Editing by Elizabeth

November 03, 2011

Playlist From HELL by Duane Swierczynski

Today I am pleased to welcome Duane Swierczynski back for another guest post. His first was during Swierczynski Week here on the blog. Tomorrow I’ll be reviewing his latest release, Hell & Gone, but today Duane has been kind enough to share the book’s (imaginary) soundtrack.

Duane Swierczynski PLAYLIST FROM HELL: A guided tour through my imaginary soundtrack to Hell & Gone

Twenty years ago, when I picked up John Skipp and Craig Spector’s eco-horror novel The Bridge, I was thrilled to discover they included a playlist. “The following albums, by the following artists,” they wrote, “provided big chunks of sonic background during the writing of this mind-movie.” My 19-year-old self was thrilled that I was listening to a lot of the same bands—Nine Inch Nails, Public Image LTD., Beatles, Red Hot Chili Peppers—as my splatterpunk heroes. Of course, Skipp and Spector (going for brownie points, no doubt) also recorded an actual soundtrack for the novel, which you could mail-order for $14.95 (CD) or $9.95 (cassette). See, the Boys were also longtime rock musicians, and could do that sort of thing.

I’m a musician, too, having toiled in bar and wedding bands during my teenage years. And while music remains a huge part of my creative life, I’m not about to stop writing to go off and record an original soundtrack. Though if I did, I would totally make it available on CD and cassette.

Instead, here’s the next best (read: lazy) thing: a tour through the songs that were my “sonic background” while writing Hell & Gone—the second in the Charlie Hardie series, and my twisted version of a prison novel. Some of these songs put me in a certain mood; some others reminded me of particular characters. And I’ll admit it; some of these are included simply to amuse myself. It gets awful lonely in the basement office… →

November 02, 2011

Crime Factory: The First Shift by Rawson, Ashley & Callaway, Editors

I was locked up for a while. Full of the empty darkness, if that makes sense to you. The sort of nothing that fills up everything. – Roy Alison, “The Ravine”

The amazing team at Crime Factory Magazine – Keith Rawson, Cameron Ashley, and Jimmy Callaway – have put together an anthology of twenty-seven stories featuring an almost embarrassingly rich bounty of talent.

Of course it would be unwieldy for me to review all twenty-seven stories, not to mention take the fun out of you discovering some of them on your own, so here are just a few of the ones that were highlights for me…

“Glory B.” by Josh Converse – Ever wondered how robbery crews get together? I mean, do you have to be friends for life, or do you just answer an ad on Craigslist or something? Converse’s taut tale takes a snapshot look at the process through which potential getaway driver Quinn auditions for a robbery crew’s boss. Quinn has three attempts to impress with his driving skills and get a mock getaway right. Screw any one of them up and Quinn not only won’t be driving the getaway, he won’t be driving anymore period.

“Microprimus Volatitus” by Greg Bardsley – You will either find this to be wickedly funny or bizarrely offensive. The story involves a love triangle. Randy begins dating Razelle, at first not aware that she’s been living with Helmut for four years. And though she thinks of Helmut as just a roommate, Helmut is passionately in love with Razelle, which of course causes an intense conflict when Randy hits the scene. Oh, did I mention Helmut is a tiny little monkey the size of a canary? Yeah. And he’s determined to do whatever it takes to get Randy out of the picture, including going to war. I found the story wickedly funny; I’m just weird that way. →

November 01, 2011

At The End Of The Road by Grant Jerkins

He learned that it was possible to be scared and carry a burden of fear and worry and guilt, and still behave normally. – Kyle Edwards

In the summer of 1976 ten-year-old Kyle Edwards was one of millions of Americans who celebrated a landmark birthday for our nation. Looking back, however, Kyle realizes that summer also held a landmark death for him, that of his innocence.

A typical boy in rural Georgia, Kyle’s daily activities include helping harvest peanuts and sweet potatoes, playing in the corn fields, and riding his bike with abandon up and down the dirt road in front of his house. While out riding his bike one afternoon Kyle causes an accident when he speeds around a blind curve right into the path of an oncoming car. Veering sharply to avoid hitting him, the car flips repeatedly, coming to rest on its side. Kyle watches in horror as a bloody young woman emerges from the vehicle, stumbling toward him. →

October 31, 2011

The Pull of Gravity by Brett Battles

It’s hard for someone who has little faith in himself to ask someone else to have it in him. – Jay Bradley

Following a career in the Navy, expat Jay Bradley finds himself in the Philippines working as a papasan at The Lounge, a go-go club in Angeles City. He takes his job to watch over the girls in the club seriously, but gets especially close to young Isabel, who reminds him of the step-daughter from his failed marriage.

Like most of the girls working the clubs of Angeles City, Isabel dreams of meeting a man who will sweep her off her feet and take her away from the life of a club dancer – and “escort” – on infamous Fields Avenue. When businessman Larry Adams comes into their lives, suddenly both Jay and Isabel are complete. The three of them form a bond – Larry and Jay as friends, Isabel and Larry as lovers – that seems too good to be true.

And of course it is. Told primarily in flashbacks, the book opens and sets the scene with an older Jay returning to the Philippines to sell his part-ownership in The Lounge, as well as to track down Isabel to find closure about the events that ripped their lives apart, and cost Larry his. (That is not a spoiler.) →

October 31, 2011

Bad Boy by Grant Jerkins

Grant Jerkins’ debut novel, A Very Simple Crime, was released to critical praise from places such as Publisher’s Weekly, The New York Times Book Review, and Library Journal, and was also one of my top reads of 2010. Tomorrow I will be reviewing Grant’s follow up, At the End of the Road, but today I’m turning over the blog to Grant. I’ll just let him take it from here…

Grant Jerkins People are always telling me they want to write. But they don’t know what to write about. And what do I think they should write about? And I usually think to myself, well how the fuck should I know what you ought to write about? I never say that, though. No, my stock response is, “Why don’t you write a story about a dog told from the dog’s point of view?”

I always thought that was cute.

When Elizabeth White invited me to guest post on her site, I said I was honored. Then I asked her what did she think I should write about? I have a pretty good idea what she was thinking, but what she said was, “Why don’t you write a story about a dog told from the dog’s point of view?”

Probably thought she was being cute.

It’s only 625 words. When you get right down to it, most dogs don’t have that large of a vocabulary anyway. – GJ →

October 26, 2011

Bears With Us by Marilyn Meredith

“You aren’t going to be satisfied until you’ve uncovered whatever it is they are hiding, are you?” – Pastor “Hutch” Hutchinson

Hutch knows his wife, Deputy Tempe Crabtree, all too well because she absolutely will not stop until she finds out everything she needs to know to keep the people of Bear Creek safe. And this is a good thing for readers of author Marilyn Meredith’s charming series, as Tempe makes her return for an action-packed eleventh outing in the series’ newest entry, Bears With Us.

Located in the southern part of the Sierra Nevada, the small community of Bear Creek finds itself dealing with a handful of its namesake, as hungry bears preparing for hibernation begin showing up in apple orchards, garbage bins and, startlingly, snout-deep in a carton of Rocky Road ice cream in one unfortunate family’s kitchen. Unable by law to shoot the bears unless they present an immediate threat to life, Tempe finds herself coming up with creative ways to run the hungry critters off.

Even if bears were the only thing Tempe had to deal with she’d still have her hands full, but Meredith has provided Tempe with a plate overflowing with situations all requiring her immediate attention: the decline of a former town pillar into dementia, necessitating tracking her down repeatedly when she keeps wandering off; an amazingly self-important and obnoxious mother who expects Tempe to intervene and keep the “wrong sort” of boy away from her teenage daughter, and who threatens to make formal complaints of misconduct against her if she doesn’t; the suicide of a teenager and his family’s strangely cold reaction to it… yes, Tempe more than has her hands full. →

October 26, 2011

My Aries Secrets by Claudia Hoag McGarry

Spoiler Alert: Key details from My Scorpio Soul are revealed in My Aries Secret.

My Aries Secrets by Claudia Hoag McGarry It takes a lot of energy to save a soul. – Tempest McTierney

My Aries Secrets, the second book in author Claudia Hoag McGarry’s astrology themed thrillers, finds Tempest McTierney, the protagonist from My Scorpio Soul, released from prison and in the unlikely position of a reluctant “Dear Abby.”

Having herself dealt with a situation where another woman was threatening to destroy her family – in Tempest’s case a stalker infatuated with Tempest’s husband – and taken the matter into her own hands out of desperation, her stint in prison has turned her into something of a cult hero to desperate women with lost souls.

Haven Rodriguez, the latest lost soul to reach out to Tempest, finds her previously idyllic life shattered when her husband, Jerod, goes missing. Making matters worse, his disappearance occurred on the heels of Haven learning that he had been having an affair, and that the company he worked for was being criminally investigated for possibly running a Ponzi scheme.

Now, Haven is torn between the fear of never finding out what happened to him, and anger at the thought he may have run away with his mistress and/or the company’s money. She seeks guidance from Tempest to help her control the homicidal feelings she has toward a female neighbor she’s convinced knows where Jerod is – or actually had something to do with his disappearance. →

October 25, 2011

The Nameless Dead by Paul Johnston

I was pretty good at scheming myself. If that was the way he wanted to play the game, I would be happy to take him on.
– Matt Wells

There’s more than a little scheming going on in The Nameless Dead, the fourth, and last, book in author Paul Johnston’s Matt Wells series. In his guest post yesterday, Paul gave a much better summary of The Nameless Dead (and series as a whole) than I possibly could, so do check that out for a more detailed setup. The short version…

Following their involuntary assassination attempt on the President of the United States, British crime novelist Matt Wells and his pregnant girlfriend, London Metropolitan Detective Chief Superintendent Karen Oaten, are being held by the FBI. As their activities were the result of a mind control experiment performed by a Neo-Nazi group, the FBI is working on deprogramming Wells and Oaten.

Of course things wouldn’t be any fun if it was that simple. So when bodies begin turning up killed in a gruesome ritualistic manner reminiscent of that Neo-Nazi group, the FBI gets the bright idea to use Wells’ programming to their advantage and turn him loose to hunt down the group’s leader, Heinz Rothmann, the man responsible for Wells and Oaten’s predicament. As you’d expect, things don’t quite go as planned. →

October 24, 2011

At the End of a Series, the Author Comes Clean by Paul Johnston

Today I am pleased to welcome Paul Johnston back for another guest post (read his first, here). Paul is the accomplished author of three different series: the Matt Wells series (featuring investigative crime reporter Wells), Quint Dalrymple series (crime-SF crossover novels set in a futuristic Edinburgh), and the Greece-set Alex Mavros series. Tomorrow I’ll be reviewing The Nameless Dead from the Matt Wells series, but today Paul’s going to share a secret about what fuels his writing.

Paul Johnston Ostensibly I’m here to talk about The Nameless Dead, the fourth and last in my series featuring crime writer turned investigator Matt Wells. So, before the knife cuts to the bone, as the Greeks say, let me do that.

At the beginning of The Nameless Dead, Wells and his heavily pregnant lover Karen are being held prisoner in a joint FBI/US Army camp in Illinois, following their involvement in an attempt to assassinate the President (see book 3, Maps of Hell). They had been brainwashed and are undergoing treatment to reverse the process. Meanwhile, a series of violent murders leads the FBI to suspect that the mastermind behind the attack on POTUS is still at large. Wells is trained up and sent to find the criminal who messed with his mind, soon finding himself up against hired killers, a neo-Nazi conspiracy linked to a Satanic cult, and a fundamentalist Christian private military contractor. Oh, and his former lover Sara Robbins – now the deadly hit woman known as the Soul Collector (the title of book 2 in the series) – is back on his trail. To make things even worse (you know what thrillers do – multiply the hero’s jeopardy ad infinitum), Matt suffers the most appalling personal loss, one that drives him to a real underworld, set design courtesy of John Milton and Hieronymus Bosch. You can never have too much eschatology. →

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