Library Reads: November 2013

The November Library Reads list came out today.  I am particularly excited to see Mira Grant's newest horror novel on the list! [It's the last one.]

The top pick was....

Bellman & Black

by Diane Setterfield

Published: 11/5/2013
by Atria/Emily Bestler Books,
an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
ISBN: 9781476711959
“William Bellman is a happily married father with a promising future, until an event from his childhood comes to haunt him and everyone he loves. Beautifully written with a vividly enticing setting, Bellman & Black is a truly gothic tale that will you have entwined in its arms until the very end.”

Scott Lenski, Whitefish Bay Public Library, Whitefish Bay, WI

I too am excited for Setterfield's follow up to The Thirteenth Tale [a personal favorite].
 

The rest of the list includes...

 

Through the Evil Days: A Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne Mystery

by Julia Spencer-Fleming

Published: 11/5/2013 by Minotaur Books
ISBN: 9780312606848
“Reverend Clare Fergusson and Police Chief Russ Van Alstyne’s honeymoon retreat to the Adirondacks is interrupted by a brutal winter storm and a complicated police investigation involving a kidnapping, a drug ring and the murder of federal agents. Spencer-Fleming’s suspenseful and engrossing procedural introduces a fun, new character (Oscar the German Shepherd) and ends with a signature cliffhanger.”

Leslie DeLooze, Richmond Memorial Library, Batavia, NY

 

 

The Death of Santini: The Story of a Father and His Son

by Pat Conroy

Published: 10/29/2013 by Nan A. Talese
ISBN: 9780385530903
“Pat Conroy’s amazing voice is back and makes me realize how much I have missed hearing it. The Death of Santini takes a hard look at what has been the most obvious influence on Conroy’s work–his family. Happily, this is not anything close to a pity party, but rather a lesson about how redemptive the powers of love and humor can be.”

Jennifer Dayton, Darien Library, Darien, CT 

 

Someone Else’s Love Story: A Novel

by Joshilyn Jackson

Published: 11/19/2013 by William Morrow
ISBN: 9780062105653
“Being held at gunpoint during a convenience store robbery jolts Shandi, a young single mom, out of her denial about her 3-year-old miracle son’s origins. When her rescuer, William, a geneticist with Asperger’s, offers a way to find out what really happened the night her son was conceived, Shandi has to face the past to find her own love story. I loved every page of this funny and endearing Southern novel.”

Melissa DeWild, Kent District Library, Comstock Park, MI

 

The Valley of Amazement: A Novel

by Amy Tan

Published: 11/5/2013 by Ecco
ISBN: 9780062107312
“A new Amy Tan novel is an event. Under her sharp-eyed observations of mothers and daughters and their inexplicable bonds, is a powerful story of love, family, courage, and history.”

Kaite Stover, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, MO

 

Lies You Wanted to Hear: A Novel

by James Whitfield Thomson

Published: 11/5/2013 by Sourcebooks Landmark
ISBN: 9781402284281
“What causes a person to make bad choices, and to remain on a path so disastrous it could destroy a family? Thomson’s first novel raises these questions and explores the course of a failed marriage. The story is bitter and painful, but you’ll want to stick with it for the surprising turn that makes you wonder who is most to blame.”

Nancy Russell, Columbus Metropolitan Library, Columbus, OH

The Cartographer of No Man’s Land: A Novel

by P. S. Duffy

Published: 10/28/2013 by Liveright
ISBN: 9780871403766
“Angus MacGrath is caught between the artist he longs to be and the naval career his father believes is more fitting for a man supporting a family on the coast of Nova Scotia. Angus enlists in World War I with the promise of a safe cartographer’s job, but finds himself thrust on the front lines of battle in France. The emotional havoc is palpable. Life changes in the blink of an eye and Duffy does a masterful job of letting the reader watch everyone desperately trying to catch up.”

Jennifer Hendzlik, Anythink Libraries, Thornton, CO

 

The Raven’s Eye: A Brock and Kolla Mystery

by Barry Maitland

Published: 11/12/2013 by Minotaur Books
ISBN: 9781250028969
“The latest Brock/Kolla mystery begins with a sudden death on a London houseboat. Unusual setting, great plot, wonderful writing. This fabulous series is yet to be discovered by many American lovers of British police procedurals. Great recommendation for fans of Ruth Rendell, Elizabeth George, early Martha Grimes and Deborah Crombie.”

Janet Lockhart, Wake County Public Libraries, Cary, NC

 

Death of a Nightingale: A Novel

by Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis

Published: 11/5/2013 by Soho Crime
ISBN: 9781616953041
“Compulsive do-gooder Nina Borg is now involved with Ukrainian detainees seeking asylum in Denmark. Among them are Natasha, an abused refugee and widow of a slain journalist, and her anxious 8-year-old daughter, Katerina. The two are pursued by a mysterious, powerful Ukrainian woman and Danish security forces, who consider Natasha a suspect in her fiance’s murder. Two plots gradually merge in a dramatic climax. Recommended for fans of Karin Fossum, Arnaldur Indridison, Colin Cotterill and mystery lovers who prefer plots that explore social justice and morality.”

Margaret Donovan, Cary Memorial Library, Lexington, MA 

 

Parasite

by Mira Grant

Published: 10/29/2013 by Orbit
ISBN: 9780316218955
“Mira Grant’s first outing after the completion of the Newsflesh Trilogy lives up to the standard entirely. What a creepily plausible look at the medical industry and scientific experimentation. I’m on the edge of my seat waiting for the sequel to this one.”

Emily Hartman, Spring Lake District Library, Spring Lake, MI


Click here for access to past Library Reads lists [in verse chronilogical order].  Remember, the old lists make for great "sure bet" suggestions.

What I'm Reading: Series Roundup Trail of the Spellmans and Blackout

In the spring I read two new books in some series I enjoy, so I thought I would do brief reviews with readalike updates in one post.

First up is the 5th installment of Lisa Lutz's hilarious San Francisco set PI series featuring the Spellman family, but narrated by Izzy, the middle child and a partner in the family own PI business.  I was so excited for Trail of the Spellmans to come out because Lutz had hinted that the 4th book (click here for my review) would be the last.

As in the "previous documents" (Lutz's running gag), Izzy is not only trying to solve a few mysteries, but she is also trying to get a handle on her eccentric family and friends.  The book evolves like the others in the series in that the Spellmans are investigating a few different individuals, except this time, many of the cases overlap, so the different investigators in the family are hilariously trying to keep information from each other so that no breaches of confidentiality happen.  But of course, as PIs they all want to know and begin trying to investigate each other instead.

New characters added to the mix this time are Izzy's boyfriend Henry's Mom, grumpy Grandma Spellman, and a new non-relative employee/resident in the Spellman household.

As a fan of this light series, I continue to enjoy Izzy's evolution into a full fledged grown-up.  Trail of the Spellmans deals with her relationship with Henry, but more importantly, she grows in her place in the business.  And this time there is an ending which resolves the mysteries but leaves a big surprise at the end; a surprise which will start a new chapter in the series.

Cheers to Lutz for keeping the series fresh and continuing to move the story forward.  Just know that with Lutz, you are in for more humor than mystery, more character than plot, tons of wit and irony, and lots of laughs.  Serious reading this is not; but it is a fun way to pass 8-10 hours.

Three Words That Describe This Book: humorous, private investigations, character centered

Readalikes:  In the past I have suggested readalikes for Lutz often.  Use this link to access them.

Some series I think are also humorous, smart, and character centered are The Ethelred and Elsie series by L. C. Tyler and the Mama series by Deborah Sharp.  Both have a family angle too.

My next series roundup review is of a last book in the Newsflesh Zombie Thriller trilogy, Blackout by Mira Grant.  Click here for the reviews of the first two books in the series.

To summarize though, here is what I said about the series at the Public Library Association Conference this past March (contact me for the full handout on "Trends in Horror Series"):

When Mira Grant began her Newsflesh series, people took notice immediately.  The series is best described as David Baldacci meets Dawn of the Dead.  It is set in a near future in which the cure for the common cold, mixed with the cure for cancer has caused a small zombie problem. The world is full of zombies and they are not nice. Another speculative feature of this world is that when the dead started rising, the traditional news outlets ignored the story, but not bloggers.  Bloggers saved the day by working together to figure out what was going on and pass on information on how to properly kill a zombie and protect yourself.  In the first novel, our three heroes run a blogger network and uncover a deadly political conspiracy.  By the second, the bloggers are starting to realize the conspiracy’s roots go back to the start of the zombie plague.

As I have said many times about this series, while there are zombies here, it is not HORROR.  The appeal in these books is in the thriller, conspiracy, and the average Joe taking down the corrupt government story lines.  The zombie angle adds frame (and some fun zombie attack scenes).

That being said, Blackout, as the conclusion of this well plotted and entertaining trilogy, did not disappoint.  The conspiracy is revealed in its entirety, old characters from the first book return, and the good guys win (but with some casualties). This is an important point.  The series reveals itself to be true thriller in how it ends--happily ever after for Shaun and Georgia.  As someone who prefers horror, I could have done with a more realistic ending (ie, tragic), but I understood the series was more Baldacci than Maberry, so I was fine with it.

In terms of appeal, this is a fast paced book with 2 alternating points of view, with two separate story lines that converge about halfway through. At times the story is all about explaining the conspiracies or the movements of characters and then just as it begins to slow down, BAM!, zombie attack and everyone is on the run.

The action sequences are very well done, and unfold in a cinematic manner.  There is a fabulous one at the end inside the White House!  If Grant's prose cannot get your heart pumping, than you may need to check if you still have a pulse.

Three Words That Describe This Book: political conspiracies, zombies, fast paced

Readalikes: You can use this link for the readalike authors I suggested when I read the first book, Feed.

I would also suggest the Bourne series by Ludlum and others for those who want more conspiracy, and the Daniel Silva Gabriel Allon series for those who want a well plotted, smart, action packed thriller.

Finally, for darker suspense which crosses over well with horror readers, try John Sandford's Prey Series or anything by Dean Koontz.

More backlog of reviews coming out soon...

What I'm Reading: Red Moon

One of the hot books of this summer is Red Moon by Benjamin Percy.  It was being marketed as a werewolf version of Justin Cronin's The Passage which readers of this blog know I love.  In fact, Cronin even reviewed this thriller in the NY Times Book Review.

Red Moon is being hyped as a literary, supernatural thriller.  Back to yesterday's post, this is one of those examples of the blurring of genre lines to the point that no one is sure where this book should be classified.

And that is where I want to start with my review, even before I get into details about the plot because I think this is essential.  In my opinion, this novel has been marketed inaccurately. I mean, NYT Book Review?  Usually that is meant for literary books or the most literary of genre fiction.  Red Moon is not that.  And that's okay.  You need to understand the dominant genre appeal here and then you will match this book with the correct reader.

So, what type of reader would most enjoy this book? At its heart, Red Moon is a thriller in the most old fashioned, textbook sense. This is a great choice for fans of techno-thrillers [a thriller with a speculative element from plausible, but not currently possible science] more than fans of paranormal or literary thrillers.  I will explain as I begin my more traditional review now.

The setting of this speculative thriller is an alternate current America where a prion that spreads through blood, bites, or sex can make people part werewolf (or lycan as they call it).  In Percy's world, this has been going on for thousands of years.  Many of the world's lycan live in their own republic near Northern Russia.  Currently, the Americans have occupied the Lycan Republic with troops for many years, both for the citizen's safety and for the uranium.

Lycans who wish to live peacefully in American must be drugged so that they cannot change at the full moon.  They must submit to drug tests to prove they are complying.  As you see this is a dystopian set-up where lycans are going to eventually rebel. (It's kinda an obvious allegory)

The novel opens with a series of brutal lycan, terrorist attacks on airplanes (again, thinly veiled 9/11).  From there we meet our three main characters: Patrick-- the only survivor of the plane attacks, he is a teenager who lives with his National Guard enrolled Dad; Claire-- a law abiding lycan living a boring life in Wisconsin whose parents are killed by the authorities after the plane attacks; Chase-- the meathead governor of Oregon (where most of the action unfolds) with Presidential aspirations.

Patrick, Claire, and Chase narrate most of the book. Eventually their stories all collide.  There are a few other secondary characters who get to take a few turns narrating.  Percy strings the narrators together well.  Watching all of their stories work toward meeting up is interesting and will keep you interested for the 500+ pages [hopefully].

In true thriller fashion, chapters end with cliff hangers to keep you turning the pages, and although there is a lot of bloodshed along the way, the good guys win in the end [with a tiny bit of evil left to survive to maybe live another day in a sequel].  But unlike most true thrillers, there is a lot of time spent building the connections between all of the problems in the novel's world and our real life one.  This bogs it down a bit.  Also, unlike most thrillers, there is not the obvious hero to root for.  That is where the literary fiction designations start to come in.  Percy inserts symbolism and nuanced characters into what should be a straight ahead thriller filled with action.  Here the blending causes an identity crisis for the novel.

If you couldn't tell yet, I did not like Red Moon.  It dragged too much for me in the middle and the thinly veiled symbolism of our reactions to the Middle East, terrorism, AIDS epidemic, 9/11 and the current political landscape were so simple they annoyed me.  But the main reason I was not a big fan was that I read for characters, and I did not feel like Percy's main characters were developed well enough.  I got a little bit of their motivations, but never engaged with them for good or bad.  I felt like he relied on too many stereotypes. For example, I found Chase to be a flat caricature, and that is a problem since he is one of the main characters. Patrick and Claire never got their hooks in me either.  See my readalikes section below where I discuss why I think I felt this way and offer "better" suggestions.

But I could see many readers who love techno-thrillers who will eat this up.  Many people will also enjoy the mix of contemporary problems and concerns with the mythology and lore of the werewolf. Just make sure they know what to expect when you hand this hot book out to readers.

Three Words That Describe This Book: techno-thriller, werewolves, shifting pov

Readalikes:  While some fans of The Passage [mentioned at the start of this review] will enjoy Red Moon, I have a few more techno-thrillers with horror tropes and characters to suggest that I think are much better matches.

Red Moon is very much like Jonathan Maberry's best-selling techno-thriller series featuring Joe Ledger. I reviewed the first book in that series, Patient Zero, here, and wrote about the difficulty of classifying it here [includes comments by Maberry himself]. The switching of pov, the terrorism angle (only here it is scientifically created zombies instead of scientifically explained lycans), and a thriller pacing/story line are all present in the Ledger books.  You can access the entire Joe Ledger series information in detail here.

Much of what I have said in this review for Red Moon is similar to what I said about Mira Grant's Newsflesh series.  I call that one David Baldacci with zombies.  I think this trilogy would be highly satisfying to people who liked Red Moon. Click each title for a review: Feed, Deadline, and Blackout.

Please Note: in my opinion, the character development, plotting, and overall flow of the Maberry and Grant series are better than Red Moon. I think this is because Maberry and Grant are genre writers, while Percy is from the literary world.  He tried to do genre here, but it is not his natural writing style, and that shows, at least to me. For a better example of a literary writer trying to write a speculative thriller, click here to see my review of Zone One by Colson Whitehead.

If you want a nice long (500+ pages), speculative thriller like Red Moon, but, in my opinion, better because it was written by gifted writers who ply their trade in genre, I would suggest 11/22/63 by Stephen King or NOS4A2  by Joe Hill [titles link to my glowing reviews].

Finally there are some people who will read anything with werewolves.  This is an important appeal to remember for all horror and fantasy readers.  They have a creature they like more than anything else, and that is how they pick their books.  In my book I have an entire chapter on shape-shifters.  You can also click here to see what users on Goodreads have tagged as "werewolves." Also, click here for some of my thoughts on werewolves. I should probably also note here that I don't really like werewolf books, so that may have biased me.

What I'm Reading: Deadline

This is a cross post with RA for All: Horror

Last month I read the second volume in Mira Grant's Newsflesh trilogy, Deadline.

Click here for the full set-up, but here is a snippet from when I read Feed (book 1):

Feed is set in a near future in which the cure for the common cold, mixed with the cure for cancer has caused a zombie problem. The world is full of zombies and they are not nice. Another speculative feature of this world is that when the dead started rising, the traditional news outlets ignored the story, but not bloggers.  Bloggers saved the day by working together to figure out what was going on and pass on information on how to properly kill a zombie and protect yourself.

So in book 1, the bloggers led by Georgia and Sean (siblings) are the official reporters for the Presidential campaign.  While working they are caught up in a conspiracy that led to Georgia's death.  (Again click here for details).  Deadline picks up a year later with Sean now running one of the biggest news organizations in the world.

Sean is not taking Georgia's death well; in fact she still talks to him inside his head and he answers her out loud.  He spends most of his time trying to find out who was really responsible for his sister's death. In the process he (with the help of his team) uncovers another BIGGER conspiracy which may get to the heart of the virus which has changed the world.

As I have said before, despite the zombie backdrop, these are NOT horror books.  The Newslfesh series is pure thriller.  This book reads like you are riding a roller coaster.  There are build ups to a very fast paced action sequence, then things quiet down before again returning to a slow build up to more fast paced action, etc...  This happens over and over; there were too many little bursts of intense action for me to count.  Without the world building that was necessary in Feed, Deadline is all about the action and uncovering the conspiracy.

If you are only picking this book up because it has zombies, you may be disappointed.  The goal here is not to scare the reader.  The appeal is all about the rush.  This is not a judgmental comment because personally, I loved reading Deadline.  It was a non-stop fun thrill ride.  I was worried I wouldn't like Sean as much as Georgia, but he was great.

Another appeal here is the post-apocalyptic setting.  I know for me that is a huge plus in any book, no matter the genre.

One final word of warning with Deadline.  Make sure when you finish the book that you read the included first chapter of the next book. Without reading it you will not fully understand the ending of Deadline.

Three Words That Describe This Book: conspiracy, post-apocalyptic, thrilling

Where This Book Took Me (Summer Reading Feature): post-apocalyptic America

Readalikes:  Here is a link to the readalikes I mentioned previously.  I do want to highly suggest the Joe Ledger supernatural thriller series by Jonathan Maberry again for fans of Grant's series.

If you like the intense, cinematic action and uncovering of conspiracies and don't need the supernatural elements, you should also try Dan Brown.

Other authors with similar pacing and tone are Kelly Link, John Farris, and Koji Suzuki.

Of course if it is simply great zombie action you are after go read The Walking Dead graphic novels by Robert Kirkman or the short story collection The Living Dead.

Jump Into Summer: Memorial Day Weekend 2012

I took off work today to help out and an end of the year carnival at my kids' school, so I am feeling like today is the start of the holiday weekend. Not to mention that today's weather will be just about perfect--sunny and 77.

Memorial Day is the unofficial kickoff of summer.  Although I am not going anywhere this weekend, I will be hosting a family BBQ one day and hanging in Chicago with some family who are visiting from out of town another day. [I love it when the New Yorkers come to Chicago and are so surprised by how vibrant and bustling our "little" city is.]  Which leave Monday for relaxing at home.

The result is that I am feeling the summer starting, and I don't feel much like working.  But, I will not leave you without anything today.  Start off your summer reading by checking out the ever growing compilation of summer reading lists at RA Online.  They are adding lists as soon as they appear, so bookmark it and check back frequently.  They hit the full range of options from Fiction to Nonfiction too.

I started my first summer read, Blackout, the last installment in Mira Grant's Newsflesh zombie-political thriller series which came out this week.  I have gobbled the first 200 pages already. Use the embedded links to read my reviews of the first 2 books in the series-- Feed and Deadline.  I have paired this fun fluff with my listening to 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami, which is amazing but totally different.  I am having trouble choosing which to read when.  I am utterly absorbed by both.

Okay, this is already a longer post than I planned.  So I will end by telling everyone to have a great holiday weekend.  Read a book.  I will be back on Tuesday with some BIG, seriously HUGE, news for all of you who live within driving distance of the BPL.  I have been holding on to this news since early March and am dying to share it.  (Dying is a clue).

PS: Those who can't wait can cheat and click here to figure it out.

What I'm Reading: 3 Booklist Reviews

All three of these books are MUST adds especially because all three have wide cross-over appeal for non horror readers as well as plenty to satisfy core horror fans.

The Loop

by Jeremey Robert Johnson

Sept. 2020. 320p. Saga, $26.99 (9781534454293). 

First published August 2020 (Booklist).

Idyllic Turner Falls, Oregon, a town centered around a biotech company, one that attracts the best and brightest, is the perfect setting for one of the best supernatural thrillers you will encounter this year. In a high school classroom, a young man snaps, violently attacking and killing the teacher with his bare hands. Unfortunately this is not an isolated incident as a group of outcast teens, led by the narrator, Lucy, herself a survivor of trauma, quickly come to realize that the town’s rich kids have all been infected with something that is leading them to violence, a violence that is being driven by a very unnatural technology, one that wants to replicate itself at all costs. This is a fast paced tale, filled with action and tension, told over one desperate night, as our protagonists try to stay alive and stop the spread before it can leave town, even if that necessitates their own destruction. But Johnson gives readers more than a thrill ride. THE LOOP is also a cautionary tale, a satisfying, darkly humorous satire of, well, everything. This is a highly original, apocalyptic tale that is uncomfortably perfect for our current timeline. Imagine Blake Crouch and Mira Grant getting together to re-write Wanderers by Wendig but with a compressed time frame, and you can see the wide audience who will flock to this heart pounding and deeply unsettling tale.

YA Statement: Teen protagonists drive both the story’s emotions and plot so of course there will be YA interest, but more importantly, it is the novel’s themes of the creep of technology into every facet of our lives and bodies that will resonate uncomfortably loud for them, hitting teens in a space they navigate on a daily basis.

Further Appeal: This is an original and new take on the zombie trope. I really liked that. 

The pacing is intense and fast, but there are breaks in the action to develop the characters. The explanation is on the "hard SF" side but easily explained. The poor, brown kids vs the rich kids is also very well developed and explored. There is time for the characters to be filled out even though it is a brisk reading experience. 

I am not kidding when I wrote that this is one of the best supernatural thrillers of the year. You can suggest this book to your thriller/conspiracy readers, your supernatural thriller readers, your horror readers, your bio-weapon SF readers, and teens. That is a wide swath of appeal. I would order 2 of this one, especially if you have separate sections for any of the genres I mentioned. You need to have it where readers will find it. Definitely get the ebook and the hard cover for sure.

Three Words That Describe This Book: 

race against time, deeply unsettling, technology gone rogue

Readalikes: Besides the three in the review above, this remind me so much of Stephen King's Cell, just a more sophisticated technology. I would also suggest Survivor Song by Tremblay or Devil's Wake by Barnes and Due

Stoker’s Wilde West 

by Steven Hopstaken and Melissa Prusi

Aug. 2020. 288p. Flame Tree, $24.95 (9781787581968); paper, $14.95 (9781787581944). 
First published August 2020 (Booklist).

The sequel to the fun, original, and action driven historical horror Stoker’s Wilde, brings back vampires, secret societies, and of course, the odd couple, monster fighting duo of Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde, expect this time, they have left their civilized London society for the American Wild West where they are enlisted by the government to root out vampires and help stop a rich land developer from trying to open another portal into a dark realm. While the first book followed the style of a Victorian novel, this one channels its setting through a cadence steeped in the traditions of the Western itself, utilizing the genre, its tropes, real life characters [such as Calamity Jane] and its overall mythology to serve as a foundation for the paranormal adventure to come. Once again, the epistolary style serves readers well, allowing multiple voices to emerge, revealing characters’ personalities, eccentricities, and feelings about one and other while also magnifying the immediacy of danger and suspense. Stoker and Wilde, and their amusing relationship, still take center stage, but Stoker’s wife, Florence also blossoms from a bit player into a major actor here, no longer simply a damsel in distress. Add in an ending that introduces the next dangerous adventure and readers will be clamoring for more. Fans of paranormal alternative history featuring well drawn characters and strong world building such as Molly Tanzer’s Diabolist's Library series, Robert McCammon’s I Travel by Night series or The Hunger by Alma Katsu will be lining up for this one.

Further Appeal: This is a highly entertaining and fun series. The second book builds perfectly off the first. There is depth here if you want it, with nods to genre traditions and the works of Wilde and Stoker themselves, but readers can also just read it as a western-paranormal. That's why it is great for a public library audience.

Three Words That  Describe This Book: vampires, alternative history, epistolary 

Readalikes: I have more readalikes posted here in my review of the first book. 

Children Of the Fang and Other Genealogies: Stories

by John Langan

Aug. 2020. 388p. Word Horde, paper, $19.99  (9781939905604). 
First published August 2020 (Booklist).

Langan presents another solid collection of immersive tales shrouded in dread and darkness that start off uneasy, quickly building to a full on horror that satisfyingly consumes the reader, entering their body, digging its claws deep, hanging on throughout the entirety of the page count. It is by soliciting these intense, elicit, and enticing emotions that Langan has earned numerous accolades and awards for himself; however, in assembling this collection he has also done something new. As described in the volume’s “Story Notes,” Langan realized that the stories he was including, while each very different standing alone, placed together, created a family tree, his “Genealogy.” He has assigned inspiration authors and filmmakers [Stephen King, Laird Barron, David Lynch, eg] to each story, resulting in a collection that reads like the very best fanfiction, stories with an admitted nod to a source, but yet, ones that also stand strongly on their own. The twenty-one stories include gems previous only produced as part of Con program books, the eerie and visceral fungus tale, “Hyphae,” the fascinating “The Communion of Saints” centered around a tired and defeated Albany detective and pop culture’s “new” horror monsters [Freddy Kruegger, Hannibal Lecter, et al], and many stories that reflect Langan’s lifelong literary conversation with Lovecraft and his contemporaries, such as the title story. While Langan freely admits that his “geneology” is currently too white and male for his liking he vows to work on that going forward, but in the meantime, you can suggest this collection to fans of an emerging class of stellar horror writers who have been inspired by Langan himself such as Usman Malik, Rachel Eve Moulton, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia. 

Further Appeal: Langan is an author whose collections should be in every library. His writing is extremely influential. Many of today's most popular horror authors cite him as a personal favorite. He is also asked to submit for every one of Ellen Datlow's award winning anthologies, and is one of the founders of the Shirley Jackson Award.

But this collection specifically, I cannot stress enough how impressed I was that he admitted his white privilege and bias, accepting it as problematic, and then resolved-- in print-- to move forward going forward.

Three Words That  Describe This Book: immersive, atmospheric, lyrical

Readalikes: Laird Barron, Stephen Graham Jones, Paul Tremblay are Langan's peers. But anyone you read in an Ellen Datlow anthology is a great option. She is very strict about the quality of short stories she includes and Langan is a master of the form.

What I’m Reading: Zero Day to Commemorate the Final Meeting of the ARRT Speculative Fiction Genre Study

Today I have a starred review of the final book in a trilogy. The star I gave this final book is really a star for the entire series. I have enjoyed the other books in the series which I wrote about here and here, but with the publication of the final installment I can 100% tell you that this is a must buy and a must read.  

Even though this review was published last week, I held it for today because it is the final meeting of the two-year ARRT Speculative Fiction Genre Study.  You can click here for all of the notes and assignments. 

Specifically this is our [final] assignment for later today:

Lunch, Book Talks, and Wrap-Up

December 7, 2017, 2-4 PM
Glenview Public Library
Assignment:

• Read the article “Let’s Talk About Genre: Neil Gaiman and Kazuo Ishiguro in Conversation”

• Come prepared to share a 90-second booktalk on an author or book we didn’t cover the course of the genre study. Please bring a printout of the booktalk so we can include it in the notes.

Which brings me back to the review for today, this book is the perfect title to showcase speculative fiction today. It is fun, draws from different genres, and can be read by a wide range of readers, even those who don’t think they like speculative fiction. 

[On a side note, today is also my final time in 5 years where I had some type of leadership responsibilities for the genre study. I will not be a part of the team running the 2018-19 Romance genre study, but I will still be posting notes and assignments here on the blog.]

Here is the draft of my Booklist review which I will be presenting as my book talk:

Zero Day.

Boone, Ezekiel (author)

Feb. 2018. 336p. Atria/Emily Bestler, hardcover, $26 (9781501125102); e-book (9781501125133). First published December 1, 2017 (Booklist).

Following directly on the heels of THE HATCHING and SKITTER, Boone brings his excellent spider-apocalypse thriller to an exciting conclusion in ZERO DAY. Back is the same realistic, fast paced, edge of your seat action from the first two books, as the story continues to bounce around the world, following the cast of well developed and diverse characters readers have grown to loathe and love, as they inch closer to figuring out the key to defeating the spiders who are systematically destroying humanity. This final installment has everything readers crave in a solid thriller series, speculative or realistic, but it is the spiders, the inherent fear they invoke, their ability to reproduce efficiently, and their evolution as actors in this drama that raises the stakes, the suspense, and the enjoyment here. Also, unlike most adventure stories, this one is not fueled by testosterone; in fact quite the opposite, as it is the women here who posit that the key to saving the world might be in understanding the spider queens. In particular it is a female scientist and US President who fight the men to be heard, take over, and lead the final charge, hoping that their intuition will save all of humanity, but fully knowing that if they are wrong, the world as we know it will end. Readers will race to the trilogy’s finish with our heroes, and be glad that they went along for the entire ride. ZERO DAY cements the entire series as one you will be handing out for years to come for fans of all high action thrillers, but especially for those who like the speculative frame in titles by Mira Grant, Jonathan Maberry and Ben H. Winters. But more importantly, it is a series worth rooting for. In a landscape where the adventure thriller seems to be dragging, it is clear all we needed were some spiders to revive it.

Further Appeal: I cannot stress enough how this is a perfect thriller with or without the spiders. To prove this point, I gave it to a patron who loves Baldacci and doesn’t really like apocalyptic or speculative fiction. She literally couldn’t put the first two books down. Well, let me rephrase that, she only put them down when she started to feel things crawling on her. She took a break but went back to it as soon as she could. Yesterday I gave her my ARC of this third book. She cannot wait to finish the series.

As a reader, I also liked how this series shows the apocalypse as it unfolds, in real time. Many apocalyptic series start post apocalypse and then they go back and show you how things got to be destroyed through flashbacks while they concentrate the “present" action on how people are surviving. Here, in Boone’s series, we watch the apocalypse happen in real time and the focus is on the battle to stop it. Choices, both good and bad, are made, and they are made urgently as things are unfolding quickly. We the reader can see all over the world and know things the local actors do not. All of this adds suspense, drama, and intrigue to the story.

Finally, I have to say it.....SPIDERS! Seriously, is there anything people in general are more scared of than spiders? Nope. It’s genius to have them bring the apocalypse.

Three Words That Describe This Book: fast-paced, speculative thriller, fun

Readalikes: All three mentioned in the review above are the best matches as they are all series that share the fast-paced, speculative thriller, and fun appeal factors, but many realistic political thrillers would work also work, like Baldacci.

World War Z is also a good readalike, and that is a book that also had cross-over appeal for people who don’t normally like supernatural aspects to their geo-political thrillers. However, World War Z  is told entirely in flashback. If you really liked the speculative apocalypse in real-time aspects of the Boone series, I would suggest The Fireman by Joe Hill instead.

What I’m Reading: Nights of the Living Dead and Killing is My Business

In the latest issue of Booklist, I have two reviews. I gave the first one a star.

Nights of the Living Dead.

Maberry, Jonathan (editor) and George A. Romero (editor). 

July 2017. 400p. St. Martin’s/Griffin, paperback, $17.99  (9781250112248); e-book (9781250112255). First published June 1, 2017 (Booklist).

George A. Romero made a small film in 1968 that changed pop culture forever. As editor and bestselling author, Jonathan Maberry explains in the introduction to this stellar collection, “No one who saw Night of the Living Dead without prior warning was ready. Not in 1968. No sir. Anyone who came to zombie flicks later….they just don’t know how it felt.” Romero never called his shambling hordes of the undead, wreaking havoc and eating everyone in their path, zombies. Why would he? Up until that point zombies were a specific supernatural creature from the Voodoo culture, but not any more. An entire generation of authors took the newly reimagine zombie of Romero’s film and began to write. Now, almost 50 years later, Romero and Maberry asked the best and most successful writers of 21st Century zombie literature to write a brand new story, set within the world of Romero’s film series. Authors like Brian Keene, Mira Grant, Mike Carey, Carrie Ryan, and David Wellington, to name only a few, jumped at this chance. While all of the stories are good, of particular note is Maberry’s own entry, “Lone Gunman,” which Romero asked Maberry to write as a way to officially connect his existing books to the movies. Taken as a whole this is a breathtaking book showcasing the breadth of zombie literature from the weird, disturbing and gross out to the touching, thought provoking, and even funny. This is a collection by masters, at the top of their games but it is also a tribute by fans to the man who inspired them to become writers who chased their own nightmares. Order this volume immediately, if only to protect yourself from the hordes of readers who will be shambling in to request it.

Further Appeal: These stories are excellent. All of them. These are the top people in the world of zombie lit. Their affection for the source material shines through, but so too does their own skill at writing great stories. Each story is unique and different. Each is also a great example of the author’s other works- whether that work has zombies in it or not.

But they are also good stories even if you don’t like zombies because they are just good stories. This is a good time to encourage you to move outside the genre box with your suggestions to patrons. These stories will be enjoyed by more than just horror fans. Think about it, people who aren’t horror fans love the movie source material, right? So, treat these stories the same way. There will be people who don’t think of themselves as horror fans who will eat these stories up [pun intended].

I also want to elaborate a bit on the part in the review about the Maberry story. I actually had this ARC with me when I was at StokerCon and I talked to Maberry about the collection. His story in this collection is a great bridge between all his other work and the Romero universe. I know he is working to connect everything he has written-- yes even Joe Ledger characters show up in the Rot and Ruin world. But specifically, if you like “Lone Gunman,” go out and read Dead of Night [link to my review]- this is advice from Maberry himself. It all fits nicely together and now also links back to Romero’s world.

Every public library needs to buy this book. I know for a fact that there are a handful of readers in every town in America who would want to read this. How do I know? I am the library world’s horror expert-- I have my ways. [cue evil laugh]

Three Words That Describe This Book: stories, zombies, fandom

Readalikes: This one is easy: if someone likes this book they should seek out the numerous works by everyone in the collection. That should keep them busy for awhile.

But also, as I alluded to in my “three words” above, this is also a great book for people who enjoy fandoms- especially those centered on the world of a movie. Another new book that does this in the horror genre is Aliens: Bug Hunt [also edited by Maberry].

Killing Is My Business.

Christopher, Adam (author).

 July 2017. 288p. Tor, hardcover, $25.99 (9780765379207); e-book, $12.99 (9781466867161).  First published June 1, 2017 (Booklist).

All the genre blending, wit, and fun of an alternative 1960s LA is back with Christopher’s second Raymond Electromatic, robot PI, hardboiled mystery. To catch you up, Ray is still the last robot in the world, but he is also a licensed PI who has been reprogrammed to be a contract killer [it pays better]. Not to worry if you missed the first book, however, because so did Ray; his memory tape is only 24 hours long, so while this is technically the second book in the series, it can be easily read as a standalone since Ray has to be reminded each morning of everything that has happened before. The plot has a little of everything for fans of classic science fiction and mysteries- corrupt city officials, shady real-estate moguls, the mafia, foreign-born evil scientists, and of course ROBOTS! But while the fast-paced story will grab readers’ attention, what they will stay for is Ray, whose unique perspective and personality shine as bright as his metal exterior. While this is an easy title to hand sell to fans of the “golden age” when science fiction and hardboiled PIs overlapped, it will also appeal to readers of contemporary, thoughtful genre mashups with compelling and unique narrators like Ben Winter’s The Last Policeman trilogy or Jonathan Lethem’s Motherless Brooklyn.

Further Appeal: I reviewed the first book in this series, Made to Kill, in 2015 here. I gave that one a star because it was so original and fun that I was giddy. This one is just as good, but this time, I was not as surprised that it was so good; hence, no star.

The best thing about this series, as I mention in the review, is that it doesn’t have to be read in order. So it’s a companion novel, not a sequel. This is very helpful as we work with readers. Like Tana French, we can give this series out in any order and don’t need book 1 to be on the shelf in order to suggest it.

And Ray. Oh Ray. He is so endearing. I worried about him at times. People and his boss [a computer] are always taking advantage of him, but always he manages to overcome and save the day. He is happy go lucky, yet he also carries an underlying sadness with him, sadness about his origins and the way his world used to be, yet he cannot quite remember enough of it to be full on depressed about it.

This book is best enjoyed by readers who are fans of hardboiled PI novels OR classic, pulp SF. The pure affection and deep knowledge Christopher has for both genres is what makes this book work. He is not trying too hard to be cute-- I know it may sound like he is, but I promise you, he is not. The story’s period setting, characters and plot all feel right for the pulp style. This is a fun and thought provoking read for genre fans by a genre fan.

Three Words That Describe This Book: genre blend, alternative history, fun

Readalikes: Besides the two I mention in the review above, there are more suggestions in my review of Made to Kill.

Also, what about some classic, robot, pulp SF. Here is the entry on “robots”from the Science Fiction Encyclopedia which lists many reading options and puts them in context. Here is a link to images of classic covers of “pulp robot science fiction.” They are awesome. I want to read them all now.

Finally, the Dan Shamble, Zombie PI series by Kevin J Anderson which begins with Death Warmed Over [link to my review], is very similar to this series- the humor, the genre mashup, the wink-wink, but still loving stabs at the genre conventions- it’s all here except instead of robots we have zombies [and other supernatural creatures].

And with that I bring it all back around to zombies. Well, that is what zombies do best-- they come back.

Enough bad humor. Both books reviewed here come out next month. You still have time to get your orders in. Have a nice weekend.

Summer Reading Suggestion-- What I'm Reading: Pressure

Today a PERFECT summer reading option for fans of action and scares.  I gave this book a star review in the current issue of Booklist.

Pressure

Keene, Brian (author).

June 2016. 288p. St. Martin’s/Thomas Dunne, hardcover, $25.99 (9781250071347). 
REVIEW.  First published June 1, 2016 (Booklist).

There is a reason Brian Keene is among the most popular, pulp horror writers of this century, but with most of his 40+ books available only in paperback, his work is not always collected by libraries. Well, now is the time to change that with this compelling, crowd-pleasing, hardcover release. Carrie Anderson, a champion free diver turned scientist, is part of a team trying to find out why the Indian Ocean floor is suddenly collapsing. After numerous mechanical glitches, Carrie plunges into the depths, sans equipment, to try to figure out why, but what she encounters is a monster so fearsome and so intent on destroying every creature in its path that it makes Jaws look like a guppy. In the open ocean, Carrie is in a swim for her life, but back on shore, things aren’t much better as an evil corporation and its murderous henchmen, have an invested interest in hiding the truth. Will Carrie and her team be able to stop both types of monsters and save the world from an ecological disaster before they become victims too? Keene’s winning formula of pairing a cast of strong characters who emotionally engage the reader from page one, with his fast-paced yet detailed action scenes that include some of the best descriptions of the dismemberment of bodies in all fiction, is on full view here. Don’t just suggest to horror readers [although Keene does include a few fun, insider references for genre fans]. Pressure is a perfect beach read for fans of Michael Crichton, Mira Grant, or Preston and Child, that is, if you dare to take this book anywhere near an open body of water.

Further Appeal Notes: I had a post about Brian Keene and his work on behalf of midlist authors a few weeks ago here.

Three Words That Describe This Book: fast paced, detailed action sequences, interesting frame

Readalikes:  I listed 4 above in the review, but only Jaws is ocean monster specific.  If you want more sea monsters stories try Steve Alten.

I would also like to double down on my Michael Crichton suggestion. [That suggestion works both ways.]

If you want more solid, pulp horror, read Jonathan Janz or Jonathan Maberry’s Pine Deep Trilogy (starts with Ghost Road Blues)