Category: Books

All the Way Down – Eric Beetner’s Next Crime Thriller

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Eric Beetner has a new novel coming out in January and I can’t wait.  Beetner writes crime novels and I’ve never been disappointed by any of ’em.  All the Way Down sounds like a pulp classic.  Here’s the Amazon description:

Dale is a crooked cop. It started slow, but grew like a cancer and now he can’t get out from under the thumb of Tat, a would-be kingpin in every vice he can turn a profit with.

And now Dale’s number is up – the top brass knows. But instead of getting busted, Dale gets an offer. The mayor’s daughter is being held by Tat in his fortress built from an abandoned office tower. They want her back but if they storm the gates, Lauren is as good as dead. So they’re sending Dale on what could very likely be a suicide mission: infiltrate Tat’s fortress and bring her out alive.

If the Mayor even really wants her alive…

Floor by floor Dale and Lauren have to fight off an increasingly difficult and dangerous set of obstacles.

Meanwhile, Dale’s wife has her own troubles and some of the drug kingpin’s goons are only adding to an already rough day.

The clock is ticking down along with the floors of the building and escape is looking less and less likely. But to save her, and to save himself, he must make it all the way down.

If it sounds like something you’d like then you can be dealt in by clicking on this link and ordering from Amazon.

The 50 Best Horror Novels of All Time

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Steve Foxe and the Paste Staff recently posted their choices for The 50 Best Horror Novels of All Time.  Here are three of my favorites…

22. The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris (1988)
It’s a little odd getting around The Silence of the Lambs’ third-person present tense: “Starling looks down the corridor,” etc., but once you get used to it, it’s a device that ends up perfectly suiting the novel. The narrator’s impartial voice floats above the proceedings, never siding with one character or settling exclusively onto their perspective—at times, the third-person narration gives us glimpses into the minds of Clarice Starling, Hannibal Lecter and Buffalo Bill. What the novel also does particularly well is make us probe into the motivations and ambition of Starling, going beyond her desire to simply help people and catch a killer. Opposed at nearly every turn by the institutional roadblocks erected in the path of female FBI trainees, the reader can sense the desperation of Starling and her borderline selfish desire to stand out and prove herself to her entirely male superiors. You can also sense this is part of the reason that Lecter takes an interest in her, finding her ambitions an interesting character trait that he can use to wrap Starling around his finger. This is actually one of the cases where it’s helpful to have seen the film in advance, because you can read Lecter’s dialogue and imagine it being delivered by Sir Anthony Hopkins. That’s a damn good combination to make for a compelling reading experience.  —Jim Vorel

19. The Stand by Stephen King (1978)
Stephen King’s magnum opus nearly didn’t make this countdown, fitting, as it does, more neatly into post-apocalyptic fiction or fantasy. At over 800 pages (more, if you’re reading the uncut edition), The Stand includes as much horror as any of King’s other novels, spurred by a viral outbreak that kills off 99.4% of the population. World-ending scenarios were on everyone’s minds in the ‘70s and ‘80s, as global tensions escalated and means of mass destruction proliferated. King isn’t content to simply explore a post-pandemic wasteland, though; The Stand is his most epic standoff between good and evil, the latter concept embodied by Randall Flagg, a recurring antagonist of King’s who becomes essential to the sprawling Dark Tower saga. Knowledge of that series isn’t necessary to undertake The Stand—just a month or so of dedicated reading time, and a hearty resistance to nightmares.  —Steve Foxe

8. The Shining by Stephen King (1977)
For most modern readers, legendary director Stanley Kubrick’s stay at the Overlook Hotel looms large over Stephen King’s original novel. Nearly all of the moments lodged in the public consciousness—everything you’ve seen parodied on The Simpsons—are only in the film: the elevator of blood, the ghoulish twin girls, the typewriter, “Here’s Johnny!” Pushing past these iconic bits of pop culture reveals one of King’s greatest accomplishments, a hauntingly compelling look at a troubled man’s descent into madness. King’s novel is more sympathetic toward Jack Torrance, a recovering alcoholic writer (sound familiar?) trying to improve his family’s life by taking a job as caretaker of a remote off-season resort with a barely concealed violent history. The house wants Danny, Jack’s gifted young son, and puts the Torrance family through hell to get to him. King infamously hates Kubrick’s adaptation, and while it’s hard to debate the film’s quality or place in the horror movie pantheon, the novel is the more nuanced and, arguably, scarier version of the story, topiary monsters and all.  —Steve Foxe

The Different Covers for David Morrell’s First Blood

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Tony Stella recently posted larger versions of these different covers for David Morrell’s First Blood.

  • The first cover looks like the artist pictured Richard Chamberlain as Rambo.
  • The second cover was on the version of the book I first read back in the summer (of 1973) before I went into 9th grade.  I immediately became a life-long David Morrell fan.
  • The third cover reminds me of a teaser if First Blood had been made into a graphic novel and Rambo was based on Burt Reynolds.
  • The fourth cover reminds me of a corpse who refused to give up his weapon until it was pried from his cold, dead hand.
  • The fifth cover looks like the cover to a horror novel.

The great thing is no matter what the cover looks like the novel is always great!  Highest reccommendation!

Jonathan Maberry Going Down George A. Romero’s “Road of the Dead”

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Remember last year when George Romero announced his next zombie film, George Romero Presents Road of the Dead?  While I was glad Romero was taking part in a new addition to his zombie films, I wasn’t thrilled with the concept which to me sounded like Death Race 2000 meets Dawn of the Dead.

Then in July of last year, Romero gave an interview talking up George Romero Presents Road of the Dead and more.  Sadly, three days later he died.

Today at Comic-Con, IDW announced that Jonathan Maberry will write a 3 issue mini-series based on Romero’s Road of the Dead.  Maberry is the perfect choice for this project having worked with Romero on Nights of the Living Dead anthology last year.  That and the fact that Maberry is a fantastic writer.

In addition to Maberry writing the series, I was pleased to see that my pal, Drew Moss will be providing covers and interior art!

Source: Bleeding Cool.

 

The Unlikely Story of the “Enter The Dragon” Novelization

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Enter the Dragon is one of my all-time favorite films.  The photo above is from the novelization written by Mike Roote.  I read this adaptation in 10th grade.  I got the book from Mrs. Adams’ student library.  Although not as good as the film (how could it be?), I enjoyed reliving the Enter the Dragon experience.

It is important to remember…

…that in the early ’70s – unless a film was shown on TV or did a second round in cinemas – there wasn’t much scope for a re-watch. This was before VHS existed, so buying a book was your best way of reliving the magic.

The Enter the Dragon novelization was a best-seller!   Mike Roote must have been a pretty cool guy to get the gig.

Except Mike Roote wasn’t a guy at all!

Mike Roote was actually a woman named Leonore Fleischer!  Mike Roote was just one of her many pen-names.

If you’ve read this far, you’d probably enjoy The Unlikely Story of the Enter The Dragon Novelization by Craig Lines for Den of Geek.   You’ll learn a lot about the adaptation and may just discover that you’ve read one or more of Fleischer’s novels even if it wasn’t under written her name.

 

 

15 Facts About John Carpenter’s “Christine”

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Sean Hutchinson at Mental Floss posted 15 Facts About John Carpenter’s Christine.  Here are three of my favorites…

2. JOHN CARPENTER SIGNED ON SIMPLY BECAUSE HE WANTED A JOB.
Kobritz approached John Carpenter after the critical and financial failure of his 1982 adaptation of The Thing, which is now widely regarded as one of the filmmaker’s best.

The pair previously worked together on Carpenter’s 1978 TV movie Someone’s Watching Me! and Carpenter agreed to take on the project because he wanted to jump immediately into another movie after his first high-profile box office flop.

8. KEVIN BACON WAS ORIGINALLY CAST AS ARNIE.

Carpenter held auditions in California and New York, looking for the right fresh faces for the teen characters in the film, and he found the perfect newcomer for Arnie: Kevin Bacon.

The now-famous actor’s only other significant work at the time was bit parts in Animal House and Friday the 13th, and Kobritz and Carpenter thought Arnie’s transformation from dweeby hero to suave villain was a perfect fit for Bacon. But after being cast, Bacon dropped out when he was offered a starring role in Footloose.

Carpenter went back the the drawing board to cast Arnie, and eventually found actor Keith Gordon in a play in New York City. Carpenter initially took to Gordon as Arnie because of the actor’s previous appearance in Brian De Palma’s thriller Dressed to Kill.

7. CARPENTER DIDN’T WANT TO CAST MOVIE STARS.

Columbia execs wanted a star-studded cast to round out their King adaptation, and suggested that Brooke Shields—coming off the hit film The Blue Lagoon—be cast as Leigh, and Scott Baio be cast as Arnie. But Carpenter didn’t want recognizable faces in the movie as a way to stress that the titular car was the real star of the movie.

James Byron Huggins Podcast Interview!

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Because we have so many James Byron Huggins fans here, I thought I’d let everyone know that James did a podcast interview and a reading from The Reckoning for The Other Stories.org.

Huggins is probably best known as the author of Hunter which he specifically wrote with Sylvester Stallone in mind as the book’s hero.  Hunter is one of my all-time favorite novels and I’m not alone in that regard.  Stallone fans continue to hope that Sly will helm a movie version of Hunter even if he doesn’t star in it.

Huggins also wrote The Reckoning, Cain, Leviathon, Rora, and other novels. I recommend each of them to fans of thrillers, action-adventure, horror and great writing.

James Byron Huggins is Back!

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James Byron Huggins is back!

Long-time readers probably remember Huggins best as the author of Hunter.  Huggins wrote Hunter specifically with Sylvester Stallone (who bought the movie rights) in mind as the book’s hero.  Hunter is one of my all-time favorite novels and would make an exciting movie!  Stallone fans continue to hope that Sly will helm a movie version of Hunter even if he doesn’t star in it (and he should!).

Huggins wasn’t a one-hit wonder.  He also wrote The Reckoning, Cain, Leviathon, Rora, and other novels.  (And I recommend each of them!)  Huggins’ novels are a combination of thriller, action-adventure and horror.  His skill at seamlessly combining the genres made Huggins an international best-selling novelist.  When two of his books were optioned for over a million dollars a piece, Huggins turned his attention to work on films.

But now James Byron Huggins is back!

International and New York Times bestselling thriller author James Byron Huggins is back with a vengeance. The former police detective-turned successful author has signed with Denver based WildBlue Press to release two new novels and four backlisted titles. The backlisted books will begin release in April, starting with the thriller The Reckoning.  More backlisted titles will release in 2018, including The Hunter, a sci-fi/thriller with film rights owned by Sylvester Stallone. Dark Visions, a brand-new thriller from Huggins will release in July 2018. In the novel, Joe Mac, a legendary homicide detective forced into retirement when he lost his eyesight in the line of duty, is compelled to find whomever or whatever killed his grandson. Even if it costs him his life.

“I am both honored and privileged to put out the books I’ve been working on for so long,” Huggins said.  “I wouldn’t go with any other company. WildBlue will always be my company. They are solid. The best there is.”

Dark Visions will release July 31, 2018.

I am excited to revisit Hunter and The Reckoning.  It will be great to have the new Huggins’ novel, Dark Visions in July.  Now if Sly will add Hunter to his “Films to Do” List…

Reviews That Resonate!

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Recently Christopher McQuarrie sent out the following in a Tweet…

After 25 years of making them, I’ve learned to measure movies not in terms of quality, but of resonance. Some resonate with me. Others don’t. Some resonate with the masses, others don’t. I wasted years of creative energy arguing quality. I was wrong even when I was right.

That quote really, pardon the expression, resonated with me.  So many times when I was reviewing a movie (book, tv show, etc.) and tried to grade it, the end result felt wrong.  There are movies (books, tv shows, etc.) I absolutely love that fall short of being classics, but I don’t love them any less.  At the other end of the spectrum there are movies (books, oh, you get what I mean) that are considered classics that I can’t stand.

Arguing the point with someone who felt differently was, ah, pointless.  So I’ve decided to change up my ratings.  The grades are gone.  Now we have a simple number system that indicates how the movie resonated with me.

Your mileage may be different.  And the cool thing is we’d both be right.