Reviews :: Book Genre :: Horror :: Page 6

If you don’t know by now, let me be clear: I love Subterranean Press. Simply put, the quality of the books they put out are nothing short of amazing. From the art to the actual materials used to make the book, the production quality never fails to impress. Additionally, Subterranean Press is the publisher for all of Robert McCammon‘s novels these days. Every McCammon story I have read thus far has been terrific, and he has easily become one of my favorite authors. So when Subterranean Press announced new novella from McCammon, I begged and pleaded for an ARC of it.
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If there is one thing you Elitist Book Reviews followers are aware of about me, it has got to be the number of things I don’t like in fiction–and how good authors can subvert these preferences and make me eat crow. So in another installment of “Things Nick Hates” I present you (drumroll please) zombies. I’m sorry, but they bore me. I used to like them and I still hold onto the belief that THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE (Amazon) and WORLD WAR Z (Amazon) are some of my favorite books of all time. Still, there is a saturation of zombies (sort of like the over abundance of vampires a couple years ago) and I find it tiring. There are only so many things you can do with zombies and it would take something different to interest me in another piece of undead fiction. THIS DARK EARTH by John Hornor Jacobs (Amazon) is that “something different” and it served to remind me how much I used to love the sub-genre.
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Eeek! It’s Joe Ledger time! Please allow me a moment to geek out… Thanks, I needed that. Here we have EXTINCTION MACHINE (Amazon), the fifth Joe Ledger Novel by Jonathan Maberry. I’ll admit, I was a little panicked going into EXTINCTION MACHINE because I saw some rumor online declaring it the last Joe Ledger Novel. The good news is: this rumor was pure speculation, there is a sixth book in the works. The great news is: it will be called CODE Z, and it is a direct sequel to the debut Joe Ledger Novel – PATIENT ZERO (EBR Review). So with that dreary cloud of depression safely behind us, let’s get on with the show!
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This review is going to be a bit different. Why? Because it isn’t a review of the actual, physical book. You see, I drive a lot. More than is healthy, even. On average, I spend nearly two hours per day in a car. That’s ten whole hours a week being dedicated to something other than reading awesome books…

… unless I use…… wait for it……. AUDIOBOOKS!!!!!!!!
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Do you know Repairman Jack? If you don’t, you’ve been missing out on a terrific series of books by F. Paul Wilson. The Repairman Jack series has, over the years, grown into one of my favorite series. It has a near perfect mix of horror and thriller elements while managing to inject humor here and there.

Through the series, I’ve always had questions in my mind about Jack. I know what happened to his mom (and his reaction to it), but what did he do after? How did he meet Julio and Abe? What events forged him into the man we meet in THE TOMB? (Amazon)

Those questions start to be answered in COLD CITY.
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Most anthologies contain a collection of unrelated stories from various authors. That’s just the way it goes. Unless the anthology is done by Baen Books and is set in one of their authors’ worlds, the stories are rarely even set in the same universe. Heck, even the anthologies I’ve written for (THE CRIMSON PACT: Vol 2, 3 & 4) have had very few links to connect anyone’s work.

And then I read V WARS. V WARS (Amazon) is a vampire (mostly) anthology edited by Jonathan Maberry. That name alone should be enough to grab your interest. Maberry puts out quality work 1000% of the time. This anthology is about a global outbreak of a virus that converts the “junk DNA” in some people. Depending on their heritage, those affected by the virus turn into vampires and werewolves (which in folklore are traditionally related).

And the best part is every story is set in the same world under the same calamity.
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One of the anthologies that renewed my faith in short fiction was THE NEW DEAD (EBR Review), edited by Christopher Golden. There were just so many fantastic stories that after I closed the cover, I just sat back and said, “Wow!” Since then I’ve been more than happy to tackle any collection of short fiction, and I’ve read a lot of absolutely stellar work. With all that said, it shouldn’t be too difficult a stretch of the imagination to say that my expectations of 21ST CENTURY DEAD (Amazon) were extremely high. Unfairly so, even.
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Every so often I buy a novel purely based on the cover. I don’t read the synopsis on back of the book. I don’t read any reviews. Nothing. Now granted, you can get a fairly decent idea of the type of novel from the cover art, but buying based purely on cover alone has made for some interesting reads in the past.  Usually they end up being novels I would normally avoid, but that please me nonetheless. So, real quick, look at the cover of John Hornor Jacobs’ SOUTHERN GODS (Amazon). Do you see what I see? Do you get the impression I got and say, “Huh, that looks cool”? Can you see why I bought the novel without knowing anything about it?

To me, it looks like the blending of Horror and 50’s music. Everything about the cover–from the pose, to the macabre figure, to the tentacles, to the night club look–literally forced me to buy the novel.

And then I started reading.
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This is my first James Herbert novel. As most of you know, I’m trying to round out my Horror reading. People have been telling me over and over that James Herbert is the guy. Since Herbert had a new novel coming out, I thought that this was a good time jump in.

ASH (Amazon) follows the story of paranormal investigator, David Ash. Now, prior to this novel, Ash was also in the Herbert novels HAUNTED and THE GHOSTS OF SLEATH. To Herbert’s credit, I never once had trouble with feeling lost. ASH begins with the investigator taking a job to investigate some mysterious happenings at Comraich Castle–including the crucifixion of a man who was alone inside a locked room. Everything about the contract is shady, but the pay is astounding.
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Jonathan Maberry makes it all look so easy, doesn’t he? Book after book is released with his name gracing the cover, and we all snatch them up greedily. Why? Because a Jonathan Maberry novel never disappoints.

FLESH & BONE (Amazon) is no different.
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