FLESH AND FIRE, Up for Preorder on Amazon Kindle

DARK OF NIGHT – FLESH AND FIRE (Journalstone’s Double Down Series, Book VIII) is now available for preorder on Amazon Kindle.

DARK OF NIGHT

The dead rose. We fell.

The survivors are trapped in a world of monsters who prey on the helpless. Some of them are zombies…but they are not the only predators who feed on pain and suffering.

DARK OF NIGHT is a story of worlds in collision. Three heroes who have survived the apocalypse are in a deadly race to save a busload of children from ravenous zombies and ruthless human scavengers.

This brand new novella brings together three of New York Times bestseller Jonathan Maberry’s award-winning novel series.

Captain Joe Ledger (PATIENT ZERO and CODE ZERO), Officer Desdemona Fox (DEAD OF NIGHT and FALL OF NIGHT), and Rachael Elle (BITS & PIECES, a Rot & Ruin novel) are caught between an endless wave of the living dead and an army of corrupt men who want to enslave the last human survivors.

Jonathan Maberry teams with debut novelist Rachael Lavin to tell a sweeping story of adventure, horror, and heroism.

FLESH AND FIRE

In the midst of a midlife crisis, Todd is haunted by Chloe, the lover who died not long after their relationship ended. When Chloe escapes Hell in search of the peaceful rest that has eluded her, a demon named Samael is on her trail and she needs Todd’s help.

While on the run Todd and Chloe face demons real and personal, soul-threatening danger, and their long-buried feelings for each other.

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You can preorder the Kindle here.

Trade paperback should be available soon.

Strange World

 

I’m pleased to announce that Strange World: A Biff Bam Pop Anthology was released on Tuesday for the Kobo Reader. It features my apocalyptic short story, Occupy Babylon, along with great works from Andy Burns, Ian Rogers (author of SuperNOIRtural Tales), Glenn Walker, Jim Morris (writer, Smallville, The Dead Zone, Crossing Jordan), and many, many more. It also includes an introduction by Bram Stoker Award Winner and New York Times Bestselling author Jonathan Maberry. You can order the anthology right here for a little over a buck.

In the meantime, here’s an excerpt from my short story, Occupy Babylon:

Eddie was halfway through the third song of his set when the door to the club burst open and one of the dead came shambling through. He barely noticed. He immersed himself in the song. At these open mic sets, he only got enough time for four. Several more bodies came shuffling into the club, and Eddie played on. He didn’t notice that there was something wrong, until he heard the scream.
Eddie raised his head and looked out at the crowd. One of the new arrivals bit into an audience member’s arm. Even from across the bar, Eddie could see the spurting crimson blood in all its vivid glory. The rest of the invaders fell upon the audience and the screams multiplied.

The scene went from the controlled chaos of a punk rock show to the frantic, desperate pandemonium of people fighting for their lives. Death had come for them. It had been out there, in the streets, on television; it had been in all of their backyards, in their own country, in the cities where they lived. But the others, like Eddie, had carried on like Death was not something they needed to worry about, like it was still distant.

But it had come. With grappling hands, blood-filled mouths, and hungry eyes, Death had arrived, and Hell had come with it. In the confinement of the small, hole-in-the-wall club, it was unavoidable. The people trampled over each other as they made for any exit they could reach. Most of their efforts were met with failure, taken down in a series of agony-filled moments by creatures that knew only hunger and that demanded to be satisfied.

Eddie thought the assailants were a mob of cannibals at first, until the first one came staggering upon the stage. It looked like a man, but its skin was an unhealthy gray. At its throat was a ragged, bloody wound. Eddie had no doubt that the wound should have been fatal, yet this man, this beast, walked towards him. One eye socket was an empty, lifeless void. Where the other eye had once been, pus oozed out and onto the man’s cheek. The man’s jaws opened and closed, biting involuntarily.

Eddie screamed and lifted his guitar over his head. When the creature got close enough, he smashed the instrument into the beast’s skull. Blood, bone, and gray matter mixed with the splintered wood. Screams of fear and agony filled the room. A foul stench of blood hung in the air. Eddie backed away from the horrid scene before him in the direction of the backstage exit.
When he bumped the door, he turned to exit and ran like hell.

One Buck Zombies

A few weeks back it was reported by MSNBC that zombies were a 5 billion dollar industry. I want you to think about that for a minute. Almost 45 years after George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead gave us the modern zombie, and 10 years after 28 Days Later brought the genre back to life (unlife?), zombies are still raking in the big ones.

The good news is, you don’t have to spend 5 billion dollars to own a piece. In fact, with One Buck Zombies, the latest anthology from the good people at One Buck Horror, you only have to spend one dollar. And it’s a dollar well-spent.

While the anthology does offer some of the familiar apocalyptic elements found in much zombie literature today, the contributors and editors clearly wanted something fresh. “The Best Mother” by James Owens opens the anthology with a bang. This story of the power of a mother’s love is disturbing on several levels, and its definitely one of the standout stories.

The other really strong entry is the truly bizarre “Little Red Zombie Hood.” While the title implies silliness, Alana Capria’s delivery of the story is done exceptionally well, providing a unique spin on the popular fairy tale.

Those two stood out the most for me, but I felt each story (written by David Dunwoody, James R. Tuck, and Robert Davies, respectively) had something to unique offer. Though small, the folks over at One Buck Horror are clearly selective when it comes to choosing the stories that they collect. It’s refreshing, as a horror fan, to see that someone is doing what they do as frequently as they’re doing it. Highly recommended for those of you with an insatiable hunger for moaning, rotting, walking hunks of flesh.

Dead of Night

For a genre populated by the dead, zombie lit is alive and well. It’s been this way since 2003 with the release of Brian Keene’s seminal horror novel, THE RISING. With the success of the first season of THE WALKING DEAD last year, its obvious that the genre isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. No one knows the genre like Jonathan Maberry who seems to have quite a relationship with our undead counterparts. Whether as a global threat in the first of his mainstream Joe Ledger thrillers or as the antagonists of the YA ROT & RUIN series, he has shown how versatile they can be. Despite his various, and always exciting, explorations into the world of the undead, he has yet to deliver a traditional, Romero-esque zombie tale. Until now.

DEAD OF NIGHT is Maberry’s love letter to the zombie genre. Reading like the literary equivalent of Zack Snyder’s DAWN OF THE DEAD and the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, it follows the citizens of a small Pennsylvania town as they struggle to survive against an army of the dead. What at first glance may appear to be standard fare soon evolves into its own, introducing elements that aren’t so familiar.

One of the things that really sets it apart from others of its kind is Maberry’s approach to the undead. In his vision, the consciousness of the deceased lives on inside the reanimated body, but can only watch in idle horror as his or her body committs heinous acts of murder and cannibalism. To let my guard down a bit, that prospect is terrifying to me. It calls to mind degenerative diseases, or images of hell. Maberry captures it well, but it’s not pretty. Each scene where this is portrayed is a hard read, even for a seasoned horror fan like me.

Another point that makes it stand out is that it features a more lucid “lead zombie” in the character of serial killer Homer Gibbon. While this has been done before, Maberry offers a satisfying explanation as to why he is different from the other zombies. Gibbon is a wicked character that is bound to stay in readers’ imaginations for a very long time.

Maberry has a lot to offer as a writer, but where he shines the most is his creation of realistic, mulit-faceted, and likeable characters. Dez, the protagonist, is a mean, redneck bitch, but she possesses a strong sense of duty and has a troubling backstory that makes the reader understand her emotional makeup. Providing a contrast to her ultra-conservative views and often mean disposition are her former lover, journalist Billy Trout, and Dez’s partner JT. When each of their storylines collide in the third act, the novel picks up an extra layer of complexity. The last few scenes where they’re trapped in a school surrounded by zombies and the military, trying to survive and protect the children, are sure to get the adrenaline pumping. They also give the impression that the piece carries with it a message about unity and working together, instead of against each other, in the face of a crisis. In Maberry’s worldview, he separates himself from some of the more cynical practitioners of the zombie tale, and implies that we can actually do it.

DEAD OF NIGHT is a damn fun read. It’s got zombies, guns, and a shit-ton of heart. To use an old cliche, I couldn’t put it down, especially the last 75 pages or so when I absolutely HAD to know how it would end. Jonathan Maberry scores again.

DEAD OF NIGHT is in stores October 25th.

The Friday Five

Here are some goodies I am either looking forward to, or psyched about. By the way, these are things that you, my readers, should also be excited for…

1. BOOLEY! From Potent Pictures, this comedy/thriller packs a hell of a punch and is well worth your time to track down. In fact, I’ll do half the work for you. Buy it at http://www.mrpotent.com

2. Teacher, author, and friend, Marie Lamba, released OVER MY HEAD, the sequel to her YA hit, WHAT I MEANT. She’s a hell of a writer, and comes highly recommended. http://marielamba.wordpress.com/

3. On July 31st, Exhumed Films Presents GO APE! They are showing all 5 of the original PLANET OF THE APES films. If you’re an APES fan, this event is a must. Even if you, for some reason, have never seen any of the APES movies, you should go. The first is a classic and a personal favorite of mine. Tickets are at http://www.exhumedfilms.com/goape.html

4. Bestselling author John Skipp is in the process of making ROSE, a bizarro, zombie musical, and you can help! http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1676362079/john-skipps-rose-the-bizarro-zombie-musical

5. Finally, Lucas Mangum’s Awesome Reading Fest Part 2, is this Sunday in Doylestown. If you’re an author and would like to read, or if you’re just a fan who wants to hang out and listen to a ton of authors (some published, some not) read their pieces, hit me up on Facebook and I’ll send you an invite! http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=220848291270598

Cheers!