Noir

Night Shall Overtake by Michael R. Collins

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Michael R. Collins takes us in a new direction with this tenth-anniversary edition of his indie horror novel, Night Shall Overtake. A shape-shifting P.I. navigates a dark and treacherous city populated by living shadows, demonic entities, and cosmic creatures that drive men mad with only a glance. The author’s skillful world-building combines with excellent storytelling that ensures we seamlessly fall into the world he’s crafted as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. Thankfully, however, this is not our world.

Hired by a mysterious client, Twila’s boss sends her out to locate a missing woman with ties to the horror-filled section of the city only monsters call home, a place populated by nightmares and creatures so inhuman as to be incomprehensible. What Twila discovers is a web of deceit and death spreading in all directions from whatever her missing woman seems to have touched. And though the subject of her search appears to be dead, there are terrifying forces at work that now have Twila and everyone she knows in their sights. Her investigation has drawn attention that no one anticipated–and no one ever wants.

As the mystery deepens and the the intrigue grows increasingly hazardous, our cast of characters soon discover that whatever they’ve stumbled into, it could have implications that threaten all life–not just their own. The question is, can Twila get to the bottom of it all before the tensions escalate into a turf war between forces that will destroy the world in the process?

This book is a fantastic dark urban fantasy weaving elements from all sorts of horror into a classic noir-ish detective story, complete with sexual tension, witty dialogue, and exciting mystery.

This title, along with others by Michael R. Collins, will also be available through http://www.godless.com at the link below:

Night Shall Overtake by Michael R. Collins – June 27th

Monochrome Noir: A Gathering Storm by Jack Wells

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Monochrome Noir: Book 1 (A Gathering Storm) introduces us to a world just like our own, but where everything is black and white, and color is of such priceless rarity that people will kill to own items that have been imbued by those who have the gift to bring color to life in the monochromatic items of everyday life.

When a strange and grisly series of killings begins, private detective Henry Hardcastle is hired by a mysterious woman with secrets to keep, and a deeply personal stake in the resolution of these terrible murders. As Henry struggles to navigate a world that isn’t quite what he believed it to be, a young woman, Charlie Grant is struggling with her own nightmare. As their independent journeys for understanding spiral around the central crux of the deranged killer stalking Angel City, we’re forced to wonder if they can fill in pieces of the puzzle for one another if they’re able to come together before one or both of them winds up dead.

Jack Wells does a fantastic job of building a world that’s as captivating as it is unreal, populating this world with characters sure to appeal to readers from a wide variety of tastes, and breathing new life into the hardboiled detective genre many of us adored when we were younger–and some of us never stopped adoring.

This is only Part 1 of the four book series, so there’s much more to come if you manage to weather the gathering storm.

The Naked Clone: A Nick Nolte Mystery By Conor Lastowka, Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, Bill Corbett, & Sean Thomason

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Fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) and RiffTrax are sure to recognize some of the names associated with this fantastically bizarre Hollywood mystery. Those same fans are sure to find a treasure trove of hilarious–and deeply unsettling–glimpses into the life of Mr. Nick Nolte, People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive (1992).

Imagine, if you will, Nick Nolte decided he wasn’t going to come back from his temporary exposure to homelessness when he was preparing for the 1986 classic, Down and Out In Beverly Hills. Imagine he decided that living on the streets of Los Angeles was preferable to the lifestyle of an A-list celebrity and that life as an indigent private detective might just be the life for him. That’s where we find ourselves when we begin delving into the world this collaborative team has created for our perusal.

Studio executives are going missing…and it all has something to do with clones. But there’s no need to worry, Nick Nolte is on the case.

I don’t want to give anything away, because you need to experience this for yourself, but you’ll surely enjoy it as you stumble across a cast of characters you’re familiar with, as we traverse the underbelly of Los Angeles, searching for answers, but finding violence and betrayal…and a fair amount of lunacy.

Travel By Bullet by John Scalzi, Narrated by Zachary Quinto

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Travel By Bullet returns fans to John Scalzi’s The Dispatcher series following a pandemic that isn’t altogether too dissimilar to the one we’ve experienced in the real world. Unlike the real world, Tony Valdez and other dispatchers like him have had more work than they can handle, as grieving families insist on postponing the inevitable for loved ones hooked up to machines. Unfortunately, resetting only goes so far, and it won’t repair the damage done by the sickness itself. It’s a bleak and depressing scenario we find ourselves experiencing through Tony’s perspective.
When a friend is rushed to the hospital, begging Tony to let him die, it triggers a series of events that brings Tony to the attention of wealthy and powerful figures with secrets they’ll do anything to keep under wraps.
This installment continues Scalzi’s trend of combining the alternate reality science fiction of The Dispatcher series with an old-fashioned dose of noir that blends perfectly. The overarching mystery is satisfying and sufficiently convoluted, especially impressive considering the relatively short length of the story.
I particularly liked the concept behind the title of this installment of the series. The premise of utilizing the reset in that way seems both obvious and strangely horrific.
As with the previous two volumes, Zachary Quinto’s narration is superb, lending Tony a uniquely nuanced personality and bringing the other characters (many familiar faces from previous glimpses into the world of The Dispatcher) to life. I hope that Scalzi continues writing these tales and that Quinto continues narrating them because, like Scalzi’s seamless combination of genres, it’s a perfect blend.

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