The Empty Land

Louis L'Amour's The Empty Land was first published in paperback by Bantam in 1969, then again in 1971 and 1995. The book was published in 2021 as a Lost Treasures edition, complete with postscript notes, outlines, plot developments, and an alternate draft. I mostly prefer vintage material here at Paperback Warrior, so I consumed the original paperback publication for review.

In the opening pages, L'Amour uses a unique timeline that begins at the dawn of civilization, and then builds a sequence of events that affect the House Rock Valley area of Utah. As these events develop, gold is discovered by a young mountain man. Decades later, the mountain man, now an older man in the sunset of his life, returns to the region and assists in carving out the remnants of a mining town. All of these things transpire in the first few pages of the novel. 

The basis of L'Amour's novel is the construction of a boom town called Confusion. As more gold is discovered, the town quickly becomes saturated with painted ladies and shady men. One of the town's founders, a miner named Felton, straps on a badge and hopes to bring peace, hard work, and profit for the town, eventually building it into an early metropolis. Yet, heaps of outlaws pour in, short-tempered gamblers, prostitutes, land barons, and a variety of borderline bad guys. The only hope lies in a sure-shot peacekeeper named Matt Coburn. But, L'Amour proves he has more than a few tricks to flesh out this 170-paged western.

There's a number of tantalizing storylines that converse in Confusion. First, there's a young woman named Madge that is being targeted by a group of outlaws hoping to steal her claim. Second, a treacherous transporation mission is underway to haul the first load of gold out of the town. The path to Carson City isn't easy with plenty of robbers staked out hoping to claim the gold. Matt Coburn fits into both of these storylines as a bold hero protecting Madge's interests and as a shotgun rider protecting the gold haul. But, when Felton finds the odds are too great, that's when the western ticks up a notch with Coburn strapping on the badge to bring law and order to the violent town.

The Empty Land is a multifaceted western. I feel as though many authors would have just stuck to one main plot in hopes of crafting a memorable story. However, L'Amour is just so good that he's able to weave a number of ideas and concepts (and characters) into a rich storytelling experience that is just so enjoyable to read. These characters and events leap from the page, and you can seemingly smell the powder burning with his descriptive details of this explosive mining town and the vortex of violence it breeds. Few could write a western as good as L'Amour, and The Empty Land is about as good as it gets. Highest recommendation. Get it HERE.

The Tormented

I spoke briefly about author Dorothy Daniels on Paperback Warrior Podcast Episode #78 (2021) on the Norman Daniels featured presentation. Norman Daniels was a prolific writer that churned out hundreds of pulp stories, helped create a number of pulp characters, and went on to a stellar paperback original career loaded with series titles and stand-alone books across many genres. 

Norman married Dorothy in 1931 when he was 26. Dorothy had been writing romance short stories that incorporated medical and nurse fiction. Her agent suggested she transcend into the red-hot market of gothic novels. She wrote her first one, Shadow Glen, which was published in 1965. She would go on to write a slew of novels including titles like Dark Island, The Stone House, Ghost Song, House on Circus Hill, Diablo Manor, House of Many Doors, you get the idea. From 1965 through 1975 she had collected sales figures of over 10 million copies and more than 150 titles in print. She also wrote a three book series based on the TV show Strange Paradise. 

I recently collaborated with Nick Anderson of The Book Graveyard for our monthly Guide to Gothic series. We chose to review her 1969 gothic paperback The Tormented, originally published by Paperback Library with a Jerome Podwill cover. It was reprinted by the publisher with different artwork in 1971, then issued by Warner Brothers in 1974 with a favorable Victor Prezzio cover.  

In 1892, young Sharon Aldrich left her parents' sprawling Louisiana plantation, The Pillars, to obtain education at Miss Claybourne's Finishing School. In her absence, Sharon's mother and father both die and the plantation is sold off, displacing Sharon from her childhood home. Now, at age 20, Sharon has submitted resumes to become a governess, a type of live-in teacher for kids. Her resume was approved in the form of a job offer from Craig, a husband and father seeking a governess for his daughter Cassie. Upon Sharon's arrival at the train station, she is shocked to learn that her future employer owns and resides in her former childhood home, The Pillars.

Upon arrival, Sharon immediately meets abrasion from Craig's hateful wife Emily and Emily's spiteful sister Sarah. When Sharon is introduced to Cassie, she learns from the little girl that all the prior governesses fled from the home due to a ghost stalking the house. When Sharon enters the attic in search of old books, she hears a ghostly voice whisper her name. Could this ghost be her dead mother?

The author takes readers on a mystery as Sharon and the family experience this haunting. Sharon's observations of the family's dynamic leaves her with many questions – why doesn't Emily love Craig and Cassie, who is the mysterious woman fatally ravaged by wild dogs, and what agenda does Craig's unruly brother Bart possess?

The Tormented is slightly above average as a disposable gothic-suspense paperback. Its qualities are the atmosphere, strong protagonist, and the addition of the supernatural, something that is typically teased at within the genre, but rarely comes to fruition. Daniels alters that formula with the ebb and flow of ghostly activity, an experience that leaves readers perplexed on what is actually happening to this family. While it isn't particularly spooky, I was invested enough to enjoy the 200-paged paperback escape. I think you may like it, and I have faith enough to offer a tepid recommendation. If anything, Prezzio and Podwill's cover art is worth the price of admission.

Get the book HERE.

The Sinister House of Secret Love #3

I've recently been devouring the DC Comics' 1970s title The Sinister House of Secret Love. The debut issue was published in Sep/Oct 1971. This is a comic that eventually became Secrets of Sinister House by issue five. The first issue was penned by veteran spookhound Mary Skrenes, and the second issue by illustrator Joe Orlando and journeyman writer Len Wein. This third issue was written by Frank Robbins, a comic artist and writer that was experiencing a late career flourish that included work on Captain America, Ghost Rider, Invaders, and DC's licensed version of The Shadow. Artwork for the issue is Alex Toth (House of Secrets, Green Lantern) with pencils by Frank Giacola (Avengers, Amazing Spider-Man).

The lead story, “Bride of the Falcon”, is unique in its presentation of a deaf woman, Kathy, as the protagonist. This is a bit more dynamic when paired with an imprisoned woman in the story that experiences paralysis. Her inability to move her lips impairs Kathy's ability to understand her cryptic messages. Additionally, there are other interesting twists and turns that catapult the story into a different look and feel compared to the title's predecessors. 

In a flashback, Kathy answers a classified ad requesting a companion for Count Lorenzo Di Falco at his castle on Isola Tranquillo (Quiet Island). Different era, different security issues in the early 1970s. Kathy arrives at a port searching for boat passage to the island. Yet, ferrymen refuse to take her, issuing dire warnings about her safety if she goes there. This was a throwback to gothic literature, and horror movies, with the tavern owners and bar maids forbidding travelers to journey to the big 'ole dark castle. Eventually, Kathy gains a passage from a young man named Roberto, who comes full circle to appear in the story's finale. 

On the island, Kathy meets the Count and discovers he has a fondness for falcons. He also has hideous scars on the side of his face from falcon claws. His isolation in the robust castle, paired with his facial unpleasantness, led to the advertisement searching for companionship. Kathy falls in love with the Count, but quickly realizes he's a real jerk. He's vicious with the castle's staff, and at times can be a little rough with Kathy. Central to the plot is an older woman that the Count calls his “mother”. Kathy can't confirm the relationship due to the woman's paralysis and inability to speak. The Count explains to Kathy that once she dies they can get married and live happily ever after in the castle. But, there's more to this traditional murderous love affair than you might think.

Again, I am having a blast reading this mini-series, and find the writing and art a real delight. Toth and Giacola create some abstract layers to the presentation that fuels the mysterious elements within the story. The mystery had me until the end, but I knew something was developing between a younger servant there and the Count's “mother”. This is on par with the title's excellent opening issues. Highly recommended.

Rock Paper Scissors

Alice Feeney’s Rock Paper Scissors from 2021 plays like Gone Girl rewritten as a windswept gothic paperback from 1967 — all brooding landscapes, isolated manors, and the slow unraveling of a marriage built on deceit. This is a modern domestic thriller that remembers its roots in the paperback rack: one foot in the psychological suspense of Agatha Christie and the other in the twist-driven storytelling of Gillian Flynn.

The premise is familiar — a troubled London couple retreat to a remote chapel turned vacation rental in the Scottish Highlands to save their marriage. Feeney uses the setup as a springboard for a tightly wound study of secrets and shifting perspectives. The Scottish Highlands stand in for the moors of classic gothic fiction, and the creaking, snowbound chapel-turned-house could easily have graced the cover of a 1960s Dell gothic, complete with a terrified woman fleeing in her nightgown.

Feeney writes with the precision of a screenwriter (which she is), and she structures the novel like a trapdoor. Each chapter rearranges your understanding of what came before, and by the time the final twisty reveal lands, it’s both shocking and inevitable. The unfolding truths recall the best Christie puzzles and contemporary thrillers.

Readers nostalgic for the paperback days of Victoria Holt and Phyllis A. Whitney will appreciate how Rock Paper Scissors updates that tradition for the streaming era: moody, propulsive, and dripping with dread. Feeney’s prose is lean, her pacing brutal, and her sense of place immaculate. It’s the rare “domestic suspense” novel that earns its hype and reminds us that the gothic isn’t dead.

Rock Paper Scissors is a masterclass in misdirection and the kind of modern gothic thriller that would have had Agatha Christie smiling in admiration and Dell editors clamoring for a reprint.

Get the book HERE.

The Brooding Lake (aka Lamb to Slaughter)

Dorothy Eden was born in Canterbury Plains, New Zealand on April 3rd, 1912. She worked as a legal secretary before moving to London, England in 1954 to become a full-time writer. She is best known for her writings in the historical, suspense, and gothic genres. Her first novel, The Singing Shadows, was published in 1940. During her lifetime, she wrote more than 40 novels including, Let Us Prey, The Vines of Yarrabee, Melbury Square, The Shadow Wife, An Afternoon Walk, The Salamanca Drum, and An Important Family. She also contributed to several magazines, including Redbook and Good Housekeeping. She died of cancer on March 4, 1982 at the age of 69. 

From what the internet produced, Eden's The Brooding Lake was originally published by Ace in January 1963 as a gothic paperback. The book was published the same year in Europe as Lamb to the Slaughter. In the late 1970s, both Ace and Coronet recycled those same titles for paperback editions of the novel. I attempted to make the novel relevant again by teaming up with Nick from The Book Graveyard to review it on a recent podcast episode and video discussion.

In the book, protagonist Alice arrives in a sleepy New Zealand town after receiving an invitation from her friend Camilla. However, Alice is shocked to learn that Camilla isn't home upon her arrival. Instead, there's a mysterious note that suggests Camilla has run off with a man. It is up to Alice to discover that all is not what it seems in the town. There are some vague notions that Camilla had at least three different relationships with men in town. When Alice delves into Camilla's disappearance, she "lives" Camilla's life by striking up a friendship with two of the men. As the book progresses, Alice's life is in jeopardy as she inches closer to the truth.

The Brooding Lake emphasizes relationships and boundaries, both of which entangle the characters and the plot in a crafty way. This is an actual gothic novel, complete with all of the expected genre tropes like a stranger in a strange land, a large house in which the main character can flee, and a unique isolation that envelops the characters and reader. I found myself enthralled with the central mystery, and the plot moved along in an investigative way that was enjoyable. Recommended. Get it HERE.

Batman - Dead White

John Shirley (The Specialist, Traveler) has experience writing movie, game, comic, and television tie-in novels. He has authored books in the Alien, Predator, Hellblazer universe as well as gaming platforms like BioShock, Borderlands, Resident Evil, and Halo. I learned about his Batman novel, Dead White, when interviewing one of Shirley's writing protegees, David Agranoff. Dead White was published in paperback by Del Rey in 2006.

The plot concerns a white supremacist deemed White Eyes amassing a cult following through a network of high-tech weapons. When these weapons appear on the streets of Gotham, Batman swoops in to investigate. The novel's informative first-half hones in on Batman's search for the weapons and the various tentacles operating from White Eyes' operation. With this being a sort of “ret con” approach, Shirley is careful to explain that despite the year of 2006, Wayne is fairly new in the role of Batman. He's experimenting with what works, how to improve various technologies and systems, and the importance of maintaining a day/night contrast of the Wayne/Batman persona.

While Dead White is a Batman novel, it easily could have been one of Shirley's The Specialist adventures. I kept visualizing Jack Sullivan in place of Bruce Wayne. As the first-half closes, some of the book's action takes place in San Francisco through the eyes of a former Gotham policeman named Cormac. He's in California searching for his missing son. His investigation leads to a rural Pennsylvania mining town in the fictitious Hatchet Mountains. Cormac's arrival in the small town aligns with Batman's own arrival there to track down White Eyes' and his operation center.

While Batman purists may object to the body count, the high-rise levels of violence, and the overall mythology of the character, I felt that Shirley's novel was enjoyable and provided a sort of action-adventure fantasy that placed the Dark Knight in a type of vigilante Mack Bolan adventure. I did enjoy Shirley's introspective analysis of Batman hypnotically seeing the costume in various places, a representation that he's not only the suit, but the embodiment of justice. The costume appearing in the dark recesses of the cave, and at the height of battle scenes, was a neat admission that emphasizes the character's ambiguous struggle. 

Dead White is a men's action-adventure paperback worth pursuing no matter if you are a casual Batman fan or a hardcore Batfanatic. Recommended! Get the book HERE.

Conversations - The Book Graveyard

In this month’s installment of Guide to Gothics, Paperback Warrior teams up once again with Nick Anderson of The Book Graveyard to unearth a paperback relic: Dorothy Daniel’s The Tormented, a 1969 gothic suspense novel from Paperback Library. 

The book was successful enough to warrant two printings, one in 1971 and another in 1974. Since then, this book has lingered for decades in the shadowy corners of vintage gothic collections.

But does it earn its place among the genre’s atmospheric greats?

Together, we dissect the novel through our Gothic Litmus Test.

Stream the audio below, or watch the video on YouTube HERE.

Listen to "Conversations - The Book Graveyard" on Spreaker.

Sinister House of Secret Love #2

As I alluded to in my review of the debut in this DC Comics' title, The Sinister House of Secret Love, the concept was to create an ongoing gothic suspense publication that would capture the same market flavor as the genre's booming paperback business at the time. The first issue was published in September/October 1971, with this second installment hitting shelves in December/January of 1972. 

"To Wed the Devil", the lead story, is plotted by veteran comic illustrator Joe Orlando, and written by Len Wein (Batman, Superman). The artwork was created by Tony Dezuniga, a prolific artist that helped create the characters Jonah Hex and Black Orchid. This offers a little different flavor, compared to the prior issue's artist Don Heck and writer Mary Skrenes. 

In the opening chapter, a young woman named Sarah walks through a large mansion and descends a staircase to confront her father's dearest servant, an elderly woman named Agatha. In the confrontation, Sarah discovers that Agatha has been practicing witchcraft. Agatha defends her practice by stating the ritual is for Sarah to find true love. It is clear that Sarah despises Agatha and wants her removed from the mansion. Agatha seems sincere in her efforts, yet Sarah is possessing a seasoned hatred.

In the next chapters, readers are introduced to Sarah's charming boyfriend Justin, a man she hopes to marry. Yet, Sarah's father has another idea. He explains that the family fortune is in ruins, and that the only way to keep the mansion and business is a bank loan. Yet, the only financial institution that may provide funding to this failing family business is a man named Baron Dumont. The price? Sarah's hand in marriage. Sarah hesitantly agrees to go and live with Dumont and take his hand in marriage to save her father's legacy. To salt Sarah's emotional wounds, she's forced to bring Agatha along as her servant.

On the coach road to Dumont's estate, the caravan is robbed and Agatha is shot and killed. A masked rescuer appears and kills the robbers and takes Sarah safely to Dumont's mansion. Yet, things are really quite bizarre there. Dumont turns out to be the rescuer she encountered in the robbery. He degrades Sarah, kills her cat, and then offers her a life of servitude to his desires. When Sarah attempts to escape she is surprised to find Agatha alive. But, there's a plot twist here too delicious to spoil with my review.

As you can imagine, I was quite pleased with this issue. I loved the chemistry between Sarah and Agatha, an emotional relationship that builds throughout the issue – in life and death. Additionally, Sarah is a rather complex character, one that seems to be unjustified in her early motives to dismiss Agatha. The atmosphere in this genre is the main event, and Dezuniga's artwork using deep blues and bright yellow contrasts nicely with the setting's grand rooms and hallways. The twist caught me off guard, providing a Devilish climax. I also enjoyed the written Epilogue.

If you love a good gothic romp...this one is a riot. 

The One

What if your soulmate could be found with a simple DNA test? That’s the high-concept hook behind 2017’s The One, a fast-moving British thriller that fuses speculative science fiction with a dozen shades of psychological suspense. Marrs, a journalist turned novelist, imagines a near-future world where a company called Match Your DNA promises genetic certainty in love and then shows how that certainty detonates lives like hand grenades.

Marrs runs the story through multiple point-of-view characters, each with a “perfect match” that turns out to be anything but. There’s the lonely tech CEO who falls for a charming everyman, the guy who takes the test despite being in a committed relationship, and the woman whose “soulmate” is half a world away. Most interesting to Paperback Warrior readers will be Christopher, a London serial killer trying to break Jack the Ripper’s record. His match? A London police officer. Every chapter ends like a commercial break cliffhanger, pushing you to read just one more. The short chapters, alternating POVs, and cruel little reversals make this a straight shot of page-turning dopamine. 

Unlike most thrillers that hang everything on one big twist, The One delivers a dozen small detonations that build to a chilling moral: biology might find you the right partner, but it can’t fix what’s broken inside. This all leads to a giant twist that will leave your jaw on the floor. Marrs writes with the clean efficiency of a crime reporter and the dark curiosity of a pulp novelist. If Black Mirror spawned a relationship-drama baby, it would look a lot like this book. There are logic problems with the premise and plot holes you could drive a truck through, but if you turn off your brain and enjoy the ride, the payoffs are there.

Amazon classifies The One as the first book in his “Dark Future” series, but it’s not a series as much as three independent novels taking place in the same broad literary universe. Originally published in the U.K., The One was adapted into a poorly-reviewed Netflix miniseries in 2021. Don’t bother with the adaptation. The book remains the sharper weapon. For readers who like their speculative fiction spiked with graphic murders, forbidden romantic obsession, and ironic social satire, John Marrs’ The One is a modern-era pulp paperback worth your time. Match with this one HERE.

Planet of the Apes #02 - Beneath the Planet of the Apes

Pierre Boulle's 1963 novel Monkey Planet, published in French as Le Planete des singes, is the catalyst for a booming blockbuster franchise of movies, tie-in books, comics, magazines, and toys. The book's adaptation in 1968, Planet of the Apes, sparked 20th Century-Fox into creating original sequels to the film. In 1970, Beneath the Planet of the Apes was released to mixed  reviews, yet stirred up a $19 million dollar box office off of a budget of $2.5. 

The film was originally shopped to Rod Serling as a possible writer, then to Boulle, who wrote a draft that was later declined by producers. The end result was a group initiative led by director Ted Post, the film's actor James Franciscus, and a robust contribution from British writer Paul Dehn, who drew inspiration from the 1945 atomic bombings. Charlton Heston, the star of Planet of the Apes, hesitantly agreed to return briefly for Beneath, and offered script revisions and an apocalyptic approach to destroy the planet. That ending was scrapped by producers fearing it offered “no hope” in its conclusion. Yet, that version of the script made it to author Michael Avallone's box.

Film producers offered Avallone the opportunity to write a novelization of the film. Although his novel mostly stays consistent to the film we all know (aside from a weird ice thing at the beginning), the book's ending possesses the apocalyptic theme as an atomic bomb is detonated in the finale. It's an enjoyable book, and offers something a little different than the movie, but not a necessity. If you are an ape-man collector then this paperback is probably already in your collection. If not, don't bother. If you don't care about my opinion, get the book HERE. 

Conversations - John Shirley

Legendary writer John Shirley blasts into Paperback Warrior to talk crime, cyberpunk, and chaos. From his hard-boiled new novel The Silver Revolver to the upcoming streaming revival of his ’80s action series The Specialist, Shirley pulls no punches.

He opens up about writing for Blue Öyster Cult, collaborating with Todd McFarlane on Spawn, penning the darkly brilliant Batman novel Dead White, and crafting post-apocalyptic classics like Traveler and the futuristic thriller Stormland.

It’s a wild ride through the mind of one of fiction’s boldest visionaries—a must-listen for fans of pulp, punk, and pure storytelling power.

Stream the audio version on any podcasting platform. You can watch the video edition below or directly on YouTube HERE.

Sinister House of Secret Love #01

DC Comics flirted with the gothic romance/suspense genre with a couple of titles in 1971. The Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love was originally published in September/October 1971. The comic ran four issues before abandoning the gothic romance feel for more of a horror anthology flavor under the new title Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion. DC's other venture into the genre was The Sinister House of Secret Love, which also launched September/October 1971. Again, it ran four issues before abandoning the gothic romance tropes with its new title Secrets of Sinister House. I wanted to give The Sinister House of Secret Love (what a name!) a try, so I read the first issue.

This debut is titled “The Curse of the Macintyres”. It was written by Mary Skrenes, a veteran scripter that also contributed to The Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love, House of Mystery, House of Secrets, Young Love, and Detective Comics. The artwork is by the famed Don Heck, a talent that just about touched every comic title imaginable throughout his career. 

In the opening pages, Rachel's father is dying. On his deathbed, he tells Rachel he has a formula that will make her rich, but he stresses that she hide his journal, go live with her cousin Blair, and to beware of the Macintyres Curse. Included in the first chapter is the initial meeting between Rachel and Blair at her father's funeral service, Blair's explanation that his wife died, and that he has a young son named Jamie. He asks that Rachel be the boy's tutor and she accepts.

Days later, as Rachel is traveling to Blare's dilapidated mansion, she receives ominous warnings from the train conductor and the coachman. Inside the mansion, Rachel meets Blare's dwarf cousin, Jamie, and the family maid. She's warned to never go to the third floor, which is a bold invitation in any gothic romance paperback. Eventually, Rachel learns that Blare may have a split personality and his sister may be a giant lunatic living upstairs.

The book's narrative features several attacks on Rachel, her romantic involvement with Blare, and the inevitable origins of the family's curse stemming from genetic deformity. I enjoyed the homage to The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and the gothic romance overtones that saturate nearly every page – new job, stranger in a strange land, atmosphere, supernatural rumors, the giant mansion, and of course, the vulnerable beauty striving to escape her newfound prison. 

This was a lot of fun, and now I'm strapped in to read more of this series. Stay tuned for more sinister and secret love!

Bones on Black Spruce Mountain

David Budbill (1940-2016) wrote ten books of poetry, eight plays, an opera, two novels, and a short story collection. Back in 1984, when I was just eight years old, his Bantam-Skylark paperback Bones on Black Spruce Mountain (1978) miraculously found its way into my mother's shopping cart at our local Hill's Department Store. I'm sure I had read other books prior to this one, but my most vivid memory is this paperback being my first actual book purchase. My mother was skeptical about the title and colorful cover (Ramon Gonzalez Vicente), but she allowed me to buy it with my allowance money. Thank God she never read the three curse words inside. Books may have been banned during my childhood, and Paperback Warrior would have never come to fruition. 

At the time, I never realized that Bones on Black Spruce Mountain was a novel featuring characters that appeared in Budbill's short story collection, Snowshoe Trek to Otter River (1976). In the collection, 12-year-old buddies Seth and Daniel take part in three short wilderness tales. In the novel, Seth and Daniel are now 13 years of age and want to tackle a long camping trip into a nearby mountain range. Seth and Daniel convince their parents to allow them a full week alone in the wilderness hiking. When I was their age, my parents wouldn't allow me to find my way to the Sunday School class at church without chaperoning. These kids are off in the wild for a week with no supervision!

There are rumors that a young orphan boy ran away from his abusive parents and died on the mountain. Supposedly, his bones are resting in a cave on top of Black Spruce Mountain. The two boys want to locate the bones...because that's just what young boys do. Stand By Me, anyone?

At 134 pages, Bones on Black Spruce Mountain isn't the rowdy action-adventure novel that I remember. In fact, it's a really bizarre psychological character study about Daniel adjusting to his adopted parents and coming to grips with his horrific childhood bouncing between orphanages and foster families. Daniel is clearly suffering some PTSD, and gaslights Seth often. Their emotional friendship is challenging, and often the two nearly come to blows. Daniel's quest to find the boy's bones is paramount to his own self-discovery and healing from abandonment.

Bones on Black Spruce Mountain is way heavier than any juvenile fiction paperback I've experienced. Proceed with caution; it's a slippery slope to climb. Get it HERE.

Trapped in Death Cave

Oklahoma native Bill Wallace began his storytelling career by engaging his students as an elementary school teacher. He became a popular juvenile fiction author, writing 38 total novels before he died in 2012. Many of his novels, like A Dog Called Kitty, Red Dog, and Coyote Autumn, are still in print today and have permanent homes in school libraries. I can fondly remember seeing his boy's adventure paperbacks like Danger on Panther Creek and Blackwater Swamp at the school book fairs when I was a kid. The one that really grabbed my attention was his 1984 Archway Paperback (Pocket Books), Trapped in Death Cave. Martin Hoffman's vivid cover connected with me, probably because of Raiders of the Lost Ark, released three years before this book's release. Regardless, I don't remember ever reading the book, but it's never too late. I grabbed a copy and settled into 164 pages of juvenile adventure. 

Brian's family travels to rural Oklahoma every year for Easter break. This is a long weekend that allows Brian to hang out with his best friend Seth, a local kid who lives near the family's tiny cabin. This year, Seth is mourning the death of his grandfather. However, Seth reveals to Brian that he believes his grandfather was murdered. Seth explains that there are rumors of hidden gold in the nearby mountain range and that his grandfather was obsessed in locating it. After he discovered it, as evidenced on some maps left behind for Seth, he was murdered by someone hoping to cash in on the discovery. 

Like any good treasure hunt, Trapped in Death Cave provides a stereotypical legend of Native Americans possessing magic. In their wars with the U.S. Army and white men devouring their homes, the natives were able to trap people in a “death cave” as a type of sacred curse. The original gold handlers were supposedly trapped/killed in this cave with the loot they stole. It's all mostly juvenile nonsense, but it makes for a fun story.

As Brian and Seth prepare to search the mountains for the gold and to locate the murderer, Seth is captured by a man. Brian, with the help of a local widowed woman (rumored to be a witch), heads to the mountains to save Seth and solve the mystery.

As a middle-grade boys' adventure, Trapped in Death Cave is a lot of fun and quickly breezes by within an hour. I enjoyed the three main characters, the brief escapism, and the book's alluring cover brought to life on page 105. However, the finale was a bit ridiculous with cavernous plot holes too large to overlook. But, considering the age and market, these types of illogical perplexities are to be expected. 

Trapped in Death Cave is a nostalgic, rip-roaring adventure sure to please readers of any age. Get your copy HERE.

The Silver Revolver

I've covered a number of John Shirley's books here at Paperback Warrior. From series entries in the Traveler and The Specialist, to politically-charged stand-alone novels like The Brigade. I've read Shirley's stories for a long time, predating Paperback Warrior's humble beginnings in 2013. I wanted to refocus my efforts on reading more of his stories, series titles, and stand-alone novels. I was emailed his newest novel, The Silver Revolver, published by Rough Edges Press in October 2025. 

“That humid summer morning, I brushed my teeth, showered, consumed bran cereal, drank some coffee while reading the lead paragraphs on the front page of the Chronicle, and took the Muni to work in downtown San Francisco. A little later that day, I was going to the emergency room to see my son. A little later yet, I was getting drunk beside a pool of  blood.”

Just like that, Shirley invites readers into a complex criminal underworld through his conduit, a divorced father from Texas named Slim Purdoux. After his son dies from a fatal drug concoction, Slim enters a feral underworld of pimp overseers and drug servants to hunt the man responsible. Yet, his entrance into this violent, vengeful reverie is surprising. 

In the book's first two chapters, which may be the best one-two punch of recent memory, Slim patiently sits as his corporate overseer, a publishing manager, carefully explains that AI will consume most of his job for the foreseeable future. An hour or two later, Slim finds himself ankle deep in blood as the survivor of a mass shooting. This uncanny intrusion of life's unexpectedness permanently scars Slim and propels him into action. It's rudimentary cause and effect, but in the hands of John Shirley, it's an unceremonious approach to upend crime noir's most effective plot device – the man on the run.

The novel plunges both Slim and the reader into a narcotic wasteland of pimps, whores, drug runners, and their makeshift masters. It's a noxious journey for Slim, a likable ex-con gone-good forced to fast-draw (literally) his way through a twisty labyrinth of painted ladies and shady men. Shirley's inclusion of Dulcet, a sexy, enigmatic hooker, uplifts Slim's violent mission and adds a sexy exuberance to the story. It reminded me of crime fiction's most dangerous couple, Dan J. Marlowe's Drake and Hazel, albeit less affectionate. 

The Silver Revolver is a testament to John Shirley's blunt-force storytelling ability. It's an intense crime noir that transforms not only the characters, but the reader. Make this your next absolute page-turner! Highly recommended.

Get the book HERE.

We Need to Do Something

Max Booth III is a Texas-based indie horror author whose 2021 short novel We Need to Do Something was adapted into a feature film that was well-received at festivals and currently streams on-demand.

Our narrator is teenage Melanie, and her family (mom, dad, little brother) is piling into a bathroom to wait out a tornado warning. The twister and a fallen tree decimate the house in a manner that traps the foursome in the bathroom together with no ability to escape. That’s the setup. The novel takes place in the john with no food but plenty of running water.

Much of the paperback consists of watching this dysfunctional family fight and interact with cruelty to one another. Ravaged by hunger and board games, nerves begin to fray. Also, dad is a straight-up asshole. You need to be comfortable with twisted family dynamics and a failing marriage narrative told from the eyes of a teenage child. The author certainly meant this to be a reflection on the COVID lockdowns happening shortly before publication.

Over time, it becomes clear that whatever is happening outside in the world is far more insidious and dangerous than repairable storm wreckage. The reader is only provided with clues, but the uncertainty and speculation reminded me of Stephen King’s The Mist. The few encounters with the outside world also serve as the novel’s most terrifying, and highly-effective, moments.

Meanwhile, Mel has a secret and a plausible theory about what caused all this to happen, and it ain’t a simple tornado. This storyline is delivered in small bites throughout the book until a fuller - but incomplete - explanation is provided. Leave it at that.

There were parts of this novel I loved (the horror) and parts I hated (bickering family dynamics), but I was never bored. Booth is clearly a talented author, and the paperback’s film adaptation looks intriguing. The paperback is 162 big-font pages, so it was short enough to never overstay its welcome during my spooky season horror novel binge. This is not a masterpiece, but a solid choice for a few great scares. Get the book HERE.

Crash Landing

Kathryn Johnson wrote over 40 published novels in her career, most under pseudonyms like Nicole Davidson. She actively contributed to young-adult horror and suspense published under Avon's Avon Flare paperback imprint. That's where I initially discovered her book Winterkill, published by the company in 1991. I later read her 1995 novel Crash Course and discovered there was a sequel published a year later titled Crash Landing.

Crash Landing picks up the action just a few months after the events from Crash Course. Protagonist Kelly and her friends Isobel, Angel, Chris, Jeff, and Nathan have all returned to Deep Creek Lake, the location of the first book, for a ski trip hosted by their high school. But, Kelly keeps remembering the events that caused the drowning death of her best friend Brian.

In this book, readers learn that Paula, the “killer” from the first book, was sentenced to a long-term psychiatric hospital stemming from her involvement in Brian's drowning and the attempted murder of Nathan and Kelly. But, oddly enough, Kelly runs into Paula on the ski slopes. Paula offers a sincere reproach to Brian's death and says the doctors rehabilitated her and she's out now and ready to move on with her life. Kelly believes her and welcomes the girl back into the group.

Later, Paula is stabbed to death by an unknown assailant. This kicks off a chain of events involving two police officers investigating Paula's murder. The investigation then connects to a drug-running investigation involving several of the high school kids on the ski trip. Kelly is arrested, but it's a ploy to get the real killer out in the open.

Crash Landing is a bit of a mess in terms of disjointed plot, but it does offer plenty of red herrings and an interesting central mystery that affects Kelly. I was often contemplating something from the first book and how the significance may play a role in this novel. Unfortunately, there aren't many things connecting the two books, which led me to suspend disbelief that these unfortunate, nearly fatal incidents, could all happen to the same people again. However, at just shy of 200-pages, the book breezes by and is fairly enjoyable. A very mild recommendation if you enjoy young-adult suspense.

Get the book HERE.

The Vegan Revolution...with Zombies

David Agranoff's The Vegan Revolution...with Zombies was published by Deadite Press in 2010. It marked the San Diego author's debut and helped launch a successful writing career that encompasses eleven novels and two story collections. After reading the author's Clash Books publication, The Last Night to Kill Nazis, I wanted to explore more of his work. I'll have to admit, based on the title, I probably wouldn't read Agranoff's debut. But, after reading The Last Night to Kill Nazis and Punk Rock Ghost Story, I know what he's capable of. 

The Vegan Revolution...with Zombies is a satire work that combines veganism, animal rights, and the zombie apocalypse into 200 pages of ultra dark comedy. The main character is Dani, a young woman who has recently moved to Portland, Oregon. Through her boyfriend, the charismatic Magik, she lands an editing job at Fulci House Press, a publisher that injects zombies into classical literature. Of Mice and Men with Zombies, anyone? She hates the job, but her co-workers' eating habits lead her to rethink her next bite into a burned animal corpse.

Both Dani and Magik switching to veganism is a lifesaver. No...literally. A genetic engineering company called Vir-Tech unleashes a drug that blocks the perception of pain in livestock. It's fun to eat animals that aren't aware of pain and suffering, right? In a planetary misstep, humanity eats the drugged animals and...well, you know. Brains Brains Brains. Only, it's human flesh on the menu as zombies prowl the city streets devouring prey. The survivors? Yep. Those weirdo, tree-hugging, hippy vegans. I'll conjure my Rosco P. Coltrane voice - “Dang their mangy hides!”

The Vegan Revolution...with Zombies is a riot. There's a splash into pop culture as everything from Red Dawn (the best 80s film ever!) to Burial Ground is unearthed. There are plenty of zombie films, classical literature, and music (Earth Crisis for the Earth Crisis!) for me to fanboy over. But, there's an equal amount of socially important messages about animals and the various ways they are dissected, squeezed, sliced, burned, and bred to umm...heave the heavy. It's a balance beam that made me laugh while also questioning my household menu of pork chops and chicken parm. 

Agranoff's debut is an effective, funny, serious, alarming novel that has a lot to say and a short time to get there. It's worth a read...just don't blame me if you turn to enoki sandwiches. Get it HERE.

The Rain Dancers

I've read a number of Greg Gifune novels over the last 25 years, including Apartment Seven, Savages, Midnight Solitaire, and Oasis of the Damned. I am staring to re-read a few of his books and wanted to begin with The Rain Dancers. The 77-page novella was originally published by Delirium Press in 2012, then reprinted by Dark Fuse in 2014. As of this writing, I believe the work is out of print.

The novella introduces readers to Will Colby, a New York college professor, and his wife Betty. The married couple are in a rural small town cleaning out an old house that was owned and occupied by Betty's deceased father. Gifune is a master of atmosphere, so the obligatory “one dark night” element rises to glorious fruition. As the two are finishing off a long day of cleaning and packing boxes, they are interrupted by a knock on the door. Will goes to answer and is met by Bob Laurent, an elderly man introducing himself as a close friend of Betty's. Hesitantly, Will invites the man inside.

Will excuses himself to inform Betty of their unexpected visitor. While she dolls herself up for unwanted company, Bob tells Will stories of the friendship he shared with Betty's father, a friendship that extended to Betty for many years. He goes as far as suggesting Betty called him “Uncle Bobbie”. When Betty arrives, Bob begins a physical and emotional recollection by reminding Betty of all the wonderful things they experienced in the house. Later, while Bob is in the bathroom, Betty confesses to Will that she has no idea who this man is.

The Rain Dancers is a potboiler brimming over with an intensity void of any gut-wrenching, explicit violence. Gifune's prose of “less is more” works effectively to build this novella into an emotional, creepy, and atmospheric narrative despite the lack of on-page horror. The author's engaging storytelling incorporates marital fears of unfaithfulness, complacency, and insecurity with a repressed childhood memory too disturbing to fully reveal. It's a masterful blend of secrecy and horror that only Gifune could create. This novella is a must everything – read, reprint, repost, make it relevant.

Conversations - The Book Graveyard

In this episode of Paperback Warrior: Conversations, our host joins forces with Nick Anderson of YouTube’s Book Graveyard to unearth a haunting treasure from 1953 — The Brooding Lake by Dorothy Eden. Originally published twice by Dell, this classic gothic novel drips with atmosphere, mystery, and psychological tension. Together, they explore what makes The Brooding Lake a true gothic masterpiece — from its stormy setting to its shadowy secrets — and put it to the ultimate test: Does it pass The Guide to Gothics checklist? Along the way, they draw uncanny parallels between Eden’s mid-century suspense and David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, revealing how both works blur the line between beauty and menace. Tune in for literary analysis, dark nostalgia, and a touch of the uncanny — all in one brooding conversation. Listen on any podcasting platform or stream below. You can also watch this as a video presentation HERE.

Listen to "Conversations - The Book Graveyard" on Spreaker.

Halloween - The Mad House

In 2023, I reviewed The Scream Factory, the first of a three-book series of young-adult horror novels centered in John Carpenter's Halloween universe. The series was published by Berkley in 1997-1998 in paperback format and authored by Kelly Reno using the pseudonym of Kelly O' Rourke. Halloween is my favorite horror series and my family just recently gifted me a Michael Myers-themed coffee mug. It reminded me to read more of this series, so I grabbed The Mad House, the third installment of the series. 

As I mentioned in my The Scream Factory review, this series ignores the entire Halloween movie franchise aside from the 1978 film. In the town of Haddonfield, life goes on despite the masked serial killer, Michael Myers, vanishing after being shot by his doctor, Sam Loomis. In The Scream Factory, Myers appeared once again in the sleepy midwestern town, stalking and murdering teenagers at a haunted house attraction. At the end of the book, Myers once again vanished. 

While these books can be read in any order and are considered stand-alone novels, each book is set one year apart. The Mad House begins with the book's protagonist, Christine, recalling her school newspaper article, “Good-bye Friends”, as an emotional story about the lives and accomplishments of several students who were murdered a year earlier in The Old Myers Place. It's now late summer, and Christine is meeting a fellow student named Eddie for a planned documentary he hopes to shoot.

Eddie explains to Christine that he plans on shooting his film at Smith's Grove Mental Hospital, the place Myers escaped when he turned age 21. Eddie says the ghost of a deranged doctor, Ernest Blackwell, still haunts the abandoned hospital. In this book, it is explained that Blackwell would often treat Myers and conduct various experiments on him. Eddie hopes he can capture the ghost on film as part of a documentary documenting haunted places in Illinois. 

The bulk of the book's narrative features Eddie, Christine, and a handful of other young people spending the night inside the abandoned mental hospital. Of course, Myers is living there, huddled in the hospital's basement waiting for his next killing cycle. Through the book's second half, Myers methodically kills the kids in different parts of the building. Eventually, Eddie and Christine do find the ghost of Blackwell, but it's not quite what they imagined.

I'm trying not to completely nerd out and drown you in Halloween film mythology, but there are a couple of interesting things happening in this slim paperback. 

This novel is the only instance where a character named Blackwell appears. He is absent from the film franchise and the other novels. Also, I found it interesting that Halloween: Resurrection film (2002) used a similar idea of filming in a location central to Michael Myers' past. Like that film, characters are often attempting to record events happening so they can sell the footage to prospective studios and producers. The Mad House predates Resurrection by five years. 

Also, I loved that the author used a laundry chute in one of the chase scenes. This had been used effectively eight years prior, in Halloween 5 (1989). It's a type of homage (I think). Interestingly enough, Halloween: H2O also used a similar device to escape the killer, but instead of a laundry chute it was a dumbwaiter. 

I questioned whether Reno had watched Halloween movies before writing The Scream Factory. Reading The Mad House, I know she hasn't. In this book, she has Myers tying victims to a hospital bed and then torturing them with electricity. Myers never “toyed” with victims like that. Also, there' a strange description of Myers with a deformed head, a plastic mask, and a rotted face. I felt like Reno was confusing Myers with Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th). Reno also routinely has Myers voicing animal growls and howling to break free from a straitjacket. This isn't the Myers character. If I'm nitpicking, I'd also question Reno using “bullets” in a shotgun.

As a quick horror read, this is a very entertaining read. There's plenty of violence as bodies are impaled, stabbed, electrocuted, and run over through the book's 144 pages. There's also a side story of Blackwell's involvement with Myers and the atrocities that occurred at the hospital in years past. If you love a good horror story, then The Mad House is recommended. However, in terms of traditional Michael Myers characterization, this one is way off.

Bone Chillers #01 - Beware the Shopping Mall

Betsy Haynes authored nearly 100 paperbacks, mostly of juvenile and young-adult fiction. Her bestselling novel, The Great Mom Swap, was published in 1986 and adapted to a film in 1995. She authored the preteen series Taffy Sinclair and its spin-off, The Fabulous Five. Beginning in 1994, Haynes authored a ten-book series titled Bone Chillers, a juvenile horror title created by Harper to compete with the successful Goosebumps series written by R.L. Stine. The series was adapted into a 13-episode television show in 1996. Fans of the PW brand know I never shy away from a good story, no matter what genre or age level. I jumped on the debut Bone Chillers paperback, Beware the Shopping Mall.

In the first-person perspective, Robin begins her tale while being dropped off at the front entrance of the Wonderland Mall. On the drive over, Robin's mom explains that the mall was built over the old Mournful Swamp, a cursed place where three teenagers mysteriously disappeared. Robin would rather trade rumors of haunted swamps for the buzz of the mall's grand opening. 

Inside the mall, Robin and her friends begin the stroll through the new stores. Yet, it seems the same three kids are working all the stores. This is impossible considering that the stores are far apart, sometimes on different levels. Yet the kids are physically identical, other than the store-branded shirts they are wearing. By mid-morning, Robin notices that many of the kids she saw shopping in the mall now resemble mannequins strewn throughout the mall's shops. When her friends begin to disappear, Robin fears that they have secretly been transformed into mannequins!

There's something to be said for a good shopping mall novel. Oddly, it's almost its own sub-genre of horror and suspense. Here on the blog, we have obvious mall-themed books reviewed like Chopping Mall, The Mall, Hacking Mall, and the then novels that take partly take place in malls like Black Friday, Suburban Gothic, and Path to Savagery. 

Beware the Shopping Mall, at 150 pages, is a brisk, breezy read that has a central mystery that kept me interested throughout. Obviously, the connection from the haunted swamp to the new mall structure is paramount to the plot, but I felt the ending was a bit disappointing. Like clowns, mannequins are equally unsettling, and I felt like the author used that to her advantage. If you want a fun, all-ages horror story for an hour of enjoyment, then Beware the Shopping Mall is an easy recommendation.

Get the book HERE. 

The Exorcist's House

West Virginia native Nick Roberts has emerged as one of the most exciting voices in contemporary horror, blending the psychological depth of classic suspense with the visceral terror of modern supernatural tales. With 2022’s The Exorcist's House, Roberts leans into one of the genre’s most enduring tropes, the haunted house possession story.

After a prologue introducing the evil dwelling within this house, we join the action in 1994 in Southern Ohio where psychologist Daniel Hill is excited to be closing on the purchase of a thirty acre plot of land in rural West Virginia with his pregnant wife, Nora, and their teen daughter, Alice.

The house upon the farm hasn’t been upgraded since its construction in the 1940s, so contractors get to work modernizing the place for the Hill family. An old timer on the crew tells his fellow workers that the house used to be owned by a backwoods exorcist before experiencing an unsettling supernatural encounter.

Once the Hill family is occupying the house, they quickly determine that all the spookiness seems to be emanating from the basement, and the paperback doesn’t waste any time becoming seriously scary. In the cellar filled with cobwebs, there’s a small sealed door that is difficult to open. Our new homeowner, Daniel, is giddy and determined to find out what’s beyond the door because he hasn’t read as many cursed houses books as you and me.

The scares escalate throughout the novel with terror, possessions and explanations of how this poor family’s basement became a portal unleashing demons from hell. There are some really terrifying scenes that work because the characters are so vivid. No joke, this is one of the scariest books I’ve ever read.

The Exorcist’s House is a seriously frightening haunted house book that was so wildly popular that it spawned two sequels with equally terrifying online buzz. I look forward to diving into the next novel about the house, but I need to let my heart rate stabilize first. Recommended. Get the book HERE. 

The Sinister House of Secret Love #01

DC Comics flirted with the gothic romance/suspense genre with a couple of titles in 1971. The Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love, originally published in September/October 1971, ran four issues before abandoning the gothic romance feel for more of a horror anthology flavor under the new title Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion. DC's other venture into the genre was The Sinister House of Secret Love, which also launched September/October 1971. Again, it ran four issues before abandoning the gothic romance tropes with its new title Secrets of Sinister House. I wanted to give The Sinister House of Secret Love (what a name!) a try, so I read the first issue.

This debut is titled “The Curse of the Macintyres”. It was written by Mary Skrenes, a veteran scripter that also contributed to The Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love, House of Mystery, House of Secrets, Young Love, and Detective Comics. The artwork is by the famed Don Heck, a talent that touched hundreds of comic titles during his illustrious career. 

In the opening pages, Rachel's father is dying. On his deathbed, he tells Rachel he has a formula that will make her rich, but he stresses that she hide his journal, go live with her cousin Blair, and to beware of the Macintyres Curse. Included in the first chapter is the initial meeting between Rachel and Blair at her father's funeral service, Blair's explanation that his wife died, and that he has a young son named Jamie. He asks that Rachel be the boy's tutor and she accepts.

Days later, as Rachel is traveling to Blare's dilapidated mansion, she receives ominous warnings from the train conductor and the coachman. Inside the mansion, Rachel meets Blare's dwarf cousin, Jamie, and the family maid. She's warned to never go to the third floor, which is a bold invitation in any gothic romance paperback. Eventually, Rachel learns that Blare may have a split personality and his sister may be a giant lunatic living upstairs.

The book's narrative features several attacks on Rachel, her romantic involvement with Blare, and the inevitable origins of the family's curse stemming from genetic deformity. I enjoyed the homage to The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and the gothic romance overtones that saturate nearly every page – new job, stranger in a strange land, atmosphere, supernatural rumors, the giant mansion, and of course, the vulnerable beauty striving to escape her newfound prison.

Lords of Twilight

I'm continuing my re-reading of the Greg Gifune bibliography. I've enjoyed and respected his novels and novellas for the past 25-years. Next on my list is Lords of Twilight. It was originally published by Dark Fuse in 2011 and now exists in a new Crossroads Press' Macabre Ink edition alongside the author's 2013 novella House of Rain. 

The main character is Lane Boyce, a former educator. Although the author doesn't offer explicit details, it is revealed in snippets that Lane had an alleged sexual relationship with a student. Whether he did or didn't, the incident led to Lane's formal dismissal as a professor and the upending of his marriage. In a type of self-imposed punishment, Lane moves to a small rural house in Edgar, Maine, an off-grid type of locale where he can become riddled in self-pity. But, things are weird in Edgar.

There's an early indication that something has invaded the town. It begins with cattle mutilation and the discovery of a local farmer's mysterious corpse. Later, three hunters appear at Lane's house with a frenzy of instructions, one of which is to load a shotgun and prepare. As government employees, the proverbial men-in-black, appear in the countryside, events begin to spiral out of control. Is Lane losing his mind in this off-the-grid frosty Hell or is something from another world inhabiting this small town?

Gifune shines when he reveals fragments of the story to readers. Often, his characters revel in emotional turmoil with undertones of loss, regret, and frustration. Along with weather elements, it is the characteristic of his writing. 

In Lords of Twilight, Lane is mentally traipsing a balance beam of what's real and unreal. That instability conveys to the readers, leaving much of the narrative as a foggy suggestion that readers can contemplate subjectively. Whether events are actually happening or simply figments of a character's imagination is the charm of Gifune's literary work and this novella is no different. Lords of Twilight is a captivating horror yarn (I think) or, at the very least, an unsettling descent into a man pushed from the rungs of relevancy. Regardless, it is a real masterpiece of the genre. Highly recommended. Get it HERE.

Punk Rock Ghost Story

I've been reading David Agranoff this month. My first experience with him was The Last Night to Kill Nazis, and I've dabbled in his work, podcast, and excellent blog ever since. He's extremely diverse, popping in and out of genres while still maintaining his strong storytelling. That's a measure of talent that often goes unnoticed. 

His 2016 novel, Punk Rock Ghost Story, was published by Deadite Press. Like his debut, The Vegan Revolution...with Zombies, this book also boasts a flavorful combination of satire, comedy, seriousness, and outright horror. I described it to Nick at the Book Graveyard as Natural Born Killers throwing a basement party with the Manson Family and Black Flag. I'm not even sure that outrageous description does it justice. Maybe throw in Ari Aster to direct the party's cell phone footage.

The book is presented in a non-linear narrative that captures events from 1982 and 2006. Agranoff masterfully blends both into a penultimate moment when everything collides – people, places, and things. It's a careful orchestration to combine these two different eras in an entrancing plot that doesn't lose the reader. 

In 2006, Nate and his band are set to tour the country's dives and basements as the fictional Indiana punk band People's Uprising. As a mode of transportation, the group bought an old beater van that was once used by a mysterious fictional punk band called The Fuckers, who had one unforgettable tour in 1982 that culminated in their lead singer, Frank Fucker, disappearing. 

As the People's Uprising hits the road, Nate begins to hear voices from the van – voices that seem to resonate from The Fuckers in 1982. Nate begins to align his principles and beliefs with Frank Fucker as he descends into a pretty dark place. His girlfriend, Ericka (the star of the show), is revolted by Nate's transformation, an intriguing part of the storyline that makes for great drama. On the flip, readers are submerged into the 1982 tour and the violent crescendo of Frank Fucker's self-appointment as punk rock's unholy gatekeeper.

As a music journalist, I've been in some pretty crazy spots on the East Coast. This book brought back some memories for me (good and bad) of the music industry roadshow. Agranoff complimented the novel with a Blair Witch Treatment. He made an actual album of punk rock songs credited to The Fuckers, including songs mentioned in the book. Further, he made a mockumentary film with real Indiana punk bands, citing The Fuckers as an influence on their music. Outrageous. 

If you enjoy unique psychological horror, or just a great backstage music bio, then Punk Rock Ghost Story is an entertaining experience. Get it HERE.