Category: NETGALLEY

MARCH NETGALLEY LISTINGS

On By eSpec BooksIn NETGALLEYLeave a comment

Do you like free books? I guess I already know the answer to that one…

Do you have a NetGalley account? If so, great! If no, they are free to sign up for, and once you have one, you can request all kinds of books to review, some of them before they’ve even been released! From large publishing houses and small. Here’s a link to NetGalley in case you want to sign up. 

I am a little late in posting this, for reasons. We have another Systema Paradoxa volume listed for February, Out for Blood by Jorie Rao. You can learn more about the book below. Once you do, we hope you will click the link to head over to NetGalley and request it.

Esprit de Corpse

Ef Deal

Proof-Esprit-de-Corpse

What secrets lay beneath Parisian Streets? And who will kill to keep them?

When a malfunctioning automaton runs full force into their locomotive on the new Paris-Orléans railway, Jacqueline Duval and her bohemian twin sister Angélique Laforge become embroiled in a mystery deeply rooted in their tragic past.

A polytech and famed engineering prodigy, Jacqueline is fascinated by the metal man, even more so when she discovers it is powered not by steam, but by the supernatural. Her investigation puts the sisters on a path both dangerous and mysterious as they must foil a plot to employ the dead to power a mechanical army aimed at international conquest. 

Aid comes from unexpected sources as the twins rush to avert this engineered war, but will they be in time?

 

A Curse of Ash and Iron

Christine Norris

Curse-CoverFrontAll The World’s A Stage, As They Say

In 1876 Philadelphia, Benjamin Grimm knows real life is much like the theater—people play their parts, hiding behind the illusion of their lives and never revealing their secrets. When he reunites with his childhood friend Eleanor Banneker, his delight turns to dismay. On learning she has been under a spell for the past seven years, forced to live as a servant in her own home, he realizes how sinister some secrets can be.

Ellie has spent the long years since her mother’s death under her stepmother’s watchful and unforgiving eye. Bewitched and hidden in plain sight, it seemed no one could help Ellie escape. Not even her own father, likewise bespelled. When she encounters Ben one evening, he seems immune to the magic that binds her. Her hope rekindles along with their friendship.

But time is running short. If they do not find a way to break the curse before midnight on New Year’s Eve, both Ellie and her father will be bound forever.

FEBRUARY NETGALLEY LISTINGS

On By eSpec BooksIn NETGALLEYLeave a comment

Do you like free books? I guess I already know the answer to that one…

Do you have a NetGalley account? If so, great! If no, they are free to sign up for, and once you have one, you can request all kinds of books to review, some of them before they’ve even been released! From large publishing houses and small. Here’s a link to NetGalley in case you want to sign up. 

I am a little late in posting this, for reasons. We have another Systema Paradoxa volume listed for February, Out for Blood by Jorie Rao. You can learn more about the book below. Once you do, we hope you will click the link to head over to NetGalley and request it.

Out for Blood

Jorie Rao

SP - Out for Blood 6 x 9

There are creatures lurking in our world. Obscure creatures long relegated to myth and legend. They have been sighted by a lucky—or unlucky—few, some have even been photographed, but their existence remains unproven and unrecognized by the scientific community.

These creatures, long thought gone, have somehow survived; creatures from our nightmares haunting the dark places. They swim in our lakes and bays, they soar the night skies, they hunt in the woods. Some are from our past, and some from other worlds, and others have always been with us—watching us, fearing us, hunting us.

These are the cryptids, and Systema Paradoxa tells their tales.

***

Prudence Ann Wells grew up believing the things that went bump in the night were just fairy tales. Until the night a slathering beast with all-to-intelligent eyes breaks down their door.

She freezes as the creature rushes her and her mother, convinced it can’t be real, as she and her sister, Justice, had always been told.

Only they had been raised on lies.

Prue survives the attack; her mother does not.

Driven by guilt and revenge, she and Justice set out to stop the beast, but can Prue end the nightmare without becoming a monster herself?

 

 

 

 

 

 

JANUARY NETGALLEY LISTINGS

On By eSpec BooksIn NETGALLEYLeave a comment

Do you like free books? I guess I already know the answer to that one…

Do you have a NetGalley account? If so, great! If no, they are free to sign up for, and once you have one, you can request all kinds of books to review, some of them before they’ve even been released! From large publishing houses and small. Here’s a link to NetGalley in case you want to sign up. 

Unintentionally, eSpec has three offerings in January, Yeti Left Home (cryptid/urban fantasy) by Aaron Rosenberg, Phoenix Precinct (fantasy police procedural) by Keith R.A. DeCandido, and The Corpse Fauna Chronicles (zombies) by James Chambers. You can read more about these books below. Once you do, we hope you will click the links below to head over to NetGalley and request them.

Yeti Left Home

Aaron Rosenberg

Yeti-CoverFront

Small-Town Yeti, Big-City Problems

Peaceful, unassuming Wylie Kang—a Yeti with an appreciation for more human creature comforts—lives a quiet life in his self-built sanctuary on the outskirts of Embarrass, Minnesota. But when violent dreams disturb his peace, and a series of strange murders plague the area, a Hunter comes to town, nosing after Wylie’s trail.

Fleeing pursuit, Wylie packs up his truck and heads for the Twin Cities, hoping to lose himself in the urban jungle, only to find a thriving supernatural community.

Just as he begins to settle in—with the help of some new-found friends—he discovers the bloodshed has followed… as has the Hunter.
Can Wylie catch the killer, before the Hunter catches him?

Phoenix Precinct

Keith R.A. DeCandido

Proof-NeuPhoenix-FrontCoverHumans and elves, dwarves and gnomes, wizards and warriors all live and do business in the thriving, overcrowded port city of Cliff’s End, to say nothing of the tourists and travelers who arrive by land and sea, passing through the metropolis on matters of business or pleasure—or on quests. The hard-working, under-appreciated officers of the Cliff’s End Castle Guard work day and night to maintain law and order as best they can.

A fire in the neighboring city-state of Barlin has resulted in hundreds of refugees pouring into Cliff’s End, forcing the creation of a new neighborhood—Albinton, which everyone calls “New Barlin”—and a new police precinct—Phoenix Precinct. Violence against the refugees is on the rise. Lieutenants Danthres Tresyllione and Torin ban Wyvald are called to the latest act of brutality, which has resulted in a vicious murder. But what appears to be a simple hate crime turns out to be far more complicated, as Danthres and Torin’s investigation leads them to corruption in the Castle Guard—and in the castle itself!

An all-new adventure of the Cliff’s End Castle Guard!

The Corpse Fauna Chronicles

James Chambers

Corpse Fauna 2 x 3A chronicle of survival in a world of the living dead.
There is no Heaven or Hell; there is only blood and the dust of flesh.

The Corpse Fauna Chronicles

A vast, malevolent darkness streams across the cosmos. A plague of the living dead sweeps over the Earth. Those left alive scramble for survival like insects feasting on a corpse. And from dead flesh stare a million unnatural eyes. Will the balance of the world tilt to life—or death? Only a handful of the living will decide. Manipulated by undead powers, they travel rough roads of deprivation and danger, finding themselves snared in a web spun by saints and sinners with control of the reanimated dead.

Cornell, one-time bank robber seeking only freedom.

Della, nurse escaping the prison of her past.

Burke, former military scientist clinging to the last of his sanity.

Vale, abandoned, finding her true strength in the world of the dead.

These four and a handful of others must discover the truth behind what brings the dead back to life and what they desire from the living.

Forget the meek. Will the living or the dead inherit the Earth?

Find out in The Corpse Fauna Chronicles. Collected here for the first time in one volume is the complete Corpse Fauna cycle of novellas, short stories, and illustrations, a saga of horror and survival more than twenty-five years in the making.

 

DECEMBER NETGALLEY LISTINGS

On By eSpec BooksIn NETGALLEYLeave a comment

Do you like free books? I guess I already know the answer to that one…

Do you have a NetGalley account? If so, great! If no, they are free to sign up for, and once you have one, you can request all kinds of books to review, some of them before they’ve even been released! From large publishing houses and small. Here’s a link to NetGalley in case you want to sign up. 

eSpec has two offerings in December, adding James Chambers’ Vox Astra: When Clouds Die, the second collection of his transformative science fiction stories and Sean Patrick Hazlett’s Hell’s Well, Systema Paradoxa Vol. 13. You can read more about these books below. Once you do, we hope you will click the links below to head over to NetGalley and request them.

Vox Astra: When Clouds Die

James Chambers

VA - Black Box 2 x 3

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. 

Hell’s Well

Sean Patrick Hazlett

SP - Hell's WellThere are creatures lurking in our world. Obscure creatures long relegated to myth and legend. They have been sighted by a lucky—or unlucky—few, some have even been photographed, but their existence remains unproven and unrecognized by the scientific community.

These creatures, long thought gone, have somehow survived; creatures from our nightmares haunting the dark places. They swim in our lakes and bays, they soar the night skies, they hunt in the woods. Some are from our past, and some from other worlds, and others have always been with us—watching us, fearing us, hunting us.

These are the cryptids, and Systema Paradoxa tells their tales.
***
Astrophysicist Dr. Kate Gavin Weaver’s life was hard enough fighting for tenure at Caltech while raising a four-year-old daughter as a single mother. It was even harder living under the shadow of her estranged father, Mack Gavin, the host of the wildly popular television series, The Cryptid Hunter.

But when Mack disappears while researching the subject of his next episode in a secluded wilderness town in California, Kate decides to leave the relative safety of Pasadena to find her father.

What she uncovers there shakes the very foundation of her reality and forces her to grapple with an adversary she could’ve never imagined.

 

NOVEMBER NETGALLEY LISTINGS

On By eSpec BooksIn NETGALLEYLeave a comment

Do you like free books? I guess I already know the answer that one…

Do you have a NetGalley account? If so, great! If no, they are free to sign up for and once you have one, you can request all kinds of book to review, some of them before they’ve even released! From large publishing houses and small. Here’s a link to NetGalley in case you want to sign up. 

Things are still in transition with the SFWA NetGalley management, but fortunately, I always schedule my titles out months in advance and the previous person managing the SFWA NetGalley account had already set up our titles for the year. Since October’s titles weren’t sorted out until mid-month, those two are still available through November 11th. And for November we are adding James Chambers’ Vox Astra: The Black Box, a collection of his transformative science fiction stories. You can read more about all three books below. Once you do, we hope you will click the links below to head over to NetGalley and request them.

Vox Astra: The Black Box

James Chambers

VA - Black Box 2 x 3

The Stars Will Sing Our Songs Long After We Are Gone…  

…but who will remain to listen? Who will hear their sagas of conflict and discovery, their hymns of honor in the face of political intrigue, their ballads of tough calls made against the opposition of friends and enemies alike?  

 Open your ears to these unyielding revelations which sing of humanity’s place in the cosmos among distant worlds, of beings that exist outside our reality, and of shocking futures. Listen to their tales. Sometimes there are no good choices only hard calls. Though humanity may one day vanish, the stars forget nothing. We can only hope Vox Astra will be kind when they tell of us.

Even in the Grave

edited by James Chambers and Carol Gyzander

“In death – no! even in the grave all is not lost.”
–Edgar Allan Poe

Low ResWandering souls! Restless spirits! The vengeful dead! Those who die with unfinished business haunt the living and make their presence known from the world beyond: 

A scientist’s invention opens a window onto a terrible afterlife.

A New York City apartment holds the secrets of the dead.

A grandmother sends text messages from the grave.

A samurai returns to his devastated home for a final showdown with his past.

A forgotten TV game show haunts a man with a dark secret.

A tapping from behind classroom walls leads to a horrible discovery.

The specter of a prehistoric beast returns to a modern-day ranch.

And the one seeing eye knows all—including what you did.

Haunted from the other side, these stories roam from modern cities to the shadowed moors to feudal Japan to the jungles of Central America, each providing a spine-chilling glimpse into the shadows not even death can restrain. 

Do you dare open these pages and peer into the darkness they reveal?

Stories by Marc L. Abbott, Meghan Arcuri, Oliver Baer, Alp Beck, Allan Burd, John P. Collins, Randee Dawn, Trevor Firetog, Caroline Flarity, Patrick Freivald, Teel James Glenn, Amy Grech, April Grey, Jonathan Lees, Gordon Linzner, Robert Masterson, Robert P. Ottone, Rick Poldark, Lou Rera, and Steven Van Patten.

Rags

by Ty Drago

RagsByTyDrago_FrontAtlantic 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.

OCTOBER NETGALLEY LISTINGS

On By eSpec BooksIn NETGALLEY, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Do you like free books? I guess I already know the answer that one…

Do you have a NetGalley account? If so, great! If no, they are free to sign up for and once you have one, you can request all kinds of book to review, some of them before they’ve even released! From large publishing houses and small. Here’s a link to NetGalley in case you want to sign up. 

So, normally I would be making this post at the beginning of the month, but for reasons, that didn’t happen. Our October listings only went live on NetGalley today, and deep thanks to those who made that possible because this clearly is the most ideal month for the following offerings. The first is Even in the Grave, a ghost anthology featuring many of the members of the New York chapter of the Horror Writers Association; and the second is Rags by Ty Drago, a brilliant bit of nostalgia steeped in stark terror. You can read more about both books below. Once you do, we hope you will click the links below to head over to NetGalley and request them.

Even in the Grave

edited by James Chambers and Carol Gyzander

“In death – no! even in the grave all is not lost.”
–Edgar Allan Poe

Low ResWandering souls! Restless spirits! The vengeful dead! Those who die with unfinished business haunt the living and make their presence known from the world beyond: 

A scientist’s invention opens a window onto a terrible afterlife.

A New York City apartment holds the secrets of the dead.

A grandmother sends text messages from the grave.

A samurai returns to his devastated home for a final showdown with his past.

A forgotten TV game show haunts a man with a dark secret.

A tapping from behind classroom walls leads to a horrible discovery.

The specter of a prehistoric beast returns to a modern-day ranch.

And the one seeing eye knows all—including what you did.

Haunted from the other side, these stories roam from modern cities to the shadowed moors to feudal Japan to the jungles of Central America, each providing a spine-chilling glimpse into the shadows not even death can restrain. 

Do you dare open these pages and peer into the darkness they reveal?

Stories by Marc L. Abbott, Meghan Arcuri, Oliver Baer, Alp Beck, Allan Burd, John P. Collins, Randee Dawn, Trevor Firetog, Caroline Flarity, Patrick Freivald, Teel James Glenn, Amy Grech, April Grey, Jonathan Lees, Gordon Linzner, Robert Masterson, Robert P. Ottone, Rick Poldark, Lou Rera, and Steven Van Patten.

Rags

by Ty Drago

RagsByTyDrago_FrontAtlantic 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.

SEPTEMBER NETGALLEY LISTINGS

On By eSpec BooksIn NETGALLEYLeave a comment

Do you like free books? I guess I already know the answer that one…

Do you have a NetGalley account? If so, great! If no, they are free to sign up for and once you have one, you can request all kinds of book to review, some of them before they’ve even released! From large publishing houses and small. Here’s a link to NetGalley in case you want to sign up. 

Anyway, thanks to the folks at SFWA, we can list our books on NetGalley for a nominal fee, without paying a substantial monthly subscription. For September, we have two more of our Systema Paradoxa titles, created in conjunction with the Cryptid Crate monthly subscription box. You should check them out. The series is great fun (and so is the box!). Click the titles below to request a free review copy on NetGalley.

SP - Found Footage 2 x 3

Found Footage, as accounted by Mary Fan

The camera doesn’t lie… but it has been known to hold a secret or two.

High-school student Jenny Chen captures a glimpse of an unbelievable creature when filming a student movie in the woods near Princeton, New Jersey. Despite her proof, only her best friend believes her.

Determined to reveal the truth about the strange creature, Jenny returns to search the woods, only to end up in a terrifying game of hunt and chase. Someone wants her discovery silenced…but who?

About the Author

Mary Fan is a sci-fi/fantasy writer hailing from Jersey City, NJ. She is the author of the Jane Colt sci-fi series (Red Adept Publishing), the Flynn Nightsider YA dark fantasy series (Crazy 8 Press), the Starswept YA sci-fi series (Snowy Wings Publishing), and Stronger Than A Bronze Dragon, a YA steampunk fantasy (Page Street Publishing).

She is also the co-editor of the Brave New Girls YA sci-fi anthology series about girls in STEM (proceeds are donated to the Society of Women Engineers scholarship fund). In addition, she has had numerous short stories published in collections including MINE!: A celebration of liberty and freedom for all benefitting Planned Parenthood (ComicMix), Magic at Midnight (Snowy Wings Publishing), Tales of the Crimson Keep (Crazy 8 Press), and Thrilling Adventure Yarns (Crazy 8 Press).

In her spare time, when she has any, she can usually be found in choir rehearsal, at the kickboxing gym, or tangled up in aerial silks.

SP - Play of Light 2 x 3

The Play of Light, as accounted by Danielle Ackley-McPhail

Life and Death and Family Secrets…

Sheridan Cascaden faces more than memories when she receives a call in the darkest hours summoning her home.

Sent away five years prior to safeguard her from the evil that claimed her mother, Sheridan hasn’t been back since. She returns to find her childhood home in a disturbing state and her father straddling the Veil, with nothing to explain what happened. Now not only must she deal with her own demons, but she will have to delve into his if she is to unlock the mystery and save Papa’s life.

But wherein lies the line between truth and madness? Sheridan must find out before it’s too late… for both of them…

About the Author

Award-winning author, editor, and publisher Danielle Ackley-McPhail has worked both sides of the publishing industry for longer than she cares to admit. In 2014 she joined forces with Mike McPhail and Greg Schauer to form eSpec Books (www.especbooks.com).

Her published works include eight novels, Yesterday’s Dreams, Tomorrow’s Memories, Today’s Promise, The Halfling’s Court, The Redcaps’ Queen, Daire’s Devils, The Play of Light, and Baba Ali and the Clockwork Djinn, written with Day Al-Mohamed. She is also the author of the solo collections Eternal Wanderings, A Legacy of Stars, Consigned to the Sea, Flash in the Can, Transcendence, Between Darkness and Light, and the non-fiction writers’ guides The Literary Handyman, More Tips from the Handyman, and LH: Build-A-Book Workshop. She is the senior editor of the Bad-Ass Faeries anthology series, Gaslight & Grimm, Side of Good/Side of Evil, After Punk, and Footprints in the Stars. Her short stories are included in numerous other anthologies and collections. She is a full member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association.

In addition to her literary acclaim, she crafts and sells original costume horns under the moniker The Hornie Lady Custom Costume Horns, and homemade flavor-infused candied ginger under the brand of Ginger KICK! at literary conventions, on commission, and wholesale.

Danielle lives in New Jersey with husband and fellow writer, Mike McPhail and four extremely spoiled cats.

AUGUST NETGALLEY LISTINGS

On By eSpec BooksIn NETGALLEYLeave a comment

Do you like free books? I guess I already know the answer that one…

Do you have a NetGalley account? If so, great! If no, they are free to sign up for and once you have one, you can request all kinds of book to review, some of them before they’ve even released! From large publishing houses and small. Here’s a link to NetGalley in case you want to sign up. 

Anyway, thanks to the folks at SFWA, we can list our books on NetGalley for a nominal fee, without paying a substantial monthly subscription. For August, we have two more of our Systema Paradoxa titles. You should check them out. The series is great fun. Click the titles below to request a free review copy on NetGalley.

SP - Eyes of the Wolf 2 x 3

Eyes of the Wolf, as accounted by 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 is the author of The Mask Cycle, a Baroque fantasy series that includes the novels The Masks of Mirada and The Thief of Cragsport (Ring of Fire Press).

For eSpec Books, Robert has written several stories which have appeared in the widely popular military science fiction anthology series, Defending the Future. All seven of his stories that appeared in the series were recently collected into one volume titled Devil Dancers.

Robert currently lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with his wife Beth, their son Jason, and their two precocious little cats, Snow and Ashe.

SP - Forget Me Not 2 x 3

Forget Me Not, as accounted by 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 has stories in over a dozen other anthologies, including Stories We Tell After Midnight from Crone Girls Press; Across the Universe: Tales of Alternate Beatles from Fantastic Books (amidst stories by Cat Rambo, Spider Robinson, and David Gerrold); Cat Ladies of the Apocalypse from Camden Park Press; and The Lost Librarian’s Grave: Tales of Madness, Horror, and Adventure from Redwood Press.

As editor-in-chief and one of the founders of Writerpunk Press, she’s edited four anthologies of punk stories inspired by classic tales, including Merely This and Nothing More: Edgar Allan Poe Goes Punk and Hideous Progeny: Classic Horror Goes Punk. She co-edited the Even in the Grave anthology of ghost stories, with James Chambers, from the NeoParadoxa line of eSpec Books.

She works with James Chambers as Co-Coordinator of the Horror Writers Association New York Chapter and as co-host of the HWA-NY Galactic Terrors online reading series (on the second Thursday of every month—see HWANY.org for details). She is also one of the overall Chapter Program Managers for HWA.

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.

 

JULY NETGALLEY LISTINGS

On By eSpec BooksIn NETGALLEYLeave a comment

Do you like free books? I guess I already know the answer that one…

Do you have a NetGalley account? If so, great! If no, they are free to sign up for and once you have one, you can request all kinds of book to review, some of them before they’ve even released! From large publishing houses and small. Here’s a link to NetGalley in case you want to sign up. 

Anyway, thanks to the folks at SFWA, we can list our books on NetGalley without paying a monthly subscription, for a nominal fee. We haven’t had a listing for a few months now, but we are back up and running in July with two of our Systema Paradoxa titles. You should check them out. The series is great fun. Click the titles below to request a free review copy on NetGalley.

SP - Alone in the Muck 2 x 3

Alone in the Muck, as accounted by Anton Kukal

After what felt like a lifetime in the sewers, Inspector Max Dalton would have thought he’d seen everything. He would have been wrong. When his trainees discover something inexplicable in the muck, life changes radically for all of them, including Max’s granddaughter, Gwen.

News of their discovery gets out and bounty hunters invade the tunnels beneath the city, forcing Max’s cooperation in their search. With life and love and liberty in the balance, Gwen will need help from an unexpected source to evade those looking to capture her new friend.

About the Author

Anton Kukal is an author, actor, and adventurer. After serving in the United States Army as an armor officer, he graduated from law school and enjoyed a highly successful legal practice, then he decided to embrace his creativity. Anton is now a full-time writer. His fiction appears in the award-winning Defending the Future anthology series. His website is antonkukal.com.

SP - Chessie At Bay 2 x 3

Chessie at Bay, as accounted by John L. French

Same ol’ Syn, all new mischief…

Just when Theodore Syn starts thinking about sinking roots, the military comes calling, needing a man with his… unique qualifications to deal with a need-to-know problem that’s cropped up in the Chesapeake Bay.

Something is out there, frightening fish and fishermen alike.

But that’s not the real problem. Someone is masquerading as a military official on American soil, and with war on the horizon, steps need to be taken to safeguard the East Coast, before the Axis Powers drive a U-boat—or something more unexpected—right up the mouth of the Bay.

 About the Author

JOHN L. FRENCH is a retired crime scene supervisor with forty years’ experience. He has seen more than his share of murders, shootings, and serious assaults. As a break from the realities of his job, he started writing science fiction, pulp, horror, fantasy, and, of course, crime fiction.

John’s first story “Past Sins” was published in Hardboiled Magazine and was cited as one of the best Hardboiled stories of 1993. More crime fiction followed, appearing in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, the Fading Shadows magazines and in collections by Barnes and Noble. Association with writers like James Chambers and the late, great C.J. Henderson led him to try horror fiction and to a still growing fascination with zombies and other undead things. His first horror story “The Right Solution” appeared in Marietta Publishing’s Lin Carter’s Anton Zarnak. Other horror stories followed in anthologies such as The Dead Walk and Dark Furies, both published by Die Monster Die Books. It was in Dark Furies that his character Bianca Jones made her literary debut in “21 Doors,” a story based on an old Baltimore legend and a creepy game his daughter used to play with her friends.

John’s first book was The Devil of Harbor City, a novel done in the old pulp style. Past Sins and Here There Be Monsters followed. John was also consulting editor for Chelsea House’s Criminal Investigation series. His other books include The Assassins’ Ball (written with Patrick Thomas), Souls on Fire, The Nightmare Strikes, Monsters Among Us, The Last Redhead, the Magic of Simon Tombs, and The Santa Heist (written with Patrick Thomas). John is the editor of To Hell in a Fast Car, Mermaids 13, C. J. Henderson’s Challenge of the Unknown, Camelot 13 (with Patrick Thomas), and (with Greg Schauer) With Great Power…

 You can find John on Facebook or you can email him at jfrenchfam@aol.com. 

NOVEMBER NETGALLEY LISTINGS

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I am a little late in this–(story of my life)–but we have two titles listed on NetGalley this month. Both are backlist titles by Danielle Ackley-McPhail as we are working to post titles that missed listing when they released for one reason on another.

Proof-HalfingsCourt

Get Your Bad-Ass On!

The rumble of a Harley…
The gleam of black leather…
The shine of polished chrome…
The freedom of the open road…

Motorcycles meet magic and mayhem as Lance Cosain, the halfling leader of The Wild Hunt MC, protects his turf and his people from attacks ordered by Dair na Scath, the high king of the fae.

Holding his own against rogue fae, redcaps, and pissed-off road gremlins, all Lance wants to do is settle down with his lady. Instead he goes toe-to-toe with the high king’s champion over an ancient dagger and his claim to the throne.

Who will triumph? The king of the road or the king of the realm? Either way, the Hunt is on!

Request on NetGalley.

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The Hunt is On!

When strength becomes weakness…
And hope becomes doubt…
As the past collides with the future…hard…

Can Suzanne—Wild Hunt biker chick and one-time member of the fae High Court—stand strong as her world falls apart? She survived an assault by redcaps, an all-out battle with the High King’s armies, and her first encounter with roller derby… but how will she fare against her inner demons? Caught in the midst of a transformation she scarcely realizes and does not understand, her hard-won convictions are tested as never before.

Suzanne is left with only one question—what if they’re wrong?

The truth could mean the difference between saving her sanity and losing her soul…

Request on NetGalley.

Kickstarter DMcPhail

Award-winning author, editor, and publisher Danielle Ackley-McPhail has worked both sides of the publishing industry for longer than she cares to admit. In 2014 she joined forces with husband Mike McPhail and friend Greg Schauer to form her own publishing house.

Her published works include seven novels, Yesterday’s Dreams, Tomorrow’s Memories, Today’s Promise, The Halfling’s Court, The Redcaps’ Queen, Daire’s Devils, and Baba Ali and the Clockwork Djinn, written with Day Al-Mohamed. She is also the author of the solo collections Eternal Wanderings, A Legacy of Stars, Consigned to the Sea, Flash in the Can, Transcendence, Between Darkness and Light, and the non-fiction writers’ guides The Literary Handyman, More Tips from the Handyman, and LH: Build-A-Book Workshop. She is the senior editor of the Bad-Ass Faeries anthology series, Gaslight & Grimm, Side of Good/Side of Evil, After Punk, and Footprints in the Stars. Her short stories are included in numerous other anthologies and collections.

In addition to her literary acclaim, she crafts and sells original costume horns under the moniker The Hornie Lady Custom Costume Horns, and homemade flavor-infused candied ginger under the brand of Ginger KICK! at literary conventions, on commission, and wholesale.

Danielle lives in New Jersey with husband and fellow writer, Mike McPhail and four extremely spoiled cats.