First Contact (Part One in the Genesis Series)

Posted on by Steven Konkoly

1082 KW PINES_Konkoly_GENESIS part oneI know I just hit you with book 2 in The Perseid Collapse Series, but I have one more offering that should interest some of you. First Contact. Let me explain.

Blake Crouch, a talented author I’ve admired for years, asked me to write a novella based on his runaway hit series, Wayward Pines. If you haven’t heard of Blake Crouch or Wayward Pines, you’re in for a treat. Part apocalyptic and horror—all thriller, Crouch’s thought provoking series is unforgettable. I can’t recommend the series highly enough.

First Contact is a prequel to his series, and unfortunately contains some spoilers that would ruin the unbelievable, mind-bending twist that unfolds in Crouch’s books. Even the Amazon description of my book might undermine the twist. Seriously, the ending to book one in Crouch’s series is THAT GOOD!

If this sounds like your “cup of tea,” I hope you check out the series and give my novella a try. Coincidentally (for real), both of the books in his Wayward Pines series are on sale for $2 each at Amazon. Links below:

Pines by Blake Crouch
Wayward by Blake Crouch
First Contact by Steven Konkoly

This is a great opportunity to discover a series that has created an incredible amount of buzz in the book writing world and Hollywood. The Wayward Pines series was picked up by the FOX television network to be a miniseries staring Matt Dillon and Juliette Lewis. Executive produced by M. Night Shyamalan, the series has been filmed and will likely air this fall.

http://www.fox.com/wayward-pines/

Thank you again!

Steven Konkoly

EVENT HORIZON unleashed!

Posted on by Steven Konkoly

For public consumption.

1051 Steve Konkoly ebook EVENT HORIZON_3_LEVENT HORIZON: Book Two in The Perseid Collapse Series in now available as a Kindle book on Amazon. The hard copy version follows on March 23 (will ship on the 23rd if you preordered a hard copy). An audiobook version is in the works, expected to be ready by the 1st or 2nd week of April. I’ll keep you posted on that. Here are the links for each version:

EVENT HORIZON Kindle book 

EVENT HORIZON Hard copy

***If you haven’t signed up for my email update list, you’re missing out! THREE Chapters from book 3 are available exclusively to my mailing list folks. If you sign up, I’ll get the chapters to you shortly. SIGN UP HERE.***

Thank you again for your continued support and readership! This has been an exciting year, and I couldn’t have done it without you!

Book Review of David Jacob Knight’s The Pen Name

Posted on by Steven Konkoly

The Pen NameGood horror is hard to come by—very likely because I don’t follow the genre as closely as I should. I love horror with a supernatural twist, which is why Stephen King has always been one of my favorites. With limited reading time, Stephen King’s bi-annual offerings have kept me fairly occupied, satisfying my “horror” craving. I guess I’ll need to make more time. David Jacob Knights first entry into the horror genre instantly earns him a place on my “to read” list. Check out my review of The Pen Name. 

“The Pen Name takes the age old premise of the Faustian Bargain and fashions a unique, utterly horrifying contemporary tale. A devilish blend of psychological thriller and supernatural horror—this one will keep you turning the pages long into the night.

Meet Ben, a struggling writer on the verge of failure. Reality, both financial and family-related, is one step away from crushing his lifelong dream. Armed with his self-published novel, The Mark, Ben takes a chance on a book convention, ordering hundreds of copies of his novel. The books never arrive, crushing his hopes even further. The single bright spot of his day is a chance encounter with Jack Fleischer, New York Times bestselling author, who happens upon Ben at the convention. Fleischer has somehow procured a copy of Ben’s book and asks him to sign it. Ben’s career is about to take off—in a direction he never anticipated.

Knight captures the essence of Ben’s character. His hopes, dreams, frustrations and fears—all play a significant role is the terrifying suspense that unfolds after the “deal of a lifetime” is waved in front of him. The particulars of the deal are sketchy at best, the contract is several hundred pages long, and the Fleischer’s literary agent is impatient. Das Verlag Publishing needs an answer right away! Within the span of minutes, Ben has to make a choice. The rest is white-knucked ride through psychological hell, masterfully twisted and turned the moment you get comfortable.

Das Verlag is a force to be reckoned with, watching his every move—and if Ben violates the terms of his agreement, terrible consequences lie ahead. The problem is that Ben doesn’t have a copy of the agreement, and all efforts to secure one after signing it have failed. When his publisher’s requests start to cross the line of sanity, Ben is catapulted into a life or death struggle to uncover the shocking truth about his contract with Das Verlag.

The supernatural element is present, but never overdone. The scenes inside Das Verlag publishing are awesome…a skyscraper in the middle of the cornfields of Pennsylvania, reachable by taking an unmarked highway tunnel that doesn’t appear on any map. You have to take the trip with Ben to see it. The devil is in the details, and Das Verlag doesn’t disappoint.

I look forward to future offerings by Mr. Knight.”

Book Review of Michael McFarland’s BLOOD ON THE TRACKS and DUPLEX

Posted on by Steven Konkoly

Michael McFarland recently notified me that he released a new novel—apparently the first book he’d ever written. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed McFarland’s work in the past, so I was naturally excited to hear the news. Then it dawned on me that I haven’t shared my reviews of his work on my blog. Not sure how that slipped past my ever vigilant radar (not difficult, I suppose). Here is my review of Michael McFarland’s most intriguing novel to date, BLOOD ON THE TRACKS, plus a quick review of a novella he published a year or two ago, DUPLEX. Both excellent supernatural horror/thrillers. Trust me, either novel will impact your electric bill—you’ll find yourself turning on ALL of the lights to walk around at night!

Review of BLOOD ON THE TRACKS:

Blood on the TracksMichael McFarland delivers a brilliant supernatural horror novel with his latest release, Blood on the Tracks, landing him a place next to masters of horror like Stephen King and Blake Crouch, on my must read list.

The story terrified me from start to finish, leaving me afraid to walk around in my own home. This is not an exaggeration. There is something so menacing and chilling just behind the surface of the novel’s narrative, that my imagination ran wild, conjuring up images and concepts of what lurked in the Condon House.

McFarland primarily delivers the tale through the eyes of Detective Gary Murdoch, summoned to the fated Condon House to investigate the latest tragedy to cast a shadow over the house: The suicide of a rising musical artist, with eerie and inexplicable links to the house’s bizarre and twisted past. As evidence mounts to suggest horrible undertakings within the basement’s recording studio, the final pieces of the Condon House mystery start to fit together, culminating in a finish that left me speechless.

There is considerable history surrounding McFarland’s fictional mansion and its deceased inhabitants, starting with lumber magnate John Bradford Condon and focusing on controversial poet/songwriter Ian Ellison. The author does such a good job weaving this history into the story through old journals, news clippings and interviews, that I was left wondering what was real and what was fiction. I hope it was all fiction, because the integration is disturbingly realistic, which in my view is why the story scared the daylights out of me.

Like McFarland’s other work, the novel is well written, with vivid descriptions and natural dialogue. Well paced, building tension from start to finish, the story will keep you turning the pages or clicking the buttons. I am very eager to read McFarland’s next offering.

Review of DUPLEX:

DuplexMichael McFarland has created novella worthy of inclusion in any of Stephen King’s anthologies. The novella incorporates a perfect mix of supernatural suspense and pure human malevolence, to leave the reader reeling with a dominant sense of helplessness, and a sliver hope, even at the most disturbing moments in the story. For a novella, the plot is perfectly paced, launching the reader into immediate distress, and dragging it out just long enough until the ceiling caves in. I found myself attached to the protagonist, and intimately concerned with the family’s situation. What happens to the family, is for the reader to discover. As a huge fan of Stephen King’s writing, I stand by my statement, that this story has all of the elements I’ve grown to love and seek out in Stephen King’s short stories. Michael McFarland has a bright future in the horror genre, if “Duplex” is any indication of the stories rattling around inside of his head.

Review of Paul Antony Jones’ Exodus (Book Two of Extinction Point series)

Posted on by Steven Konkoly

Ep-EXODUS-Cover-325x471

Paul Antony Jones is the first “formerly” self-published author that I met when I started my own journey into writing. He has come a long way since then and serves as an inspiration. He truly defines the essence of a “successful” writer, having attracted the attention of Amazon with the self-publishes success of the first book in his Extinction Point series, Extinction Point. You can read my review of the first book in the series HERE. His model of success is simple. Write the best damn book you can, in a genre filled with hungry readers. He truly hit the mark. 

“Exodus, the long awaited second book in Paul Antony Jones’ Extinction Point series takes his sweeping apocalyptic vision to the next level.

The reader catches up with Emily, as she heads north along the Hudson River, on the first leg of her journey to reach Alaska and rendezvous with the only other known group of survivors in North America. Guided by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station, Emily’s trip takes on sudden urgency, when she learns that a massive “red” storm rapidly approaches the eastern seaboard. With her trusty canine companion and an unexpected addition to her entourage, Emily battles her way west and eventually north, trusting that salvation lies at a remote station, on an island off the Alaskan shore.

Jones descriptions of the alien phenomena left me spellbound and frightened. The tree pod creatures in particular are horrifyingly marvelous, unlike anything I’ve ever read. The “red” terraforming is taken to an entirely new level with massive weather events witnessed from low earth orbit through a unique viewpoint. The alien lifeforms’ resilience is tested in colder weather, lifting the fog of hopelessness just enough to shine a light on the hope that humanity might have a chance of escaping extinction.

I noticed a significant shift in the author’s writing since Extinction Point. One of the most common complaints revolved around the exhaustive descriptions. Jones has trended away from this, and I didn’t detect any superfluous or extraneous exposition. The action was realistic, given the character’s capabilities. I think that Mr. Jones took this criticism to heart and made an excellent adjustment to the style he has adopted for the series.

Exodus similarly benefited from an improved flow. For such a “lonely” and linearly progressing story, involving a minimal number of characters, the pace at which the characters move along on their journey toward their destination in Alaska is believable and well timed. The mechanics of Emily’s travel work superbly in this novel.

I eagerly await the launch of the third and final book in the series, my only complaint being that I would like to read it now. The series is a hauntingly compelling vision of an extinction level event. Paul has seamlessly combined horror, science fiction and post-apocalypse in an epic series.”

Pick up a copy at Amazon today

 

Finding a little inspiration…

Posted on by Steven Konkoly

to start a new novel.

You’d think that starting novel number six wouldn’t be a big deal. It’s always a big deal, and frankly, I find myself more than a little nervous as I type the title on the page, make sure it’s centered and STARE at the screen for an indeterminable amount of time. The first words are always the most difficult for me, compounded by the fact that those words commit me to a minimum of three straight months of writing.

I wrote the first 420 words to The Perseid Collapse this morning, sitting at a desk in a hotel room. Not exactly where I would choose to start such an important undertaking, but my day job requires these things, and I write everyday no matter where I find myself…even a lonely hotel room. No, it wasn’t someplace fancy or scenic. As a matter of fact, it was within sight of both a mall and the Maine Turnpike.

But it was in Bangor, less than eight minutes (as measured by my iPhone’s mapping software) from my favorite author’s house.

photo

 

I’ve been to Bangor several times over the past few months for work, but I’ve purposely avoided West Broadway. I’ve driven by it and struggled not to turn. Why? Because I wanted the context of seeing Stephen King’s house to be special. Seeing it on the same morning that I typed the first words of my sequel to The Jakarta Pandemic qualified, so I made the turn off Union Street and parked in front of his house long enough to take a few pictures. It was all I needed to round off a perfect morning…almost perfect. I forgot to bring the power cord for my Mac Air on the trip, and found myself with 46% power upon waking at “zero dark thirty.” 420 words was all I could write before the computer basically told me to save my document and find something else to do.

 

Book Review of Blake Crouch’s PINES

Posted on by Steven Konkoly

This has been a blockbuster summer for Blake Crouch. Two incredible books released for the summer. I can’t thank him enough. This one will be released to the public on August 2oth. Make sure to reserve your copy now! Reserve a copy

PINES brought Blake Crouch’s writing to a new level in my view. The story combines several elements that I enjoy in a story. Fast-paced, horrifying, and suspenseful, Crouch’s story featuring a relentless protagonist thrust into a seemingly hopeless situation against over-whelming odds. I had a hard time classifying this book, since PINES blends several genres seamlessly, spending much of its time planted firmly in suspense horror. Still, mystery and thriller elements abound, along with a genre I will not mention, in fear of spoiling the book’s unprecedented reveal. You don’t want to miss this one.

PINES introduces the reader to Ethan Burke, a Secret Service agent who regains consciousness on a riverbank just beyond the outskirts of the idyllic town, Wayward Pines, Idaho. With little memory of why he is in the town, he starts to explore his surroundings, slowly adding pieces of this puzzle to a scrambled mosaic of fragmented explanations and inexplicable coincidences. Mystery turns to menace, as he slowly starts to accept the fact that he can’t leave Wayward Pines. All paths out of the town lead him back to where he started, and he starts to question the very perception of his own existence.

As he starts to more forcefully seek answers, the thin veneer of Wayward Pines starts to lift…and this is where the story started to far exceed my expectations. Mystery and suspense yields to the sheer horror that kept me returning to the pages as frequently as my schedule allowed. Although the incredible twist is foreshadowed at points later in the story, I kept guessing wrongly until Burke “escapes.” From that point forward, I couldn’t put it down until the book was finished.

Blake admits to paying homage TWIN PEAKS with this novel. He does more than that. He briefly captures the essence of the disturbingly surreal series, in an often gritty and often brutally frightening story reminiscent of the TWILIGHT ZONE. To me, this is by far Blake Crouch’s best book…which is a tough act to follow after RUN.

Review of Blake and Jordan Crouch’s EERIE

Posted on by Steven Konkoly

EERIE is a collaborative novel written by Blake Crouch and his brother Jordan. I refer to the author collectively as Crouch in this review. I’ve read many of Blake’s works…my favorite by far is RUN, which I reviewed here earlier. See Review for RUN. From what I can tell, crafting exceptional stories runs in the Crouch family DNA. 

EERIE kept me riveted to the page until the very end. I honestly haven’t been this “chilled” or “goose bumped” by a novel since rereading Stephen King’s SALEM’S LOT after moving to Maine. I finished EERIE in a twenty-four hour period, constantly sneaking fifteen minutes here and there to get to the next scene.

I won’t retell the story in detail, though it is important to pay attention from the beginning. I love stories like this…where I often search back through the book to reread a scene for clues and hints. At one point in the book, I guarantee you will reread the first chapter. This may sound like a spoiler, but the book is so engrossing that you won’t think about it until the time has come. When it does, you’ll have that “Sixth Sense” moment, when everything falls into place.

Before that reveal, I was spellbound by the horror and darkness wrapped into the two main characters’ world. Grant and Page Moreton are estranged brother and sister, perpetual victims of tragic curveball thrown at them as children. No better off as adults, they are reunited through a menacing coincidence, which binds them together and forces them to confront an unspeakable presence.

The descriptions of the house and the presence they experience are unforgettable…and trust me…you’ll want to forget before you walk into any dark parts of your house. Many of the scenes were exponentially frightening, brought to life by Crouch’s prose and ratcheting suspense. I highly recommend that you read this book in as few sittings as possible. The imagery evoked will surface your most intimate fears. If you’ve recently come to terms with basements…get ready for some more therapy.

I rather enjoyed the ending to this book, in relation to the main reveal, however, I could have used a little more explanation of why the “original” event occurred. Why “he” was chosen for the experience. I won’t say more than that. It didn’t in the least bit diminish the experience for me. I thoroughly enjoyed Crouch’s first offering of the summer.