TTA Press - Black Static: Horror - Books Received

Books Received - An Update

25th Jul, 2009

Author: Peter Tennant

Listed below are the books received for review since the last update, which was back on 19 June.

We're now receiving two to three times more titles than we can possibly review, unless Andy decides to ditch all that annoying fiction so often found cluttering up the pages of Black Static, and I opt to put the rest of my life on hold while I read and review books 24/7, so the standard offer and disclaimer found at the foot of this post is even more pertinent than usual.

We featured Sarah Langan back in Black Static #3, with an interview and review of Virus (US - The Missing), which subsequently went on to win the Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a novel, not that I think there's a connection between the two things, of course. I bought her first novel, The Keeper, before I'd even got to the halfway point with Virus and you can believe that I am very pleased to receive a review copy of Audrey's Door.

Also very welcome are the two latest Bryant & May novels from Christopher Fowler, On the Loose and The Victoria Vanishes. I reviewed the latter last year in Black Static #6, when it was out in hardback, and the book is currently in contention for the British Fantasy Award for Best Novel, deservedly so. Looking at some of the other titles I have in for review, a 'peculiar crimes' feature could well appear in Black Static #13, out in October, but it's not a done deal as yet.

What is a done deal for #13, is that Joel Lane will be our featured writer, with an interview and reviews of his novella The Witnesses Are Gone, from PS Publishing, and short story collection The Terrible Changes, from Ex-Occidente Press. Joel is a writer with a long association with TTA Press, having been a regular contributor to Black Static and its predecessor The Third Alternative. His story My Stone Desire, from the very first issue of Black Static, won the British Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction in 2008, and with Winter Journey from #5 Joel is in contention again this year (for my thoughts on the story and a brief interview with Joel, check out the link at the bottom of the page). Books from Joel Lane are a comparatively rare occurrence though, so it's a real treat for admirers of his work to have two appear within a few months. The Terrible Changes, along with The Nightfarers by Mark Valentine, are the first titles I've seen from Ex-Occidente, and they certainly are splendid looking books, the kind of volumes that are things of beauty in their own right, regardless of the contents.

Also good to see Stairway to Hell. the new novel by Charlie Williams (another TTA contributor from days of yore), and this time around not starring hard man Royston Blake, the protagonist of his previous three novels. It does however, have something to do with the past activities of Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and David Bowie, both of whom have been sent copies of the book, apparently. I wonder if legal action will boost sales.

And finally, before anyone asks, Chris Carter, the author of The Crucifix Killer, is not the creator of The X-Files (it was my first thought), and neither has he been a member of the band Throbbing Gristle (Wikipedia's second thought), though he was a professional musician for a time, and before that a criminal behaviour psychologist, according to the publicity handout from publishers Simon & Schuster.

The Standard Offer and Disclaimer - If anyone wants to query with me the suitability of their book(s) for a review in Case Notes, then I can be contacted by writing to whitenoise@ttapress.com and, as ever, an expression of interest in seeing the book does not guarantee that a review will be done.

October 2009