Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Remember when I first told you about the Drink and Draw Social Club? Then I told you about the launch party for their cool art book The Drink and Draw Social Club Vol. 1.
Now you can check out some cool pics from the launch party posted by LeSean Thomas and Dan Panosian.
Remember when I told you about the Drink and Draw Social Club?
300: The Art of the Film rates an “A”
5. Already Dead by Charlie Huston. Modern day vampire clans are at war and Joe Pitt has a missing girl to find. Huston’s next Joe Pitt novel, No Dominion, is available now.
4. Persuader by Lee Child. I’m coming to this series late in the game, but that doesn’t make me like it any less. Child has a winner with his Jack Reacher novels. In this outing, Reacher is working undercover with the FBI to catch an international gun-runner.
3. The Road by Cormac McCarthy. A father and young son journey south through a bleak post-apocalyptic world. Food is scarce and only what they can scavenge. They must make the journey to escape the brutal winter that is almost upon them. If they don’t starve odds are one of the roaming bands of cannibals will find them. Still they press on.
2. World War Z by Max Brooks. A haunting book that Chad Hunt also recommends!
1. Stealing Home / Six Bad Things / A Dangerous Man by Charlie Huston. Yeah, he’s the same Charlie Huston that wrote Already Dead. In this trilogy we meet Hank Thompson. When we first meet Hank he’s ten years out of high school and working as a bartender in New York City. Had it not been for a badly broken leg, he would have been a big league baseball player. Now he’s the nice guy who drinks too much and lacks real ambition. That is until the night two strangers yank him over the bar and beat him nearly to death. When he gets out of the hospital he gets more visitors and another beating. Soon he’s on the run from crooked cops, mobsters and hit men. If he lives maybe he’ll get a piece of the millions of dollars that they believe he has. Six Bad Things and A Dangerous Man complete Hank’s story. I loved every page and wish that it didn’t have to end.
Over at his blog, my buddy Chad, was talking up what an awesome book War World Z is.
And it is.
I read it a few months ago and regularly think about how cool it was. Chad had the great idea to get the audio version of the book. After seeing how much Chad enjoyed listening to it [and this is AFTER reading it], I may have to do the same. [It would be to fun listen to on a long road trip at night!]
Well, my post can’t just be about how cool Chad’s post was, can it? I guess it could, but I always like to bring something to the table. So HERE is a link to the official World War Z site. It has a lot of fun things to check out. For instance, I had a 34% chance of surviving the zombie war. Ok, maybe THAT wasn’t the best example I could have used for a fun thing… but you get the idea.
Ok… you guys check out the World War Z site and I’ll get to work on scooping Chad‘s next post.
Drive written by James Sallis opens with Driver [the main character] wounded and slouched against a cheap hotel room wall. Three dead bodies lay around him. From there the story takes us back showing us glimpses of how a violent childhood led to his current double-life where his talents behind the wheel have brought him to a potentially bloody end. Before his betrayal on a heist doomed from the start, Driver simply drove. He didn’t even carry weapons. Now, wounded and with a price on head, things are about to change…
The Wheelman by Duane Swierczynski opens in the middle of a bank robbery which has gone south. Still, with a little bit of luck Lennon [the driver] and the two robbers get away… briefly. What follows is a fast paced, violent, and at times humorous story of what happens when crooked cops, the Italian mob, the Russian mob, and other quirky characters take an interest in getting their hands on Lennon and the money. Swierczynski takes the story [which moves at a breakneck pace] and fills it with double-crosses, surprises and great prose.
I’m currently reading Underland by Mick Farren. It’s got modern day vampires, as well as modern day Nazis, conspiracy theories, UFO’s and more. I’m digging it and am only about 1/2 way through.
Before Underland I read Already Dead by Charlie Huston. Huston has quickly become one of my favorite writers. Already Dead also features a modern day vampire, uh vampyre. As much as I’m enjoying Underland, Already Dead is even better. It combines The Godfather, Raymond Chandler, Mickey Spillane and the end result is pure Charlie Huston. I highly recommend this one!Okay… enough about me and vampires. I’d write more but I’m off to watch the latest episode of Blade.
Although Mr. Spillane started his career as a comic book writer, it was his Mike Hammer novels that made him a superstar. The first, “I, the Jury” was a hit with readers everywhere, critics be damned. Spillane followed up with 12 other Mike Hammer books… 9 other novels… and a bunch of short stories. Most folks don’t realize that Mr. Spillane also wrote two young adult novels [one which won a prize from the Junior Literary Guild].
As much as I enjoyed Spillane‘s books, I liked his attitude even more. He considered himself a writer, not an author. Spillane was more concerned with royalty checks than reviews… and his fans dearly loved him.
I miss him already.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mickey Spillane‘s family, friends and fans.
Just this week it was announced that Brad Pitt beat out Leonardo DiCaprio to see who could bring “World War Z“ to the silver screen. Seems kind of strange that two of the biggest stars in the world would be in a bidding war over a zombie movie. But there you go… World War Z is Max Brooks‘ follow up novel to his cult classic The Zombie Survival Guide.
It was also announced this week that Josh [”Lucky Number Slevin”] Hartnett is set to star in the movie adaptation of 30 Days of Night. I think that Harnett is an excellent choice for the lead and so does 30 Days author Steve Niles. Filming is set to begin in early August.
In college I got into King in a big way. I was reading everything that he published. The Shinning [great book — I read it in a single night! and a pretty scary movie], Salem’s Lot [another excellent novel with a cool, modern twist on vampires — and a decent tv mini-series] The Dead Zone [perhaps the best movie adaptation of a King novel] … and the hits just kept on coming [although the movies weren’t always as good]… The Stand, Cujo, Pet Sematary, Firestarter, Christine, It, etc. etc. etc.
I did buy and immediately read Cell when it came out in hardcover. I was hoping for a more traditional zombie story, but never the less, I did really enjoy it.
Tomorrow night ABC is presenting a three hour adaptation of Desperation. For some reason, I’m really looking forward to it. Most likely I’ll record it for viewing some late weekend night. I haven’t read the book, but if the movie is works, perhaps it’ll give me just enough reason to pull it off the shelf and see if the novel is good enough to make it to the book case.
