So…..what does it mean to be a part of the Oh So Close
brigade?
It’s very simple actually. This a list of books that
didn’t make my top five lists.
BUT, if I was to do a top ten list then these
would definitely be in there.
This is the difficult part about end of year lists. There
are inevitably ones you wanted to add to the top list but then if you did that,
the list could be endless.
So to that end, this is a small selection of books I read
this year that I thought were worthy of a mention even though they didn’t make
the top five. They were just outside! By the way, these books are in no particular order.
If you haven’t checked any of these out, you will find
links to my reviews, links to buy them and all the author info you need at the
bottom of the page.
The books!
Class
Three is written by the rather cool Duncan P Bradshaw. This
was his first book in a series about the end of the world. If you are looking
for something about zombies but with a unique difference, then this is the one
for you. Full of dark humour and real
human stories, this is an excellent read.
You can read my review of Class Three here.
You can buy Class
Three here:
The
Blood of Talos (The Godgame #2) is Book Two in the epic new
series by Keith Deininger. This is dark fantasy at its very best and it is just
getting better and better. I struggled to pick a favourite from this series but
there are scenes in this one that just blew me away. Superb stuff.
You can read my review of The Blood of Talos here.
You can buy The
Blood of Talos here:
A
Hollow Dream: Eternal Autumn by Andrew Van Wey is book
two in the Eternal Autumn series. You really need to read the first book to be
able to follow this story from the beginning. This is fantastic. It’s a good
old fashioned kids getting scared by a monster story that leads into a huge
after world that just has to be read to be believed.
You can read my review of A Hollow Dream: Eternal Autumn here.
You can buy A
Hollow Dream: Eternal Autumn here:
Nothing
Lasting is a book by Glen Krisch that will certainly leave a
very lasting impression on you if you pick it up. This is a sort of creepy
coming of age story that concentrates on the many flaws of good old fashioned
human nature. This is a slower paced book but fantastically well written. You
will not want to put this one down once you pick it up.
No link for a review on this one as I read it before the
blog was started.
You can buy Nothing
Lasting here:
Wolf
Land
is the latest offering from Jonathan Janz. You guessed it, this is a werewolf
story but one like no other. This again will scare the crap out of you but also
concentrates on the human aspect of things. Mr Janz went places with this one
that many fear to tread and he did it very effectively.
You can read my review of Wolf Land here.
You can buy Wolf
Land here:
The
Phantom Cabinet by Jeremy Thompson. A name many of you may
not be familiar with but believe me you should be. This book is an example of
what you may miss out on if you stick to the same authors all the time and miss
out the new names. This book is fantastic. Creepy as hell and very dark.
You can read my review of The Phantom Cabinet here.
You can buy The
Phantom Cabinet here:
The
Dunfield Terror by William Meikle is one of the most
atmospheric books I read this year. It has mad scientists and Lovecraftian
monsters that will scare the pants clean off you. This is one to read if you
haven’t experienced the writing talents of William Meikle yet. You don’t know
what you’re missing.
You can read my review of The Dunfield Terror here.
You can buy The
Dunfield Terror here:
Spore by
Tamara Jones is another zombie story with a difference. This is about a group
of people who literally come back from the dead but they aren’t drooling
zombies. They can walk and talk just like you and me. An interesting take on
the zombie story that is both refreshing and very entertaining.
You can read my review of Spore here.
You can buy Spore
here:
The
Blessed Man And The Witch by David Dubrow is an epic tale of the
end of the world battle between good and evil. This is a good old fashioned
biblical apocalypse story if you like. Very detailed and very atmospheric, this
is the start of a series that blew me away. A fantastic, thought provoking book
that will have you frantically trying to decide which side you are truly on.
You can read my review of The Blessed Man And The Witch here.
You can buy The
Blessed Man And The Witch here:
So there you have the ones that would be included if my
lists were bigger!
These are all fantastic reads and well worth picking up.
The Authors
One day upon waking, as if from some frightful nightmare, I sat at my laptop and typed out letters, which formed words, slowly they created sentences. People read it and said, that's okay that is, have a biscuit. And I said yes.
I live in Wiltshire, in Southern England with my wife Debbie and our two cats, Rafa and Pepe, they just miaowed a hello at you. Between bouts of prolonged washing up and bungie cord knitting, I type out the weird and wonderful things that run around my head.
My debut novel, zom-com Class Three, was released in November 2014, the first book in the follow up trilogy, Class Four: Those Who Survive is out in July 2015. I'm then going to try and get some novellas released which are on something other than the undead.
And for more about Duncan, visit his site or find him on social media:
And for more about Duncan, visit his site or find him on social media:
An award-winning writer of fantastic and disturbing fiction, Keith Deininger is the author of several novels and novellas, including THE NEW FLESH, WITHIN, MARROW'S PIT, and THE GODGAME series. He was raised in the American Southwest and currently resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico with his wife, baby daughter Violet and four dogs.
And for more about Keith, visit his site or find him on social media:
Website - Facebook - Twitter - Goodreads - Amazon Page
Andrew Van Wey was born in Palo Alto, California, spent part of his childhood in New England, and currently lives as an expatriate abroad where he doubts his sanity on a daily basis.
As a child of the late 80's and early 90's, Andrew fondly remembers a time when cell phones were the size of bricks, a good scare could be found in a stack of torn Stephen King books, vampires didn't glimmer nor hang around high schools, and a sleepover was best spent scaring friends with low budget horror on VHS.
Years later Andrew still takes that same joy in being a purveyor of frights and writes well into the night. He takes his cues from a foundation built on films like Jacob's Ladder, Angelheart, The Exorcist, and such fiction as The Shining, Ghost Story, and The Damnation Game. Readers have called his stories: "Beautifully written," -- "Stunning," -- "The Scariest Book I've Ever Read!"
When he's not writing Andrew can probably be found hiking, playing video games, or walking his Old English Sheepdog "Daenerys" along the rivers and hills of East Asia. He loves to travel, drink single malt scotch, and geek out about D&D and technology. He considers gelato and pizza to be a perfectly acceptable meal, and shorts to be business-casual if paired with a scarf.
And for more about Andrew, visit his site or find him on social media:
Website - Facebook - Twitter - Goodreads - Amazon Page
As a child of the late 80's and early 90's, Andrew fondly remembers a time when cell phones were the size of bricks, a good scare could be found in a stack of torn Stephen King books, vampires didn't glimmer nor hang around high schools, and a sleepover was best spent scaring friends with low budget horror on VHS.
Years later Andrew still takes that same joy in being a purveyor of frights and writes well into the night. He takes his cues from a foundation built on films like Jacob's Ladder, Angelheart, The Exorcist, and such fiction as The Shining, Ghost Story, and The Damnation Game. Readers have called his stories: "Beautifully written," -- "Stunning," -- "The Scariest Book I've Ever Read!"
When he's not writing Andrew can probably be found hiking, playing video games, or walking his Old English Sheepdog "Daenerys" along the rivers and hills of East Asia. He loves to travel, drink single malt scotch, and geek out about D&D and technology. He considers gelato and pizza to be a perfectly acceptable meal, and shorts to be business-casual if paired with a scarf.
And for more about Andrew, visit his site or find him on social media:
Website - Facebook - Twitter - Goodreads - Amazon Page
Besides writing and reading, he enjoys spending time with his wife, romance author Sarah Krisch, his three boys, simple living, and ultra-running.
He enjoys talking to his readers. Feel free to stop by his website to see what he's up to.
And for more about Glen, visit his site or find him on social media:
Website - Facebook - Twitter - Goodreads - Amazon Page
Jonathan Janz grew up between a dark forest and a graveyard, and in a way, that explains everything. Brian Keene named his debut novel The Sorrows "the best horror novel of 2012." The Library Journal deemed his follow-up, House of Skin, "reminiscent of Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House and Peter Straub's Ghost Story."
In 2013 Samhain Horror published his novel of vampirism and demonic possession The Darkest Lullaby, as well as his serialized horror novel Savage Species. Of Savage Species Publishers Weekly said, "Fans of old-school splatterpunk horror--Janz cites Richard Laymon as an influence, and it shows--will find much to relish." Jonathan's Kindle Worlds novel Bloodshot: Kingdom of Shadows marked his first foray into the superhero/action genre.
Jack Ketchum called his vampire western Dust Devils a "Rousing-good weird western," and his sequel to The Sorrows (Castle of Sorrows) was selected one of 2014's top three novels by Pod of Horror. His newest release is called The Nightmare Girl. He has also written four novellas (Exorcist Road, The Clearing of Travis Coble, Old Order, and Witching Hour Theatre) and several short stories.
His primary interests are his wonderful wife and his three amazing children, and though he realizes that every author's wife and children are wonderful and amazing, in this case the cliché happens to be true.
And for more about Jonathan, visit his site or find him on social media:
And for more about Jonathan, visit his site or find him on social media:
And for more on Jeremy, you can find him on social media or Amazon.
I'm Willie, Scottish but now in Canada, and I write pulpy adventure stories in the main, with big beasties, men with guns, occult detectives, lost worlds, things from beyond, slime, ghosts, more beasties and more slime. And beer. I have 20 novels and over 300 stories published in the likes of Dark Regions Press, DarkFuse and Chaosium with many more still to come. And did I mention beer?
My current best seller is THE INVASION, a sci-fi alien invasion tale with mass carnage, plucky survivors, and last minute rescues. It has been as high as #2 in the Kindle > science fiction charts. (and #4 in Kindle > horror).
And for more about Willie, visit his site or find him on social media:
Website – Facebook – Twitter – Goodreads – Amazon Page
Website – Facebook – Twitter – Goodreads – Amazon Page
And for more about Tamara, visit her site or find her on social media:
Website - Facebook - Twitter - Goodreads - Amazon Page
Although Dave's parents have maintained that he read The Chronicles of Narnia when he was only four years old, he doesn't remember it, and the only evidence of their claim is his reverence for lions and tendency to get lost for decades of subjective time in wardrobes. Of his later youth little is known and less is spoken of, save for the diving watch incident that still makes his older brother crack up. Despite a love of reading and a family that placed great value on scholarship, his academic career was distinguished by mediocrity; the sheepskin he earned at Temple University should probably have an asterisk on it somewhere.
His Puritan work ethic saw him through years of hard labor in Philadelphia at thankless tasks, and the skills he acquired amaze supermarket cashiers and assistant produce managers even today. Belatedly heeding Horace Greeley's admonishment to "go west, young man," he drove his beater in the direction of the setting sun and fetched up at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains with few prospects and fewer friends.
It was in Colorado that he found the love of his life and a career in publishing with "the most dangerous press in America," in reverse order. Over a decade later, he condensed the techniques of combat shooting, knife fighting, martial arts, and survival skills he'd learned first-hand into a book titled, "The Ultimate Guide to Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse." Lavishly illustrated by a baker's half-dozen of talented artists, it was written under the pseudonym F. Kim O'Neill and published by Paladin Press in 2010. Scott Kenemore, author of "Zombie, Ohio" and "Zombie, Illinois," called it, "One of the most capable and engaging how-to zombie survival books I've encountered."
Eventually, the stories in his head needed to come out. Eschewing the more old-fashioned technique of trepanning, he instead went digital and began to write e-books. His first novel is titled "The Blessed Man and the Witch." The beginning of a trilogy about a Biblical apocalypse, it addresses western occultism, angelic phenomena, demonic possession, and the slow dissolution of American society within a credible and original framework.
Dave, his wife, and their son now live on the west coast of Florida, swatting alligators and wrestling mosquitoes. He is hard at work on the sequel to "The Blessed Man and the Witch."
And for more about David, see his site or find him on social media:
Website – Facebook – Twitter – Goodreads – Amazon Page
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