A lone man

...facing fantastic reviews!

"Tom Piccirilli straddles genres with the boldness of the best writers today, blending suspense and crime fiction into tight, brutal masterpieces." James Rollins, author of The Judas Strain


"A former NYPD cop Finn teaches literature at the prestigious Upstate New York St. Valarian’s Academy for Girls. Finn finds it ironic that his students wonder how he keeps his collection of books so brand new conceding how easy it is to maintain a pristine collection when you are blind. He has a relationship with Roz the nurse and muses over the crushes his students have on him except for Vi who he and the dean Judith worry about; he also wonders about his former wife Danielle.

Christmas empties the school leaving a few loners with no place to go behind. A blizzard further isolates those still at the academy including Finn. However, the nurse and a student seem to have vanished. Almost immediately afterward, two thugs arrive demanding Finn pay his debt or else. As he fears for those trapped inside the school, he thinks of his detective partner Ray and how many ways he would relish killing him, but for now must somehow deal with the “ill will” of a killer leaving dead students and faculty in his or her wake.

This is an exciting action-packed thriller that hooks the audience from the moment Finn begins his musing and never slows down as the readers wonders why someone is mass murdering those trapped at the school. The story line is fast-paced once the characters are set and never slows down until the anticipated final confrontation with the ill wind and the academy’s champion, a sort of good vs. evil battle on a small scale. SHADOW SEASON is an engaging tense tale as Tom Piccirilli provides a superb suspenseful story." - Harriet Klausner, The Mystery Gazette

Go-Go to the bookstores!

Did you know that Victor Gischler is a master multi-tasker?
Let's see here... Victor's a world traveler, beer-swiller, chicken-wing gobbler, dangerous golfer, and a film buff. AND he has a sexy new spoof coming out tomorrow!

"Satirist Gischler (Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse, 2008) returns to take on vampires, the most popular of the paranormal creatures currently abounding in popular fiction. This literary spoof on the horror novel finds clueless graduate student Allen in Prague, serving as a research assistant for a professor with a pale, enigmatic, and voluptuous wife. Everyone but Allen seems to have some clue as to what is going on, from the young women who kidnap him and claim to be witches, to the machine-gun-toting Jesuits. As Allen careens around Prague, just trying to stay alive, a plot to resurrect Renaissance-era alchemy experiments in the cellars of Prague Castle comes to a head. The larger story is narrated by a ghost whose spirit is trapped in the castle and who was involved in the original alchemical research. A possible read-alike for sleeper hit Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2009)." - Booklist

La famille de Frank Castle

Check out these preview pages of PUNISHER: FRANK CASTLE MAX #75 that have popped up on a French forum!

Story by Gregg Hurwitz, Charlie Huston, Peter Milligan, Duane Swierczynski , Thomas Piccirilli
Art by Laurence Campbell, Tom Coker, Ken Lashley, Goran Parlov , Das Pastoras
Colors by Daniel Freedman, Matt Hollingsworth
Letters by Cory Petit
Cover by Dave Johnson
Release Date Wed, October 14th, 2009

Special double-sized 75th issue!
Several years ago, under a cloudless day in New York’s Central Park, Frank Castle’s family was slaughtered in a mob crossfire. On that day, the man known as Frank Castle died and in his place was born the Punisher, a relentless engine of vengeance. Five stories take an unflinching look at what really happened that day, providing a penetrating look into the mass of hard muscle that once was Frank Castle’s heart. You won’t look at the Punisher the same way again.

Featuring Charlie Huston and Ken Lashley’s “Smallest Bit of This”…Peter Milligan and Tomm Coker’s “Father’s Day”…“Gregg Hurwitz and Das Pastoras’ “Gateway” & Thomas Piccirilli and Laurence Campell’s “Dolls”. Also featuring an 8-page preview of Jason Aaron and Steve Dillon’s upcoming PUNISHER MAX #1, “The Kingpin.”

Ms. Chicago Noir

D. P. Lyle, MD, Macavity Award winning and Edgar Award nominated author, invites Theresa Schwegel over to The Writer’s Forensics Blog for a chat about books, police ride-alongs (crossfire!), and the next book that she's working on.

Spoilt

"When you're helping each other because somebody's got a frozen booger, it does break the ice as it were." - Kate Beckinsale, on the set of WHITEOUT.

Marvel is thrilled to announce that Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth #2 has sold out at Diamond (though copies may still be available at retail level) and will return with Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth #2 Second Printing Variant!


See what critics are saying about the Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth:

"Humorous throughout…the second issue of Merc with a Mouth is rock solid. I dig it…There's a lot of fun to be had with Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth #2." – Kyle Posluszny, Weeklycomicbookreview.com

"It makes you laugh and has Deadpool fighting Dinosaurs, so come on, that should be all you Deadpool fans need to know. Buy it now!" – Nick Budd, Comicpants.com


What is the tragic origin of Deadpool's zombie head? Can Wade Wilson escape the Savage Land in time? Find out in Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth #2 Second Printing Variant!

DEADPOOL: MERC WITH A MOUTH #2 SECOND PRINTING VARIANT (JUL098022)
Written by VICTOR GISCHLER
Pencils & Cover by BONG DAZO
Parental Advisory …$2.99
FOC – 8/27, On-Sale 9/16/09

Yachting, CBR-style

Outlaw Territory

Ain't It Cool News gives a gold star to Rio Chino", writer Greg Pak and artist Ian Kim's contribution to OUTLAW TERRITORY. A collection of stories from a rougher and grittier time in America, OUTLAW TERRITORY runs wild with tales of the old west from some of the best and brightest writers in the industry, lavishly illustrated by amazing talent both new and experienced. This book is sure to appeal to fans of such television and film as Deadwood and 3:10 To Yuma, as well as the work of No Country For Old Men author Cormac McCarthy.

"[In "Rio China"] More frontier justice and another memorable gunman makes his debut. A “Chinaman” comes across a slaughterhouse of Chinese bodies and a white man caught in the crossfire. Add one bigoted sheriff to the mix and you have the makings of a good old shootout--but the Chinese cowboy has a few tricks up his sleeve. Greg Pak delivers some potent action in this little yarn."

The Sqweegel suit

Jeffrey Gent guestblogs over at LEVEL 26 about making the latex body condom that Sqweegel zips himself into for his murderous prowls. Gent has worked on CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Bruno, Watchmen and Batman Returns, and has "made latex for movie stars, midgets, drag queens, hunchback… you name it"!

Merc mouths off

The Merc With A Mouth Urges You To Check Out DEADPOOL #900.

"Special SUPER-sized, ACTION-packed 104-page special to commemorate Deadpool’s historic 900th issue! ... Wait, has it really been nine-hundred issues...? Who cares! If this collection of octane-infused stories by some of comics’ hottest talent doesn’t make you want to genuflect at the Altar of Wade, nothing will.

Thrill as the Merc with a Mouth squares off against probe-happy aliens, trigger-happy mimes and one seriously unhappy fanman – and that’s just half the book! Wince as Wade bares his soul (and lots more) to a shrink who’s got major squirrels in his own attic. Thrill as he travels around the globe and then some to settle a childhood bet. And chill as C.S.I. investigators at a blood-splattered crime scene attempt to piece together why this particular “unsub” needed battery cables, Crisco oil, three stacks of adult magazines and a live chicken to pull off the hit."

oh, baby!

New releases

CBR has new still images from WHITEOUT, the film adaptation of Greg Rucka's killer graphic novel.

Sept. 11, folks. Mark your calendars for a movie night out!

Tara Chace's new man

According to the Hollywood Reporter, FOX has tapped up-and-comer Ryan Condal as screenwriter for Greg Rucka's QUEEN & COUNTRY.

"Queen and Country the comic series by Greg Rucka is fantastic. Rucka's a genius, Ian Mackintosh — Rucka's inspiration — was also a genius. Tara Chace is one of the all-time great/tragic action characters. I came away with the realization that bureaucracy and internal power-struggling isn't a side-show to the real work...it's determinative as to whether or not your "real work" gets done."

- Rachel Maddow (Host of MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show and The Rachel Maddow Show on Air America)

Dawn of the Deadpool

Victor Gischler fields DEADPOOL questions from readers on CBR's X-Position. Also up are some very cool exclusive pages for Merc with a Mouth #3, which comes out on Sept. 16.

“HEAD TRIP,” PART 3 They don’t call it the “Savage Land” for nothing! Trapped between cavemen zombies and an elite Hydra strike team, Deadpool’s only bargaining chip is the thing they both covet: The severed-but-still-devious head of the Marvel Zombies Deadpool! If the Merc With a Mouth is going to survive, he’s going to need all his wits and a timely assist from a guy in a loincloth named Ka-Zar and his saber-tooth sidekick. And he’d best keep one eye on “Headpool” – ‘cause that little critter is not to be trusted.

Level 26 Exclusive: First Look at the L26 Featurette

Level 26 Exclusive: First Look at the L26 Featurette

“Resembling the thrillers of Thomas Harris and Jeff Lindsay, this experimental crossover novel, coauthored with crime novelist Swierczynski (The Wheel Man), will attract a diverse following and could change the future of publishing with its interactive content.” – Library Journal

Our satellite office in Yakutsk

...does indeed closely resemble a permafrost ice cave!

DHS & family just returned from an awesome adventure to the Russian hinterlands of Siberia. We'll be uploading a slideshow of photos, as soon as David goes through the 7,000+ photos that they took...

In the meantime, check out the article + photos in the Gazeta Yakutia. Here's the English translation too if your Russian's a bit rusty.

The Mutant Messiah moves on

Marvel News posts a brief interview with comic scribe Swierczy, who talks about new artist Gabriel Guzman and Cable and Hope's unknown future now that they've been catapulted from the dying planet Earth into the frontiers of space.

Pick up your copy of CABLE #18 on Sept. 2!

Some call space the “final frontier.” But for time-traveling mutant soldier Cable and Hope — the so-called “mutant messiah” — space is their last and only chance at survival. The Earth is dead, thanks to their foe Bishop, and if Hope is going to make it to adulthood, she’s going to have to do it in the cold, lonely vacuum of space, alone except for dark forces that know she’s coming. Forces which are very, very hungry…

Happy, happy, joy, joy

...doesn't necessarily mean you should reach for that Almond Joy candy bar!

Check out Registered Dietician Elizabeth Somer's Self-Assessment quiz, from her forthcoming book EAT YOUR WAY TO HAPPINESS, to see if you eat like a happy, fit person.

A comic a day...

Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente's INCREDIBLE HERCULES #122 is today's "Cool Comic Moment"... Hercules and Amadeus Cho tangle with the Amazons!

A comic a day keeps the blues away

Comic Book Resources highlights Detective Comics #755, written by Greg Rucka and drawn by Shawn Martinbrough, as one of their cool comic moments.

Tyrus is deputized

Moe Prager has indie cred

"After hearing Maureen Corrigan's review of Reed Farrel Coleman's Moe Prager detective series on NPR, I ordered the first of the series, Walking the Perfect Square. As a bookseller, I put a great deal of trust in Corrigan's reviews. I can honestly say that I was not let down... in fact, I was blown away.

Walking the Perfect Square is among the best of all crime novels that I have read. I look forward into putting this book into the hands of readers who I am sure will agree that Reed Farrel Coleman is, without a doubt, one of the brightest stars of the crime fiction genre."
- Rob Dougherty, manager of Clinton, New Jersey's Clinton Book Shop

A breath of...

fresh, zexy air.

Tuesday two-fer

Lincoln Perry is back for the fourth installment in Michael Koryta's critically acclaimed series. THE SILENT HOUR is available today and has already made The LA Times' list of the best summer reads and The Mystery Bookshelf's top summer thrillers.

"Feisty plotting and the most memorable prose since Chandler. Koryta (A Welcome Grave, 2007, etc.) belongs on every genre reader's bookshelf." - Kirkus *starred review*

"The Silent Hour is a book that grabs the reader’s attention and doesn’t let go...A most exciting 5-star mystery." - Armchair Interviews



Michael's award-winning standalone, ENVY THE NIGHT, is also out in paperback today.

Marilyn Stasio of The New York Times Book Review said "Michael Koryta earns a seat at the high table of neo-noir crime writers by putting a fresh spin on the fathers-and-sons narrative so many of his peers feel compelled to write over and over again. As good as he is at depicting violence, Koryta puts even more muscle into scenes of killers tracking one another in the great outdoors – a talent that doesn’t get enough of a workout in the novels featuring his P.I. Lincoln Perry but is demonstrated here with brutal artistry."

The Hulk gets animated

The first official trailer for PLANET HULK debuted at San Diego Comic-Con 2009! Based on Greg Pak's storyline, the DVD will be available February 2010.

"A whole new world of hurt! Betrayed by Earth’s heroes and exiled into outer space, the man-monster Hulk has landed on the distant planet Sakaar, ruled by the tyrannical Red King. Sold into slavery, Hulk becomes the Green Scar, the planet’s mightiest gladiator – but his new masters get more than they bargained for."

Greg and fellow Marvel scribe Jeph Loeb also give us a taste of the new WORLD WAR HULKS miniseries.