Get a Free Copy of The Affair of the Wooden Boy

You've seen it on Mel's blog.  You've seen it on Bill's blog.  Now see it here!  An offer from Mel Odom:


In an effort to better understand the growing emarket that's out there, I'm offering copies of my newest enovella to interested reviewers. I'm planning on taking 10 from each site that contacts me.


To get ecopies of THE AFFAIR OF THE WOODEN BOY (a Victorian fantasy/steampunk tale), contact Mel Odom at mel at mel odom dot net and let him know which blog you saw the offer on. Ten ebooks will be given away on site with hopes of honest reviews.


Seriously, you should jump on this while you've got the chance.  THE AFFAIR OF THE WOODEN BOY is great fun.

Free E-Book from the International Thriller Writers

Here’s an ITW holiday gift – a free ebook!

Download a free copy of ITW’s latest thriller WATCHLIST – a killer collaboration between 22 authors including Jeffery Deaver, Lee Child, Joe Finder, Lisa Scottoline, David Hewson, David Liss and more.

USA Today said: “Entertaining and intriguing....the action is full-boil.”

PW gave it a starred review and said: “A suspenseful, action-packed international thriller filled with plenty of twists and turns.”


To get your free ebook sign up at Peroozal.com – where recommendations from authors guide readers to great books.

More Free Books

Livia's giving away books again on her blog. This time it's one copy each of the brand-new Delilah Dickinson hardcover, KILLER ON A HOT TIN ROOF (with a great cover) and the mass-market paperback edition of the second Delilah novel, HUCKLEBERRY FINISHED.  All the details are here.

Contest Results

The winner of the free copy of Philipp Meyer's AMERICAN RUST is Steve Oerkfitz. Steve, email me with your mailing address and I'll pass it along to the book's publicist. Thanks to everyone who entered, and more contests will be coming up soon.

Last Day to Enter for American Rust

Don't forget, today's the last day to throw your name in the hat for a free copy of Philipp Meyer's fine novel AMERICAN RUST. I'll be doing the random drawing shortly after midnight tonight (that's Central Standard Time), or first thing in the morning if I'm already asleep by then. US or Canadian entrants only, please, since the copy will come from the publisher, not me.

And the Winners Are . . .

James Powell and Frank Loose. I've already emailed both of them with the good news. I plan to do more of these giveaways as more of my books come out.

Last Day to Enter

The deadline to throw your name into the electronic hat for the drawing to win a couple of my Adult Westerns is midnight tonight. That's Central Standard Time in the good ol' U.S. of A. I'll announce the winners tomorrow.

Book Giveaway

I'm going to give away a couple of copies each of my latest Longarm and Trailsman novels. Two winners, and each will get a copy of LONGARM AND THE SAND PIRATES and TEXAS TRACKDOWN. You can send me an email (the link is in my profile, for those of you who don't have the address) or mention in the comments that you want to enter. Simple random number drawing. Deadline for entries is midnight my time next Saturday, so that gives you a week and a few hours if you're interested.

Disclaimer: These are Adult Westerns. They have sex scenes in them, although there's nothing kinky (that I recall) and the total pages in those scenes add up to less than five per cent of the text. But bear in mind that those scenes are there and don't enter thinking that you'll give the books to your eighty-year-old grandmother (although she might enjoy them, who knows; I'll bet your grandfather would) or your eight-year-old son or daughter.

There'll probably be more of these in the future.

More Free Books

Livia is giving away one free copy each of her new mystery novels KILLER CRABCAKES and HUCKLEBERRY FINISHED. Head on over to her blog for the details.

And the Winner is . . .

Rick Ollerman, who was selected by random drawing to receive a free copy of Norman German's new novel, A SAVAGE WISDOM. Congratulations, Rick, and thanks to everyone who entered.

More Free Books - The Vampire Affair

If you go over to Livia's blog, you can read the opening paragraphs of this book (which I think are really good -- again, not an unbiased reader!) and find out how to enter to win one of the free copies she's giving away.

Forgotten Books: Dwellers in the Mirage - A. Merritt

A. Merritt was one of the big names in fantasy fiction from the Twenties and Thirties, when his novels and stories were first published in the pulps, through the Seventies, when his books were still readily available in paperback reprints, mostly from Avon. However, while I’ve been aware of his work for years, I’ve actually read very little of it. I recall reading his novel THE SHIP OF ISHTAR many years ago, and I think I liked it, although at this late date I’m not sure anymore. A few years ago I read the original pulp version of the novelette “The Moon Pool” (Merritt had a habit of revising his stuff as it went through later editions) and liked it as well.

Now I’ve read his novel DWELLERS IN THE MIRAGE, and I can see why his books were popular for so long. There’s a lot to like here: a modern hero who’s the unknowing reincarnation of an ancient warrior-king; a lost civilization located in an isolated mountain valley in Alaska, which due to volcanic heating is actually tropical; a couple of beautiful women, one good, one evil, who have a habit of running around in few, if any, clothes (I told you the weather was tropical); a couple of evil high priests; a tentacled, otherworldly horror from a different dimension; castles, strongholds, and epic battles. Just my kind of book, in other words.

What sets Merritt apart from most other heroic fantasy authors, especially the ones from the pulp era, is his leisurely, highly descriptive style. It takes a little getting used to, but I found myself being drawn into the prose. Merritt comes up with some really striking images in this novel. The drawback to this is that despite all the conflict going on, there’s really not much action. The few battle scenes are very well-done, though, and the big showdown at the end between the hero and one of the villains is a great, bloody, hand-to-hand fight.

I enjoyed DWELLERS IN THE MIRAGE quite a bit. Merritt’s no Robert E. Howard, mind you – Howard would have compressed the plot of this novel into a novella, probably to great effect – but I definitely plan to read more of Merritt’s work. I’ve already picked up a copy of his novel THE METAL MONSTER, and I also have a reprint of the pulp versions of “The Moon Pool” and “Conquest of the Moon Pool”, which were combined into the novel THE MOON POOL. With any luck, I’ll get to them soon. In the meantime, I have an extra copy of DWELLERS IN THE MIRAGE, a fourth printing of the 1967 Avon edition. If anyone wants it, the first person to email and ask for it gets it.

The Backwoods - Edward Lee

I was in the mood to read a horror novel, and having heard good things about Edward Lee’s work, I decided to try one of his. I knew his books have a reputation for containing a lot of extreme violence and a considerable amount of sex, so I wasn’t really surprised to encounter both of those things in THE BACKWOODS. It’s the story of high-powered Washington D.C. attorney Patricia White, who returns to the small town in rural Virginia where she grew up for her brother-in-law’s funeral. What she finds there are all sorts of sinister, dangerous secrets, including a clan of mysterious backwoods folks who practice an ancient religion of their own and a series of bizarre murders that have no rational explanation.

Well, those of you who have read very many horror novels will know right away where some of these plot elements are going, and I was somewhat disappointed that there weren’t more plot twists along the way. Lee does include some surprises in his story, though, and tells it in fast-paced, evocative prose that’s fun to read. I found enough to like here that I’m definitely interested in reading more of his books. Although it’s not for everybody, I’d recommend THE BACKWOODS to anyone who likes the novels of, say, Richard Laymon – which I do, quite a bit.

I’d like to pass this book along to someone else who might enjoy it. So if you’re an Edward Lee fan and don’t have a copy of THE BACKWOODS, or if you haven’t read him but would like to try his work, it’s yours if you’re the first one to email me and ask for it. The email link is in my profile, if you don’t have the address already.

Forgotten Books: River Queen - Charles N. Heckelmann

If Charles N. Heckelmann is remembered at all today by paperback fans, it’s probably as the founder and editor of Monarch Books or the editor at Popular Library during the Sixties. However, before that he worked as a writer and editor in the Western pulps, most notably those in the so-called Thrilling Group, and he continued writing Western novels from the late Forties throughout the Fifties. He was never very prolific as an author, but his books were well-regarded in their time.

I just read my first Heckelmann novel, RIVER QUEEN, and it’s a good one. That’s the title of the Graphic Books paperback reprint. The novel first appeared in hardback from Henry Holt under the title THE RAWHIDER. RIVER QUEEN is actually the better and more appropriate title. This is a riverboat book, set largely along the Missouri River in Montana Territory, although the first section of the story centers around the battle of Shiloh during the Civil War. Bill Horn is the captain and pilot of the riverboat Western Star. His main rival on the river is Kay Graham, the beautiful female captain of the Queen. Both of their boats wind up being hired by the army to carry troops and supplies up the Missouri River to help deal with the rising threat of the Sioux, who have started raiding the settlements there because the army is stretched so thin due to the war. There’s also a romantic triangle going on, as well as an old enemy of Horn’s who is now a Jayhawker, ostensibly helping the Confederate side while really being out for all the loot he can get his hands on.

Why this novel was never adapted into a movie starring John Wayne, I’ll never know. Bill Horn seems to be a perfect character for the Duke to play, and considering the way Heckelmann describes him, I wonder if he thought the same thing. Barbara Stanwyck would have been great as Kay Graham, and the villain cries out to be played by Forrest Tucker. It’s not really a John Ford or Howard Hawks type of story, but in the hands of a director like Michael Curtiz or Henry Hathaway . . . Well, never mind. There’s no such movie. But it would have been a good one, because Heckelmann has packed a lot into this book: epic battles, romantic intrigue, mano a mano showdowns, and a little reasonably accurate history. The action scenes are really good, and my only real complaint is Heckelmann’s occasional tendency to slow down the story in order to explain the backgrounds of some of the characters. This is especially annoying early on, but once you get past the first chapter or so, the action never flags for very long. I enjoyed this one enough that I definitely plan to read more by Heckelmann.

This week marks the beginning of a new wrinkle in my Forgotten Books posts. From time to time I’m going to give away the books I’m writing about. People have been incredibly generous this year in sending books to me after the fire back in January, and I’d like to pay back that generosity in small part by passing on some of the books that I’ve read and enjoyed. Just to clarify, I’m not giving away any of the books that were sent to me. Those occupy a special place in my new collection. These will only be books that I’ve bought myself.

So here’s how it works: if you want this copy of RIVER QUEEN, it’s yours if you’re the first person to email me asking for it (not by posting a comment in the comments section). There’s an email link in my profile, if you don’t have the address already. I’ll update this post as soon as the book is spoken for. It’s that simple. I’ll probably be doing this with some of the other books I post about, too, not just the Forgotten ones on Friday. This copy of RIVER QUEEN isn’t in top-notch shape, but it’s all there, so if you’d like to read it, this is your chance.

Update: This book is now spoken for, but I'll be giving away more in the weeks to come.