Dave Zeltserman's Blog, page 21
November 13, 2015
Demons makes the cut!
I was happy to see The Boy Who Killed Demons, which was published earlier this year in the UK and came out recently in the US as a paperback, made TheBookBag's list of 10 best fantasy novels of 2015.
November 10, 2015
Get some Bad Thoughts!
I wrote Bad Thoughts in 1998 after Fast Lane, and it's a pretty wild mix of horror and crime. It was originally published by Five Star in 2007, and I have a kindle version of it on sale now for $0.99. Here's what some people have said about it:"Dark, brutal, captivating -- this is one hell of a book, the kind of book that doesn't let go of you once you start it. Dave Zeltserman is clearly the real deal." Steve Hamilton, Edgar Award-winning author of THE LOCK ARTIST
"BAD THOUGHTS is a fast moving occult thriller, with taut dialgoue and smart, likeable characters. Darkness pervades the Bay State in the late 1990's and Detective Bill Shannon will be lucky to solve a standard missing person's case in one piece. In fact, as the story unfolds we see that death an dismemberment could be the least of Bill's worries. Pour yourself a fifth of Scotch, get an easy chair, grab a protective talisman and enjoy" Adrian McKinty, author of DEAD I WELL MAY BE and HIDDEN RIVER
"This is high octane noir, dazzling in it's sheer vivacity. I didn't like this book, I adored it" Ken Bruen, author of THE GUARDS
"BAD THOUGHTS is one of those books that has been under the radar all year, yet deserves to be discovered by a wider audience" Bruce Grossman, Bookgasm.com
"If you're looking for a hardboiled anybody-can-die-at-any-time book that's a change of pace from the usual, look no further." Bill Crider
"A compellingly clever wheels-within-wheels thriller. An ingenious plot, skillfully executed" Elliott Swanson, Booklist
"This fast-paced, gritty psychological tale balances the fine line between mystery and horror" Library Journal
"Bad Thoughts is an ambitious genre-bender combining the paranoia and existential dread of the best noir with a liberal dash of The Twilight Zone. Not to be missed." Poisoned Pen's Booknews
November 9, 2015
November 5, 2015
November 3, 2015
Baltimore Public Library on MONSTER
Baltimore Public Library's review of Monster from 2012:"Wanton debauchery, an all-consuming thirst for vengeance, satanic worship, madness, an undead predator-- any of these characteristics could be utilized to describe a monster. Readers encounter a plethora of individuals that qualify for this label in Dave Zeltserman’s new release Monster. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the creature fashioned from different human body parts and brought to life by Victor Frankenstein is easily classified as the monster. Zeltserman’s novel is the story of the unfortunate and unwitting brain donor used in the mad doctor’s creation. Written in a style that mirrors Shelley’s original work, this is a dark and menacing tale about a tortured man trapped in the body of an abomination.
Friedrich Hoffman is a young man convicted of killing his betrothed a week before their marriage. After suffering an agonizing and horrendous death on the wheel, he awakens on a slab in Frankenstein’s laboratory. His intelligence and memory are intact and he quickly comes to suspect his creator’s involvement in his beloved’s death as well as his own false conviction. The black magic employed in the creature’s reanimation leave Friedrich powerless to exact revenge on his enemy. Friedrich is not the only innocent victim to be ensnared in Frankenstein’s web. Something even more sinister and disturbing is planned in an abandoned castle in a remote mountainous region south of Geneva. Friedrich’s remaining humanity is called into question as he struggles with whether to intervene or be complacent with the sordid plans of Frankenstein and the evil Marquis de Sade.
Monster is a gripping gothic horror tale, brilliantly told. Zeltserman is an accomplished author of mystery, horror and noir. He has earned the Shamus, Derringer and Ellery Queen's Readers' Choice awards and could very well be on track to another winner with Monster.
October 29, 2015
For this Halloween Season
Looking for some creepy, fear-inducing horror books for this Halloween Season?
Blood Crimes is a genre-bending collision of dark urban fantasy and crime that rides shot-gun with Jim and Carol as they carve a homicidal path cross-country. Jim is infected with the vampire virus. Carol isn't. Yet. But they're united in their hunt for society’s most dangerous predators for Jim's dinner -- so he can feed without harming the innocent. What they don't know is that they're not alone. There are others on their trail, and the climax of Blood Crimes is a shocking jolt of pure mayhem and rock 'n roll violence.
"I've just read the manuscript of Dave Zeltserman's new novel, Blood Crimes. This is one of the few fresh takes on vampirism I've read in years. It's as if Charles Bukowski sat down and said, OK, Bram Stoker, how about this?" -- Ed Gorman, author of Cage of Night and The Poker Club.
"The prolific and wildly talented Dave Zeltserman serves up a fast, furious, frightening and (yes)funny orgy of bloodletting. Makes "Grindhouse" look like Little House on the Prairie." -- Roger Smith
When he was thirteen years old, Billy Shannon came home from school one day to find his mother being murdered in their California home. Dying slowly of asphyxia, she is drowning in her own blood; a knife protruding from her open mouth and impaling her to the kitchen table. Twenty years pass, and Bill Shannon is a cop in Cambridge, Massachusetts, living with his wife Susie and trying to get a handle on the nightmares that have plagued him for most of his adult life. Every year, as the anniversary of his mother’s death approaches, the nightmares of his mother’s killer, Herbert Winters, get progressively worse until the blackouts come, and then Shannon simply disappears from sight to return home days later without a clue of what he has done while gone.
The 20th anniversary of his mother’s death is quickly approaching and Shannon desperately needs to figure out what he has been doing during his black outs, especially since women have recently started dying in the same grisly manner as his mother. His nightmares are getting worse and the evidence against him is stacking up... Everything seems to be pointing to one of two possibilities: Shannon has gone insane or Herbert Winters is back to his old tricks. The problem is if it’s Herbert Winters, then he’s come back from a long way to torment Bill Shannon… back from the grave which Bill Shannon had sent him to twenty years earlier.
"A compellingly clever wheels-within-wheels thriller. An ingenious plot, skillfully executed" -- Elliott Swanson, Booklist
"This fast-paced, gritty psychological tale balances the fine line between mystery and horror" Library Journal "Dark, brutal, captivating -- this is one hell of a book, the kind of book that doesn't let go of you once you start it. Dave Zeltserman is clearly the real deal." -- Steve Hamilton, Edgar-award winner for The Lock Artist
Jack Durkin is the ninth generation of Durkins who have weeded Lorne Field for nearly 300 years. Though he and his wife Lydia are miserable and would like nothing more than to leave, Jack must wait until his son has come of age to tend the field on his own. It's an important job, though no one else seems to realize it. For, if the field is left untended, a horrific monster called an Aukowie will grow?a monster capable of taking over the entirety of America in just two weeks. Or so it is said. . .
ALA shortlisted for best horror novel of the year. Named a horror gem by Library Journal. Dark Scribe Magazine nominee for best dark genre book of the year "Superb mix of humor and horror" Publishers Weekly, starred review
"delicious horror-ish novel" Newsday
"superbly crafted horror story" Booklist
"Harrowing. Zeltserman colors it black with the best of them." Kirkus Reviews
"a very darkly funny dark fantasy" Locus Magazine
In nineteenth-century Germany, one young man counts down the days until he can marry his beloved . . . until she is found brutally murdered, and the young man is accused of the crime. Broken on the wheel and left for dead, he awakens on a lab table, transformed into an abomination. Friedrich must go far to take his revenge --only to find his tormentor, Victor Frankenstein, in league with the Marquis de Sade, creating something much more sinister deep in the mountains. Paranormal and gripping in the tradition of the best work of Stephen King and Justin Cronin, Monster is a gruesome parable of control and vengeance, and an ingenious tribute to one of literature's greatest.
Named by Booklist as one of the best 10 horror novels of the year, and by WBUR as one of the best novels of the year.
"More impressively, Zeltserman's plot maps almost perfectly onto the plot of Shelley's novel — the key word being "almost." In its departures, the novel provides more than its cover price in entertainment. Vampyres abound, as do Satanic cults and the Marquis de Sade, preparing to enact the 120 Days of Sodom in a remote mountain castle. You don't get much more gothic bang for your buck." Los Angeles Times
"This is juicy material for Franken-fans, and Zeltserman is just faithful enough to the original that his many fresh contributions feel entirely normal. Well, abnormal, to be accurate, but deliciously so." Daniel Kraus, Booklist, starred review
"This reworking of Frankenstein is chilling and captivating!...A tale of justice, true love, and ultimate forgiveness, this gruesome novel is perfect for fans of Stephen King and similar horror stories." ForeWord Magazine, pick of the week
Blood Crimes is a genre-bending collision of dark urban fantasy and crime that rides shot-gun with Jim and Carol as they carve a homicidal path cross-country. Jim is infected with the vampire virus. Carol isn't. Yet. But they're united in their hunt for society’s most dangerous predators for Jim's dinner -- so he can feed without harming the innocent. What they don't know is that they're not alone. There are others on their trail, and the climax of Blood Crimes is a shocking jolt of pure mayhem and rock 'n roll violence."I've just read the manuscript of Dave Zeltserman's new novel, Blood Crimes. This is one of the few fresh takes on vampirism I've read in years. It's as if Charles Bukowski sat down and said, OK, Bram Stoker, how about this?" -- Ed Gorman, author of Cage of Night and The Poker Club.
"The prolific and wildly talented Dave Zeltserman serves up a fast, furious, frightening and (yes)funny orgy of bloodletting. Makes "Grindhouse" look like Little House on the Prairie." -- Roger Smith
When he was thirteen years old, Billy Shannon came home from school one day to find his mother being murdered in their California home. Dying slowly of asphyxia, she is drowning in her own blood; a knife protruding from her open mouth and impaling her to the kitchen table. Twenty years pass, and Bill Shannon is a cop in Cambridge, Massachusetts, living with his wife Susie and trying to get a handle on the nightmares that have plagued him for most of his adult life. Every year, as the anniversary of his mother’s death approaches, the nightmares of his mother’s killer, Herbert Winters, get progressively worse until the blackouts come, and then Shannon simply disappears from sight to return home days later without a clue of what he has done while gone.
The 20th anniversary of his mother’s death is quickly approaching and Shannon desperately needs to figure out what he has been doing during his black outs, especially since women have recently started dying in the same grisly manner as his mother. His nightmares are getting worse and the evidence against him is stacking up... Everything seems to be pointing to one of two possibilities: Shannon has gone insane or Herbert Winters is back to his old tricks. The problem is if it’s Herbert Winters, then he’s come back from a long way to torment Bill Shannon… back from the grave which Bill Shannon had sent him to twenty years earlier.
"A compellingly clever wheels-within-wheels thriller. An ingenious plot, skillfully executed" -- Elliott Swanson, Booklist
"This fast-paced, gritty psychological tale balances the fine line between mystery and horror" Library Journal "Dark, brutal, captivating -- this is one hell of a book, the kind of book that doesn't let go of you once you start it. Dave Zeltserman is clearly the real deal." -- Steve Hamilton, Edgar-award winner for The Lock Artist
Jack Durkin is the ninth generation of Durkins who have weeded Lorne Field for nearly 300 years. Though he and his wife Lydia are miserable and would like nothing more than to leave, Jack must wait until his son has come of age to tend the field on his own. It's an important job, though no one else seems to realize it. For, if the field is left untended, a horrific monster called an Aukowie will grow?a monster capable of taking over the entirety of America in just two weeks. Or so it is said. . .ALA shortlisted for best horror novel of the year. Named a horror gem by Library Journal. Dark Scribe Magazine nominee for best dark genre book of the year "Superb mix of humor and horror" Publishers Weekly, starred review
"delicious horror-ish novel" Newsday
"superbly crafted horror story" Booklist
"Harrowing. Zeltserman colors it black with the best of them." Kirkus Reviews
"a very darkly funny dark fantasy" Locus Magazine
In nineteenth-century Germany, one young man counts down the days until he can marry his beloved . . . until she is found brutally murdered, and the young man is accused of the crime. Broken on the wheel and left for dead, he awakens on a lab table, transformed into an abomination. Friedrich must go far to take his revenge --only to find his tormentor, Victor Frankenstein, in league with the Marquis de Sade, creating something much more sinister deep in the mountains. Paranormal and gripping in the tradition of the best work of Stephen King and Justin Cronin, Monster is a gruesome parable of control and vengeance, and an ingenious tribute to one of literature's greatest.Named by Booklist as one of the best 10 horror novels of the year, and by WBUR as one of the best novels of the year.
"More impressively, Zeltserman's plot maps almost perfectly onto the plot of Shelley's novel — the key word being "almost." In its departures, the novel provides more than its cover price in entertainment. Vampyres abound, as do Satanic cults and the Marquis de Sade, preparing to enact the 120 Days of Sodom in a remote mountain castle. You don't get much more gothic bang for your buck." Los Angeles Times
"This is juicy material for Franken-fans, and Zeltserman is just faithful enough to the original that his many fresh contributions feel entirely normal. Well, abnormal, to be accurate, but deliciously so." Daniel Kraus, Booklist, starred review
"This reworking of Frankenstein is chilling and captivating!...A tale of justice, true love, and ultimate forgiveness, this gruesome novel is perfect for fans of Stephen King and similar horror stories." ForeWord Magazine, pick of the week
October 28, 2015
One Angry Julius Katz and Other Stories on sale now!
One Angry Julius Katz and Other Stories is on sale now for $0.99, which works out to 16.5 cents per story! Out of the six stories, only one is a Julius Katz mystery (which is also in The Julius Katz Collection), and features a teed off Julius and a very annoyed Archie. The other 5 are a mix of crime, horror, noir, and even a Western. Included in this is my Thriller nominated story A Hostage Situation, my Western noir, Emma Sue, which was an honorable mention for the Best American Mysteries Anthology, and When Death Shines Bright--a pure psycho noir story that was originally published in Cape Cod Noir.
October 23, 2015
Haunted by Horror Podcast
The Haunted by Horror Podcast put out by Bookriot has some really good things to say about The Caretaker of Lorne Field (starting at the 5:55 mark) and Paul Tremblay's terrific A Head Full of Ghosts (56:15 mark) which it calls 'THE HOT NEW HORROR BOOK OF THE YEAR'.
About The Caretaker of Lorne Field, the podcasts says (among other things): It's amazing... so much tension... the ending is fantastic... terrifying
About The Caretaker of Lorne Field, the podcasts says (among other things): It's amazing... so much tension... the ending is fantastic... terrifying
October 16, 2015
Latest Julius Katz mystery
The latest Julius Katz mystery, Julius Katz and the Giftwrapped Murder, can be found in the latest issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. You can get a head start on the story and read an excerpt now!
