Fox’s Emmy-winning series 24 starring Kiefer Sutherland is my definition of “appointment television.” It sits atop the list of Season Passes on my trusty TiVo. I’ve loved it since it debuted four years ago.

So how in the hell did this news skip me by?

I was at the bookstore this morning and happened upon the brand-new paperback 24 DECLASSIFIED: OPERATION HELL GATE by Marc Cerasini. Of course I had to buy it. I’ve already started reading it, so check back next week for a full review.

This is the first of an original series of novels (not novelizations) which will begin rolling out in fairly quick succession. Here’s the schedule thus far:
• 24 DECLASSIFIED: VETO POWER by John Whitman – Nov. 2005
• 24 DECLASSIFIED: TROJAN HORSE by Marc Cerasini – Feb. 2006
• 24 DECLASSIFIED: CAT’S CLAW by John Whitman – March 2006
• 24 DECLASSIFIED #5 by Author to Be Named Later – April 2006

Pop quiz, hotshot: Does THE PYTHAGOREAN SOLUTION sound like: (a) a math textbook, (b) a DA VINCI CODE-esque thriller, or (c) a little of both? Probably (c), although in reality, it’s merely (b). It basically says so right there on the cover.

New in paperback, this Grecian-set thriller begins in 1945 with the sinking of a boat smuggling Nazi goods. Flash-forward to present day, when the downed ship is discovered by a local fisherman, who is then murdered because he Knows Too Much. Just before he dies, his body is found by newly divorced, visiting American John Hammond, to whom the old man gives a map. This map – which the bad guys will do anything to retrieve, naturally – presumably leads to the sunken treasure. Problem is, it’s coded with the Pythagorean Theorem.

And if that gimmick prompts your interest, join the club. But unlike DA VINCI CODE, where the code is woven through the length of the book, the whole deciphering in this SOLUTION comprises maybe three or four pages. But since this was first published two months after DA VINCI CODE, it can’t be a knockoff; I suspect the comparison has been emphasized by the marketing guys, who also likely retitled it to cash in on Dan Brown’s blockbuster.

So don’t look going for the next DA VINCI CODE. Instead, look for a mildly enjoyable action-filled read in which all the characters are cardboard and do exactly what you expect them to. (Will Hammond fall in love with the daughter of the dead man? Check!) Though I wouldn’t exactly classify it as compelling, SOLUTION is entertaining enough for those looking for cheap paperback thrills.

In the early ’90s, Dark Horse published four separate comics adapting the classic Universal films of DRACULA, FRANKENSTEIN, THE MUMMY and CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON. They’ve been long out of print, but now Dark Horse is collecting the four tales for a trade paperback.

Due in January of 2006, UNIVERSAL MONSTERS: CAVALCADE OF HORROR features work by Dan Jolley, Den Beauvais, Dan Vado, Steve Moncuse, Tony Harris, Arthur Adams, Jonathan D. Smith and Terry Austin. Since I never got to read the originals, I look foward to this; it’s up for pre-order here.

Many movies have been made surrounding the legend of Bigfoot, but I can’t think of a single one that is genuinely good. Leave it to the comics to absolutely nail the hairy monster.

BIGFOOT was a four-issue miniseries from 2004 co-written by 30 DAYS OF NIGHT creator Steve Niles and HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES director Rob Zombie, and drawn by HEAVY METAL’s Richard Corben. The inevitable trade paperback edition collecting the full run was just released yesterday. As someone who doesn’t read comics in single-issue format anymore, I must say the wait was totally worth it.

The first issue begins in 1973, when a family camping trip to a national park in an unnamed state turns deadly. The parents experience a jarring case of coitus interruptus as Bigfoot bursts through their cabin unexpectedly and makes mincemeat of them. The only survivor is little Billy, who – setting the pace for the remainder of the story – grows up and plots his revenge, a full two decades later. Ironically, Billy’s only ally in his hunt for Bigfoot is the park sheriff, who covered up the parental slaughter all those years ago, blaming it on a bear.

BIGFOOT would only work as a straight-up horror tale, and this delivers in spades. The attacks are sudden, brutal and gory, with Corben’s colorful style just over-the-top enough to feed the frenzy. I’ve never read any of Niles’ work before, but I’m a fan of Zombie (as a filmmaker, not a musician), and his influence is palpable (just try and tell me that sheriff doesn’t look like Sid Haig). There’s sex. There’s violence. And none of the mayhem shies away from the hardcore bloody horror. This is both written and drawn cinematically, and would make one kick-ass movie. Until then, this’ll do just fine.

Though I’m a little late in mentioning it, we’re right smack toward the end of the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week. Needless to say, we at BOOKGASM are all for freedom of speech and all down on censorship, so why not crack open a little Holden Caulfield and celebrate what it means to be an American?

For a list of the ALA’s 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000, it’s after the jump. And remember, kids, if you absolutely, positively must burn a book, make it a LEFT BEHIND.

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Can’t decide what to read next? HORROR: ANOTHER 100 BEST BOOKS will cure that ill several – perhaps even 100 – times over.

A sequel to 1988’s seminal HORROR: 100 BEST BOOKS, this is every bit as must-have. Like its predecessor, ANOTHER has 100 horror authors each contributing an essay on “one of the most spine-chilling books ever written,” in chronological order. It’s difficult to imagine how such landmarks as THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES or THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY got left out the first time around, so this second list – all 450 pages of it – is most welcome for correcting oversights and spotlighting newer works.

This volume showcases a surprising range of entries, including pulp (Sax Rohmer’s THE TRAIL OF FU MANCHU), speculative fiction (George Orwell’s 1984), anthologies (Modern Library’s definitive GREAT TALES OF TERROR AND THE SUPERNATURAL), Cold War sci-fi (Jack Finney’s THE BODY SNATCHERS), Brat Pack lit (Bret Easton Ellis’ polarizing AMERICAN PSYCHO), graphic novels (Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell’s FROM HELL) and even Internet-borne phenomenons (Mark Z. Danielewski’s post-post-modern HOUSE OF LEAVES). Modern-day classics like PET SEMATARY and THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS sit nicely alongside older influential gems like ROSEMARY’S BABY.

No matter what novel is being discussed, each essay is informative, insightful and entertaining, full of both opinion and historical perspective. The esteemed essayists include a who’s who of writers from the horror, sci-fi and fantasy fields, and it’s hard not to have their nostalgia and appreciation rub off on you. Given that horror fiction has survived several centuries, it’s a near certainty that YET ANOTHER 100 BEST BOOKS will pop up at some point. Until then, you’ve got a lot of catching up to do.

Sometimes after reading a couple of disappointing literary efforts back to back, it’s nice to read some pure escapist paperback crap. And TOM CLANCY’S SPLINTER CELL did the trick.

Not written by Clancy but by someone named David Michaels, it’s a straight-to-paperback novel based on the video game of which I have no knowledge. But the hero is Sam Fisher, a cool-costumed superspy for the National Security Agency. Terrorists. Kidnapping. Weapons. Explosions. Kung fu. Alright by me for a toilet read.

The inevitable sequel – TOM CLANCY’S SPLINTER CELL: BARRACUDA – streets in November. I’d hit it.

Ever since I started reading like a madman again, I start each year looking at all the annual “best of” collections for sci-fi and fantasy on the bookshelves and wonder, “Why in the hell don’t they do one of these for horror?” I mean, hell, if “gay love stories” merits its own year-end compilation, why not one of literature’s oldest genres?

My prayers have been answered! iBooks will help make 2006 a kick-ass year by unleashing THE BEST OF HORROR: 2005, edited by HORRORSCAPE anthologist John Gregory Betancourt. From the cover – which gives me a major bookgasm, by the way – it looks like the contributors include the obligatory Neil Gaiman, WIZARD KNIGHT’s Gene Wolfe and Michael Swanwick (don’t know him, but I’ll give him a try).

You can pre-order it already here.

Three novels comprise this week’s notable new releases.

• SCHOOL DAYS is Robert B. Parker’s latest novel in his Spenser series. That’s Spenser as in SPENSER: FOR HIRE, the ol’ Robert Urich TV show. I’m ashamed (but not really) to say that I didn’t realize the show was based on a book for many, many years. But I never watched the show. Nor have I read any of the books. But Parker’s (or Spenser’s) fans are legion, and this one centers around an all-too-timely school shooting.

• If cyberpunk noir is your thing, Richard Morgan’s WOKEN FURIES is for you. The third of his Takeshi Kovacs novels, the book is sure to please fans of Morgan’s previous acclaimed works like ALTERED CARBON and MARKET FORCES. Look for Ryun Patterson’s review – as well as an interview with Morgan – soon!

• Finally, there’s HERETIC: THE TEMPLAR CHRONICLES from Joseph Nasisse. Though definitely of a lower profile than these other titles, HERETIC is not too be ignored. It’s a mish-mash of several genres wrapped up in a deliriously fun tale of knights, necromancers and religious artifacts. Even Clive Barker agrees with us. If you haven’t already read our review or our Q&A with Nasisse, by all means, click away and do so.

As warden of the infamous San Quentin prison in the 1940s, Clinton Duffy presided over 90 state-ordered executions. 88 MEN AND 2 WOMEN – Duffy’s account of his 12-year tenure – is an interesting behind-the-scenes look at the incarceration and subsequent deaths of that era’s most notorious criminals.

Duffy’s predicament was that he didn’t agree with capital punishment. Despite this, his solemn nod to the executioner would cause the floor to drop out of the gallows. After the gallows were dismantled in favor of a more humane means of execution, his nod would prompt the unleashing of cyanide into a vat of distilled water and sulfuric acid within the gas chamber.

The book is Duffy’s attempt to garner support for his views regarding the death penalty. A second and unstated goal may have been to come to terms with the deaths that occurred on his watch. His arguments against the death penalty may have been considered fresh when the book was written more than 40 years ago, but today seem tired and old. Duffy has no better chance of changing anyone’s mind about capital punishment than the pro-lifers do about abortion. The rhetoric, thankfully, is brief and the book is surprisingly light despite its subject matter.

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Let’s get this right out of the way: If you’re looking for a proper sequel to Neil Gaiman’s AMERICAN GODS, his short story in the LEGENDS II anthology is it. ANANSI BOYS is not.

That’s not to say ANANSI BOYS – the eagerly awaited GODS follow-up – is bad. It’s just vastly different in story and tone, although it still deals with forgotten gods living in the present day.

You could almost call this one ENGLISH GODS’ SONS, as a genial Londoner known as Fat Charlie experiences massive life changes when his father unexpectedly dies during a karaoke performance. Fat Charlie doesn’t know his father that well, because he grew up being embarrassed and humiliated by his actions; then he finds he doesn’t know him at all, learning his father was actually a god – namely Anansi, the crafty spider of many a folktale (and minor character in GODS). Fat Charlie also doesn’t know he has a brother, an equally tricky bastard named Spider, who intrudes on his life and muscles in on his fianceé.

As Fat Charlie is reluctantly drawn into the truth and their world, his life turns topsy-turvy, to the point where he’s accused of several felonious crimes and tripping into other dimensions filled talking animals. Unlike GODS, the scope of ANANSI is neither epic nor suspenseful. The plot that’s there is minimal, and pat in its end. Much of the novel plays like a romantic comedy (though not particularly an all-that-funny one), only entering full-on fantasy territory in the last third.

We also don’t get fully realized characters this time around. Whereas the strong Shadow of GODS was someone whose story you wanted to follow – and so much that you didn’t want it to end – Fat Charlie is too wishy-washy and passive for us to know much about him beyond those terms. The Anansi angle isn’t realized to its fullest potential, as Gaiman weaves in a couple of the arachnid’s most famous tales, but then stops doing so.

Again, it’s not that ANANSI is bad – it’s just that it’s merely pleasant. I have the highest respect for Gaiman after GODS, CORALINE and his comic-book work, but we know he has greater GODS stories in him than this merely good one.

The International Thriller Writers Association is set to produce its first-ever anthology – naturally titled THRILLER – next June. Tagged as “the first pure thriller anthology ever published,” it will be edited by James Patterson and include short stories by the likes of Ted Bell (PIRATE), Lee Child (ONE SHOT), Lincoln Child (DANCE OF DEATH), Greg Iles (BLOOD MEMORY), Alex Kava (ONE FALSE MOVE), John Lescroart (THE MOTIVE), Eric Van Lustbader (MISTRESS OF THE PEARL), David Morrell (CREEPERS), Katherine Neville (THE EIGHT), Michael Palmer (THE SOCIETY), Douglas Preston (TYRANNOSAUR CANYON), James Rollins (MAP OF BONES), M.J. Rose (THE HALO EFFECT) and F. Paul Wilson (the Repairman Jack series), among many others.

All you had to do to win a copy of the brand-new GRAPHIC CLASSICS: ADVENTURE CLASSICS collection was register at this here BOOKGASM and post a comment.

Of those who took us up on the offer, the winner is … Flash! (Note: That’s his username, not to be confused with the red-and-yellow-costumed speedster of Central City.) So congratulations, Flash. E-mail me your address at editor@bookgasm.com and ADVENTURE CLASSICS will be on its way.

This 12th volume in the graphic novel series adapts a dozen vintage literary tales of action and adventure into comic-book form, including works by THE THREE MUSKETEERS’ Alexandre Dumas, ZORRO creator Johnston McCulley, Western author Zane Grey, THE JUNGLE BOOK’s Rudyard Kipling and CAPTAIN BLOOD’s Rafael Sabatini, among others. I adapted two pieces for the book: Fu Manchu creator Sax Rohmer’s MUMMY-esque “In the Valley of the Sorceress” and O. Henry’s Old West tale “The Roads We Take.”

Stay tuned for our second contest coming soon!

I didn’t expect anything from Simon Clark’s latest, THE TOWER, than a quick, mindless read. I should have lowered my expectations.

We’ll keep this short: Five members of a rock band named after a spitoon accept a month-long housesitting gig in the Middle of Nowhere, because the old manor – formerly an elder-care facility – would be a totally bitchin’ place to work on some new tunes. No sooner have they stepped over the threshold when Strange Things Start to Happen. A clock chimes – but they can’t find the clock! The walls move in on you – or do they! There’s a weird man outside!

I’m all for stories of haunted houses and people trapped in enclosed spaces, but THE TOWER left me wanting. The plot simply isn’t engaging, not helped by dull characters or the fact that the book is littered with errors; for instance, Clark switches the name of two characters twice in the first chapter. Full disclosure: This one fell prey to my 100-page rule.

Got several thousand dollars to blow? Then go here and get your name featured in an upcoming book by one of several name authors.

eBay is hosting the charity auction to benefit the First Amendment Project (you know, free speech and all that jazz?). Bidding is already closed for Stephen King ($25,100!), Peter Straub, Lemony Snicket and Michael Chabon, but you can still bid to immortalize yourself in the works of Neil Gaiman, Dave Eggers, Rick Moody, Jonathan Lethem, David Brin and a few others whose names we don’t mention on a site like this.

What’s interesting (besides the amount of cash people have on hand to dish out for something like this) is that you can get a glimpse of the authors’ forthcoming works in which winning bidders will appear. For instance, Gaiman is doing another children’s title, THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, while King’s next novel, CELL, has to do with zombies and cell phones.

Welcome to the inaugural edition of PANEL DISCUSSION, BOOKGASM’s occasional round-up of comic books and graphic novels to which you should be paying attention.

Independent comix anthologies are always a dodgy proposition. Great work is often mixed in with ill-conceived or unreadably amateurish content. And the percentage of misses-to-hits grows exponentially the higher the number of contributors. That’s what makes PROJECT: SUPERIOR from Adhouse Books such a wonderful surprise. More than 40 mostly unknown artists tackle this indie look at – shock – superheroes, and all but a couple really deliver the goods. Most stories traffic in the mundane, like Tony Consiglio’s hilarious “Titanius,” wherein a hero in a protective metal biosuit gets fitted for a disguise and discusses the finer points of “bed and breakfasts” with the tailor, or Rob Ullman’s wordless single-panel “Suburban Supergirls.” Clocking in at almost 300 pages for $19.95, this collection is a great deal, and definitive proof that Adhouse is the most exciting new publisher in the field.

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How far we’ve come when something serialized in pulp magazines is now considered worthy of being branded “classic literature.” Such is the case with Johnston McCulley’s THE MARK OF ZORRO, the 1924 novel that introduced the world to the swashbuckling superhero, and now back in print in a handsome new Penguin Classics trade paperback edition. Love that cover!

Set in Mexican-ruled California during a time of corrupt politicians and arranged marriages, Zorro is the masked alter ego of Don Diego Vega, a young rich kid who, let’s be honest, is kind of an ass. His father is pressuring him to find a wife and have a child, in order to carry on his lineage. Don Diego chooses a fine señorita by the name of Lolita, also of a noble family, but she will not accept his offer because he is not romantic and because her heart belongs to another … the mysterious Zorro.

Ah, yes, Zorro – the “highwayman” who rights wrongs and robs from the spoiled to feed those without. Everywhere he goes, he courts trouble, except with the ladies. He is everything Don Diego is not – dashing, attentive and capable of setting hearts a-flutter.

It’s kind of amusing how no one picks up on the fact that the two are the same since one will leave the room, only for the other to enter almost immediately, over and over again. But that’s pulp fiction for you. And so are the swordfights, the jailhouse rescue and other feats of derring-do, so it cannot disappoint even if it doesn’t entirely thrill. McCulley’s story is quickly paced, if repetitive and with thinly drawn characters (the main villain exclaims “Ha!” about every other sentence).

Penguin Classics has included a lengthy introductory essay by Robert and Katherine Morsberger that puts it all in a historical perspective – not just the novel but, thankfully, the entire Zorro phenomenon, from page to screen to merchandising powerhouse. If you’ve ever wondered why Zorro took the hearts of so many by storm, I can’t think of a better place to begin.

Based in L.A., Dark Delicacies is a famous horror-only bookstore. So when that bookstore issues an all-new anthology of its own, using top-notch names in the horror field, you should take notice.

DARK DELICACIES is that book, although you wouldn’t know it from the start. The first two stories don’t exactly set the world afire (Ray Bradbury, too whimsical; Lisa Morton, too rote). But then the mediocrity is rudely shattered by the next story, Whitley Strieber’s polarizing “Kaddish,” which imagines a not-so-distant future where the right-wing “Christians” rule the country with iron fists and huge chunks of racism. It’s not only a great piece of speculative fiction, but an excellent argument for the continuing separation of church and state. Shortly thereafter, the always reliable F. Paul Wilson’s “Part of the Game” reads like a sadly never-made script for TALES FROM THE CRYPT.

But it’s not all greatness from there on out. Brian Lumley’s sci-fi-set “His Thing Friday” is a skewered update on ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS, but ultimately just ridiculous, while Ramsey Campbell and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro turn in tales too muddled to be readable. And first-timer Rick Pickman’s “Dark Delicacies of the Dead” – about a book signing turned zombie and werewolf outbreak at this collection’s titular store – is just too self-parodic to be featured alongside established greats like John Farris, William F. Nolan or Richard Matheson (who provides the introduction).

On the plus side, Richard Laymon pulls out his patented sexual-fantasy-laden tricks for “The Diving Girl,” and you have to love him for doing so. Everything I read of his – well, almost everything – is a concrete reminder of how great a hole in the horror world his absence has left.

Then, late in the collection, lies a hat trick of stories so sinister that it nudges DARK DELICACIES into must-have territory. First, current “it” comics writer Steve Niles (30 DAYS OF NIGHT) brings his pill-poppin’ Cal McDonald detective character to prose in “All My Bloody Things,” a gruesomely Grand Guignol mystery that’s more than hard-boiled – it’s scrambled. David J. Schow’s “The Pyre and Others” is about an anthology as rare as it is old, rumored to permeate the dreams and nightmares of its readers. The framework allows Schow not only to tell the story of the book, but also the stories within said book; it’s so good that it deserves to be expanded into longer form.

And last but certainly not least, that ol’ HELLRAISER Clive Barker shows the whole lot of ‘em up with “Haeckel’s Tale.” Old-fashioned in its narrative structure but hardcore where it counts, Barker relates the story of a man’s encounter with a 19th-century necromancer. I haven’t read much Barker in my day, but every time I do, he has never failed to shock, and this one is no exception. One wishes all the stories in DARK DELICACIES had been as envelope-pushing, but I’m pleased to make do with those that did.

You’ve read our review of HERETIC: THE TEMPLAR CHRONICLES. Next week, you can read the book. In the meantime, read this interview!

BOOKGASM: It’s no secret we’re in love with this book’s concept. How did you come up with it? Were the Templar Knights something you’ve been interested in for a while?

NASSISE: The Templars have always fascinated me. Think about it: You’ve got this small militant order founded to protect the road from the Holy Land back to Europe. Originally they had about a dozen members. How on earth do 12 knights guard hundreds of miles of territory? There had to be more going on there that history does not tell us. Very shortly thereafter, the group has tremendous power and tremendous wealth – again, where did it all come from? How did they achieve it? Why did they grow the way they did? Then comes Black Friday and the imprisonment, capture and subsequent
torture of the Order’s members, supposedly due to heretical actions. All of these unanswered questions and startling events are simply fodder for the hungry mind of a fiction writer like me.

I envisioned a modern version of the Knights, resurrected and forgiven by the Vatican in the midst of the evils of WWII. A private army, if you will, but one used to protect mankind from the things that exist around us, unnoticed and unseen except by a select few. Cade’s lead character grew out of the idea that not every Knight is there for the same reason.

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It’s slim pickin’s this week in the way of new ‘n’ notable books (at least that we could find), but at least it’s a biggie.

One of the most anticipated fall releases, ANANSI BOYS is Neil Gaiman’s follow-up and semi-sequel to AMERICAN GODS, which at least two of us here at Bookgasm hold in our hearts as one of the five best books we’ve ever read. So, yeah, you can say we’re really looking forward to this one. Our review is coming soon.

Some housekeeping items:

• You have just three days left to enter our contest to win a copy of ADVENTURE CLASSICS. It’s easy!

• With Bookgasm’s recent redesign, the link to the comments – either to leave one or read one – moved itself into a strange little corner. Just look for it right underneath the post of each title. You can either click that link that reads “Comments” or the post title itself to be taken to the page where comments may be rendered.