The Mailman: 20th Anniversary Special Edition
Bentley Little
Cemetery Dance, Apr 2012, $60.00
ISBN: 9781587672699

For many years reliable Bob Ronda delivered the mail to the residents of Willis Arizona. He was so dependable; his customers took him for granted. However, for no apparent reason, Bob commits suicide.

On the day of Bob’s funeral, his replacement John Smith is dressed in his postal blue uniform, which looks silly. Schoolteacher Doug Albin meets Smith and has a creepy crawly omen about the newcomer. Not long afterward, Doug thinks Smith tampers with the mail as bills fail to arrive and bad news is not delivered. Out of the blue Doug receives a letter informing him that his Bronco’s power train warranty is extended for a year without charge; his wife Tritia obtains a free subscription to the Fruit-of-the Month Club; and their son Billy gets letters from his grandmothers containing money.

Soon their phone stops working, the power goes out and their water cut off. Doug goes to the water and power departments only to learn they received a letter signed by him to cut off his water and power because they are moving. Not long afterward, all the good mail turns ugly with nasty letters arriving. Doug knows the mailman is the cause, but unsure what he can do about this.

This is a reprint of a great Bentley Little 1991 horror thriller that focuses on an outside force negatively impacting a somewhat isolated town. Though some readers might feel the electronic explosion makes the storyline obsolete, the theme of what otherwise civilized good neighbors will do to one another when under extreme pressure remains strong. Family man Doug is the prime opponent of the Mailman, but his early warnings make him sound paranoid as everyone scoffs at his fears.

Harriet Klausner

Fevre Dream
George R. R. Martin
Bantam, Apr 24 2012, $7.99
ISBN: 9780553577938

In 1857, Captain Abner Marsh once ran a thriving steamboat business on the Mississippi. However, an unprecedented freezing of the great river left his Fevre River Packet Company destroyed. Abner still owns one dilapidated vessel as he limits his work to the Illinois River with his reputation the only reason he still has customers.

Extremely ashen looking Joshua York offers a partnering deal with Abner that is way above the value of the latter’s firm. Joshua admits his remittance is exorbitant, but insists he can afford this as a sort of hobby so he can captain a steamboat filled with his “guests” while Abner would run the business and pilot the ship. They build a steamship The Fevre Dream launched in New Albany heading down the Mississippi to New Orleans. However, Joshua conceals from his new partner that he is a vampire with a dream of his species ending their hunting of humans as he invented an elixir that eliminates the craving. Damon Julian, his bloodthirsty horde and his human lap dog Sour Billy Tipton prefer the traditional way of vampiric dining.

This is a reprint of an entertaining horror thriller released a decade before A Game of Thrones was published. George R.R. Martin provides an intriguing vampire historical thriller as two diverse groups fight for their vision of the future. The key cast is solid as each believes strongly in something they cherish; for the vampire rival leaders it is tradition vs. modernization, and for the captain it is Life on the Mississippi (by Mark Twain).

Harriet Klausner

Siege
Rhiannon Frater
Tor, Apr 24 2012, $14.99
ISBN 9780765331281

In Ashley Oaks, Texas the residents have built a human oasis amidst a wasteland of zombies. Each of those living inside the fortress has come a long way while still Fighting to Survive because outside As The World Dies not with a whimper or a bang but with a zombie bite. Katie is pregnant carrying her mate Mayor Travis’ baby. Her BFF since they met while fleeing the zombie horde (see The First Days) Jenni is married to Juan as they raise her stepson Jason.

Unbeknownst to either family the U.S. government has declared martial law. They have ambitious plans for those living in Ashley Oaks while the zombies have dining plans for those inside the fort also.

This is an exciting zombie thriller as the two human female fighters suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder but have no time to deal with their psychological fatigue as the undead horde is arriving in vast numbers. The entertaining storyline take an odd late spin with the arrival of ghosts that come across as genuine but detracts from the dwindling us vs. the growing zombie horde (I wonder what happens to the undead when their food supply runs out) and the insidious Feds.

Harriet Klausner

The Blood of Heroes
Joseph Nassise
Harper Voyager, May 1 2012, $14.99
ISBN 9780062048752

The war fought in the trenches was the most brutal in history as men died to move the front inches. It became even more vicious when deadly gas was released onto the battlefield. However, the Germans, knowing they are losing, turn the combat evil when they deploy the ultimate weapon T Leiche; the “corpse gas” that reanimates dead soldiers to return to the western front. By late 1917, the Kaiser and his army of dead appear heading to victory.

His superior officers assign American Expeditionary Force Captain Michael “Madman” Burke with his artificial “clockwork” arm to rescue his estranged half-brother, legendary American ace Major Jack Freeman; captured behind the lines. Burke assembles a small team consisting of his top aide Sergeant Moore, big-game hunter Clayton Manning and Tesla protégé and supernatural expert Professor Dan Richards. To reach the prison where Freeman is held, the quartet must travel across land controlled by the shamblers, undead soldiers and other monstrous German creations. If they miraculously reach the prison, they will learn why the brass sent them on a suicide mission.

The first Great Undead War historical urban fantasy is a fabulous fast-paced thriller that never slows down throughout. Filled with action, readers will wonder what harrowing stuff Joseph Nassise will next toss at his heroes. The military gadgets enhance the fun of a terrific steampunk paranormal historical military thriller mindful of Lester dent’s Doc Savage.

Harriet Klausner

Three A.M.
Steven John
Tor Books, Mar 27 2012, $24.99
ISBN: 9780765331168

Over fifteen years ago, a lethal pandemic breakout left millions dead; scientists failed to find the cause. Soon after the mass deaths, a fog engulfed the city; but this thick mist has never dissipated. No one can enter or leave the city as the fog is like a giant prison.

In spite of excessive use of alcohol and drugs to numb his overwhelming sense of hopelessness, having not seen the sun since he was twenty eight, private detective Thomas Vale, wakes up every morning at 3:00 AM. He never deviates from that time even though he could use more sleep and rarely has a reason to get up that early. He visits Heller to collect money owed him but accepts instead a tape of “Shoppin” (Chopin), Rebecca waits for Vale at his sh*hole office to retain him. Two to three weeks ago someone murdered Samuel Ayers. The police arrested Fallon Samson who she insists is innocent. He takes on the case though he assumes that Samson killed Ayers. His simple investigation twists into something more precarious involving the disease and the fog.

The atmosphere is thick as readers will feel they wander in the fogged bound city in which residents have given up on the present and future with survival the only objective and holding on to precious personnel relics from before as a token of what was lost. Thomas is a delightful hard-boiled detective though his opponents seem inept. Rebecca is more of a stereotyped of the femme fatale cotton candy rather than a full blooded slick user. Readers will enjoy this exciting noir as paraphrasing Carl Sandburg’s Poem Fog, “… It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches”, but never moves on.

Harriet Klausner

The Hunt
Andrew Fukuda
St. Martin’s Griffin, May 8 2012, $17.99
ISBN: 9781250005144

Seventeen years old Gene feels he is the last of his species in the wild as he hides amidst the master race that craves his. He follows his late dad’s rules such as avoid sports that make you sweat as they don’t perspire, but also knows his father failed in his diligence only once. He is a heper who if found out will be eaten by his “friends” without an afterthought.

The government sponsors its rare “Heper Hunt” though Gene wonders why since the few if any survivors are either lab rats or cattle. His trig teacher puts him on the spot, but Ashley June as he calls the girl in front of him saves his neck. Soon afterward he and Ashley June are chosen by the lottery as hunters. Gene is concerned he will be caught as this is not riding a horse drawn school bus or avoiding beautiful girls with fangs; instead he will spend four days in a fish bowl environment; training at the Heper Institute of Refined Research and Discovery. Worse he is attracted to Ashley June who he assumes will know the truth.

The Hunt is a fascinating thriller starring two fabulous protagonists trying to stay alive in a world in which they are red meat for the vast populace that surrounds them. The storyline is fast-paced and filled with chilling action. Although the dystopian Fukuda world lacks sociological depth re the prime species and the hunted, fans will appreciate joining Gene as he tries to avoid becoming the prey of The Hunt.

Harriet Klausner

Dead Light
Mike Pace
River Point Press, Mar 5 2012, $11.00
ISBN: 9780615518428

In 1667 aboard the London Rose, Eli Creed travels with 562 manacled Africans taken from Gambia to be slaves in the New World. The Good Christian prays for these heathen even as he shared sex with the girls as part of a so-called ritual. When Captain Stigg tosses the dead into the ocean, Eli saves the life of a girl Abi still breathing. Her father thanks Eli by giving him a box that the man says contains the devil’s light that he took from a dead shaman. He is warned not to open it or all will die.

Three and a half centuries later in Cumberton, Maryland, a cemetery dating back to colonial times is moved in order for Reverend Jimmy Starr to construct a dormitory on the hallowed grounds. Two teenagers Tony and Jill fall into a hole where he finds a box in the empty grave of Father William Cumber 1645-1713. They accidentally break the box releasing “Lucifer’s Light” caged by Father Cumber centuries ago. Soon hell breaks out in Cumberton as student suicides occur. Sheriff Estin Booker and former Baltimore homicide detective Anna Tucci investigate what increasingly seems insane as the clues point to a two millennia Satanic myth in which humans must prevent the end of days, Lucifer’s way.

Dead Light is an exciting good and evil horror thriller as readers will be caught up in the doomsday countdown. Fast-paced, the only hope for mankind is two cops with personal demons preventing them from fully committing to fighting hell. Mike Pace provides a tense thriller as increasingly the dark appears on the brink of winning the ultimate battle by using the light.

Harriet Klausner

Killing Ghost
Christopher Ransom
Cemetery Dance, Mar 2012, $25.00
ISBN 9781587672569

In Los Angles, Stacey Hastings left for work when she is killed in a hit-and-run just outside her home. Inside the house is her spouse James sleeping in after a late night as a double for rap star Ghost. When James awakens, he goes outside to find his wife dead. The police case goes cold.

A year later, James has not moved on at all as he feels guilty for making them leave Tulsa for Southern California and remorse over a spat of silence the night before. Intoxicated as usual, he sees Stacey at the house of the new neighbor. James meets Annette Copeland, who could be Stacey’s twin. As he behaves increasingly like Ghost, Annette seems to act more like Stacey. Stunned James wonders if he is haunted or losing his mind.

This engaging tale is at its best when the atmosphere is dark as readers wonder if James is going insane or is there ghosts haunting him. When the plot switches into a pure psychological thriller to kill the ghosts that haunt people; there are too many lunatics running free diminishing much of the foreboding suspense in spite of the increased action. Still Killing Ghost is an entertaining novel of a grieving man in trouble.

Harriet Klausner

Commedia della Morte
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Tor, Mar 13 2012, $29.99
ISBN 9780765331045

Count Saint-Germain learns that the Revolutionary Tribunal of Avignon determines that Madelaine de Montalia will be guillotined. Determined to rescue his beloved from losing her head, something even a vampire cannot heal from, Saint-Germain joins Photine d’Auville and her Commedia del’Arte troupe as a musician (and a paying traveler) as they head to Lyon where Madelaine is under house arrest.

Though he loves Madelaine, Saint-Germain and Photine share a tryst that further irks her angry teenage son Enee. His resentment growing, Enee wants Saint-Germain dead and plots to betray the ancient vampire.

The latest Saint-Germain historical vampire thriller (see An Embarrassment of Riches) is an entreating tale that fascinatingly captures the changing morality of the French Reign of Terror from idealistic caring of all citizens to an insidious bloodbath. The troupe is terrific as they perform Racine’s Phaedra while trying to stay out of the troubles. Although there is too much backstory from previous entries mostly involving Madelaine (see In the Face of Death, Out of the House of Life and Hotel Transylvania), saga armchair fans will enjoy touring Revolutionary France with the vampire count as our guide.

Harriet Klausner

The Thirteen
Susie Moloney
Morrow, Mar 27 2012, $14.99
ISBN: 9780062117663

In Haven Woods, The Thirteen witches run the town. Each has sacrificed their soul to their Master in order to insure their family goals are achieved. When Bill Henderson dies in an accident, his wife Chick, one of the thirteen, grieves deeply before dying in an inferno, At about the same time, Chick dies, another coven member rebellious Audra Wittmore suffers a heart attack while a third witch Isadora Riley watches gleefully.

Izzy arranges for Audra’s “exiled” for over a dozen years daughter Paula to come home to care for her mom. Paula who has had bad luck since her banishment arrives back in haven Woods with her child twelve years old Rowan. The witch sisters need a thirteenth to sacrifice; their first choice is the granddaughter coming to town for the first time in her life.

With a darker nod to The Witches of Eastwick, the key to this super horror tale is the little things that make Haven Woods seem like a quiet safe suburb. However, beneath the beneath the family oriented veneer is a nasty place in which human sacrifice, demonic assaults and blood flow are the norm. Readers will relish The Thirteen as Susie Moloney provides a bewitching thriller.

Harriet Klausner