Roberto Scarlato's Blog, page 11

Mr. Dead Eyes, Revisited

A current blogger at Free Audio Review has recently reviewed my book. I don't do it often but sometimes I Google my name and the name of my books to see if there is any news buzz. I was delighted to find that someone heard the audio book and decided to write something about it.
One line I like in particular from his review was:


"In the end this mash-up worked for me. I like things a little unusual and this story has it in spades."

I'd like to publicly thank, here on the blog, the person who took time in reviewing my book. He's already reviewed 231 books and I think you should check him out.


You can read the rest of the review here: Full Mr. Dead Eyes Review
Also, you can hear the entire book, for free, here: Podiobooks
So far, Mr. Dead Eyes has been my top seller and has also gained over 180,000 downloads. With there being a high number and a couple of requests for the second installment, I've decided to work on an outline and really begin bridging the story together by 2013.
I may also put up an audio version of Wearing Donnie Torr soon for more promotion. It has been on my mind for a while now. Until then, you keep reading and I'll keep writing.

Beat The Reaper

For fans of annotated books, (i.e. Publish This Book, Infinite Jest) I may have the book for you. So, okay, yes, I admit, I had an unrealistic goal set when it came to reading as many books as possible in 2011. I read 73 books. I originally wanted to read 500 for the whole year. That's more than a book a day. That's over 40 books a month! But, I stand by my motto, it's not unrealistic until you can prove it.
For my first book read in 2012, I present to you, Beat The Reaper.
What a ride!
I finished this book in three days. And its 300 pages!
Beat The Reaper came out in 2009 and since then I've been debating whether to pick it up or not. The cover intrigued me. I have even read the first chapter, on several different occasions, in both Borders and Barnes and noble. And, as luck would have it, when I knew I could get this book on the cheap (Sorry Josh Bazell!) I leapt at the chance right away. And, after reading the last page, I still have no idea as to why I waited 3 years to read it!
Set in a Manhattan hospital, the tale unravels as we meet Dr. Peter Brown, whose really in a witness protection program because he has ties to the mob. Originally he befriends the mob to avenge the death of his parents but, like all things, he gets in way too deep. The story is told through a kind of off-the-cuff stream of consciousness way, with footnotes that address medical issues and a bit of the main character's trademark black humor. I absolutely love this book and couldn't get enough of it. So, yeah, okay, its far fetched at times, but its a fiction book and with all fiction books, you have to dispense with disbelief.
I've read that the author read two great books, The Godfather and Jaws, and tried to find a way to mash them together. Well, if those two books had a lovechild, the perfect blend of mafia, hospitals and a healthy fear of sharks (Loan sharks or nurse sharks) this would have to be it. The follow up is called Wild Thing, set to release in February of this year. If it even has a dash of what this book brought the the table, it will be well worth the paper it was printed on. I give it five out of five stars.

2011, a look back

Here are the books I have read in 2011:
MentorAncestorThe ListSurvivorPost OfficeTeacher ManDear American AirlinesLast Known VictimBlazePeter & The StarcatchersFanboy & Goth GirlMile 81In Cold BloodThe House of ThunderYour Heart Belongs to MeRageThe Good GuyThe Man who loved Books too MuchLemons Never LieIn The Night RoomHam on RyeThat's Not in My American History BookAfraidSh*t My Dad SaysPlaying for PizzaBe the Monkey - a dialog between Barry Eisler and JA KonrathIt's Always Something2030Other KingdomsDanse MacabreThis Book is OverdueThe Elephant went to HollywoodBlockade BillyMy Lucky life in and out of Show BuisnessSquirrel seeks ChipmunkOfficial Book Club SelectionThe Island of Dr. MorueaPlaying for KeepsThe Day AfterSunken TreasureHeaven is For RealThe Professor and The Mad ManUnkillableMusciophiliaThe StorytellerCellThe Colorado KidA Million Little PiecesErnest Hemingway: A Writer's LifeAlways Looking UpI Like YouThe Last LectureStories I told MyselfThe Bride CollectorDress your Family in Corduroy and DenimThe Time of My LifeWishful DrinkingNakedBorn Standing upDreams From My FatherMy Reading LifeThe Audacity of HopeScratch BeginingsHandle With CareThe Doomsday ClubMy Boring-Ass LifeThe Tenth JusticeThe Girl who Played With FireSon of GrouchoThe Last Bookstore in AmericaOriginHow to tell a story and other EssaysDarkness Under The SunTruck StopURBrian's HuntBrian's Return

What I'll be up to in 2012:
In the year ahead I plan on writing more short stories and novellas. I usually plan a book a year but hopefully will get the ball rolling on some stand alone stuff.
Hope everyone has a very happy new year!


"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?"— L.M. Montgomery

Black Books

So I'm on my vacation from work. Usually on my vacations I tend to veg out, gorge on a little sleep, do a little writing, catch up on tv shows.
And one show, I'm delighted to say, has caught my attention. It's called Black Books. It stars Dylan Moran, Simon Peg's nemesis in Shaun of the Dead and also his fitness motivator in Run, Fatboy, Run. With him is a long haired sidekick who embodies a weirdo Curly sensibility and a short haired woman on the lookout for Mr. Right or even Mr. Right-now-will-have-to-do. This British comedy series is unlike anything I have seen so far. It takes place in a small bookshop where Bernard Black, the owner, is much like a tyrant to his customers. He hates life, traffic, idiots, skinheads, books, customers and people. People are the worst for him. Not only that but he gives off the air like he's always recovering from a bender. His turns of phrase and one-liners are the best, often producing stomach aches of laughter from both me and my wife.
The show ran from 2000 to 2004 and only has 18 episodes. Which is kind of tragic when you think about it that there are so few episodes but, I guess, when you nail it down, it was better that they quit on a strong note. The show is driven largely by his friends, Manny and Fran, who try to get Bernard to be more sociable as he is kind of a stick in the mud.
The antics are endless. Sometimes he pays the customers to take certain books out of the shop. He invents a wine bottle lollipop. He often finds himself in situations that get him into a bit of trouble. With a screwball comedy like this, I love the duality. While Bernard is surrounded and sometimes confounded by books, his friend, Manny, loves them. Manny often recommends books, handles book orders, does the accounting, opens up shop, and yet he and Bernard are complete opposites from each other. It's funny to think that this whole show came about because of a Little Book of Calm.
That's another thing. The fake book titles are hysterical. With titles such as The History of Screaming, Blue Sands and Tempopocalypse, how could this bookstore not thrive?
Now that I know about this one, I might just check out Spaced, which is considered the sister show to this one and done by the same guys, starring Simon Peg.
Don't believe that a show could be this funny? Well take a gander at the first episode below. I was smitten with the first three minutes.

From a Buick 8

Well, we've finally come to the end of the whole Halloween-31-books-that-terrify-me segment of this blog. It has been delayed repeatedly since I, like most modern day blue-collar workers, have been busy. But I wanted to end on a crucial note. As you might've guessed; I've saved the best for last.
I was never a big fan of Christine. The movie was kinda goofy and weird to me. But this book, depicting another car that seems to have a life of its own, captured me from the first line. The book is split up through several points of view. All the stories revolve around this one mysterious car recovered by Troop D, a state police barracks in western Pennsylvania. Ned, the son of a recently killed state trooper, drunk driving related, meets the troop and learns of the car and its shadowy, mystical and disturbing origins.
The car was abandoned by the owner, who wandered off near a stream. Thought to have drowned himself, though they never find the body, the car is impounded. But the stories that all the policemen trade are laced in trickery and a deceiving mask to our own world. The car is unique. It has the appearance of a 1953 Buick Roadmaster and yet the wheel is immobile, the dashboard instruments are useless props and the engine has no moving parts.
While listening to this thing on audiobook, I began to question, "So what is it if it is not clearly a car?" The answer? It is a portal. To where? We don't know. For what purpose? We do not know. But one thing is clear. This memorably mysterious yarn, published in 2002, left its mark on me. This is one story that evolves. The deeper the story goes, the more complicated it gets. With a hint of Alice in wonderland and the tread marks of Christine, this is the top of the heap of must-read books.
The book has film rights which were acquired and Tobe Hooper is attached to direct. I think he'd be perfect to capture the unsettling mythos of the car. In 2009 the ball got rolling but the movie is now in limbo, said to have productions problems. Whenever the book gets made into a movie, I believe it will be just as scary as the revolving tale itself.
To wrap it up, I shall borrow the line from Poltergeist part II:
"Car's still angry, eh?""Angry? That car is PISSED!"

Misery

Originally destined to be a Bachman book, this little number is not light on the scares. I can recall reading this one on break when I used to work the overnight shift at Target.
Each page I read with skimming intensity, only to be dashed to pieces every time I returned back to work. But I always remembered to bring the red hardcover with me. I also guarded it heavily, seeing as how one book was stolen from me already while reading on the night shift.
I've watched the movie many times, still finding new things in it. What gets me the most is how it's the world's worst way to write yet also the most humbling. Think about it. Writing is the most solitary thing you can do. Yet, we all feel we have an Annie Wilkes who tells us what to write and feeds our ego.
This book remains on my "To be finished" shelf. I've only made it about halfway through the book. Maybe I'm too terrified to continue.

The Shining

Here's what we know about The Shining. It was a 1977 novel. It was King's third published novel and in 1980 it became the groundbreaking film starring Jack Nicholson and directed by Stanley Kubrick.
Now here's some of what you probably didn't know.
King picked in a US Atlas, at random, the town in which he would set a story. That setting would be Boulder, Colorado. They decide to check into a hotel just as they are closing up for the season. They checked into room 217.
The novel was originally going to be titled Darkshine.
The first draft of the novel took less than four months to complete.
King is in the midst of penning the sequel, Doctor Sleep.

Four Past Midnight

Consisting of four novellas, this collection is packed full of good stories.
The Langoliers - On flight 29, ten passengers wake up to discover that the rest of the travlers are gone. Not only that, but they seem to be involved in a dry world where the past gets eaten up by strange creatures.
The Sun Dog - King has said that this serves as a prequel to his novel Needful Things.
The Library Policemen -After his son was afraid to return a late book for fear of what might happen to him, King penned this disturbing tale.
Secret Window - Not only is Mort Rainey going through a tough time: divorced wife, no kids, writer's block and a cabin all to himself, but a stranger comes to him accusing him of plagiarism.

Gerald's Game

[image error] Well, we had to come to it eventually. So let's talk about Gerald's Game. I read this during college, when I foolishly thought I could take some air conditioning classes. The tests were tough and my brain was getting crammed. In between, the breaks in class, before the period would start, I'd thumb through the pages of this book.
The setup is simple. During a sex game gone awry, a wife accidentally kills her husband by kicking him. This induces a heart attack and the wife is handcuffed to the bed post.
It really is a freakish read. One that I devoured at the time but felt void of any lasting message. It's just brutal and incredibly long. At the time I thought there would be an amazing and startling revelation but one never came.
King doesn't do it often but sometimes I'll come across duds from some of my favorite authors. Along with Cell, this has to be the number one book I was disappointed in while attending college.

Just after Sunset

Just after Sunset, King's fifth collection, creates a deep atmosphere. I picked it up at my local library one day and just started reading it at home. I finished 90 percent of it while hanging out at Starbucks. It's that good. You lose complete concept of time. So, without further ado, here are my favorites of the bunch.
Willa - A haunting tale about a man trying to find his wife at the train station where he waits, alongside a group of abandoned passengers to locate her. The problem is that no train is arriving and a deeper mystery is at hand.
The Cat from Hell - The only reason why this story makes the list is because I had already seen it. It was part of an adaptation in the 1989 movie Tales from the Darkside, in which a hitman is hired to off a cat who supposedly can't die. Very gruesome story, but it is one that keeps you constantly on edge. I was afraid of cats for a while, not only because of that Pet Semetary movie, but also because of this story.
The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates - A widow receives a phone call from her dead husband, who predicts two tragedies which come true.
A Very Tight Place - This has got to be the grossest story, aside from Guts, that I have ever read. It's a revenge tale involving on man's hatred for another. It involves a gun, a locked door and a tipped over port-o-potty while someone is still in kit. Need I say more? It was very hard to finish this one but I absolutely had to find out what would happen next.
N. - I don't know how King arranges his stories, but this should have been the last one. It's the perfect cap of the whole collection. A man, plagued by constant OCD, confides in his therapist that he must do these things to keep the balance. That, if he doesn't, a beast very well might make it's way into our world and that these checks and balances are the only thing keeping it at bay. Naturally, the therapist thinks the man is having paranoid delusions but he soon dismisses that when his client dies and he starts to feel the strange compulsion of OCD once he visits Ackerman's field; the last place the patient says that the beast was spotted.