SBTA #2 Chris Strange
All right. I know what you're thinking. That first SBPA article was a self-promotion and doesn't count. Well you're right. It doesn't. Here is my second Should be Big Time Author article. This one features an amazing talent from New Zealand that I found via Goodreads.com. I was happily given a free copy of his book in exchange for an honest review. It was an awesome book and for any super-hero junkie out there, you should really read it. It's gritty. It's a little dark. It has brightly colored heros and awesome villains. It has a rich plot and a very dramatic story-line. It was really one of the best books I've ever read.
Here's a little info on Chris:
Chris Strange likes to write urban fantasy, superhero novles and other things as well. One of the things that he likes to write the most is hardboiled stories that have a noir influence. This was especially the case for the book that I reviewed called Don't be a Hero. He wants to deliever intense, humorous and sometimes dark stories to his readers.
He claims to be an "unapologetic" geek, spending a lot of time reading speculative fiction books, watching old zombie movies and playing games on his computers. He lives in New Zealand and occassionally goes to university like he's supposed to.
(You can view this bio and any other information at http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/... (Goodreads.com author page) or you can just go to chris-strange.com)
Chris's Books:
Don't Be a Hero:
It’s a bad time to be a superhero.
When the world turned its back on metahumans, the golden age of superheroes came crashing down. But now a mysterious supercriminal is making one final bid for power, and with no one else left to protect the world, ex-hero Spook must risk everything to take him down. There will be no reprieve, no negotiation. War is coming.
Put on the mask. There’s work to be done.
My review: From the start, this book had me hooked. It's a great, fantastical read full of diverse and multi-leveled characters. I couldn't stop reading it. The atmosphere and mood were awesome and gave the book a very unique, special quality. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone with a superhero fixation like myself. I would even recommend it to those of you who don't. Chris Strange is a brilliant writer. (Also gave it four stars)
The Converted:
With his patients dead and his genetic research in tatters, Dr. Anton Springmann fled his homeland as a fugitive, taking a one-way diesel ship to New Alania. But within hours of his arrival, screams ring through the night. Hordes of gray, humanoid creatures--devils, to the townspeople--attack Anton's new home. Among the dead, Anton finds a single survivor: a young girl, Elisa Pierce. Her skin grows cracked and she begins to mutate. She's becoming a devil. Anton's seen it before.
Tormented by past sins, Anton struggles to save Elisa before the change takes her completely. But old enemies have pursued him across the seas, and now Anton is being hunted by more than just devils.
Redemption doesn't come cheap in New Alania.
Set in a land where six-guns are sacred and personal genetic modifications are the mark of nobility, The Converted is an epic fantasy novel that's not afraid to delve into the darkness.
The Man Who Crossed Worlds:
Heart-pounding, stomach-kicking, and noir-drenched, The Man Who Crossed Worlds is urban fantasy with a twist of pulp and served in a dirty glass.
All freelance Tunneler Miles Franco wants is a bit of freedom and a couple of bucks to rub together. So when the cops haul him downtown for illegally smuggling the natives of another dimension to Earth, he'll take any chance he can get to stay out of the pen. And funnily enough, the cops have just the job for him.
A mysterious interdimensional drug-smuggler is staking his claim on Miles' city, and a drug war is about to kick off that will make the city look like the set of a post-apocalyptic horror movie. As a Tunneler, Miles knows all about interdimensional transport, and the cops need his help cutting off the drug lord's supply before it reaches Earth.
But it doesn't take long playing police lapdog before Miles realizes this ain't no ordinary drug he's dealing with. Snooping around in gang business is a dangerous job in a city where everyone's on the take and the gangsters play for keeps.
And there are a lot of ways a nosy Tunneler can disappear.
Until next time,
Rustin
