Back at it
Mario here:
I was busy this past holiday, writing and, thankfully, reading.
But first:Last Saturday, fellow author,
Laura Reeve, had a signing of her debut novel,
Peacekeeper. Before she wrote science fiction thrillers, Laura was a missile officer in the US Air Force (with her finger on the nuclear trigger).
My reads:I'm a contributing editor for the International Thriller Writers. Check out what I wrote for Irish author,
Derek Gunn, and his new novel,
Vampire Apocalypse:Descent into Chaos, in the January issue of
The Big Thrill. An excerpt of my review:
"Derek Gunn didn't reinvent the vampire novel. Instead he stripped it back to its roots, in the process tearing away the pretensions other writers have used to humanize the fabled bloodsucking monster. His books are not comforting paranormal romances; they are violent and visceral supernatural thrillers."
Next:When you go to writer conferences, you get a lot of free books. At the last BoucherCon, I got this freebie by Laura Lippman (naturally, since Baltimore is Lippman's home town).
Hardly Knew Her is a collection of Lippman's short stories. Each is a gem. Each is written with Lippman's sharp eye and crystal prose. And each is a tale of cold-blooded murder, usually centered around revenge. There's a woman drive to bankruptcy by an unscrupulous ex, a matronly femme fatale who is seriously underestimated by a pornographer, and an opportunistic girl who solves her weight problem with cocaine and murder.
Wait, there's more:
Ask me about one of my favorite reads and I'll tell you, Michael Connelly's
The Lincoln Lawyer. Connelly's written a sequel,
The Brass Verdict. I wasn't crazy about the title until I got to the end of the book. The title makes total sense. Criminal defense lawyer, Mickey Haller, is on the rebound after a drug addiction and letting his personal and professional life unravel to tatters. A colleague is shot dead and Haller is assigned his clients, including a ruthless Hollywood mogul accused of murder. The street-wise Haller finds out he's the fall guy in a gruesome conspiracy.
Alert!We all know that Jeanne Stein has a major Joss Whedon crush. So I'm scamming the Whedon news by telling you all that his
Dr. Horrible Sing-Along blog was noted by
National Public Radio as the most innovative and best media program for 2008. Points, Mario.
Homework: Share what books you've read recently or are on your TBR pile.