December 9

Like a Thief in the Night by Bettie Sharpe

Click to Buy
Click to Buy

Delightfully cross genre, Like a Thief in the Night is a dark fairy tale love story set in a distant future. Arden is one of the top assassin in Darkriver’s stable, stolen as a child and reprogrammed through manipulation, memory wipes and neural reconfiguring. When she walks into a flat in Shanghai and strangles the handsome man sleeping on the silk sheets her life changes forever.

Because Aniketos is a creature myth, and he cannot die. The contract on Aniketos was a trap for Arden. Now she’s a captive in a mysterious flat that has combined the magical remains of a fallen heaven and the technology of the modern world. No matter how lust-filled she tries to make their interactions she can’t hide the fact that she’s as much tempted by his offers of freedom from Darkriver as she’s tempted by the man himself. Which only leaves the reason she was trapped in the first place to deal with.

Like a Thief in the Night is a fast read filled with hot sex and spy action. The futuristic and fairy tale feels are blended beautifully and the fierce, indomitable spirit of the characters bleed off the page leaving the reader dazzled and wanting more. This is a highly recommended read from a talented author.

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December 4

Crooked Little Vein by Warren Ellis & Covenant by John Everson

Review by Lincoln Crisler

One of these two books is my favorite-read for 2008 and the other is my runner-up. Trouble is, I can’t decide which is which. You decide:

In the red corner, featuring a whirlwind descent into the vulgar cesspit of several American cities, from veteran comics writer Warren Ellis… Crooked Little Vein! Michael McGill, a ‘shit-magnet’ private eye, accompanied by a free-loving girl he found on a street corner, searches for a hidden, second Constitution of the United States. The plot sounded hokey to me at first, and the nastiest parts of the book are horrible exaggerations (just about anything that happens to Mike in this book would be too much for one man) but the book is well- and tightly-written. I’ve been reading Ellis’ comics work since I was a teenager and this debut novel was a real treat.

In the blue corner, reprinting a Delirium Books publication, from veteran horror writer and journalist John Everson… Covenant! Everson’s mass-market debut tells the story of Joe Kieran, a reporter who’s exiled himself to sleepy little Terrel. Unfortunately for Joe, Terrel’s not what it appears and he just can’t let go of a good story. It’s a complete tale in and of itself but its sequel, Sacrifice, comes out in mass-market form next Spring!

It’s a tough call, really. I read everything Ellis puts out as fast as I can find it and I’ve sought advice from Everson on writing and publishing. I’d point any aspiring pro-writer to both of these guys as shining examples of the craft, and I aim to be where they are as soon as possible. The deciding factor should really be the quality of the books, but both are ten stars out of five. The two are nothing like each other, and I enjoyed them both for entirely different reasons. Vein is witty and vulgar in the extreme and Covenant is the kind of in-depth, detailed story I usually only find from the “masters,” King, Straub or Rice.

Either way, you can’t lose. Check ’em both out, and drop us a line if you manage to come to a decision!

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December 2

Vote for the Black Quill Awards

Here are the nominees from Dark Scribe Magazine:
DARK GENRE NOVEL OF THE YEAR:

(Novel-length work of horror, suspense, or thriller from mainstream publisher; awarded to the author)

* Duma Key by Stephen King (Scribner)
* Generation Dead by Daniel Waters (Hyperion)
* Ghost Radio by Leopoldo Gout (William Morrow)
* Leather Maiden by Joe R. Landsdale (Knopf)
* The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins)
* The Price by Alexandra Sokoloff (St. Martin’s Press)
* We Disappear by Scott Heim (Harper Perennial)

BEST SMALL PRESS CHILL:

(Novel or novella published by small press publisher; awarded to the author)

* Into the Cruel Sea by Rich Ristow (Skullvines Press)
* Johnny Gruesome by Gregory Lamberson (Medallion Press)
* Miranda by John R. Little (Bad Moon Books)
* The Confessions of St. Zach by Gene O’Neill (Bad Moon Books)
* The Shallow End of the Pool by Adam-Troy Castro (Creeping Hemlock Press)
* Veins by Lawrence C. Connolly (Fantasist Enterprises)

BEST DARK GENRE FICTION COLLECTION:

(Anthology or single author collection, any publisher; awarded to the author or editor[s])

* History Is Dead: A Zombie Anthology, edited by Kim Paffenroth (Permuted Press)
* Inferno: New Tales of Terror and the Supernatural, edited by Ellen Datlow (Tor Books)
* Killers, edited by Colin Harvey (Swimming Kangaroo Press)
* Mama’s Boys and Other Dark Tales by Fran Friel (Apex Publications)
* Poe’s Children: The New Horror, edited by Peter Straub (Doubleday)
* The Number 121 to Pennsylvania by Kealan Patrick Burke (Cemetery Dance)

BEST DARK GENRE BOOK OF NON-FICTION:

(Any dark genre non-fiction subject, any publisher; awarded to the author[s] or editor[s])

* A Hallowe’en Anthology: Literary and Historical Writers over the Centuries by Lisa Morton (McFarland)
* Beauty and Dynamite by Alethea Kontis (Apex Publications)
* Book of Lists: Horror Edited by Amy Wallace, Del Howison, and Scott Bradley (Harper)
* Horror Isn’t a Four-Letter Word by Matthew Warner (Guide Dog Books)
* The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston with Mario Spezi (Grand Central Publishing)
* Zombie CSU: The Forensics of the Living Dead by Jonathan Maberry (Citadel Press)

BEST DARK SCRIBBLE:

(Single work, non-anthology short fiction appearing in a print or virtual magazine; awarded to the author)

* “Afterlife” by Sarah Langan (Horror World / Virtual)
* “Captain’s Lament” by Stephen Graham Jones (Clarkesworld #17 / Virtual)
* “Dust and Bibles” by Michael Colangelo (Chizine #35 / Virtual)
* “Teeth” by Stephen Dedman (Clarkesworld #18 / Virtual)
* “The Blog at the End of the World” by Paul Tremblay (Chizine #38 / Virtual)
* “Turtle” by Lee Thomas (Doorways Magazine #4 / Print)

BEST DARK GENRE SHORT FICTION MAGAZINE:

(Any print or online magazine that published primarily short fiction during the eligibility period; awarded to the editor[s])

* Apex Magazine – Editor Jason Sizemore
* Cemetery Dance – Editor Richard Chizmar
* ChiZine – Editor Brett Alexander Savory
* Clarkesworld – Editors Sean Wallace and Neil Clarke (current), Nick Mamatas (former)
* Doorways Magazine – Editors Brian Yount and Mort Castle
* Shroud Magazine – Editor Timothy Deal

BEST DARK GENRE BOOK TRAILER:

(Book video promoting any work of fiction or non-fiction; awarded to the video producer or publisher)

* Daemon / Production by Yossi Sasson (Author: Harry Shannon)
* Day by Day Armageddon / Production by Ivan Simoncini (Author: JL Bourne)
* Duma Key / Production by Scribner (Author: Stephen King)
* Ghost Radio (Trailer 1) / Production by William Morrow (Author: Leopoldo Gout)
* Sweetheart / Production by Circle of Seven (Author: Chelsea Cain)
* The Price / Production by Circle of Seven Productions (Author: Alexandra Sokoloff)

You have to register on the web page to vote and votes are due by January 25th, 2009. Vote here.

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December 2

When did 11pm become late?

When I spent the day out holiday shoping. The good news is that I *think* it’s all done. The bad news is that web page updates and editing, and even getting the next round of subs ready to go has to wait until tomorrow at the earliest.

But I did find this at Walmart with the holiday Barbies.

That’s right. It’s an homage to Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds– Barbie being attacked by a flock of birds. Finally a Barbie I wanted. Unfortunately it was $35. I’m thinking of heading back to the January clearance to try to pick one up.

Oh, and I also took my laptop apart twice today. Once it even worked afterwards! (I had to put in a new CD ROM and after watching Dell techs replace so many motherboards I assumed I had to take the whole thing apart to change out the CD ROM. I didn’t, and the first time I ended up disconnecting the mouse and somehow gained two screws. Second time around I fixed all my own mistakes and finally got the comuter to recognize the new drive.

You never realize how attached you are to having a computer until something goes wrong.

But all is well now, and I’m so exhausted. Tomorrow I’ll post my favorite anthologies. (And yes, the yule shopping did include books, $50 worth.)

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