Gee Mark, for a book that gave you hundreds of hours of laughter, I'd say you got your money's worth:)

Totally kidding, and just yanking your chain a little. I have zero problem with you opinion of Jigsaw Man. Seriously, it's all good. Just not your cup of tea, I guess. Hope you decide to give one of my other books a try sometime.

Also, I think that book VT Horror Fan is talking about is MINE, by Robert R. McCammon and it's truly a shame you didn't make it past those first few pages because if you had of you would have read that the screaming baby is only a doll and the mother not dealng with it well is a nutcase getting ready to kidnap a real baby. None of that first scene is real; it's only happening in her head. Fantastic book, in my opinion.

Cheers,

Gord

_________________
Author of THE JIGSAW MAN, CRIMSON, and STRANGE MAGIC.
http://www.gordqrollo.com

I think you're right Gord. I actually can't remember the name for sure but that sounds right. My friend who gave me the book said somewhat the same thing. He told me if I could get through the first few pages I would've loved it. Maybe I will have to try it again.

One of the books I am reading now, The Source by Brian Lumley is starting to fall into the bad book category. The first 2 in the series were pretty good, this one is dragging me down and starting to make me lose faith in the series, but I am about a 1/3 into it so hopefully it will pick up, but from what I heard I may be in for a major disappointment. Time will tell. Thankfully I am also reading The Black Train so at least I have that going for me.

I hear you VT - I simply can't wait to get a copy of The Black Train. Up here in Canada we always have to wait an extra month or so to get the Leisure Books so I still haven't found it yet. Heading to the mall today though, so hopefully I'll get lucky.

Cheers,

Gord

_________________
Author of THE JIGSAW MAN, CRIMSON, and STRANGE MAGIC.
http://www.gordqrollo.com

I thought JIGSAW (MAN) rocked. It pretty clearly is an author's first novel. My big groaner came with the amount of time the gas valves were open before the explosion. If you are anywhere near an open valve, run now. Take it from a guy in construction!
The energy of the story lifted me away from worrying about the details. Fun book. Real fun.
I am a big J. A. Konrath fan. His story SUCKERS with Jeff Strand was fantastic and led me to his mystery series "Jack Daniels." Gory and fun. So I order a hardcover copy that Konrath wrote under the name Kilborn. AFRAID is the name. From England cuz no American hardcover. Oh my godz burning. This book is hard to take. Real hard. I had to put it down with extreme prejudice. Hey J.A., Horror readers are not stupid. But I think your book might be!

Rollo is right VT. Mine is a GREAT book. I think McCammon peaked with Swan Song and MINE. I have Gone South but I haven't really had an urge to read it because both wife and my best friend said there's no horror at all in it. Same reason I haven't read Lisey's Story by King. I have a confession to make to all of you though. I just BARELY finished Dread in the Beast two days ago after a year of picking it up and putting it down. Excellent writing, beautiful prose, original as hell but damn.............a whole book about shit. I liked Symbiotic and Haunter better although they were even more bleak. After reading Dread in the Beast I had to dig out an old Laymon book and plow through it in a day to get my brain back from Miss Jacob.

_________________
Dr Seuss Is Dead

Honestly I don't come across that many "bad books" but I recently found one. Monster Behind the Wheel from Mark McLaughlin & Michael McCarty. I'm sorry but I just couldn't keep interested. It seemed liked they cared more about off the wall descriptions and catchy little phrases more than the story. I got about half way through and then decided to put it down. It just seemed like both authors were trying too hard to be clever and funny but came up pretty short and the story just wasn't there to pick up the slack. So I guess that would go on my "Bad Book" list.

Oh and Jigsaw Man was my first Gord Rollo read and that book is what hooked me to his writing. I also fucking loved Crimson. Strange Magic is on my list to read and I'm looking forward to that.

_________________
"The Living Dead and the dying living are all the same. Cut from the same cloth. But disposing of dead people is a public service, whereas you're in all sorts of trouble if you kill someone while they're still alive."

DREAD IN THE BEAST, the novel. An entire book about shit!!! A little bleak? I had a hard as hell time with the various groups in this book as they moved through their plot lines. Stuff didn't add up or seem to jell as time went on. As is usual with Charlee it took a second reading before I realized the magic of the book. Charlee has a hell of a time making her vision clear for us regular folks. HAUNTER (SOMA) was pretty much the only Charlee that grabbed me from start to finish.
Otherwise it takes a fair bit of effort. And let me tell you. This is effort that is well rewarded. My advice? Pick that shittin book back up and start from the beginning again. It will make much more sense the second time. The gal is a genius. But just not a real accessible one.........

I've got Dread, Haunter, Vestal, and Symbiotic. So far, all I've read is Symbiotic. I thought it was a good read, but I didn't see the genius I've heard people mention. It wasn't a bad book at all, but I wouldn't put it a the top of any book list. I liked the idea of a videotape transmitting thoughts ala The Ring, but I didn't think the language was anything above the ordinary. I guess, from what I'd read about her, I was expecting Lord Byron or something! hahaha. Lord Byron writing about ppl getting their guts pulled out and gnoshed upon. That said, the Lovecraft nod in Symbiotic was unexpected, and realllly neat.

_________________
Author of THE JIGSAW MAN, CRIMSON, and STRANGE MAGIC.
http://www.gordqrollo.com

Hey. Thanks for bringing back a 2 year old thread! It does get tough to talk about books when the authors get on the same websites and defend themselves way past the point of necessity.
I mentioned on one of the various Delirium fansites that I didn't care for anything Greg Gifune writes. Wow. I got informed that Greg is the best horror author ever! Even his cats think so.
Anyone reading the first ten books published by Delirium, then comparing them with the last ten would not think it was the same publisher. Read into that what you will.
I have mentioned many times that 3/4ths of the books I pick up get set down unfinished. That figure is now around 90% for horror.
I expect tedium and repetition in my daily life. I expect it and find it. I also find ways to inject energy into these situations. Authors should be able to do the same with their ideations. It really is just a matter of picking better places on the screen to place the words. Hitting the keys in a better order.
Read the first ten or twelve pages of Rex Miller's first novel SLOB if you want to know how horror should be written. Read everything else he wrote if you want to know how not to write horror. It's a tough life, buddy. A tough life.

I have to say, I just finished The Jigsaw Man last week and really enjoyed it. It was a really original story, and definitely in the top 10 i've read in the last few years.

A cool story with a shitload of energy. Jigsaw Man is fun.

Us Small Press fans have a WTF reaction when we start reading Ed's commercial output!!!

For me, it was the opposite. I started out a Leisure fan with City Infernal, and then later got into his limited and hardcore stuff.

I was lucky. My first foray into the imagination of Edward Lee was The Minotauress, which blew me away with it's grossness and comedy.

The Leisure stuff I have found decent but nowhere near the quality of the small press stuff. I couldn't actually finish City Infernal. It is Ed's small press stuff which has made him my favourite author, alongside Greg Gifune.

I started with Teratologist (fell in love) and then moved onto the Leisure stuff. I have a decent pile of his small press trades, but I think I'll wait on those 'til I finish the mmpbs. I want to savour them and stare at them a while longer before I sample the delights within

As much as I've grown to love the bulk of Carlton Mellick III's work, I have a really hard time getting into/through some of his earliest books. I'm stuck halfway through SATAN BURGER even though I tore through the sequel, PUNKLAND, in a matter of hours. Finishing TEETH AND TONGUE LANDSCAPE took a lot of determination and I have yet to make it past the first paragraph of THE STEEL BREAKFAST ERA.

Talking of bad books.... I recently got done with Bentley Little's The Policy. It actually made me want to tear out my own eyes and never read anything ever again.

Man, I'm soooo glad you said that! I thought it was just me who didn't like Tom Pic's stuff! I respect that he's a very talented guy and people willingly sacrifice their firstborns in his name, but I just get tangled up in all the words. I've read one complete novel of his (and part of another) and I really tried hard to like it, It's just not for me.

Anybody else reading IN LAYMON'S TERMS? I am not having a great time with this. The short stories feel thrown together and the rememberances all read exactly the same. I have enjoyed Kelly's intro and Ryan Harding's story so far and I am about a third through. I hope the "rarities" are fun......

I did like Brian Keene's GHOUL. It is the only novel of his I liked. I gave up on him years ago. Happy to see some kindred spirits. I did read THE RISING all the way through............ Decent enough but I didn't catch the buzz. I just can't read Gifune. I get bored easy.
I am a huge fan of Tom Piccirilli, however. His voice speaks to me. Many of his stories involve a person who just can't decide what to do for a few hundred pages. I can see how many people could find that boring!

JPokela: thanks for the generous comments, as always. Much appreciated.

John & Squeaky: thanks for checking out my titles, even if they didn't work for you. If you find that the dark fantasy is too slow and wordy, you might dig my crime fiction more. It's generally leaner, meaner, and most of the time just as dark. You might enjoy EVERY SHALLOW CUT, THE FEVER KILL, and THE COLD SPOT. In any case, thanks for giving my work a go.

_________________
Tom Piccirilli is the author of over 20 novels including SHADOW SEASON, THE COLD SPOT, and A CHOIR OF ILL CHILDREN. www.thecoldspot.blogspot.com