This weekend Charles Ardai leaked word about two forthcoming Hard Case Crime titles. First up, in July 2008: No House Limit, a novel by pulp maser Steve Fisher, who hasn't seen the light of print (correct me if I'm wrong) since Black Lizard reprinted I Wake Up Screaming back in the early 1990s. Count me in.But I'm especially excited about the second title:
Later in '08, we'll be publishing a brand new book called GUN WORK by the fine horror novelist and screenwriter David J. Schow -- who, entirely coincidentally (I didn't know this till after we bought the book), was once married to Christa Faust. (All together now: "It's a small world, after all...") Schow's years in Hollywood show through in GUN WORK -- it's one of the most action-packed novels we've had the pleasure of publishing, and man oh man can the guy write a great gunfight! But it's not "just" a shoot-'em-up -- this is an intense story with a lead character in a perilous predicament, and the emotional tension runs high from beginning to end. I'd be shocked if this one didn't end up on film some day -- but you'll be able to read it here first...I've been a Schow-head since the late 1980s (color me Splatterpunk), and strangely enough, just went through a Schow jag this summer, re-reading his story collections Seeing Red and Lost Angels, as well as Crypt Orchids, now available in a nice trade paperback edition from Babbage Press. (All highly recommended.) I even just nabbed a copy of Schow's second novel The Shaft, which was only published in the UK. Can't wait to see what he's cooked up for Hard Case...
His ears must be burning -- or yours. Two weeks ago a great new book titled American Supernatural Tales snuck out (edited by S.T. Joshi, premiere scholar and editor of All Things Weird). It's a Penguin edition with nice mini-bios of each featured author, short bibliography of external sources, and a critical essay by Joshi (though some of his opinions smack of sobbery, and one or two fo his choices for the book may not quite hit the mark).
ReplyDeleteMy point is that it contains a Schow story ("Last Call For The Sons Of Shock"). As well as the legends such as Poe, Lovecraft, King, it namechecks some contemporary folks like Schow, Ligotti, Partridge, and T.E.D. Klein. It's a superlative cross-section of stories.
Thanks for the tip, Tiffany. I just ordered a copy.
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