Thrillers, Horror, Comics and Audio Books

Hating the Hater

Greg "The Undead Rat" — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 16:46:40 +0000

“The man on the landing at the top of the stairs is dead. . . . Could I have done anything for him? Possibly. Should I have done anything for him? Definitely not. He was a Hater, and it’s scum like him that have caused all of this. . . . They’re the reason I’ve had to lock myself and my family in the apartment.”

David Moody creates a book that exults in the paranoia atmosphere created when a small percentage of the population suddenly turn into violent murders. Danny McCoyne is helpless as his city slowly begins to fall apart when people suddenly, and for no apparent reason, turn into raging murderers.

Remember, if you are interested in this book, click the mouse on the book cover to order it from an online bookseller.

TITLE:

HATER: A NOVEL

WRITER:

by David Moody

GENRE:

Horror Fiction.

DESCRIPTORS:

Paranoia, Violence, Rage, Sudden Violence, Fear, End of Civilization, War, Police, Government,

CHARACTERS

Daniel “Danny” McCoyne, The narrator of the story.
Elizabeth “Liz” McCoyne, Danny’s wife.
Josh McCoyne, Danny and Liz’s oldest child.
Edward “Ed” McCoyne, Danny and Liz’s youngest child, a fraternal twin to Ellis.
Ellis McCoyne, Danny and Liz’s youngest child, a fraternal twin to Ed.
Harry, Liz’s father and Danny’s father-in-law who helps watch the kids.

SUMMARY:

Danny McCoyne is a man trapped in a job he hates with three unplanned for children, a wife as crushed by responsibilities as he is and a father-in-law who dislikes him. As bleak as things seem — they’re about to get a whole lot worse. It starts as one incident, on his way to work Danny witnesses a man attack an old lady, probably killing her, before he’s hauled off.

The sudden outbreaks of violence increase in number until soon the entire city is crippled by fear of a sudden vicious attack by a stranger, a neighbor or even a loved one. The attackers are given a name — haters — and they are reviled by the citizens who live in fear of them.

“I can’t show any emotion. I don’t want Harry thinking I’m a Hater.”

Danny hates the haters. He hates being afraid and fearing for his wife and kids. The government issues warnings and tells people to stay in their houses but they are silent in explaining what’s going on. And the silence is telling.

However, the threat is not exclusively from the Haters, for in a world where anyone can suddenly become a deadly enemy filled with rage, strong emotional states become suspect — as does the man or woman or child who displays them. . .

APPEAL:

Hater is told in first person present tense limited omniscience — you see everything through Danny’s eyes. He speaks colloquially. You sometimes feel that you’re privy to his thoughts. The brief vignettes before each new day are the only exception.

The book is divided into major sections, each one being a day. Each day has a vignette opening the section and then the chapters following are Danny’s narrative of the day. The vignettes are in italics to set them apart from the rest of the story. Each one depicts a violent awakening of a hater, usually leading to one or more deaths. They run one to several pages long and are told in third person past tense limited omniscience — sometimes from the victims point of view, sometimes the hater and at least once from an eyewitness’ view point.

The pacing is quick. There is little time spent on descriptions. The bulk of the narrative is Danny trying to work out what’s going on or reporting what he’s doing and saying. Where Moody spends his time is detailing the course of Danny’s life before and during the disruption by the Haters. You become quite intimate with him by the time the final act begins.

“There’s nothing else to do now except sit back on the sofa in front of the TV and watch the world fall apart”

This novel is a work of slowly creeping paranoia that was delicious to read. It never frightened me but it toyed with my nerves. At times it made me uncomfortable and always it seemed to force me to question. It’s a novel of shades of gray — not absolute black and white. Moody invites you to follow along with Danny’s pronouncements and then flips the whole thing and makes you question what you believed — and just as you fall into line there he flips the whole thing again. By the end of the novel you know you have a lot to think about.

NOTES:

Hater is the first volume of The Hater Trilogy to be published by St. Martins Press. The next book will be Dog Blood.

READALIKES:

David Moody has a deal with St. Martin’s Press to produce the Hater Trilogy as well as print his self-published series Autumn, a zombie series. After reading this book, I definitely want to try the rest of the books as they are published.

First person narrative horror stories in the present tense are rare but if you enjoy Hater, try Dark Harvest. You can see a summary of Dark Harvest here on . . . With Intent to Commit Horror.

This post originally appeared on my blog about horror books called …With Intent to Commit Horror.

The Last Survivors Series

Greg "The Undead Rat" — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 22:52:17 +0000

The Moon Crash Trilogy/The Last Survivors/Life As We Knew It Series — these are the various series titles attributed to Susan Beth Pfeffer’s stunning three book series about the teen-aged survivors of a world thrown into chaos when a meteor slams into the moon and knocks its orbit closer to the Earth.

Different sources report the series title differently. I personally like The Moon Crash Trilogy but the author uses The Last Survivors as her preferred designation. Because of that, I’ve adopted that series title for this post.

But I still like The Moon Crash Trilogy better.

The Last Survivors Series

Many weekends I pick a new series and detail it here — giving you the proper order. Click the mouse on the book covers to order these books from the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library.

Life As We Knew It (The Last Survivors Series #1)

Author: Pfeffer, Susan Beth
Format: Hardcover
Type: Science Fiction Novel
Page Count: 352pp.
Pub. Date: October 2006
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when a meteor knocks the moon closer to the earth.

How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun?

As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove.

Told in journal entries, this is the heart-pounding story of Miranda’s struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all — hope — in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world.

The Dead and the Gone (The Last Survivors Series #2)

Author: Pfeffer, Susan Beth
Format: Hardcover
Type: Science Fiction Novel
Page Count: 321pp.
Pub. Date: June 2008
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Susan Beth Pfeffer’s Life as We Knew It enthralled and devastated readers with its brutal but hopeful look at an apocalyptic event — an asteroid hitting the moon, setting off a tailspin of horrific climate changes.

Now this harrowing companion novel examines the same events as they unfold in New York City, revealed through the eyes of seventeen-year-old Puerto Rican Alex Morales.

When Alex’s parents disappear in the aftermath of tidal waves, he must care for his two younger sisters, even as Manhattan becomes a deadly wasteland, and food and aid dwindle.

With haunting themes of family, faith, personal change, and courage, this powerful novel explores how a young man takes on unimaginable responsibilities.

This World We Live In (The Last Survivors Series #3)

Author: Pfeffer, Susan Beth
Format: Hardcover
Type: Science Fiction Novel
Page Count: 239pp.
Pub. Date: April 2010
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

It’s been a year since a meteor collided with the moon, catastrophically altering the earth’s climate.

For Miranda Evans, life as she knew it no longer exists. Her friends and neighbors are dead, the landscape is frozen, and food is increasingly scarce.

The struggle to survive intensifies when Miranda’s father and stepmother arrive with a baby and three strangers in tow. One of the newcomers is Alex Morales, and as Miranda’s complicated feelings for him turn to love, his plans for his future thwart their relationship.

Then a devastating tornado hits the town of Howell, and Miranda makes a decision that will change their lives forever.

Life As We Knew It and This World We Live In are available as audio book downloads from the CLEVNET eMedia Collection.

Weblinks List:
Susan Beth Pfeffer

We Have The Devil’s Garden: And Now You Can Read It Too

Greg "The Undead Rat" — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 14:42:00 +0000

Richard Montanari is a local Cleveland Heights author who is a regular Heights Library System user.

He comes to us with tricky reference questions that sometimes figures into the thrillers he writes. He is a member of our new Friends organization and gives us gifts of his most recent books.

Just to catch you up to speed, he’s the author of the Cleveland based thrillers, two of them starring homicide detective John Salvatore Paris:

He is also the author of the Philadelphia based series starring homicide detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano:

You can click on any title to order it from the CLEVNET webcatalog.

Ironically, Richard’s books sell better over seas than in the states. So when he wrote The Devil’s Garden, a stand-alone suspense novel, he easily sold it to his British publishers William Heinemann Ltd. but was unable to come to a satisfactory agreement with his U.S. publisher Random House.

Thus, The Devil’s Garden was published in the U.K. but there are no plans to publish it here.

The good news is that Richard gave the Heights Library system gift copies which you can check out and read.

You can be one of the few Americans who get to read The Devil’s Garden without having to buy it from Amazon UK and deal with converting dollars into pounds.

All you have to do it click on the book cover for your opportunity to place a hold on this extremely rare book. You’ll need your CLEVNET library cared to place your hold. Don’t have a CLEVNET library card? You can get one for free with some identification at the Heights Libraries or any other CLEVNET affiliated library.

In the meantime, here is what the United States is missing:

The Devil’s Garden

Author: Montanari, Richard
Format: Hardcover
Type: Suspense Novel
Page Count: 352pp.
Pub. Date: August 13, 2009
Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd

Michael Roman is finally living the life he always dreamed of — he has a successful career, a beautiful wife and adorable twin daughters.

But his idyllic life is about to come crashing down around him — because Michael is a man with a past.

A rising star in the New York District Attorney’s office and on the cusp of enormous success, Michael’s perfect life begins to unravel when he finds himself the target of a depraved madman, a man who covets everything Michael has and will stop at nothing to take it all away.

In a desperate fight to survive, Michael is forced to confront the dark secrets of his past in order to save his family. He must hunt down the psychopath who is targeting his family and, before it is too late, face the devil himself . . .

Internationally acclaimed author Richard Montanari works his black magic to spine-tingling perfection in The Devil’s Garden — conjuring all the relentless suspense, dark twists of intrigue, and full-throttle action that make his brilliant, engrossing novels required reading for thriller fans.

Scott Pilgrim Lives!

Greg "The Undead Rat" — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 13:20:47 +0000

With the success of the movie, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, and the completion of the comic book series, I thought it might be a good idea to list the Scott Pilgrim series in order.

Two things you need to know about the movie:

The movie covers the entire span of the comic series.
Although it was co-written with Bryan Lee O’Malley at about the time he was finishing up the series, the movie and Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour have different but satisfying endings.

Or so I’ve been told . . .

Scott Pilgrim Series

Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life (Scott Pilgrim Series #1)

Author: O’Malley, Bryan Lee
Illustrator: Bryan Lee O’Malley
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel Collection
Page Count: 168pp.
Pub. Date: July 2004
Publisher: Oni Press

Scott Pilgrim’s life is totally sweet. He’s 23 years old, he’s in a rock band, he’s “between jobs,” and he’s dating a cute high school girl.

Nothing could possibly go wrong, unless a seriously mind-blowing, dangerously fashionable, rollerblading delivery girl named Ramona Flowers starts cruising through his dreams and sailing by him at parties.

Will Scott’s awesome life get turned upside-down?

Will he have to face Ramona’s seven evil ex-boyfriends in battle?

The short answer is yes. The long answer is Scott Pilgrim, Volume 1: Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Scott Pilgrim Series #2)

Author: O’Malley, Bryan Lee
Illustrator: Bryan Lee O’Malley
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel Collection
Page Count: 200pp.
Pub. Date: February 2005
Publisher: Oni Press

Does Scott and Ramona’s burgeoning relationship have a future?

Isn’t Scott still supposedly dating Knives Chau?

Who is Ramona’s second evil ex-boyfriend, and why is he in Toronto? Who are The Clash At Demonhead, and what kind of bizarre art-punky music do they play? Who’s their hot girl keyboardist, and what is Scott’s relation to her? Why are they Knives Chau’s new favourite band?

Fights! Drama! Secrets revealed! The answers to all these questions and more!

Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness (Scott Pilgrim Series #3)

Author: O’Malley, Bryan Lee
Illustrator: Bryan Lee O’Malley
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel Collection
Page Count: 192pp.
Pub. Date: May 2006
Publisher: Oni Press

Ramona’s third evil ex-boyfriend, Todd Ingram, is currently dating the former love of Scott Pilgrim’s life!

Envy Adams broke Scott’s heart a year and a half ago. Now she and her evil art-rock band are back, and they’re getting Scott’s band to open a show two days from now!

That’s just enough time for Scott to fight Todd, keep Ramona happy, fend off demented ex-girlfriends, and practice that new setlist.

Right??

Don’t miss the latest chapter in the graphic novel saga The Globe and Mail calls “Canada’s answer to Tank Girl!”

Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together (Scott Pilgrim Series #4)

Author: O’Malley, Bryan Lee
Illustrator: Bryan Lee O’Malley
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel Collection
Page Count: 200pp.
Pub. Date: November 2007
Publisher: Oni Press

That’s right, folks! Put down the video game controller! Skip that rehearsal for your band! Make whatever sacrifices you must to those comic gods you hold so dear! Just make sure you’re ready because Bryan Lee O’Malley and Scott Pilgrim are back!

Well, a couple months have passed since the last time we caught up with our intrepid hero, but what can change in a few short months?

Well, not much has . . . Scott’s still living with his roommate Wallace Wells. He’s still playing in a mediocre rock band named Sex Bob-omb.

And most importantly, he’s still dating the lovely Ramona Flowers while working his way through the gaggle of superpowered, superstylish, superevil ex-boyfriends determined to take him down.

But something is different. Don’t look now, but Scott Pilgrim may actually be getting it together. And it’s a good thing, too, because Scott is about to confront Ramona’s most intimidating ex yet!

Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe (Scott Pilgrim Series #5)

Author: O’Malley, Bryan Lee
Illustrator: Bryan Lee O’Malley
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel Collection
Page Count: 168pp.
Pub. Date: February 2009
Publisher: Oni Press

Scott Pilgrim just turned 24, and things couldn’t possibly be better!

This means things are about to get infinitely worse!

Suddenly, TWO of Ramona’s evil ex-boyfriends are in town, and they’re playing dirty. His band is in turmoil, and his own exes aren’t making things any easier.

And what’s up with Ramona, anyway?

She’s been acting kinda weird ever since they moved in together! Scott’s precious little life is coming back around to bite him in the butt, and it may not be pretty!

Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour (Scott Pilgrim Series #6)

Author: O’Malley, Bryan Lee
Illustrator: Bryan Lee O’Malley
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel Collection
Page Count: 248pp.
Pub. Date: July 2010
Publisher: Oni Press

It’s finally here!

Six years and almost one-thousand pages have all led to this epic finale!

With six of Ramona’s seven evil exes dispatched, it should be time for Scott Pilgrim to face Gideon Graves, the biggest and baddest of her former beaus.

But didn’t Ramona take off at the end of Book 5? Shouldn’t that let Scott off the hook?

Maybe it should, maybe it shouldn’t, but one thing is for certain — all of this has been building to Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour!

Weblinks List:
RADIOMARU.com: The Official Website of Bryan Lee O’Malley

Are You Reading Freakangels?

Greg "The Undead Rat" — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 19:50:08 +0000

Freakangels — written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Paul Duffield is a free webcomic. It comes out in weekly installments of eight bright, full color pages that fill your monitor with visions of a devastated future London and the twelve strange young adults trying to create a life out of the ruins.

It’s a great experiment that is worth your attention, especially if you have any interest in reading or creating web-based comics. And it’s Warren Ellis.

Missed an episode?

Actually if this is the first you’ve heard of it, then you’ve missed two years worth of adventure and psionic feakiness.

Luckily for you, they’re all saved. You can start with episode one right here. See the advanced publicity webpage here.

If comics on the Internet isn’t your speed, try the graphic novel collections. So far three volumes are out with a fourth one pending.

Freakangels is supported by Avatar Press who is hosting the webcomic and given Warren and Paul room to create. They’re also hosting Whitechapel, an online community where you can talk about Freakangels, comics, music and other stuff.

Leave it to Warren Ellis to transform a webcomic into a community experience . . . and maybe a way of life?

Freakangels (Freakangels Series #1)

Author: Ellis, Warren
Art: Paul Duffield
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 144pp.
Pub. Date: November 2008
Publisher: Avatar Press

Warren Ellis’ hugely popular web comic, Freakangels, is here, collected in print for the first time in this gorgeous, full-color trade paperback!

Twenty-three years ago, twelve strange children were born in England at exactly the same moment.

Six years later, the world ended.

This is the story of what happened next.

So welcome to Whitechapel, some years from now, just barely above ground in a flooded England, where a clan of eleven strange people with purple eyes — the Freakangels — have carved out some sort of a life for themselves.

A life that starts to show big cracks when a girl called Alice from Manchester turns up with a shotgun and a grievance, having met the lost, prodigal last Freakangel, who had very different ideas about what they should do with themselves and this flooded future England.

Because the Freakangels have a big secret: Something very bad is their fault.

Freakangels (Freakangels Series #2)

Author: Ellis, Warren
Art: Paul Duffield
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 144pp.
Pub. Date: April 2009
Publisher: Avatar Press

Twenty-three years ago, twelve strange children were born in England at exactly the same moment.

Six years later, the world ended.

Today, eleven strange 23-year-olds are living in and defending Whitechapel, maybe the last real settlement in flooded London. They’ve made a new friend, and together they successfully defended their home from raiders — but the post-apocalyptic drowned London that the eleven Freakangels survive in is never a safe place, and never surrounded by friends.

Night has only just fallen, but strangers already creep through Whitechapel with the worst of intentions and the weapons to see them through!

Volume Two of award-winning author Warren Ellis’ ongoing web comic, Freakangels, is here! This installment collects the entire second arc of the post-apocalyptic saga into 144 gorgeous, full-color pages.

Freakangels (Freakangels Series #3)

Author: Ellis, Warren
Art: Paul Duffield
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 144pp.
Pub. Date: October 2009
Publisher: Avatar Press

Twenty-three years ago, twelve strange children were born in England at exactly the same moment.

Six year later, the world ended.

In Freakangels Volume 3, the Freakangels begin to address how to build their community while a serial killer stalks in their midst. Everything almost comes crashing down around them as one of their own breaks their most valued rule.

Freakangels (Freakangels Series #4)

Author: Ellis, Warren
Art: Paul Duffield
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 144pp.
Pub. Date: July 2010
Publisher: Avatar Press

Twenty-three years ago, twelve strange children were born in England at exactly the same moment.

Six years ago, the world ended.

In fact, there’s a serial killer stalking in their midst, and one of their own has broken their most valued rule.

Volume Four of award-winning author Warren Ellis’ ongoing web comic, Freakangels, is here! This installment collects the entire fourth arc of the post-apocalyptic saga into 144 gorgeous, full-color pages.

Tara Chace Kills: Queen and Country Series by Greg Rucka

Greg "The Undead Rat" — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 11:55:58 +0000

Oni Press is one of the few small comic book companies bringing out myriad of stories that defy the superhero genre. Even their super hero comics aren’t your run of the mill cape comics while series like Queen and Country are absolutely top notch.

Queen and Country . . . an espionage comic of state criminals, state interests, politics and murky ethics.

Queen and Country Series

I’m on vacation so I’ve prepared a week of series posts for the time I’m out. Click the mouse on the book covers to order these books from the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library.

Operation: Broken Ground (Queen and Country Series #1)

Author: Rucka, Greg
Art: Steve Rolston
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 128pp.
Pub. Date: April 2002
Publisher: Oni Press
Collects: Queen and Country comic book #1-4 and Oni Press Color Special 2001

As part of the Special Section of Britain’s Ministry of Intelligence, Tara Chace is one of a handful of operatives they call when they need to clean up a mess, or to make a new one.

It’s certainly a world of questionable morals.

For instance, is it better to assassinate a general in the Russian mafia, to take his life, rather than allow him to peddle more guns and drugs in underprivileged countries? Tara’s bosses seem to think so. But the Russian mafia ask their own questions — once someone has taken the life of one of their officers, can they continue to let that person live?

Greg Rucka peels back the lid on the traditional espionage story to reveal the nastiness inside, and Steve Rolston brings it to life with stunning clarity.

Queen and Country, Vol. 1: Operation: Broken Ground also features chapter break art by Tim Sale and a special short story illustrated by Stan Sakai.

Operation: Morningstar (Queen and Country Series #2)

Author: Rucka, Greg
Art: Brian Hurtt, Bryan O’Malley, and Christine Norrie
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 88pp.
Pub. Date: September 2002
Publisher: Oni Press
Collects: Queen and Country comic book #5-7

Afghanistan is one of the hottest political spots in the world.

When the taleban discovers foreign journalists are also serving as covert-agents for the SIS, the Minders are put on a mission to find a secret contact list before the enemy does; however, when Director of Operations Paul Crocker decides to send only his male agents into the field, it doesn’t sit well with Tara Chace.

Adding insult to injury, she’s currently required to attend therapy sessions to deal with the effects of previous operations.

Not content to sit on her hands, Tara spends her time trying to piece together the puzzle, aiding Minders Wallace and Kittering in their race against the clock. This second collection of the acclaimed series Queen & Country breaks new ground for comics, tackling tough subject matter in a realistic and intriguing way.

Written by Eisner winner Greg Rucka, with art by Brian Hurtt, Bryan O’Malley, and Christine Norrie, chapter breaks by John K. Snyder III, and a cover by Durwin Talon.

Operation: Crystal Ball (Queen and Country Series #3)

Author: Rucka, Greg
Art: Leandro Fernandez
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 152pp.
Pub. Date: January 2003
Publisher: Oni Press
Collects: Queen and Country comic book #8-12

Mahmoud Youseff, a Lebanese citizen, walks into a British Embassy in Cairo, declaring himself to be a member of the Group Islamique Arme and claiming to have information about a plot by the Egyptian Islamic Jihad to launch a terrorist attack on British citizens.

Tara Chace, the operative designated Minder Two of the Special Section of the SIS, is immediately dispatched to meet with Youseff and strike a deal. What follows is a frenetic search across the world for the EIJ’s stockpile of Sarin gas and, more importantly, where they plan to unleash it.

Sarajevo, Baghdad, Rome, Osaka — the Minders are determined to halt this deadly game before it even gets started.

Operation: Blackwall (Queen and Country Series #4)

Author: Rucka, Greg
Art: Brian Hurtt, Bryan O’Malley, and Christine Norrie
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 152pp.
Pub. Date: January 2003
Publisher: Oni Press
Collects: Queen and Country comic book #13-15

Tara Chace is accustomed to working in the shadows cast by world governments.

She’s spied, stolen, and killed — all in service to her Queen and her country.

When a French conglomerate blackmails one of the Her Majesty’s most affluent subjects in a bid to secure an important and lucrative contract, Tara’s duty takes a new turn as she embarks on espionage of the corporate variety.

But when affairs of the heart get muddled in affairs of state, can Tara keep her emotions out of the mission? It’s sex, lies, and big business in this new collection of the Eisner Award-winning series Queen and Country.

Operation: Stormfront (Queen and Country Series #5)

Author: Rucka, Greg
Art: Carla Speed McNeil
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 152pp.
Pub. Date: January 2003
Publisher: Oni Press
Collects: Queen and Country comic book #16-20

When an agent dies in the field, it’s his fellow spies that are always hit the hardest.

When the agent that doesn’t make it home is an ex-lover, “hard” doesn’t begin to describe it.

As Tara Chace and the rest of the department reel over the demise of one of their own, a ghost from Director Paul Crocker’s past has him sending his minders into danger yet again. But will this operation free Crocker from his ghosts or create new ones?

Operation: Dandelion (Queen and Country Series #6)

Author: Rucka, Greg
Art: Mike Hawthorne
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 152pp.
Pub. Date: January 2003
Publisher: Oni Press
Collects: Queen and Country comic book #21-24

Every job has its office politics, but when you’re a spy in service to your queen and your country, the politics in play take on a much larger scale.

When the chief of SIS is forced into retirement, Paul Crocker is forced to play a new game in order to keep his good standing and his job.

But are agents Chace and Wallace prepared to be Crocker’s pawns in this new match? And how will it be for Poole, the new Minder who has to step over two dead bodies in order to take his post?

Operation: Saddlebags (Queen and Country Series #7)

Author: Rucka, Greg
Art: Mike Norton and Steve Rolston
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 152pp.
Pub. Date: January 2003
Publisher: Oni Press
Collects: Queen and Country comic book #25-28

Still recovering from the death of her co-worker and lover, Tara Chace is granted a brief reprieve from London’s rain and MI6’s bureaucracy.

This emotionally charged vacation takes Chace to the slopes of Switzerland for a visit with old friends and family. But being an agent for Her Majesty’s Secret Intelligence Service leaves little time for rest and Chace is quickly thrown into another mission of national importance.

A junior minister with close ties to the Prime Minister appears to be selling state secrets to the Russians, and the Minders are assigned to quietly investigate.

Tara is forced to walk a tight rope between the violent dangers inherent in the field of espionage and the discretion inherent in the bureaucracy of the government, all the while assuming the new position of Minder One and field-testing a new agent.

Operation: Red Panda (Queen and Country Series #8)

Author: Rucka, Greg
Art: Chris Samnee
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 152pp.
Pub. Date: January 2003
Publisher: Oni Press
Collects: Queen and Country comic book #29-32

The events in Operation: Red Panda occur after the story told in A Gentleman’s Game.

Operation: Red Panda has the Minders being deployed to the war-torn streets of Iraq to investigate and potentially “terminate” an Iraqi bureaucrat who is suspected of giving allied secrets to local insurgents.

As the old saying goes, all plans goes out the window once the first bullet is fired.

And when things go from bad to worse for Tara, years of trauma and abuse come violently forward.

Queen and Country: Declassified Series

Queen and Country: Declassified (Vol. #1)

Author: Rucka, Greg
Art: Brian Hurtt
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 88pp.
Pub. Date: July 2003
Publisher: Oni Press
Collects: Queen and Country: Declassified comic book vol. 1 #1-3

The first spin-off from the award-winning Queen and Country graphic novel series takes readers back in time to the mid-’80s.

Before Paul Crocker was head of Special Section, he was an agent in the field.

A run of bad luck is dogging him across Europe. His attempt to extract one political refugee from Berlin met with failure, and when he is immediately sent to perform a similar assignment in Prague, he is determined to succeed at all costs.

Leaving his new wife and the quiet home life they dream of behind, Crocker commits himself to the double-edged world of espionage once and for all.

Queen and Country: Declassified (Vol. #2)

Author: Rucka, Greg
Art: Rick Burchett
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 96pp.
Pub. Date: April 2006
Publisher: Oni Press
Collects: Queen and Country: Declassified comic book vol. 2 #1-3

Tom Wallace was the confident and poised Head of Section in the first six volumes of the critically acclaimed Queen and Country series, but that wasn’t always the case.

Declassified looks back at his first days as an agent as he’s sent to Hong Kong to investigate the murder of a British National.

But with the handover of the island to mainland China just days away, can Wallace solve the mystery without causing an international incident?

Queen and Country: Declassified (Vol. #3)

Author: Johnston, Antony
Art: Christopher J. Mitten
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 96pp.
Pub. Date: April 2006
Publisher: Oni Press
Collects: Queen and Country: Declassified comic book vol.3 #1-3

Queen and Country: Declassified returns and this time Minder and former S.A.S. officer Nicholas Poole is in the sights.

The troubles in Northern Ireland place Poole and his S.A.S. comrades in the middle of a conflict between a rogue IRA killer and his target, a politician who wants peace through the removal of the British Military from Northern Ireland.

But can there be peace as generations of conflict continue to exact a fatal toll on the sons and daughters of those that came before?

Queen and Country: Definitive Edition Series

Queen and Country: Definitive Edition (Vol. #1)

Author: Rucka, Greg
Art: Steve Rolston, Brian Hurtt and Leandro Fernandez
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 376pp.
Pub. Date: January 2008
Publisher: Oni Press
Collects: Queen and Country comic book #1-12

Queen and Country, the Eisner Award-winning and critically lauded espionage series from acclaimed novelist and comic book author Greg Rucka, is back in a new series of definitive editions collecting the entire classic series in just four affordable soft covers.

In this first collection, readers are introduced to the thrilling and often-times devastating world of international espionage as SIS field agent Tara Chase is sent all over the world in service to her Queen and Country, while Director of Operations Paul Crocker walks a narrow tightrope between his loyalty to his people and the political masters that must be served!

Collects the first three volumes (first 12 issues) of the series!

Queen and Country: Definitive Edition (Vol. #2)

Author: Rucka, Greg
Art: Jason Shawn Alexander, Carla Speed McNeil and Mike Hawthorne
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 376pp.
Pub. Date: April 2008
Publisher: Oni Press
Collects: Queen and Country comic book #13-24

The critically lauded espionage series from Greg Rucka and co. receives its second definitive collection!

In this new edition, SIS agent Tara Chase is put through the ringer as she must contend with industrial espionage, ghosts from her director’s past, and politicians eager to use the service to their own ends!

Collects issues 13-24.

Queen and Country: Definitive Edition (Vol. #3)

Author: Rucka, Greg
Art: Steve Rolston, Mike Norton and Chris Samnee
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 264pp.
Pub. Date: October 2008
Publisher: Oni Press
Collects: Queen and Country comic book #25-32 and the Queen and Country Scriptbook

In this third collection, SIS field agent Tara Chace is plunged into the role of Minder One!

Her first mission in this new role sees her quietly investigating the selling of Her Majesty’s state secrets to the Russians.

After concluding that operation, Chace and the Minders are deployed to the war-torn streets of Iraq, where the escalating violence has devastating consequences for Tara.

Collects issues 25-32 and the entire Queen and Country Scriptbook.

Queen and Country: Definitive Edition (Vol. #4)

Author: Rucka, Greg
Art: Antony Johnston, Brian Hurtt and Christopher Mitten
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 320pp.
Pub. Date: April 2009
Publisher: Oni Press
Collects: Queen and Country: Declassified graphic novels #1-3

The fourth Queen and Country Definitive Edition collects all three Queen and Country: Declassified volumes under one cover!

Get the background on Paul Crocker, Tom Wallace, and Nicky Poole as they sharpen their teeth as young agents of espionage!

Includes TPB extras and interviews with many of the contributors to the Eisner-Award-winning series!

Queen and Country Novel Series

A Gentleman’s Game (Queen and Country Novel Series #1)

Author: Rucka, Greg
Format: Hardcover
Type: Espionage Thriller
Page Count: 352pp.
Pub. Date: September 2004
Publisher: Bantam Books

The events in A Gentleman’s Game occur after the story in the graphic novel collection Operation: Saddlebags and before Operation: Red Panda.

When an unthinkable act of terror devastates London, nothing will stop Tara Chace from hunting down those responsible.

Her job is simple: stop the terrorists before they strike a second time.

To succeed, she’ll do anything and everything it takes — only this time the personal stakes will be higher than ever before. For the terrorist counterstrike will require that Tara allow herself to be used as bait by the government she serves. This time she’s turning her very life into a weapon that can be used only once.

But as she and her former mentor race toward destiny at a remote terrorist training camp in Saudi Arabia, Tara begins to question just who’s pulling the trigger — and who’s the real enemy.

In this new kind of war, betrayal can take any form . . . including one’s duty to queen and country.

Based on the graphic novel series that won the coveted Eisner Award, A Gentleman’s Game is an electrifyingly realistic, headline-stealing thriller with an unforgettable protagonist — one who redefines every rule she doesn’t shatter.

Private Wars (Queen and Country Novel Series #2)

Author: Rucka, Greg
Format: Hardcover
Type: Espionage Thriller
Page Count: 368pp.
Pub. Date: October 2005
Publisher: Bantam Books

The torture and execution of Dina Malikov has set off a cutthroat grab for power in strategically crucial Uzbekistan.

Tara’s job is to slip into the country and extract Dina’s pro-Western husband and their young son before they are murdered — by his ruthless sister.

But there are a couple of wildcards in the deck, including a missing mobile weapons system that can bring down a commercial airliner, not to mention powerful political careers.

Now, as she vanishes into hostile territory with a man who may or may not be what he seems, Tara is about to engage in a battle where betrayal is a conventional weapon, loyalty is a weakness, and anyone — even a child — is a legitimate target: it’s every spy, every woman, for herself.

Private Wars, a suspense novel so explosively realistic, it should be classified.

The Last Run (Queen and Country Novel Series #3)

Author: Rucka, Greg
Format: Hardcover
Type: Espionage Thriller
Page Count: 272pp.
Pub. Date: October 26, 2010
Publisher: Bantam Books

No summary available.

Bad Horse Reigns: The Scalped Series by Jason Aaron and R. M. Guera

Greg "The Undead Rat" — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 16:27:22 +0000

Before this series I couldn’t imagine a noir story taking place in a supposedly sunny place like the Prairie Rose Indian Reservation. Jason Aaron and R. M. Guera opened my eyes to the possibility that noir exists all around us.

If nothing else, Jason Aaron has proven that my definition of noir was too small.

Scalped . . . crime noir tale that takes place on a modern day Native American Reservation.

Scalped Series

Indian Country (Scalped Series #1)

Author: Aaron, Jason
Art: R. M. Guera
Cover Art: Jock
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 128pp.
Pub. Date: August 2007
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo Imprint
Collects: Scalped comic book #1-5
Extra: Free Download of Issue One

Jason Aaron, the hot new writer of the critically acclaimed series The Other Side, teams with gritty artist R. M. Guera for an intense crime drama that mixes organized crime with current Native American culture. This volume collects the first five issues of the riveting Vertigo series Scalped.

Fifteen years ago, Dashiell “Dash” Bad Horse ran away from a life of abject poverty and utter hopelessness on the Prairie Rose Indian Reservation searching for something better.

Now he’s come back home armed with nothing but a set of nunchucs, a hell-bent-for-leather attitude and one dark secret, to find nothing much has changed on “The Rez” — short of a glimmering new casino, and a once-proud people overcome by drugs and organized crime.

Is he here to set things right or just get a piece of the action?

Casino Boogie (Scalped Series #2)

Author: Aaron, Jason
Art: R. M. Guera
Cover Art: Jock
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 144pp.
Pub. Date: February 2008
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo Imprint
Collects: Scalped comic book #6-11

This volume, collecting issues #6-11 of the acclaimed new series by Jason Aaron, explores Dash Bad Horse’s troubled origin and chronicles his day-to-day life on The Rez working for Chief Red Crow.

Dead Mothers (Scalped Series #3)

Author: Aaron, Jason
Art: R. M. Guera and John Paul Leon
Cover Art: Dave Johnso
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 168pp.
Pub. Date: October 2008
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo Imprint
Collects: Scalped comic book #12-18

In this third volume of the acclaimed series, collecting issues #12-18, undercover FBI agent Dashiell Bad Horse’s home reservation wakes up the morning after the opening of the Crazy Horse Casino to find that two women have been murdered during the night.

It’s up to Dash to find the killers and, in the process, come to grips with his relationship with his own mother.

The Gravel in Your Gut (Scalped Series #4)

Author: Aaron, Jason
Art: Davide Furno and R. M. Guera
Cover Art: Jock
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 144pp.
Pub. Date: April 2009
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo Imprint
Collects: Scalped comic book #19-24

In the latest Scalped collection, featuring issues #19-24, Chief Red Crow is doing everything he can to walk the straight and narrow, but how far will he let Mr. Brass push him?

Meanwhile, Dash makes a dark and fateful decision that will forever affect his future on the reservation as he learns more secrets from his former girlfriend’s past.

High Lonesome (Scalped Series #5)

Author: Aaron, Jason
Art: R. M. Guera, Davide Furno and Francesco Francavilla
Cover Art: Jock
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 128pp.
Pub. Date: October 2009
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo Imprint
Collects: Scalped comic book #25-29

In this latest Scalped volume, collecting issues #25-29 of the acclaimed series, we see the landscape of the Prairie Rose reservation and casino through the eyes of a newcomer — a card shark and con man — whose presence could spell doom for one of our main characters.

The Gnawing (Scalped Series #6)

Author: Aaron, Jason
Art: R. M. Guera
Cover Art: Jock
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 128pp.
Pub. Date: May 2010
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo Imprint
Collects: Scalped comic book #30-34

In this new collection featuring issues #30-34 of the monthly series, Red Crow commits a murder in front of witnesses and the FBI thinks they can finally put him away.

Meanwhile, Dash’s loyalty to Red Crow is tested as his addiction to heroin intensifies.

Weblinks List:
Jason Aaron: Jasonaaron.inf

R. M. Guera — Homepage

Crime Noir in Comics: The Criminal Series by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips

Greg "The Undead Rat" — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 14:10:31 +0000

Marvel has a new imprint for comics where the creators retain the rights to their work and it’s called Icon. It’s generated some amazing stories in the few years since it was launched and Criminal is just one of them.

Criminal . . . crime noir tales told from the vantage point of the criminal.

Criminal Series

Coward (Criminal Series #1)

Author: Brubaker, Ed
Art: Sean Phillips
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 128pp.
Pub. Date: May 2007
Publisher: Marvel Comics/Icon Imprint
Collects: Criminal comic book #1-5

From Harvey Award-Winning Best Writer Ed Brubaker, and Scream Award-Winning Best Artist Sean Phillips comes the first collection of Criminal, one of the best reviewed comics of 2006.

Coward is the story of Leo, a professional pickpocket who is also a legendary heist-planner and thief. But there’s a catch with Leo, he won’t work any job that he doesn’t call all the shots on, he won’t allow guns, and the minute things turn south, he’s looking for any exit that won’t land him in prison.

But when he’s lured into a risky heist, all his rules go out the window, and he ends up on the run from the cops and the bad men who double-crossed him.

Now Leo must come face-to-face with the violence he’s kept bottled up inside for 20 years, and nothing will ever be the same for him again.

Lawless (Criminal Series #2)

Author: Brubaker, Ed
Art: Sean Phillips
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 128pp.
Pub. Date: December 2007
Publisher: Marvel Comics/Icon Imprint
Collects: Criminal comic book #6-10

Twenty years ago, Tracy Lawless traded the crime-ridden streets of the city for a life in the military, and it’s a decision he’s rarely regretted.

But now he’s walking out of the deserts of Afghanistan and Iraq and back into the world he grew up in, to find out who killed his brother Rick, and why.

But truth is one of the few things uglier than family history, and the only thing Tracy has in his favor as he unravels the twisted strands of the criminal life his brother led, is that no one knows who the hell he is.

And what they don’t know, just might kill them!

The Dead and the Dying (Criminal Series #3)

Author: Brubaker, Ed
Art: Sean Phillips
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 104pp.
Pub. Date: July 2008
Publisher: Marvel Comics/Icon Imprint
Collects: Criminal vol. 2 comic book #1-3

Winner of the Eisner Award for Best New Series, and Winner of the Harvey and Eisner Awards for Best Writer!

The third collection of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ critically-acclaimed noir series follows a different twist of the knife this time — telling three interlinking stories that take place during the early 1970s and swirl around the fate of a hard-luck Femme Fatale, a boxer and a thief and killer just home from Vietnam.

Each story is told from a different narrative point-of-view, so we can see the varied secrets and hidden desires that ultimately lead to a lot of murder and mayhem.

Bad Night (Criminal Series #4)

Author: Brubaker, Ed
Art: Sean Phillips
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 120pp.
Pub. Date: February 2009
Publisher: Marvel Comics/Icon Imprint
Collects: Criminal vol. 2 comic book #4-8

A woman in trouble, friends on the run from cops and mobsters, and a secret no one is prepared to face!

Five years ago, Jake was a happy family man, long-retired from the life of crime he grew up in, and then the police made him the prime suspect in a horrible crime and ripped his life apart!

Now, years later, Jake is less than a shadow of his former self, a hopeless insomniac who walks the city streets at night. But one night, he walks into the wrong place at the right time, and his whole life changes again . . .

The Sinners pt. 1 (Criminal Series #5)

Author: Brubaker, Ed
Art: Sean Phillips
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Graphic Novel (Collection)
Page Count: 120pp.
Pub. Date: June 2010
Publisher: Marvel Comics/Icon Imprint
Collects: Criminal: The Sinners comic book #1-6

The New York Times listed Criminal as one of the best books of the year, and The Sinners is a perfect place to find out why.

Tracy Lawless returns to star in a tale of vigilante justice and twisted betrayal as the streets of his old home town start to box him in like never before.

Made Men are being killed all over the city, and since criminals don’t go to the cops for help, only Tracy can solve these murders . . . if he can survive long enough.

Featuring an introduction by best-selling crime novelist Ian Rankin (the Rebus series).

Weblinks List:
Ed Brubaker: Website

Sean Phillips: The Hardest Working Man in Comics . . . Or a Hack . . . U Decide

Check Out the Hank Thompson Series by Charlie Huston

Greg "The Undead Rat" — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 14:06:53 +0000

When Hank Thompson agrees to do a favor for a neighbor — cat sitting — he unexpectedly runs afoul of the Russian mob and winds up having his life destroyed until the unthinkable happens . . .

Scribd is now hosting copies of Caught Stealing, Six Bad Things, and A Dangerous Man which you can now read for free or download into an ebook reader. You can even print them up. You can’t, however, sell them.

Hank Thompson Series

Caught Stealing (Hank Thompson Series #1)

Author: Huston, Charlie
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Crime Noir Novel
Page Count: 288pp.
Pub. Date: May 2005
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Original Pub: April 2004 (Hardcover — Ballantine)
Free eBook: Scribd: Caught Stealing

It’s three thousand miles from the green fields of glory, where Henry “call me Hank” Thompson once played California baseball, to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where the tenements are old, the rents are high, and the drunks are dirty. But now Hank is here, working as a bartender and taking care of a cat named Bud who is surely going to get him killed.

It begins when Hank’s neighbor, Russ, has to leave town in a rush and hands over Bud in a carrier. But it isn’t until two Russians in tracksuits drag Hank over the bar at the joint where he works and beat him to a pulp that he starts to get the idea: Someone wants something from him. He just doesn’t know what it is, where it is, or how to make them understand he doesn’t have it.

Within twenty-four hours Hank is running over rooftops, swinging his old aluminum bat for the sweet spot of a guy’s head, playing hide and seek with the NYPD, riding the subway with a dead man at his side, and counting a whole lot of cash on a concrete floor.

All because of two cowboys, two Russian mafia men, and some of the weirdest goons ever assembled in one place. All because of Bud. All because once, in another life, in another world, the only thing Hank wanted was to take third base — without getting caught.

Six Bad Things (Hank Thompson Series #2)

Author: Huston, Charlie
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Crime Noir Novel
Page Count: 320pp.
Pub. Date: June 2005
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Free eBook: Scribd: Six Bad Things

Hank Thompson is living off the map in Mexico with a bagful of cash that the Russian mafia wants back and many, many secrets.

So when a Russian backpacker shows up in town asking questions, Hank tries to play it cool. But he knows the jig is up when the backpacker mentions the money . . . and the family Hank left behind.

Suddenly Hank’s in a desperate race to get to his parents in California before anyone can harm them. Along the way he’ll face Federales and Border Patrol, mafiosi and vigilantes, extortionists and drug dealers, and a couple of psychotic surf bums with an ax to grind.

From the golden beaches of the Yucatan to the seedy strip clubs of Vegas, Charlie Huston opens a door to the squalid underworld of crime and corruption — and invites the reader to live it in the extreme.

A Dangerous Man (Hank Thompson Series #3)

Author: Huston, Charlie
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Crime Noir Novel
Page Count: 304pp.
Pub. Date: September 2006
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Free eBook: Scribd: A Dangerous Man

Reluctant hitman Henry Thompson has fallen on hard times. His grip on life is disintegrating, his pistol hand shaking, his body pinned to his living room couch by painkillers — and his boss, Russian mobster David Dolokhov, isn’t happy about any of it. So Henry is surprised when he’s handed a new assignment: keep tabs on a minor league baseball star named Miguel Arenas.

Henry has no pity for the slugger and the wicked gambling problem that got him in trouble, but he can’t help liking the guy. After all, Henry used to be just like him: a natural-born ball player with a bright future.

But hell, that was long ago. Before Henry did some guy a favor and ended up running for his life. Before his girlfriend and buddies got gunned down by someone on his tail. Before he agreed to buy his parents’ safety with a life of violence.

And when Miguel gets drafted by the Mets and is sent to the Brooklyn Cyclones, Henry must head back to New York, back to the place where all his problems began — and where Henry might find a real reason to keep living, a reason that may just cost him his life.

Weblinks List:
Pulpnoir.com: The Official Charlie Huston Website

Get a Free eBook: The Painted Darkness by Brian James Freeman

Greg "The Undead Rat" — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:03:31 +0000

Not long ago, I wrote about The Passage by Justin Cronin because it was becoming a publishing event.

The other day, Brian Keene’s blog brought to my attention another publishing event — one on a small press scale but no less interesting.

So, let’s look at what’s going on with a horror novella called The Painted Darkness by Brian James Freeman.

The Painted Darkness: eBook

The Painted Darkness ebook is only available on the Download the Darkness website. You can click on the book cover below to check it out.

	The Painted Darkness Author: Freeman, Brian James Format: eBook Format: Adobe Acrobat — PDF format (Download free Adobe Acrobat Reader) Type: Horror Novella Pub. Date: October 15, 2010 Publisher: Cemetery Dance Publications
When Henry was a child, something terrible happened in the woods behind his home, something so shocking he could only express his terror by drawing pictures of what he had witnessed. Eventually, Henry’s mind blocked out the bad memories, but he continued to draw, often at night by the light of the moon. Twenty years later, Henry makes his living by painting his disturbing works of art. He loves his wife and his son, and life couldn’t be better . . . except there’s something not quite right about the old stone farmhouse his family now calls home. There’s something strange living in the cramped cellar, in the maze of pipes that feed the ancient steam boiler. A winter storm is brewing, and soon Henry will learn the true nature of the monster waiting for him down in the darkness. He will battle this demon and, in the process, he may discover what really happened when he was a child — and why, in times of trouble, he thinks: I paint against the darkness. But will Henry learn the truth in time to avoid the terrible fate awaiting him . . . or will the thing in the cellar get him and his family first? Written as both a meditation on the art of creation and as an examination of the secret fears we all share, The Painted Darkness is a terrifying look at the true cost we pay when we run from our grief — and what happens when we’re finally forced to confront the monsters we know all too well. Exclusive to the free ebook: An exclusive new interview with Ray Bradbury: “We Have Too Many Inventions!” Comments from bestselling authors such as Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, William Peter Blatty, Jodi Picoult, Anne Perry, Jane Green, M.J. Rose, Douglas Clegg, J.A. Konrath, Seth Godin, Michael Marshall Smith, Scott Adams, and many others about eBooks and the future of publishing. Author’s Afterword: “Did I Really Commit ‘Career Suicide’ By Giving The Painted Darkness Away For Free?” Norman Prentiss interviews Brian James Freeman about The Painted Darkness

Websites:

Free Downloadable eBook
Get your free downloadable ebook version on the Download the Darkness website.

Free Streaming Audio Version
Listen to the free streaming audio version on the Download the Darkness website.

Video:

Check out this really cool book trailer designed by Russ Dickerson of Darkstorm Creative. Click on the link to check out Mr. Dickerson’s thoughts on what a book trailer should and shouldn’t be. I found myself in agreement with him.

Book Covers:

So, what do you think? Have you downloaded your free ebook and read it? How did you like the story? Let me know in the comments below.

This post is an edited and abridged version of the original post Discover The Painted Darkness by Brian James Freeman published in …With Intent to Commit Horror.