Upcoming books

It isn’t often that I pre-empt the release of books on the blog by telling you what are due out, after all there are more vampire books released monthly than you can shake a stick at and other blogs do a sterling job at letting us know about releases (good, bad and indifferent) – but these two are must haves.

Firstly, due for release 2 June 2009, is The Strain – the first of a trilogy by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. This one excites me as I am a huge del Toro fan – film wise – and am trusting that he will be more than just a name attached. The Amazon description reads:

"High-concept thriller with a supernatural edge from world-famous director, whose films include Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy, soon to be working on The Hobbit. A plane lands at JFK and mysteriously 'goes dark', stopping in the middle of the runway for no apparent reason, all lights off, all doors sealed. The pilots cannot be raised. When the hatch above the wing finally clicks open, it soon becomes clear that everyone on board is dead -- although there is no sign of any trauma or struggle. Ephraim Goodweather and his team from the Centre for Disease Control must work quickly to establish the cause of this strange occurrence before panic spreads. The first thing they discover is that four of the victims are actually still alive. But that's the only good news. And when all two hundred corpses disappear from various morgues around the city on the same night, things very rapidly get worse. Soon Eph and a small band of helpers will find themselves battling to protect not only their own loved ones, but the whole city, against an ancient threat to humanity. "

Secondly we have 23 Hours: A Vengeful Vampire Tale, by David Wellington – due out 23 June 2009. This is the fourth book in Wellington’s series. If you want to know why this one excites me, read my reviews of the other three volumes, 13 Bullets, 99 Coffins and Vampire Zero. The Amazon description runs:

“After killing her former mentor-turned-vampire, U.S. Marshal Jameson Arkeley, Caxton was nearly left for dead. Taken to prison for assaulting a convict, she now faces her most harrowing hours yet. Locked up in a Pennsylvania correctional facility that holds the state’s death-row inmates, not to mention countless murderers and drug dealers whom Caxton herself has put away, she is an easy target.

“But it gets worse. The oldest living vampire, Justinia Malvern is still on the loose and manages to infiltrate the prison. There she uses the inmates as livestock—taking daily donations of blood at will and slaughtering any who don’t cooperate. But it’s Caxton’s blood she’s most hungry for, and when Caxton’s girlfriend, Clara, comes to visit but ends up trapped there, Justinia will use her as a pawn to get to her most sought-after prey. . . .”