August 2008 Reads

9 books. Because I’m not going to finish a 10th before midnight (it’s almost 10PM).

28 Days Later: The Aftermath – Steve Niles, Dennis Calero, Diego Olmos, Nat Jones

LifeMate Connections: Eryn – Keri Arthur “…the mystery itself is actually quite interesting…” Buy

The Taste of Night – Vicki Pettersson “The Neon Boneyard is a brilliant setting as always, and Joaquin’s underground lair is genuinely creepy. The melding of science and magic is a big part of what makes this series a winner…” Buy

Some Writers Deserve to Starve! – Elaura Niles

Already Dead – Charlie Huston “…like me you’ll be hoping to encounter the second Joe Pitt novel, No Dominion, in the near future.” Buy

Silver is for Secrets – Laurie Faria Stolarz “…compulsively readable…Upon finishing I immediately wanted to read the next in the series…Laurie Faria Stolarz is my kind of writer.” Buy

Moon Called – Patricia Briggs “This series has its fans, and there’s reasonable enough evidence in the world-building and class structure.” Buy

Wifey – Judy Blume “That something published in 1978 seems more believable, realistic and relatable than most books on the market today says a lot.” Buy

Darkling – Yasmine Galenorn “Everything fits together well, the characters seem well formed, and the plot’s intriguing.” Buy

[REVIEW] Already Dead – Charlie Huston

Charlie Huston
Already Dead (Joe Pitt, Book 1)
Random House Del Ray (US: 27th December 2005); Hachette Orbit (UK: 1st February 2007)
Buy

A Vampyre struggles to stay alive without a blood supply in Charlie Huston’s paranormal noir, Already Dead.

Every great hero has his nemesis, and for Vampyre Joe Pitt it’s Dexter Predo, the head honcho of one of New York’s Clans. Joe, meanwhile, goes it alone, though he has his acquaintances, and a HIV-positive girlfriend – which means he has a valid excuse for not exchanging bodily fluids that may or may not infect others.

So what’s with the brain-eating zombies, and what do they have to do with the Vampyre? Joe investigates, and when a wealthy couple enlists his help to find their teenaged daughter, he soon learns the two cases are linked – ickily so. We’re talking a gentleman predator with a penchant for teen girls – whether they are his daughter’s best friend, or his daughter herself. And since the man’s wife is an alcoholic, Joe doesn’t know who to believe, and it’s not surprising that the case leads back to Dexter Predo.

Admittedly I was in a terrible mood for the first half of the book, and thus had trouble connecting. Adding to my difficulties was the use of em-dashes instead of quotation marks, and the complete lack of chapter breaks, which took me a long time to get over. But if you can do that, then like me you’ll be hoping to encounter the second Joe Pitt novel, No Dominion, in the near future.

Unimpressed Cat

20-second clip of Manny. The camera doesn’t like his white bits, kind of blinding. He doesn’t stay still, and he’s not impressed. You can see the same clip on Vimeo and Blip.

These are just some of the photos I took today. Manny’s with stuff by Kim Harrison, Vicki Pettersson, Charlie Huston, Kat Richardson and Megan Hart – they’re all here. Unfortunately he’s not very impressed with the books. Not my fault.

What someone typed into Google to get to my WordPress: watch kevin bacon’s vanilla ice impressi
I didn’t know Kevin Bacon did a Vanilla Ice impression. Learn something every day…

Thank You

I’d like to send a thank-you note, but I don’t know to whom. Received today a copy of Charlie Huston’s Already Dead. I hadn’t requested it, and hadn’t even heard of it. No return address, but it was postmarked London (England, not Canada).

So whomever you are: thank you. It was a genuine surprise, and much appreciated.

Now if only my webcam would arrive…