The View From Monday - August 13, 2018

Happy Monday!

There is one debut this week:

Severence by Ling Ma.

Clicking on a novel's cover will take you to its Amazon page.

From formerly featured DAC Authors:

Olympus Bound (Olympus Bound 3) by Jordanna Max Brodsky is out in Trade Paperback;

Sip by Brian Allen Carr is out in Trade Paperback;

Stars Uncharted by S.K. Dunstall;

The Sea Queen (The Golden Wolf Saga 2) by Linnea Hartsuker;

Graveyard Shift by Michael F. Haspil is out in Trade Paperback;

Bad Faith (Dragon Lords 3) by Jon Hollinsk'

Noumenon Infinity (Noumenon 2) by Marian J. Lostetter;

and

The Blinds by Adam Sternbergh is out in Trade Paperback.

Clicking on a novel's cover will take you to its Amazon page.

Debut novels are highlighted in blue. Novels, etc. by formerly featured DAC Authors are highlighted in green.

August 14, 2018

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Selected Stories: Science Fiction, Volume 1	Kevin J. Anderson	SF - Collection
Rituals (h2tp)	Kelley Armstrong	F/SupTh - Cainsville 5
Olympus Bound (h2tp)	Jordanna Max Brodsky	CF/UF/FairyT/FolkT/LM/Occ/Sup - Olympus Bound 3
Moderan	David R. Bunch	SF/AP/PA - Collections
Successor's Promise (h2tp)	Trudi Canavan	F - Millennium's Rule 3
Sip (h2tp)	Brian Allen Carr	SF/AP/PA/LF
Pinnacle City: A Superhero Noir	Matt Carter Fiona J. R. Titchenell	SH/PI/Occ/Sup/Noir
Denied: A Novel of the Sazi	Cathy Clamp	PNR/UF - Luna Lake 3
Annals of the Black Company: The Black Company, Shadows Linger, The White Rose, Shadow Games, Dreams of Steel, The Silver Spike, Bleak Seasons, She Is ... Live (e)	Glen Cook	F - Chronicles of The Black Company
A Spy in Time	Imraan Coovadia	SF/TT
Stars Uncharted	S. K. Dunstall	SF/SO/GenEng
Relic	Alan Dean Foster	SF/AC/AP/PA
Connect	Julian Gough	TechTh
The Adventure of the Neural Psychoses	Lois H. Gresh	H - Sherlock Holmes vs. Cthulhu 2
The Sea Queen	Linnea Hartsuyker	Sagas - The Golden Wolf Saga 2
Graveyard Shift (h2tp)	Michael F. Haspil	UF/SupTh/PP
Bad Faith	Jon Hollins	F/HU -  The Dragon Lords 3
Mutilation Song	Jason Hrivnak	H/Occ/Sup/VisM
Every River Runs to Salt	Rachel K. Jones	F
Ball Lightning	Cixin Liu Joel Martinsen (Tr)	SF/HSF
Princess of Blood (h2tp)	Tom Lloyd	F/CF - God Fragments 2
Noumenon Infinity	Marina J. Lostetter	SF/SO - Noumenon 2
Severance (D)	Ling Ma	LF/SF/AP/PA
Wild Hunger	Chloe Neill	P/PNR/UF - Heirs of Chicagoland 1
Alien Virus Love Disaster: Stories	Abbey Mei Otis	SF/AC/F
The Super Ladies	Susan Petrone	CW/FL/CF/UF/SH
The Complete Clockwork Century: Boneshaker, Dreadnought, Ganymede, Inexplicables, Fiddlehead (e)	Cherie Priest	SF/SP/AH - Clockwork Century
Black Lotus Kiss	Jason Ridler	F/UF/HU - The Brimstone Files 2
Laura: A Journey into the Crystal (ri)	George Sand Sue Dyson (Tr)	F/Occ/Sup - Pushkin Blues
The Moons of Barsk	Lawrence M. Schoen	SF/SO - Barsk 2
The Million	Karl Schroeder	SF/HSF/SO
The Blinds (h2tp)	Adam Sternbergh	Sus
Flights	Olga Tokarczuk Jennifer Croft (Tr)	LF/MR - Collection

August 15, 2018

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Bookburners: The Complete Season 4 (e)	Max Gladstone Margaret Dunlap Brian Francis Slattery Mur Lafferty Andrea Phillips	UF - Bookburners

D - Debut
e - eBook
Ed - Editor
h2mm - Hardcover to Mass Market Paperback
h2tp - Hardcover to Trade Paperback
ri - reissue or reprint
tp2mm - Trade Paperback to Mass Market Paperback
Tr - Translator



AC - Alien Contact
AH - Alternate History
AP - Apocalyptic
CF - Contemporary Fantasy
Cr - Crime
CulH - Cultural Heritage
CW - Contemporary Woman
CyP - Cyberpunk
DF - Dark Fantasy
Dys - Dystopian
F - Fantasy
FairyT - Fairy Tales
FL - Family Life
FolkT - Folk Tales
FR - Fantasy Romance
GenEng - Genetic Engineering
Gothic - Gothic
H - Horror
HC - History and Criticism
Hist - Historical
HistF - Historical Fantasy
HSF - Hard Science Fiction
HU - Humor
LC - Literary Criticism
LF - Literary Fiction
LM - Legend and Mythology
MR - Magical Realism
MTI - Media Tie-In
MU - Mash Up
Noir - Noir
Occ - Occult
P - Paranormal
PA - Post Apocalyptic
PerfArts - Performing Arts
PI - Private Investigator
PNR - Paranormal Romance
PP - Police Procedural
PolTh - Political Thriller
Psy - Psychological
R - Romance
Sagas - Sagas
SF - Science Fiction
SH - Superheroes
SO - Space Opera
SP - Steampunk
Sup - Supernatural
SupTh - Supernatural Thriller
Sus - Suspense
TechTh - Technological Thriller
Th - Thriller
TT - Time Travel
TTR - Time Travel Romance
TV - Television
UF - Urban Fantasy
VisM - Visionary and Metaphysical

Note: Not all genres and formats are found in the books, etc. listed above.

What's Up for the Debut Author Challenge Authors, Part 36

This is the thirty-sixth in this new series of updates about formerly featured Debut Author Challenge authors and their works published since their last update. The year in parentheses after the author's name is the year that author was featured in the Debut Author Challenge.

Part 1 here	Part 11 here	Part 21 here	Part 31 here	Part 41 here
Part 2 here	Part 12 here	Part 22 here	Part 32 here	Part 42 here
Part 3 here	Part 13 here	Part 23 here	Part 33 here	Part 43 here
Part 4 here	Part 14 here	Part 24 here	Part 34 here	Part 44 here
Part 5 here	Part 15 here	Part 25 here	Part 35 here	Part 45 here
Part 6 here	Part 16 here	Part 26 here	Part 36 here	Part 46 here
Part 7 here	Part 17 here	Part 27 here	Part 37 here	Part 47 here
Part 8 here	Part 18 here	Part 28 here	Part 38 here	Part 48 here
Part 9 here	Part 19 here	Part 29 here	Part 39 here	Part 49 here
Part 10 here	Part 20 here	Part 30 here	Part 40 here	Part 50 here

Adam Sternbergh (2014)

The Blinds
Ecco, August 1, 2017
Hardcover and eBook, 304 pages

[Description not yet available. See the Author's announcement of The Blinds here.]

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

Google Play : iBooks : Kobo

Jillian Stone (2012)

Eat Slay Lutz
Jillian Stone, October 28, 2016
eBook, 200 pages

Survival tip #1: When you’re caught in the middle of the zombie apocalypse, get a badass partner.

The zombie apocalypse is on, and Lizzy Davis is determined to survive any way she can. As a surgeon, she’s used to saving lives; not cutting into the basal ganglia to make sure the patient stays dead. When the refugee camp is overrun by zombie hordes, Lizzy manages to escape only to run into Black Hawk pilot Chris Oakley in the middle of the Syrian Desert.

Lizzy and Chris fight off zombie attacks as they make their way toward a joint military air base northeast of Kirkuk. Just one problem, they’ll have to pass through the drone-patrolled DMZ— Dead Meat Zone. To get there, they form uneasy alliances with French-Arab commandos and a CIA black ops interrogator who is slowly rotting before their eyes.

Along the way, Lizzy and Chris manage to find time for each other—the sizzling red-hot lovemaking kind of time. And who knows? They might have a chance at love if they live long enough.

Warning: Features red hot to erotic love scenes

Amazon

Fred Strydom (2016)

The Raft
Talos, May 2, 2017
Trade Paperback, 432 pages
Hardcover and eBook, May 4, 2016

[cover image not yet revealed]

“The day every person on earth lost his and her memory was not a day at all. In people's minds there was no actual event. . . and thus it could be followed by no period of shock or mourning. There could be no catharsis. Everyone was simply reset to zero.”

On Day Zero, the collapse of civilization was as instantaneous as it was inevitable. A mysterious and oppressive movement rose to power in the aftermath, forcing people into isolated communes run like regimes. Kayle Jenner finds himself trapped on a remote beach, and all that remains of his life before is the vague and haunting vision of his son. . .

Kayle finally escapes, only to find a broken world being put back together in strange ways. As more memories from his past life begin returning, the people he meets wandering the face of a scorched earth—some reluctant allies, others dangerous enemies—begin to paint a terrifying picture. In his relentless search for his son, Kayle will discover more than just his lost past. He will discover the truth behind Day Zero—a truth that makes both fools and gods of men.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million

Google Play : iBooks : Kobo

Patrick Swenson (2013)

The Ultra Big Sleep
A Union of Worlds 2
Fairwood Press, August 9, 2016
Hardcover, Trade Paperback and eBook, 316 pages

Dave Crowell is a hero of the eight worlds of the Union, but he doesn’t want fame or fortune. These days he just wants to run his private detective business with his partner and forget about the Ultras, the insidious aliens that attacked the Union, then vanished. But a client turns up dead under mysterious circumstances, and Crowell knows the Ultras have not gone away. With the help of a beautiful alien, he uncovers fragments of memory that might lead to his missing father. When it becomes clear that Crowell’s past also contains the information he needs to save the Union, he is caught up in a conspiracy beyond his understanding and pulled into an underworld drug war on a hostile planet. With the crisis deepening, Crowell must learn the answer to the biggest question of all: Where are the Ultras?

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound : Kobo

Slightly Ruby
A Union of Worlds Story
Fairwood Press, August 9, 2016
Trade Paperback and eBook, 96 pages

A man is found murdered and brutally impaled near the Seattle waterfront, and during the investigation, private detectives Dave Crowell and Alan Brindos come face to face with an alien drug known as RuBy. It's a dangerous prototype that's bound to cause problems for the eight worlds of the Union. The murder case itself would be easy enough to solve-that is, if the suspects weren't already dead, and the Seattle Authority cop sharing the case wasn't Crowell's disgruntled ex-partner.

A prequel to The Ultra Thin Man, "Slightly Ruby" features Crowell and Brindos before their Network Intelligence Organization contract, scraping out a living in a city-and on a world-the Union is quickly forgetting.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound : Kobo

What's Up for the Debut Author Challenge Authors? - Part 28

This is the twenty-eighth in a series of updates about formerly featured Debut Author Challenge authors and their 2015 works published since the last update and any upcoming works for 2016. The year in parentheses after the author's name is the year she/he was featured in the Debut Author Challenge.

Part 1 here	Part 11 here	Part 21 here
Part 2 here	Part 12 here	Part 22 here
Part 3 here	Part 13 here	Part 23 here
Part 4 here	Part 14 here	Part 24 here
Part 5 here	Part 15 here	Part 25 here
Part 6 here	Part 16 here	Part 26 here
Part 7 here	Part 17 here	Part 27 here
Part 8 here	Part 18 here
Part 9 here	Part 19 here
Part 10 here	Part 20 here

Stephanie Saulter (2014)

Regeneration
(R)evolution 3
Jo Fletcher Books, May 3, 2016
Hardcover and eBook, 376 pages

[US cover not yet available]

The gillungs - waterbreathing, genetically modified humans - are thriving. They've colonised riverbanks and ports long since abandoned to the rising seas and the demand for their high-efficiency technologies is growing fast.

But as demand grows, so do fears about their impact on both norm businesses and the natural environment. Then, a biohazard scare at Sinkat, their colony on the Thames, fuels the opposition and threatens to derail the gillungs' progress. But was it an accident, or was it sabotage?

Detective Sharon Varsi has her suspicions, but her investigations are compromised by family ties. And now there is a new threat: Zavcka Klist is about to be released from prison - and she wants her company back.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

Google Play : iBooks : Kobo

Jamie Schultz (2014)

Sacrifices
An Arcane Underworld Novel 3
Roc, July 5, 2016
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 352 pages

Things get a little demonic in the latest Arcane Underwold novel from the author of Splintered.

Thanks to their recent involvement with a magus crimelord and his demonic partner in mayhem, occult thieves Anna Ruiz and Karyn Ames are both stuck sharing head space with a demon. But while Karyn’s possession has had the unexpected benefit of focusing her visions of the future, Anna’s demon is spurring on her darkest urges, and it’s only a matter of time before she acts on them—and hurts someone in the process.

To save their skins, the two need to find a mysterious relic. But with their search taking them into some of the darkest places in the arcane underworld, Anna and Karyn will have to ally themselves with a group no self-respecting thief would be caught dead with—the Federal Bureau of Investigation...

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

Google Play : iBooks : Kobo

Seth Skorkowsky (2014)

Mountain of Daggers
Tales of the Black Raven 1
Ragnarok Publications, March 9, 2015
Trade Paperback and eBook, 286 pages
Cover by Alex Raspad 

Some call him hero. Others, a menace. But everyone agrees that Ahren is the best thief in the world. Whether he’s breaking into an impregnable fortress, fighting pirates, or striking the final blow in political war, Ahren is the man for the job.

After being framed for murder, his reward posters named him the Black Raven. To survive, Ahren finds himself drafted into the Tyenee, a secret criminal organization whose influence stretches across the world. Their missions are the most daring, the most dangerous, and the penalty for failure is death. When no one else can do it, they send the Black Raven.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound
iTunes : Kobo

Hounacier
Valducan 2
Ragnarok Publications, March 14, 2015
Trade Paperback and eBook, 287 pages
Cover by Shawn T. King

Eleven years ago, atheist MALCOLM ROMERO met a god. Now he’s a demon-hunting voodoo priest armed with a holy machete named Hounacier.

After the murder of his mentor, he returns to New Orleans to catch the killer. But more is at stake when Malcolm finds himself betrayed, and his holy blade stolen. Now Malcolm’s only hope to save his soul and to recover HOUNACIER, is the Valducan knight sent to kill him, MATT HOLLIS, the wielder of the holy revolver DÄMOREN.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound
iTunes : Kobo

Sea of Quills
Tales of the Black Raven 2
Ragnarok Publications, September 28, 2015
Trade Paperback and eBook, 296 pages
Cover by Alex Raspad

For Ahren, it’s no longer a question of someone trying to kill him but who will try next.

Still on the run for a murder he didn’t commit, Ahren adapts to life as an outlaw and the reputation of the Black Raven grows. But nothing comes easy. Dogged by bounty hunters he finds himself crossing steel with pirates on the high seas and battling monsters in subterranean cities. If that wasn’t enough, he’s paid to assassinate an immortal and must break out of a heavily-fortified prison.

Just another day in the life of the Black Raven.

Sea of Quills is the second book in this collection of tales by Seth Skorkowsky, the author of Damoren and the best-selling Valducan urban fantasy series.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound
iTunes : Kobo

Ibenus
Valducan 3
Ragnarok Publications, September 13, 2016
Trade Paperback and eBook
Cover by Shawn T. King

After surviving a demon attack, disgraced police detective Victoria Martin tracks down the Valducans in search for answers. Recognizing her potential, and despite the warnings of the other knights, Allan Havlock, protector of Ibenus, takes her in as his apprentice.

As the Valducans travel to Paris to destroy a demon nest infesting the catacombs, the knights find themselves hunted by an Internet group intent on exposing them. Victoria, who belongs to this group, must desperately play both sides to not only protect herself, but Allan, whom she has begun to love. Ibenus, however, has other plans.

Brian Staveley (2014)

The Providence of Fire
Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne 2
Tor Books, December 8, 2015
Trade Paperback, 624 pages
Hardcover and eBook, January 13, 2015

The Providence of Fire is the second novel in Brian Staveley's Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, a gripping new epic fantasy series

The conspiracy to destroy the ruling family of the Annurian Empire is far from over.
Having learned the identity of her father's assassin, Adare flees the Dawn Palace in search of allies to challenge the coup against her family. Few trust her, but when she is believed to be touched by Intarra, patron goddess of the empire, the people rally to help her retake the capital city. As armies prepare to clash, the threat of invasion from barbarian hordes compels the rival forces to unite against their common enemy.

Unknown to Adare, her brother Valyn, a renegade member of the empire's most elite fighting force, has allied with the invading nomads. The terrible choices each of them has made may make war between them inevitable.

Between Valyn and Adare is their brother Kaden, rightful heir to the Unhewn Throne, who has infiltrated the Annurian capital with the help of two strange companions. The knowledge they possess of the secret history that shapes these events could save Annur or destroy it.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

Google Play : iBooks : Kobo

The Log Cabin
A Tor.com Original
Tor, December 8, 2015eBook, 32 pages

On a cold winter's night, a goblin is caught stealing firewood. Then things start getting weird.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Books-A-Million : Google Play : iBooks : Kobo

The Last Mortal Bond
Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne 3
Tor Books, March 15, 2016
Hardcover and eBook, 656 pages

The trilogy that began with The Emperor's Blades and continued in The Providence of Fire reaches its epic conclusion, as war engulfs the Annurian Empire in Brian Staveley's The Last Mortal Bond

The ancient csestriim are back to finish their purge of humanity; armies march against the capital; leaches, solitary beings who draw power from the natural world to fuel their extraordinary abilities, maneuver on all sides to affect the outcome of the war; and capricious gods walk the earth in human guise with agendas of their own.

But the three imperial siblings at the heart of it all--Valyn, Adare, and Kaden--come to understand that even if they survive the holocaust unleashed on their world, there may be no reconciling their conflicting visions of the future.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

Google Play : iBooks : Kobo

Note: Brian will be writing 4 standalone fantasy novels for Tor. For more visit Brian's website here.

Adam Sternbergh (2014)

Near Enemy
A Spademan Novel 2
Broadway Books, October 6, 2015
Trade Paperback, 320 pages
Hardcover and eBook, January 13, 2015

The Taut, Unflinching New Thriller from Adam Sternbergh, Author of the Critically-Acclaimed Shovel Ready
 
New York is toxic—decimated by a dirty bomb years ago.  The limnosphere is a virtual safe haven—if you’re rich enough to buy in.  Spademan is a hit man—box-cutter at the ready.

His latest job is to snuff out Lesser, a lowlife lurking around other people’s fantasies.  As Spademan is about to close the deal, Lesser comes back from the limn with a wild claim: terrorists are planning to attack New York. Again. This time from the inside out.

The warning sends Spademan down a dark path full of unsavory characters and startling revelations.  A shadowy political fixer tells him of a long-running power struggle that goes all the way to City Hall.  A brilliant Egyptian radical brings Spademan to the mysterious far-reaches of the limn.  And a beautiful nurse holds the secret to what, and who, is behind these attacks—and she seems to want to help Spademan stop them.  But he works best alone.  Or so he thinks.

Spademan has always had his share of enemies, but now they’re coming at him from all sides and it’s impossible to know whom to trust.  To stay sharp, his only option might be the one thing he swore he’d never do again.
[description from the Hardcover edition]

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

Google Play : iBooks : Kobo

What's Up for the Debut Author Challenge Authors in 2015? - Part 18

This is the eighteenth in a series of updates about formerly featured Debut Author Challenge authors and their upcoming 2015 books. This update covers some of the 2014 Debut Author Challenge authors. What's Up for the Debut Author Challenge Authors in 2015? - Part 19 will cover additional 2014 DAC authors and additional DAC Authors.

See Part 1 here

See Part 1.5 here

See Part 2 here

See Part 3 here

See Part 4 here

See Part 5 here

See Part 6 here

See Part 7 here

See Part 8 here

See Part 9 here

See Part 10 here

See Part 11 here

See Part 12 here

See Part 13 here

See Part 14 here

See Part 15 here

See Part 16 here

See Part 17 here

Jamie Schultz

Splintered
Arcane Underworld 2
Roc, July 7, 2015
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 352 pages

The author of Premonitions continues his Arcane Underworld saga…

Anna Ruiz is on a mission: Help her friend and partner-in-crime Karyn Ames break free of the tangle of hallucinations and premonitions that have cut her off from reality. With the aid of her crew—ex-soldier Nail and sorcerer Genevieve—she’ll do whatever it takes to get Karyn help, even if it means tracking down every lowlife informant and back alley magic practitioner in the occult underworld of Los Angeles.

But since a magical heist went to hell, the crew has been working for crimelord and doomed magus Enoch Sobell. Between fighting Sobell’s battles with some seriously scary demonic forces and tangling with a group of violent fanatics who want to manipulate Karyn’s abilities for their own gains, Anna, Nail, and Genevieve are beginning to realize they’re in way over their heads.
And now that Karyn’s secret about seeing the future is out, even more unpleasant parties—human and otherwise—are about to come knocking…

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

Mark Smylie

Black Heart
The Barrow 2
Pyr, August 4, 2015
Trade Paperback and eBook, 800 pages

The last survivors of the raid on the Barrow of Azharad have scattered to the four winds, each walking a separate path. For some, it is the path of noble service, as the households of great kings and warlords beckon, offering a chance to enter the fray of politics with the fate of nations on the line. For others, it is the path of secrets and magic, as the veil of the world parts to reveal the hidden truths that dwell in shadow and spirit.

And for Stjepan Black-Heart, royal cartographer and suspected murderer, it is the path of battle and sacrifice, as he is summoned to attend the household of the Grand Duke Owen Lis Red, the Earl Marshal to the High King of the Middle Kingdoms, on his latest campaign to find and kill Porloss, the Rebel Earl: an elusive quarry lurking behind an army of ruthless renegade knights in the wild hills of the Manon Mole, a land where every step could be your last, and where lie secrets best left undisturbed.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

Brian Staveley

The Providence of Fire
Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne 2
Tor Books, January 13, 2015
Hardcover and eBook, 608 pages

The conspiracy to destroy the ruling family of the Annurian Empire is far from over.

Having learned the identity of her father's assassin, Adare flees the Dawn Palace is search of allies to challenge the coup against her family. Few trust her, but when she is believed to be touched by Intarra, patron goddess of the empire, people rally to help her retake the capital city. As armies prepare to clash, the threat of invasion from barbarian hordes compels the rival forces to unite against their common enemy.

Unknown to Adare, her brother Valyn, renegade member of the empire's most elite fighting force, has allied with the invading nomads. The terrible choices each of them has made may make war between them inevitable.

Between Valyn and Adare is their brother Kaden, rightful heir to the Unhewn Throne, who has infiltrated the Annurian capital with the help of two strange companions. The knowledge they possess of the secret history that shapes these events could save Annur or destroy it.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

Adam Sternbergh

Near Enemy
Spademan 2
Crown, January 13, 2015
Hardcover and eBook, 320 pages

The Taut, Unflinching New Thriller from Adam Sternbergh, Author of the Critically-Acclaimed Shovel Ready
 
New York is toxic—decimated by a dirty bomb years ago.  The limnosphere is a virtual safe haven—if you’re rich enough to buy in.  Spademan is a hit man—box-cutter at the ready.

His latest job is to snuff out Lesser, a lowlife lurking around other people’s fantasies.  As Spademan is about to close the deal, Lesser comes back from the limn with a wild claim: terrorists are planning to attack New York. Again. This time from the inside out.

The warning sends Spademan down a dark path full of unsavory characters and startling revelations.  A shadowy political fixer tells him of a long-running power struggle that goes all the way to City Hall.  A brilliant Egyptian radical brings Spademan to the mysterious far-reaches of the limn.  And a beautiful nurse holds the secret to what, and who, is behind these attacks—and she seems to want to help Spademan stop them.  But he works best alone.  Or so he thinks.

Spademan has always had his share of enemies, but now they’re coming at him from all sides and it’s impossible to know whom to trust.  To stay sharp, his only option might be the one thing he swore he’d never do again.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

Karina Sumner-Smith

Defiant
Towers Trilogy 2
Talos, May 5, 2015
Trade Paperback and eBook, 400 pages

Once, Xhea’s wants were simple: enough to eat, safety in the underground, and the hit of bright payment to transform her gray-cast world into color. But in the aftermath of her rescue of the Radiant ghost Shai, she realizes the life she had known is gone forever.

In the two months since her fall from the City, Xhea has hidden in skyscraper Edren, sheltered and attempting to heal. But soon even she must face the troubling truth that she might never walk again. Shai, ever faithful, has stayed by her side?but the ghost’s very presence has sent untold fortunes into Edren’s coffers and dangerously unbalanced the Lower City’s political balance.

War is brewing. Beyond Edren’s walls, the other skyscrapers have heard tell of the Radiant ghost and the power she holds; rumors, too, speak of the girl who sees ghosts who might be the key to controlling that power. Soon, assassins stalk the skyscrapers’ darkened corridors while armies gather in the streets. But Shai’s magic is not the only prize?nor the only power that could change everything. At last, Xhea begins to learn of her strange dark magic, and why even whispers of its presence are enough to make the Lower City elite tremble in fear.

Together, Xhea and Shai may have the power to stop a war?or become a weapon great enough to bring the City to its knees. That is, if the magic doesn't destroy them first.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

The View From Monday - January 12, 2015

Happy Monday! I haven't been doing or reading much as I've been pretty unwell. On the mend now it appears, which means I might get a good night's sleep again and I will be getting out books that need to be shipped, reading again, and scheduling things. Yay! We had a 'snow day' here on Friday and again today. Fortunately we haven't had tons of snow. Enough about non-book stuff - there are 5 debuts this week:

The Mussorgsky Riddle by Darin Kennedy;

Unbreakable by W. C. Bauers;

Owl and the Japanese Circus by Kristi Charish;

The Magician's Lie by Greer Macallister;

and

Twenty Trillion Leagues Under the Sea by Adam Roberts.


And from formerly featured Debut Author Challenge Authors:

The Providence of Fire (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne 2) by Brian Staveley;

and

Near Enemy: A Spademan Novel by Adam Sternbergh.

January 12, 2015

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
The Mussorgsky Riddle (D)	Darin Kennedy	F/Sus
Carniepunk: Freak House (e)	Kelly Meding	UF
Carniepunk: The Inside Man (e)	Nicole Peeler	UF
Carniepunk: Painted Love (e)	Rob Thurman	UF
Carniepunk: The Werewife (e)	Jaye Wells	UF

January 13, 2015

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Hunger's Mate Part 1	A. C. Arthur	PNR - Shadow Shifters 5
Unbreakable (D)	W. C. Bauers	SF
Kushiel's Dart (ri)	Jacqueline Carey	HistF - Kushiel's Legacy 1
Amnesia	Peter Carey	LF/Tech
Owl and the Japanese Circus (D)(e)	Kristi Charish	UF
The Deep	Nick Cutter	H
The Last American Vampire	Seth Grahame-Smith	H/AH
Fram	Steve Himmer	LF/Th
Saint Odd: An Odd Thomas Novel	Dean Koontz	Sus/Th - Odd Thomas 7
The Dagger's Path	Glenda Larke	F - The Forsaken Lands 2
The Magician's Lie: A Novel (D)	Greer Macallister	Hist
Wild Cards IV: Aces Abroad	George R. R. Martin (ed)	SF - Short Stories
The Whispering Swarm	Michael Moorcock	F - The Sanctuary of the White Friars1
A Beautiful Accident: A Tor.Com Original (e)	Peter Orullian	F
Twenty Trillion Leagues Under the Sea (D - US)	Adam Roberts	SF
The Afrika Reich (h2tp)	Guy Saville	Th/AH
The Providence of Fire	Brian Staveley	F - Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne 2
Near Enemy: A Spademan Novel	Adam Sternbergh	M/PA - Spademan 2
Heart of the Serpent (e)	N.J. Walters	PNR - Hades' Carnival 5
The Just City	Jo Walton	F

January 14, 2015

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
And the Burned Moths Remain: A Tor.Com Original	Benjanun Sriduangkaew	F - A Tor.Com Original

January 16, 2015

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
What a Wolf Wants (K e)	Heather Long	PNR - Black Hill Wolves 2

D - Debut
e - eBook
ed - Editor
h2tp - Hardcover to Trade Paperback
K e - Kindle eBook only
ri - reissue or reprint


AH - Alternate History
F - Fantasy
HistF - Historical Fantasy
LF - Literary Fictiom
M - Mystery
PA - Post Apocalyptic
PNR - Paranormal Romance
Th - Thriller
Sus - Suspense
UF - Urban Fantasy

The View From Monday - October 13, 2014

Happy Monday! I had a great New York Comic Con and have so much to share with you - photos, video interviews and goodies. I also had a wooden pumpkin signed by many authors that will be given away on the blog soon. This is a pumpkin that you'd like to frame and hang on your wall. More on this during the week after I've made the chart showing who signed where. Trinitytwo spoke with many cosplayers and she'll be sharing those videos with you too. I met so many wonderful authors and said "hi" to those I've met before. As an added bonus, I met some of my Twitter friends, which was fabulous. This was a terrific NYCC. Best one yet for me.

Sometime during the long weekend, The Qwillery hit 1,000,000 pageviews. One Million! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I feel a celebration coming on (and that means a giveaway!).

Now on to this week's releases!

There are two debuts this week:

Does Not Love by James Tadd Adcox;

and

Fat Man and Little Boy by Mike Meginnis.


And from formerly featured Debut Author Challenge Authors:

Shovel Ready (Spademan 1) by Adam Sternbergh is out in Trade Paperback;

and

The Younger Gods (The Younger Gods 1) by Michael R. Underwood.

October 13, 2014

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Of Shadows and Ash (e)	Dana Marie Bell	PNR - Maggie's Grove 3
The New Annotated H. P. Lovecraft	Leslie S. Klinger (ed)	H
The Younger Gods (e)	Michael R. Underwood	P/Th - Younger Gods 1

October 14, 2014

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
The Horus Heresy Box Set Volumes 1-12	Dan Abnett Graham McNeill Ben Counter	SF - The Horus Heresy
Touch of Evil	C.T. Adams Cathy Clamp	PNR - Thrall 1
Does Not Love (D)	James Tadd Adcox	LF/AH
Cover Him With Darkness: A Romance	Janine Ashbless	PNR - Book of Watchers 1
War Dogs	Greg Bear	SF - War Dogs 1
The Time Roads	Beth Bernobich	F - Eireann 2
Surrogate (K e)	David Bernstein	Chiller/H
Hello Devilfish!	Ron Dakron	Absurdist/Kaiju
The Cutting Room: Dark Reflections of the Silver Screen	Ellen Datlow (ed)	F - Anthology
Demon's Fury: Part 1 of the Final Asylum Tales (e)	Jocelynn Drake	UF - Final Asylum Tales
Alpha Divided (e)	Aileen Erin	DF - Alpha Girls 3
Cipher (e)	Aileen Erin	SF/R - Shadow Ravens 1
Of Bone and Thunder: A Novel	Chris Evans	F
Fire in the Blood	Erin M. Evans	F - D&D: Forgotten Realms: Brimstone and Angels
The Long Spoon: A Tor.com Original	Jonathan L. Howard	H - Johannes Cabal
Knife of Dreams (h2tp)	Robert Jordan	F - Wheel of Time 11
Dead Set (h2tp)	Richard Kadrey	UF
The Grand Hotel: A Novel	Scott Kenemore	H
The Walking Dead: Descent	Robert Kirkman Jay Bonansinga	H/Z - Governor 5
Fat Man and Little Boy (D)	Mike Meginnis	LF/MR
Tales from High Hallack, Volume Three: The Collected Short Stories of Andre Norton	Andre Norton	SF - Tales from High Hallack 3
Reign of Evil: A SEAL Team 666 Novel	Weston Ochse	AA/Su - SEAL Team 666 #3
The Free	Brian Ruckley	F
A Stitch on Time	Yolanda Sfetsos	UF - Sierra Fox 5
Shovel Ready: A Spademan Novel (h2tp)	Adam Sternbergh	M/PA - Spademan 1
Darker Edge of Desire: Gothic Tales of Romance	Mitzi Szereto (ed)	R/Go/Erotica
The Doom of Dragonback	Gav Thorpe	F - Time of Legends
The Dark Blood of Poppies (ri)	Freda Warrington	F/P - Blood 3

October 15, 2014

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Nuestra Senora de la Esperanza: A Wild Cards Story: A Tor.Com Original	Carrie Vaughn	SF

D - Debut
e - eBook
h2mm - Hardcover to Mass Market Paperback
h2tp - Hardcover to Trade Paperback
K e - Kindle eBook
ri - reissue or reprint


AA - Action Adventure
AH - Alternate History
DF - Dark Fantasy
F - Fantasy
H - Horror
LF - Literary Fiction
M - Mystery
MR - Magical Realism
P - Paranormal
PA - Post Apocalyptic
PNR - Paranormal Romance
R - Romance
SF - Science Fiction
Su - Supernatural
Th - Thriller
UF - Urban Fantasy
Z - Zombies

Interview with Adam Sternbergh, author of Shovel Ready - February 27, 2014

Please welcome Adam Sternbergh to The Qwillery as part of the 2014 Debut Author Challenge Interviews. The fabulous Shovel Ready was published on January 14, 2014 by Crown.

TQ:  Welcome to The Qwillery. When and why did you start writing fiction?

Adam:  I’ve been writing fiction since I was a little kid — I wrote an entire episode of “Battlestar Galactica” (the original one) in pencil, in longhand, on foolscap paper, when I was about 9 years old. When I was in 8th grade, I wrote a detective story about a private eye named Hades Valentine, which back then I thought was the coolest name ever invented. (I was delighted recently to see that there’s currently a series of fantasy novels starring a woman named Dante Valentine.) As to why I write fiction: I have always loved stories and I found I moved irresistibly and probably inevitably from reading them to dreaming them up.



TQ:  Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Adam:  I wish I could say plotter, but I’m honestly more of a pantser. I get very fidgety working on anything remotely like an outline — I just can’t wait to dive in. I often think of a novel like a huge marvelous house that I’m exploring, and I want to be just as surprised as the reader when I open each new doorway. That said, as the writer, I have the luxury of backing out slowly from a particularly boring room and then erasing it from existence, or building a whole new wing on the house if I feel like it needs it.



TQ:  What is the most challenging thing for you about writing? Do you think being a journalist influences how you write fiction?

Adam:  Being a journalist influenced, and impeded, my fiction for a long time. With journalism, you’re not starting from scratch: In fact, the trick is often taking a very large amount of pre-existing and inflexible information and finding some way to winnow it down and organize it into a story. Fiction feels like the opposite to me: You can start with a few words then widen out to build a whole world. And there are no pre-existing limitations: just a blank page. Which to me can feel both very intimidating but also very exhilarating.



TQ:  Who are some of your literary influences? Favorite authors?

Adam:  There are a ton: I love the classic hardboiled writers like Raymond Chandler and James M. Cain, and I also love prose stylists who can really make their language dance: writers like Martin Amis, Nicholson Baker, Angela Carter and Megan Abbott. I love Graham Greene’s combination of weariness and romance — and the fact he wrote novels he classified (in a somewhat self-derogatory way) as “entertainments.” That’s what I aspire to write: Entertainments.



TQ:  Describe Shovel Ready in 140 characters or less.

Adam:  In a near-future dystopian NYC, a garbageman-turned-hitman is hired to kill the daughter of a televangelist. Then things get complicated.



TQ:  Tell us something about Shovel Ready that is not in the book description.

Adam:  Pretty much every single character’s name in the book is a reference to something, whether it’s mythological, biblical, or pop cultural. Certain reviewers have picked up on a few of them: For example, there’s an assassin in the book named Pilot who always washes his hands after a killing.



TQ:  Shovel Ready is a genre twisting SF Noir Thriller (at least I think so). Why did you set the novel in New York City? Why blend genre?

Adam:  I set it in NYC because it’s where I live, but more important, because I think New York is so intriguing as this kind of mythical city that exists in real life. All the physical places here — Broadway, Central Park, Wall Street — also reside in our shared cultural mythology. That seemed like such a fun potential canvas for this story. As for blending genres — it seemed so completely natural that I don’t even really think of it as a choice. Current day life seems so much like sci-fi already — with the gadgets we use and our continual interaction with, and reliance on, technology — that I feel like you’d have to go out of your way to excise those elements completely. My story takes place in the future, but it’s a future that I feel like is only one or two degrees of extrapolation away from our present-day reality.



TQ:  The physical structure of some of the passages in the novel reminded me of the way e.e. cumming's arranged words on the page. What was your reason for the unusual structure of some passages in Shovel Ready?

Adam:  I love this observation and I love this comparison — thank you! I was working hard in SHOVEL READY at creating this visually evocative world — this bombed-out version of New York, along with a parallel virtual world in which people can alter their bodies and live out various surreal (and perverse) fantasies. So I wanted to use all the tools at my disposal: What words mean, of course, but also how they sound to the ear in different combinations and even how they look on the page. Part of that was playing with line spacings for various effects—and realizing that sometimes it’s very evocative to insert
a line

space.

British writers, in particular Ali Smith, often play with this sort of thing — and I acknowledge that a little of this goes a long way. Another egregious example of this approach happens during a scene that’s a shoot-out in a bar, with the sentence: “The shotgun speaks. Barroom.” Which is, of course, a visual pun: Both the sound of the shotgun going off, and the fact that it’s taking place in a barroom. I couldn’t resist that one — it’s my nod to all the great old Spirit comic books by Will Eisner, which used puns as sound effects, as well as the iconic “Kapows!” from the old “Batman” TV show.



TQ:  What sort of research did you do for Shovel Ready?

Adam:  I spent a lot of time Googling “Times Square dirty bomb” which probably put me on a few NSA watch lists somewhere. One random but invaluable piece of research was an “AMA’ on Reddit, titled “I Am A Garbage Man,” which gave me good ideas about the weird particulars of a garbage man’s life. The Internet is an amazing resource that way — pretty much any kind of person you want to know about probably has a confessional blog with lots of information. Beyond that, most of the factual material was drawn from work I’d already done — whether on previous articles I’d written, or research for other, discarded novels.



TQ:  Who was the easiest character to write and why? The hardest and why? Who is your favorite ethically ambiguous character?

Adam:  In a sense, Spademan was the easiest character to write, because he is the narrator and the voice inside your head — I really did think of him as a kind of tour guide through Hell, like the ferryman on the river Styx, who’s retelling this adventure as he takes you through this world. That said, I also really liked the character of Mark Ray, the youth pastor on the run from his past — I would love in the future to tell more of his stories. The hardest character was probably Persephone, who is the young girl who starts out as Spademan’s target — in part because I’ve never been a teenage girl myself, and in part because her own story is full of a wide-range of nightmarish experiences that, I think, are very difficult to access authentically. And if you mean my favorite ethically ambiguous character in the world? That’s a very tough one to narrow down. But I have to go with the original scoundrel, or at least the first one I ever met: Han Solo.



TQ:  Give us one of your favorite lines from Shovel Ready.

Adam:  This one’s pretty gruesome but I really like it — it’s describing the death of a character (I won’t say whom but he’s a bad guy) who’s just had his throat slashed by Spademan:

“When I let him go he falls to his knees.
Penitent.
Having seen the light. And the dying of the light.
His windpipe whistling.
Exit music.
He plays himself offstage.”



TQ:  What's next?

Adam:  Another Spademan novel is in the works — a sequel to SHOVEL READY that takes place about a year after this book ends. Just long enough for everything to have settled down — and then gone completely off the rails once again.



TQ:  Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery.

Adam:  Thank you!

Shovel Ready

Shovel Ready
Spademan 1
Crown, January 14, 2014
Hardcover and eBook, 256 pages

The futuristic hardboiled noir that Lauren Beukes calls “sharp as a paper-cut” about a garbage man turned kill-for-hire.

Spademan used to be a garbage man. That was before the dirty bomb hit Times Square, before his wife was killed, and before the city became a blown-out shell of its former self.

Now he’s a hitman.

In a near-future New York City split between those who are wealthy enough to “tap in” to a sophisticated virtual reality, and those who are left to fend for themselves in the ravaged streets, Spademan chose the streets. His new job is not that different from his old one: waste disposal is waste disposal. He doesn’t ask questions, he works quickly, and he’s handy with a box cutter. But when his latest client hires him to kill the daughter of a powerful evangelist, his unadorned life is upended: his mark has a shocking secret and his client has a sordid agenda far beyond a simple kill. Spademan must navigate between these two worlds—the wasteland reality and the slick fantasy—to finish his job, clear his conscience, and make sure he’s not the one who winds up in the ground.

Adam Sternbergh has written a dynamite debut: gritty, violent, funny, riveting, tender, and brilliant.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

About Adam

Photo by Marvin Orellana

Adam Sternbergh is the culture editor of The New York Times Magazine. Formerly an editor-at-large for New York, his writing has been featured in several other publications including GQ and The Times of London, and on the radio program This American Life. He lives in Brooklyn and is at work on a second Spademan novel, Near Enemy, set to be published in 2015.


Website  ~  Twitter @sternbergh