Black Static

Listed below are the books received for review since the last update, which was back on 24 February 2010.

The observant will notice that we've received two titles by John Connolly, and Hodder have promised us an ARC of the new Charlie Parker novel, The Whisperers, just as soon as one becomes available. Those who are astute as well as observant, will hazard a guess that John Connolly will be the Case Notes featured author in Black Static #17 (June), and they are of course correct. I read the first five Charlie Parker novels, but nothing since, and so plan to spend the month of April catching up on his back catalogue, both those titles in the series and non-Parker books such as Nocturnes and Bad Men. I really like what I've read of his work so far, and so I'm looking forward to this.

Another treat is The Mammoth Book of the Best of Best New Horror, edited by Stephen Jones who I've already pencilled in for an interview in Black Static #18 (August). This is a mighty tome, with Jones taking the story he considers the best from each of the previous volumes in the series, so that we get an overview of what he considers the absolute best horror fiction published in the short form between 1989 and 2008. Each piece of fiction comes with an introduction in which Jones provides fascinating insights into the back story of the Best New Horror series and his thoughts on the genre, so that this volume offers an intriguing historical perspective.

Good as it is though, The Mammoth Book is not the title that has me the most excited. That distinction goes to another substantial anthology, Stories edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio, with its contributor mix of genre heavyweights and literary worthies. Just reading the list of contributors is enough to get my mouth watering in anticipation - Roddy Doyle, Joyce Carol Oates, Joanne Harris, Michael Marshall Smith, Joe R. Lansdale, Walter Mosley, Richard Adams, Jodi Picoult, Michael Swanwick, Peter Straub, Lawrence Block, Jeffrey Ford, Chuck Palahniuk, Diana Wynne Jones, Stewart O'Nan, Gene Wolfe, Carolyn Parkhurst, Kat Howard, Jonathan Carroll, Jeffrey Deaver, Tim Powers, Kurt Andersen, Michael Moorcock, Elizabeth Hand and Joe Hill. It's a line-up that reads like speculative fiction's equivalent of one of the old super bands of yesteryear.

With these two books, plus a couple of anthologies that I have stockpiled and two more that I've sort of been promised, it looks like August might shape up to be the month of the anthology in Case Notes, so if anybody is publishing an anthology round about now, getting a review copy sent to me could be a smart move. Just saying.

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. We receive many books and space is limited.

June 2010

• P J Tracy - Play to Kill - Penguin paperback (ARC)
• Edited by Neil Gaiman & Al Sarrantonio - Stories - Headline hardback (ARC)

May 2010

• H. P. Lovecraft - The best of H. P. Lovecraft - Prion paperback
• Charlaine Harris - Dead in the Family - Gollancz hardback (ARC)

April 2010

• Jim Butcher - Changes - Orbit hardback
• Jeremy Dyson - The Cranes That Build The Cranes - Abacus paperback
• Niamh O'Connor - If I Never See You Again - Transworld Ireland paperback (ARC)
• Craig Robertson - Random - Simon & Schuster paperback
• John Connolly - The Gates - Hodder paperback

March 2010

• Edited by Stephen Jones - The Mammoth Book of the Best of Best New Horror - Robinson Publishing paperback
• Elmore Leonard - 10 Rules of Writing - W&N paperback
• Jane Austen & Steve Hockensmith - Pride and Prejudice: Dawn of the Dreadfuls - Quirk paperback (ARC)
• Joe Hill - Horns - Gollancz hardback
• Jasper Kent - Thirteen Years Later - Bantam paperback

February 2010

• Sarah Rayne - House of the Lost - Simon & Schuster paperback

January 2010

• John Connolly - The Lovers - Hodder paperback

November 2009

• Edited by Paco Ignacio Taibo II - Mexico City Noir - Akashic Books paperback

Also received, Gods of LA, a novel by TTA irregular Tim Lees, but I'm not sure about the publication details of that one.