TTA Press - Black Static: Horror - Books Received

Books Received - An Update

11th Mar, 2011

Author: Peter Tennant

Listed below are the books received for review since the last update, which was back on 8 January 2011.

And as it's been over two months there are rather a lot of them, thirty two according to my quick count, which is about twice as many as I can review in any bi-monthly issue of the magazine, so once again I warn publishers that if they only have limited copies available for review purposes then Black Static might not be the best option. I also notice that I'm being sent books that are over a year or more old, and therefore not something I would consider still in contention for review. I'm happy to list them here, but other than that there is nothing much I can do for you. As ever, people are welcome to query me regarding the possibility of a review by writing to whitenoise@ttapress.com with the usual caveat that an expression of interest does not guarantee if or when a review will be done.

There's lots of good stuff in the mix, with a particular welcome to new titles from old favourites and Black Static contributors Conrad Williams and Tony Richards. In particular, I'm glad that Dark Regions have published the latest volume in Tony's series of novels dealing with goings on in the fictional town of Raine's Landing. I've reviewed the first two novels in the series, and if this latest entry is half as good then readers are in for a treat.

Another highlight for me is The Painter, The Creature, and the Father of Lies, a compendium of Clive Barker's non-fiction from the past twenty five years, introductions he's written for his own books and those of others. I should be finishing off my reading for the next issue of Black Static, but when this beauty turned up in the mail I couldn't resist dipping in, and if the remainder is as good as the first forty pages then it's going to be one of the non-fiction greats of 2011.

Plenty of new titles from Chomu and Dark Regions, plus the new chapbooks from Nightjar and a couple of books from American publisher Lethe, about whom I've heard good things, so looking forward to those. One possibility I'm considering, though it's not a done deal as yet, is doing a small press focus each issue, with a cluster of reviews in the magazine and an interview posted to the website.

Of the books listed here, I've read several already, and the best of the bunch by far is Frankenstein's Prescription by Tim Lees, a regular contributor to the magazine. It's an amazing work, and I urge everybody to pick up a copy while they're still available. Huge kudos to Tartarus for making the book available: if the small presses need any justification for their existence, then it's that they publish work of this exceptional quality when it slips through the mainstream net. Tim will be one of our featured authors in the next Case Notes, along with Burying Brian author Steven Pirie, and all being well the issue will contain stories by both writers.

July 2011

Ryan David Jahn - The Dispatcher - Macmillan hardback

May 2011

Clive Barker - The Painter, The Creature, and the Father of Lies - Earthling Publications (ARC)

April 2011

Charlie Williams - Graven Image - Five Leaves Publications paperback
Danuta Reah - Not Safe - Five Leaves Publications paperback
Stephen Booth - Claws - Five Leaves Publications paperback
Ray Banks - California - Five Leaves Publications paperback
Edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling - Teeth: Vampire Tales - HarperCollins paperback (ARC)
Edited by Joe R. Lansdale - Crucified Dreams: Tales of Urban Horror - Tachyon Publications paperback (ARC)
Michael Cisco - The Great Lover - Chomu Press paperback
John Elliott - Dying to Read - Chomu Press paperback

March 2011

Tony Richards - Our Lady of the Shadows - Dark Regions Press paperback
Tony Richards - Midnight's Angels - Dark Regions Press paperback
Christopher Burns - Lexicon - Nightjar Chapbook
Tom Fletcher - Field - Nightjar Chapbook
Conrad Williams - Loss of Separation - Solaris paperback
Brendan Connell - The Life of Polycrates and Other Stories for Anitquated Children - Chomu Press paperback (ARC)
Mark Samuels - The Man Who Collected Machen and Other Weird Tales - Chomu Press paperback (ARC)
Lee Thomas - The German - Lethe Press paperback (ARC)
Livia Llewellyn - Engines of Desire: Tales of Love & Other Horrors - Lethe Press paperback (ARC)

February 2011