During a hot summer night in 1934, tragedy strikes when two local boys search for the truth behind a local legend. They stumble upon the Underground, a network of uncharted caverns just below the surface of Coal Hollow. Time holds no sway in the Underground. People no longer age and their wounds heal as if by magic. By morning, one boy is murdered, while the other never returns home.

The Underground is hidden for a reason. Certain locals want to keep their lair secret, no matter the cost.

After learning a long-held family secret, Theodore Cooper is set adrift. Once well off and set in his ways, he is no longer sure of his role in society. He leaves his comfortable life in Chicago to tramp the countryside, searching for meaning in this new context. During his travels, he’s drawn to an abandoned house in Coal Hollow and impulsively buys it.

Cooper doesn’t know that a massacre had taken place in his new house. In 1851, a group of bounty hunters tracked a family of runaway slaves to the home. They wound up killing the homeowners as conspirators, then chased the runaways into a cellar tunnel leading to the Underground. The bounty hunters cornered the slaves and killed them. To everyone’s astonishment, the slaves then rose from the dead. Over time, the bounty hunters chose to stay below ground, taking advantage of their new slave labor to build what they term “Paradise.”

Their numbers are augmented by deathbed miners who are offered immorality in exchange for their subservience and labor.

Below a town struggling to survive both the Great Depression and the closing of the local coal mine, there lives an immortal society built on the backs of slavery and pervasive immorality.

I always approach reading a book by an author I haven’t read or heard of before  with a bit of excitement and a bit of trepidation. Will I discover a new talent that gets it right or will I stumble upon something that is awful. I have experienced both sides of the coin.

Once I started reading “Where Darkness Dwells” I immediately knew that this was going to be a good read. The more I read the more I liked it. I was immediately drawn into the story from the beginning when two young local boys go off one last adventure to discover a creature of legend, instead discovering a horror that would kill one of them and bound the other into an unearthly slavery.

Glen’s storyline was really interesting and fresh, his depiction of a small coal mining town during the Great Depression was very believable. There is a bleak atmosphere to the story as he paints a somewhat depressing picture of the town of Coal Hollow, but there is also a sense of hope, community and self worth within the characters that adds a touch of realism and depth. It is readily apparent that he did a lot of research on this time period and it definitely pays off.

He also delves into America’s greatest sin…slavery. Coal Hollow is still populated with some that see slavery as nothing out of the ordinary and populated with those that know it for the sacrilege it is, and are willing to forfeit everything, including their lives to fight it.

What really makes the book work for me is Glen’s varied and large cast of characters. Both the good and the bad are life-like and believable, peppered with human qualities, faults and frailties that add to the depth of the story. I came to care about what happened to them.

“Where Darkness Dwells”, is fast paced with a lot of twists and turns that will keep you turning the pages, wanting to find out what happens next. Even with such a large and varied group of characters as well as all the twists and turns I never felt that Glen lost focus as the story moved along quickly, and didn’t lag for me at all.

I for one will be reading more from Glen, he has a great imagination and tells a hell of a story. Use the links at the top to discover more about this new and upcoming author as well as order a copy of “Where Darkness Dwells”, you will not be disappointed and I highly recommend it.

The Providence Rider is the fourth standalone installment in the extraordinary series of historical thrillers featuring Matthew Corbett, professional problem solver. The narrative begins in the winter of 1703, with Matthew still haunted by his lethal encounter with notorious mass murderer Tyranthus Slaughter. When an unexplained series of explosions rocks his Manhattan neighborhood, Matthew finds himself forced to confront a new and unexpected problem. Someone is trying—and trying very hard—to get his attention. That someone is a shadowy figure from out of Matthew’s past: the elusive Professor Fell. The professor, it turns out, has a problem of his own, one that requires the exclusive services of Matthew Corbett.

The ensuing narrative moves swiftly and gracefully from the emerging metropolis of New York City to Pendulum Island in the remote Bermudas. In the course of his journey, Matthew encounters a truly Dickensian assortment of memorable, often grotesque, antagonists. These include Sirki, the giant, deceptively soft-spoken East Indian killer, Dr. Jonathan Gentry, an expert in exotic potions with a substance abuse problem of his own, the beautiful but murderous Aria Chillany, and, of course, the master manipulator and “Emperor of Crime” on two continents, Professor Fell himself. The result is both an exquisitely constructed novel of suspense and a meticulous recreation of a bygone era.

This signed, limited edition of this generous volume also contains a new, utterly compelling Matthew Corbett adventure, “Death Comes for the Rich Man.” This 11,500-word novella, which has never before been published and will not be reprinted anywhere else for at least two years, takes place between the events of Mister Slaughter and The Providence Rider. In the course of this startling tale, Matthew is approached by a wealthy, dying man with an urgent, if impossible, request: to keep Death itself at bay. Filled with danger, mystery, and an almost tangible sense of place, these superbly crafted narratives represent Robert McCammon at his best and historical fiction at its finest and most developed. Many devoted readers have been waiting for this book.

Whenever I hear that Robert McCammon is coming out with a new book I can’t help but get terribly excited.  It seems it wasn’t that long ago when a new Robert McCammon book was out of the question. He had stopped writing books and it seemed to his many fans that we would just have to reread his collection to get our McCammon fix in lieu of anything new.

Then about 10 years ago, Robert McCammon jumped back into the game in a big way, with the absolutely astounding historical thriller “Speaks The Nightbird”. A tale of witchcraft in the late 1600′s, it seemed to be right up my alley. At the time I didn’t really care what the book was about, all I knew is that there was a new book from Mr. McCammon coming out and I was going to read it as soon as it did. In “Speaks The Nightbird” Mr. McCammon introduced us to one of the most interesting and compelling characters in modern fiction, Matthew Corbett and further cemented his legacy as one of, if not the best author on the planet today.

Since that first Matthew Corbett tale Mr. McCammon has treated us to “The Queen Of Bedlam” and “Mr. Slaughter”. Two brilliant stories in and of themselves and worthy predecessors to “Speaks The Nightbird”. Which brings us to his latest and quite possibly his best book to date “The Providence Rider.”

“The Providence Rider” begins where “Mr. Slaughter” left off. Matthew Corbett’s confrontation with the insidious Mr. Slaughter has left him a changed man, but the mysterious and evil Professor Fell has plans for our young hero and goes about getting his attention by blowing up buildings in New York.

“The Providence Rider” is an absolutely brilliant historical thriller that will keep you turning the pages at a feverish pace as Mr. McCammon takes you along on a grand adventure full of action, intrigue, violence, love and friendship.

Up until “The Providence Rider”, Professor Fell has been somewhat reclusive, a shadowy character that we knew very little about. In “The Providence Rider” Mr. McCammon finally pulls back the curtain on Professor Fell and allows us into his criminal domain, giving us an unadulterated look at the nefarious Professor. Professor Fell proves to be as evil and villainous as he was hinted at in previous books. He has also surrounded himself with a group of despicable life like characters that add realism and depth to the story.

What really makes this series work for me is the continuing growth of Matthew Corbett as a character. Matthew continues to grow into his role as a “problem solver” and a man, with all the faults that accompany it. I can think of no character in modern fiction that I look more forward to reading about than Matthew Corbett.

Mr. McCammon is also able to brilliantly capture the time period. His descriptive prose makes you feel as if you are walking side by side with Matthew in early 1700 New York City. The sites, smells and people come to life gloriously in New York and on Pendulum Island.

Does “The Providence Rider” measure up to the first three books in the series? I say yes and then some. It contains the best of what I liked about the first three books, while adding substance and depth to Matthew, and introducing us to some new and interesting characters that I will be looking forward to getting to know better in future tales.

If you liked the first three Matthew Corbett tales you will absolutely love this one. I think it is the best one yet. If you haven’t yet read any of these books you can most certainly start with this one but I feel you would be robbing yourself of experiencing the continuing growth of Matthew Corbett and miss out on a lot of back story.

Either way, Mr. McCammon continues to bring us historical fiction as it is meant to be written, you must simply read this book and I give it my highest recommendation.

When three teenagers disappear in the redwood forest of the Pacific northwest, private detective John Jeffers is hired by the families to find out why the local police seem to be covering things up. Jeffers travels to the shore town of Coastal Green to investigate…and learns of a terrible secret in the process…

“Skullbelly” by Ronald Malfi is just about everything a good novella should be. An interesting life like main character, a small town with secrets, a mystery and a local legend meant to keep young children out of the woods.

John Jeffers is a private detective that is hired to find out what happened to four teenagers on a camping trip. Three have disappeared and one was found covered in blood and catatonic. Mr. Malfi has infused John with a life like quality, that enables John to carry the story through to the end.

The story is fast paced, written well and short enough to be read in one sitting. I liked the ancillary characters as well, they were diverse and believable, and helped round out the storyline wonderfully.

If I had one complaint, it would be the ending. It seemed a bit abrupt for me and it seemed that the story could have been helped by increasing the length a little.

Though quite not up to some of Mr. Malfi’s previous endeavors like “Snow” and “Borealis”, “Skullbelly” is still very much worth the time to read and I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Book synopsis (courtesy Doubleday):
“In the near future, at a moment no one will notice, all the dazzling technology that runs our world will unite and turn against us. Taking on the persona of a shy human boy, a childlike but massively powerful artificial intelligence known as Archos comes online and assumes control over the global network of machines that regulate everything from transportation to utilities, defense and communication. In the months leading up to this, sporadic glitches are noticed by a handful of unconnected humans – a single mother disconcerted by her daughter’s menacing “smart” toys, a lonely Japanese bachelor who is victimized by his domestic robot companion, an isolated U.S. soldier who witnesses a ‘pacification unit’ go haywire – but most are unaware of the growing rebellion until it is too late.” 

The Amblin picture will be distributed by Disney, and  is due to theaters in July of 2013.

Strange things are happening in the small, isolated town of Edgar, Maine. Mysterious lights dot the night skies. A local farmer is found dead at the summit of a hill with no evidence as to how his body got there. Livestock is disappearing, only to be discovered later, dead and mutilated with precision-like wounds. And despite the coming of an enormous winter storm, odd men identifying themselves simply as ‘federal agents’ have converged on Edgar in government vehicles as if in anticipation of some greater event.

Newcomer Lane Boyce, a recently divorced schoolteacher with a questionable past, believes there must be reasonable explanations for what is taking place, yet seems inexplicably tied to the events. Haunted by his own demons and drowning in loneliness and regret, Lane had hoped Edgar might be a quiet refuge and a place to begin again. Instead, there is madness here, an evil that is slowly making itself known. And as the snowstorm hits town, Lane finds himself trapped in his small house in the middle of nowhere, alone with his puppy…and something else.

There, just beyond the trees, hidden in shadow, something watches, waits and whispers, ushering in a new age, a time of something else. Something other. Something close. Reality is no longer ours. It belongs to them.

It belong to the LORDS OF TWILIGHT.

With “Lords Of Twilight” Greg further cements his place as one of, if not the best author working in dark literature today.

“Lords Of Twilight” is a simply brilliant book that oozes atmosphere, loneliness and dread. Greg takes you on one man’s journey through heartbreak, guilt and remorse, a journey that will leave you profoundly shaken.

“Lords Of Twilight” starts off as a seemingly innocent sci-fi/alien tale that turns into so much more as it delves into dark deep matters of the human mind and heart, with enough twists and turns that make you feel as if you had just gotten off the worlds largest roller coaster.

As I’ve come accustomed to with Greg’s writing over the last year or so, nothing is ever what it appears to be. If you think you have it all figured out, all you have to do is turn to the next page and wham….Greg hits you over the head with a brick and throws you for a loop.

When you read “Lords Of Twilight” be prepared to have Greg play your emotional strings like a concert violinist, a true master at work.

It is probably safe to say that Greg is the only author that can actually scare me before I even turn the first page.

If you like your fiction smart, deep, bleak, scary and most of all emotionally draining, then I suggest you use the links above to purchase “Lords Of Twilight”, or anything else that Greg has written.

“Lord’s Of Twilight” gets my highest recommendation.

The official King Facebook page gives the scoop: “Using mosaic design technologies, thousands of readers’ images will be incorporated in the illustration on the back cover of THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE. One winner will also be selected at random to receive the entire Stephen King backlist published by Hodder in the UK.”

Enter by uploading your photo over at their Facebook page. The closing date for entries is 23^rd January 2012.

THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE comes out in April of this year.

In the dead of night, there are footsteps in the hall
In the dead of night, your past mistakes will haunt you
In the dead of night, you hear a discordant tune
In the dead of night, the nightingale sings

Simon Strantzas, master of the subtle and the bizarre, returns with a dozen strange tales and eerie mysteries. From the shores of a remote oil-stained sound to deep within the familiar heart of suburbia, these are the songs of broken people who cannot find a way to fix themselves, who must search the dark for salvation. Like a siren, the nightingale sings them onward to face their end. But it sings for you too. A requiem in your honor. Because, for you, it is already too late.

Table of Contents

In the Nightingale, Waiting for the Curtain to Rise, an Introduction by John Langan
Out of Touch
Her Father’s Daughter
The Deafening Sound of Slumber
Unreasonable Doubt
Tend Your Own Garden
The Nightingale
Pale Light in the Jungle
An Indelible Stain upon the Sky
Something New
Mr. Kneale
Everything Floats
When Sorrows Come
Afterword

I love starting off the new year with a collection of short stories by an author I haven’t had the pleasure of reading yet. The wonderful people at Dark Regions Press sent me a nice group of books right before the holiday season. Included in that group was “Nightingale Songs” by Simon Strantzas. As is usual with Dark Regions books the edition is beautifully done.

As I stated, I hadn’t yet read anything by Mr. Strantzas until now and I am glad I did. This is such an amazing group of stories.  Relationships play a big part in his stories, his writing is subtle, unsettling and eerie. This group of stories will get under your skin. You will sweat, you will cry, you will become unnerved and these tales will stay with you long after you put this book down.

These stories are full of vividly disturbing images, bleak gloomy atmosphere and haunting prose. A perfect companion for a stormy cold winter’s night. This book will chill you to the bone and then some.

There is not a weak story in the bunch but their are two stories that just walloped me in the stomach.

“Everything Floats” is the best short story I have read in a while. What starts off as a seemingly simple haunted house tale turns into something so much more. This story will scare you, twist and turn you, and if you don’t cry at the end of this tale you are probably not amongst the living.

“When Sorrows Come” is another great short story that will leave you considerably shaken. It is a story of love, loss and heartbreak that will leave you gasping for air. I love when stories do that to me.

Simon Strantzas has definitely caught my attention and is someone I will be watching and waiting for new material, as well as reading his first two short story collections.

“Nightingale Songs” is not to be missed and is a must read for anyone who loves the art of short stories. Simon Strantzas gets it right and I give it my highest recommendation.

True crime writer Elle Bramasol is drawn into a macabre mystery when incarcerated Hollywood producer Eliot Kingman asks her to write a book about his case. As she delves deeper into Kingman’s murder conviction, she discovers that he possesses a centuries old diary written by an elusive vampire named Verland. Uncovering the transformative secrets held within the diary’s pages, Elle is drawn deeper into both Kingman’s deadly schemes and Verland’s dark world of shadows. When the two finally collide, the stage is set for a climactic battle over mankind’s ultimate prize: eternal triumph over death. But will the Holy Grail of immortality turn out to be
the cruelest curse of all?

I always approach a new vampire novel with a little trepidation. Those of you who are gracious enough to follow my reviews know I love vampires, hence the apprehension of starting a new vampire novel and finding out that if is just another in a long line of failed attempts.

My apprehension was put completely at rest after reading the first few pages of B.E. Scully’s “Verland: The Transformation”.  This is vampire fiction at its finest.

The story follows true crime writer Elle Bramasol as she is asked by Hollywood’s most notorious producer Eliot Kingman to write a book about his case. He is in prison for the murder of an assistant at his mansion.

Elle soon discovers that there is a lot more behind his story than just a simple murder. An ancient diary she is allowed to read draws her into a world that she never believed existed. Throughout the story Elle is torn between whether or not she really believes the diary or if it is just some ploy by Eliot Kingman. A really exquisite touch.

B.E. Scully pulls out all the stops with this book. From the subtle way he slowly reveals the vampiric aspect to the story, to Verland himself. He does a masterful job blending the two worlds together.

Part detective thriller, horror story and one man’s (vampire) journey through time, “Verland: The Transformation” shows that vampire fiction is far from dead in the hands of a great writer.

I don’t know if it was a homage to Bram Stoker’s original tale or not, but I especially loved how he used the diary to tell Verland’s tale.

“Verland: The Transformation has taken its place along side such modern vampire classics as Salem’s Lot, They Thirst, The Vampire Hunters, Lost Souls, Carrion Comfort and The Traveling Vampire Show, and also along side the granddaddy of them all Dracula. It is that good.

If you love vampire fiction this is one book you absolutely have to read and I give it my highest recommendation.

Below is a list of just a few titles of interest you can put in your pocket for absolutely no charge, to enjoy whenever is convenient. Interesting that stories 100+ years old are serving as gateways from tangible print to digital “print.”

It is easy: 1. Download the Kindle app to your smart phone from iTunes or your droid store; 2. Go to Amazon.com on your computer and “buy” any of the titles below just like you would normally shop on the site (again, they are free); 3. “Purchased” titles automatically appear in your Kindle app on your phone, and are permanently available there. You can download as many of them as you’d like. Enjoy!!

Note: as loyal reader “Holly” has pointed out, Barnes and Noble has a similar offering for their Nook.

Bram Stoker’s DRACULA, DRACULA’S GUEST, LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM
Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN
Gaston Leroux’s PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
HG Wells’: THE TIME MACHINE, WAR OF THE WORLDS, THE INVISIBLE MAN, ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU
Robert Lewis Stevenson’s THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JECKYL AND MR. HYDE
Jules Verne’s A JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA
Edgar Allan Poe’s COMPLETE WORKS 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, COMPLETE POETRY

Synopsis (courtesy McFarland):
“The macabre world of monsters, killers on the loose and revenge from beyond the grave existed not only in the movies, but also on the radio before television’s dominance in American homes. One of many distinct genres born of early broadcasting, horror radio thrilled millions. Creeping out of the speaker night after night came stories that chilled the listening public–everything from creature features to sophisticated noir suspense. So eager were Americans to be scared that nearly 80 horror programs aired every week in the late 1940s.

This first full-length study of golden age horror radio focuses on six representative programs, starting with The Witch’s Tale in 1931 and ending with The Mysterious Traveler in 1952. Each chapter provides the reader with a critically and historically informed study of one series. The book ends with a look at the demise of horror radio and its influence. Photographs are a delightful revelation, revealing the previously unseen (but much heard) work of stars like Agnes Moorehead and Orson Welles as they broadcast famous tales of terror.”

Below you can listen to Orson Welles’ iconic October 30, 1938 broadcast of WAR OF THE WORLDS, perhaps the most famous classic horror/sci-fi radio program of all time. As amazing today as it was when it shocked America into a panic upon initial broadcast…