Category Archives: ” Novel

Tor Releases “KOP KILLER” by Warren Hammond

  By Editor | June 7, 2012 - 11:45 pm | , ,
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KOP Killer

THE CLIMACTIC THIRD VOLUME OF THE KOP TRILOGY

KOP Killer

Warren Hammond

 

“The fast-moving story line is complemented by a complex lead

and perfectly lean prose.”

—Publishers Weekly, starred review

 

Warren Hammond’s gritty sci-fi noir thriller KOP introduced readers to Juno Mozambe—an anti-hero cop on the steamy, corrupt colony world Largarto. The follow-up, Ex-KOP, found Juno on a collision course with heartbreak and destiny after being booted off KOP—the Koba Office of Police. Now, Hammond is back with KOP KILLER (A Tor Hardcover; $25.99; On-sale June 6, 2012)—the final explosive volume of the acclaimed series.

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Juno Mozambe’s life had been easier as a dirty cop in Koba, the capital city of the dead-end planet Lagarto. But when his wife died after murdering her vile, drug kingpin father, his life began to go downhill.

 

Then Juno’s partner—the corrupt chief of the Koba Office of police was murdered. Juno tried to keep a low profile, but now he’s ready to take down KOP and Emil Mota—the man responsible. Mota has been using the KOP for his own personal gain and Juno is ready to do whatever it takes to take down the bastard, including posing as a rent-a-thug for a whorehouse that needs protection.

 

But when Juno discovers a series of profoundly twisted murders, he faces a bleak possibility: in his desperate quest for vengeance, Juno may have placed himself beyond any hope of redemption…

 

WARREN HAMMOND is the author of two previous books, KOP and Ex-KOP, which was hailed by the Denver Post as “an addictively readable mix of hard-boiled detective and science fiction.” Hammond lives with his wife in Denver, Colorado, where he is currently developing a new mystery/noir series.

 

PRAISE FOR WARREN HAMMOND

“A riveting story. If you like a mean, no-bullshit cop story, then this is a KOP you oughta call. If Hammond failed to apprehend an audience, it’d be a crime.”

—SF Reviews.net, 4 stars

 

“KOP is about as good as noir crime gets since Dashiell Hammett stopped writing. Yes, I know what I just said.”

—David Drake, bestselling author of Hammer’s Slammers and Lacey and His Friends

“The best SF Noir since Richard K. Morgan. Gritty and gruesome with the punch of a high-velocity bullet.”

—Kat Richardson

“A thrillingly dark read.”
—Booklist on KOP


“Gritty, tough, sweaty, with a vivid and well thought-out backdrop, solid, brutal sleuthing, a deeply flawed but worthy hero, and a sequel waiting in the wings: a powerful combination.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“A futuristic techno thriller in a Bogart overcoat. A beautiful first novel, straight out of the dark streets of noir, but kissed with futuristic neon and chrome. Very original and entertaining, and yet somehow pleasingly familiar.”
—Joe R. Lansdale, author of Lost Echoes

“Hammond’s first novel introduces a flawed hero with a checkered past and a dystopian world where good doesn’t always win. This SF detective novel should appeal to fans of noir fiction.”
—Library Journal

About Tor Books

Tor Books, an imprint of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, is a New York-based publisher of hardcover and softcover books. Founded in 1980, Tor annually publishes what is arguably the largest and most diverse line of science fiction and fantasy ever produced by a single English-language publisher.  In 2002, Tor launched Starscape, an imprint dedicated to publishing quality science fiction and fantasy for young readers, including books by critically acclaimed and award winning authors such as Cory Doctorow, Orson Scott Card, and David Lubar. Between an extensive hardcover and trade-softcover line, an Orb backlist program, and a stronghold in mass-market paperbacks, books from Tor have won every major award in the SF and fantasy fields. In addition, Tor Books has been named Best Publisher 24 years in a row in the Locus Poll, the largest consumer poll in SF.

Andrew Kaplan’s “Scorpion Betrayal”

  By Editor | May 17, 2012 - 12:05 am | , ,
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Scorpion Betrayal

Author: Andrew Kaplan

Publisher: Harper Fiction (softcover)

Page Count: 433 Pages

Reviewer: Erica Cassell

In Andrew Kaplan’s Scorpion Betrayal, we return to the world of “Scorpion” an American spy with myriad identities and a set of skills that leave him uniquely qualified for the mission he’s been posed:  Stop the Palestinian from destroying the world.  That said, get ready for a near James Bondian romp across most of Europe, the Middle East, and North America.

Kaplan plotted, cajoled, connived, and outright blown up buildings to get his hero where he needs to be and when, and turned up the tension by showing you exactly what the Palestinian is capable of.  Superficially, it’s an exciting journey but not without a few things that, to my mind, turned me on my ear and partially destroyed my ability to suspend disbelief. But Kaplan shows what a pro he is by recovering quickly each time.

Scorpion, known only by his codename, comes from a harrowed past fraught with childhood disasters and lucky breaks that were only explained in the glossary and are intrinsic to discovering his remarkable of skills. It necessitated a lot of flipping from front to back that stalled out the action and made it difficult to recall the complex encoded discussions that were integral to discovering friend from foe.  And there are a lot of both.

The author has scored a hit in this department. In the world of espionage, one can never truly trust anyone and that is well represented here whether he’s forcing issues to his favor or employing the age old art of bribery to get the information he needs to stay close to the jihadi’s tale.  Scorpion is resourceful, he is tough, and perhaps surprisingly, he is fair.  All things that will endear the reader to him and that kept me turning pages to see how he will pull of what, and when.

On the flip side, the Palestinian is not so much different. Again, Kaplan has hit on it here. As a rational, thinking westerner I couldn’t easily identify with him or his cause, but I could admire the conviction and ruthlessness with which he carried out his side of the story. There is nothing he won’t do to complete his goal, no one he won’t kill. His single-minded ruthlessness will make the reader cringe. By the slightly premature climax of this manhunt, the reader is hopeful, but not sure that the Palestinian will fail. I can appreciate that.

This 433-page game of cat and mouse will keep the reader going whether he or she is a fan of espionage, mafia, or anthropological fiction.  The fast-paced glances at many cultures around the world and the seedy underworlds of each is well done and colorful with snippets of native languages and descriptions of weapons from all of them.  Scorpion knows how to use them just as Kaplan knows how to keep you turning pages even when one brief scene makes you stop and cock your head with a “wait, that isn’t right, is it?”. Throw in the extra added excitement of a beautiful woman to distract Scorpion from his mission and a smattering of grins from his only real friend, Rabinowich, and you’ll be glad you finished this book.

Keep your eyes peeled for the next installment Scorpion Winter available July, 2012.

 

Reviewed by: Erica Cassell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alex Cavanaugh’s “Cassa Fire”

  By Editor | March 19, 2012 - 11:26 pm | , ,
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CassaFire

by Alex Cavanaugh

Dancing Lemur Press, LLC./235 pages

$15.95

Release Date: February 28, 2012

Review by Ferrel D. Moore

 

 

 

Alex Cavenaugh is the rising star in science fiction these days.  His style is fresh, clean and quick moving.  This is the first book I’ve read of Alex’s, but I so thorougly enjoyed it that I will buy his earlier works just because I am so impressed with his craftsmanship.

He’s one part George Lucas, one part Robert Heinlein with an improbable dash of Edgar Rice Burroughs thrown in for good measure.

Here’s the story overview from the publisher:

From the Amazon best-selling author – CassaStar was just the beginning… The Vindicarn War is a distant memory and Byron’s days of piloting Cosbolt fighters are over. He has kept the promise he made to his fallen mentor and friend – to probe space on an exploration vessel. Shuttle work is dull, but it’s a free and solitary existence. The senior officer is content with his life aboard the Rennather. The detection of alien ruins sends the exploration ship to the distant planet of Tgren. If their scientists can decipher the language, they can unlock the secrets of this device. Is it a key to the Tgren’s civilization or a weapon of unimaginable power? Tensions mount as their new allies are suspicious of the Cassan’s technology and strange mental abilities. To complicate matters, the Tgrens are showing signs of mental powers themselves; the strongest of which belongs to a pilot named Athee, a woman whose skills rival Byron’s unique abilities. Forced to train her mind and further develop her flying aptitude, he finds his patience strained. Add a reluctant friendship with a young scientist, and he feels invaded on every level. All Byron wanted was his privacy…

CassaFire is the first book I’ve read in a long time that’s lived up to the backcopy.  It’s characters are not only well drawn, by the end of the first three chapters I was fairly certain that I’d met them personally.

The tension never let up except for a moment so I could catch my breath before I was rocketed forward to the next chapter.  The skill with which Alex balances strong characters with wonderful possitilities of conflict, resolution or romance is really quite impressive.  Athee is perhaps the most engaging heroine I have come across in genre writing in many years.

You should buy this book- it’s really worth reading.  Get financing if you have to.  Alex ties up loose ends so neatly I hardly felt let down that the novel was over.  Then I started to fidget.  When does the next in the series come out, I wondered?   Was Alex taking a nap instead of writing?  Was his computer broken?  Why wasn’t he writing?  I looked on the back of the book, I checked inside the back cover.

Nowhere did it say when the next in the series was coming out.

It wasn’t fair.

Here’s the feeling CassaFire left me with- Get back to work, Alex!

If you’re going to write books this exciting, keep writing.  Your readers want more.

PS, I’ve stayed away from divulging the ending, because it is too elegant to spoil.  Buy CassaFire.  See for yourself.

“Wide Open”

  By Editor | March 8, 2012 - 5:11 pm | , , , ,
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Wide Open by Deborah Coates

New books by Tor/Forge are something to pay attention to, particularly this debut novel by Deborah Coates available March 13, 2012.  When they’re excited about a new author, I’d say buy the book.  “Wide Open” by Deborah Coates proves that case.  I’ve read it and you won’t be disappointed.  In fact, you’ll be thrilled Deborah made the shift from short fiction to novels.Here’s the Tor/Forge press release, written by the talented Alexis Nixon:

A CHILLING NEW FANTASY—THE FIRST IN A TRILOGY!

 WIDE OPEN

 by Deborah Coates

“…a startlingly original book…”

—Booklist 

“… [a] refreshingly original dark fantasy debut.”

—Publishers Weekly

 “An interesting plot and compelling characters…”

—Kirkus Reviews

“Intriguing!”

—RT Book Reviews

 Magic crackles across the sky and ghosts haunt lonely country back roads in Deborah Coates’s enthralling debut novel WIDE OPEN (A Tor Hardcover; $24.99; On-sale March 13, 2012)! After establishing her talent with her short fiction, Coates becomes a novelist to watch with this haunting paranormal mystery about a young woman who has ten days to solve her sister’s murder.

Was it murder or suicide?

 When Sergeant Hallie Michaels comes home to Rapid City, South Dakota on ten days’ compassionate leave from Afghanistan, her sister Dell’s ghost is waiting at the airport to greet her.

The sheriff says that Dell’s death was a suicide, but Hallie doesn’t believe it. Why would Dell’s ghost still be hanging around? Friends and family, mourning Dell’s loss, think Hallie’s letting her grief interfere with her judgment.

The one person who seems willing to listen is Boyd Davies, Rapid City’s deputy sheriff. He’s always showing up everywhere he’s not wanted and helping when he doesn’t have to.

As Hallie begins to ask more questions, she attracts new ghosts—women who disappeared without a trace. Soon, someone’s trying to attack her, burn down her father’s ranch and stop her investigation.

When Hallie discovers the evil she’s up against, she’s going to need Boyd, her friends, and all the ghosts she can find to defeat an enemy with an unimaginable ancient power at his command.

With her keen ability to weave the paranormal into everyday, rural American life, Coates has created an authentic and intimate story that will stay with the reader long after they have turned the final page. Complex and unique—WIDE OPEN is a brilliant debut from a bright new novelist.

DEBORAH COATES lives in Ames, Iowa and works for Iowa State University. Her short fiction has appeared in Asimov’s and Strange Horizons, as well as Year’s Best Fantasy 6, Best Paranormal Romance, and Best American Fantasy.

 

 Additional Praise for Wide Open

“I loved it. Deborah Coates is a storyteller in the best sense of the word.”
—Patricia Briggs, New York Times bestselling author of River Marked

“Twin Peaks meets Dean Koontz… Deborah Coates offers a pitch-perfect sense of place, an uncanny knack for dialogue, and a complex heroine who’s mad, sad, tenacious, and tough…          —Sharon Shinn, author of Troubled Waters

“A great blast of fresh air….. Wide Open is the impressive debut of a distinct new voice in fantasy.”
—Greg van Eekhout, author of Norse Code

 “Vivid, suspenseful, and filled with intensely convincing characters, this novel is an unforgettable homecoming.”
—A. M. Dellamonica, award-winning author of Indigo Springs

 WIDE OPEN                                                                                                

By Deborah Coates

A Tor Hardcover

ISBN: 0765328984

$24.99 / 304 Pages

On-Sale: March 13, 2012