A Quick Update

It seems like this little blog has stagnated a bit. While I’ve kept myself quite busy, I’ve somehow failed to keep New Reads updated on my goings-on. Here, in brief review, are the book-related details of my life since February’s update.

For Horror News:

Nevermore by Harold Schechter, a phenomenal first-person “biography” penned by Edgar Allan Poe.
The Rage Plague by Anthony Giangregorio (new review).
Morning is Dead by Andersen Prunty, which was one of the stranger reads I’ve had in a while.

I even took a stab at film reviews with Daybreakers, which I enjoyed enough to snag a Type B+ blood (water, unfortunately) bottle off eBay.

For Dark Markets:

Reprints:
Nightlight by the Harvard Lampoon.
John Dies at the End by David Wong

New Reviews:
Eleven Twenty-Three by Jason S. Hornsby (which also features a quote from my review on the back cover). The novel will be available for purchase in August, and we will be running an interview with him when the street date approaches.
Dead Eye: Pennies for the Ferryman by Jim Bernheimer.
The Tale of the Vampire Bride by Rhiannon Frater.
Necrophilia Variations by SUPERVERT (interview with the author forthcoming).

Interviews:
David Dunwoody, author of Empire.
Greg Hall of Choate Road and host of The Funky Werepig podcast.
D.L. Snell, editor and author of Demon Days (interview originally posted here).
Jacob Kier, owner of Permuted Press.

I’ve read a handful of books recently that were not slated for review anywhere and were bought by me, out of pocket, simply for reading pleasure. Whether or not I get around to reviewing them is up in the air at this point.

Crossing by Andrew Xia Fukuda
I (Heart) Lord Buddha by Hillary Raphael (second readthrough)
Ximena by Hillary Raphael

In other news, I’ve been a bit busy on the writing front as well. I’ve appeared in a few anthologies with several more in the works. I’m the editor of Kody Boye’s upcoming rerelease of Amorous Things, a collection of short pieces focusing on the many facets of love and my first novel, In the Teahouse, is slated for release through Library of Horror Press.

I even have, believe it or not, an honest-to-goodness Goodreads author page now.

All in all, not bad for a five month stretch, wouldn’t you say?

A Bit of News on the Review/Interview Front

I haven’t really announced it properly yet, but as of a few weeks ago I’ve been brought onto the Dark Markets staff as chief reviewer/interviewer. This is in addition to my Horror News position, so I’m doubling up on work for the time being.

I never really expected the review thing to take off. I started this little blog as a way to keep myself accountable and track my 50 Books Challenge progress, and it kind of erupted into something bigger than I’d ever thought possible. The idea of authors actually wanting my opinion and giving me free books to review blows my mind, but I’ve got a stack of them right here to prove it’s actually happened.

I’m a full-time college student as well, and in addition to that I’ve just taken a part-time job to pay the bills. My time is extremely limited, and I’m a known scatterbrain despite my near compulsion to micromanage my life. I’m not always successful, but I try. I just want to let everyone who’s sent me review copies or interview requests know that I’ve got them all in the queue. I’m trying to get through them all as quickly as possible, but it may be a bit slower than some would like. I’m working on it. I haven’t forgotten anyone and I will get to every single thing that’s sent my way.

Thank you all for your kindness, your generosity and your interest in my opinion. It’s an awesome honor to receive so many requests. The path to my heart, despite the assumption that it may lie in my stomach, truly is through free books.

The Order of the Bull by Jason Brannon

Chapbooks are awesome and will always hold a special place in my perpetually teenaged heart. The Order of the Bull is a quick and entertaining read, and I’m somewhat saddened to know that only twenty-six copies of it exist in print. I’ve got #5.

You can read my whole review over at Dark Markets.

Every Sigh, the End by Jason S. Hornsby

I read this over the last few weeks of Fall semester and kept telling myself I’d collect my thoughts enough to write a coherent review of it eventually. Well, that day has come and the review is now up at DarkMarkets.com.

This a really, really unique read, one I probably wouldn’t have gotten to for quite some time were it not for placing in Permuted Press’s flash contest at this past year’s Horror Realm convention. It was one of my prizes (along with Derek Gunn’s The Estuary, which I will get to as soon as my review copies have been read and reviewed).

Bangkok Haunts by John Burdett

Sonchai Jitplecheep, one of the most sympathetic and complex police detectives in present day crime fiction, returns for a third round of heartache and murder in Bangkok Haunts. First there was a dead US Army officer inside a locked vehicle teeming with snakes. Then there was the brutal disembowling and castration of a lonely CIA agent in a rented hotel room. This time, Burdett has upped the stakes (and the brutality) by starting his novel off on the very first page with depictions of the cruelest violence imaginable.

Damrong, prostitute turned porn starlet, is murdered on screen by her costar during an erotic film shoot. Having been at one time, very briefly, one of her lovers, Sonchai is horrified to find footage of the act sent to him anonymously on an unmarked DVD. Along with friend and occasional partner Kimberly Jones of the FBI, Sonchai sets out to find out who killed Damrong and just how far the web of perversion reaches.

Like any other Burdett novel, Bangkok Haunts teems with violence, sexual depravity and Buddhist observation. Just as in the novels that came before, what should be a fairly easy case to solve (following the money trail is never too difficult in Sonchai’s world) becomes more and more complex by the page, until readers are overloaded with subplots, double-crosses, broken hearts and motives so imaginative and disturbing that in another author’s care would come across as incredibly hokey. Like any other Burdett novel, the twisting plot and improbable complications work like a charm, only this time around the dealings are way more spiritual (some would even say magical) than they were before.

Half incredibly violent crime noir, half exotic pornography, Bangkok Haunts almost left me wishing I had a ghost creeping up on my bed at night. Almost.

The fourth Sonchai Jitpleecheep novel, The Godfather of Kathmandu, came out two days ago, and already it’s at the top of my must-read list. Burdett is an exceptionally adept storyteller, and has an amazing talent for creating meaningfulness out of depravity.

8/10

HorrorNews Review of Derek J. Goodman's Apocalypse Shift

My first review for HorrorNews is now up. I reviewed The Apocalypse Shift once before, several months ago, but it’s a damn fine book and needs more publicity than it’s receiving at the moment.

THE APOCALYPSE SHIFT|Written by Derek J. Goodman| Book review|HorrorNews.net

Horror Reviews Going Elsewhere

While I fully intend for this little blog to keep chugging along, I’m now writing my horror reviews for HorrorNews.net. Interviews within the horror genre will also be more than likely posted there as well.

Any books or persons already covered on that site will be covered here instead. Several books in my TBR queue have already been covered by other reviewers.

I’m very excited to be a part of HorrorNews, even in a very minor capacity. I expect my first review to be up shortly, and we’ll see how it goes from there.