Samhain Publishing Seasoned journalist David Searls unleashes his fangs on his second novel, Bloodthirst in Babylon, a not- so-sparkly vampire tale set in the not-so-distant future. During the Great Recession, the town of Baby-
lon, with its promise of steady work and low rent sounds like a safe haven for the downtrodden, but this false oasis is actually crawling with bloodthirsty vamps conspiring to prey on weary travellers. Intelligent and frightening, Searls delivers a satiating Salem’s Lot-style page-turner.
Joe Golem And The Drowning City: Forecast – 100% chance of tentacles.
mechanical old man. The pair are able to confirm that her boss, Felix, was kidnapped by a mad scientist with apocalyptic intentions, and she agrees to join forces with them to stop him and get Felix back. What comes next is a veritable roller-coaster of science-gone-wrong atroc- ities, cannibalistic trees, inter-dimensional intrigue, wholesale urban destruction and tentacles. Joe Golem and The Drowning City is every bit as pulpy as it sounds, and its combination of
action-packed narrative, easily accessible language and teenage heroine make it feel very much like a young adult novel – not that that’s a bad thing or any reason to avoid this book. Good stories are universal in their appeal and the creativity on display here will no doubt win over monster fans of all ages, as will the dozens of black and white illustrations Mignola con- tributed to the book. Just be warned: once you are done reading, you won’t want to leave The Drowning City.
Good thing, then, that the book leaves the door open for a potential sequel, though you’ll likely agree it couldn’t come soon enough.
MONICA S. KUEBLER 32 FANGS David Wellington has devoted a lot of time to making bloodsuckers the scary undead mothers
they are supposed to be with his recent cycle of vampire novels, which began with the web- serialized (and later published in print) 13 Bullets in 2006, and continued with 99 Coffins, Vam- pire Zero and 23 Hours, and concludes this month with 32 Fangs. Throughout the novels, the reader follows state trooper-turned-monster hunter Laura Caxton
as she fights vampires and struggles to maintain a grasp of her own humanity through repeated confrontations with the savage, unrelenting creatures. So it may come as a surprise to followers of the series that Laura is by no means the central focus of this new book. First, we follow her jilted lover Clara Hsu as she searches for clues to the whereabouts of her ex and the vampire
REVENGE Gabrielle Faust
and Solomon Schneider Barking Rain Press This clever and ambitious novel, co- written by Gabrielle Faust and Solomon Schneider, follows Marcus Glenfield who, after committing sui- cide takes a grunt’s position in Hell,
harvesting souls for Lucifer as the Demon of Regret. Driven by an intricate and political plotline involving Mar- cus, his ex-girlfriend and a demonic love triangle, this novel is not a terrifying read but an inebriating descriptive journey into the nether regions of dark fantasy. Addictive as, er, hell.
JESSA SOBCZUK JESSA SOBCZUK MONSTERMATT’S BAD
MONSTER JOKES VOLUME 1 MonsterMatt Patterson West Neb Books Remember that punny uncle (pun- cle?) who told bad jokes and pre- tended to pull a quarter from behind your ear? Imagine he compiled 400 of his worst, painfully reverse-engi-
neered horrorcentric groaners into one deplorably silly di- gest. You’ll be shocked at how tempting it is to see just how low MonsterMatt will go. Quick: what actor is a zom- bie favourite? Rot-ger Hauer! Oh, the inhumanity…