Dark and, at times, amusing fiction from award-winning author Dave Zeltserman

Thursday, May 27, 2010

What's different with this cover?


A sticker.

I had this made up so that I could put it on my books when I did events for Killer. It might hard to read from the above photo, but the sticker says 'Author of Washington Post Best Books Small Crimes and Pariah', and so far the feedback I've gotten from bookstores is that it's been helping a lot to sell copies of Killer--and not just Killer, but readers have been coming back later to buy Small Crimes and Pariah.

The next step is to get more feedback so I can convince Serpent's Tail to put a similar sticker on all my books. If you're a bookstore and would like some of these stickers, please contact me.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

thanks to David Cranmer


I'd like to thank the ever generous David Cranmer for posting the following review for '21 Tales' over at the Gutter Books Blog:

"DAVE ZELTSERMAN's 21 TALES was written between 1992 and 2006 and culled from such diverse pages as EQMM, New Mystery Magazine, Thuglit, and Out of the Gutter to name a few. Besides the sharp prose and unpredictability of the plots, I was impressed with the author taking the time to introduce each tale with some insight behind their creation. This collection is for the reader who loves to have the proverbial rug yanked out from under them which Mr. Zeltserman is exceptionally good at. Top collection."

'21 Tales' is available now for the Amazon Kindle for $1.49, and will be released later this year by New Pulp Press as a trade paperback.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Boston Globe reviews Killer


"Dave Zeltserman is at it again writing about ex-con antiheroes with the kind of panache that would make Jim Thompson, king of the psycho killer novels, proud."

Ed Siegel over at the Boston Globe has written a terrific review for Killer. You can read the review here.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Killer Review + Killer Recommendation


The NerdofNoir makes it a hat trick with his review of Killer:

"This is arguably the quietest and most intimate of the trilogy, it is neither the riding-shotgun-with-a-psychopath hell ride that was Pariah nor a twistily plotted, emotionally devasting shocker like Small Crimes. There’s plenty of violence and the ending takes a stark turn that is extremely dark and satisfying, but this is the most character study-esque novel of the trio. Also, though March may have the highest body count of the three novels’ protagonists, he is arguably the most sympathetic...Killer caps off one of the more striking runs in crime fiction of recent years, a series that was consistently darker, bleaker and more violent than practically anything else out there right now."

The complete review can be found here.

Thanks Nerd!

Also, I'd like to thank Patrick Milliken over at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore for making Killer one of his hardboiled picks of the month.

And finally, this Thursday at 7 pm, Paul Tremblay and I will be making an appearance at one of my favorite bookstores, Back Page Books in Waltham, where Paul will be reading from his excellent No Sleep Till Wonderland, while I'll be reading from my Waltham-based, Killer. After the reading if there's enough interest we'll also be giving a quick Kung Fu demonstration (although Paul doesn't know this part yet).

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

How cool is this?


The book cover for the German edition of Outsourced. This might be one of the coolest book covers I've seen.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Killer interview + Vampire Crimes excerpt



With the US release of Killer, Paul Brazill has reposted both an interview we did last year on Killer, and also an excerpt from my still-to-be-sold vampire noir novel, Vampire Crimes, which I used when I guest blogged for him last year.

All this can be found here.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Killer Reviews


Killer is now available in bookstores everywhere, and here are some of the killer reviews it has racked up so far:

"Spare prose and assured pacing place this above most other contemporary noirs." Publisher's Weekly

"With graphic imagery and exciting twists, this novel is impossible to put down and has a surprising ending. A brilliant read." Aberdeen Press & Journal

"This novel is everything hard-boiled fiction should be - compact, direct and disciplined, and concerned with humans rather than stereotypes. It is also, for all its violent subject matter, a quietly told story, which makes its tension all the more intense" Mat Coward, Morning Star

"Finishing off his men-out-of-prison trilogy, Dave Zeltserman delivers KILLER, which does nothing else but prove to readers that he is truly the king of Boston crime. This is not some overwrought, long-winded attempt at noir, but streamlined, punch-to-the-gut writing.... His style is one of the best among crime writers going today. So far, the two other books of this trilogy have made many best-of lists, and — guess what? — this will be his hat trick. I can’t think of another writer I’m more excited to see another book come from than Zeltserman" Bookgasm

"Killer is a major novel of crime." Ed Gorman

"KILLER is the final installment of Zeltserman's "man-out-of-prison" series. SMALL CRIMES and PARIAH take some beating, but KILLER is superb. When once-upon-a-time hit-man, Leonard March, is freed from prison, he's like an old, de-fanged wolf, battle scarred and shunned by the pack. Zeltserman, in this meditation on the mind of a killer, expertly weaves together two time frames: Leonard now, and Leonard in his bloody heyday. KILLER is a measured, compelling, character study that manages to be at once terrifying and strangely moving, as Leonard struggles withalienation, loneliness, and old ghosts. But don't be lulled into expecting a Hollywood ending to this story: this is vintage Zeltserman, and that means there's always a tail. With a sting. Be warned." Roger Smith

"Dave Zeltserman's Killer is simply one of the best crime novels I've read. Not in a long time, not in ages, not this year, but ever." Juri Nummelin, Pulpetti

"This excellent tale moves along at a great pace as March tries to redefine himself after prison and reconnect with his children. The chapters alternate between present day and flashbacks to his days as a hitman. There are twist and turns in this novel that will keep you guessing until the last page. If crime fiction is at all for you, you should check this book out because Zeltserman is a new master." 410Media

"In a Nutshell: Superbly written with a real twist in the tale, Killer is a novel which will appeal to lovers of crime fiction and the general readers alike. As a reader who usually ‘crosses the road’ to get away from crime fiction, Zeltserman has single-handedly convinced me that I should rethink my long-established custom of shying away from the genre." RobAroundBooks

"To put it simply, Killer is a brilliant character study that will rip the literary rug right out from under the reader's tightly-curled toes." Corey Wilde, The Drowning Pool"Here at the Bookbag, we've been very impressed with Dave Zeltserman's work thus far. He uses a wonderful noirish narrative that takes you straight to the heart of the story. His story telling is very straightforward, not weighing down the story with too much style, but sticking to the substance and delivering a hard-hitting work every time. With Killer, he has done the same again." Iain Wear, thebookgag.co.uk

"The whole book is told in tightly controlled prose that's perfectly suited to the subject matter. Killer is another bang-up job from Zeltserman, and a noir novel in the grand tradition. Don't miss it." Bill Crider

"Highly recommended ... Zeltserman’s choices and the way he links them feel exactly right. He times the revelations and the peeling away of the past to enhance events happening in the present." NextRead

"Read the book, amici. It’s a very good one that will rock you in the last few pages." Charlie Stella

"Right off the bat let me tell you that Killer is the best of the ‘Man out of prison’ trilogy. Don’t get me wrong, the casual psychopathic meanderings of Joe Denton in Small Crimes was a sinister treat and the over the top violence and subtle social satire of Pariah was out-and-out brilliant. But with Leonard March, Zeltserman has found a wholly empathic narrator. Readers will connect with March and feel for his struggle to assimilate into a society that he was never really apart of and will be enthralled with how Zeltserman craftily alternates the story lines between March’s dismal present and the chapters which detail his evolution as a hired killer." Spinetingler Magazine

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Killer and other news





Today is the official publishing date for Killer, which is the 3rd book in my 'man out of prison' noir thriller trilogy.

I've been in NY for a few days, and came home to some nice news. First, my novella, 'Julius Katz', which was originally published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and won a Readers Award from Ellery Queen, was just awarded the 2010 Best Novelette from the Short Mystery Fiction Society. I'd like to offer my congratulations to all the other nominees and winners.

I also found waiting for me a terrific starred review from Publishers Weekly for The Caretaker of Lorne Field:

"Zeltserman’s superb mix of humor and horror focuses on Jack Durkin, the ninth generation of firstborn sons in his family ho have daily weeded Lorne Field to purge it of Aukowies, bloodthirsty plants that could overrun the world in weeks if not attended to. Though Jack takes his job seriously, no one else does: his oldest son doesn’t want to follow in his footsteps; his wife is tired of living poorly on his caretaker’s salary; and the townspeople who subsidize him are increasingly skeptical of purported menaces that no one has ever seen because Jack diligently nips them in the bud. With his support dwindling, Jack finds himself driven to desperate measures to prove that he’s truly saving the world. Zeltserman (Pariah) orchestrates events perfectly, making it impossible to tell if Jack is genuinely humankind’s unsung hero or merely the latest descendant of a family of superstitious loonies. Readers will keep turning the pages to see how the ambiguous plot resolves."

And finally, my first reading for Killer will be this Wednesday (May 5th) at the Harvard Coop in Cambridge MA from 7-8. I hope people show up. I'll have some sort of trivia contest for giving away a free copy of Bad Karma.