Category: Books

Charlie Huston – We Have a Problem!

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I discovered Charlie Huston‘s work a month ago when I read his first novel, Caught Stealing. Last night I finished Huston‘s second novel, Six Bad Things. Both books are among the best that I’ve read in the last year and both tell the tale of Hank Thompson.

Ten years ago Hank was a hot prospect to play some college baseball. A broken leg and some bad choices killed any shot of college ball and so Hank drifted up to New York where he found work as a bartender.

Things were going smoothly untl one night when two guys pulled him over the bar and beat him nearly to death. The next thing Hank knew he was on the run from the Russian mob, two Black cowboys, and a dirty cop. If Hank can figure out what’s going on, he just might get out of this alive and with some of the $4.5 million that everyone thinks that he has!

On the strength of Caught Stealing, Charlie Huston jumped onto my “Author’s to Watch for List.” Seeing that Six Bad Things was just as good, he’s now on my “Buy It Now List.”

I’m putting in my pre-order for the final book in the Hank Thompson trilogy, A Dangerous Man, and also ordering Already Dead, Huston‘s novel about a detective who happens to be a vampire!

That means that I’ll have all of his novels. He’s just going to have to start writing faster.

Soloman & Hunter… Now Thorn

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James Byron Huggins is one of my favorite authors. I’ve enjoyed every book that I’ve read by him, and two [Cain and Hunter] are all-time favorites. In fact, I’ve always wished that Huggins would do a sequel teaming the two heroes, Soloman and Hunter, in a new adventure.

Although Sorcerer, Huggins‘ latest novel, doesn’t bring back either Soloman or Hunter, it does introduce us to a new hero, Michael Thorn. Thorn is an ex-cop, ex-Airborne Ranger who, at 45, has opted for early retirement after seeing more than enough action in the military and as a decorated detective. Thorne, his wife, and two children move to a remote New England town where they buy a house in the country.

Any hope for a peaceful retirement is gone when Thorn discovers a hidden room in his basement. In the room he finds a skeleton chained to the wall. The manacles are engraved with an ancient writing. When the skeleton disappears and people start turning up dead, Thorn suddenly finds himself allies with Assassini sent from Rome to do battle with the ancient evil that has returned from the grave!

Huggins has the ability to make a story move, but never at the expense of character development. He also has the talent to make the unbelievable believable. I must admit that before reading the book,. I was worried that the villain would be some kind of wizard like in Harry Potter or King Arthur. Boy, was I wrong. This sorcerer is an ancient evil who dared to challenge Moses himself!

I thoroughly enjoyed Sorcerer and wouldn’t mind a sequel. Hmmm… maybe Thorn could team with Soloman and Hunter on a new adventure?

The Walking Dead – Pick Your Edition

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If you’ve been searching for missing back issues to The Walking Dead, thinking about picking up the graphic novels, or looking for a great starting point to join in on this classic series by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard; then wait no more.

The Walking Dead: Book One is a 304 page hardcover that reprints the first 12 issues. It’s a great bargain since prices for the original comics, if you can find them are through the roof. Of course, if you don’t want the hardcover edition, but still crave even more zombie action, you can take advantage of this special and get 4 trade paperbacks collecting the first 24 issues for just $32.23!

Price that low are to die [and reanimate] for!

Samuel Hiti and Two of his Rambo Drawings!

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Samuel Hiti is a 30-year-old artist, who made his graphic novel debut in New York with his Xeric Award-winning “End Times/Tiempos Finales.”

Mike Mignola, creator of the cult favorite “Hellboy,” said it was the best graphic novel of the year.  Samuel was nominated for “Best New Talent” for the 2005 Harvey Awards. Samuel has worked for major companies such as Nike, The New York Times, Disney, and adapted The 2004 Paramount/Dreamworks movie of “Lemony Snicket – SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS” into comic book form for Nickelodeon magazine.

I discovered Samuel’s site while surfing the web. While enjoying Samuel‘s art, I also learned that he’s a Rambo fan. Samuel recently drew a scene from Rambo and had so much fun with it, that he now does a Rambo Quote of the Week. Samuel graciously agreed to me posting a couple of examples here on the SZ.  – Craig

The Creature from the Black Lagoon is Back!

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As many of you know, I’m a big fan of monster movies. Especially the classic monsters… Frankenstein, Dracula, The Wolfman, and of course, The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

So you can imagine my reaction when I found out that a new series of original novels based on these characters was coming out later this year. You can read about The Creature from the Black Lagoon‘s novel HERE.

Don’t worry, I’ll keep you posted on new additions to the series.

Blue Belle Scores Two

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While thinking about some of my favorite comic book covers yesterday, my mind switched gears and began to ponder about some of the covers to novels that I also love.

The first one that came to mind was the art on the hardcover to Andrew Vachss‘ Blue Belle. The jacket design is by Carol Devine Carson and the photograph is by William King.

This was the first Andrew Vachss novel that I ever read and of course he quickly became one of my favorite authors. I don’t know what it is about the cover that I love so much. Maybe it’s the noir-mystery vibe that it gives off. My guess is the cover would still be a favorite even if the novel wasn’t.

How ‘Bout Some Free Cell?

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Remember last week when I was telling you about how cool Stephen King‘s new novel, Cell, sounded? [If not click you can click HERE.]

Anyway, if you think that Cell is something that you MAY like, then you might want to pick up the current issue of Entertainment Weekly [the 2006 Preview issue]. It features the first two chapters of Cell with some cool illustrations by Tomer Hanuka.

My guess is if you’re interested enough to read this far, you’re going to love the novel.

Stephen King and Zombies

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Civilization doesn’t end with a bang or a whimper. It ends with a call on your cell phone.

So begins the book description for Stephen King‘s latest novel, Cell, which will be released later this month.

I first talked up Cell last August. At that time I posted:

King describes Cell as “a violent piece of work, which comes complete with zombies set in motion by bad cell phone signals that destroy the human brain. Like cheap whiskey, it’s very nasty and extremely satisfying.” Stephen King and zombies! Count me in.

This is the first Stephen King book that I’ve been excited about in years. I can’t wait to read this bad boy.

Stephen King and zombies. Why that’s a combo right up there with M&Ms and peanuts.

Another Can’t Miss Blockbuster

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The DaVinci Code was on the best seller list for years. Even people who didn’t normally read books picked it up… and most loved it. The buzz was huge. Except for Jaws and Harry Potter, I can’t think of any other novels that instantly became a part of popular culture like The DaVinci Code.

Next summer The DaVinci Code will make the transition to the big screen. My guess is that the movie will also be a blockbuster. Ron Howard‘s directiing it and Tom Hanks is the lead.

How can it go wrong?

If the trailer is any indication, it can’t.

Like Cheap Whiskey, Very Nasty and Satisfying

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Today while surfing the net I came across a couple of items that should interest most ZONErs.

The first is that several authors [including Stephen King, John Grisham, Peter Straub, Neil Gaiman, Lemony Snicket, Michael Chabon and others] are participating in an auction for charity where the winning bidders will get to name a character in each author’s novel. How cool is that?

The second item of interest is directly related to the first, in that Stephen King‘s participation in the auction involves a new novel titled Cell. King describes Cell as “a violent piece of work, which comes complete with zombies set in motion by bad cell phone signals that destroy the human brain. Like cheap whiskey, it’s very nasty and extremely satisfying.” Stephen King and zombies! Count me in.

And come to think of it… maybe I should take a shot at the auction as well. A zombie named “Big Beatty” is just too cool not to give it a go.

A Story About a Valuable Stolen Property

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If you’re like me or any of the other 36 million people who’ve read Dan Brown’s The DaVinci Code, then you probably love a good conspiracy story.

If that’s the case, then whoo-boy, do I have a doosey for ya.  Lewis Perdue has not only accused Dan Brown of plagiarizing from Perdue‘s books The DaVinci Legacy [published in 1983 ] and Daughter of God [published in 2000], but he has taken his case to court and the Internet.

A recent court ruling by Judge George Daniels of U.S. District Court in New York says that “Any slightly similar elements are on the level of generalized or otherwise unprotectable ideas.”

Still, Perdue plans to appeal this decision and argues that there are over 300 significant similarities between his book and The DaVinci Code. Perdue further argues that “in an analysis of more than 50 pivotal plot events, sixty-five percent of these – 65% – occur in the same order.

In his latest blog post, Perdue says despite Judge Daniels’ ruling, Perdue’s battle to show that Brown plagiarized his work isn’t over, in fact, “It’s hardly begun.”

You can find more of Perdue’s thoughts HERE.

I’ve read and enjoyed Brown’s The DaVinci Code.

I haven’t yet read Perdue’s The DaVinci Legacy or Daughter of God, but I should since they sound like good conspiracy stories.

Then again, maybe I should just follow Perdue’s Battle Against Brown.

Hollywood Animal

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Joe Eszterhas was, at one time, the highest paid screenwriter in Hollywood. He was also the first screenwriter to make the 100 Most Powerful People in Hollywood list.

Eszterhas’ first movie was F.I.S.T. which starred Sly Stallone. Before the movie was released Eszterhas and Sly had a few very public squabbles although they did ultimately patch things up. Eszterhas went on to write some of the most popular movies being produced. Movies like Flashdance, Jagged Edge, and Basic Instinct.

On Tuesday, Eszterhas‘ latest book, Hollywood Animal : A Memoir will be released. It promises to be a “shocking and often devastating look inside the movie business. It intimately explores the concept of fame and gives us a never-before-seen look at the famous. Eszterhas reveals the fights, the deals, the extortions, the backstabbing, and the sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll world that is Hollywood.”

Man, if it does all of that, I’ll bet it could make a good movie. Hmmm… I wonder who’d write it?

One Last Bullet for 2004

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I hope that everyone made it to this side of 2005 with a minimum of damage. 2004 was a good year and I’m hoping for even better things in 2005. But before we leave ’04 completely, I thought I’d give a brief rundown of some of the highlights entertainment-wise [at least for me]…

Movies: I loved the Dawn of the Dead re-make and The Passion of the Christ. [Kinda strange that they were both about people who rose from the dead.]

Collateral was very good and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow and The Chronicles of Riddick were fun rides.

Several of the best movies that I saw in 2004 were older movies that I discovered on DVD or cable. The original Metropolis was stunning even 77 years after it was made. And you know I love the whole tough guy – noir genre, so seeing movies like On Dangerous Ground, Brute Force and The Big Heat made my day.

TV: The Shield, 24, Survivor and West Wing continue to make my “Must See TV” list. And although Alias still hung in there, ER fell from the ranks. Lost soared to the top of the list and I enjoyed Boston Legal when I caught it.

Novels: The best were Portrait of a Murderer: The Jack the Ripper Case Closed by Patricia Cornwall, Double Play by Robert Parker, Sensei by John Donohue, and Rain Storm by Barry Eischer.

Comics: My favorite comic of the year was Grave Digger: The Scavengers by Christopher Mills and Rick Burchett. The writing and art meshed perfectly to create a comic that’s impossible not to enjoy. If we don’t get more Grave Digger stories from Mills and Burchett, then there’s no justice.

My favorite graphic novel of the year was The Wicked West by Todd Livingston, Robert Tinnell and artist, Neil Vokes. Anyone who is a fan of westerns, horror or simply great graphic novels would love The Wicked West.

My favorite on-going series were The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman and Charles Adlard [which just keeps getting better and better] and 100 Bullets by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso.

Blogs: Mark Evanier’s News from ME is required reading daily. He’s funny, informative and blogs don’t get any better. Jeff Parker’s Mystifying Oracle and Mike Wieringo’s blog don’t appear daily but when they do, they’re worth a read.

Breakfast: Was a three hour marathon session [and NO, we weren’t eating the whole time] with my ole pal Jim Ivey last week. Jim will soon be 80 and we hadn’t been able to get together in quite a while. Christmas Break seemed like the right time to clear my schedule and make a trip over to see “Jimbo” and I couldn’t have asked for a better time. Jim seemed to enjoy it too. ; )

Now… on to 2005!

Anyone Going to SAHARA?

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The official site for Sahara has opened up with a Quicktime trailer.

While it looks like it’s going to be a fun movie, it doesn’t quite give me the feel I had when I read the bestseller of the same name by Clive Cussler.

For one thing Matthew McConaughey seems a bit young to be playing world adventurer Dirk Pitt. But if they’re looking to build a tentpole out of this series, then younger is probably better.

The other thing that jumped out at me as a bit diferent than the book is how funny Steve Zahn is as Pitt‘s sidekick is. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a good mix of humor in the book, but the trailer really played it up… which again, may not be a bad thing.

And Penelope Cruz is always a plus!