With INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL mere days away from hitting the multiplex, DK Publishing has kindly provided us with five copies of INDIANA JONES: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE to give away! This book is packed with a wealth of information from all four movies — about the characters, the storylines, the ancient ruins and artifacts, the history and the mysticism.

To be eligible, just e-mail us your name, mailing address and answers to the following favorite-of-the-franchise questions:
1. Film?
2. Leading lady?
3. Sidekick?

At the request of the publisher, only U.S. readers may enter. We’ll pick the lucky winners at random and announce them on the morning of Friday, May 16. Or if you’re not all that adventurous, buy it at Amazon.

Congrats are in order for:
• Keith Rawson of Gilbert, Ariz.
• Timothy Bird of N. Hollywood, Calif.
• Michael Carter of Bellevue, Wash.
• Sabrina Williams of Rockwell, N.C.
• Leigh Chan of Cupertino, Calif.

They’ve all won our contest for Brent Ghelfi’s new thriller VOLK’S SHADOW, the sequel to the acclaimed VOLK’S GAME.

If you didn’t win, you can always buy it at Amazon. Another BOOKGASM contest is coming soon!

We’ve got five copies to giveaway of Brent Ghelfi’s new thriller VOLK’S SHADOW, the sequel to the acclaimed VOLK’S GAME. In this one, covert Russian agent Col. Alexei Volkovoy confronts an old nemesis when a cabal drives him back to blood-soaked Chechnya.

To be eligible, just e-mail us your name and mailing address. (At the request of the publisher, only U.S. readers may enter.) We’ll pick the lucky winners at random and announce them on the morning of Friday, April 11. Or if you’re not a gambling man, buy it at Amazon.

For their honest and mostly intelligent (Ha! We kid because we love!) comments on this very site – plus a roll of the dice – the following BOOKGASM readers have won a pile of books from William Morrow/HarperCollins:
• Heather Brown
• Alan Cranis
• Fletch (I’m assuming this isn’t a name bestowed upon by Mom)

For the record, they’ve won:
• THE SHADOW YEAR by Jeffrey Ford
• THE PHILOSOPHER’S APPRENTICE by James Morrow
• THE PRICE OF BLOOD by Declan Hughes
• HEADLESS BODY IN TOPLESS BAR: THE BEST HEADLINES FROM AMERICA’S FAVORITE NEWSPAPER by the staff of the New York Post

Congrats to the winners, who need to e-mail me with their mailing address. And thanks to everyone who left a comment. Another chance to win free books is coming Monday!

Our promised “best contest yet” is not even for a book. It’s for four books. And thanks to William Morrow/HarperCollins, we’ve got three full sets to give away.

Up for grabs are these new releases:
• THE SHADOW YEAR by Jeffrey Ford
• THE PHILOSOPHER’S APPRENTICE by James Morrow
• THE PRICE OF BLOOD by Declan Hughes
• HEADLESS BODY IN TOPLESS BAR: THE BEST HEADLINES FROM AMERICA’S FAVORITE NEWSPAPER by the staff of the New York Post

How to get one? Easy, provided you’re a BOOKGASM regular: Use the comments section on this very post and give us a “state of BOOKGASM” summary. What do you like about the site? What do you not like? What should we do more of? Less of? Only informed, well-thought-out opinions will be considered for the random drawing. Winners will be announced Friday, April 4.

Only if your name is Nicole Reese of Irving, Texas!

She’s the randomly chosen winner of our contest for two books – THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA omnibus, containing all seven original novels by C.S. Lewis, and NARNIA CHRONOLOGY: FROM THE ARCHIVES OF THE LAST KING, an “interactive timeline” – courtesy of HarperCollins to promote the upcoming PRINCE CASPIAN film.

Remember, if you’re not Nicole, you can always buy it at Amazon. Check back Monday for the single-best giveaway this site has ever seen!

To help promote the upcoming PRINCE CASPIAN film, the fine folks at HarperCollins sent us a CHRONICLES OF NARNIA prize pack to give away to one lucky reader. Someone’s walking away with two books: THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA omnibus, containing all seven original novels by C.S. Lewis, and NARNIA CHRONOLOGY: FROM THE ARCHIVES OF THE LAST KING, an “interactive timeline.”

To enter, just send your name and mailing address to editor@bookgasm.com. We’ll announce the winner on the morning of Friday, March 28. If you don’t wanna wait, you can always buy it at Amazon. Don’t forget to visit the new NARNIA site, where you can register to win a trip to the premiere, play games and more.

Joe Hill’s bestselling debut novel HEART-SHAPED BOX is coming out in paperback, but Robert Koenig of Marietta, Ga., isn’t going to have to buy it, because he won our contest.

The question was: What do you think is one of the best and one of the worst Stephen King adaptations to hit theaters? (Several of you named made-for-TV movies, which doesn’t address the “theaters” part of the question; others dissed David Cronenberg’s THE DEAD ZONE, which should be illegal.) Bob’s – can I call you Bob? – answers were THE SHINING and GRAVEYARD SHIFT, respectively.

Thanks for playing, everyone, and remember you can always buy it at Amazon. More great contests are coming soon!

Joe Hill’s bestselling debut novel HEART-SHAPED BOX is coming out in paperback, and we’ve got one to give away!

Hill’s been making some news lately with selling movie rights to some of his works – including this horror number – to Hollywood. Since none have yet seen fruition, our contest question leans toward his dad: What do you think is one of the best and one of the worst Stephen King adaptations to hit theaters? If your tastes pair up with mine, you’ll be eligible to have the postman drop this at your door.

Send your answer along with your name and mailing address to editor@bookgasm.com. We’ll announce the winner on the morning of Friday, March 14. If you don’t wanna wait, you can always buy it at Amazon.

You only thought winning Joshua Jabcuga and Alberto Dose’s SCARFACE: DEVIL IN DISGUISE was going to be easy! After all, all you had to do to be eligible was identify the summer 2008 movie for which Jabcuga is scripting a tie-in comic.

But a majority of the entries identified the name of the comic (THE MUMMY: RISE & FALL OF XANGO’S AX) rather than the film we asked for (THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR). So a lot of wrong answers made it easier for these three people to win the autographed SCARFACE collection:
• Mia Dalia of Philadelphia, Pa.
• Jennifer Schillace of Wellington, Fla.
• Matthew Mayo of Blue Hill, Maine

Everyone else: Thanks for playing, and remember you can always buy it at Amazon. More great contests are coming soon!

This week, not only do we have three copies of IDW Publishing’s SCARFACE: DEVIL IN DISGUISE to give away, but they’re also autographed by writer Joshua Jabcuga. The trade paperback collects all four issues of Jabcuga and artist Alberto Dose’s recent comic-book miniseries, which serves as a prequel to the cult film.

To be eligible to win, just answer this question: For which summer 2008 movie is Jabcuga currently scripting a tie-in comic, also to be released by IDW? Sleuth away and send your answer along with your name and mailing address to editor@bookgasm.com. From all correct entries, we’ll pick the lucky winners at random and announce them on the morning of Friday, March 7.

If you don’t wanna wait, you can always buy it at Amazon.

Making the cut to win a copy of Richard Laymon’s latest novel from Leisure Books, CUTS: Shon Richards of Marietta, Ga.!

All you had to do was identify five BOOKGASM excerpts from reviews of other Laymon titles (and kudos to you if you figured out pasting them in the search bar revealed the answers in a split second). The correct answers were:
1. TRIAGE
2. COME OUT TONIGHT
3. ISLAND
4. THE LAKE
5. AFTER MIDNIGHT

Thanks for playing. Those who lost out can buy it at Amazon. Everyone, come back Monday for yet another contest!

We have one copy of Richard Laymon’s latest novel from Leisure Books, CUTS, to put into someone’s hands. Perhaps even yours!

Befitting of the title, we’ve taken five “cuts” from reviews we’ve published of previous Laymon works. The excerpts may be of our actual review, or a line we quoted from the book. All you have to do it tell us which titles to which we’re referring. Send your answers along with your name and mailing address to editor@bookgasm.com. From all correct entries, we’ll pick the lucky winner at random and announce him or her on the morning of Friday, Feb. 29.

1. “Good thing, too, because the gunman is still in pursuit, only now he’s inexplicably stark naked.”
2. “She moaned with pleasure as the flavors filled her mouth. The shredded beef was springy.”
3. “You’re never quite sure what the man has up his sleeve (protagonist escapes doom by peeing in his tormenter’s face? Check!).”
4. “These two just don’t know how to dial 911.”
5. “He went crazy on me, plunging and ramming as if he needed to get someplace where nobody’d ever gone before.”

If you don’t wanna wait, you can always buy it at Amazon.

Who’s having the new trade paperback edition of John Marks’ FANGLAND – a 21st-century, satirical take on the Dracula legend – show up at their door? BOOKGASM’s pint-sized Vanna White randomly picked numbers that corresponded to:
• Richard Heft of Van Nuys, Calif.
• Allie Ness of Carrollton, Texas
• Sean McMartin of Poulsbo, Wash.

They were among a sizable pool of people who correctly identified the four vampire novels from closeup shots of their covers. The correct answers were:
• I AM LEGEND by Richard Matheson
• INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE by Anne Rice
• THE HUNGER by Whitley Streiber
• THE HISTORIAN by Elizabeth Kostova

Another giveaway is coming Monday; if you didn’t win this one, you can always buy it at Amazon.

We’ve got three copies to give away of the new trade paperback edition of John Marks’ FANGLAND, a 21st-century, satirical take on the Dracula legend. You may recall BOOKGASM’s mixed review of the hardback one year ago. (With apologies to Marks, we blame our then double-mortgage blues.)

Your mission, should you choose to accept it: Identify the four landmark vampire novels below by title and author. Some have complained our most recent contest was too tough, so helpful hint: They’re in chronological order. Send your answers along with your name and mailing address to editor@bookgasm.com. From all correct entries, we’ll pick three lucky winners at random and announce them on the morning of Friday, Feb. 22.

Those lacking a cursory knowledge of vampire lit can always just buy it at Amazon.

In case you didn’t get boinked for Valentine’s Day, at least one lucky BOOKGASM reader is getting BOINK: COLLEGE SEX BY THE PEOPLE HAVING IT today.

And that’s Ray Clement of Bozeman, Mt., the only entrant to identify the four actresses and films correctly:
1. Kelly Preston, SECRET ADMIRER
2. Mary Louise Weller, NATIONAL LAMPOON’S ANIMAL HOUSE
3. Heather Thomas, ZAPPED!
4. Phoebe Cates, FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH

Thanks for playing! A new contest is coming Monday, and remember: No illicit knowledge of bras in cinema is required when you buy it at Amazon.

What better book for BOOKGASM to give away this Valentine’s Day week than BOINK: COLLEGE SEX BY THE PEOPLE HAVING IT, from the sex magazine of the same name by a group of unclothed Boston University undergrads?

How to get it? Refer to the four pairs of celebrity breasts below (if you’re offended by that, then you definitely don’t want this book) and identify the actress and the sex comedy to which they belong. (This should be entirely too easy for males who hit puberty in the ’80s and had a VCR in their own room.) Send your answers along with your name and mailing address to editor@bookgasm.com. From all correct entries, we’ll pick a winner at random and announce him or her on the morning of Friday, Feb. 15.

(Too tough? Unsure of your chances? Didn’t watch R-rated flicks? You can always buy it at Amazon.)

It’s amazing how many more entries you get in a contest when you don’t make people work for it. So among a swarm, whose name got randomly picked to win Natasha Mostert’s erotically charged slice of Gothic fiction otherwise known as SEASON OF THE WITCH?

David Keith of Washington, Ind., that’s who! Congrats to David, and to everyone else who threw their hat in the ring, you can always buy it at Amazon. (After all, it’s the holidays, so go ahead and treat yourself.) More contests are coming your way in ‘08 from your friends at BOOKGASM!

Want to get your hands on a free copy of Natasha Mostert’s Gothic thriller SEASON OF THE WITCH?

Thought you might. This being the holidays, there’s no time to pussyfoot around, so just e-mail your name and mailing address to editor@bookgasm.com. We’ll pick a winner at random and announce him or her on the morning of Friday, Dec. 21.

And if you don’t want to take your chances, you can always buy it at Amazon.

Who’s taking home ace crime novelist Max Allan Collins’ novelization of AMERICAN GANGSTER? Guess no more!

Steve Gomez of Stockton, CA, was one of only two people to identify correctly all of the four gangster movies in our contest. For historical preservation, the correct answers were:
1. THE GODFATHER
2. GOODFELLAS
3. THE UNTOUCHABLES
4. CASINO

THE UNTOUCHABLES is the one that tripped everyone up. Congrats, Steve; everyone else, you can always buy it at Amazon.