‘Death’s Embrace’ will be available on September 3, 2021. Courtesy photo, used with permission.
Created in 2014, Malison is reaching the heavy metal community with clean vocals and a unique amalgamation of speed, shred, and harmony. The band released their first, self-titled album via the legendary Combat Records and embarked on a Southwestern tour in support. Since then, they have become a staple of San Diego metal shows and have toured the Pacific Northwest and Midwest. Malison is ready to release their second album featuring a stable and hungry line-up, as well as a new set of thrashing and melodic songs. Malison is Steven Rondina (vocals, bass), Mario Lovio (guitar), Nick Mafi (drums), and Eddie Spade (guitar). The new album ‘Death’s Embrace’ is slated for release September 3, 2021 via Metal Assault Records. (Malison, 2021)
A staple of the Southern California metal scene, Malison takes their compelling talents to new heights with the full length release ofDeath’s Embrace. Recorded at San Diego based Plaudit Studios, pre-orders for the new album will launch on June 11, 2021 along with the premiere of the music video for their lead off track “Reborn.”
Blending together the best elements of traditional heavy metal, thrash, power metal, and neoclassical shred, San Diego, California quartet Malison captures the energy and fury of their live show onto their newest full length studio album, ‘Death’s Embrace.’
Bosch’s seventh and final season will premiere all eight episodes of its final season on Amazon Prime Video. Photo: google
Michael Connelly is an American author of detective novels and other crime fiction. His works include The New York Times bestsellers, “The Law of Innocence,” “Fair Warning,” and “The Night Fire.” His books, which include the Harry Bosch series, the Lincoln Lawyer series, and the Renée Ballard series, have sold more than eighty million copies worldwide. Connelly is a former newspaper reporter who has won numerous awards for his journalism and his novels. He is the executive producer of Bosch, starring Titus Welliver, and the creator and host of the podcast Murder Book. The seventh and final season of Bosch is set to premiere on Friday June 25, 2021 on Amazon Prime Video. (amazon, 2021)
Bosch is a police procedural streaming television series produced by Amazon Studios and stars Titus Welliver as Los Angeles Police detective Harry Bosch. Harry Bosch is a fictional character created by Michael Connelly. Bosch debuted as the lead character in his 1992 novel “The Black Echo,” the first in a best-selling police procedural series, which now number 21. Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch is a veteran police homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department and was named after the 15th-century Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch. His mother was a prostitute who was murdered when Harry was a young boy and his father was Mickey Haller Sr., a defense attorney known for representing prominent clients. His half-brother is Mickey Haller, a Los Angeles-based defense attorney who made his first appearance in the novel “The Lincoln Lawyer,” which was made into a movie starring Matthew McConaughey as Mickey Haller.
In the books, Bosch served in Vietnam, but in the series, he is a veteran of the first Gulf War so that events can happen in the present day time, as they did in the books. I am a huge fan of Michael Connelly’s books and have read most of the Harry Bosch novels. It is always exciting to see a character you come to know and love from books on screen, whether they be movies of a series. I caught most of the first season and it stays close to the books’ storyline; I might even go back and binge them all before the final season premieres.
Fred Waitzkin is an American novelist and writer. His work has appeared in Esquire, New York magazine, the New York Times Sunday Magazine, the New York Times Book Review, Outside, Sports Illustrated, Forbes, the Huffington Post, and the Daily Beast, among other publications. His memoir, “Searching for Bobby Fischer,” about his son Josh Waitzkin, a chess prodigy, was made into a major motion picture released in 1993. His other books are “Mortal Games,” “The Last Marlin,” “The Dream Merchant,” and “Deep Water Blues.” His new book “Strange Love” is about an American tourist who finds himself obsessed with a young Costa Rican woman and tells a story of disappointments, unusual desires, and the things people will do when their dreams do not materialized in the ways they had hoped. It is illustrated by Sofia Ruiz, a Latin American artist.
“Strange Love” is narrated by a man vacationing in a remote village on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. The story opens as he is sitting at a picnic table with Rachel, a local woman he recently met, as well as her aunt María José, a few cousins, and some other people. Rachel wanted him to meet her family and they are exchanging stories. She proceeds to tell him about how the women of Fragata are the most beautiful in the world and when men hear about the place, they arrive in their fancy cars, only to take them away. Most girls leave when they are seventeen and return when they are in their thirties. At 36, Rachel is one of the few who never left. The man is a writer who at one time imagined himself to be a novelist the likes of his heroes Philip Roth and John Updike but instead has spent thirty years working as an exterminator in filthy basements and elevator shafts after writing only one novel. Rachel grew up surrounded by poverty, loss, and trauma and has the gift of storytelling, something he lacks. She runs the Fragata Lounge, a dilapidated beach bar and tries to make a decent living, while constantly being reminded that her youth and any chance she had of escaping, are slipping away. As Rachel continues to tell her story, he becomes more involved with her, and while she thinks he will turn her story into a book, he hesitates because it might mean the end of their relationship.
Captivating works of literature do not have to be hundreds of pages long and Fred Waitzkin’s new book “Strange Love” is proof of this. This beautifully written novel is perfect for a weekend beach read and despite its small size, the bittersweet story of two similar souls lives on past the final pages. The author combines a beautiful yet melancholy seaside setting with flawed and relatable characters to create a memorable romance. Deep character development creates unforgettable characters, especially the lead couple. He is a failed novelist and when he meets Rachel, she is like a breath of fresh air, so he uses the excuse of research for a new book to keep her in his life so he can feel alive again. Rachel, who feels like her best years, like her beauty, are behind her, feels useful when she is telling him about herself and life in Fragata. Their similar stories of loss and broken dreams bind them but their fate is left uncertain. The story flows easily throughout the pages and the language is easy to understand. The illustrations brilliantly accentuate the story and make it come alive. As with most of his books, the author’s affinity for coastal living shines through and anyone who lives in such settings will attest to the beach’s allure. “Strange Love” by Fred Waitzkin is an unusual love story set by the Costa Rican shore. It is recommended for readers who appreciate complex characters and stories of embattled men and women who live in beautiful yet haunting settings.
*The author received a copy of this book for an honest review. The views and opinions expressed here belong solely to her.
‘Gone for Good’ is the new novel by Joanna Schaffhausen, due out on August 10, 2021. Photo: amazon
Joanna Schaffhausen is a crime and mystery author. She has a doctorate in psychology, which reflects her long-standing interest in the brain―how it develops and the many ways it can go wrong. Previously, she worked for ABC News, writing for programs such as World News Tonight, Good Morning America, and 20/20. Her new novel “Gone For Good: A Novel (Detective Annalisa Vega)” is the first in a new mystery series from the award-winning author and features Detective Annalisa Vega, in which a cold case heats up. It will be released on Tuesday August 10, 2021, and is available for pre-order on amazon. (amazon, 2021)
“Gone for Good” – The Lovelorn Killer murdered seven women, ritually binding them and leaving them for dead before penning them gruesome love letters in the local papers. Then he disappeared, and after twenty years with no trace of him, many believe that he is gone for good. Not Grace Harper. A grocery store manager by day, at night Grace uses her snooping skills as part of an amateur sleuth group. She believes the Lovelorn Killer is still living in the same neighborhoods where he hunted and if she can figure out how he selected his victims, she will have the key to his identity.
Detective Annalisa Vega lost someone she loved to the killer. Now she is at a murder scene with the worst kind of déjà vu: Grace Harper lies bound and dead on the floor, surrounded by clues to the biggest murder case that Chicago homicide never solved. Annalisa has the chance to make it right and to heal her family, but first, she has to figure out what Grace knew―how to see a killer who may be standing right in front of you. This means tracing his steps back to her childhood, peering into dark corners she had not acknowledged before, and learning that despite everything the killer took, she has still so much more to lose.
‘Horseman: A Tale of Sleepy Hollow’ by Christina Henry will be released on Tuesday, September 28, 2021. Photo: amazon
Christina Henry is a horror and dark fantasy author whose works include “Near the Bone,” “The Ghost Tree,” “Looking Glass,” “The Girl in Red,” “The Mermaid,” “Lost Boy,” “Alice,” “Red Queen,” and the seven-book urban fantasy Black Wings series. Her new book, “Horseman: A Tale of Sleepy Hollow,” is an atmospheric, terrifying novel that strongly draws from “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” spinning an engaging and frightening new story from a classic tale. It is set for release on September 28, 2021. (amazon, 2021)
“Horseman: A Tale of Sleepy Hollow” – Everyone in Sleepy Hollow knows about the Horseman, but no one really believes in him. Not even Ben Van Brunt’s grandfather, Brom Bones, who was there when it was said the Horseman chased the upstart Crane out of town. Brom says that’s just legend, the village gossips talking.
Twenty years after those storied events, the village is a quiet place. Fourteen-year-old Ben loves to play “Sleepy Hollow boys,” reenacting the events Brom once lived through. But then Ben and a friend stumble across the headless body of a child in the woods near the village, and the sinister discovery makes Ben question everything the adults in Sleepy Hollow have ever said. Could the Horseman be real after all? Or does something even more sinister stalk the woods?
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‘Hidden Salem’ is Kay Hooper’s new book. Photo: amazon
Kay Hooper is the award-winning author of “Sleeping with Fear,” “Stealing Shadows,” and more than ten other novels of suspense and intrigue along with dozens of other books. Her first book “The Lady Thief” was published in 1981 and since then she has published over 70 books. She made The New York Times Best Sellers List in 2000 with “Stealing Shadows” and was nominated for the Shamus Award for Best Original P.I. Paperback for “House of Cards,” part of The Bishop Series. Her new book “Hidden Salem” (Bishop/Special Crimes Unit) is about a town shrouded in the occult and an evil that lurks in the dark. (amazon, 2021)
“Hidden Salem” – Nellie Cavendish has good reasons to seek out her roots. Not only because she has no memory of her mother but she hardly knew the father who left her upbringing to paid caregivers. In the eight years since her twenty-first birthday, very odd things have begun to happen. Crows gather near her wherever she goes, electronics short out when she touches them, and when she is upset, really upset, it storms. At first, she chalked up the unusual happenings to coincidence, but that explanation does not begin to cover the vivid nightmares that torment her. She can no longer pretend to ignore them. She has to find out the truth. And the only starting point she has is a mysterious letter from her father delivered ten years after his death, insisting she go to a town called Salem and risk her life to stop some unnamed evil. Before her thirtieth birthday.
As a longtime member of the FBI’s Special Crimes Unit, Grayson Sheridan has learned not to be surprised by the unusual and the macabre–but Salem is different. Evidence of Satanic activities and the disappearance of three strangers are what brought Salem to the attention of the SCU, and when Gray arrives to find his undercover partner vanished, he knows that whatever is hiding in the seemingly peaceful little town is deadly. But what actually hides in the shadows and secrets of Salem is unlike anything the agents have ever encountered.
‘Chasing the Boogeyman: A Novel’ by Richard Chizmar will be released August 17, 2021. Photo: amazon
Richard Chizmar is the author of “Gwendy’s Button Box” (with Stephen King) and “A Long December,” which was nominated for numerous awards. His fiction has appeared in dozens of publications, including Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and multiple editions of The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories. He has won two World Fantasy awards, four International Horror Guild awards, and the HWA’s Board of Trustee’s award. His third short story collection, “A Long December,” was recently published to starred reviews in both Kirkus and Booklist, and was featured in Entertainment Weekly. Chizmar’s work has been translated into many languages throughout the world, and he has appeared at numerous conferences as a writing instructor, guest speaker, panelist, and guest of honor. In his new book “Chasing the Boogeyman: A Novel,” due out August 17, recent college graduate Richard Chizmar goes against a serial killer who may not be entirely human. It is available for pre-order on amazon. (amazon, 2021)
“Chasing the Boogeyman: A Novel” – In the summer of 1988, the mutilated bodies of several missing girls begin to turn up in a small Maryland town. The grisly evidence leads police to the terrifying assumption that a serial killer is on the loose in the quiet suburb. But soon a rumor begins to spread that the evil stalking local teens is not entirely human. Law enforcement, as well as members of the FBI are certain that the killer is a living, breathing madman—and he is playing games with them. For a once peaceful community trapped in the depths of paranoia and suspicion, it feels like a nightmare that will never end.
Recent college graduate Richard Chizmar returns to his hometown just as a curfew is enacted and a neighborhood watch is formed. In the midst of preparing for his wedding and embarking on a writing career, he soon finds himself thrust into the real-life horror story. Inspired by the terrifying events, Richard writes a personal account of the serial killer’s reign of terror, unaware that these events will continue to haunt him for years to come. A clever, terrifying, and heartrending work of metafiction, Chasing the Boogeyman is the ultimate marriage between horror fiction and true crime.
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Release: ‘Chasing the Boogeyman: A Novel’ by Richard Chizmar
The Beach-Bound Book Bash is set for Saturday, June 12, 2021. Courtesy photo, used with permission.
The Beach-Bound Book Bash, the annual literary tea and author reading, is back. The event will happen virtually on Saturday June 12, from 3p.m. to 4:30p.m. PT / 6p.m. to 7:30p.m. ET. Presented by Books That Make You and Black Château Enterprises, The Beach-Bound Book Bash is an opportunity for booklovers to discover their next favorite author and new reads for the summer. The event features live book readings presented virtually to booklovers around the world, as well as prizes, networking, and lots of bookish fun. (Black Château, 2021)
The Beach Bound Book Bash 2021 is hosted by LaFern Cusack, host of The Experience on 710-AM ESPN Radio Los Angeles, and by Desireé Duffy, founder of Black Château Enterprises, The BookFest®, and Books That Make You.
Attendees can enter the huge Beach-Bound Book Bash Giveaway featuring a whole sack of books and summer goodies including a Kate Spade Tote, a Gathre vegan leather mat, a beach towel, floppy hat, and sunglasses—valued at $300. Winner announced at the end of the event.
To take part in the Beach-Bound Book Bash, get updates, and connect with other passionate readers, join the Beach-Bound Book Bash Facebook Group. The Beach-Bound Book Bash 2021 will be streamed live on Facebook and YouTube. Use hashtags #BBBB ad #BBBB2021.
The line-up of readers include:
T.L. Bequette, a criminal defense attorney in Oakland, California, turned writer. “Good Lookin’” is his debut novel and weaves his expertise from the courtroom into the pages of a thrilling mystery.
George Galdorisi, a career naval aviator and a multiple award-winning and The New York Times bestselling author. He wrote fifteen books, including the acclaimed Rick Holden thriller series.
Leah Guy, aka the Modern Sage, a new thought leader and expert in emotional healing and personal development. She has written three books, the latest being ”Overcoming Toxic Emotions, A Practical Guide to Building Better Relationships with Yourself and Others.”
Gerald Everett Jones, multiple award-winning author of literary fiction and mystery novels. Compared to literary giants such as Roth and Vonnegut, he releases his latest book, “Harry Harambee’s Kenyan Sundowner,” on June 29, 2021.
Seven Joseph, an attorney, negotiator, speaker, and award-winning author of “The Last Surviving Dinosaur: The TyrantoCrankaTsuris” and “The Crankatsuris Method: A Grownup Guide to Effective Crankiness.”
Debbie Monteggia, an interior designer turned writer on mission to inspire other people through her poems. “Tears of Change” is her debut poetry book.
Gabrielle Alexa Noel, a bisexual creator, columnist, software developer, and author of “How To Live With The Internet And Not Let It Run Your Life.” Her content is sex-positive and positively highlights marginalized communities.
Scott Ryan, an author, publisher, and television historian who captures the truth of what really happened. His latest book, “Moonlighting: An Oral History” is the never-before-told inside story behind the making of the pioneering TV series.
Edgar Scott, an economist-turned computer scientist and author of the near-future dystopian science fiction, ”418: I Am a Teapot.”
Flo Selfman, an in-demand copyeditor-proofreader for award-winning books, a contributing author to Media Magnetism and Office for One. She is currently working on a memoir.
Laila Tarraf, a senior human resource executive and the author of “Strong Like Water: How I Found the Courage to Lead with Love in Business and in Life,” a book that offers insights and inspiration for finding a natural balance and leading as a whole person.
Laura Tohe, a poet, writer, librettist, scholar of Indigenous American Literature, and Navajo Nation Poet Laureate. Her work was published in multiple languages and includes ”Code Talker Stories,” an oral history book with the remaining Navajo Code Talkers.
Sara Winokur, a geneticist and researcher turned author. Her award-winning mystery novel, “Double Blind: The Icelandic Manuscript Murders,” dives deep into the culture, history, and gorgeous landscapes of the Land of Fire and Ice.
Black Château is an award-winning marketing and public relations agency located in Southern California. It specializes in promoting authors, books, small press, personality brands, and creative individuals from around the world with a full-spectrum of services. The company’s motto is: We believe in storytellers. Black Château’s sister company, Books That Make You, is a multi-media brand that promotes books through its website, radio show/podcast, and magazine features.
The 26th annual Texas Book Festival in October will consist of virtual events and in-person activities. Photo: Texas Book Festival, used with permission.
Texas Book Festival is excited to announce that the 26th annual Texas Book Festival will take place October 25 through October 31 as a hybrid event. Starting Monday, October 25, virtual sessions will lead up to the Festival Weekend on the grounds of the Texas State Capitol and along Congress Avenue in downtown Austin. The Festival will include a diverse lineup of established, emerging, and debut literary talent of all ages. (Texas Book Festival, 2021)
The 2020 all Virtual Festival featured more than 175 authors, illustrators, poets, journalists, artists, and thought leaders including Matthew McConaughey, Dean Koontz, and Erin Brockovich. The annual First Edition Literary Gala was held virtually and raised more than $600,000 to fund all the nonprofit organization’s literary and literacy programs.
In 2021, book enthusiasts can look forward to the return of everything they love about the Texas Book Festival, including a terrific author lineup, timely and thoughtful panel topics, food trucks, a Saturday evening Lit Crawl, and more.
The 2021 Texas Teen Book Festival will also take place during the hybrid Festival, featuring conversations with acclaimed Young Adult authors. The annual First Edition Literary Gala will take place Friday, October 29 as an in-person celebration featuring some of literature’s brightest stars and storytellers, with indoor and outdoor seating options. Guests can attend sessions in the outdoor tents and are welcome to visit the in-person and virtual Exhibitor Marketplace, which features book publishers big and small, university presses, booksellers, independent authors, and a wide variety of items for the literary shopper.
With a vision to inspire Texans of all ages, the Texas Book Festival connects authors and readers through experiences that celebrate the culture of literacy, ideas, and imagination. Founded in 1995 by former First Lady Laura Bush, Mary Margaret Farabee, and a group of volunteers, the nonprofit Texas Book Festival promotes the joys of reading and writing through its annual Festival Weekend, the Texas Teen Book Festival, the Reading Rock Stars Title I elementary school program, the Real Reads Title I middle and high school program, grants to Texas libraries, and year-round literary programming. This year’s hybrid Texas Book Festival will take place from October 25 through October 31, with virtual events October 25 – 28 and the Festival Weekend taking place on the grounds of the Texas Capitol October 30 – 31, featuring renowned authors, panels, book signings, and children’s activities. Thanks to generous donors, sponsors, and volunteers, the Festival remains free and open to the public.
“Festival-goers have shared with us how eager they are to see us return downtown, safety permitting. And now, encouraged by growing vaccination numbers and only after many conversations with authors, publishers, attendees, partners, other event organizations, and the City of Austin, we’re eager as well. We’ll never abandon what we learned about virtual, though—readers told us they enjoyed that too. Stepping into the hybrid space provides everyone the opportunity to participate in a big, vibrant, diverse Festival program, virtually or in-person.” – Literary Director Matthew Patin.
Stephen King’s ‘Lisey’s Story’ has been adapted into a horror drama miniseries for Apple TV+. Photo: amazon
Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes “If It Bleeds,” “The Institute,” “Elevation,” “The Outsider,” “Sleeping Beauties” (cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy: “End of Watch,” “Finders Keepers,” and “Mr. Mercedes” (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and a television series streaming on Peacock). His novel “11/22/63” was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. He is the recipient of the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. His 2016 novel “Lisey’s Story” is about Lisey Landon, the widow of a famous and wildly successful novelist, Scott Landon and consists of two stories-Lisey’s in the present, and that of her dead husband’s life, as remembered by Lisey. It has been adapted into a miniseries scheduled to premiere on Apple TV+ on Friday June 4, 2021. It stars Julianne Moore as Lisey Landon and Clive Owen as Scott Landon. (amazon, 2021)
Lisey lost her husband Scott two years ago, after a twenty-five year marriage of profound and sometimes frightening intimacy. Scott was an award-winning, bestselling novelist and an extremely complicated man. Early in their relationship, before they married, Lisey knew there was a place Scott went—a place that both terrified and healed him, could eat him alive or give him the ideas he needed in order to live. Now it is Lisey’s turn to face Scott’s demons, to go to that terrifying place known as Boo’ya Moon. What begins as a widow’s effort to sort through the papers of her celebrated husband becomes a nearly fatal journey into the darkness he inhabited. Lisey has a hard time keeping herself grounded in this world, often finding that she slips back to Boo’ya Moon in her sleep and sometimes while awake.
