Don’t worry if you’ve never heard of this before. LibraryThing, a free personal library management site, has been around for a while. I believe it even predates GoodReads, but it wasn’t as flashy or as easy to use, so it didn’t take off as well. But you know, it’s still around and constantly improving its game. In some ways, it’s better than GR, now that the great Zon has taken over. Signing up is free, and the platform has gotten much easier to use, though still a little difficult to navigate, in comparison.
Anyway, earlier this year, they started Early Reviewers, a new program where authors and publishers can offer new titles to reviewers anywhere up to six months after publication. Sadly, we did not discover this in time to take full and best advantage of this, but we did manage to get a fair number of books up that will be featured over the next few months. For August, we are offering four titles! See below…
From eSpec Books
Vox Astra: When Clouds Die
James Chambers
The Stars Will Sing Our Songs Long After We Are Gone…
…but who will remain to listen? Who will hear the stories they tell of the wisdom of species dying to protect worlds against a cosmic threat, to witness the crisis of warriors faced with unconscionable acts and soldiers determined to cling to hope amidst violence and despair?
Open your ears to these tales of heroes both fantastic and ordinary, who travel among the planets or dwell deep in the canyons of city streets. Hear the voices of the stars as they speak of lost loves, long-slumbering guardians, brutal conflicts, wars beyond time, and the powerful ties that hold people together in the face of violence. Though humanity may one day vanish, the stars forget nothing. We can only hope they will be kind when they tell our stories.
About the Author
James Chambers is an award-winning author of horror, crime, fantasy, science fiction, and other genres. He wrote the Bram Stoker Award®-winning graphic novel, Kolchak the Night Stalker: The Forgotten Lore of Edgar Allan Poe and was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for his story, “A Song Left Behind in the Aztakea Hills.” Booklist described his collection On the Night Border as “…a haunting exploration of the space where the real world and nightmares collide,” and, in a starred review, said of his collection On the Hierophant Road: “For fans of the new breed of dark-speculative-fiction writers who actively play with genre confines to create reads that are inventive, thought-provoking, and creepily fun.” Publisher’s Weekly gave his collection of four Lovecraftian-inspired novellas, The Engines of Sacrifice, a starred review and described it as “…chillingly evocative….”
He has also written and edited numerous comic books, including Leonard Nimoy’s Primortals, the critically acclaimed “The Revenant” in Shadow House, and The Midnight Hour with Jason Whitley.
He lives in New York. Visit his website: www.jameschambersonline.com.
From NeoParadoxa
Eyes of the Wolf
Robert E. Waters
When a sudden trail of death and desolation sweeps through south and central Texas, elements of the case trigger an alert with a division of the FBI that tracks possible supernatural influence.
Agent Chimalis Burton, a specialist in cryptids of the Americas, has a history of vanquishing such monstrous creatures. When she is assigned the case, she scrambles to find answers before the situation worsens.
Evidence begins to suggest an evil that has festered for centuries; an evil that now rises to reclaim its power.
An evil that rests in the soulful eyes of a wolf.
About the Author
Robert E Waters is a technical writer by trade but has been a science fiction/fantasy fan all his life. He’s worked in the computer and board gaming industry since 1994 as a designer, producer, and writer. In the late ’90s, he tried his hand at writing fiction, and since 2003, has sold over 7 novels and 80 stories to various online and print magazines and anthologies, including the Grantville Gazette, Eric Flint’s online magazine dedicated to publishing stories set in the 1632/Ring of Fire Alternate History series.
Robert’s first 1632/Ring of Fire novel, 1636: Calabar’s War, (co-authored with Charles E Gannon), was recently published by Baen Books. Robert has also co-written several 1632 stories, including the Persistence of Dreams (Ring of Fire Press), with Meriah L Crawford, and The Monster Society, with Eric S Brown.
Robert currently lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with his wife Beth, their son Jason, and their two precocious little cats, Snow and Ashe.
Forget Me Not
Carol Gyzander
What is legend? What is truth?
A monster is said to lurk beneath the waters of Lake Erie. Jane and her twin brother Rob are haunted by just that. As children, they lost half their family to a terrible boating accident. They haven’t left dry land since. Only, at the age of sixteen, they allow friends to lure them onto the lake.
But should they have held their ground?
When something nearly swamps their boat, years of secrecy are swept away, and the children’s father shares their family history with the supposed Monster of Lake Erie.
Will the tale bring closure or just more tragedy?
About the Author
Carol Gyzander read classic science fiction and Agatha Christie mysteries non-stop as a child. Now that her own kids have flown the coop, she writes and edits horror, suspense, dark fiction, and sci-fi stories from the outskirts of New York City. Twisted tales that touch your heart!
Her story, “The Yellow Crown,” was nominated for the HWA Bram Stoker Award® for Superior Achievement in a Short Story. It can be found in the Stoker-nominated anthology, Under Twin Suns: Alternate Histories of the Yellow Sign from Hippocampus Press.
Carol’s a member of Horror Writers Association, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Broad Universe, and Historical Novel Society. Find her at http://www.CarolGyzander.com or on Twitter and Instagram @CarolGyzander.
Rags
Ty Drago
Atlantic City, 1982
One cold December night, sixteen-year-old Abby Lowell and her foster sister are rescued by a mysterious and deadly figure in rags and a large hood. Abby never learns his name and never sees his face, but he’s obviously good with that black-bladed knife of his, very good.
Abby dubs him “Rags.”
But Rags isn’t done, not by a long shot. With her foster family under threat from the ruthless Bernards, who are determined to tear down their dilapidated hotel in favor of yet another casino, Abby finds herself in desperate need of a defender. A part of her is relieved when Rags returns to protect her again. And again. And again.
Now, with an army of thugs and a terrifying Voodoo witch hunting her, Abby must not only understand the dark truth behind Rags. She must accept that truth, frightening as it is, before it’s too late.
About the Author
Ty Drago is a full-time writer and the author of ten published novels, including his five-book Undertakers series, the first of which has been optioned for a feature film. Torq, a dystopian YA superhero adventure, was released by Swallow’s End Publishing in 2018. Add to these one novelette, myriad short stories and articles, and appearances in two anthologies. He’s also the founder, publisher, and managing editor of ALLEGORY (www.allegoryezine.com), a highly successful online magazine that, for more than twenty years, has featured speculative fiction by new and established authors worldwide.
Ty’s currently just completed The New Americans, a work of historical fiction and a collaborative effort with his father, who passed away in 1992. If that last sentence leaves you with questions, check out his podcast, “Legacy: The Novel Writing Experience,” to get the whole story.
He lives in New Jersey with his wife Helene, plus one dog and two chickens.
eSpec Books 