Re: RARA-AVIS: Dave Zeltserman's KILLER...

From: davezeltserman (Dave.Zeltserman@gmail.com)
Date: 14 Jun 2010

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    Stewart + Ron, thanks for giving both these books a read. They're completely different styles of books and I can understand readers favoring one over the other. Pariah is much larger in scope, and is quite an explosive ride (and I'm eternally grateful to Serpents's Tail for publishing it--nobody else would've had the balls to do it) with Killer being a much quieter more meditative book. Killer is a far more accessible book, though, as Pariah is definitely going to (and has) appall some readers. Personally, I'm (slightly) more proud of what I accomplished with the writing with Killer, as the present and past story arcs ended up fitting together much better than I had expected.

    Stewart, no pressure since the die has already been cast. The next 3 novels I have for publication are already scheduled. The next one out is The Caretaker of Lorne Field, which will be published this August. It's not crime, more of a mix of horror and an allegorical fable, and it's my personal favorite of my sold books, and probably the favorite of all my early readers who read all my books. I have high hopes for this one. It's my first book that would be rated PG if movie ratings were used (Killer a solid R, Pariah a solid NC-17), but also from the feedback I've been getting it's a book that could appeal to just about anyone--horror readers, fantasy, spec. fiction, literary, adults, kids.

    I took Fast Lane out of print over a year ago. I'm hoping my publisher reprints it. I know my editor is supporting that. If that doesn't happen, I'll put out a cheap ebook version as I did with Bad Thoughts so readers can get my backlist. About my two ebooks--Bad Thoughts was the second book I wrote and was originally published in 2007. It's much different than my other books--a mix of crime and horror and very grim, but I also think the last 50 or so pages move at an exciting clip, maybe more so than any of my other books except Outsourced, which is out next year. There's a certain metaphysical/supernatural element which some readers accept and some don't, and from the feedback I've gotten that pretty much determines how much a reader is going to like it. My ebook, 21 Tales, is a collection of short stories which New Pulp Press will be publishing later this year. The stories in this collection cover a wide range of the hardboiled/noir genre, and they're the type of stories I used to like reading as a kid in Alfred Hitchcock paperback anthologies--all have some twist of one form or another.

    --Dave http://www.davezeltserman.com

    --- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Stewart Wilson <stewart@...> wrote:
    >
    > I read KILLER a couple of weeks ago, and PARIAH a month before that.
    > I though both were fantastic, but I think that KILLER is a
    > better-written book, and it really has me excited to read what Mr.
    > Zeltserman puts out next (no pressure Dave). To be fair, the two
    > books are in different styles, and I do prefer the style in which
    > KILLER was written, but I also found the characters more interesting,
    > the situations more realistic, and I preferred its narrative
    > structure.
    >
    > Still actively looking for SMALL CRIMES and FAST LANE (might even
    > break down and order them online, though I did buy two of his ebooks
    > off Smashwords which I have yet to start reading).
    >
    > --Stewart
    >
    >
    > On Thu, Jun 10, 2010 at 4:34 PM, Ron Clinton <clinton65@...> wrote:
    > > I finished KILLER last night, and found it to be another fantastic book by
    > > Dave.  It even added -- to a slight degree -- elements from another niche
    > > genre that I love, hitman novels.  Obviously, that wasn't the focus, per se,
    > > but that contextual element added to the other main components of the book
    > > (the noirish, faltering quest for redemption, lone man struggling against
    > > odd and the weight of society, etc.) made for a terrific package.
    > >
    > > I think I'd still say PARIAH is my favorite of the man-out-of-prison
    > > trilogy, however.  It was a close call, to say the least, and there are
    > > elements of KILLER that I think do transcend PARIAH, but overall I think
    > > PARIAH still stands as my favorite.  But, in the end, PARIAH and KILLER are
    > > both terrific works...that I preferred one fractionally more than the other
    > > is like saying I like Rocky Road fudge more than walnut fudge...the degree
    > > of preference is so small it's really not worth mentioning. ;-)
    > >
    > > I enthusiastically recommend this book -- especially to folks on this list.
    > > Books this good and finely-tuned to our particular preferences are tough to
    > > find...like a killer's stiletto blade to the heart (a lil' in-reference for
    > > those who have read the book), this one hits the target dead-on.
    > >
    > > Ron C.
    >



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