Excerpt

Excerpt: HOUSE HAUNTERS by K. C. Jones (Tor Nightmare)

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Today, we have an excerpt from House Haunters, the latest horror novel by K. C. Jones! Due to be published by Tor Nightfire, on October 6th, it is “a fast-paced thrill ride perfect for fans of How to Sell a Haunted House and Play Nice, in which a skeptical reality TV show producer and a misanthropic ghosthunter must team up to survive a shoot from hell.” The novel has already racked up a considerably amount of pre-publication praise and buzz, and now CR readers have a chance to give the read a try before it’s released! First, here’s the synopsis:

Grace Wonderly needs a hit show, or her career is dead.
But saving her job might just kill her.

With her studio relying on AI to greenlight new projects, finding the next breakout series is Grace’s only shot to save her job. And her sanity.

Her solution may be Frank Pendleton: a brilliant but abrasive — and admittedly handsome — ghost hunter who claims he can’t feel fear, making him uniquely attuned to the paranormal.

Frank is either a fraud or the real deal. Skeptical, but hoping for TV gold, Grace assembles a crew to shoot a proof of concept.

But when the production descends into a nightmare, Grace is forced to face the impossible: ghosts are real, and though cold and distant, Frank may be their only chance of getting out alive.

(Even before reading a single page, but after seeing that cover: I really hope the corgi lives…)

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Excerpt: THE TOWER OF BEGGARS by Torsten Weitze (Absurd Ventures)

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Today, we have a short excerpt from The Tower of Beggars, the first novel in Torsten Weitze‘s Stormfell Academy series. Weitze is a prolific German fantasy author, and this marks his first publication in North America and in the UK. Due to be published tomorrow, by Absurd Ventures, here’s the synopsis:

When tragedy strikes her family, Niri finds herself penniless and alone in a city determined to turn their back on ‘her kind’.

Her only possession is also her only hope – a copper coin that grants her admission to the prestigious Stormfell Academy, renowned for its magical and combative training.

But the coin only offers her a place to sleep, and Niri must learn to adapt and fight if she is to survive the Academy – and its occupants.

The Tower of Beggars is the first enthralling instalment in the bestselling Stormfell Academy series that has captivated millions of readers in Europe, now available in the US and UK for the first time.

Welcome to the Academy…

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Excerpt: THE GREAT CATSBY BY HILTON by Rod Carley & Juliette Miron (Smart House Books)

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The Great Catsby by Hilton, the latest book by award-winning and acclaimed author Rod Carley will be published shortly by Smart House Books. Illustrated by Juliette Miron, it is a “catification” of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel, “a playful parody poking fun at love foiled and ambitions foisted” within an uncertain 1920s world of cats. Here’s the synopsis:

Jay Catsby, the feral son of impoverished barn cats, has built his kibble fortune selling illegal catnip. When Nick Cattaway moves in next cat-door, Catsby’s only a whisker away from winning back his beloved Daisy, the beautiful Persian he lost to the arrogant Tom Cat Burmese two lives earlier.

Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby as an indictment of the reckless wealth of post-World War I America. The selfish and careless fat cats of The Great Catsby by Hilton similarly ring true.

Part of the charm of the book is that Hilton, a seven-year-old rescue tabby adopted by Rod, “writes” it. He is the voice of Nick Cattaway, the first-person narrator. Reimagining the story through the eyes of a domestic housecat has allowed Hilton to be frisky with the text. Hilton also writes the Preface.

The Great Catsby by Hilton also features twenty full-page colour illustrations in addition to an assortment of black and white drawings.

The Great Catsby by Hilton adds some much-needed whimsy to the world. In these uncertain times, we could all use a few more cats and a little more catnip in our nine lives.

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Excerpt: LET ME DOWN by Callie Rae O’Reilly (ECW Press)

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Let Me Down, the new memoir by Callie Rae O’Reilly is out today, published by ECW Press. It is the “vivid and vulnerable account of an abusive relationship”, by the co-founder of the Apostrophe Podcast Company; the home of some of Canada’s most popular podcasts, including Under the Influence and We Regret To Inform You.

To mark the release, the publisher has provided CR with an excerpt to share with our readers. First, though, here’s the synopsis:

At 18, Callie’s encounter with Reed, a brooding and arty student four years her senior, begins a youthful infatuation, a casual “thing.” But as their relationship deepens, what once seemed like innocent passion soon morphs into a cycle of manipulation, control, and violence.

Callie shares the complexity of falling in love with someone who also hurt her — emotionally, physically, and sexually. Through her clear-eyed storytelling, she grapples with the blurred lines of consent, shame, and trauma and explores how these toxic dynamics seeped into every corner of her life. Her process of extracting herself from Reed’s universe reveals the psychological toll of abuse that doesn’t always leave visible scars but is no less damaging.

Let Me Down provides a candid reflection on the realities of modern relationships, highlighting issues like gaslighting, revenge porn, and the impact of social media on survivors. With delicate intimacy and literary sensibility, O’Reilly’s memoir charts the complex and nonlinear path of self-acceptance, healing, and reclaiming one’s life from the lingering effects of trauma.

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Excerpt: SEETHING LANE by Jack Jewers (Moonflower)

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Today, we have an excerpt from Seething Lane, the latest novel by London historian Jack Jewers, and the second book in the author’s Samuel Pepys mysteries. (The acclaimed first book, The Lost Diary of Samuel Pepys, is out now.) Samuel Pepys was famous for his diaries, which offer an unfiltered look into his life and times, not to mention his unvarnished thoughts of people he met and events of the day. Jewers has drawn inspiration from this when conceiving of and writing his historical crime series, casting Pepys in the role of detective.

Due to be published by Moonflower Books next week, September 3rd, here’s the synopsis:

January 1670. London is enduring its worst winter in decades.

But for Samuel Pepys, the darkest days are yet to come.

When a strange young man turns up at his office on Seething Lane asking for help, Samuel Pepys is too distracted to take him seriously. Nell Gwyn is about to make her scandalous return to the stage and he wouldn’t miss it for all the world.

But in the cold of a winter’s dawn, tragedy strikes. Called upon to investigate the brutal murder of a libertine aristocrat, Pepys discovers that the dead man is connected to his mysterious visitor in the most shocking way possible.

A trail of secrets leads Pepys from the backstreets of London to the glamorous world of the theatre, where nothing is quite as it seems. But whatever the dangers, he may find that the deadliest threat lies closer to home…

Reimagining one of Britain’s greatest historical figures through a 21st century lens, Seething Lane sees the return of infamous diarist Samuel Pepys, complete with his trademark audacious wit, keen eye for observation and gripping historical adventure.

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Excerpt: MAYBE IT’S ME by Adrian Michael Kelly (ECW Press)

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Today, ECW Press publishes Maybe It’s Me, the new memoir by Adrian Michael Kelly; who is also the author of the story collection Ambassador Of What. It the raw story of someone navigating in a world marked by frustration, unrealized dreams, of getting in one’s own way, and finding a way through.

Here’s the synopsis:

A raw and riveting memoir of collapse, recovery, and reinvention

For most of his adult life, Adrian Michael Kelly specialized in failure — serial, sometimes comic, but also epic failure. Born to a gambling-addicted, compulsively spending mother who left when he was five, and raised by his dad, a haunted and often violent hard-drinking Scot, Kelly learned failure early and learned it remarkably well: how to be small, how to be safe, how to be self-defeating. By the age of 30, he was larking around abroad, trying (and failing) to write like his literary heroes while mired in bad relationships and dead-end work.

On a gray October morning in 1999, thunderously hungover and sick to death of himself, he boarded a train in Zurich bound for Bergamo and entered the initial, terrifying stages of a months-long collapse, less a psychological than a spiritual emergency — full-bore and loud.

Maybe It’s Me recounts what led up to that emergency as well as its aftermath, when Kelly came back to Canada to try to rebuild his life. For a while he did just that, but at the very summit of his hard-won achievements, life and his own folly brought him low again. Chronically unemployed, crippled by hideous back pain, and driven to despair by the mother of all writer’s block, he was divorced and nearly homeless at age 47. But along with how to fail, Kelly knew how not to quit, and he set about the process — long and difficult — of creating a consequential, good-enough life.

Free of self-pity and beautifully told, Maybe It’s Me is for everyone who gets in their own way — and can still have a laugh about it.

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Excerpt: THE INEVITABLE UNDOING OF ZAHARA DOUGLASS by Leslye Penelope (Redhook)

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Today we have an excerpt from the latest genre-bending mystery novel by acclaimed author Leslye Penelope: The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass. Due to be published by Redhook, in August, the publisher has provided CR with an excerpt to share. Before we get to that, here’s what the novel is about:

For four years, Zahara Douglass has been haunted by her sister’s impossible disappearance. Now, in December 1999, with the world on the brink of chaos, Zahara sets out to find her sister no matter the cost in this twisty and compelling modern fantasy from Leslye Penelope.

In April 1995, Zahara watched her twin sister, Annica, get hustled into a stranger’s car and disappear — only to return to a world where no one remembers Annica ever existed. Not her mother. Not the police. No one.

Now, as the world braces for the looming Y2K crisis, Zahara finds evidence that proves her sister was real. Determined to uncover the truth, she hires a private investigator and begins digging into her family’s shadowed past. When the investigation leads to two charismatic men who once served with her father in Vietnam, Zahara realizes she and her sister may be pawns in a dangerous power struggle with unthinkable consequences.

​To find her sister, Zahara must face the truth about her family, her memories, and the power lurking within her. But the sisters’ reunion comes at a price — one that could unravel reality and bring about the end of the world.

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Excerpt: WITHOUT PREJUDICE by Harvey Brownstone (ECW Press)

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Today, we have an excerpt from Without Prejudice, the memoir of Harvey Brownstone, Canada’s first openly gay judge. The book tracks his life from his tumultuous childhood, through to his distinguished judicial career. The memoir is also in the process of being adapted into a movie of the same name, and starring David Arquette.

The excerpt covers some of the author’s thoughts on life on the bench, what it means to be a judge, and some of his early observations and training.

The book is out now, published by ECW Press. Here’s the synopsis:

This searing and unforgettable memoir chronicles the turbulent trajectory of Canada’s first openly gay judge. Harvey Brownstone recounts the astonishing obstacles he confronted and surmounted with fearless resolve, including parental rejection, poverty, depression, homophobia, institutional inertia, and professional sabotage.

Harvey Brownstone’s story is a tumultuous, sometimes hilarious, and uplifting journey from bullied child to outcast after coming out to his parents, to trailblazing lawyer, to distinguished judge.

Brownstone colorfully details his momentous and inventive judicial career marked by his numerous innovations of the justice system, particularly revolutionizing Ontario’s child support enforcement program.

In retirement, he is no longer shackled by the restraints traditionally imposed on the judiciary, and thus Brownstone provides a frank, unfiltered, and refreshing glimpse into the inner workings of the justice system, boldly delineating the strengths and weaknesses of criminal and family courts, both of which he claims are sorely in need of comprehensive reform. His remarkable story, reinventing himself from high-profile judge to highly acclaimed talk show host, is a testament to the resilience and triumph of the human spirit.

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Excerpt: A NUMBERS GAMES by R.J. Dark (Datura)

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“R.J. Dark” is the crime-writing alter-ego of RJ Barker, best-selling fantasy author — and, in my opinion, one of the best SFF writers at the moment. When I first learned that he was writing crime/mystery novels as well, I was certainly intrigued. Datura Books are due to publish the first novel in the Mal & Jackie series, A Numbers Game, on August 18th, and they have allowed us to share an exclusive pre-publication excerpt! First, here’s the synopsis:

All Malachite “Mal” Jones wants is a quiet life as the foremost (fake) psychic medium on the Blades Edge estate.

Enter his new client: Janine, the widow of a man who hid away a huge amount of money. Mal is drawn into a mystery he never asked for in an attempt to help Janine find the cash and escape the estate once and for all.

Problem is, Mal’s not the only one hoping to get his hands on the cash. The crime lord of the estate to other criminals are all on the hunt. Plus adding to his worries, there are some corrupt cops after Mal’s best and only friend, Jackie.

Aided by Jackie and Beryl, Mal’s nosy secretary, Mal sets out to find the cash and a solution that pleases everyone. If he can’t, he’ll have to pay the price. After all, it’s a numbers game…

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Excerpt: THE SLEUTH OF FERREN CITY by S. M. Beiko (ECW Press)

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Next week, ECW Press will publish The Sleuth of Ferren City, the third novel in the Brindlewatch Quintet by S. M. Beiko. To mark the occasion, the publisher has provided CR with an excerpt to share; something to tide existing series fans over until the book’s release, and also give new readers a taste of what they can expect from the novel/series. First, here’s the synopsis:

Monsters are real. Well, monstros are, anyway — an emerging group of citizens trying to find their place in Brindlewatch, ever since the Camillites made a splash in the small town of Quixx, and the Jettites climbed out of their subterranean city beneath Lake Mallion. The Far Cities are bristling with newcomers looking for a fresh start in this brand-new world, but is it as safe for them as they think?

Sable, a Camillite who still lives on Mount Quixx, isn’t so sure. She sees the world through the distorted lens of the novels she steals from Professor Bedouin’s observatory and is slow to trust the strangers in the world beyond the page. She is a side-character in her own story, and she wants to keep it that way.

But a desperate letter begging for help rewrites Sable as the protagonist sleuth of her favorite novels, and hot on the trail trying to find her vanished friend, Sable uncovers more than she bargained for in the bright lights of the big a famous author with the ability to make every monstro’s dream come true, a dastardly underworld targeting vulnerable monstros, and a sweet bookseller who may be at the heart of the mystery.

And on the airwaves, a broadcast like no other promises a bold new world for everyone. Will Sable find her voice and save those terrified of speaking up, before it’s too late?

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