Dave Zeltserman's Blog, page 46
June 19, 2012
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.
June 18, 2012
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
June 16, 2012
'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?
June 2, 2012
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.
May 30, 2012
May 24, 2012
One Angry Julius and Other Stories available for Kindle and Nook
ONE ANGRY JULIUS & OTHER STORIES is available now for $2.99 as either a Kindle or Nook download. This ebook features the latest Julius Katz story, One Angry Julius and Eleven Befuddled Jurors, and five other very different noir stories previously published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Cape Cod Noir and On Dangerous Ground: Stories of Western Noir, including my 2012 Thriller Award nominated story, A Hostage Situation. As an added bonus, I've also included the first chapter from my upcoming book, 'Monster: A Novel of Frankenstein' (Aug. 2012, Overlook Press).
May 13, 2012
15 reasons to get KILLER
1) Amazon's now discounting the kindle price to $5.72--roughly the price of a large Caramel Macchiato at Starbucks, but with less calories!
2) "Even that doesn’t really address what makes “Killer’’ seem so, sorry, dead-on. More than in his previous books, Zeltserman makes a virtue out of the spareness of his writing. Other noir writers try to emulate the purpleness of Raymond Chandler’s prose or the toughness of any number of crime writers. Zeltserman is content to let the narrative flow uninterrupted. As the story shifts from present to past, the precision of March’s observations, even when he’s fooling himself, drives the action on a steady path without a hint of cliché or sentimentality." Ed Siegel, Boston Globe
3) "Spare prose and assured pacing place this above most other contemporary noirs." Publisher's Weekly
4) "This novel is everything hard-boiled fiction should be - compact, direct and disciplined, and concerned with humans rather than stereotypes. It is also, for all its violent subject matter, a quietly told story, which makes its tension all the more intense" Mat Coward, Morning Star
5) "Written in a spare, terse style, and with chapters alternating between past and present, we slowly learn more about March. But even then the closing chapters present a devastating twist and shocking conclusion." Sunday Tribune
6) "With graphic imagery and exciting twists, this novel is impossible to put down and has a surprising ending. A brilliant read." Aberdeen Press & Journal
7) "Finishing off his men-out-of-prison trilogy, Dave Zeltserman delivers KILLER, which does nothing else but prove to readers that he is truly the king of Boston crime. This is not some overwrought, long-winded attempt at noir, but streamlined, punch-to-the-gut writing.... His style is one of the best among crime writers going today. So far, the two other books of this trilogy have made many best-of lists, and — guess what? — this will be his hat trick. I can’t think of another writer I’m more excited to see another book come from than Zeltserman" Bookgasm
8) "This short, sharp blast of a novel continues Zeltserman’s fearless exploration of criminal psychopathy with a strong narrative, a unique voice and a willingness to present the reader with protagonists who may not be inspirational or necessarily sympathetic, but are endlessly complex, fascinating and terrifying." Crime Scene Scotland
9) "Killer is a major novel of crime." Ed Gorman
10) "This is vintage Zeltserman, and that means there's always a tail. With a sting. Be warned." Roger Smith
11) "The whole book is told in tightly controlled prose that's perfectly suited to the subject matter. Killer is another bang-up job from Zeltserman, and a noir novel in the grand tradition. Don't miss it." Bill Crider
12) "Dave Zeltserman's Killer is simply one of the best crime novels I've read. Not in a long time, not in ages, not this year, but ever." Juri Nummelin, Pulpetti
13) "To put it simply, Killer is a brilliant character study that will rip the literary rug right out from under the reader's tightly-curled toes." Corey Wilde, The Drowning Machine
14) "Right off the bat let me tell you that Killer is the best of the ‘Man out of prison’ trilogy. Don’t get me wrong, the casual psychopathic meanderings of Joe Denton in Small Crimes was a sinister treat and the over the top violence and subtle social satire of Pariah was out-and-out brilliant. But with Leonard March, Zeltserman has found a wholly empathic narrator. Readers will connect with March and feel for his struggle to assimilate into a society that he was never really apart of and will be enthralled with how Zeltserman craftily alternates the story lines between March’s dismal present and the chapters which detail his evolution as a hired killer." Spinetingler Magazine
15) "This excellent tale moves along at a great pace as March tries to redefine himself after prison and reconnect with his children. The chapters alternate between present day and flashbacks to his days as a hitman. There are twist and turns in this novel that will keep you guessing until the last page. If crime fiction is at all for you, you should check this book out because Zeltserman is a new master." 410Media
May 10, 2012
May 9, 2012
Killer, Outsourced, The Caretaker of Lorne Field
Kindle ebook prices for Killer, Outsourced and The Caretaker of Lorne Field have all been deeply discounted.
Killer, which Publisher's Weekly places above most other contemporary noir novels and which Morning Star says is everything hard-boiled fiction should be, is now priced at $5.72.
Outsourced, which NPR and Booklist both call a gem, and which Financial Times calls "A dark, lightening-paced read" is also now $5.72.
The Caretaker of Lorne Field, which the American Library Association short listed for best horror novel of 2010 and was also a Black Quill nominee for best dark genre book of the year, is now $9.99.
Killer, which Publisher's Weekly places above most other contemporary noir novels and which Morning Star says is everything hard-boiled fiction should be, is now priced at $5.72.
Outsourced, which NPR and Booklist both call a gem, and which Financial Times calls "A dark, lightening-paced read" is also now $5.72.
The Caretaker of Lorne Field, which the American Library Association short listed for best horror novel of 2010 and was also a Black Quill nominee for best dark genre book of the year, is now $9.99.
May 7, 2012
Early word on 'Monster: A Novel of Frankenstein'
"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.
