KILLERS - A PSYCHO THRILLER by Blake Crouch and Jack Kilborn (aka J.A. Konrath)

This past week saw the release of Blake Crouch and Jack Kilborn's (J.A. Konrath) KILLERS - A Psycho Thriller. To say that I was stoked would be an understatement.

To celebrate I have invited someone who has read the story to come and share their thoughts on KILLERS and other projects.

Wormies, please give a warm welcome to...me!

THE MAN EATING BOOKWORM (MEB): Thanks for stopping in today.

Me: Anytime. Great blog by the way.

MEB: Ahh shucks. Thanks. Means a lot coming from you!

Me: Think nothing of it. Really.

MEB: *cough* *cough* Well, um, lets get on with this then.

Me: By all means.

MEB: So tell the Wormies why we're doing this review "interview style"?

Me: It's simple really. If you've read any of Blake Crouch or J.A. Konrath e-books, then you know they usually provide a fun and informative interview at the end of the story. It's usually almost as enjoyable as the book itself. They give insight into the writing of the book and hints of what to expect in the future.

MEB: That's my favorite part of interviews.

Me: What?

MEB: The, ah, hints about what to expect, future releases and stuff.

Me: Indeed! And, in fact, Crouch and Konrath/Kilborn or well, whatever the hell his name is, let us in on some sweet news about future projects at the end of this one.

MEB: Hmmm, well, perhaps before you explain what's to come from this dynamic duo of murder and mayhem, we should tell the Worms *chuckles* all about KILLERS?

Me: Do you think it's a good idea to do that?

MEB: Well, that's what the Worms are here for. Book reviews! Duh!

Me: No, uh, not that. Calling your visitors "worms". It's not very nice.

MEB: *sigh* You're right. Might give the wrong idea. Sorry. "Wormies".

Me: Better. So, KILLERS. It's the sequel to last year's SERIAL, which was basically one of the most kick ass reads of the year. Aparently it's been downloaded more than 350 000 times.

MEB: Good lord! These two must be rich!

Me: Not sure, but that certainly says they're doing something right.

MEB: So what did you think of KILLERS?

Me: Dude, it was awesome. If you read and loved SERIAL then you are going to doublely love KILLERS.

It sees the return of Donaldson and Lucy after their little "road trip" in SERIAL. They're both in the ICU ward of the local hospital, and both still jonesing to kill each other. What ensues is total gut wrenching brutality!

As the kids say nowadays, this is sic!

MEB: Cool. I can't wait to read it.

Me: Uh, what?

MEB: *clears throat* I mean, yeah, it was awesome! I especially liked the part when-

Me: WHOA! WHOA! WHOA!

MEB: What?

Me: Don't spoil anything for the Wormies! Let them experience all the pain, torture, murder, violence, mayhem, brutality for themselves.

MEB: Right! Thanks, almost blew it there. No one likes a review with spoilers!

Me: No they don't.

MEB: Okay, well that pretty much sums it up. Get KILLERS because it's..uh..killer!

Me: *rolling his eyes*

MEB: What?

Me: Nothing. But before we go we should tell the Wormies about everything Crouch and Konrath have coming our way.

MEB: Totally. Well, for starters-

Me: WAIT! Maybe we shouldn't. I mean, folks are paying for the interview as well as the story. Doesn't seem right to spoil the fun for them.

MEB: You know, when you're right, you're right!

Me: It's probably okay to tell them it's awesome, though.

MEB: Okay. Go ahead and tell them.

Me: Tell them what?

MEB: That it's awesome!

Me: Right! It's awesome Wormies. It's a good time to be a Crouch and Konrath fan. You'll want to go out today and read SERIAL and -

MEB: SERIAL UNCUT!!!!

Me: Of course, Serial Uncut. 

MEB: Might as well get the total package. 

Me: Agreed. So, download it. Read it. Love it. Then get KILLERS. 

MEB: But don't stop there! To get the whole thrilling experience you'll want to check out Konrath's JACK DANIELS series of thrillers that begins with Whiskey Sour.

Me: And don't forget Crouch's DESERT PLACES: A Novel of Terror (Andrew Z. Thomas Thriller) and LOCKED DOORS: A Novel of Terror (Andrew Z. Thomas Thriller).

MEB: If I don't stop now I'm going to explode into total fanboy mode.

Me: Dude, it's too late for that now.

MEB: *blushes*

Me: Before we go I want to direct your attention the kick ass work of Jeroen Ten Berge.

MEB: Say what? Who?

Me: *chuckles* He's the cover designer for a lot of Crouch and Konrath's e-books.

MEB: Oh, yeah. He does good work.

Me: Agreed! His website is here.

MEB: I guess that's it.

Me: I guess it is.

MEB: *whistles quietly*

Me: Aren't you going to thank me or say what a pleasure it was to have me stop by?

MEB: Got yeah! *laughs*

Me: Whatever. *shakes head and walks away*

MEB: Hey wait! Don't go away like that! Wait! Wait!

RUN out and get Blake Crouch's new book!

Or, well, I guess you don't have to go "out" to get it. Just click on the link. It's called Run. It's as good a place as any to try out this amazing writer.

Well, yeah, I haven't read it yet but I'm sure judging from everything else I've read by Crouch it's sure to please!

Here's the description:

For fans of Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Thomas Harris, picture this: a landscape of American genocide...

5 DAYS AGO
A rash of bizarre murders swept the country...
Senseless. Brutal. Seemingly unconnected.
A cop walked into a nursing home and unloaded his weapons on elderly and staff alike.
A mass of school shootings.
Prison riots of unprecedented brutality.
Mind-boggling acts of violence in every state.

4 DAYS AGO
The murders increased ten-fold...

3 DAYS AGO
The President addressed the nation and begged for calm and peace...

2 DAYS AGO
The killers began to mobilize...

YESTERDAY
All the power went out...

TONIGHT
They're reading the names of those to be killed on the Emergency Broadcast System. You are listening over the battery-powered radio on your kitchen table, and they've just read yours.

Your name is Jack Colclough. You have a wife, a daughter, and a young son. You live in Albuquerque, New Mexico. People are coming to your house to kill you and your family. You don't know why, but you don't have time to think about that any more.

You only have time to....

RUN

Sounds awesome to me!

YOUNG JUNIUS by Seth Harwood

Young Junius by Seth Harwood is one of those reads that sticks around in your mind a few days after you've finished. It's got tons of action and snappy dialogue but what held onto me most was the sad reality of the whole thing.

It's about a young black kid (Junius) that is looking to get revenge on his brother's killers. In order to do it he has to make his way into a gang infested apartment complex where it seems everyone is packing Tec 9's or Beretta's or some form of firepower.

Usually when I'm reading a crime story I can easily separate myself from the reality of the story because it's so far removed from my own way of life that it may as well have J.R.R. Tolkien's name on the cover.

YOUNG JUNIUS touches a little too close to home. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a drug dealing, gun packing, homie down in the hood. I'm a chubby suburbanite that wouldn't know a cigarette from a roach. But I work for a transit system that carries kids just like this everyday, kids who think the one and only answer in life comes from the threat of violence at the end of a fist or the barrel of a gun. They live, or project to live, the "gangsta" life, doing their best to intimidate everyone around them. These are the kids that strut by you without paying a fare, daring you to stand up to them, while giving you what Harwood describes as a good ol' "eyef@*king". 

Harwood does a superb job of portraying what life must be like in the "hood" circa 1987. Again, I can't speak for true reality, but I have seen the enough of the pieces to get a damn good idea of what the full picture must look like.

The book is a great example of the drug and gun problems that terrorize these types of communities and transform their young into hoodlums and gangbangers.There are some bright spots in the novel, characters that reveal hope and heart, but before the last page is turned reality catches up to most of them.

Taken less seriously, this novel is hardcore. There are some really funny scenes that will have you grinning ear to ear and the gun play is fast and furious, especially the last hundred pages or so.

This is one I can certainly see myself revisiting again and again. And let me just say, I love the cover. I think it's one of the best I've seen in the crime genre.

Interview with Max Brallier

Okay, Wormies, I have a special surprise for you today. Max Brallier is in the house and he's been good enough to take off his shoes and answer a few questions. Max is the author of the recently released zombie extravaganza Can You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse?.

If you missed my review of CAN YOU SURVIVE THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE scroll down or click here.

Without further adieu...

Who is Max Brallier besides being the author of CAN YOU SURVIVE THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE?

Just a mild mannered reporter for the Daily Planet.  Also, I work in advertising and marketing at a publishing house (not the one that did this book)

Dawn of The Dead. Original or re-make?

Original.  All day, every day.  Best horror movie of all time.  Also, the original Day of the Dead is severely underrated.

You're in the middle of a zombie apocalypse and suddenly you see George A. Romero is coming for you. He's dead, hungry and wants to eat your brains.

Do you:

A) Get all fan boy and let him munch on you 'cuz it would be so cool to have George A. Romero turn your ass into a zombie fer realz (in which case this interview is over)?

I may have some fan boy in me, but not to the point where I'm letting anyone bite me.

B) Cave in his noodle with a baseball bat and apologize afterwords, telling his re-dead corpse that you're his biggest fan (in which case you may continue on with this interview)?

I'd be swinging for the fences.  There are no loyalties during the zombie apocalypse.  Sorry George.

or C) Run like hell, because the thought of bumping into a zombie George A. Romero during a zombie apocalypse is just too much to handle (in which case you may continue with this interview but with a little less 'dead' cred with this interviewer)?

Also a good option. I can already hear the Chariots of Fire music...

Okay, let's be a little more serious with this next question. Where did you come up with the idea to write a chose-your-own-adventure zombie book?

Well, it's important to state that isn't a "Choose Your Own Adventure."  Choose Your Own Adventure is a fantastic series - but it's trademarked, and they own it.  This book is awesome, but it 'aint a Choose Your Own Adventure.  :) I call this a Pick Your Own Path book.

On to the writing: I started writing a straight zombie apocalypse novel, but I kept getting frustrated because there were SO MANY different things I wanted to get in there.  I couldn't make it work - so I thought, hey, what if I write like 75 short books and let people pick their way through.  And that's what I did.

Did you read a lot of Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid? What about Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's great Fighting Fantasy books?

Choose Your Own Adventure, yes.  Fighting Fantasy, no.  Wanna let me borrow some and I'll dig in?

Sure!

My wife wants to know what you would do if you were going to be swarmed by a horde of undead flesh eaters with only one bullet left in your gun?

Piss myself - then probably shoot whichever one was closest or scariest looking - and then get devoured.  I'm not sure if I'd be up for putting a bullet in my head, regardless of what was coming at me.  Plus, who knows - maybe I'd turn into a zombie and love it! No responsibilities.  Just stumbling around all day.  Doesn't sound all that bad.

The book is great looking. Probably one of the best looking zombie books I've seen. The cover is fantastic and the Christopher Mitten illustrations are kick-ass. Did you have any idea it was all going to come together so nicely?

I had hoped.  When I found out we had a budget for illustrations, I was ecstatic.  Then when they told me I got to pick the illustrator, I was really ecstatic.  They sent me some suggestions for artists, but I knew right away I wanted Chris.  I don't think I even looked at what they sent - I was just like can we please, please try to get Christopher Mitten?  'Cause Wasteland's far and away my favorite comic of the past few years.  Then when we found out he was available and would do it - I was beyond beyond ecstatic.

In terms of the cover, I knew I wanted a sort of Army of Darkness, National Lampoons Vacay style cover.  I mentioned that idea to the art dept at Gallery, and they came back with that beautiful cover.  So basically, I had a tiny little shell of an idea for the cover, which they were gracious enough to listen to, and they ran with it and made it awesome.

Can you tell us what's in the works? Will there be any more CAN YOU SURVIVE books?

We'll have to see how this one does before we'll know if there are more in the pipeline.  Though I'd love to write another one.  They're a blast to write, even if they are a bit of an organizational nightmare.  Besides that - I'm keeping busy with some other stuff, but nothing as exciting as this!

Finally, can you tell all the Wormies what is best in life?

Of course - To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women.  That, and cheesesteaks. 

Thanks a lot for doing this, Max!

Welcome!!!!

THE DEATH FANTASTIC by John Hornor Jacobs

Over at Beat to a Pulp, a website dedicated to writers of hardboiled pulp fiction, you can read John Hornor Jacobs' terrific selection, THE DEATH FANTASTIC in the Weekly Punch.

THE DEATH FANTASTIC is great story. JHJ has some serious story telling chops and you would be an idiot to pass this one up if noir fiction is your thing. Even if it's not, check it out. It might make you a fan.

This August John Hornor Jacobs will see the release of his debut novel set in the U.S. south called SOUTHERN GODS. It's being published by Night Shade Books and I have it on good authority it's going to knock some socks off. If THE DEATH FANTASTIC is any indication, it promises to be a good one!

Check out John Hornor Jacobs here and sometimes here.

THE DEAD MAN: FACE OF EVIL by Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin

One of these days I'm going to totally shred a book on here. I'm going to rip apart the dialogue, criticize the grammar and blast the stupid ending. I'll even make fun of the way the author spells his or her name!

But not today.

Today I'm reviewing Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin's The Dead Man: Face of Evil. And it's really good!

This is the start of a new series touted to walk similar lands to Stephen King's THE GUNSLINGER, adventure books like those of THE DESTROYER and MACK BOLAN and THE EXECUTIONER. Each installment will be written by a different author from the world of suspense and thriller fiction.

THE DEAD MAN: FACE OF EVIL is a tight, well written, supernatural thriller. Right from the first page I was hooked, drawn into an intriguing story that kept me turning the pages until I was finished.

It's about a hard working lumber man named Matt Cahill who is killed in an avalanche. Or so everyone believes. Three months later, he's found and as his body thaws, he begins to show signs of life. Against all odds, medical explanations or Guinness Book of World Records for that matter, Matt returns to the land of the living.

But things are different now, for Matt, for the town he called home and for his best friend whose life is spiraling towards a horrific end that will tear at the heart of the community. In the background is a nightmare spirit guised as a doctor who taunts Matt and his new existence.

FACE OF EVIL satisfies all on it's own, while being a terrific opener that promises a epic tale to come.

I'm excited for the next book.

Check it out.

Lee Goldberg is part of Top Suspense Group, a cadre of thriller writers committed to producing only the very best in mystery, crime and suspenseful e-books. He is the author of such novels as The Walk and The Man with the Iron-On Badge.

William Rabkin is the author of Psych: A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Read.

CAN YOU SURVIVE THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE? by Max Brallier

Usually when I hear about a new zombie book I groan like one of the living dead. Not another zombie book?!

Don't get me wrong, I love zombies. It's just that most of the time it's the same dang thing over and over and over.

Give me something new would ya?!?!

Last year's gift to the zombie genre was Night of the Living Trekkies (Quirk Fiction). I can see why a lot of folks might have scoffed at such a title and that's their loss. It was one of the best zombie novels I've come across.

This year's must have zombie book? Check out Can You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse?

If this one doesn't gain the same mass popularity as Max Brook's World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War or The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead then I don't know what's with y'all.

This book is an absolute blast, from start to, well, wherever you finish.

It's set up like the old Chose Your Own Adventure books from back in the day. There you are sitting in a dull office meeting, wishing you could be anywhere but where you are when suddenly BAM! The ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE is upon you!

What the hell are you going to do?!?

You have choices to make and what you decide could lead you to salvation (kinda...this is the apocalypse after all) or into the arms of a mother hungry zombie horde. It might also lead you into the den of the NYC chapter the Hell's Angels. Depending on the choice you make right now you can be a hero or a coward.

Which are you?

Myself, I tried the hero route and got my ass tossed off the Statue of Liberty. Then I tried the coward route and got munched on by an undead ghoul! Brallier doesn't make this easy. I took one route I thought was surefire and ended up being blown to smithereens! What up with that?

CAN YOU SURVIVE THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE? is gory, twisted, funny and a ton of fun. There are dozens of different endings and hundreds of choices to make as you try your best to make it out of New York or simply buckle down and try to survive the end of the world.

Brallier's writing is high tempo. For most of the book you are on the move, making rapid fire decisions and doing your best to make it out alive. Brallier does a real nice job of putting you in a realistic situation and then turning it right on your head. If you read the book in its entirety you'll encounter a lot of New York's many attractions as set pieces, from Madison Square Gardens, Yankee Stadium to the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge. It's like a New York City travel guide for the zombie apocalypse.

The book is also chalk full of great illustrations by Christopher Mitten that really enhance the reading experience.

This book is sure to make it into my 'best of' list for 2011. Don't miss it! If you have to choose between that new John Grisham or James Patterson book...choose Brallier's CAN YOU SURVIVE THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE?!

TO THE DEVIL, MY REGARDS by Victor Gischler and Anthony Neil Smith

Victor Gischler is the author of such novels as Vampire a Go-Go: A Novel and Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse: A Novel. Anthony Neil Smith is the author of Yellow Medicine, Choke on Your Lies and Psychosomatic.  

For To the Devil, My Regards, the authors team up to bring us a gritty story of PI's, tough cops and twisted criminals.

Private investigator Z.Z. DelPresto is accused of brutally murdering a young babe whom he was having intimate relations. He didn't, but that isn't stopping the cops from trying to nail his butt to the wall.

DelPresto has a few suspects in mind that could have done the dastardly deed but doesn't have much time to prove it before the cops chuck him in the slammer and throw away the key.

I've never read anything by either Gischler or Smith but if TO THE DEVIL, MY REGARDS is any indication of what I can expect, I'll soon be reading a lot more. This is a nasty, vulgar, raunchy, dirty, little mystery novella.

It's also hilarious.

I loved it.

That's not to say it was the greatest thing I've ever read. Some of the dialogue was clunky and there were a few errors a thorough editing should have caught. But, that said, it certainly entertained me for a couple hours and at $0.99 the duo are practically giving it away.

TO THE DEVIL, MY REGARDS was originally published in 2001.

New Bryan Smith

Out today is Bryan Smith's latest, an e-book original called Deadworld.

Stephen King has a quote on Richard Laymon novels that goes, "If you've missed Laymon, you've missed a treat!"

Well, let me tell you, if you've missed Bryan Smith, you've missed a hell of a treat!

Bryan Smith's books are some of the best in the genre these days. His novel, The Freakshow, is one of my all time favorites and could very well be considered a cult classic given enough time. House Of Blood and Queen of Blood (Leisure Fiction) are fan favorites, the former staking Smith's claim in the horror world and peak of things to come.

Here is the description for DEADWORLD:

In DEADWORLD, a full-length novel of approximately 90,000 words, an infinitude of alternate realities exist side by side. From the dawn of time, each of these alternate realities has been beyond the reach of the others.

UNTIL NOW.

The wall separating earth and another of the realities crumbles. The fabric of existence itself unravels. Soon an army of winged creatures tears its way into our world, laying waste to the entire planet. But this is only the beginning of the human race's nightmare. A strange rot begins to infect our world, causing inorganic matter to decay at an accelerated rate. Gleaming modern skyscrapers fall to ruin in a matter of weeks. Cars become rusted hulks.

Two other creatures from the alien realm, each far more powerful than the winged warriors who decimated the planet, have also slipped into our world. One exists only to kill and destroy. The other is its ancient enemy and has come to earth in a final attempt to vanquish The Dark One.

Some of the surviving humans find themselves used as helpless puppets by the opposing forces. They are pawns in a larger game destined to end in a final showdown that will determine the ultimate fate of the world.

Emily Sinclair, a Nashville singer-songwriter, is no puppet. She survives through a combination of guts and sheer luck. She and Jake Dunham soon find themselves caring for an orphaned little girl named Abby. But there is more to Abby than meets the eye.

Warren Hatcher is Emily's ex. On the day the world dies, he and his current girlfriend Amanda begin a journey south to reach her family. But things go awry and Warren is soon propelled in another direction--back to his former hometown of Nashville.

Jeff Wheeler is an ordinary man, a mechanic who also lives in Nashville. Something strange happens him in the wake of the alien invasion. He is now Captain Flash Wheeler, the One True God. And he has a new purpose.

To walk down Salvation Road on Judgment Day.

Don't miss out. You'll be sorry if you do!

THE NAME OF THE WIND by Patrick Rothfuss

Books weigh on a reader.

Let me explain. As an avid reader I buy a ton of books. More than I can keep pace with. If I were to stop my book purchases as of today I could probably go a full two years before working my way through my entire TBR (to be read) pile.

That's a lot of books. They weigh on me.

Every time I pass the pile I glance at them from the corner of my eye and I feel their weight on my shoulders, on my mind. However, some are heavier than others, particularly the ones I purchased in hardcover and again in paperback.

I fear I will never get to them.

One such book is Patrick Rothfuss' THE NAME OF THE WIND. When the book came out in 2007 I rushed out and bought a copy and promptly started to read it. For whatever reason, (probably another book came out that I was eager for) I set it aside after a few pages promising myself I would get back to it very soon.

Well, that didn't happen.

A few years later I bought the paperback edition and this time got a good run at it before setting it aside for something else (this time getting to around page 300). I remember I was going to pick it up again after I breezed through some slim horror novel.

Again, didn't happen.

THE NAME OF THE WIND is not alone. I have done this with many other books, and these are the ones that weigh most heavily.

In just three weeks Patrick Rothfuss' sequel hits shelves and everyone knows this is the most anticipated books of the 2011 calendar, save for George R.R. Martin's A DANCE WITH DRAGONS.

I knew that if I didn't read THE NAME OF THE WIND soon all would be lost. With The Wise Man's Fear (Kingkiller Chronicles, Day 2) weighing in at over a thousand pages or there about, Rothfuss' series would end up on the shelves with the 'read' books, to wait until I retire from work and have the extra time to read all day long and into the night, day in and day out.

Wormies, this is all a long weigh of saying I just finished reading THE NAME OF THE WIND. I did it and not only was it a phenomenal work of fantasy fiction, but it's a huge weight off my shoulders.

It feels great to know what all the 'fuss' was about.

With THE NAME OF THE WIND Rothfuss has created a world as real as Middle Earth in my imagination. When it comes to fantasy fiction world building is one of the main components. It truly can make or break a series. Rothfuss' Four Corners of Civilization and beyond are so realized and believable, so natural, that it's just a wonder to behold.

I won't get into the plot (this entry is already long enough and you can get all that over on amazon.com) but if you need a compass reading on this one, think HARRY POTTER for adults, mashed with THE LORD OF THE RINGS.

This is a story for story lovers.

A song for music lovers.

A magic show for magic lovers.

Looking forward...

Peter Orullian's The Unremembered: Book One of The Vault of Heaven is one of the most anticipated fantasy debut's of the year. And look at that cover. Beautiful! 

It comes out in April and looks to weigh in around 600 pages.  

The gods, makers of worlds, seek to create balance—between matter and energy; and between mortals who strive toward the transcendent, and the natural perils they must tame or overcome. But one of the gods fashions a world filled with hellish creatures far too powerful to allow balance; he is condemned to live for eternity with his most hateful creations in that world’s distant Bourne, restrained by a magical veil kept vital by the power of song.

Millennia pass, awareness of the hidden danger fades to legend, and both song and veil weaken. And the most remote cities are laid waste by fell, nightmarish troops escaped from the Bourne. Some people dismiss the attacks as mere rumor. Instead of standing against the real threat, they persecute those with the knowledge, magic and power to fight these abominations, denying the inevitability of war and annihilation. And the evil from the Bourne swells….

The troubles of the world seem far from the Hollows where Tahn Junell struggles to remember his lost childhood and to understand words he feels compelled to utter each time he draws his bow. Trouble arrives when two strangers—an enigmatic man wearing the sigil of the feared Order of Sheason and a beautiful woman of the legendary Far—come, to take Tahn, his sister and his two best friends on a dangerous, secret journey.

Tahn knows neither why nor where they will go. He knows only that terrible forces have been unleashed upon mankind and he has been called to stand up and face that which most daunts him—his own forgotten secrets and the darkness that would destroy him and his world.

Another one I'm psyched about it Christopher Farnsworth's sequel to last years BLOOD OATH, The President's Vampire. This is another April release. If you haven't read Blood Oath you can pick up the paperback March 1st. 

Click here for my review of BLOOD OATH.

For 140 years, Nathaniel Cade has been the President's Vampire, sworn to protect and serve his country. Cade's existence is the most closely guarded of White House secrets: a superhuman covert agent who is the last line of defense against nightmare scenarios that ordinary citizens only dream of.


When a new outbreak of an ancient evil-one that he has seen before- comes to light, Cade and his human handler, Zach Barrows, must track down its source. To "protect and serve" often means settling old scores and confronting new betrayals . . . as only a centuries-old predator can.

Last, but not least, is one of the most talked about books of 2011 which will be hitting shelves in about three weeks. Patrick Rothfuss'  The Wise Man's Fear (Kingkiller Chronicles, Day 2) has a lot of folks eagerly waiting for March 1st.

I'm almost finished reading The Name of the Wind (Kingkiller Chronicles, Day 1) and can completely understand the anticipation behind Book 2's release. 

My name is Kvothe.

I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.

You may have heard of me.

So begins the tale of a hero told from his own point of view — a story unequaled in fantasy literature. Now in THE WISE MAN’S FEAR, Day Two of The Kingkiller Chronicle, an escalating rivalry with a powerful member of the nobility forces Kvothe to leave the University and seek his fortune abroad. Adrift, penniless, and alone, he travels to Vintas, where he quickly becomes entangled in the politics of courtly society. While attempting to curry favor with a powerful noble, Kvothe uncovers an assassination attempt, comes into conflict with a rival arcanist, and leads a group of mercenaries into the wild, in an attempt to solve the mystery of who (or what) is waylaying travelers on the King's Road.

All the while, Kvothe searches for answers, attempting to uncover the truth about the mysterious Amyr, the Chandrian, and the death of his parents. Along the way, Kvothe is put on trial by the legendary Adem mercenaries, is forced to reclaim the honor of the Edema Ruh,
and travels into the Fae realm. There he meets Felurian, the faerie woman no man can resist, and who no man has ever survived...until Kvothe.

In THE WISE MAN’S FEAR, Kvothe takes his first steps on the path of the hero and learns how difficult life can be when a man becomes a legend in his own time.

Look for reviews of these and more in the weeks and months to come!