Dave Zeltserman's Blog, page 14

HUSK: An American Cannibal Love Story

My working title for HUSK was 'American Cannibal: A Love Story', and that fit the book perfectly, but as former detective Adrian Monk would say, heres's the thing, nobody would've published the book if I kept that title. The editors who responded to my queries all came back with something along the lines of 'no thanks, I don't do cannibals.' And so I flipped a coin between using HUSK and THE CRAVINGS, and the coin came up heads. It wasn't until I changed the title that I had editors willing to look at it. After selling the book, I suggested that we go back to my original title, and my publisher rightfully decided that as perfect as that title might be, they wouldn't sell many copies with it.

HUSK is certainly a horror novel, albeit a very unusual and different one. A sense of dread permeates the book. It's also in some ways very noirish. As Just A Guy Who Likes To Read writes about it: "There is a simmering danger lurking around every corner; an omnipresent threat of violence and bloodletting bubbling away through each chapter as Charlie Husk, a character like no other, struggles with the person he is and the person he wants to be." Horror is always at the edges until it's front and center.  But at the same time at its core is a love story. Not a romance, or at least not in the way romance readers would think of it, but still a love story.

Publishing day for my horror novel HUSK!

"Tender, brutal, fantastic, and vibrantly real. A unique and splendid novel" Booklist, starred review

“Dave Zeltserman’s Husk is a compelling, quirky, twisty, smart, page-turner mix of horror, satire, and even a little romance with (yeah, I’ll say it) bite. A brutal love story perfect for our dark times.” Paul Tremblay, author of Cabin at the End of the World

"There is a simmering danger lurking around every corner; an omnipresent threat of violence and bloodletting bubbling away through each chapter as Charlie Husk, a character like no other, struggles with the person he is and the person he wants to be." Just A Guy Who Likes To Read

Today is publishing day for my latest horror novel HUSK and to celebrate, I have a short interview up on The Big Thrill.

First paragraph:

Labor Day weekend is always a good time to pick up students hitchhiking, but that wasn’t why I pulled into the rest stop on the Massachusetts Turnpike. While I had fourteen empty burlap sacks in the back of the van that needed to be filled before heading back home, along with more than enough rope and gags to take care of things, I didn’t expect to be picking up any of them here. While there’s always the chance of finding a hitchhiker at a place like this, it’s a small one and I was expecting that most of the stragglers I’d be getting would be in cities off the Turnpike. Hartford, Bridgeport, and if need be, New Haven. For this trip I hoped to get mostly students. They were generally healthier and leaner than the usual types – the prostitutes, drifters, homeless, and other such stragglers that I’d often have to collect. Students also tended to carry more books, clothes, and money on them than those others, all of which was good to bring back to the homestead. If I ended up needing those others to fill up the back of the van, I would. But I was hoping for mostly students.

Malicious reviewed

From Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine's The Jury Box:

Readers of EQMM are probably familiar with the name Dave Zeltserman, who earned two EQMM Readers Awards for his computer-age Nero Wolfe pastiches. Under the name Jacob Stone he writes thrillers featuring former LAPD homicide detective Morris Brick, an expert in serial killers, now running a Hollywood-based security consulting firm. A killer with a penchant for Rube Goldberg devices has been leaving calling cards for Brick as he slaughters Hollywood actresses once by one, with the goal of destroying all of Los Angeles. Zeltserman’s writing is smart, witty, and edge-of-your-seat thrilling. A fourth title, Cruel, is due out later this fall.

Starred review for HUSK

Booklist weighed in on HUSK, giving it a starred review, and saying (among other things): "... the story is at once tender, brutal, fantastic, and vibrantly real. A unique and splendid novel."

CRUEL (Morris Brick #4) is available now for review

“Rarely is an author so skilled at portraying such unremitting evil and the poignant, human side of his characters in a single tale.”
—Jeffery Deaver

“Jacob Stone is equal parts Thomas Harris, Michael Connelly, Jo Nesbo, and Stephen King. CRUEL will leave you shaking . . . with fear, excitement, and the uncontrollable compulsion to keep on reading.”
—Lee Goldberg, #1 New York Times bestselling author of True Fiction
“17.” L.A. detective Morris Brick knows the number all too well. It was the gruesome signature the Nightmare Man left next to his victims’ bodies. Brick’s father was the first to investigate the killings. Five women were butchered before the perpetrator vanished. Seventeen years later he resurfaced—to kill again in the same depraved ways. Now another seventeen years have passed. Brick knows in his gut that it’s time for the Nightmare Man to reawaken. But even Brick can’t imagine the madman’s true agenda. Or just how terrifying the sleepless nights are going to get in the City of Angels . . . 
My 4th Morris Brick thriller CRUEL is available now for review at Netgalley.  Either request the book there or email me for a fast link that will get you the book right away.

HUSK reviewed Down Under

There is a simmering danger lurking around every corner; an omnipresent threat of violence and bloodletting bubbling away through each chapter as Charlie Husk, a character like no other, struggles with the person he is and the person he wants to be.

Read the rest of Just a Guy Who Likes to Read's review.
 

All about my horror novel HUSK -- available now in the UK

 
All about my latest horror novel HUSK, available now in the UK, Sept. 1st in the US. 

Praise for my Morris Brick thrillers

Here's what some of the best crime thriller writers are saying about my Morris Brick thrillers:

“Whether he’s writing as Dave Zeltserman or Jacob Stone, you can expect the best in suspense writing.” —Max Allan Collins

“Rarely is an author so skilled at portraying such unremitting evil and the poignant, human side of his characters in a single tale.” —Jeffery Deaver

“Jacob Stone is equal parts Thomas Harris, Michael Connelly, Jo Nesbo, and Stephen King. CRUEL will leave you shaking . . . with fear, excitement, and the uncontrollable compulsion to keep on reading.” —Lee Goldberg
 
“A fascinating and exciting blend of misdirection, topsy-turvy, and violence.” —Reed Farrel Coleman

“A dark and different serial killer novel that will haunt the reader long after the book is closed.” —John Lutz

“Los Angeles has seldom seen such grisly fun. It’s James Ellroy meets Alfred Hitchcock on the psychotic side of the street.” —Paul Levine

“One of the most compelling, thrilling, and truth be told, at times look-away-from-page-frightening serial killer novels I've read in a long, long time.” —Vincent Zandri

The Interloper on sale!

I've put my crime heist/conspiracy thriller THE INTERLOPER is on sale for $0.99. This is really 3 connected novellas (The Hunted, The Dame, The Interloper) although the 3rd is more the length of an old Gold Medal novel. I think these are a fun read written with a nod to the Richard Stark Parker novels although operating in this near-future dystopia which is explained in the first part, The Hunted.
 
"The Interloper is a blast of quick reading...the cold deadness of Willis is right on target with Richard Stark's Parker" Bookgasm

"dark tour-de-force of non-stop action and tension" Vincent Zandri, bestselling author of The Remains

"Stark meets Ludlum meets Forsyth in this tight and tricky opener to anew series from the always-innovative Dave Zeltserman." Roger Smith, author of Wake Up Dead

“The Dame reads like a Reader’s Digest Condensed Parker, with all of the elements that we know and love crammed into a scant 70 pages. There are the team assembled to do the job with weaker and stronger members, the execution of the heists, the crosses, and the violence. Zeltserman even plays around with point-of-view shifts similar to those in the Parker novels.” The Violent World of Parker

“Everything Dave Zeltserman writes is gold, and his new Hunted series is no exception.” Evan Lewis

First paragraph: HUSK

Labor Day weekend is always a good time to pick up students hitchhiking, but that wasn’t why I pulled into the rest stop on the Massachusetts Turnpike. While I had fourteen empty burlap sacks in the back of the van that needed to be filled before heading back home, along with more than enough rope and gags to take care of things, I didn’t expect to be picking up any of them here. While there’s always the chance of finding a hitchhiker at a place like this, it’s a small one and I was expecting that most of the stragglers I’d be getting would be in cities off the Turnpike. Hartford, Bridgeport, and if need be, New Haven. For this trip I hoped to get mostly students. They were generally healthier and leaner than the usual types – the prostitutes, drifters, homeless, and other such stragglers that I’d often have to collect. Students also tended to carry more books, clothes, and money on them than those others, all of which was good to bring back to the homestead. If I ended up needing those others to fill up the back of the van, I would. But I was hoping for mostly students.



Review copies for HUSK are available now at Netgalley.