lengthier collections out there.

West’s style is easy to read, but well-paced and well-formed, delivering solid stories page after page….

Full review at DarkScribeMagazine.com

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