This blog is the place where I post reviews of the books I have read. I review audiobooks, regular books and eBooks for authors and publishers as well as any other book or audiobook that catches my eye.
Something is happening to the residents of Eighth Block Tower….
There’s radiation in the walls. Salt covers the hallways. The food and water are poisonous. The residents are trapped and losing their minds.
Sanity is a myth. Sickness is life.
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MY REVIEW:
I received this book from NetGalley and have to admit that the reason I requested it was because of the genre it was listed as That Genre is Horror.
THE TOWER starts off slowly but immediately the reader realizes that they are not in Kansas anymore. If you enjoy your horror with Sci-Fi elements, you will probably enjoy this book.
With story elements such as a giant green brain 易 and halls that are coated in salt, you know this story is truly strange.
The author may be a bit twisted, but those twisted story elements are exactly what sucks the reader in. William Pauley III has a terrific grasp on human motivation and a true talent for creating three dimensional characters.
All in all, I enjoyed this trip into the fantastical world of THE TOWER, but I definitely think you need to be in the correct frame of mind to delve into the truly weird when you read this book.
I rate it as 3 out of 5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
*** Thank you to #NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book. ***
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
William Pauley III is the author of Automated Daydreaming and Hearers of the Constant Hum.
Dead End Follies recently published an article calling him “one of the most recognizable voices in weird literature.”
He lives in Lexington, KY.
To learn more about this author visit the following links:
Straight, two-time Hugo Award nominee Chuck Tingle’s first horror novella, is now in audio!
When a strange tear in the cosmos appears within Earth’s annual path, the consequences are disastrous. For one night a year, the vast majority of humans now undergo a frightening mental change, transforming into hateful, rage-fueled zombies who will stop at nothing to satiate their desire for brutality.
While not much is understood about this horrific mass hysteria, the demographic it effects is very specific: cisgender straight people.
A few years after the first of these tragic events, four friends from across the queer spectrum look for safety in solitude, hunkering down in a remote desert cabin for what is now known as Saturation Day. With a vaccine available for straight people to curb their violent episodes, some predict the worst is over. Others aren’t so sure.
As night falls, it becomes clear that survival isn’t guaranteed this Saturation Day.
“STRAIGHT” by Chuck Tingle is a novella, so in audiobook format, it is a quick three and a half hour listen. Despite it’s short length, this story is a fabulous listen which horror fans will thoroughly enjoy.
Issac is a bisexual man who is living in a future dystopian Los Angeles, a world that is different than our current reality.
Set in the third year since the first “Saturation Day,” Issac and three queer friends have made plans to leave the city for the duration of that year’s Saturation Day. They are heading deep into the desert to avoid people, hopefully entirely.
So, what the heck is Saturation Day? Well, for some reason, once a year all cisgender (straight) people are overcome with hatred towards anyone who is part of the LGBTQIA2S community. That hatred causes them to attack and kill any queer person they come into contact with.
I love the premise of this audiobook. “Straight” is a mixture of David Moody’s “Hater” and Robert Kirkman’s “The Walking Dead.”
If you are a fan of horror, you should enjoy this audiobook. The narrator does a fantastic job of keeping pace with the escalation of violence, while also using inflection and tone to engage the reader’s attention.
I rate “Straight” as 4 out of 5 Stars. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
I would like to thank Netgalley for providing me with a free advance copy of this audiobook.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Two time Hugo Award finalist Dr. Chuck Tingle is an erotic author and Tae Kwon Do grandmaster (almost black belt) from Billings, Montana by way of Home of Truth, Utah.
He currently resides in the City of Devils (Los Angeles).
After receiving his PhD at DeVry University in holistic massage, Chuck found himself fascinated by all things sensual, leading to his creation of the “tingler”, a story so blissfully erotic that it cannot be experienced without eliciting a sharp tingle down the spine.
To learn more about this author visit the following links:
André Santana is a NYC-based audiobook narrator and plastic plant connoisseur on a journey to tell great stories. He’s a Black, Latine, and non-binary voice actor drawing from his background in spoken word poetry, improv, and public speaking to deliver intentional and human performances. Outside of the booth, André is an avid writer, Polaroid photography enthusiast, and a prolific Google Maps reviewer. As a passionate reader, André holds a particular love for 1st-Person and YA novels. However, he finds wonderful stories everywhere and uses his warm, emotionally dynamic voice in titles across Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Literary Fiction, and more. With a keen sense for character creation and a genuine love for the work he narrates, André is an inevitable fan of every book he records and shares that excitement through his performances.
To learn more about this Narrator visit the following links:
Founded in 1980, Tor Publishing Group has been at the forefront of the science fiction and fantasy genre for decades and has won every major award in the SFF field.
In addition to the eponymous imprint Tor Books, Tor Publishing Group includes a number of specialty imprints, all driven by the editorial passion that has always been Tor’s signature.
Forge Books is committed to publishing quality thrillers and mysteries, speculative fiction, contemporary fiction, and media-related nonfiction.
Nightfire publishes horror books across the breadth of the genre.
Tor Teen and Starscape are dedicated to publishing a select list of quality science fiction, fantasy and contemporary fiction for young readers and teen. Tordotcom Publishing specializes in original science fiction and fantasy, both in novella and novel length.
To learn more about this Publisher visit the following links:
Macmillan Audio was founded in 1987 as Audio Renaissance. With more than twenty years in the business, Macmillan Audio continues to publish audio editions of the best fiction and non-fiction books from our fellow Macmillan trade publishers, as well as many other publishers outside the Macmillan family.
In 2001, the company was acquired by Macmillan, and in 2007 it took on its current name.
That same year, Macmillan Audio launched a children’s imprint, Macmillan Young Listeners, which has been going strong ever since.
To learn more about this Publisher visit the following links:
TWO CANADIAN AUTHOR’S BOOKS APPEAR ON THE LIST OF THE MOST BANNED BOOKS OF 2022 – 2023
It disgusts me that people are still banning books in 2023. Haven’t we become a more enlightened society since the Book Burning events of the Nazis in 1933 and onward until their eventual defeat?
Books and writings deemed “un-German” are burned at the Opernplatz (Opera Square). Berlin, Germany, May 10, 1933. Photographs Obtained from the Holocaust Encyclopedia.
Public burning of “un-German” books in the Opernplatz (Opera Square). Berlin, Germany, May 10, 1933.
Germans crowd around a truck filled with “un-German” books, confiscated from the library of the Institute for Sexual Science, for burning by the Nazis. The books were publically burned at Berlin’s Opernplatz (Opera Square). Berlin, Germany, May 10, 1933.
WHAT’S NEXT? Are we going to start burning libraries? Schools?
Censorship is a slippery slope in my opinion. What do you think?
An instant classic and eerily prescient cultural phenomenon, from “the patron saint of feminist dystopian fiction” (New York Times). Now an award-winning Hulu series starring Elizabeth Moss.
In this multi-award-winning, bestselling novel, Margaret Atwood has created a stunning Orwellian vision of the near future. This is the story of Offred, one of the unfortunate “Handmaids” under the new social order who have only one purpose: to breed. In Gilead, where women are prohibited from holding jobs, reading, and forming friendships, Offred’s persistent memories of life in the “time before” and her will to survive are acts of rebellion. Provocative, startling, prophetic, and with Margaret Atwood’s devastating irony, wit, and acute perceptive powers in full force, The Handmaid’s Tale is at once a mordant satire and a dire warning.
Margaret Atwood is the author of more than fifty books of fiction, poetry and critical essays. Her novels include Cat’s Eye, The Robber Bride, Alias Grace, The Blind Assassin, and the MaddAddam trilogy. Her 1985 classic, The Handmaid’s Tale, was followed in 2019 by a sequel, The Testaments, which was a global number one bestseller and won the Booker Prize. In 2020 she published Dearly, her first collection of poetry for a decade.
Atwood has won numerous awards including the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Imagination in Service to Society, the Franz Kafka Prize, the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, the PEN USA Lifetime Achievement Award and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. In 2019 she was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour for services to literature. She has also worked as a cartoonist, illustrator, librettist, playwright and puppeteer. She lives in Toronto, Canada. PHOTOGRAPH BY LUIS MORA
Magic is real. Those immune to its effects, known as Dis-cons, are considered extremely dangerous threats to society. They are hunted down and killed by an elite terrorist organization known only as Trackers.
Ella is a Dis-con. She’s spent her entire life trying to hide and fool the world around her, pretending she has magic. But when a Tracker finally discovers what she truly is, Ella knows she has to take action—
—but she needs help.
And there’s no one more motivated than Wren. Her mother was also a Dis-con—murdered by Trackers. Ever since that day, Wren’s mission has been to kill every last one of them. When she discovers Ella and her similarities to her mother, the two girls join forces, vowing to take down the Trackers at any cost.
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Books by Author Becca C. Smith
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MY REVIEW:
In an alternate version of the world we live in, magic is a normal part of everyday life. Well, it is a normal part of almost everyone’s life. Everyone that is, except Ella.
Ella, a 17 year old high school student, has a dangerous secret. One that, if discovered, would lead to her gruesome death.
Ella is a Dis-con. This means that spells won’t work on her, nor can she cast spells. In our world this would make her normal. In hers, this makes her an enemy of society.
“Being a Dis-con meant Ella was immune to all spells, and since spells pretty much ran the world, that made her dangerous.”
Regular people are taught from a young age to follow the rules of the three ‘R’s’ when they come across a Dis-con – Recognize, Run, and Reach out.
“Only Trackers had a worse reputation than Dis-cons.” Trackers are terrorists that kill Dis-cons on sight. Those Trackers seem to enjoy their jobs a little too much.
Despite the drama that is inherent in her Dis-con status, Ella is a normal teenager in many ways. She is in her senior year of high school and has a serious crush on a classmate named Ash. She just wants to graduate high-school and move on with her life.
Wren is a new student in Ella’s class. Wren’s use of a memory spell convinced her classmates that she has attended school with them for years. Ella, however, is immune to all spells and she knows the truth. But, why is Wren deliberately deceiving her classmates?
It turns out that Wren, just like Ella, has something to hide. Her mother was a Dis-con who was decapitated by Trackers and Wren is tracking the Trackers. She has vowed to kill every Tracker.
The two young woman will have to team up if they hope to survive the rest of the school year.
Young Adult author Becca C. Smith has created a convincing world that is an alternate reality to our own. Her descriptions are subtle and utterly believable.
The motivations behind the character’s actions make complete sense and readers are able to put themselves in Ella’s or Wren’s shoes. This makes the story relatable.
Any book that keeps me awake and reading long into the night deserves 5 out of 5 Stars. THE SEVERED AND THE HUNTED is un-put-downable. The action starts immediately and never lets up. I will be eagerly awaiting the next book in THE HEXSPHERE CHRONICLES.
*** Thank you to #NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book. ***
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Becca fell in love with storytelling at an early age. The first book she ever read was The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and she’s been looking for the door to Narnia ever since!
She’s a passionate reader, consuming anything sci-fi or fantasy, mix it in with YA and she’s a fan for life. So it’s no surprise that she writes in these genres as well.
When Becca is not writing, she loves to sew, from cosplay to elaborate magical creature bags, she just loves to create!
To learn more about this author visit the following links:
As Sukaq’s mother tells him the story of how the raven created the world, he is suddenly whisked away on the wings of the raven to ride along as the entire world is formed!
Sukaq loves to drift off to sleep listening to his mother tell him stories. His favourite story is the tale of how a raven created the world.
But this time, as his mother begins to tell the story and his eyelids become heavy, he is suddenly whisked away on the wings of the raven to ride along as the entire world is formed!
This traditional legend from Inuit storyteller Roy Goose is brought to life through co-author Kerry McCluskey’s jubilant retelling, and illustrated with photographs of Soyeon Kim’s signature three-dimensional dioramas.
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MY REVIEW:
This is a traditional Inuit story from the Northwest Territories in what is now the country of Canada.
With illustrations so beautifully rendered that they could easily hang in any museum, and an Indigenous creation story that explains how the Inuit have historically explained the creation of the world, SUQAK AND THE RAVEN is a feast for both the eyes and the soul.
Canadians who are truly interested in being part of “Truth and Reconciliation,” need to purchase, and/or advocate for books such as “Suqak and the Raven” to be included in all home, school, and community libraries.
This children’s book is being published by Inhabit Media which everyone needs to learn about. Inhabit is the first Inuit-owned, independent publisher located in the Canadian Arctic and publishes books written in English as well as Inuktitut.
I thoroughly enjoyed this tale and the way it was told. It reminded me of the movie “The Neverending Story” as it is told as a story within a story.
I rate SUKAQ AND THE RAVEN as 5+ out of 5 Stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ and I plan to donate a hardcover copy of this book my local library.
*** Thank you to #Edelweiss for providing me with a free copy of this book. ***
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
“Roy Goose,” Inuvialuit Cultural Centre Digital Library, accessed February 1, 2023, https://inuvialuitdigitallibrary.ca/items/show/3710
Roy Goose learned many of the legends he knows from his great-grandmother, Naimee Mammayuk, who left Alaska and came to Canada around 1910 with the Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Steffansson.
Roy passed his legends on to his children to teach them important life lessons and morals.
Author Roy Goose was a CBC North Radio One presenter.
Kerry McCluskey is a long-term resident of Iqaluit, Nunavut and has no plans to return to southern Canada.
Kerry and her son River like spending time outdoors, at the rink, and in the kitchen.
To learn more about these authors visit the following links:
Soyeon Kim is a Toronto-based illustrator, art educator, and artist, originally from South Korea.
Her work specializes in merging fine sketching and painting techniques to produce three-dimensional dioramas.
Kim is a graduate of York University and has illustrated several children’s picture books, including You Are Stardust, Is This Panama?, and Wild Ideas.
To learn more about this illustrator visit the following links:
Inhabit Media Inc. is the first Inuit-owned, independent publishing company in the Canadian Arctic. They aim to promote and preserve the stories, knowledge, and talent of the Arctic, while also supporting research in Inuit mythology and the traditional Inuit knowledge of Nunavummiut (residents of Nunavut, Canada’s northernmost territory). Their authors, storytellers, and artists bring traditional knowledge to life in a way that is accessible to readers both familiar and unfamiliar with Inuit culture and traditions.
Incorporated in 2006, Inhabit Media was born out of a need for Nunavut kids to see their culture accurately represented in the books they read in schools. Inhabit Media has spent the last ten years working with elders and storytellers from across the Canadian Arctic to ensure that the region’s unique Inuit oral history is recorded and not lost to future generations.
Many of the stories that they publish have never been written down before, having existed for centuries as tales passed orally from generation to generation. While many of these stories are ancient, they work closely with elders, contemporary Inuit writers, and illustrators the world over to present folktales and traditional stories in a format that will resonate with modern audiences across North America. Inhabit Media’s books do not simply provide a glimpse into Inuit culture; they also represent the preservation of oral history and traditional knowledge that may otherwise have been lost, in a format that contemporary readers will find engaging, entertaining, and informative.
As the first independent publishing company in Nunavut, they are excited to bring Arctic stories and wisdom to the world!
To learn more about this Publisher visit the following links:
New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-winning author Christopher Golden is best known for his supernatural thrillers set in deadly, distant locales…but in this suburban Halloween drama, Golden brings the horror home.
It’s Halloween night, 1984, in Coventry, Massachusetts, and two families are unraveling. Up and down the street, secrets are being revealed, and all the while, mixed in with the trick-or-treaters of all ages, four children who do not belong are walking door to door, merging with the kids of Parmenter Road. Children in vintage costumes with faded, eerie makeup. They seem terrified, and beg the neighborhood kids to hide them away, to keep them safe from The Cunning Man.
There’s a small clearing in the woods now that was never there before, and a blackthorn tree that doesn’t belong at all. These odd children claim that The Cunning Man is coming for them…and they want the local kids to protect them. But with families falling apart and the neighborhood splintered by bitterness, who will save the children of Parmenter Road?
All Hallows. The one night when everything is a mask.
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MY REVIEW:
ALL HALLOWS is centered around a single suburban street (Parmenter Road) in the year 1984 and the families who live there. The entire tale takes place over a single day – that of Halloween, also known as All Hallows Eve.
Not only is ALL HALLOWS a horror story, it is also a drama, as well as a commentary on American life in the mid 1980s.
Set in 1984, this horror novel will have readers of a certain age remembering their own lives during the time period in question. Considering the fact that I was in Grade 7 in 1984, the pop culture references were especially nostalgic for me. For example, I remember watching ‘The A Team’ starring Mr. T on television.
Author Christopher Golden seamlessly alternates between several families. He also alternates between each family member’s point of view. This could easily have become confusing to the reader, but Christopher Golden’s writing is perfection.
In fact, it was only upon reflection and the writing of this review that I realized how difficult this type of narrative would be to create. The ability to craft complex plots so seamlessly that the reader does not realize how complicated they truly are is quite simply the mark of a master storyteller. CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN IS THAT MASTER!
People who have little experience with modern horror writers may think of this genre as being all about blood, guts and shock value. This could not be further from the truth and ALL HALLOWS is the perfect example of that fact.
ALL HALLOWS contains several twists and turns in the storyline, as well as converging plots. In addition, the characters are so beautifully rendered that I could easily picture them as being real people rather than just literary characters. In fact, several of them reminded me of people who lived in my neighborhood while I was growing up. Each character is exquisitely developed and has their own secrets, motivations, views on right and wrong, and ties (some secret, some not) to the other characters in the book. This makes for a story with depth and believability, and one that I very much enjoyed.
I was given an advance review copy of the audiobook version of ALL HALLOWS which I thoroughly enjoyed. The use of two narrators; one male, one female, was a great idea. Having two very different actors voice the various characters added authenticity, which in turn increased my enjoyment of the experience.
I will be highly recommending this book to my followers, family, and friends.
I rate ALL HALLOWS by Christopher Golden as 5+ out of 5 Stars. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
*** Thank you to #NetGalley and to #OrangeSkyAudio for providing me with a free #advance #review #copy of this #audiobook ***
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ADD THIS BOOK TO YOUR “WANT TO READ ” LIST ON GOODREADS!
CHRISTOPHER GOLDENis the New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of such novels as Road of Bones, Ararat, Snowblind, Of Saints and Shadows, and Red Hands.
With Mike Mignola, he is the co-creator of the Outerverse comic book universe, including such series as Baltimore, Joe Golem: Occult Detective, and Lady Baltimore.
As an editor, he has worked on the short story anthologies Seize the Night, Dark Cities, and The New Dead, among others, and he has also written and co-written comic books, video games, screenplays, and a network television pilot.
Golden co-hosts the podcast Defenders Dialogue with horror author Brian Keene.
In 2015 he founded the popular Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival.
He was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family.
His work has been nominated for the British Fantasy Award, the Eisner Award, and multiple Shirley Jackson Awards.
For the Bram Stoker Awards, Golden has been nominated ten times in eight different categories.
His original novels have been published in more than fifteen languages in countries around the world.
To learn more about this author visit the following links:
Originally from the Bahamas, Ron Butler (aka Ronnie Butler Jr.) began his acting career in Washington D.C. at the Arena Stage. After studying with the Atlantic Theater Company (William H. Macy, Felicity Huffman, Scott Zigler), he moved to New York to become a company member. He has appeared in plays and musicals in New York and in regional theaters across the U.S.
In 2002 he moved to Los Angeles, and since has accumulated over a hundred film and television credits, most notably as a series regular on True Jackson VP.
In addition to acting, he’s directed and produced short films, new media projects, an independent feature film, commercial PSAs, and television shows in development.
To learn more about this Narrator visit the following links:
January LaVoy is an Atlanta-based actor, voice artist, and director.
January made her Broadway debut in Lucy Prebble’s ENRON in 2010, and has appeared Off-Broadway in Wings (Second Stage), Coraline (MCC), Measure for Measure (TFANA), Mrs. Murray’s Menagerie (Ars Nova, Lucille Lortel Nomination) Two Trains Running, Home,Funnyhouse of a Negro, and Wakey, Wakey (Signature Theatre).
For her work in Funnyhouse, she was deemed one of two “Actresses to Watch” by Hilton Als in The New Yorker magazine. Selected regional theatre credits include: Mattie Campbell in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (Mark Taper Forum, directed byPhylicia Rashad), Kate in Good People (Pittsburgh Public Theatre), Isabella in Measure for Measure (Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey), Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire, Dawn in Lobby Hero, and Portia in The Merchant of Venice (Denver Center Theatre Company) and the world premiere of Native Guard by United States Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner Natasha Trethewey (Alliance Theatre), which was also recorded by LA Theatreworks in 2018. She is a 2010 alumna of the Sundance Theatre Lab.
She has been seen on television in “Blue Bloods”, “N0S4A2”, “Elementary”, and “Law & Order” (classic, CI and SVU), and in 2007 she created the role of Noelle Ortiz-Stubbs on “One Life to Live”, which she played until 2011.
Her voiceover work includes many national commercial campaigns, promos, documentaries, and hundreds of audiobooks. In 2013, she was named Audiobook Narrator of the Year by Publishers’ Weekly. She has been nominated for 18 Audie Awards, receiving 7, and has garnered over three dozen Audiofile Magazine Earphones Awards. In the spring of 2019, she was honored with Audiofile’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the Golden Voice. She shares a 2020 GRAMMY nomination with Meryl Streep and the cast of the Charlotte’s Web audiobook, in which she plays the title role of Charlotte.
She received her MFA from Denver’s National Theatre Conservatory, and has taught audition preparation, scene study, and on-camera technique at Emory University.
To learn more about this Narrator visit the following links:
OrangeSky Audio is an audiobook publisher raising the volume on new ideas, favorite voices, and words that may have otherwise gone unspoken.
Our published works are an exploration of new ideas and hidden gems in popular genres, speaking to adults and children alike.
With the widest retail and library distribution network in the world, we connect listeners of all ages with the stories and narrators they love — and encourage discovery of a next new favorite.
To learn more about this Publisher visit the following links:
T. Kingfisher meets Cassandra Khaw in a chilling horror novel that illustrates the fine line between humanity and monstrosity.
Blackwood mansion looms, surrounded by nightmare pines, atop the hill over the small town of New Haven. Ben Bookman, bestselling novelist and heir to the Blackwood estate, spent a weekend at the ancestral home to finish writing his latest horror novel, The Scarecrow. Now, on the eve of the book’s release, the terrible story within begins to unfold in real life.
Detective Mills arrives at the scene of a gruesome murder: a family butchered and bundled inside cocoons stitched from corn husks, and hung from the rafters of a barn, eerily mirroring the opening of Bookman’s latest novel. When another family is killed in a similar manner, Mills, along with his daughter, rookie detective Samantha Blue, is determined to find the link to the book—and the killer—before the story reaches its chilling climax.
As the series of “Scarecrow crimes” continues to mirror the book, Ben quickly becomes the prime suspect. He can’t remember much from the night he finished writing the novel, but he knows he wrote it in The Atrium, his grandfather’s forbidden room full of numbered books. Thousands of books. Books without words.
As Ben digs deep into Blackwood’s history he learns he may have triggered a release of something trapped long ago—and it won’t stop with the horrors buried within the pages of his book.
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MY REVIEW:
If you are a fan of horror, you HAVE TO buy a copy of THE NIGHTMARE MAN.
I know people label many books “MUST READ,” but this one is different. It truly is a book that horror aficionados will be talking about for a long time to come.
THE NIGHTMARE MAN is 100% a book that EVERY horror fan will not only want to read, but will also want to recommend to their friends.
THE NIGHTMARE MAN is being released on January 10 of 2023, but fortunately, it can be pre-ordered now. I highly suggest pre-ordering this book because once word starts to get out to the horror world, it will be sold out everywhere.
THE NIGHTMARE MAN opens to the scene of a gruesome discovery – an entire family has been killed, their bodies sewn into bizarre cocoons stitched from corn husks and suspended from the beams on the family farm.
The central characters include:
Ben Bookman, an author whose newly released book “THE SCARECROW” is integral to the storyline of THE NIGHTMARE MAN.
Detective Mills – a small town detective who has some creepy habits of his own, and who is exceptional at his job despite his dependence on large quantities of alcohol to get through his days, and especially his nights.
Ben Bookman is the perfectly named novelist whose book, THE SCARECROW, seems to be coming true. Is Ben a closet serial killer? Is a deranged fan attempting to bring the book to life? Or is something, or someone else responsible for the horrific murders?
Blackwood mansion is central to the tale and is where protagonist Ben Bookman grew up. This mansion is the very definition of CREEPY – really creepy and is where Ben finished writing THE SCARECROW.
Along with the crimes committed and the hunt for the person responsible, the author has crafted extensive backstories for each of the main characters. These details are part of what makes this book so compelling, so unputdownable, and so utterly believable.
Think you know how the book’s plot will play out based on what I have written so far? Well, think again. I can 100% guarantee that you will NOT be able to guess what happens next.
Every time I thought I had things figured out there would be a new twist or another gruesomely bizarre murder that added to the mystery.
THE NIGHTMARE MAN has everything horror fans could hope for, and then some.
I rate it as a solid 5 out of 5 Stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
I am now a fan of author J.H. MARKERT and will be eagerly awaiting his next book.
*** Thank you to #NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this audiobook. ***
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
J.H. Markert is the pen name for writer James Markert, an award-winning novelist, produced screenwriter, husband, and father of two from Louisville, Kentucky, where he was also a tennis pro for 25 years, before hanging up the racquets for good in 2020.
He graduated with a degree in History from the University of Louisville in 1997 and has been writing ever since.
The author and his daughter
James Markert: (Copied from his website) James was raised in a household where creativity thrived, paintings and stained-glass windows beautified the walls, and the arts were as regular as the seasons. This upbringing will forever be his muse. James has a history degree from the University of Louisville, where, in his senior year, he was awarded a scholarship as the school’s most outstanding history major. He won an IPPY Award for The Requiem Rose, which was later published by Sourcebooks as A White Wind Blew.
James has ideas for future novels that run the gamut of history from time periods and topics like Charles Dickens, Jekyll and Hyde, Prohibition, the Dust Bowl, the Sixties, both World Wars, the Golden Age of Magicians, and a series on Medieval Cathedral building.
James is the writer and co-producer of the feature film/tennis comedy 2nd Serve, starring several actors from popular television shows like Scandal, The Big Bang Theory, Gotham, Cougar Town, Shameless, and Ray Donovan.
James is also a USPTA tennis pro, and has coached dozens of kids who’ve gone on to play college tennis in top conferences like the Big 10, the Big East, and the ACC. He lives with his wife and two children in Louisville, KY.
Favorite Authors: Stephen King, John Irving, Ken Follett, Pat Conroy, Wally Lamb, George R.R. Martin, Elizabeth Strout, Dennis Lehane, Greg Iles, Anne Rice, Hillary Mantel, Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
Favorite Books: The Stand, The Cider House Rules, The Alienist, Pillars of the Earth, Beach Music, I know This Much is True, The Burgess Boys, The Shadow of the Wind, A Song of Ice and Fire Series.
Favorite Music: U2, Pearl Jam, Cold Play, REM, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Killers, Mozart, Muse, Dave Matthews.
Favorite Shows: Game of Thrones, Justified, Deadwood, Rome, Peaky Blinders, Boardwalk Empire, Breaking Bad, Band of Brothers, The Tudors.
Favorite Movies: Shawshank Redemption, Good Will Hunting, Dead Poets Society, Signs, A Very Long Engagement, Amadeus, Gangs of New York, Sleepers, Saving Private Ryan, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, Seven
To learn more about this author visit the following links:
Crooked Lane Books was founded in 2014 to publish the highest quality crime fiction titles in both print and electronic editions. In 2020 we introduced a second line—Alcove Press—to publish upmarket book club fiction that explores family, friendship, and community.
We are distributed to the trade through Penguin Random House Publisher Services.
To learn more about this Publisher visit the following links:
New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-winning author Christopher Golden is best known for his supernatural thrillers set in deadly, distant locales…but in this suburban Halloween drama, Golden brings the horror home.
It’s Halloween night, 1984, in Coventry, Massachusetts, and two families are unraveling. Up and down the street, secrets are being revealed, and all the while, mixed in with the trick-or-treaters of all ages, four children who do not belong are walking door to door, merging with the kids of Parmenter Road. Children in vintage costumes with faded, eerie makeup. They seem terrified, and beg the neighborhood kids to hide them away, to keep them safe from The Cunning Man.
There’s a small clearing in the woods now that was never there before, and a blackthorn tree that doesn’t belong at all. These odd children claim that The Cunning Man is coming for them…and they want the local kids to protect them. But with families falling apart and the neighborhood splintered by bitterness, who will save the children of Parmenter Road?
All Hallows. The one night when everything is a mask.
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MY REVIEW:
ALL HALLOWS is centered around a single suburban street (Parmenter Road) in the year 1984 and the families who live there. The entire tale takes place over a single day – that of Halloween, also known as All Hallows Eve.
Not only is ALL HALLOWS a horror story, it is also a drama, as well as a commentary on American life in the mid 1980s.
Set in 1984, this horror novel will have readers of a certain age remembering their own lives during the time period in question. Considering the fact that I was in Grade 7 in 1984, the pop culture references were especially nostalgic for me. For example, I remember watching ‘The A Team’ starring Mr. T on television.
Author Christopher Golden seamlessly alternates between several families. He also alternates between each family member’s point of view. This could easily have become confusing to the reader, but Christopher Golden’s writing is perfection.
In fact, it was only upon reflection and the writing of this review that I realized how difficult this type of narrative would be to create. The ability to craft complex plots so seamlessly that the reader does not realize how complicated they truly are is quite simply the mark of a master storyteller. CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN IS THAT MASTER!
People who have little experience with modern horror writers may think of this genre as being all about blood, guts and shock value. This could not be further from the truth and ALL HALLOWS is the perfect example of that fact.
ALL HALLOWS contains several twists and turns in the storyline, as well as converging plots. In addition, the characters are so beautifully rendered that I could easily picture them as being real people rather than just literary characters. In fact, several of them reminded me of people who lived in my neighborhood while I was growing up. Each character is exquisitely developed and has their own secrets, motivations, views on right and wrong, and ties (some secret, some not) to the other characters in the book. This makes for a story with depth and believability, and one that I very much enjoyed.
I was given an advance review copy of the audiobook version of ALL HALLOWS which I thoroughly enjoyed. The use of two narrators; one male, one female, was a great idea. Having two very different actors voice the various characters added authenticity, which in turn increased my enjoyment of the experience.
I will be highly recommending this book to my followers, family, and friends.
I rate ALL HALLOWS by Christopher Golden as 5+ out of 5 Stars. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
*** Thank you to #NetGalley and to #OrangeSkyAudio for providing me with a free #advance #review #copy of this #audiobook ***
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ADD THIS BOOK TO YOUR “WANT TO READ ” LIST ON GOODREADS!
CHRISTOPHER GOLDENis the New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of such novels as Road of Bones, Ararat, Snowblind, Of Saints and Shadows, and Red Hands.
With Mike Mignola, he is the co-creator of the Outerverse comic book universe, including such series as Baltimore, Joe Golem: Occult Detective, and Lady Baltimore.
As an editor, he has worked on the short story anthologies Seize the Night, Dark Cities, and The New Dead, among others, and he has also written and co-written comic books, video games, screenplays, and a network television pilot.
Golden co-hosts the podcast Defenders Dialogue with horror author Brian Keene.
In 2015 he founded the popular Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival.
He was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family.
His work has been nominated for the British Fantasy Award, the Eisner Award, and multiple Shirley Jackson Awards.
For the Bram Stoker Awards, Golden has been nominated ten times in eight different categories.
His original novels have been published in more than fifteen languages in countries around the world.
To learn more about this author visit the following links:
Originally from the Bahamas, Ron Butler (aka Ronnie Butler Jr.) began his acting career in Washington D.C. at the Arena Stage. After studying with the Atlantic Theater Company (William H. Macy, Felicity Huffman, Scott Zigler), he moved to New York to become a company member. He has appeared in plays and musicals in New York and in regional theaters across the U.S.
In 2002 he moved to Los Angeles, and since has accumulated over a hundred film and television credits, most notably as a series regular on True Jackson VP.
In addition to acting, he’s directed and produced short films, new media projects, an independent feature film, commercial PSAs, and television shows in development.
To learn more about this Narrator visit the following links:
January LaVoy is an Atlanta-based actor, voice artist, and director.
January made her Broadway debut in Lucy Prebble’s ENRON in 2010, and has appeared Off-Broadway in Wings (Second Stage), Coraline (MCC), Measure for Measure (TFANA), Mrs. Murray’s Menagerie (Ars Nova, Lucille Lortel Nomination) Two Trains Running, Home,Funnyhouse of a Negro, and Wakey, Wakey (Signature Theatre).
For her work in Funnyhouse, she was deemed one of two “Actresses to Watch” by Hilton Als in The New Yorker magazine. Selected regional theatre credits include: Mattie Campbell in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (Mark Taper Forum, directed byPhylicia Rashad), Kate in Good People (Pittsburgh Public Theatre), Isabella in Measure for Measure (Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey), Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire, Dawn in Lobby Hero, and Portia in The Merchant of Venice (Denver Center Theatre Company) and the world premiere of Native Guard by United States Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner Natasha Trethewey (Alliance Theatre), which was also recorded by LA Theatreworks in 2018. She is a 2010 alumna of the Sundance Theatre Lab.
She has been seen on television in “Blue Bloods”, “N0S4A2”, “Elementary”, and “Law & Order” (classic, CI and SVU), and in 2007 she created the role of Noelle Ortiz-Stubbs on “One Life to Live”, which she played until 2011.
Her voiceover work includes many national commercial campaigns, promos, documentaries, and hundreds of audiobooks. In 2013, she was named Audiobook Narrator of the Year by Publishers’ Weekly. She has been nominated for 18 Audie Awards, receiving 7, and has garnered over three dozen Audiofile Magazine Earphones Awards. In the spring of 2019, she was honored with Audiofile’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the Golden Voice. She shares a 2020 GRAMMY nomination with Meryl Streep and the cast of the Charlotte’s Web audiobook, in which she plays the title role of Charlotte.
She received her MFA from Denver’s National Theatre Conservatory, and has taught audition preparation, scene study, and on-camera technique at Emory University.
To learn more about this Narrator visit the following links:
OrangeSky Audio is an audiobook publisher raising the volume on new ideas, favorite voices, and words that may have otherwise gone unspoken.
Our published works are an exploration of new ideas and hidden gems in popular genres, speaking to adults and children alike.
With the widest retail and library distribution network in the world, we connect listeners of all ages with the stories and narrators they love — and encourage discovery of a next new favorite.
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National Science Fiction Day, observed annually on January 2nd, was first created by the Science Fiction Society of America. The day is intended to celebrate science fiction as a genre and authors who have written within this genre. Some ways people celebrate National Science Fiction Day are by watching science-fiction films or TV shows, reading books from famous sci-fi authors like Isaac Asimov or Ray Bradbury, playing video games with futuristic themes such as Halo 3 or Mass Effect 2, dressing up in costumes based on popular sci-fi characters like Batman’s nemesis The Joker or Star Trek’s Mr. Spock, and even attending conventions that specialize in all things related to science fiction!
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Something You May Don’t Know About National Science Fiction Day from TE3RUTO
What follows is a list of ten secrets you probably didn’t know about National Science Fiction Day (see what we did there?), but should share with your friends so they don’t look like complete dorks at their next convention:
10 – National Science Fiction Day was first observed on January 2nd, 1937 by a group of science fiction fans and writers who wanted to convince President Franklin D. Roosevelt to declare the day a holiday. When he found out they were just trying to make his day, President Roosevelt had the group arrested, but commuted their sentences in exchange for designing all United States’ currency prior to 1989.
9 – Thomas Jefferson was born on National Science Fiction Day (January 2nd) in 1743, making him one of our nation’s most famous science fiction authors. The third president of the United States is best known for his numerous works that formed much of the American mythos including Auguste Dupin and Frankenstein’s Monster.
8 – While Marvel Comics (specifically Dr. Strange ) celebrated this date as Stephen’s birthday in 1973, DC Comics has long celebrated it as Superman’s Kryptonian name day since 1958.
7 – National Science Fiction Day wasn’t officially recognized by the United States government until 1984 when Ronald Reagan signed a proclamation making it an official day.
6 – In order to celebrate National Science Fiction Day, many large bookstores offer discounts on science fiction books and movies.
5 – January 2nd also marks the birthday of several other famous authors such as Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, and Robert Heinlein.
4 – Some people believe that National Science Fiction Day was created to overshadow the popularity of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope which was released in theaters one day earlier on December 25th, 1977.
3 – While some people believe that science fiction is just about space ships and aliens, others believe that it is the literature of ideas and that it should be used to explore the future of humanity.
2 – Some well-known science fiction stories include The War of the Worlds, 1984, and Blade Runner.
1 – The first science fiction convention was held in New York City on July 2nd, 1939. This event is considered to have been the birth of organized science fiction fandom.
Widespread interest in scientific discovery fuels science fiction, including Johannes Kepler’s “Somnium” Voltaire’s “Microsmegas,” and Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels”
1800s —> VERNES and WELLS
Jules Verne’s books, including “Journey to the Center of the Earth” and “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” and H.G. Wells’ stories, including “The Time Machine” and “The War of the Worlds.”
1818 —> THE VERY FIRST SCI-FI NOVEL
Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” considered by many to be the first sci-fi novel, is published
1902 —> THE FIRST SCIENCE FICTION MOVIE
Georges Melies’ “A Trip to the Moon,” widely considered the first sci-fi film, is released
1954
“Sci-Fi” is Coined
“Science fiction” was first shortened to “sci-fi” in 1954, at the same time the term hi-fi appeared.
NATIONAL SCIENCE FICTION DAY ACTIVITY SUGGESTIONS
Raise a toast to one of the greatest science fiction writers, Isaac AsimovThe selection of January 2 as the annual date for National Science Fiction Day is no accident. That’s also the listed birthdate for famous science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. He wrote more than 400 science fiction works. (As a strange but true aside – and what other kind would there be for science fiction – Asimov’s actual birthdate is unknown, as his parents had to declare a birthdate for their son when they immigrated from Russia in 1923, and no one knows if the date they gave is accurate.)
Eat some Reese’s PiecesIn one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, E.T. was lured into following a trail of Reese’s Pieces to meet up with Elliott. And the move made the candy famous, accounting for a nearly tripling of sales in the early 1980s.
Visit a theme park with sci-fi rides and experiencesDisney World and Universal Studios theme parks in Orlando offer some great science fiction adventures. So consider a trip to a theme park on National Science Fiction Day. At Disney World you can rice Mission: Space or interact with Star Wars characters. And Universal Studios has Men In Black, Transformer, E.T., and Marvel super hero rides. Disney World even has a drive-in theater style restaurant, complete with sci-fi movie scenes playing on the big screen.
FACTS ABOUT “THE WAR OF THE WORLDS”
What Happens Next? The novel was initially published in serial form in “Pearson’s Magazine” over the course of several months in 1897
Fiction Becomes Reality (Almost)In October 1938, a radio broadcast of a dramatic adaptation of the novel aired; listeners mistook it for a real news broadcast and the panic that ensure became front-page news
Fat CheckWells was paid 200 GBP for the initial manuscript
Silver ScreenThere have been at least 6 feature films made of the story
To the MoonRobert H. Goddard, who invented two rockets that resulted in the Apollo 11 Moon Landing, says he was inspired by the story
WHY WE LOVE NATIONAL SCIENCE FICTION DAY
It reminds us of the possibilities the imagination can sparkWithout science fiction, the imagination of what’s possible in the future just wouldn’t be the same. Certainly, what’s predicted in sci-fi doesn’t always come true. After all, if The Jetsons had been accurate, we’d all have robot maids and flying cars by now. But even if they aren’t accurate, science fiction stories spark the imaginations of people, helping inspire them to create inventions in the future.
You can let your inner-nerd climb to the forefrontEveryone wants to be well-liked and seem cool to friends and family. But there are times where you have to let your inner-nerd take control, and National Science Fiction Day is the perfect time to allow yourself to be a nerd. Investigate UFO sightings. Get into an online debate about all the plot holes in Lost. Whatever you enjoy about the sci-fi genre that’s nerdy, National Science Fiction Day allows you to embrace it fully!
It’s a great excuse to stream your favorite science fiction movie or TV showThere are so many great sci-fi movies and TV shows available, and everyone has a favorite. So National Science Fiction Day is the perfect excuse to pick the movie that appeals to you the most, find it online, and stream it. And don’t feel guilty that you’ve watched it enough times to be able to recite every line in the movie along with the actors. It’s your favorite sci-fi movie for a reason, right?
T. Kingfisher meets Cassandra Khaw in a chilling horror novel that illustrates the fine line between humanity and monstrosity.
Blackwood mansion looms, surrounded by nightmare pines, atop the hill over the small town of New Haven. Ben Bookman, bestselling novelist and heir to the Blackwood estate, spent a weekend at the ancestral home to finish writing his latest horror novel, The Scarecrow. Now, on the eve of the book’s release, the terrible story within begins to unfold in real life.
Detective Mills arrives at the scene of a gruesome murder: a family butchered and bundled inside cocoons stitched from corn husks, and hung from the rafters of a barn, eerily mirroring the opening of Bookman’s latest novel. When another family is killed in a similar manner, Mills, along with his daughter, rookie detective Samantha Blue, is determined to find the link to the book—and the killer—before the story reaches its chilling climax.
As the series of “Scarecrow crimes” continues to mirror the book, Ben quickly becomes the prime suspect. He can’t remember much from the night he finished writing the novel, but he knows he wrote it in The Atrium, his grandfather’s forbidden room full of numbered books. Thousands of books. Books without words.
As Ben digs deep into Blackwood’s history he learns he may have triggered a release of something trapped long ago—and it won’t stop with the horrors buried within the pages of his book.
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MY REVIEW:
If you are a fan of horror, you HAVE TO buy a copy of THE NIGHTMARE MAN.
I know people label many books “MUST READ,” but this one is different. It truly is a book that horror aficionados will be talking about for a long time to come.
THE NIGHTMARE MAN is 100% a book that EVERY horror fan will not only want to read, but will also want to recommend to their friends.
THE NIGHTMARE MAN is being released on January 10 of 2023, but fortunately, it can be pre-ordered now. I highly suggest pre-ordering this book because once word starts to get out to the horror world, it will be sold out everywhere.
THE NIGHTMARE MAN opens to the scene of a gruesome discovery – an entire family has been killed, their bodies sewn into bizarre cocoons stitched from corn husks and suspended from the beams on the family farm.
The central characters include:
Ben Bookman, an author whose newly released book “THE SCARECROW” is integral to the storyline of THE NIGHTMARE MAN.
Detective Mills – a small town detective who has some creepy habits of his own, and who is exceptional at his job despite his dependence on large quantities of alcohol to get through his days, and especially his nights.
Ben Bookman is the perfectly named novelist whose book, THE SCARECROW, seems to be coming true. Is Ben a closet serial killer? Is a deranged fan attempting to bring the book to life? Or is something, or someone else responsible for the horrific murders?
Blackwood mansion is central to the tale and is where protagonist Ben Bookman grew up. This mansion is the very definition of CREEPY – really creepy and is where Ben finished writing THE SCARECROW.
Along with the crimes committed and the hunt for the person responsible, the author has crafted extensive backstories for each of the main characters. These details are part of what makes this book so compelling, so unputdownable, and so utterly believable.
Think you know how the book’s plot will play out based on what I have written so far? Well, think again. I can 100% guarantee that you will NOT be able to guess what happens next.
Every time I thought I had things figured out there would be a new twist or another gruesomely bizarre murder that added to the mystery.
THE NIGHTMARE MAN has everything horror fans could hope for, and then some.
I rate it as a solid 5 out of 5 Stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
I am now a fan of author J.H. MARKERT and will be eagerly awaiting his next book.
*** Thank you to #NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this audiobook. ***
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
J.H. Markert is the pen name for writer James Markert, an award-winning novelist, produced screenwriter, husband, and father of two from Louisville, Kentucky, where he was also a tennis pro for 25 years, before hanging up the racquets for good in 2020.
He graduated with a degree in History from the University of Louisville in 1997 and has been writing ever since.
The author and his daughter
James Markert: (Copied from his website) James was raised in a household where creativity thrived, paintings and stained-glass windows beautified the walls, and the arts were as regular as the seasons. This upbringing will forever be his muse. James has a history degree from the University of Louisville, where, in his senior year, he was awarded a scholarship as the school’s most outstanding history major. He won an IPPY Award for The Requiem Rose, which was later published by Sourcebooks as A White Wind Blew.
James has ideas for future novels that run the gamut of history from time periods and topics like Charles Dickens, Jekyll and Hyde, Prohibition, the Dust Bowl, the Sixties, both World Wars, the Golden Age of Magicians, and a series on Medieval Cathedral building.
James is the writer and co-producer of the feature film/tennis comedy 2nd Serve, starring several actors from popular television shows like Scandal, The Big Bang Theory, Gotham, Cougar Town, Shameless, and Ray Donovan.
James is also a USPTA tennis pro, and has coached dozens of kids who’ve gone on to play college tennis in top conferences like the Big 10, the Big East, and the ACC. He lives with his wife and two children in Louisville, KY.
Favorite Authors: Stephen King, John Irving, Ken Follett, Pat Conroy, Wally Lamb, George R.R. Martin, Elizabeth Strout, Dennis Lehane, Greg Iles, Anne Rice, Hillary Mantel, Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
Favorite Books: The Stand, The Cider House Rules, The Alienist, Pillars of the Earth, Beach Music, I know This Much is True, The Burgess Boys, The Shadow of the Wind, A Song of Ice and Fire Series.
Favorite Music: U2, Pearl Jam, Cold Play, REM, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Killers, Mozart, Muse, Dave Matthews.
Favorite Shows: Game of Thrones, Justified, Deadwood, Rome, Peaky Blinders, Boardwalk Empire, Breaking Bad, Band of Brothers, The Tudors.
Favorite Movies: Shawshank Redemption, Good Will Hunting, Dead Poets Society, Signs, A Very Long Engagement, Amadeus, Gangs of New York, Sleepers, Saving Private Ryan, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, Seven
To learn more about this author visit the following links:
Crooked Lane Books was founded in 2014 to publish the highest quality crime fiction titles in both print and electronic editions. In 2020 we introduced a second line—Alcove Press—to publish upmarket book club fiction that explores family, friendship, and community.
We are distributed to the trade through Penguin Random House Publisher Services.
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