Diana Spechler: Who by Fire: A Novel (P.S.)
Spechler's unfliching, beautifully written debut strikes at the heart of how one catastrophic event creates a fissure so deep it breaks a small family into fragmented pieces. A little girl is kidnapped, presumed dead, and over a decade later her mother is still searching for answers, her older sister seeks solace in meaningless sex and her brother - who blames himself for the crime's commission - finds his life's solution among ultra-Orthodox Judaism. Spechler uses the inciting event to show the ways in which family members cling to and turn away from each other, do terrible things with the best intentions and show the comforts and prejudices of religiosity with a compassionate eye and voice.
Iain Levison: Dog Eats Dog
First published in France a few years ago, Bitter Lemon press finally makes this darkly comic gem available in English. When a bank robber, bleeding profusely from his last and very botched job, lands in a sleepy New Hampshire college town, disaster is pretty much inevitable. Never is that more true than for Elias White, roped into being the robber's accomplice as a result of an ill-fated dalliance glimpsed through an open window, and for FBI agent Denise Lupo, whose ability is less dogged and more fragmented. Levison nails the academic atmosphere and its jarring juxtaposition with the criminal underworld, but most of all he's clearly having fun with his given premise.
Matthew Hall: The Art of Breaking Glass
If this debut were published in 2008 instead of 1997, I suspect it would have been greeted with the same acclaim and the same sense that this is a major talent with a great deal in store for his career. Because holy hell, this has tremendous pacing, wonderful characters and an offbeat and very unique voice. But since its original publication, the book is all but out of print and there's no new novel from Hall in sight, as he's concentrated on TV and screenwriting duties. So read this book and hope that a) some publisher decides to reissue it b) Hall follows it up someday.
Victor Gischler: Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse: A Novel
After four crime novels, Gischler turns to something a little different - and a lot more unclassifiable - with this incredibly funny, violent, panoramic and pulpy apocalyptic novel. The world Mortimer Tate left behind was about to go into ruins but what he returns to nine years later is littered with machine guns, strip clubs and people looking out for their best interests (both literally and carnivorously.) With the help of an eclectic crew of sidekicks and gun-toting babes, Mortimer prepares to save the world at the lost city of Atlanta - whether he likes it or not.
Zoe Sharp: Third Strike: A Thriller
Once again, Zoe Sharp finds a way to make the thriller genre her own by focusing on the psychological toll that violence takes upon a person. By the end of THIRD STRIKE, Charlie Fox is at a very dark place, fully cognizant of the consequences her actions have taken upon those she's been asked to guard and those she loves, and I was profoundly disturbed in a way I haven't been after reading a thriller in quite some time. This is a long, long way from mindless fluff, and if you're prepared to travel some very dark and thoughtful corners, this is the book (and series) to read.
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So 24 hours after I posted my musings on the whole "Class of 2007" idea, here comes Killer Year, as founded by Jason Pinter, J.T. Ellison, Brett Battles & Sandra Ruttan.
Expect to hear a lot more on that front in the near and not-so-near future.
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These young kids and their endless ambition. It makes me sick I tell ya...
Posted by:Bryon Quertermous | June 08, 2006 at 11:47 AM
Me too. Who do these whippersnappers think they are?
Posted by:Jason | June 08, 2006 at 11:57 AM
When I grow up, I want to be just like Bryon.
Posted by:Sandra Ruttan | June 08, 2006 at 12:38 PM
I have to grow up?
Posted by:JT Ellison | June 08, 2006 at 12:56 PM
Come on, party people. You're in public now. No more joking or kidding or messing around...
...HA! Who am I trying to kid? Have at it...
And, thanks Sarah for the mention again today. All us kids appreciate it!
Posted by:Brett Battles | June 08, 2006 at 01:03 PM
Sarah, I look forward to meeting you--and many of my classmates--in Phoenix later this month!
Posted by:Philip Hawley | June 08, 2006 at 04:41 PM
Well, it looks like we're all showing up here. Now if we could just get Alex Sokoloff to drop by -- she's '06, but LATE '06 -- we could have a nice party...
Posted by:Rob Gregory Browne | June 08, 2006 at 05:22 PM
Best wishes to the Class of 2007! And what a great idea to have a joint blog. Barry's idea is terrific, and youse all should give it some thought.
Looking forward to meeting you at TFest. J.T. will know where to find me -I'm the old bag in the bar.
Posted by:Elaine Flinn | June 09, 2006 at 01:28 PM
Brett, Jason ,JT & Robert, i just wanted to wish you the best of luck with your debut novels next year. Thanks for the emails as well
Posted by:Jason Adams | June 10, 2006 at 05:31 AM