Review: Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer

Review by John for Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer.

John’s quick take:  Sawyer can always be relied upon to write imaginative and thoughtful SF, and this is another winner. A creative take on the “evolutionist versus creationist” debate.

John’s description:  In Sawyer’s book, man’s first meeting with intelligent extra-terrestrials aliens is not quite the way most people have envisioned it. An alien spacecraft sets down outside the Royal Ontario Museum and the spider-like alien asks to be introduced to a senior paleontologist. The alien, named Hollus, has absolutely no interest in meeting world leaders or politicians; instead Hollus wants to find out about Earth’s ancient history and fossil records.

Tom Jericho is the main paleontologist at the museum, and he and Hollus swap stories about how life developed and evolved on their planets. While it is no surprise to Hollus, Jericho is totally stunned to learn that their planets suffered cataclysmic events and mass extinctions at precisely the same times in their ancient histories. Hollus has already visited other planets and found the same pattern. Clearly this cannot be coincidental, and the alien goes on to say that is just one of many scientific facts which together prove the existence of God.

Jericho has spent much of his professional life fighting against creationist nonsense and is a hard-core believer in evolution theory. He is also irreligious and a total non-believer in God and consequently refuses to accept the conclusions that Hollus and other alien races have come to. Much of the book is taken up with discussions on scientific data, the science of evolution, exobiology and philosophy, but this is also a very human story (pun intended) as Jericho has one particularly powerful personal reason to refute God’s existence.

John’s thoughts:  This is an exceptionally clever story and tremendously thought-provoking. While a work of fiction it is also full of interesting facts and discussions about how life might have evolved - and it lays bare some real weaknesses and “leaps of faith” in current scientific thinking and evolution theory. It’s not that Sawyer is debunking evolution, but in this book he is effectively saying that evolution might have needed quite a bit of help along the way for life to have developed the way that it has.

And so we have discussions about the possible existence of God – not necessarily in a religious sense but in the sense of there being an all-powerful creator who had a hand in creating an environment and circumstances in which life could develop and evolve. Fascinating.

What is also great about the book is that Sawyer develops some complex and believable characters, including the alien Hollus. You do actually care about them and what happens to them. The story does also have more than its fair share of humor.

I’d thoroughly recommend this book to any science fiction fans or to anyone who is interested in exploring some of the scientific debates surrounding the evolution of life - this might be a novel, but it is a darned good read on the subject. Overall I’d rate it 4 stars. Why not even more? I really like Sawyer’s books but I do find that he has a tendency to over-reach in the conclusions to his stories – he makes the endings so immense that they don’t quite feel right; and he’s done it again here. Also, the two creationist/fundamentalist thugs are a bit weak and I don’t mean regarding their beliefs (which are obviously nuts), but rather they’re just rather thin characters and not very believable. I’m being picky though; great book.

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Calculating God is a 2001 Hugo Award Nominee for Best Novel.

Tor Books | March 2009 | Trade Paperback | 336 pages  (originally published in 2000)

Giveaway: Billy Moon by Douglas Lain

Today is the release day for Billy Moon by Douglas Lain. And we have three copies up for giveaway for US or Canadian residents.

About:   In Douglas Lain's debut novel set during the turbulent year of 1968, Christopher Robin Milne, the inspiration for his father’s fictional creation, struggles to emerge from a manufactured life, in a story of hope and transcendence.

Billy Moon was Christopher Robin Milne, the son of A. A. Milne, the world-famous author of Winnie the Pooh and other beloved children's classics. Billy's life was no fairy-tale, though. Being the son of a famous author meant being ignored and even mistreated by famous parents; he had to make his own way in the world, define himself, and reconcile his self-image with the image of him known to millions of children. A veteran of World War II, a husband and father, he is jolted out of midlife ennui when a French college student revolutionary asks him to come to the chaos of Paris in revolt. Against a backdrop of the apocalyptic student protests and general strike that forced France to a standstill that spring, Milne's new French friend is a wild card, able to experience alternate realities of the past and present. Through him, Milne's life is illuminated and transformed, as are the world-altering events of that year.

In a time when the Occupy movement eerily mirrors the political turbulence of 1968, this magic realist novel is an especially relevant and important book.

Tor Books | 8/27/2013 | Hardcover |272 pages

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Giveaway: The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams

Giveaway for The Dirty Streets of Heaven (Volume One of Bobby Dollar) by Tad Williams. We have one mass market paperback for a US or Canadian address.

About:  Bobby Dollar is an angel—a real one. He knows a lot about sin, and not just in his professional capacity as an advocate for souls caught between Heaven and Hell. Bobby’s wrestling with a few deadly sins of his own—pride, anger, even lust.

But his problems aren’t all his fault. Bobby can’t entirely trust his heavenly superiors, and he’s not too sure about any of his fellow earthbound angels either, especially the new kid that Heaven has dropped into their midst, a trainee angel who asks too many questions. And he sure as hell doesn’t trust the achingly gorgeous Countess of Cold Hands, a mysterious she-demon who seems to be the only one willing to tell him the truth. When the souls of the recently departed start disappearing, catching both Heaven and Hell by surprise, things get bad very quickly for Bobby D. End-of-the-world bad. Beast of Revelations bad.

Caught between the angry forces of Hell, the dangerous strategies of his own side, and a monstrous undead avenger that wants to rip his head off and suck out his soul, Bobby’s going to need all the friends he can get—in Heaven, on Earth, or anywhere else he can find them. You’ve never met an angel like Bobby Dollar. And you’ve never read anything like The Dirty Streets of Heaven.

Brace yourself—the afterlife is weirder than you ever believed.

Mass Market Paperback | 464 pages | 02 Jul 2013 | DAW

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You Do Not have to be reader/follower to enter this contest. However if you are you will receive an extra entry in the contest.

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Giveaway: Dark Shadows: Wolf Moon Rising by Lara Parker

We have two copies of Dark Shadows: Wolf Moon Rising by Lara Parker for US and Canadian residents.

Here’s a link for a short interview with author Lara Parker, where you can find out more about this stand alone novel.

Publisher’s blurb:   The first all-new Dark Shadows novel in years, written by Lara Parker, one of the stars of the cult classic TV show!

When a portrait is lost that has maintained Quentin Collins’s youthful appearance for over a century—and has also kept his werewolf curse at bay—Quentin begins to dread the full moon.

Meanwhile, David, the sixteen-year-old heir to the Collins fortune, has fallen in love with Jacqueline, a young girl living at the Old House who is the reincarnation of Angelique. David and Jacqueline are swept back in time to the prohibition era of the Twenties, where David uncovers the dark secrets of the Collins family history.

Most threatening of all, Dr. Nathanial Blair, an expert in the paranormal, has come to Collinwood because he suspects they are harboring a vampire. Fortunately, Barnabas Collins has returned to his coffin after a disastrous flirtation with life as a human. Nevertheless, what Blair discovers places the entire Collins family in jeopardy.

Tor Books |8/20/2013 |Trade Paperback |400 pages

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You Do Not have to be reader/follower to enter this contest. However if you are you will receive an extra entry in the contest.

Ways to “follow”:

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Interview: Lara Parker ~ author of Dark Shadows: Wolf Moon Rising

It’s release day for Dark Shadows: Wolf Moon Rising by Lara Parker and we have an interview with the author.

Wolf Moon Rising is the third book in the Dark Shadows collection which is based up on the TV series of the same name. In addition to writing the books Lara played a major character for the series – Angelique. So we have some questions about her writing, the book, and her acting.

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Welcome Lara!  What was it like continuing your series so many years after your first novels were published?

The truth is I never stopped writing. The publishing world moves like a glacier, and it takes a very long time to write a book and get it through the publishing process.

I turned WOLF MOON RISING into my editor at TOR in March, 2012, and it was not released until August 20, 2013. I had worked for over two years writing the book, and before that I spent about a year refining the outline and getting approval from TOR. (I was also teaching Freshman English at Santa Monica College and I couldn’t write the semesters I was teaching. It’s too hard to do both.) The book before WOLF MOON RISING--THE SALEM BRANCH--took three years because I was going to graduate school to get my MFA in Creative Writing and writing the novel as part of my curriculum.

Was it easy for you to get into the groove again?

A novelist creates a world and lives within that world. My world is the world of DARK SHADOWS, and the stories, the characters, and the themes are always evolving n my head. Because I was an actress on the show playing one of the lead characters--the witch, Angelique--I was intimately familiar with the Great House at Collinwood and the family who lived there. And since I was on the sets doing scenes with the other actors, their vocal inflections, their body language, their wardrobe, their subtlest reactions are etched indelibly in my brain.

I was given the opportunity to resume the story of DARK SHADOWS after it went off the air. This is a daunting responsibility and one I do not take lightly. There is a huge contingent of DARK SHADOWS fans--even more now that the Johnny Depp film has been released--and they have stern expectations. They want the show to continue on the page with all the magic and the mystery of the television show they ran home from school to watch.

Therefore, I believe it is my obligation to preserve the tone of supernatural Gothic Romance. DARK SHADOWS is not bloody horror like TRUE BLOOD, although the TV shows of today owe a great deal of gratitude to our first depiction of vampires. It is not (intentionally) campy. The world of DARK SHADOWS is one of restraint, of social graces as if it were in the time of Jane Austin. The well-mannered veneer of gentility must be maintained. But underneath there is a malevolent force at work.

Being faithful to DARK SHADOWS has been my main concern, but for a novelist to envision a narrative that has a strong story with rising action and a dramatic climax, it is necessary to move into unfamiliar territory, weaving new stories into the old and inventing new characters never seen on the show.

Where does this book fit into the time frame of the series?

The first book, ANGELIQUE’S DESCENT takes place just after the show went off the air, and the next two have followed in succession. At the end of the series,

Barnabas had been cured of vampirism by Dr. Julia Hoffman, and so I began to tell my story there. In THE SALEM BRANCH he is struggling with his new life as a human, and in WOLF MOON RISING he is a vampire again.

However, in each novel I go back in time to create the back story of one of the characters. In this way, each novel is a prequel as well as a sequel. ANGELIQUE’S DESCENT told the story of Angelique’s childhood in Martinique and her love affair with Barnabas before he rejected her for her mistress, Josette.

THE SALEM BRANCH went even further back in time to 1692 and the Salem witch trials where Angelique’s earliest incarnation, Miranda du Val, was tried as a witch. WOLF MOON RISING has a sequence in the twenties when Elizabeth Collins, the matriarch at Collinwood, was a charming flapper.

Is this new book taken from part of the story-line from the TV show?

No, none of the plot from this book was ever on the show. It is an entirely new story. However it centers on Quentin and the portrait that not only keeps him young, but also keeps the werewolf curse at bay. Quentin was in possession of an enchanted portrait on the show.

Which did you enjoy the most, acting the part of Angelique or writing the books?

Oh, I don’t think anything could ever replace the fun I had playing Angelique. She was a wonderful character, so vulnerable, and yet so strong. She had many layers, the heart-broken damsel, the vengeful, scorned mistress, and the supernatural witch.

Thank you Lara!

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About Dark Shadows: Wolf Moon Rising:    The first all-new Dark Shadows novel in years, written by Lara Parker, one of the stars of the cult classic TV show!

When a portrait is lost that has maintained Quentin Collins’s youthful appearance for over a century—and has also kept his werewolf curse at bay—Quentin begins to dread the full moon.
Meanwhile, David, the sixteen-year-old heir to the Collins fortune, has fallen in love with Jacqueline, a young girl living at the Old House who is the reincarnation of Angelique. David and Jacqueline are swept back in time to the prohibition era of the Twenties, where David uncovers the dark secrets of the Collins family history.

Most threatening of all, Dr. Nathanial Blair, an expert in the paranormal, has come to Collinwood because he suspects they are harboring a vampire. Fortunately, Barnabas Collins has returned to his coffin after a disastrous flirtation with life as a human. Nevertheless, what Blair discovers places the entire Collins family in jeopardy.

Tor Books |8/20/2013 |Trade Paperback |400 pages

LARA PARKER, whose real name is Lamar Rickey Hawkins, played the role of Angelique on Dark Shadows. She grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, attended Vassar College, majored in Drama at the University of Iowa, and received her MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University at Los Angeles. She lives in Topanga Canyon, California, with her husband and daughter.  http://laraparkersite.blogspot.com/

Review: The House at the End of Hope Street by Menna van Praag

Review by Shellie for The House at the End of Hope Street by Menna van Praag

Shellie’s quick take:  A sweet and “bookish” story about a house that helps lost but talented women find themselves. It’s magical realism for female bibliophiles.

Shellie’s description:   There is a special house near London located on a street called Hope. It calls to exceptional women to live in its walls when they are in crisis. What’s unusual about the house is that you cannot see it unless you have been chosen by it. In fact many famous women have arrived and received its help over its 200-year life and their pictures cover the walls.

As the story alternates between a handful of characters that are in need of assistance, we slowly get a picture of why the current set of women are there. They are then magically given what they require so that they can move on in their lives. 

Shellie’s thoughts:   On the plus side it’s an easy-to-hold and physically small book with some cute ideas. It has an eclectic group of gifted main characters including one that is over 60 and another that is LGBT. There is also an impressive list of the long-deceased prior inhabitants, whose ghosts visit its current residents with their advice and insight. With the dead’s accomplished mini bios at the end for reference, the book has a slight feminist perspective highlighting the women that have paved the way both for the current residents and for women in general.

However, even though it has chocolate, ghosts, fashion, romance and advice, it was a bit trite for my tastes. And sadly, though the story line gave me the desire to want to know what was going to happen to the characters, the writing did not pull me into the text and consequently I felt the desire to skip parts of it.

Do not let my slightly negative thoughts deter you; I am seeing positive reviews from a variety of readers. I did think the book was okay, but would not put in on my favorite list for magical realism. I would recommended it for literary-minded romance readers who want everything tied up neat and sweet in the end and who like a bit of magic in their reads. 2.5 stars for this debut novel.

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304 pages | 04 Apr 2013 | Pamela Dorman Books |18 - AND UP

http://www.mennavanpraag.com/

Incoming Books: August 14, 2013

We have our Incoming Books feature for August 14, 2013.

Macmillan/Tor

Transcendental by James Gunn

Riley, a veteran of interstellar war, is one of many beings from many different worlds aboard a ship on a pilgrimage that spans the galaxy. However, he is not journeying to achieve transcendence, a vague mystical concept that has drawn everyone else on the ship to this journey into the unknown at the far edge of the galaxy. His mission is to find and kill the prophet who is reputed to help others transcend. While their ship speeds through space, the voyage is marred by violence and betrayal, making it clear that some of the ship’s passengers are not the spiritual seekers they claim to be.

Like the pilgrims in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, a number of those on the starship share their unique stories. But as tensions rise, Riley realizes that the ship is less like the Canterbury Tales and more like a harrowing, deadly ship of fools. When he becomes friendly with a mysterious passenger named Asha, he thinks she’s someone he can trust. However, like so many others on the ship, Asha is more than she appears. Uncovering her secrets could be the key to Riley’s personal quest, or make him question everything he thought he knew about Transcendentalism and his mission to stop it.

James Gunn's Transcendental is a space adventure filled with excitement and intrigue that explores the nature of what unifies all beings.

Tor Books | 8/27/2013 | Hardcover | 304 pages

Billy Moon by Douglas Lain

In Douglas Lain's debut novel set during the turbulent year of 1968, Christopher Robin Milne, the inspiration for his father’s fictional creation, struggles to emerge from a manufactured life, in a story of hope and transcendence.

Billy Moon was Christopher Robin Milne, the son of A. A. Milne, the world-famous author of Winnie the Pooh and other beloved children's classics. Billy's life was no fairy-tale, though. Being the son of a famous author meant being ignored and even mistreated by famous parents; he had to make his own way in the world, define himself, and reconcile his self-image with the image of him known to millions of children. A veteran of World War II, a husband and father, he is jolted out of midlife ennui when a French college student revolutionary asks him to come to the chaos of Paris in revolt. Against a backdrop of the apocalyptic student protests and general strike that forced France to a standstill that spring, Milne's new French friend is a wild card, able to experience alternate realities of the past and present. Through him, Milne's life is illuminated and transformed, as are the world-altering events of that year.

In a time when the Occupy movement eerily mirrors the political turbulence of 1968, this magic realist novel is an especially relevant and important book.

Tor Books | 8/27/2013 | Hardcover |272 pages

Quick Fix by Linda Grimes

QUICK FIX—the second installment of the original urban fantasy series by LINDA GRIMES.

Ciel Halligan, an aura adaptor with a chameleon-like ability to step into the lives of her clients and fix their problems for them—as them—is working a job at the National Zoo with her boyfriend, Billy, and his ten-year-old sister, Molly. It's supposed to be a quick fix, giving her time to decide if it's wise to pursue the romantic relationship her charming scoundrel of a best friend wants, or if she should give Mark, the CIA spook she's crushed on since hormones first rattled her pubescent brain, a chance to step up to the plate.

Molly has already begun to show signs of being an adaptor herself. She's young for it, but she's always been precocious, so it's not impossible. What is impossible is her taking on the form of the baby orangutan she touches—adaptors can only project human auras. Until now, apparently. Worse, Molly is stuck in ape form. She can't change herself back.

Escaping from the zoo with their new baby orang, Ciel and Billy head for New York City and the only person they know can help: Ciel's brother James, a non-adaptor scientist who's determined to crack the aura adaptor genetic code. But when Billy winds up in jail, accused of attempted murder, Ciel begins to suspect Molly's unusual adapting ability is more than just a fluke. Who's been experimenting on Molly, and what do they hope to gain? And will Ciel survive to find out?

Tor Books | 8/20/2013 | Trade Paperback | 352 pages

Elysian Fields Sentinels of New Orleans (Volume 3 of 5) by Suzanne Johnson

Elysian Fields by Suzanne Johnson is the fun, fast-paced third book in the Sentinels of New Orleans, a series of urban fantasy novels filled with wizards, mermen, and pirates. These novels are perfect for readers of paranormal fiction and “fans of Charlaine Harris and Cat Adams” (Booklist) and RT Bookreviews agrees that “for readers missing Sookie Stackhouse, this series may be right up your alley.”

The mer feud has been settled, but life in South Louisiana still has more twists and turns than the muddy Mississippi.

New Orleanians are under attack from a copycat killer mimicking the crimes of a 1918 serial murderer known as the Axeman of New Orleans. Thanks to a tip from the undead pirate Jean Lafitte, DJ Jaco knows the attacks aren’t random—an unknown necromancer has resurrected the original Axeman of New Orleans, and his ultimate target is a certain blonde wizard. Namely, DJ.

Combating an undead serial killer as troubles pile up around her isn’t easy. Jake Warin’s loup-garou nature is spiraling downward, enigmatic neighbor Quince Randolph is acting weirder than ever, the Elders are insisting on lessons in elven magic from the world’s most annoying wizard, and former partner Alex Warin just turned up on DJ’s to-do list. Not to mention big maneuvers are afoot in the halls of preternatural power.

Suddenly, moving to the Beyond as Jean Lafitte’s pirate wench could be DJ’s best option.

Tor Books | 8/13/2013 | Hardcover | 352 pages

Robert the Bruce by Jack Whyte

From author Jack Whyte comes the true story of Robert the Bruce: a passionate man. An incredible warrior. And one of Scotland’s finest. 

Robert I, or as he is known to a grateful Scottish nation, Robert the Bruce, was one of Scotland’s greatest kings, as well as one of the most famous warriors of his generation.  He spearheaded the valiant Scots in their quest for freedom, leading his people during the Wars of Scottish Independence against the Kingdom of England during the middle ages. His reign saw the recognition of Scotland as an independent nation, and today Bruce is remembered in Scotland as a national hero.

It was by no means a fair and easy road for this indomitable fighter. As a young man he saw the English king Edward I award the vacant Crown of Scotland to John Balliol. The nation quickly splintered into factions and this spurred Robert and his father to at first side with Edward and then against John, whom many of the nobles did not feel was the correct person to guide the nation. Thus began a decades-long path for Scottish freedom. To achieve this goal, Robert sometimes had to delicately balance the power of the nobles against the might of the English. He was a tireless campaigner and after a full life of battle and diplomacy, in May 1328, King Edward III signed the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton, which recognized Scotland as an independent kingdom and Bruce as its king.

Forge Books | 8/6/2013 | Hardcover |592 pages

Mist (Midgard - Volume 1) by Susan Krinard

New York Times bestselling author SUSAN KRINARD launches her first urban fantasy series with MIST.

Mist lives a normal life. She has a normal job, a normal boyfriend, and a normal apartment in San Francisco. She never thinks about her past if she can help it.

She survived. That’s the end of it.

But then a snowy winter descends upon San Francisco. In June. And in quick succession, Mist is attacked by a frost giant in a public park and runs into an elf disguised as a homeless person on the streets…and then the man Mist believed was her mortal boyfriend reveals himself to be the trickster god, Loki, alive and well after all these years.

Mist’s normal world is falling apart. But thankfully, Mist isn’t quite so normal herself. She’s a Valkyrie, and she’s going to need all her skill to thwart Loki’s schemes and save modern Earth from the ravages of a battle of the gods.

Tor Books | July 2013 | Trade Paperback | 384 pages

Thieves' Quarry  (The Thieftaker Chronicles-Volume 2 of 4) by D. B. Jackson

Ethan Kaille isn’t the likeliest hero. A former sailor with a troubled past, Ethan is a thieftaker, using conjuring skills to hunt down those who steal from the good citizens of Boston. And while chasing down miscreants in 1768 makes his life a perilous one, the simmering political tensions between loyalists like himself and rabble-rousing revolutionaries like Samuel Adams and others of his ilk are perhaps even more dangerous to his health.

When one hundred sailors of King George III's Royal Navy are mysteriously killed on a ship in Boston Harbor, Ethan is thrust into dire peril. For he—and not Boston’s premier thieftaker, Sephira Pryce—is asked to find the truth behind their deaths. City Sheriff Edmund Greenleaf suspects conjuring was used in the dastardly crime, and even Pryce knows that Ethan is better equipped to contend with matters of what most of Boston considers dark arts. But even Ethan is daunted by magic powerful enough to fell so many in a single stroke. When he starts to investigate, he realizes that the mass murderer will stop at nothing to evade capture. And making his task more difficult is the British fleet's occupation of the city after the colonials' violent protests after the seizure of John Hancock's ship. Kaille will need all his own magic, street smarts, and a bit of luck to keep this Boston massacre from giving the hotheads of Colonial Boston an excuse for inciting a riot—or worse.

Thieves' Quarry is a stunning second novel in D. B. Jackson's Thieftaker Chronicles.

Tor Books | July 2013 | Hardcover | 320 pages

Night Pilgrims (A Saint-Germain Novel St. Germain Volume 26 of 27) by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's first Saint-Germain novel, Hotel Transylvania, was recently nominated as Vampire Novel of the Century. Her Saint-Germain cycle, now comprised of more than twenty-five books, is a masterwork of historical horror fiction. The vampire Count Saint-Germain has crisscrossed the world many times, seeking love and the blood of life and seeing humanity at its best and worst.

In Night Pilgrims, Saint-Germain is living in a monastery in Egypt when he is hired to guide a group of pilgrims to underground churches in southern Egypt. The vampire finds a companion in a lovely widow who later fears that her dalliance with the Count will prevent her from reaching Heaven. 

The pilgrims begin to fall prey to the trials of travel in the Holy Lands; some see visions and hear the word of God; others are seduced by desires for riches and power. A visit to the Chapel of the Holy Grail brings many quarrels to a head; Saint-Germain must use all his diplomacy and a good deal of his strength to keep the pilgrims from slaughtering one another.

Tor Books | 7/30/2013 |Hardcover | 416 pages

Misc. Publishers

VORTEX, Essays from a Sea of Nightmares by Robert Dunbar

Dark currents flow beneath the surface... powerful, deadly... ancient. Monsters churn the dark waters of the soul.

VORTEX explores the folklore that inspired many great works of dark literature.

From the Introduction: They say a basis in fact underlies most legends. They say it all the time, all those Wise Elders in all those old horror films, the high priests, the scientists, the gypsy fortune tellers. On this single issue they agree unanimously. More to the point (certainly to the point of this book), deep currents of tradition and superstition swirl through most classic works of horror fiction.

Paperback | 216 pages | May 1st 2013 | Uninvited Books

The Widows of Braxton County by Jess McConkey.

Family secrets can bind and destroy.

Kate is ready to put her nomadic, city-dwelling past behind her when she marries Joe Krause and moves with him to the Iowa farm that has been in his family for more than 140 years. But life on the farm isn't quite as idyllic as she'd hoped. It's filled with chores, judgmental neighbors, and her mother-in-law, who—unbeknownst to Kate until after the wedding—will be living with them.

As Kate struggles to find her place in the small farming community, she begins to realize that her husband and his family are not who she thought they were. According to town gossip, the Krause family harbors a long-kept secret about a mysterious death that haunts Kate as a dangerous, unexplainable chain of events begins.

William Morrow Paperbacks | 7/23/2013 | Trade PB; Pages: 384

Of Blood and Brothers: A Novel of the Civil War by E. Michael Helms

Of Blood and Brothers: Book One - A Novel of the Civil War is a page-turning novel inspired by two southern brothers who fought on opposite sides during America’s Civil War. There can be only one victor, on the field of battle and in the heart of the woman both love; and as the brothers discover, winning the peace can prove as costly as winning the war.

Book One follows the exploits of Daniel Malburn and the 6th FL Infantry through the battles of Chickamauga and Lookout Mountain/Missionary Ridge. While working at the salt works along St. Andrew Bay, younger brother Elijah is taken prisoner by Union Forces. Faced with imprisonment, he reluctantly chooses to join the 2nd US FL Cavalry as a scout, only to learn he must lead a destructive raid on his lifelong home.     

282 pages | Koehler Books | September 1, 2013 

Saving Paradise by Mark Bond

When a beautiful journalist drowns mysteriously in Honolulu Bay, former Special Forces veteran Pono Hawkins, now a well-known Hawaii surfer and international correspondent for surfing magazines, soon gets embroiled in trying to find why she died. What he learns quickly makes him a target for murder or life in prison as a cabal of powerful corporations, foreign killers and crooked politicians turns the blame on him.

Haunted by memories of Afghanistan, and determined to protect the Hawaii he loves from dirty politics tied to huge destructive energy developments, Pono turns to Special Forces buddies and his own skills to fight his deadly enemies, trying both to save himself and find her killers.

Alive with the sights, sounds and history of Hawaii, Saving Paradise is also a deeply rich portrait of what Pono calls “the seamy side of paradise”, and an exciting thriller of politics, lies and remorseless murder.

Bestselling novelist, war and human rights journalist, international energy expert and award-winning poet, Mike Bond lives on the paradisiacal Hawaiian island of Molokai. Based on his experiences in dangerous, remote and war-torn regions of the world, his critically acclaimed novels depict the innate hunger of the human heart for good, the intense joys of love, the terror and fury of battle, the sinister vagaries of international politics and multinational corporations, and the vanishing beauty of the natural world.

302 pages | Mandevilla Press | November 20, 2012

Glitter & Mayhem edited by Lynne M. Thomas, John Klima and Michael Damian Thomas

Welcome to Glitter & Mayhem, the most glamorous party in the multiverse.

Step behind the velvet rope of these fabulous Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror tales of roller rinks, nightclubs, glam aliens, party monsters, drugs, sex, glitter, and debauchery.

Dance through nightclubs, roller derby with cryptids and aliens, be seduced by otherworldly creatures, and ingest cocktails that will alter your existence forever.

Your hosts are the Hugo Award-winning editors John Klima (Electric Velocipede) and Lynne M. Thomas (Apex Magazine), and the Hugo-nominated editor Michael Damian Thomas (Apex Magazine).

Join glittery authors Christopher Barzak (One for Sorrow) and Daryl Gregory (Pandemonium) on the dance floor, drink cocktails with Maria Dahvana Headley (Queen of Kings: A Novel of Cleopatra, the Vampire) and Tim Pratt (Marla Mason series), and skate with Seanan McGuire (InCryptid series), Diana Rowland (Kara Gillian series), and Maurice Broaddus (The Knights of Breton Court series). The fantastic Amber Benson gets the party started with her floor-rattling introduction (Calliope Reaper-Jones series).

September 1, 2013 | Apex | Ebook

Alt Hist Issue 5 edited by Mark Lord

Alt Hist Issue 5 features stories covering a variety of historical periods from the 1800s to post-War USA.

This issue includes five new original works of fiction including stories about Al Capone and Italian Futurism, the aftermath of the American Civil War, the real Frankenstein, the Bridge that consumes the souls of men, and the latest installment in a series of stories about a successful Nazi invasion of Britain.

Alt Hist is the magazine of Historical Fiction and Alternate History, published twice a year by Alt Hist Press.

• After Mary by Priya Sharma
• AD 1929 by Douglas Texter
• The Stiff Heart by Meredith Miller
• The Bridge by Micah Hyatt
• Battalion 202: Rotten Parchment Bonds by Jonathan Doering

96 pages | CreateSpace | May 8, 2013

Appalachian Undead edited by Eugene Johnson and Jason Sizemore

Appalachian Undead takes a look at the dark side of Appalachia, where the Undead walk, driven by old magic and worse, their hunger for us.

Almost Heaven…or is it?

The mountain’s enduring beauty holds something dark. Something dreadful. Something hungry for our flesh, our brains. Something dead yet not quite dead, driven by magic as old as the coal seams and the hills.

Come see the dark side of the mountains where the undead walk. Appalachia stands against an ever-hungry, never-tiring army created by the region’s own mysteries and lore. Appalachian Undead collects intriguing zombie tales by some of the best names in horror, including John Skipp, Jonathan Maberry, Gary A. Braunbeck, Tim Lebbon, Elizabeth Massie, Lucy Snyder, Bev Vincent, Tim Waggoner and many more.

212 pages | Apex Book Company |Second Edition- July 27, 2013

Celestial Inventories by Steve Rasnic Tem

Celestial Inventories features twenty- two stories collected from rare chapbooks, anthologies, and obscure magazines, along with a new story written specifically for this volume. All represent the slipstream segment of Steve Rasnic Tem’s large body of tales: imaginative, difficult-to-pigeonhole works of the fantastic crossing conventional boundaries between science fiction, fantasy, horror, literary fiction, bizarro, magic realism, and the new weird. Several of these stories have previously appeared in Best of the Year compilations and have been the recipients of major F & SF nominations and awards.

ChiZine | 325 pages | August 15, 2013 | paperback

Tell My Sorrow to the Stones by Christopher Golden

A circus clown willing to give anything to be funny. A spectral gunslinger who must teach a young boy to defend the ones he loves. A lonely widower making a farewell tour of the places that meant the world to his late wife. A faded Hollywood actress out to deprive her ex-husband of his prize possession. A grieving mother who will wait by the railroad tracks for a ghostly train that always has room for one more. A young West Virginia miner whose only hope of survival is a bedtime story. These are just some of the characters to be found in Tell My Sorrows to the Stones.

ChiZine | 325 pages | August 15, 2013 | paperback

Review: Of Blood and Brothers by E. Michael Helms

Review by John for Of Blood and Brothers: A Novel of the Civil War by E. Michael Helms

John’s quick take:  An interesting story about the American Civil War and brothers who ended up fighting on different sides.

John’s description:  It’s 1927 and Calvin Hogue, a young reporter, is sent to cover a family reunion in the Florida panhandle. What makes the reunion different is that the two old Malburn brothers who will be there fought on different sides in the American Civil War. Hogue is nervous and not sure what to expect, but he is at least given a warm welcome by younger members of the Malburn family.

He is introduced to Daniel, the older of the two brothers, who at first seems like a rather irascible old man. But eventually, assisted by a glass or two of moonshine, the old man starts to tell Calvin his story, which then spreads over a few meetings between the two men. In particular Daniel tells all about his involvement as a Confederate soldier in the great battle of Chickamauga in Northern Georgia, when the Confederate army inflicted one of the worst defeats of the war on the Union army. The battle was savage and bloody, and Daniel Malburn spares no details.

Eventually Calvin is also introduced to Elijah, Daniel’s brother. The young Elijah did not sign up for the army alongside his older brother, but instead stayed at home to help run the family farm. After helping out at a salt works (salt was vital to the war effort) Elijah is captured by Union soldiers, and reluctantly chooses to join up as a Union scout rather than be sent to a prisoner of war camp. He figures that somehow he will be able to escape, but is horrified when his unit is sent to raid the countryside around where his family and friends live.

Calvin is totally drawn into the complex wartime stories of the two old men, which he turns into weekly episodes for the local newspaper. At the same time he becomes ever closer with the Malburn family.

John’s thoughts:  This is an interesting and enjoyable account of the Civil War, when many families were torn apart and found themselves on different sides. In this case one of the brothers found himself on the opposing side almost by accident, but is nonetheless drawn into actions which will damage the lives of those he has grown up with.

Helms certainly does a good job of depicting the chaos and confusion of the Civil War – both on and off the battlefield. He pulls no punches in describing the gory details of battle, but also effectively describes the anxieties and actions of those not of the front line.

I think that Helms is at his best when writing about the battle scenes, and his account of Chickamauga were quite compelling. I really liked the way that he talked about the soldiers’ fears and emotions. I wasn’t quite as impressed with the story of Calvin Hogue, which is used as a framework for the Civil War storyline. Some of this is a little on the thin side – for example, it was never obvious to me why the two old brothers would suddenly open up to Hogue and tell him things they had never told anyone else.

However, I would recommend this to anyone interested in historical fiction generally or the American the Civil War specifically. A couple of words of caution – firstly, this is the first part of a two-book story so do not expect major story elements to come to a conclusion in this read; secondly, the tales of the two old Southern men are written the way that they speak, so that you have to cope with many odd phrases and colloquialisms. I’m sure that many people will find the speaking/writing style a bonus. For me it did occasionally get in the way just a bit.

Overall I’d rate this book 3.5 stars.

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282 pages | Koehler Books | September 1, 2013

http://www.emichaelhelms.com/

Giveaway: A Criminal Defense by Steven Gore

We have a giveaway for A Criminal Defense by Steven Gore. One copy for a US address.

About:  Betrayal wounds. Revenge destroys.

Over three decades, Hamlin's practice devolved into just another racket: intimidating witnesses, suborning perjury, destroying evidence, laundering money. But is he the victim of murder—or of a dangerous sexual encounter gone wrong? And when law enforcement believes justice has already been done, who can be trusted to find out?

Once again in the city where his career came to a shattering end, former detective Harlan Donnally resolved it wouldn't be him. He had no desire to immerse himself in the deceit that was Hamlin's career . . . nor entangle himself in the corrupted loyalties that turned the dead lawyer's associates into both co-conspirators and suspects . . . nor make himself the proxy for the hatreds and betrayals Hamlin left behind.

But the presiding judge demanded otherwise—and that might cost Donnally his life.

Harper |7/30/2013 |Mass Market PB | Pages: 352 | Ages: 18 and Up

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You Do Not have to be reader/follower to enter this contest. However if you are you will receive an extra entry in the contest.

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Review: The Year of the Storm by John Mantooth

Review by Shellie for The Year of the Storm by John Mantooth

Shellie’s quick take:  A complexly interwoven and otherworldly mystery that is also a dark coming-of-age story. It centers around the events leading up to several devastating tornados and a painful loss.

Shellie’s description:  Set near some woods in Alabama, Danny and Walter are on the verge of being forced into becoming adults. Danny’s mother and sister have disappeared before a powerful storm and Walter and his friend Seth are targets from violent and heartless bullies. Each story is set within two different times, one current and one during the 1960’s, with the boys each telling their sad stories in the first person. They relate their tales in alternating chapters, slowly unraveling the mystery of the disappearance of Danny’s family.

Shellie’s thoughts:  An intense read, this book feels somewhat paranormal in nature. However, it’s one of those reads that leads you into a hidden world but then brings you back to reality in the end. What also adds to the thrilling nature of the book, is that how the boys are connected does not become completely clear until the last third of the book. It has a satisfying and twisty plot and a surprising ending.

Even though this book has a great structure that kept things moving along, and the more I think about the storyline the more I admire its complexity, I do have one minor grumble - the voices of the boys were so similar that several times I found myself confused about which one I was reading about.

Beyond that it’s a terrific book that is highly recommended for those wanting a thrilling and otherworldly coming-of-age story, and of course those looking for literary horror. 4 stars for this creative and twisty story.

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320 pages | 04 Jun 2013 | Berkley | 8.26 x 5.23in | 18 - AND UP

We have a short excerpt from the novel here on the blog, if you’re interested.

Author Bio:  John Mantooth is an award-winning author whose short stories have been recognized in numerous year's best anthologies. His short fiction has been published in Fantasy Magazine, Crime Factory, Thuglit, and the Stoker winning anthology, Haunted Legends (Tor, 2010), among others. His first book, Shoebox Train Wreck, was released in March of 2012 from Chizine Publications. His debut novel, The Year of the Storm from Berkley, was released in June 2013. He lives in Alabama with his wife, Becky, and two children.

Giveaway: Box Office Poison by Phillipa Bornikova (US/Canada)

In honor of its release we have a copy of Box Office Poison by Phillipa Bornikova for one US or Canadian address.

About:

What happens when exquisitely beautiful elves start getting all the roles in Hollywood? Human actors sue, that’s what. In a desperate attempt to keep the squabbling inside the Screen Actors Guild from going public, the president of SAG forces the two sides into arbitration.

Enter Linnet Ellery, a human lawyer working for a vampire law firm, to serve as arbitrator. Linnet discovers that there are sinister forces at work in Tinsel Town determined to shatter the fragile peace between elves, vampires, werewolves, and humans. Someone has been coercing famous elven actors into committing sudden and terrible acts of violence against humans in a series of tragedies that could turn the tide of public opinion against all the supernatural Powers.
During the course of her investigations Linnet realizes that a puzzling secret surrounds her, and that a strange power has been affecting the very course of her life. . . .

Tor Books | 8/6/2013 | Hardcover | 320 pages

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You Do Not have to be reader/follower to enter this contest. However if you are you will receive an extra entry in the contest.

Ways to “follow”:

1. Facebook: for updates in your feed -add me as a friend.
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7. Goodreads (Add me as a friend – there are no giveaway updates here only reviews.)

Also please fill out the Google form:

Review: Night Pilgrims by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Review by Shellie for Night Pilgrims by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.

Shellie’s quick take:  It’s a stand-alone historical fiction novel that has horror and romance elements with a vampire as the main character. Set in Egypt in the 1200s, the main character (Count Saint Germain assisting as a translator) and a group of European Christian pilgrims are searching for holy sites and relics in the African desert, in hopes of redemption or money.

Shellie’s description:   Sidi Sandjer’min (Count Saint-Germain’s name with an Egyptian twist) has been living at a Coptic monastery with his helper and friend Ruthier, assisting the monks and their visitors with their medical needs. He knows many languages and is an apothecary and a physician with knowledge that is advanced for the time.

Due to an edict passed by the ruler of Egypt that forces European inhabitants of the country to leave the land, Sandjer’min and Ruthiers decide their best option to avoid any persecution is to join a band of Christian pilgrims on their travels to visit churches and monasteries, as they are heading into the more remote areas of the Ethiopian highlands away from the main tributary of the Nile river. Set during a time without our modern conveniences, there is ample room for hardships and excitement and the story delivers.

With the faith of the zealous at its core, this is a novel which examines the place of religion in creating the world’s history and political climate during the 1200s.

Shellie’s thoughts:  This is my first Count Saint Germain novel even though it is the 26th book in the series. Happily, I was not lost at all by reading this latest novel since the book stands completely alone. And according to Tor’s blog, all the novels in the series are that way; you can start anywhere in the huge collection and not feel lost or slighted.

I devoured this novel in a few days, which is a rarity for me. It was intriguing and has well-developed characters, romance, darkness, intrigue, medical predicaments, historical detail, geographic information and an exciting story line. What may put some readers off is that the main character is a vampire, fearing that there will be all those traditional vampire characteristics that so many readers are bored with. However, the vampire aspect is only a slight part of the story line. I would consider this book foremost a historical fiction book and it’ s really light on the vampire theme. Adding to the interest for me is that Count Saint Germain is an old, wise and kind vampire.

This is an entertaining book that I recommend for historical fiction lovers, horror readers, vampire aficionados (even though it is light on traditional vampire darkness) and anyone looking for a comprehensive and attention-grabbing read. 4 stars for this historical horror novel. I will be reading more from this series and will consider Chelsea Quinn Yarbro a go-to author when I am interested in a guaranteed good read.

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Tor Books | 7/30/2013 |Hardcover | 416 pages

CHELSEA QUINN YARBRO has been nominated for the Edgar, the World Fantasy, and the Bram Stoker Awards.  She has been named a Grand Master of the World Horror Convention and a Living Legend by the International Horror Guild.  Author of many novels of horror, dark fantasy, mystery, and more, Yarbro lives in Berkeley, California. http://www.chelseaquinnyarbro.net/

Some link from Tor’s Blog for the book and series - Where to start in the epic Saint Germain Vampire Cycle and an excerpt from Night Pilgrims.

We also have a current giveaway for two copies of Night Pilgrims for US/UK and Canadian addresses, if you’re interested.