Charlie Husk is a cannibal, a member of a clan of flesh-eaters who live hidden away from the world. His job is to travel into civilization, abduct people (college students are favored prey), and bring them back to the clan. He's quite good at it; he's stealthy, ruthless, and smart, easily able to adapt to unexpected changes in circumstances. When he falls in love with a human girl, Charlie's whole life changes instantly, like a switch has been thrown. And, so, Charlie abandons his clan and his heritage, and determines to live among the people who used to be his prey. The author takes on a tricky challenge making a monster a sympathetic character and he's completely successful. Zeltserman keeps the story grounded in reality, giving Charlie practical problems to overcome (like finding a way to deal with the craving for human flesh, or learning new words, like social security number), and the story is at once tender, brutal, fantastic, and vibrantly real. A unique and splendid novel.--Booklist's starred review.
Sunday, January 2, 2022
Saturday, November 20, 2021
A Killer's Essence -- on sale for $1.99!
The kindle version of A Killer's Essence is now on sale for $1.99! What some reviewers said about this mix of crime, noir, paranormal, and baseball:“Zeltserman’s lean but muscular style, so evident in A Killer’s Essence and The Caretaker of Lorne Field, is just as sharply honed here . . . Riveting.” —The Boston Globe
“This eerie thriller deftly blurs the lines between madness and the perception of reality.” —The Star-Ledger
“[A] chilling page-turner attuned to the most discerning of avid crime lovers. Well written and well paced. Recommended.” —New York Journal of Books
“Zeltserman’s signature creepiness is available here and there, but what really drives this novel is the engaging portrait of an honest, hardworking cop who, on the job and off, gives the best he’s got, knowing how rarely it will be enough.” —Kirkus Reviews
"Zeltserman's new work retains the honed-razor psychological insight of his award-winning The Caretaker of Lorne Field (2010). A scary, keep-you-guessing thriller not to be missed" — Booklist
Saturday, October 16, 2021
Two Very Different Short Story Collections
Thursday, October 14, 2021
PW starred review for More Julius Katz and Archie
Wednesday, August 11, 2021
Starred Review for Unlucky Seven
Sunday, July 18, 2021
Hard-boiled or Noir?
Hard-boiled or noir, or both?
Given this definition of hard-boiled from Encyclopedia Britannica: Hard-boiled fiction, a tough, unsentimental style of American crime writing that brought a new tone of earthy realism or naturalism to the field of detective fiction. Hard-boiled fiction used graphic sex and violence, vivid but often sordid urban backgrounds, and fast-paced, slangy dialogue.
And this definition of noir fiction from Wikipedia: Noir fiction (or roman noir) is a subgenre of crime fiction. In this subgenre, right and wrong are not clearly defined, while the protagonists are seriously and often tragically flawed.
I'd say it fits squarely in both. But I'll let the reader decide.
Saturday, July 10, 2021
Looking for reviewers
I've some review copies to give out for my hardboiled noirish crime novella: formats Kindle, PDF, or EPUB. It's 16,000 words (an hour and a half reading time), and if you ask for it by sending me a message through this blog with your email and format I'm going to expect a short review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. If I don't get one, I'll be sending Lance after you! Trust me, you don't want Lance coming after you, which you'll know all about once you read the novella!
Thursday, July 1, 2021
A new hardboiled novella
Trey Barker, a good guy and a good writer, helped me out a lot when I was running my Hardluck Stories webzine, so when Trey asked if I'd write a novella for the Guns + Tacos series he edits with Michael Bracken, I wasn't going to turn him down. The inspiration for my entry was Paul Cain's Fast One, and it's ultra-hardboiled, action-packed, and fast-paced. I hope folks check it out.
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
Now 25 Tales!
The cover hasn't changed, and neither has the title, but I've updated the kindle version of 21 Tales, adding 4 recently written and previously unpublished stories. 20 of the 21 stories in the original publication were crime stories, these new stories are either sci-fi or speculative fiction and are in the Weird section.
The new stories:
Baseball during the Hundred-Year Pandemic: introduces a solution for playing baseball games in empty ballparks during a longstanding pandemic.Killing Time until the Next Eon: a vision of what might exist after the world ends.
Friday, April 30, 2021
A new collection of Julius Katz stories!
More Julius Katz and Archie continues with eight additional stories!Julius Katz and the Case of Exploding Wine
Julius Katz and the Giftwrapped Murder
Archie on Loan
Cramer in Trouble
Julius Katz and the Terminated Agent
Archie for Hire
Julius Katz and the Belvedere Club
Like a Lightning Bolt