Genesis Of The Hunter: Book One by Joshua Martyr

With Genesis Of The Hunter, I can now say I've been introduced to something that is positioned to become something of a modern classic in horror.

From the Damnation Books website (because I, unfortunately, can't give a proper synopsis without spoilers...):

The world cradling humankind is yet to be understood. Much of its archaic beginnings linger within the mind upon a plane of postulates, mystery and uncertain truth, the voice of myth from times long past. In these legends are glimmers of truths dismissed as lore.

This is such a story: the origin of a legend that spans from distant past to the present day, the origin of the vampire. Alluring and suspenseful, it is the dark, epic chronicle of a man changed in nature and body. Once a sentinal of a prosperous settlement, he is forced into a nocturnal existence, and instinctually compelled in ways that he fears will cost him his very humanity. He gained an unnatural longevity, and while the ages pass, the modern world develops around him. His existence is discovered by an old organization whose siege even he shall be hard pressed to survive.

Genesis is an incredibly imaginative and compelling story that takes the reader far away from our current time and place, and deposits them into an entirely different world. The creativity and complex story structure is something you don't see every day in the small press. I would hazard to say that Martyr has created something here that would be better suited in the more main stream publishing world.

The characters that make up Genesis are incredibly detailed and well thought out, bringing them to life right before your eyes. In so, they make their mark well before the action starts and plant themselves firmly in your mind, where they ultimately feel like they belong to you - the reader. The intense amount of research that Martyr put into this book is very apparent, and is something that lends these characters so much more weight. The reality of the fact is apparent in the dialogue, which is at points written in the dialect of the region that the characters are in/from.

Overall though, this book is something that is felt - mostly in it's descriptive quality. Martyr infuses his prose with the masterful use of description that you can't help but feel that you're in the same time period of the characters. It's almost as if you can actually see the moon and feel the palpable weight of the darkness through the words on the page. Very little is left to be imagined, as Martyr creates complex and startlingly beautiful imagery that will guide the reader throughout the tale, and also into the mind of it's creator.

If you prefer the more pulpy, gore-fest, horror novels (as I often do) - this book might not be for you. But if you're looking for a modern novel with elements of classic horror, you may want to check it out.

Joshua Martyr can be contacted at his website, on Twitter and on Facebook. Look for his books at various online outlets such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and on the Damnation Books Website.

PBH.

Rapture by Thomas Tessier

When it comes to my regular reading fare, I tend not to go outside of the little box that I've built around myself, with authors that I'm comfortable with. I rarely ever want for something "new" or "different", and would be pleased to read through my collection of Headline Richard Laymon novels until the day I die.

Well...now I find myself having to amend that decision because of this little book. Thomas Tessier's Rapture has shown me that I can go outside my level of comfort in order to achieve the much coveted discomfort, that I so often search for.

From the Leisure website:

Jeff has always loved Georgianne, ever since they were kids--with a love so strong, so obsessive, it sometimes drives him to do crazy things. Scary things. Like stalking Georgianne and everyone she loves, including her caring husband and her innocent teenage daughter. Jeff doesn't think there's room in Georgianne's life for anyone but him, and if he has to, he's ready to kill all the others...until he's the only one left.

Rapture is one of the most intelligent and disturbing novels centering around a sociopathic/psychopathic character that I have read, to date. It was incredibly refreshing to read something of this caliber, and I have to say - I really hope that Tessier's other novels live up to the bar that this one set. Granted, it's a slow burner (which the above synopsis doesn't nothing to indicate), but when it gets deep into the story - it's more likely that it will embed itself in your psyche, and not let go.

Tessier's characters are incredibly well fleshed out as well. Throughout the novel we're basically attached at the hip with Jeff Lisker as witness' to what he will do to prove his love for the woman of his dreams. The most terrifying parts of the novel are when we're sitting in the Captain's chair with Lisker, seeing first hand what it actually is to be psychologically disturbed. The worst (read: best) part? You'll most often tend to sympathise with him, making you question your own sanity.

The buildup to the end is incredible, fueled by a sexual tension that burns deep within the most primal of your instincts, and carries you to a final act that is breathtakingly beautiful in it's simplicity.

In 1993, a movie was made based on the novel (directed by Timothy Bond), with Tessier taking a credit for writing the novel. The film starred Michael Ontkean as Jeff Lisker, Karen Allen as Giorgianne Corcoran, and Gemma Barry as Bonnie Corcoran. It was nominated for a Gemini in '93 for Best TV Movie, and in '94 it was nominated for a CSC Award for Best Cinematography in a TV Drama. To my knowledge, it didn't win for either.

You can check out Thomas Tessier's website here, and order his books directly from Leisure or Amazon.

PBH.

The Killing Kind by Bryan Smith

I've been following Bryan Smith since his first Leisure release - House of Blood (2001) - and have yet to be disappointed by the sheer imagination and utter brutality that this man is capable of writing. The stories that he writes vary from the supernatural to the more hard edged, real life fare, but always have a level of violence and depravity not met by many (save for Wrath James White). With his latest, you can rest assured that he's reached a new level of extreme that will surely make him a household name with the mass market genre fans, and hopefully more.

To the spoiled rich kids on spring break, the rented beach house seemed like the perfect setting for partying, drinking and, fooling around. The neighbors wouldn’t be able to hear their music. But the unhinged killers about to crash the party think the house is perfect too—the neighbors won’t be able to hear the screams. And there will be much more blood flowing than booze. One by one as the night of terror wears on, the college friends will learn the gruesome results of meeting a very different kind of people… The Killing Kind

Now, I generally love my horror to be brutal, nasty, and unrelenting - y'all should know that by now. Smith's writing has always given me what I need in that respect, so I didn't expect anything new with this one.

I was wrong. Really wrong.

The Killing Kind is a new breed of brutal, and a whole shit-ton of whoop ass when compared to the rest of the market.

The characters are tight - and they need to be in order to be able to pull off the destruction that Smith envisions for them. When he writes about a woman that you're supposed to find sexy, you have no choice but to find her sexy. It just so happens that most of Smith's female characters are presented in a way that they're both sexy and dangerous as all hell. The folks that pepper this fine tale are no different. All the ladies are lovely, and all the men are played straight and narrow. From the get go you know who to like and who to dislike.

I find that, with Smith's work, it's not about the people involved, but the journey they're on. And oh, what a journey this is. The reader will find themselves somewhat uncomfortable, and feeling as if they're a party to the crimes and violence described on the page.

The fact that Smith delivers the action whilst his characters are on a road trip will also explain why you'll feel tired and spent at the end of the book. It's exhausting trying to keep up with the unrelenting chaos and madness, but Smith's intimidating skill with words keeps you glued to the page in a way that you'll find you only spend a day or two reading the book. I can assure you though, that you'll come out feeling every bump and bruise that his victims did. Maybe even more.

This is a visceral and nasty book reminiscent of early Jack Ketchum and Shaun Hutson. If you're a fan of in-your-face, personal, and very real horror - make sure you grab any (or all) of Bryan Smith's books. You will not be disappointed.

Check him out on facebook, follow the shit out of him on blogspot and Twitter, and join the discussions on his forum - hosted on Brian Keene's The Keendom (registration required).

PBH.

Wolf Hunt by Jeff Strand

I've recently had the good fortune of having the chance to read Jeff Strand's Wolf Hunt several months before publication. Being a huge fan of Strand's work, you can imagine just how floored I was when I received it. I dove in right away, and 2 days later I was done. I can't see anyone wanting to put this one down - it's that good.

George and Lou - two hired thugs who make a living collecting money and breaking the bones of those who do their clients wrong - have a new job to do. It involves driving a man who is locked in a cage in the back of their van to their client, who is five hours away. This human cargo is claimed to be a werewolf. It's supposed to be an easy transport job, but doesn't end up being as such. When the werewolf escapes, they face a much bigger problem than before. Now they're hunting the werewolf because their lives depend on it.

This is a lightning fast read, capable of taking you all over the place and then dropping you off in the middle of the most incredible action I've read this side of Vertical Run. (For those of you who are not familiar with Joseph Garber's Vertical Run - it's basically Die Hard in book form...but way better!)

Strand's latest effort does not fail to entertain, nor does it pull punches. The action is intense, the scares are abundant, and the gore - the beautiful, beautiful gore - is plentiful and visceral. Strand has also amped up the humor in this one, crafting some of the smoothest, funniest, and most awe inspiring dialogue you'll ever read.

The dynamic between the two main characters is something not often seen in in fiction these days, prompting me to believe that Leisure has struck gold with Strand. I would dare to say that it's what every reader hopes to find in a book, making Strand one of Leisure's most diverse and capable authors.

To quote something I said earlier on a forum:

In short, Jeff Strand is magic.

It's like he has some sort of extra-sensory ability to do this.

He may look like a regular human being, but he's not. He is words - wrapped so tightly around an idea - that he has taken the form of a human in order to make us all feel comfortable while he spends his time coming up with ingenius plans to take over the world. All he has to do is touch a keyboard, and the computer sighs and shudders with ecstatic glee, exploding the most incredible words all over the screen in something not unlike a digital orgasm.

That is the power of Jeff Strand.

Every facet of this book drips with perfection, and I can sincerely say that you're going to love it. If you enjoyed Dweller and Pressure - Strand's previous efforts with Leisure - you're going to want to pick this up when it drops in December. I know I will.

If you can't wait that long, pick up the Hardcover edition from Dark Regions Press soon. While you're at it, pick up their Hardcover edition of Dweller as well.

And don't forget to stalk the shit out of him on Twitter and check up on his recent activity on his website.

Happy hunting, folks!

PBH.

The Rising by Brian Keene

As far as Zombies go, The Rising should be used as the benchmark in horror literature. Since it's release in 2003, Keene has not only been rightfully given the Bram Stoker award for best first novel (in 2003), but it has been optioned for both film and video game adaptation (in 2004). In 2004, the mass market audience was given the gift of Keene's style and creativity, deservedly growing his fanbase, and cementing his position as 'one to watch' - in the panthenon of horror writers.

The dead are coming back to life. Both humans and animals alike are rising from their graves in order to feast upon the flesh of the living. And these aresn't the shambling, brain sucking zombies that the world has seen through movies and TV. These creatures are intelligent and they can hunt.

Jim Thurmond is trapped in an underground bunker, flanked on all sides by the hungry dead, and his escape seems impossible. His son is in trouble, trapped hundreds of miles away with Jim's ex-wife and her new husband. Despite the outbreak of the newly risen dead, Jim vows to save him - at whatever the cost.

As Jim embarks on his cross country journey, he's joined by an old preacher, a tough as nails ex-prostitute, and a very troubled, guilt-ridden scientist. They must fight both the living and the dead on the road to save Jim's son, ultimately coming face to face with an even greater evil at the end of their journey.

You want a wickedly wild, fast paced, in your face kind of thrill ride of a book? Here it is. Keene pulls absolutely no punches with this novel, bringing the action in at an early stage, and meting out the violence and tension before you even have time to get comfortable in your seat. And with this book, comfortable is something Keene ensures you'll never become.

The characters could have all been pulled from real life - they're that convincing. With Jim's eternal struggle with the fears of his son's safety, Martin's unwavering dedication to his Lord, and Frankie's resolve to help Jim find his son, and to ensure that she - herself - stays alive; the reader sees the kind of subtle observations that make up our real life expreiences. Keene is capable of bringing all that and more to the page, and in turn his characters become more than words in a book.

Beyond that, the scenes and settings in this story have an unrelenting feel of the apocalyptic and desperate. You'd never want to find yourself in Keene's universe, that's for sure. It would surely spell the end of you and your friends, undoubtedly at the hands of some horrific being, or a supernatural malevolence bent of destroying the world as we know it. When Keene writes about a dark forest, the room you're in will grow darker. If a chill runs up the spine of the protagonist in a Keene story, you can bet you're going to feel it. And when death comes calling in the pages of one of his book, it's time to hold your breath...cause you never know what he's going to pull out of his hat.

This novel was followed up in 2005 by the incredible City of The Dead (to be reviewed later), after one of the most incredible cliffhangers you'll ever read.

Recommended for any collection of horror novels. In fact, this is a must-have.

Check out Brian Keene at his website or follow him on Twitter. And keep an eye out for his next release - A Gathering Of Crows - out this August from Leisure Books.

PBH

Hiram Grange & The Chosen One by Kevin Lucia

It's very rare (for me) to find a novella that is not only fast paced enough to be utterly addictive, but also one that can satisfy both my horror and fantasy yearnings in one go. With Hiram Grange & The Chosen One - both are achieved, and my needs have been sated. For now...

From the back cover: Hiram Grange doesn't believe in fate. He makes his own destiny. That's a good thing, because Queen Mab of Faerie has foreseen the destruction of the world, and as usual... it's all Hiram's fault. He must choose: kill an innocent girl and save the universe... or rescue her and watch all else burn. Just another day on the job for Hiram Grange.

The above synopsis doesn't say enough about what you're getting into with Lucia's forway into the world of Hiram Grange, and I want to personally endorse this as one of the best stories I've read this year. The idea that Lucia decided to bring to the table has a very...Lovecraftian...feel to it that is surprisingly easy to follow, (unlike Lovecraft's stories - in my opinion), and is packed with so much action that you'll be sitting on the edge of your seat throughout. It's tough not to care about the characters that show up in this story, as Lucia has written them out to fit Grange's world perfectly - a world that is dark and cold, yet very familiar to each and every one of us.

Lucia's Hiram is at times thoughful, sensitive and kind, while also being hilarious (in a dry humor way), and as surly as a Belfast drunk. This is one character, and writer, that you're going to want to look out for in the future.

For those of you who don't know who this Hiram Grange character is, well...here's the gist of it:

From the Hiram Grange blog:

Hiram Grange, an awkward and gangly unlikely hero who suffers addictions to absinthe, opium, and sex. A man as flawed and complex as he is capable and deadly.

Hiram is a clandestine operative for a secret organization funded and controlled by a sect within the Freemasons.

Again, it's not enough to describe what you'll really receive when you crack open one of these novellas.

The cover art and production of the novella is incredible. I was expecting something special, but when I opened up the packaging on these, I was greatly impressed. From the sheer gloss cover, to the beautiful artwork within, this book feels like a special edition even when it's not. You're getting your money's worth here, folks.

Now, this is the fourth installment into the world of Hiram Grange. I'll be getting my hands on the rest of the series as soon as possible, and I suggest you do the same. Order online at Amazon or at Shroud Publishing. You can also follow Hiram on Blogger and on Twitter.

As for Kevin Lucia, you can find him at his personal website and on Twitter as well.

PBH.

Forever Will You Suffer by Gary Frank

Gary Frank's Forever Will You Suffer is the book that got me back into reading after a very long hiatus, and changed the way that I thought about horror in fiction. Not only that, but my discovery of Frank's debut novel opened the doors to a tidal wave of literature by some of the genre's current kings of the written word. I (obviously) haven't turned back since.

Rick Summers' only intention was to visit the graves of his mother and sister, who were killed in a car accident years earlier. He had the taxi wait for him, but when he got back to the car - it wasn't the same driver. This driver was someone he had never expected. A re-animated corpse bent on driving him straight through his past, and straight into hell.

His journey brings him to the house of his ex-lover - Katrina - only to find that she is missing and has recently been the main focus of a mysterious stalker named Eduardo. And that's only the beginning. Soon after his arrival, the house starts to change, bringing them to another time and place, and bringing with it the disturbing ghosts of the past. At the heart of the matter is an unrequited love, and Rick.

In a past life, Rick spurned a woman named Abigail. It seems that she's held a grudge since then, and has made some new friends in the mean time. Demon friends. And now she's dedicated to keeping a promise that she made all those years ago...

This breakout novel by the greatly talented Frank is a rollercoaster ride of a book. The characters are tightly written and quickly put through their paces. It seems that the author had no problem whipping and prodding these poor folks into shape, and breaking out the action within the first 5 pages. The story doesn't relent, plunging the reader into one mystery after another, and then back in time to try to figure out what exactly happened, only to tear everything out from under you with an ending that is so...deserving...that it almost makes you want to throw the book across the room with a feeling of unadulterated satisfaction. Whew.

The settings are incredible, the shifts from reality to fantasy are entirely believable and unsettling, and the plot is a rapid fire whirlwind of whodunnits and thrills. It's been said (by Jack Ketchum) that this book is reminiscent of early Richard Laymon, and I'm inclined to agree. If you like your horror to be in your face and fast, you'll love this book.

Check out Gary Frank's website here, and his livejournal page here for more updates as to what he's doing now. Also, make sure you catch up with Gary on his message board over at HorrorWorld.

PBH