SUBWAY TERROR!!!

As some of you might or might not know, I am a bus driver. Presently, though, I'm in training to become a subway operator. Going back ten years ago I started my career in public transportation as a subway driver, but after two years transferred to bus.

It's time for me to go back underground. I am very much looking forward to it. There is something inspiring about driving a subway train deep beneath the earth where its easy for monsters to bloom inside my imagination.

So, you can imagine I was pretty jazzed when I came across Dmitry Glukhovsky's METRO 2033. The novel is set in the world of Moscow's large subways. Don't know much about what terrible beasts I will run into but they should be as spooky as the environment.

Do any of you know any other tales of monsters or beasts that inhabit subways? RELIQUARY by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child is the only one that pops into my head at the moment. If you can think of others I would dig hearing about it.

THE SHORT SECOND LIFE OF BREE TANNER

And don't forget this comes out next Saturday. I know, but I'm a sucker for the TWILIGHT books. I can't help it. I did, however, resist the TWILIGHT graphic novel...so far ;).

Final Eclipse Movie Trailer - Official #2 (HD)

IT'S ALIVE!!!!!!!!

As I said a few days ago after my reunion with the Koontzster, I wanted to go back and read some of his recent releases that I have ignored. Since June marks the release of Dean Koontz latest, LOST SOULS, book four of his Frankenstein series, I decided to begin there.

PRODIGAL SON, or prodigal son, is a continuation of the Frankenstein mythos that began all those long years ago with Mary Shelly's Gothic tale of life, death and monsters. For a paperback weighing in at 469 pages, a lot is going on in PRODIGAL SON. Mad science, monsters, serial killer(s) and cops. Koontz packs it all in and brings to life a creature that makes this book compulsive reading. Koontz's PRODIGAL SON warrants all those cliched sayings for summer time books. 'Impossible to put down', 'A real page turner', 'Another winner from the master of thrills'. You know what I'm talking about. Best of all, when all is said and done, this is just the beginning and I can hardly wait to find out where it goes from here.

Victor Helios, alias, Victor Frankenstein, is still alive after all these years and he hasn't exactly been sitting on his laurels. Victor has created what he calls the New Race. Victor is seeding society with the New Race, getting ready for the day when he will bring down the rest of humanity, a.k.a. the Old Race. The New Race is stronger and smarter and is not beholden to God, just Victor. But for some, they believe the Old Race has something they lack, particularly happiness, inner peace. For one member of the New Race in particular, they believe the answer lies within us...literally. And they plans on opening as many of us as it takes to find the answer, the thing they lacks and needs, desires, more than anything.

Hot on the trail of this super killer is the copper team of Carson O'Connor and Michael Maddison. The back and forth between these two characters is fresh and at times quite amusing, especially from the wit of the latter. Eventually they are joined on their hunt by a man who claims to be something from the world of fiction, a monster that....oh forget it, you know who I mean. But there are no giant neck bolts here. No flat top. No greenish hue. No growling or moaning madness. Koontz has created a new monster, that is less monster and more hero.

As many of you probably know, PRODIGAL SON was originally released as a novel co-authored by none other than Kevin J. Anderson. Future additions would drop Anderson from the cover and copy rights page. Why this is I have no idea. In a forward to the edition I read Dean Koontz gives background to the creation of his latest mythos but delves little into why this title no longer contains Anderson's name on the cover, other than to say he doesn't play well with others. Mysterious. There is a story there, I'm sure, that might or might not be as exciting as the book itself. Who knows?

DEAN KOONTZ'S FRANKENSTEIN, PRODIGAL SON was also released as a graphic novel, last year. At some point in the future, perhaps when a trade ed. hits the shelves I will pick it up.
It's a good time to be returning to Koontzworld. There are many exciting projects soon to hit shelves, the least of which is the latest in the Frankenstein series. Soon to be released is a graphic novel version of one of Koontz's best books, FEAR NOTHING.

Look here for further reviews of DEAN KOONTZ'S FRANKENSTEIN novels in the near future!

THEODORE BOONE

'Cuz I spend too much time surfing Amazon and Chapters and not enough time reading the books I already have.

Grisham's new one is a Y.A. legal murder mystery. Who'da thunk it? It actually sounds interesting. I was a big fan of Grisham back in the day. I remember reading THE FIRM and a few others just as soon as they hit the stands and diggin' them a lot. Perhaps I'll grab this one after a little looksee in the store.

ROAD CLOSED BY ORDER OF BLOCKADE BILLY

With BLOCKADE BILLY, the Champ delivers a good ol' yarn about a baseball player who isn't everything he claims to be. Meet Billy Blakely, rookie catcher extraordinaire, called up to the Bigs when the New Jersey Titans lose two catchers in quick and nasty succession during spring training.

Expected to be nothing but a fill in until the Titans can make a trade or sign somebody with a little more pedigree, Blakely turns out to be a natural. In fact, Blakely begins turning heads in his first game and soon garners the nickname 'Blockade', for the way he stops runners from scoring at home plate.

Though things go well for the Titans, something in Blakely's past is about to bring it all crashing down. You see Blakely is playing with a dark secret. A secret so deadly everything the Titans accomplish will be wiped from the record books forever.

King continues his recent run of superb publications with BLOCKADE BILLY, following the success of his monster epic UNDER THE DOME. Though a bit on the short side BLOCKADE BILLY is a damn fine story. The Cemetery Dance edition comes with illustrations by the magnificent Alex McVey and a William 'Blockade' Blakey rookie baseball card.

The Passage - book trailer

One of my most anticipated books of the summer. Check out the trailer. Have I mentioned I love book trailers as much as movie trailers? I sure do!

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson (book trailer)

LIKE GOING HOME AGAIN

It's been a long time since I sat down and gave myself over to a Dean Koontz novel. I used to be a huge Koontz fan back in the day. Some of his earlier works are among my all time favorites, including: PHANTOMS, DARKFALL, THE SERVANTS OF TWILIGHT, MIDNIGHT, LIGHTNING, and TWILIGHT EYES. There are even a few I consider great reads after he drifted into the mainstream, or thriller era, that he pretty much resides in now. Books like TICK TOCK, INTENSITY, FEAR NOTHING, SEIZE THE NIGHT, DARK RIVERS OF THE HEART are all superb.

I don't know what happened after that, but I guess I lost my taste for the Deanster. Part of it was his household name. It may seem shallow but back then I wanted to read horror books by horror authors that no one knew existed; writers like Richard Laymon, Edward Lee and a few others. But somewhere in the mid-nineties Dean Koontz became a household name, like Stephen King and to a lesser degree Robert McCammon and John Saul. He stopped writing "horror".

Another reason I stopped reading Koontz might seem a little strange. Koontz became really good. And with all that good writing came something else. The best way I can describe it is that his writing developed a cuteness to it. He'd always been a clever writer but then his writing became a little too clever. A little too cute. I found this mostly in the creation of his protagonists, his heroes. They were always super gifted in some way. Either that or they were ubersmart and always morally immovable. They were the white. The good. Blinding.

To a greater extent Koontz' fictional world was made up of either "good folk" or "bad folk". Good vs. Evil. White vs. Dark. The line was in the sand and his characters were either on one side or the other. Never in between. I don't know about you, but personally, I like my heroes to come with a little bad. Hey, not always, but I find it hard to always cheer for Mr. Goody Two Shoes.

But, I digress.

RELENTLESS is Dean Koontz' latest paperback release. For some reason I wanted to experience Koontzland again. I can't explain it other than I wanted something light and fun to read. I decided to buy it and read it. And boy did I have fun!

I won't go into specifics but RELENTLESS is about a writer named Cubby, who's latest book gets trashed by one of the nations leading book critics, an enigmatic man named Shearman Waxx. Needless to say, Cubby can't get the review out of his head. He investigates Waxx and discovers the critic lives near by. With a little help from his friends Cubby finds himself eating at the same restaurant as Waxx. After one unfortunate encounter in the men's room our hero finds out that Waxx might be more than just a hard ass book reviewer. In fact, Waxx is quite a lot more. Waxx might just be the most dangerous man Cubby has ever crossed paths with.

What follows is a thrilling, and yes I'll say it, relentless ride.

Some of my long ago peeves are still home in Koontz' characters. Each inhabitant of RELENTLESS can be pretty much categorized as either Good or Evil. Our heroes are morally straight as an arrow. They're successful and very intelligent, and yes, they have a very smart dog. The dog thing is another reason I strayed from Koontzland. Dean really has a thing for dogs that after awhile can get a bit annoying.

Anyway, I really enjoyed RELENTLESS, so much so I plan on reading some of his back list I've missed out on.

It's time to go home and it feels goods.

NEW WOLF'S HOUR COVER, AND THE FIVE NEWS

Here is the cover for the upcoming limited edition of Robert McCammon's THE WOLF'S HOUR, coming out from Subterranean Press. THE WOLF'S HOUR is one of my all time favourite books and one of McCammon's best. This is going to be a definite buy for me. Included in this edition is the novella, THE ROOM AT THE BOTTOM OF THE STAIRS.

Word is, Subterranean Press will also be publishing THE FIVE, McCammon's latest 180,000 word epic! I, for one, am very excited by this news.

MOVIE REVIEWS

I woke up this morning thinking about Dom DeLuise crying out, "Daaan Daaan Dah!!!!" as Captain Chaos! When I was a kid Cannonball Run was one of my favorite movies. The cast of characters was just incredible. And the cars?! The car were quite kick ass. Remember the two hotties (of course they weren't called hotties back then...probably babes) driving the Lamborghini?

Last night it was a double feature of DAYBREAKERS and LEGION. I enjoyed both, though 'BREAKERS was the better of the two. LEGION on the other hand could have been something special with another fifty to a hundred million for its budget. The story was one that was, at least, interesting. A group of truck stop patrons and employees must protect a young woman who happens to be carrying our savior. You see, on God's orders, we all gotta go, the child included. To complete the task he's sent a legion of possessed folks to make sure the child is wiped out. In a bit of a switcheroo, these baddies are not possessed by Satan's legion, but God's own angels. Granted, they behave much the same as regular ol' demons, cussing up a storm and killing with abandon.

LEGION could have been epic. Should have been epic, had it had a better cast and more money to spend on F/X's. Kate Walsh, formerly of Grey's Anatomy, is particularly annoying with her crying and moaning. If I were in the movie I would have fed her ass to the first possessed ghoul that showed up. Charles S. Dutton is sadly wasted as fodder for the possessed. Dennis Quaid pretty much dials this one in long distance, along with Tyrese Gibson, of TRANSFORMERS fame.

Check it out. It's not garbage but it could have been much better.

DAYBREAKERS on the other hand, I quite enjoyed. The year is 2019 and most of the world's population has been transformed into vampires. The only problem for the long tooths is that normal humans are becoming scarce and with them, their only food supply. What happens when the blood runs out? They turn into nasty critters called Subsiders.

Unlike LEGION, 'BREAKERS is perfectly cast. Ethan Hawke plays a blood doctor and our hero, who is searching for a blood substitute in order to prevent all the vampires from turning into Subsiders. He's joined by the William Dafoe who is part of a human resistance group and may be the key to finding a cure for vampirism. He's joined by the very foxy Isabel Lucas, an Australian actress, who knows how to act and is easy on the eyes. Rounding out the star factor is Sam Neill. To me, any movie with Neill, is a good movie. And DAYBREAKERS is just that. A good movie.

DAYBREAKERS is the second film written and directed by the Spirig brothers, after the low budget UNDEAD. It had been reported the brothers with direct a sequel to THE DARK CRYSTAL, called THE POWER OF THE DARK CRYSTAL, as well as CAPTAIN BLOOD.

DINKIN DINGS

Danger of being bit by a vampire turkey while you read this review: 3 %



Danger of a brain sucking slug creature from Mars sucking out your brain in the next two minutes: 18%


Danger of you disappearing into Dimension 83, the Dimension of Fruit Alligators and Vegetable Dogs in 6 minutes and 41 seconds: 55 %


Think I'm making this up? Maybe, but then perhaps you haven't made acquaintances with Dinkin Danger Dings. Really. Danger is his middle name.



DINKIN DINGS AND THE FRIGHTENING THINGS is Guy Bass' debut book about Dinkin Dings, the boy that is afraid of EVERYTHING! I'm not kidding. Everything. The only thing Dinkin isn't afraid of are the Frightening Things, Arthur, Edgar, and Herbert. The ghost, the skeleton and the hungry monster.


In this fun and playfully spooky tale our hero has a wee problem and it comes in the form or his new neighbours, particularly Molly. You see, Dinkin is convinced that Molly is not everything she appears to be. In fact, Dinkin is sure that what has moved in next door is nothing less than a Flesh-eating Alien Space Zombie from Beyond Terror! Of course, no one believes him, except that is, for the Frightening Things. Together they must reveal Molly in all her flesh eating disgustingness before she can transform Dinkin and the rest of the world into mindless zombie slaves.


DINKIN DINGS AND THE FRIGHTENING THINGS is a terrorific book to read with your kids or have your kids read to you. It weights in a just over a hundred pages, providing two or three nights of cuddle up and read time. Adding to the delight of the reading are Pete Williamson's illustrations. These charming and humorous pictures will delight both young and old.



The only complaint I have is that this 2010 Blue Peter Book Award winner for Most Fun Story With Pictures are not available at present on this side of the pond. A damn shame, that. Still, if you are looking for a terrific book for the young reader in your family, this is a can't miss. Hop on over to Amazon.uk and snag a copy.



Tonight me and the kids are going to start DINKIN DINGS AND THE REVENGE OF THE FISH-MEN and I, for one, can't wait!


Shout out to my bud (if I may call him that), Jim, for introducing me to DINKIN! Thanks man!

THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE

THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE by Stieg Larsson

It's a beast of a book and I highly recommend you pick it up post haste. If you read THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO then you already know Larsson had the chops to be one of the best. Unfortunately, due to his untimely death, we will never know how high his star may have risen.

With DRAGON we were treated to a kind of serial killer/crime epic that spanned the decades before World War Two up to the new millennium. We are introduced to the womanizing and crucially dedicated Mikael Blomkvist. A man that is like a dog with a bone when he gets his teeth into a good story. We also meet an enigma in the woman, Lisbeth Salander. Men, prepare to fall in love. I won't reveal anything about DRAGON, suffice to say our heroes survive to match smarts and wits with Sweden's criminal underworld in Larsson's kick ass sequel, in particular a monstrous blond giant and his master, Zala.

THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE is a taut thriller, a roller coaster ride where the drops get bigger and scarier the closer to the end you get. Salander is accused of three brutal murders and must find a way to clear her name, which won't be easy since it is her finger prints on the murder weapon. An indebted Mikael Blomkvist begins his own investigation when it becomes clear the police will stop at nothing to nail Salander to the wall.

As with DRAGON, Reg Keeland does a marvelous job of translating the book to English.

The third book in the Millennium series will be released later this month, THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST.

Food for thought: Larsson had projected the Millennium series to be ten books. It's a damn shame we will never get to read those books. As I swept through FIRE, it became quite obvious Larsson was a terrific writer and not just a one hit wonder. I found myself saddened by our loss for what surely would have been a series to remember. Imagine, if you will, had Stephen King died before his work was done on THE DARK TOWER series, or J.K. Rowling croaked before completing THE DEATHLY HOLLOWS (just to name a couple of recent examples).

Sure, it has happened before. Quite recently Robert Jordan died before completing his WHEEL OF TIME series after working on it for a life time.

Enjoy the Millennium trilogy and try not to be too disheartened by what might have been.

Hey Mr. Martin, how is A DANCE WITH DRAGONS coming along?