New Releases 9/22/09

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

The Test by Patricia Gussin

Collision of Evil by John J. Le Beau

An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon

Hothouse Orchid by Stuart Woods

The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

New on DVD:

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

Observe and Report

Clive Barkers Book of Blood

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:

Perfect Little Ladies by Abby Drake

Breeding Ground by Sarah Pinborough

Face Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan

The Coral Thief by Rebecca Stott

A Quiet Belief in Angels by R.J. Ellory

It's the Weekend Already

I feel like today should be Saturday. The week goes by so fast and I'm totally uninspired to do anything even remotely productive when the weather is this nice. I want to lay in the hammock and read and maybe take a nap and then barbecue. But, I have work to do and I don't even own a grill : ) I do own a hammock, however, and I'm thinking lunchtime...

So I guess I'm off my horror kick temporarily. I have some in the review stack. (Pinborough's Feeding Ground, for one. I've started it but haven't finished it yet, so it will come later.) I have been reading some other stuff, though.

One of my reads this week was the amazingly wonderful literary mystery (hey, it's got literary elements and it's a mystery, ergo, literary mystery) A Quiet Belief in Angels by R.J. Ellory. This is Ellory's American debut, but he's got handful of books already available in the UK. Good news is that even though it's taken this long for the author to get his well-deserved break stateside, Overlook, the company that released A Quiet Belief in Angels, has plans to release at least two more Ellory titles here. YAY!

A Quiet Belief in Angels is the story of Joseph Vaughan. It begins in 1939, rural Georgia, when Joseph is 11. His father has just died and the bright young Joseph is facing mortality for the first time. Then a classmate is kidnapped and brutally murdered. Joseph is touched in a way that even many of his friends are not. He begins collecting articles on each new girl, because the killer does not stop with just one. He also becomes, in his mind, the protector of one of his young neighbors, promising to make sure that nothing happens to her. But then she, too, is killed and Joseph becomes convinced that he could have stopped it. Later, Joseph leaves his small town, but the murders follow him. He is unable to leave this chapter of his life behind and eventually he returns, dead-set on solving it for good.

This book is one of my favorites of the year. Ellory's style just pulls you in. It's amazing to think that this Brit has completely captured the essence of a small southern town. I can't speak for the era in which he's written -- it comes across as wholly natural and flowing for me, but I'm not old enough to attest to that! I can tell you, being from the south, that he's done an amazing job.

Interestingly enough, this is one of the issues his bio touches on as being a reason that he was unpublished for so long. British publishers did not want to publish books set in the States written by a Brit and American publishers had the same issue. Hope they're all biting their tongues and kicking themselves now!

And I can tell you right now, I think I've fallen a little in love with Joseph Vaughan. Such a great character.

For more on R.J. Ellory, his own interesting story, and info on other titles, visit his official site here. For more on A Quiet Belief in Angels, visit the official site here.

Feeling Blech

I'm feeling a little off today (not sure if it's not enough sleep or possibly the bleach cleaner fumes I just inhaled while cleaning the tub -- swiffering floors next) so I'll make this a quick one.

In keeping with my horror theme of late, I decided it was time to post on Hank Schwaeble's debut, Damnable. Hank is part of ITW and Damnable is being billed as a noirish horror/thriller: I call it horror, but you can call it anything you like.

It's a story of armageddon. Of demons on earth and one man's plans to end it all by unleashing those demons and their spawn. Here's a bit more:

Jake Hatcher is set for another eight weeks in military prison when he is granted leave to attend his brother’s funeral. Strangely enough, Jake never knew he had a brother. When Jake arrives in town, the first thing he does is question his mother. She admits that Garrett was conceived and born while their father was away in the military. They later married and tried to find Garrett, but had no luck. After a brief reunion, Garrett is killed while trying to save a stranger in a cafe. The woman in question was snatched off her barstool and hauled into the street where Garrett and the assailant were killed. The woman miraculously survived. Jake decides to track down the woman to try and learn more about his long-lost brother. Another attempt is made on her life and Jake just happens to be the one there to save her. Now he's being dragged into a fight that is not quite of this world, as an unwilling pawn in a deadly game.

Though this is not true fallen angels, there is enough similarity that I think Schwaeble could be considered as leading the pack in that new vein. I know there's a slew of movies and books with that theme being released shortly and Damnable should definitely hit a chord with the same fan base.

Not to leave out the traditional thriller fans, though. This is also a good one for you guys as well. You can sort-of ease your way into more paranormal stuff. It is, after all, a traditional thriller -- it just so happens that some of the characters are demons and hell-spawn.

No word on whether Jake will make an appearance in future titles -- I could definitely see him holding his own. I'm definitely looking forward to what Schwaeble does next, though.

Sarah Pinborough is my new favorite person

I know I'm a big dork for saying this, but Sarah Pinborough rocks! Wait, that's not what makes me a dork. She already rocked because she's a fantastic horror author. But now she rocks even more because I just found out that she penned a Torchwood book! Yay! It's Torchwood: Into the Silence and it was released last month. Awesomeness! And that's what makes me a dork -- a dork in great company, though, considering all other fans of the show out there.

Yeah. I think I might be going a little nuts with the Torchwood and Doctor Who off-season. I'm not even sure of Torchwood is coming back after Children of Earth.

Anywho, I saw this today after I did a search to make sure one of my new favorite books is still in print. I have to admit that our recent move has unearthed some of my TBR collection that's been festering since my bookseller days -- yes, I spent more of my paycheck than I actually brought home. And that was a good decision on my manager's part seeing as how it brought money back into the company ; ) I'm being cheesy.

But I received a copy of Pinborough's upcoming release, Feeding Ground, in the mail about a week ago and when I started reading, I thought it sounded familiar. As it turns out, it's a companion to 2006's Breeding Ground, a book that had been sitting in my TBR stack patiently waiting for me.

If you're not reading Pinborough, shame on you. I read Tower Hill on vacation (actually on the LONG car ride from Louisiana to Colorado, so the book made the drive much more bearable) last summer and really enjoyed it.

Breeding Ground is a totally different read genre-wise -- at the other end of the horror spectrum considering all the possible different horror subjects. It's the end of the world as we know it when women all over England (all over the world?) start giving birth to giant man-eating spiders. A small group of survivors makes their way to safety, but the continued survival of the human race is still at stake. Where the spiders come from, no one knows, but stopping the spread is the key. Unfortunately they aren't having any luck in that area.

I'm a sucker for a creature feature -- my mom loves them and I was raised on them -- so Pinborough's book is a bit of nostalgia on top of being a great read. It's a really creepy premise for one (women giving birth to spiders, icks me out just thinking about it again), and it's got that whole humanity being wiped from the face of the earth element. Which is another thing I love in horror fiction. Survivalist horror!

Alright, I know I've been on a horror kick (if you read this weekend then you already knew that) and Pinborough was what I grabbed after Doug Clegg kicked it off for me in the nasty gloomy weather we had Saturday. I'm still riding high over how great the books have been and hope to keep it up considering I still have a ton of horror stockpiled (for my own apocalypse -- gotta make sure I still have stuff to read if everything starts going in the killer spider direction, you know?).

I'll keep you posted on Feeding Ground (due out Sept 29). And, Pinborough also has a thriller coming out in March from Gollancz called A Matter of Blood.

One of My Favorite Horror Guys

I told you I was in the mood for some great horror lately, and it's all Doug Clegg's fault. Horror is like a creeping addiction for me, once I read one I have to continue. It nags at me and nags at me until I get enough to temporarily satisfy the need and then I'm good for a while, but a new one will set me off again.

I do this with King a lot. I get King cravings!

This time it was Clegg that set me off (he's been known to do it often -- anytime I get a new one, I have to read more). I managed to snag an early copy of Isis for review (which will go up at bookbitch.com closer to the 9/29 release date) and couldn't wait any longer!

Isis, a novella, was originally released as a limited collector's edition from Cemetery Dance and is being re-released later this month by Vanguard Press as a very lovely (can creepy be lovely?) illustrated hardcover. At just over 100 pages, this is a one-sitting read that you'll want to savor as much as you can, which will be hard because it's a tale that kind of begs to be read fast.

(Glenn Chadbourne is the immensely talented illustrator whose pictures supplement the book.)

The story ties into Clegg's Harrow House "series" -- I have that in quotes because it's not so much a true series as it is a collection of connected stories. Isis is mentioned quite a bit in the other books, but this is her own story.

Think of Isis as a scary fable for adults, a warning against playing with things that are best left alone. You can read it and enjoy it all on its own even if you haven't read the other Harrow House books (but I recommend reading them all because they're fantastic and horrific). And if you are so inclined (as I hope you are after reading this) they fall into the following order:

The Necromancer

Nightmare House

Mischief

The Infinite

The Abandoned

For more on Isis (and a super cool book trailer) check out the official site here. And for more on Doug Clegg and his other titles, visit his official site here (psst, if you sign up for his newsletter you get access to free stuff!).

And if you've noticed, some of the books listed above are unfortunately out of print. I'd suggest getting your hot little hands on them any way you can!

Another Rec From My Reading Past

So Saturday I was seriously in the mood for some great horror and my favorite kind right now is the "classic" horror of the 80s and early 90s. I love the style and it's great because I haven't read a lot them -- I was too young. So all them are new to me! The fun thing is that they are reprinting a ton of it right now (and I think it's the right idea because really some of it is super fantastic!).

One of my discoveries was, of course, James Herbert. He's still around and writing away, though I'm not sure when his newest book will be released. It's rumored to be the third David Ash title, so I thought it would be appropriate to do a post on book 2, The Ghosts of Sleath. I'm not sure why this one doesn't get much attention, seeing as how it's creepy and totally amazing, and it's the follow-up to Herbert's Haunted, one of my favorite horror reads ever.

And, I'm forewarning you, but unfortunately the book is out of print in the US (even though Haunted is not). It is, however, still available in the UK, which means that if you're determined (like I would be) you can special order it through various channels, or you can just hunt it down used (so worth it).

Here's some info on the book if I've caught your attention:

Paranormal investigator David Ash returns in this chilling and atmospheric sequel to Haunted. Ash specializes in investigating and disproving paranormal activity, but he is still suffering the ill effects of his investigation three years ago at Edbrook. Still, cynical and slightly too reliant on his flask of vodka, he is one of the best the Psychical Research Institute has on staff. It is with some hesitation that the institute sends David out to the village of Sleath where multiple hauntings have been reported. The local vicar’s daughter has requested the institute’s help after her own father admits to having seen one of the specters. It begins with the death of a local woman’s son. After the funeral she becomes a shut-in unwilling to leave or even admit guests. It’s not that she’s upset by her loss, it’s that she believes her son has been visiting her from beyond the grave. Then, a local teenage girl wakes to find her childhood abuser standing over her in her sleep. The man died in prison not long after being sentenced, though. Something is very wrong in the village of Sleath and it’s David’s job to uncover the dark secrets behind these events. Herbert is great at combining psychological horror with the truly grotesque.

Herbert writes my favorite kind of horror: the kind that sneaks up on you. He's got some amazingly horrifying imagery as well. I think the combination of the quiet horror plus the gore is an effective one for me because the underlying creepiness gives you that hair-raising feeling and then he throws the really gory stuff at you all at once -- kind of like someone jumping out of a closet when you're walking around a quiet house at night and you're already sort of worked up and creeped out. It's the best of both worlds and it allows you to really get into the story knowing that the scary stuff is coming, and being on your toes waiting for it to hit.

I highly recommend any and all of his stuff to anyone looking for a great horror read. As I said, this is the follow-up to Haunted, which you can read more about on here.

New Releases 9/15/09

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week include:

The Coral Thief by Rebecca Stott

The Art of Disappearing by Ivy Pochoda

The Disappearance at Pere-Lachaise by Claude Izner

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Top Producer by Norb Vonnegut

New on DVD:

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Doctor Who: The Next Doctor

Next Day Air

New Reviews at Bookbitch.com:

Damnable by Hank Schwaeble