What are you currently reading?

[dannyboy121070]

I finished my slog through Glen Krisch's HUSKS, which was a mess all around. The story needed a firmer editorial hand, as I personally found it to be both pointless and endlessly padded, despite the short length. Production-wise, the dust-jacket was too large for the book, it was cut wrong and folded wrong, almost every page of the book had a crease or a crinkle...just sloppy, sloppy work. And as a former CD proofreader, I was amazed and aghast at all of the spelling and grammatical errors.Something I took very seriously when I proofed for CD was overuse of words, such as using the word "Soon" three times in one sentence, variations of which happen with alarming frequency in this book.It caused the book to seem very unprofessional.

This is my second Krisch book, and my last...nothing in this mess clicked with me at all.

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading The Long Walk by Stephen King (Centipede Press Edition). Been forever since I read this story and while it does have a few warts, it also still has magic. Such a good read! Would have loved SK to have written another story in this universe. Would be very cool to know how/why the Long Walk started and some of the other things alluded to in this story. Am now ready to watch the film coming out later this year! Don't know how I feel about Mark Hamil as the Major.

Am now reading Aron Beauregard's "Handyman", a first time read for me.

[RonClinton]

One of my all time favorite collections is Piccirill’s Deep into that Darkness Peering.

It was released in the late 90’s or early 2000’s, and it was a huge collection of over 40 stories and well over 500 pages.

I believe it pretty much collected all of his published fiction up to that time.

I don’t know what the going cost is on the secondary market, as this is long out of print and the publisher (Terminal Frights) is also long gone.

Probably more horror oriented, as that was where Tom cut his teeth in the publishing business, but still a little bit of his earlier crime fiction too.

DITDP provides a fascinating glimpse into the beginning of a very talented writer whose career was cut way too short.

Highly recommended if you can track down a copy.

B

I remember reading several times in the past -- possibly interviews with Piccirilli...? -- that DEEP INTO THAT DARKNESS PEERING was a poor seller for Terminal Fright. Tom's theory was that the collection was far too ambitious for its own good...he was a relatively new voice on the scene, or at least generally unknown, when it was published, and it was a massive collection (think it collected most of his fiction up to that point) with a price-tag that required some buyer confidence in this generally unknown author's work. I remember him saying something like he wished that the project had been more modest in size and price, because the poor sales of that massive volume was a stumbling block early in his career, and set his momentum back a bit, whereas a properly sized and priced volume would have theoretically created more sales and more buzz. I suppose something like that's impossible to prove in the end, but it's not a bad theory. Fortunately, whatever stumbling block it did create was pushed aside later in his career by his tenacity and skill.

[Chuggers]

One of my all time favorite collections is Piccirill’s Deep into that Darkness Peering.

It was released in the late 90’s or early 2000’s, and it was a huge collection of over 40 stories and well over 500 pages.

I believe it pretty much collected all of his published fiction up to that time.

I don’t know what the going cost is on the secondary market, as this is long out of print and the publisher (Terminal Frights) is also long gone.

Probably more horror oriented, as that was where Tom cut his teeth in the publishing business, but still a little bit of his earlier crime fiction too.

DITDP provides a fascinating glimpse into the beginning of a very talented writer whose career was cut way too short.

Highly recommended if you can track down a copy.

B

Actually found a seller with this at less than $20, very excited!

[Chuggers]

I appreciate all of the tips of Piccirilli's output, thank you all! I have all three of the titles mentioned here by you both Ron & brlesh, I can't wait to dig in a bit....

[brlesh]

Man that's unfortunate, he truly has a magnificent voice. I'll be looking for some of those collections, I appreciate the response Ron

One of my all time favorite collections is Piccirill’s Deep into that Darkness Peering.

It was released in the late 90’s or early 2000’s, and it was a huge collection of over 40 stories and well over 500 pages.

I believe it pretty much collected all of his published fiction up to that time.

I don’t know what the going cost is on the secondary market, as this is long out of print and the publisher (Terminal Frights) is also long gone.

Probably more horror oriented, as that was where Tom cut his teeth in the publishing business, but still a little bit of his earlier crime fiction too.

DITDP provides a fascinating glimpse into the beginning of a very talented writer whose career was cut way too short.

Highly recommended if you can track down a copy.

B

[brlesh]

That's interesting Ron, I'm currently reading Fuckin' Lie Down Already by T. Piccirilli and it's brutal and grim and I'm loving every second. I've not read much else by him but that's changing immediately. Did they ever collect those "noirellas" in physical copies?

If you liked FLDA you would probably like The Fever Kill, a short novel / long novella (around 200 pages).

As I recall (it’s probably been 15 years since I’ve read it), The Fever Kill was a very fast paced story written in a similar noirish / crime drama tone as FLDA.

Definitely two of my favorite pieces from Piccirilli.

B

[RonClinton]

There's a preview/sample in the back of the copy of FLDA for a novel entitled The Last Kind Words, a mafia story it seems....his prose is incredible there as well. Has anyone read that one?

Yes, that’s one of the Terrier Rand duo, and it’s quite good. I do slightly prefer the COLD duo over the Rand duo, but they’re both well worth the time.

[Chuggers]

There's a preview/sample in the back of the copy of FLDA for a novel entitled The Last Kind Words, a mafia story it seems....his prose is incredible there as well. Has anyone read that one?

[Chuggers]

Man, I've had a lettered copy of Bad Dog on my shelf for a long time now. I keep meaning to give it a read. Every time I do, though, I remember the last book I read from him years ago called The Dead Letters, which from my memory dipped into some ridiculous moments and kinda turned me off from his stuff. Your recommendation to Chuggers has got me tempted to give it go once I get through the two other books I'm working on.

I'm pricing these online, $30 seems like a steal fir this particular collection

[RonClinton]

I've been trying to work more crime fiction into my reading to help break up the horror, expand those horizons, so to speak. Right now, I'm working my way through The Black Dahlia by Ellroy and liking it quite a bit.

Back in the day, I was quite the Ellroy fan, and THE BLACK DAHLIA was always my favorite. Other favs were THE BIG NOWHERE, L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, the Lloyd Hopkins trilogy, and the standalone KILLER ON THE ROAD (aka SILENT TERROR). I fell away from him around the mid-'90s, when he started to embrace his Mad-dog persona a bit too much, and his authorial voice became too stylized, staccato, and self-aware.

[Sock Monkey]

I haven't read THE DEAD LETTERS, but if memory serves, that's one of the novels he wrote during his transition from horror writer to crime writer (generally speaking), so it's kind of a hybrid, IIRC. For my money, Tom was best when he stayed focused in his lane, either horror or crime...his few mash-ups are less satisfying, I find. I'm really taken with his aforementioned noirellas, but his crime pbos THE COLD SPOT and THE COLDEST MILE are terrific, and his Terrier Rand crime duo is also quite good. Some of his other more straightforward mysteries, cozies, and mash-ups just didn't hit me the same. I find it amazing that the same author who wrote such stripped down, dark novels like the COLD duo was also responsible for the dense, fantastical stories of his unnamed Necromancer and his demonic familiar "Self"...quite a transition, and it shows a writer of tremendous versatility with skill to pull it off.

If my memory serves me right, and it has been quite a while, I think your assessment of The Dead Letters as a hybrid of crime and horror is apt. Like I previously said, it didn't quite work, but that just goes to show how hard these mashups really are. I think I have a copy of The Cold Spot that I picked up at a library book sale stashed away somewhere, so I'll keep that in mind if and when I decide to dip my toe into his work again. I've been trying to work more crime fiction into my reading to help break up the horror, expand those horizons, so to speak. Right now, I'm working my way through The Black Dahlia by Ellroy and liking it quite a bit.

[RonClinton]

Man, I've had a lettered copy of Bad Dog on my shelf for a long time now. I keep meaning to give it a read. Every time I do, though, I remember the last book I read from him years ago called The Dead Letters, which from my memory dipped into some ridiculous moments and kinda turned me off from his stuff. Your recommendation to Chuggers has got me tempted to give it go once I get through the two other books I'm working on.

I haven't read THE DEAD LETTERS, but if memory serves, that's one of the novels he wrote during his transition from horror writer to crime writer (generally speaking), so it's kind of a hybrid, IIRC. For my money, Tom was best when he stayed focused in his lane, either horror or crime...his few mash-ups are less satisfying, I find. I'm really taken with his aforementioned noirellas, but his crime pbos THE COLD SPOT and THE COLDEST MILE are terrific, and his Terrier Rand crime duo is also quite good. Some of his other more straightforward mysteries, cozies, and mash-ups just didn't hit me the same. I find it amazing that the same author who wrote such stripped down, dark novels like the COLD duo was also responsible for the dense, fantastical stories of his unnamed Necromancer and his demonic familiar "Self"...quite a transition, and it shows a writer of tremendous versatility with skill to pull it off.

[Sock Monkey]

You bet. Btw, if you're after more of his crime fiction than his horror stuff, his Cemetery Dance collection BAD DOG -- subtitled "Collected Crime Stories" -- is the way to go.

Man, I've had a lettered copy of Bad Dog on my shelf for a long time now. I keep meaning to give it a read. Every time I do, though, I remember the last book I read from him years ago called The Dead Letters, which from my memory dipped into some ridiculous moments and kinda turned me off from his stuff. Your recommendation to Chuggers has got me tempted to give it go once I get through the two other books I'm working on.

[Chuggers]

You bet. Btw, if you're after more of his crime fiction than his horror stuff, his Cemetery Dance collection BAD DOG -- subtitled "Collected Crime Stories" -- is the way to go.

His horror output is definitely on my radar, but so far the crime fiction is scratching an itch I've been struggling to satisfy for ages. I appreciate that tip.