Henry is a boy with a gift. The gift of imagination. Whether he’s a secret agent out on a mission, dodging bullets and killing bad guys, or a boy following a group of rabbits, his imagination is so vivid that at times it’s difficult for him to distinguish between what is real and what is imagined. Funny thing about imagination though—it can play tricks on you; tricks that can make you want to forget the past ... “Just start at the beginning,” Henry’s dad says, “and the rest will take care of itself.”

Brian Freeman’s THE PAINTED DARKNESS can be described in two words: Fucking Awesome.

At times The Painted Darkness reads like a mix of Stephen King’s IT, DUMA KEY and THE MANGLER, with parts of ALICE IN WONDER LAND to boot. And, just when you think you have it all figured out, well, let’s just say: What Brian giveth, Brian can taketh away.

There’s no question (in my opinion) as to whether or not Uncle Stevie has been an influence in Brian’s writing—as his writing oozes with classic Stephen King style. Brian’s pacing and storytelling were spot-on, invoking a sense of fear and chills as I read, and in the end he took me by surprise with a refreshing twist.

The Painted Darkness (CEMETERY DANCE PUBLICATIONS) is scheduled for a November release in hardcover and can be pre-ordered now at CemeteryDance.com.

FINAL VERDICT

A 5 out of 5. With an opening from horror-master, Brian Keene (an honor in-and-of itself), clever interior illustrations by Jill Bauman, and a tale so wickedly told it begs to be re-read, this is “one for the books” that all the cool kids will be reading. DO NOT MISS THIS ONE!

And remember …

Just start at the beginning and the rest will take care of itself …

For Immediate Release

(Calgary, Alberta) EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing is delighted to announce that Julie Czerneda and Susan MacGregor will be the editors for "Tesseracts Fifteen: A Case of Quite Curious Tales", to be publishing October, 2011.

This edition of the award winning series of original Canadian Speculative Fiction comes with a twist and touch of whimsy.

"We've decided to do something different with Tesseracts Fifteen." said Brian Hades, owner of the EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing imprint. "This volume will focus on Young Adult Speculative Fiction - which can include science fiction, fantasy, and horror. However submissions must appeal to the YA audience and be PG-14 in content. As usual, Tesseracts Fifteen is open to both short fiction and poetry submissions."

Each Tesseracts anthology since volume one (1985) has featured editors hand picked for each particular volume. For this volume, Julie Czerneda and Susan MacGregor have agreed to co-edit.

"We seek wonder and astonishment." said the editors. "Stories that engage the imagination, inspire dreams, and leave hope in their wake." Both Czerneda and MacGregor want all Canadian speculative fiction writers to "write what will become the classics for a new generation of readers, to be remembered, fondly, for years to come."

"I'm honoured to be part of the remarkable Tesseracts anthology series." says Czernada on her website, "I?m especially pleased by EDGE?s enthusiasm for the first-ever YA version. This will be a blast from start to finish."

Trade imprints:
EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing
Tesseract Books
Website: www.edgewebsite.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/EDGEpublishing
Facebook: http://facebook.com/EDGE-Science-Fiction-Fantasy-Publishing

Here's part 2 of my interview with PC Cast.



8 . More and more adults are reading YA fiction, and the majority are many years, if not decades, out of high school. What do you think is the attraction?

I’ve always thought a good story is a good story. JK Rowling showed the world age and genre aren’t as important as character and plot. I’m just trying to follow in her footsteps!

9 . What do you envision happening within the YA field in the next 5-10 years?

I hope the insurgence of interest in YA literature will continue to draw in new and talented authors as well as increasing the reader base. I’m certainly planning on doing my part!

10 . I heard that you have a love of The Highlands, and are looking to purchase property there? How does this particular part of the world inspire you over all the other places you’ve travelled to? And have you found your sanctuary yet?

I absolutely LOVE the Highlands! Not least because I'm in love with a Scottish Clan Chieftain, and he's very comfortable there and wherever Seoras is, that’s my sanctuary. As an author I appreciate the magic of the land and the sense of history and fantasy that seems to rise from the mountains with the mist. When I’m away I miss the perfect silence of the mountains and the magic of the mist lifting from the lochs. I miss the majesty of the land and the feeling I get from the people, too. It's a coming home feeling of being welcome and accepted as myself. There are no pretentious in the Highlands.

11 . Name one random thing that your readers would be shocked to know about you?

I have two tattoos. Two big tattoos.

The Novel Blog would like to thank PC for her time.

Here's the link to my review of THE AVENGER.

http://www.thenovelblog.com/tnbReviews.aspx?id=1276

Last month I had the pleasure to interview PC Cast as part of her promotional blog tour, for her new book THE AVENGER.
Here's what she had to say.



1 . You were a high school teacher for fifteen years. Now that you’re no longer teaching, how do you keep up with what’s on their minds, and their ever changing slang?

I think once you know teenagers, you know what’s on their minds. The details shift with changes in generations, but that’s just commonsense. What’s important doesn’t really change. And I’ve created the characters all ready – they change and grow according to who they are, not according to pop culture or opinion. i don’t worry about the slang; I just make them sound like themselves.

2. With writing being a mostly solitary work, what process occurs between you and your daughter when you’re working on a new storyline?

Actually, I don’t really co-author with Kristin. She serves as my teen voice editor. I do all the writing, and when I’ve finished she goes through the manuscripts and comments on voice and pop references. So, no, she doesn’t influence any other writing. The truth is she doesn’t read my adult books. She says, “No, Mom. The sex is just too gross.”

3 . In many bookstores, I’ve often seen The House of Night Series set-up nest to the Twilight series of books. For new young readers out there, can you tell us how they differ?

The biggest difference is that the HoN is based on a matriarchal culture. The girls are in charge. They don’t wait for the guys to save them – often my girls do the saving of their guys. The HoN is also grittier and more realistic in its dialogue and the way I deal with teenage issues like sexuality, peer pressure, parent issues, etc.

4 . Through Mills & Boon’s new range Nocturne, you have a new book coming out soon called, The Avenger. What can your readers expect that’s different from where you’ve taken them before?

THE AVENGER is a wonderful paranormal romance that was a pleasure to write. It’s a time travel/ghost story/love story. I send my heroine, ex Air Force sergeant Alexandra Patton back in time to try to retrieve a piece of an ancient medallion that had been hidden in Boudicca’s torque. Alex has the unique (and often troubling!) ability to communicate with the dead – a handy skill in ancient Briton. She thinks she’s going to go back in time – accomplish her mission – and return to the modern world to go on with her life. What she doesn’t expect is to meet a druid warrior who will change the course of her destiny!
THE AVENGER is aimed at an adult audience, unlike the House of Night books which are all young adult. That being said, I dislike the idea that genres aren’t fluid. A good story is a good story, no matter the intended audience. I think my HoN fans who are not too young will love THE AVENGER, especially as it deals with Boudicca and her daughters – and in the HoN world it is Boudicca’s daughters who begin the Dark Daughters!

5 . Will The Avenger be a single title, or the beginning of a new series?

The Avenger is part of the Time Raiders series which is a unique series of paranormal time travel romances written only by authors who served in America’s Armed Forces. All of our heroines are military women, and they’re on a mission to find pieces of an ancient medallion that, once put back together, will save the world. It’s a great series, and THE AVENGER was lots of fun to write! I loved taking my heroine back to 60 AD Briton, and having Boudicca as a secondary character.

6 . You’ve had great success with your current projects, the House of Night, Luna and The Goddess Summoning series; why the sudden shift into historical crime?

I don’t really look at it as a shift in genre because I’m maintaining paranormal elements. Truthfully, I rarely think about genre when I write. I think about the story and the characters – they’re what drive my books, not genre.

7 . The House of Night series has sold over 10 million copies worldwide, why do you think your voice is being heard above all the rest, considering there are so many paranormal YA books out there?

I like to think I struck a nerve with teenagers because I understand them and the issues they face, and I believe the time is right for a strong girl power story in a matriarchal world.



To be continued...

It’s 1478BC and in the court of Pharaoh Queen Hatusu, murders and intrigue are rife. She can call on only one man to investigate and thus stop the scurrilous whisperings about her right to rule.

Amerotke the respected judge in sent to investigate the bizarre murders at the Temple of Horus. Weaving in the tale of a mystery solider return from the dead and two missing men lost in a maze in the desert, only Amerotke can piece the clues together, avoid assassination and catch the killer.

Doherty weaves such a spell with his words and his research and knowledge into ancient Egypt is so that you can almost smell the spices in the markets and feel the heat of the desert sun.

An excellent series of historical whodunits, well recommended.

Liz Gilbert has everything a woman could want - a successful career, a loving husband and a beautiful home – but instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she’s plagued by confusion, self doubt and hatred, and an all consuming panic that sends her crying on the bathroom floor in the middle of the night.

In her early thirties and having been married for six years she finds the pressure to have a baby causing the rift between her reality and her sanity. She needs more than that life “society” has ground into America’s subconscious. And when a nasty divorce and another failed relationship sends her reeling even more –she sets out to examine her herself - to find the truth behind her journey.

I have to admit that curiosity about the Eat Pray Love “movement,” (with it now being a major motion picture, starring an Academy Award winning actress) got me to pick up this book. But sheer stubbornness to actually finish a book that bored me to tears and angered me to end, was what compelled me to read it passed page 30.

Gilbert takes us on a three part journey of self discovery through Italy, India and Indonesia, but at no time did I feel a connection to her or the countries that were supposedly inspiring a spiritual awakening.
I merely was reading about one person’s narcissistic tendencies taking over her mental ability to decipher between being selfish and being open to the world’s healing power.

There was no moment that revealed a deeper understanding of the spirit that resides within us, waiting patiently to be released; or even a journey into the mystery of mysteries. All I saw was a lack of grace and humility from a woman who ran away from her problems.

So I’m left to wonder about the millions of women (and men) who have spiritual crisis everyday and can’t run off to find God in an Ashram in India? Are they doomed to live an unhappy life and slit their wrists for release?

Was there a point to this book other than a good venting session? But I forgot, it was a memoir, and aren’t they meant to be self indulgent?

With his latest novel Overwinter, David Wellington has continued to solidify his status as one of the most talented (and underrated) writers working within the horror genre today. With an oeuvre that spans the sodden trail of zombies, vampires, and werewolves, Wellington has consistently put an original spin on these classic monstrous icons, while creating vividly imagined worlds filled with rich characters that consistently live on long after the final page is dispatched.

The sequel to the stellar werewolf tale Frostbite, Overwinter continues the journey of newly turned lycanthrope Chey Clark as she struggles with not only her developing pedigree as a supernatural beast of legend, but also her increasingly complex attraction and dependence on Powell, the werewolf who killed her father and ultimately turned her.

Complicating matters is the appearance of Lucie, the twisted sociopath who sired Powell, as well as the brilliant hunter Varkanin who is seeking revenge against the werewolves. In addition to these substantial new wrinkles, Chey must contend with the horrible realization that with every metamorphosis, she surrenders more and more of her humanity to the beast within threatening to break free of her psyche once and for all.

While performing at less of a breakneck pace than its predecessor, Overwinter expands the origin of the Werewolf mythos, making excellent use of Inuit animism legends originally hinted at with the mysterious Dzo in Frostbite. In doing so, Wellington grounds the story firmly in the midst of the origin of mankind, giving the ensuing events an epic scope and resonance.

Prolific by any standard, Wellington’s novels (Overwinter being no exception) consistently succeed at avoiding the rushed and anemic narratives that many modern horror authors and publishers seem to be falling victim to. These are not stories written simply for leisure, immediately forgotten and discarded into the stacks. This is an author who writes stories of depth, emotion, and passion, ratcheting up the tension and horror by connecting with the reader on a visceral, deeply human level.

Lean, exciting, and filled with enough carnage to satisfy hardcore genre fans, Overwinter continues the author’s creative dominance (whether recognized or not) of the horror lists. If you’re not reading David Wellington, you are simply missing out on a writer at the top of his artistic game.

After finding Lisbeth Salander shot in the head and near death in her father’s farmhouse, Mikael Blomkvist is even more determined to bring her father and his accomplices; an inner circle of men he’s named The Zalachenko Group, who have been involved in 35 year conspiracy, to justice. As his tunnel vision consumes him, leading him to dark and dangerous places, he uncovers information that could not only exonerate Lisbeth, but bring down one of the biggest and most trusted government agencies in history.

Lisbeth lies in critical condition at a Swedish hospital. She’s fighting for her life, knowing that when she recovers she’s to be transferred to prison to await her trial for a triple homicide. As she tries to focus on healing, she soon learns that her father is not only alive, but a hall’s length away and secretly coming to her room at night.

Meanwhile Erika Berger has defected from Millenium to SMP, the largest newspaper in Sweden. Unable to untangle herself from the Blomkvist and the Zalachenko affair, she nevertheless tries hard to steer the reins and bring a floundering paper into the black. But she meets resistance at every turn, a resistance that could lead to her horrifying death.

I was insanely excited to get right into the meat of this book, as the first two of the trilogy consumed and entertained me to no end. But as I started reading I soon realized that the third book of this, dare-I-say phenomena, and the last in Larsson’s career, wasn’t of the same caliber as the other two.
Don’t get me wrong, it is a must read for fans of the trilogy. It ties up loose ends nicely and has some heart pounding scenes that will be talked about for years to come. But there’s a certain slow-as-molasses pace in the beginning that makes you put the book down and not want to return to it for a long time.

Berger, who is merely a secondary character and sexual distraction for Blomkvist in the first two books, now has a primary storyline that, to me seemed completely unnecessary as it did nothing to move the main storyline forward. But as a standalone story, it’s a thrilling mystery that shocked and entertained.

But to fast forward through all the poorly edited and needless plot points (you can tell that due to Larsson’s death the proper editing was left to amateurs), there’s a shining star in this book, which is the part I referred to before, as what will be talked about for years to come; the behind-closed-door Salander trial.
Giannini, Lisbeth’s lawyer, is barely a secondary character, not only in this book but the series at large. However in the end Larsson has her come crashing forward with a spine-tingling, nail-biting cross examination, with a feverishly emotional dialogue that will most probably mark a precedent for future courtroom dialogue in thriller novels.

This is the highlight of the book and the reason why I’m sad that I won’t be able to indulge in Larsson’s creativity again.

When Logan Thibault (thigh-bolt) finds the photograph of a mysterious woman in the sand while on tour in Iraq, he thinks nothing of it. However, after escaping almost certain death multiple times, the photograph begins to take on a new meaning, eventually being referred to as his ‘lucky charm’ by the other soldiers.

After finishing his tour of duty, Logan sets about to discover the woman in the photograph when he’s told by his friend and fellow Veteran, Victor, that he ‘owes her for keeping him safe’.

When I first read Nicolas Sparks’ THE NOTEBOOK I was taken by how well he could tell a story without interrupting the reader. While the movie didn’t do the book justice (in my opinion) it did open a world of opportunity for Nicolas and his excellent writing skills. 15 books later, he’s still at it and his latest, THE LUCKY ONE, will be sure to please his fans—I think.

For me, I was left with a feeling of disappointment. Nicolas does so well in The Lucky One building tension between Logan, Beth and Clayton that when the tension (a character almost in itself) finally comes to the front between the three I was expecting great things. Instead, what I got was a rushed ending that tries to tie everything up in three (short) chapters that it spent the first 350+ pages leading up to. A major disappointment given how great everything was that lead up to it. My first thought after closing the book was: Really?

FINAL VERDICT

If you’re a Sparks fan then you’re going to read this. I liked everything up until the rushed ending and I suspect anyone who reads this will feel the same. It’s far from a waste of time; just don’t expect a lot in the end.

Another week and another Zombie book seems to be out there. Have we reached walking dead saturation point yet, it doesn’t seem so.

So what does Joe McKinney give us?

The Texas Gulf Coast is hit by hurricane after hurricane and out of the devastation the dead rise and the plague spreads and San Antonio cop Eddie Hudson has the fight of his life to keep alive and try and find his missing wife and baby son.

There is nothing new in plot or premise, but what we do get in spades is fast paced action: gun shooting, brain exploding relentless the dead alive and eating flesh action. The pages fly by in your hands as our cop hero gets into scrape after terrifying scrape, stopping at nothing to get back to his loved ones.

I rather enjoyed the ride with him.

Verdict:

Day of the Dead meets Die Hard.....