At the bar The Wild Zone, it all starts out innocently enough. A bet between two bothers, Will and Jeff, and Jeff’s buddy Tom, of who can get that hot brunette to go home them.

With the sly help of Jeff’s girlfriend, Kristen, who is also the bartender, Will leaves the bar with the girl. Jeff, clearly upset, gets Tom to follow them. Tom has a gun, and when he sees Will and Suzy, the mystery brunette, kissing on the beach, he’s itching to use it. But what neither man knows, is that Suzy has her own idea about what to do with the three men she’s just wrapped around her finger.

What happens when a bestselling thriller writer runs of out ideas? It’s called, The Wild Zone. There is no way that this book comes close to what Joy Fielding can produce. Something to throw down on paper to fulfill obligations instead of an inspired masterpiece, which we’re so used to seeing from her (ie Heartstopper, Still Life)? Perhaps. The plot was weak, the characters were uninteresting stereotypes and the twist and turns that usually have me gasping, had me groaning. Being able to get any book we want nowadays is the beauty of the cyber marketplace. What makes us pick up thrillers is the adrenaline rush we get from putting on the detective hat and trying to figure out the end before we get there. What makes us pick up Fielding is the knowledge that we’ll be done the book by the end of the weekend, cause we can’t tear ourselves away. Sadly, The Wild Zone made me want to burn my hat and spend the weekend cleaning my apartment.

Looking to maximize your income? Already among the world’s richest elite? Then for the small price of five million dollars you too can attend Doc Papa’s Way of the Barefoot Zombie. Learn to set aside distracting human feelings like guilt, sympathy and fear. Maximize your potential for wealth, power and personal gain. You must remember the five rules though, for these rules are all that stand between the living and the dead.

Zombies, Voodoo and Magic. Oh My!

Jasper Bark’s WAY OF THE BAREFOOT ZOMBIE is in a league all its own. I’m not even sure how I’d classify it. I guess somewhere between Dawn of the Dead, The Serpent and the Rainbow and Silent Hill. If you’re a fan of any of the afore mentioned, then this is a read that you won't want to miss.

I’d thought I’d seen and read everything that a Zombie movie or book had to offer. I was wrong. Some of the scenes Jasper paints are so obscene that you have to wonder if he has a little red phone on his writing desk that’s a direct line to the gore-fairy himself. Intestines wrapped around boat’s propeller, still-seeing eyeballs removed from their owner’s heads then crushed like grapes (add popping sound here), and for the first time ever I think, a man sodomized by a fly infested Zombie. Crap, just writing all that is giving me the willies again. I mean seriously, who reads this stuff? Oh, wait a minute...

Final Verdict:

I loved this book. This is a must-have for all you Zombie lovers out there. It read quick and smooth, and was extremely entertaining. Jasper has a unique voice and if Way of the Barefoot Zombie is any hint to what goes on in that head of his, then I’m not sure if I want to know any more. :)

When the residents of Walden, Virginia wake to find the sun hasn’t risen and the town is surrounded in total darkness, they think nothing of it. They get up, shower, and head off to work, some even driving off into the black abyss. However, it’s not long before they realize the darkness is more than a simple storm front that’s blocked the sun’s illuminating rays… something is in the darkness…something that wants them.

DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN is one man’s account of what happens to his town as the surrounding darkness slowly consumes it and sends the inhabitants into an eventual state of primeval carnage. Reminiscent of Stephen King’s THE MIST, which Keene makes reference to, DOTEOT plays on the human fear of the unknown, of ‘there’s something in the darkness,’ that drives a stimulating curiosity and fear that’ll keep you turning pages. Brian Keene’s writing reads effortlessly and whether he intended to or not, he had me laughing out loud several times, partly out of finding humor in a given situation and partly out of a tingle of fear that made me wonder what would I do in that situation?

In one scene our ‘hero’ (anti-hero?) is trying to enlist a crew to venture into the darkness. He finds the people of the crowd all staring at him, waiting to hear his words and thinks, “Suddenly, I had to take a massive shit.” This had me laughing long after I’d closed the book, as I could relate to addressing a group of people and some of the anxieties that come along with it and lets face it, it's just funny.

Brian Keene is consistent. He always creates a fun story that reads so smoothly you forget you’re reading. Honestly, I don’t know how he does it. Some of my all-time favorite authors, ones that I’d wait in line for on the day of a new release, have written stories I’ve started but never finished, either out of boredom or just a simple lack of interest. Over fourteen novels of reading later, Keene continues to keep my interest and the pages turning.

Final Verdict:

Keene delivers again in Darkness on the Edge of Town. His intense situations that force you to consider what you’d do and how you’d react, make this a personable read that yields a sharpness rarely found in a horror novel.

In 61 HOURS Jack Reacher innocently steps off his never-ending, meandering path smack into the type of disaster only Reacher can solve. The fourteenth novel in the Jack Reacher series is as twisting and suspenseful as every previous story. In tried and true Lee Child style, Child spends the first half of the novel digging Reacher into the deepest hole possible and then the second half letting Reacher logically and physically scramble his way out.

Instead of searching for the perfect cup of coffee, Reacher is sleeping on a tour bus crossing South Dakota in a deadly blizzard when a brush of fate slams the bus into a ditch and lands him in a small town with a big problem. A biker gang has settled outside of town and is selling meth. A retired librarian is the star eyewitness to busting up the gang and is under watch 24/7 by the local police who expect a big gun to come to town to take out the witness. But the police are under orders to cover the nearby prison if the prison siren goes off, leaving their storybook grandma witness unprotected.

Know anyone with previous bodyguard experience? Or Secret Service experience? Or FBI experience? Or can dig swimming pools by hand? Perhaps lacking in social skills with fists as big as hams?

Child’s distinctive voice is spare yet nails the key details that create rich scenes with a minimum of words that consistently place his novels on The New York Times top ten lists. He wields South Dakota weather as a deadly secondary character. The freezing temperature combined with wind chill is ominous every time a person steps outside. I found it more threatening to Reacher’s life than the Mexican drug lord who holds a Heckler &Koch MP5 to Reacher’s face. Of course Reacher evens those odds with a flashlight, brains, and brute strength.

Reminiscent of Bill Bixby on TV as the homeless Incredible Hulk, in each novel Reacher steps up when strangers need his unusual talents and then he moves on, leaving me to picture lonely Bill Bixby trudging down the road at the end of each TV episode, the poignant theme song playing in my head. But that is not the way 61 HOURS ends. I won’t give spoilers, but I will say my jaw dropped at the end of this book. Fans will call 61 HOURS one of the most surprising books of 2010.

61 HOURS will be published in the US on May 18, 2010. Yep, I got an advance reader’s copy and will consider large monetary bribes for a peek at it. If you want to pay steep shipping fees to get your hands on an early copy, the book will be available in Australia on March 10th and in the UK on March 18th. Lee Child will be the featured author of the month on TheNovelBlog.com in May.

Another day, another great Keene book. What you see is what you get with this great author who is fast becoming one of my all-time favourites. Lean and pacy, full of blood, lust and action, he really keeps the reader engaged and never bored.

I’ve read four of his novels now and have more to read from this prolific American writer. This doesn’t hit the heights of The Rising say, maybe it’s the hero being an author that I find a bit lazy. But it’s full of Keeneism from start to finish and I like his characters and root for them unlike some other writers.

This is something a little different and the Machen reference wasn’t lost on me either.

Keep going, I’m a big fan.


Blurb

When mysterious music is heard in the forest at night and women begin disappearing without a trace, novelist Adam Senft discovers that the town of LeHorn's Hollow has become the victim of an ancient nightmare worse than any ghost.

Jeremy Robinson has done it again. INSTINCT is a knock-down, thought inducing, all-out-thrill-fest with enough testosterone to put hair on even the wimpiest of chests. The Chess Team is back and once again they’ll travel to the ends of the earth in an effort to save it.

When the President suddenly drops dead and no one knows why, the Chess Team suits up for action. Assigned to protect "Pawn" as she leads them to find an answer, the team grabs their gear and leaves for Vietnam...and finds much more than they were looking for.

INSTINCT contains all the ingredients you’ve come to expect from a Jeremy Robinson novel: cool technology and weapons, action, adventure and deep at the heart of the story there’s that urban legend that he’s such an expert on intertwining. Rook, Bishop, Knight, King and Queen are all back and bigger than ever, as well as a few new characters that I hope carry on throughout the Chess Team series.

What I really enjoyed about INSTINCT was that several times I literally laughed aloud while reading. Making me laugh while reading (fiction at least) isn’t a simple task, yet I found myself doing it several times. I also think this is a much more serious writing by Jeremy, in that unlike PULSE—which was clearly fiction—INSTINCT has a very plausible plot and carries a much finer edge as a result.

In 2006 United Artists released Casino Royale which boasted "...discover how James became Bond". At the time a relatively unknown Daniel Craig was cast in the role of Bond and, being the huge fan of the series that I am, it caused me to doubt if he could pull it off (remember Timothy Dalton?). Anyways, after walking out of the theater I’d felt something that I hadn’t felt in a long time—I wanted to be James Bond. INSTINCT did the same for me; I wanted to be a hero, dressed in cool gear with a big gun, constantly staring death in the face and I believe that is a real tribute to the type of read this is.

Final Verdict:

Jeremy has definitely been honing his writing skills and INSTINCT proves it. Fun, lovable characters, a solid (believable) plot and fast-turning pages makes this one of my favorite reads of 2010 to date.

Adam Kindred is a climatologist with a bright future. After a seemingly successful job interview, he decides to dine at a little Italian bistro in Chelsea, London. He strikes up a conversation with a the lone diner next to him…like some might do, and when the diner leaves, forgetting his briefcase, Adam feels compelled to return it to him…as some might do. He calls the stranger, who instructs him to bring the briefcase to his home, which is not far off. From that moment on, life as Adam’s knows it is forever altered.

He suddenly finds himself on the run without access to anything from his former life. With an assassin sniffing out his trail, he delves deeper and deeper into the dark underground of an unnoticed street life, and becomes one of the faceless ranks. All while carefully and patiently navigating the minefield of a pharmaceutical giant’s machinations, to clear his name and bring to light a potentially fatal new drug worth millions.

There are some mixed reviews out there regarding this, Boyd’s, latest thriller, but I have to say that this was one of the most exciting reads I’ve had all winter. From the book jacket I was expecting a completely different story, but was taken somewhere dark and seedy, to places I didn’t see coming, with characters that intrigued me more and more and began to genuinely care about. Each one surprising me at every turn, whether with pride or disgust. This is what a thriller is about…and Boyd nailed it!

A quiet Irish town the discovery of something metal long buried under the sand. Unearthed is a submarine and inside a last gasp Nazi chemical weapon from the end of the Second World War.

The healthy get ill and die, but rise again, to stalk the town and seek to bite and infect the living. Cut off and quarantined by the army, the townsfolk desperately fight to stay alive and try and make for an ancient keep during low tide in the estuary.

Nice to see a zombie plague set in another country from the US and with likable characters the story zips along nicely with well choice and creative prose.

If you like a good zombie book and fancy something a little different this is worth a punt.

One puzzle is the arrival of British soldiers in a helicopter at one point which adds nothing to the plot and why they are there at all, is never explained?

Santa Rosa, CA (January 21, 2010)- On January 1st, 2010 Damnation Books, LLC took the reins of Eternal Press, moving the previously Canadian based publisher to the United States. Both companies specialize in ebooks and also paperback editions of their fiction.

The two companies remain separate brand entities but will share staff and resources. Damnation Books is found online at www.damnationbooks.com and Eternal Press at www.eternalpress.ca however, Eternal Press will be moving to a new website address soon. Readers and writers can visit the current site and will be redirected once the change occurs.

Ally Robertson former CEO of Eternal Press stated, “I handed over the Eternal Press reins to Kim Richards Gilchrist of Damnation Books LLC. I did so with great faith that by combining her efforts and resources she will take these two companies to the forefront of the E-pub industry. My decision to step down and stay on as the Head of Production and Art departments is a result of my confidence in her to take Eternal Press to heights I couldn’t. I wish all the best for both companies and know that with team work almost anything is possible.”

Kim Richards Gilchrist, CEO of Damnation Books, LLC and now, Eternal Press followed, “We are thrilled to bring Eternal Press to America. By sharing staff and resources, we expect both publishers to grow, beginning in 2010. Ally Robertson is staying on to head the production department, where her design expertise will benefit most.

“Eternal Press will continue to bring great romance, historical, contemporary, science fiction, fantasy and erotic fiction . We plan to expand the GBLT titles and reopen to Young Adult stories. Damnation Books remains dedicated to dark fiction, bringing you great horror, thrillers, dark fantasy, science fiction, erotica and will be opening up to dark-themed gay fiction. Both companies strive to bring quality reading at affordable prices in ebook (including kindle and iphone) and paperback editions.”

More information can be obtained by contacting Marketing Manager, Sheryl Connelly, via email at eternalpresspromotions@gmail.com.

I’ve read other great works by Heather: THE SÉANCE, HAUNTED and GHOST WALK to name a few, all of which were fun reads, so when I saw DUST TO DUST I was pretty excited to sit down and get started.

Sadly, I was disappointed. While it shared promise with ties to the book of Revelation (a personal favorite of mine), Mayan prophecies of the world ending in 2012 and the realm of the supernatural, it ended up just being a bunch of blah. Characters with great potential were left untouched, while the ones we were supposed to care for I found boring if not annoying. And finally, there’s the twist towards the end that made it hard for me to finish reading.

I hate writing negative reviews about a book, especially seeing as I know how much work goes into writing one, but part of our mission statement is to give honest opinions—good or bad.

My Verdict:

I was bored and had a hard time finishing. I thought maybe I was being too harsh so I read other reviews online and again, sadly, I was not alone in my opinion. You could certainly do worse; however, this one is safe to skip. Instead go watch an episode of NBC's HEROES.

The back-cover:

Not long ago, Scott Bryant would have described himself as an ordinary guy. But one act of heroism has changed his life forever—or at least until the apocalypse occurs. Because the end of the world is on its way.

Suddenly and inexplicably possessed of superhuman strength, Scott finds himself allied with the enigmatic and alluring Melanie Regan in a quest to find the mysterious Oracle in hopes of averting the absolute destruction that threatens.

Melanie herself has been falling into trances, sketching terrifying visions of future events—and she wants answers. She knows better than Scott where to look for help, but even she cannot fathom the powers that have thrust them together in an epic battle of good against evil.

The earth itself will soon turn against its inhabitants, and now mortal and immortal must join forces if any are to survive.