Dave Zeltserman's Blog, page 45

ForeWord Magazine picks Monster!

ForeWord Magazine has made Monster one of their staff picks this week, saying: "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."

Bill Crider, Roger Smith and Paul Tremblay on Monster--A Novel of Frankenstein

Zeltserman got a lot of acclaim for his horror novel The Caretaker of Lorne Field. Monster is a very different kind of book, but it's just as exciting. When awards season rolls around, this one's going to be a major contender. -- Bill Crider, author of the Sheriff Dan Rhodes (read Bill's entire review here)

I was privileged to read this book in manuscript form. It is a brilliant reimagining of Frankenstein: faithful enough to delight lovers of Mary Shelley's masterpiece, but wonderfully inventive as it takes the monster (Friedrich Hoffmann) on a bloody quest for vengeance. As he hunts Victor Frankenstein he encounters vampyrs, monks, Satanists, and (memorably)the Marquis de Sade. By far Zeltserman's best work, and that's saying something.-- Roger Smith, author of Wake Up Dead and Dust Devils

Dave Zeltserman continues to expertly explore the depths of darkness with MONSTER. This brutal, clever retelling of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein pits Victor Frankenstien and the infamous evil of the Marquis de Sade versus the most famous resurrected-man-turned-creature who only longs to avenge the murder of his fiance. MONSTER shocks and rampages as well as it deftly entertains.--Paul Tremblay, author of The Little Sleep and In The Mean Time

One Angry Julius free + 2 reviews

One Angry Julius & Other Stories is free as a kindle download for the next 3 days, and as luck would have it Must Read Mysteries has put out a review today of a dozen favorite crime and mystery titles that includes  One Angry Julius, my Hunted novellas, and Roger Smith's fantastically great Dust Devils.
As well as the latest Julius Katz story, One Angry Julius & Eleven Befuddled Jurors, my Thriller Award nominated story, A Hostage Situation and 4 other crime stories are included in this volume, as well as the first chapter of my soon to be released (only 3 weeks away!) Monster--A Novel of Frankenstein. Since I'm currently happily deluding myself that if anyone reads the first chapter of Monster they'll be willing to burn down bookstores if necessary to read the rest of this book (well, maybe I'm exaggerating in my delusions--maybe not actually commit felonies, but at least be willing to take a trip to their local bookstore...) I'd like to see One Angry Julius get downloaded to as many kindles as possible. If folks can help spread the word about this, it would be much appreciated!
And a new review for One Angry Julius & Other Stories is now also up on Z7HQ.

One Angry Julius free + review

One Angry Julius & Other Stories is free as a kindle download for the next 3 days, and as luck would have it Must Read Mysteries has put out a review today of a dozen favorite crime and mystery titles that includes  One Angry Julius, my Hunted novellas, and Roger Smith's fantastically great Dust Devils.
As well as the latest Julius Katz story, One Angry Julius & Eleven Befuddled Jurors, my Thriller Award nominated story, A Hostage Situation and 4 other crime stories are included in this volume, as well as the first chapter of my soon to be released (only 3 weeks away!) Monster--A Novel of Frankenstein. Since I'm currently happily deluding myself that if anyone reads the first chapter of Monster they'll be willing to burn down bookstores if necessary to read the rest of this book (well, maybe I'm exaggerating in my delusions--maybe not actually commit felonies, but at least be willing to take a trip to their local bookstore...) I'd like to see One Angry Julius get downloaded to as many kindles as possible. If folks can help spread the word about this, it would be much appreciated!

Perfect summer read for Red Sox fans

A Killer's Essence is the perfect summer read for Red Sox and crime fans as it brings us back to that magical 2004 ALCS series with the Yankees when the Sox were down 0-3 and then pulled off the impossible.

Booklist on Monster

 Here's the full starred review from Booklist:
Repudiating the “outrageous fabrication” of Victor Frankenstein’s story as told by Mary Shelley is the aim of this imaginative and grotesque novel from the revisionist perspective of the monster. First off, the monster had a name, Friedrich Hoffmann. Second, he had a true love, Johanna. So that they could become unwilling participants in unholy experiments, the lovers were murdered by Dr. Frankenstein, whom Zeltserman portrays as a perverse maniac in the mold of Lovecraft's Herbert West, working in league with the Marquis de Sade. Awakening to find himself inside a hideous, patchwork body, Hoffmann’s first friend is Charlotte, a reanimated severed head in a bowl. Things get worse. Zeltserman’s monster is every bit as eloquent as Shelley’s, though his rage is more focused. He seeks to avenge Johanna, plain and simple. But the mystical rituals enacted by the doctor make insurrection difficult, and so Hoffmann wanders the countryside encountering changeling vampyrs, kindly monks, groveling Satanists, and, finally, a castle in which 200 girls have been kidnapped to be a part of Frankenstein and the Marquis’ unspeakable “drama.” This is juicy material for Franken-fans, and Zeltserman is just faithful enough to the original (he, too, ends with the fateful wedding night and the icebound ship) that his many fresh contributions feel entirely normal. Well, abnormal, to be accurate, but deliciously so. — Daniel Kraus

Monster will be released Aug. 2nd, and the book launch party for it will also be Aug. 2nd at the Brookline Booksmith in Brookline, MA, starting at 7 pm.

One Angry Julius & Other Stories can now be borrowed ...

One Angry Julius & Other Stories can now be borrowed for free by Amazon Prime customers.

Along with the latest Julius Katz story, One Angry Julius and Eleven Befuddled Jurors, this collection also has:

Some People Deserve to Die, originally published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

The Mentor, originally published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

When Death Shines Bright, originally published in Cape Cod Noir

Emma Sue, originally published in On Dangerous Ground: Stories of Western Noir

A Hostage Situation, originally published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, nominated for a 2012 Thriller Award

As an added bonus, the first chapter of my upcoming novel, 'Monster: A Novel of Frankenstein' has been included.

Starred review for Monster

The first review for Monster has come out. Booklist, in a starred review, says in part: "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

'Man out of prison' noir trilogy in Italy

Fanucci Editore is publishing my 'man out of prison' noir trilogy (Small Crimes, Pariah, Killer) in a single hardcover volume. I find this very cool, and love the cover they came up with.

'The Caretaker of Lorne Field' has gotten a lot of love from librarians, and the Dwight Foster Public Library is the latest to recommend Caretaker, including it in their Great Summer Reads recommendations, saying:

A scary, yet funny novel about Jack Durkin, descendant of the family responsible for generations for harvesting the supposedly deadly plants in Lorne Field before they can get big enough to destroy the world. But in this modern age, who believes that stuff anymore?

How I came about writing Monster

With Monster two months away from publication, I thought I'd repeat a blog post from a year ago about how I came about writing this book:

One day when I was walking around the long since defunct Brookline Barnes & Noble, I was noticing all the vampire, dragon, zombie, Wizard of Oz & werewolf books, and was thinking what hasn't been done, and what I came up with was Frankenstein. Yeah, I know, Dean Koontz has his Frankenstein series, but that has been placed in modern times and has little in common with Mary Shelley's novel. I started thinking then of a version written by the creature and where everything a dying Victor Frankenstein tells Captain Walton is a lie to cover his own crimes and depravity. I started getting excited by this idea but also severely intimidated by it. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a great novel, and for those of you who haven't read it you should. It's very unlike any of the movie adaptations, including (especially) Kenneth Branagh's "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein". It's also in it's own way a very powerful noir story. Anyway, the intimidation won out and instead of working on this I wrote another novel.

The idea, though, wouldn't leave me alone, and nine months later I started considering this more seriously. A friend of mine who's a PhD candidate in 18th Century European History and fellow Black Belt student at our Kung Fu studio, Alden Ludlow, put together a reading list so I could properly research, among other things, 18th century witchcraft, satanic cults, London sex clubs, supernatural mythology, folklore and 19th century fiction. So after 6 months of research that also included historical figures Marquise de Sade and Samuel Hahnemann, I felt ready to start it.

If you haven't read Shelley's Frankenstein, the book takes place in a lot of different locations--starting with Ingolstadt, Germany, then Geneva, French Alps, London, Scotland, Ireland, back to Geneva, and finally the Artic. What I did was layer my version over these same locations but have different reasons for this traveling, as well as make the monster in my version the hero. The Marquise de Sade and his philosophy also plays a critical role.

Overlook Press will be publishing this in two months, I can honestly say this by far the best book I've written, and will probably ever write. More than any book I've written, I'm looking forward to seeing this one in print.