Sarasota News and Books

Deep in Michigan, a state renowned for its contributions to the automotive industry, a dark magic lurks, bringing the dreams and nightmares of a number of literary magicians to life. Some are well-known and critically acclaimed, some seem to have sprung full-grown from the shadows. The place where all of this happens is a small publisher called Subterranean Press, and it’s been happening since 1995.Almost all of the publisher’s books fit in the horror, mystery, fantasy, or science fiction genres, although not always neatly. For example, Joe R. Lansdale’s work often combines elements of fantasy, horror, mystery, and even westerns. Lansdale publishes a number of his unreleased stories in limited editions through the press, although most titles are sold out as of this writing. [»]

The Edgar Allen Poe Awards features a prize for “Best First Novel by an American Author.” Such a claim doesn’t imply that the novel is perfectfar from it. Instead, it applauds a writer first for the difficult task of creating a book that can hold a reader’s attention, and secondly for displaying a talent that can only grow with time. The 2010 award went to Stefanie Pintoff’s In the Shadow of Gotham. While the book does have its flaws, it remains a fascinating mystery story with room to grow.The book takes place in New York in the year 1905. Turning a complex mystery into a period piece (or vice versa, if you prefer) is not a new accomplishmentCaleb Carr is perhaps the most notable practitionerbut the comparison comes off much better for the first-time author than you would expect. Pintoff’s story brings protagonist Det. Simon Ziele into contact with turn-of-the-century criminologists, feminist protestors, and accurate depictions of historical New York locales. It’s true that Pintoff sometimes has the tendency to over-describe, laying her settings or set-pieces out in almost-clinical detail. [»]