THE TERROR by Dan Simmons – Take a true-life Arctic expedition gone horribly, fatally wrong; fictionalize it with a supernatural element and an epic scope; and you’ve got the latest from Simmons, returning to horror after a long hiatus that’s seen him concentrating on sci-fi. Early reviews peg this as a cross between Stephen King’s fright-filled novels and Patrick O’Brian’s nautical adventures. Though it will be cold in January, this has the potential to chill you even more. (Jan. 7)
DEEP STORM by Lincoln Child – Child’s third solo outing finds him firmly entrenched in thrillerville, with an outbreak on an oil rig, an undersea habitat and a little something called Atlantis. As stated many times before, I’ll gladly read anything this man writes. (Jan. 30)
HEART-SHAPED BOX by Joe Hill – Having a debut novel from Stephen King’s son would be reason enough to check this out. But a better reason is that the buzz on this is off-the-charts fantastic. (Feb. 13)
SIXTY DAYS AND COUNTING by Kim Stanley Robinson – The thinking man’s science-fiction thriller trilogy concludes, with Washington, D.C. presumably under some kind of heat wave, following FIFTY DEGREES BELOW’s snowstorm and FORTY SIGNS OF RAIN’s torrential floods. I never thought a mixture of extreme weather and environmental politics would make for good reading, but Lordy, does it ever. (Feb. 27)
SCAVENGER by David Morrell – Morrell will attempt to turn 2005’s award-winning CREEPERS into a bona fide franchise by reviving that novel’s Frank Balenger for another weird, wild adventure. How weird and wild? The synopsis strikes me as a mixture of THE TIME MACHINE and SAW. (March 30)
WHITE CORRIDOR by Christopher Fowler – My new favorite mystery series is Fowler’s continuing adventures of Bryant and May, two grumpy old men who head Scotland Yard’s Peculiar Crimes Unit, most recently investigating TEN SECOND STAIRCASE. I have no idea what bizarre felonies await them in WHITE CORRIDOR, but I don’t care – I’ll be there regardless. (May 9)
BAD LUCK AND TROUBLE by Lee Child – Jack Reacher! That should be all you need to know. (May 15)
THE WHEEL OF DARKNESS by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child – What I said above in DEEP STORM about Child goes double when he’s paired with Preston. Last seen in THE BOOK OF THE DEAD, most eccentric FBI Agent Pendergast is back, this time on – according to press materials – “an Atlantic crossing fraught with terror.” You had me at “an.” (Aug. 28)
THE LAST DAYS OF KRYPTON by Kevin J. Anderson – The co-author of many a DUNE book, Anderson’s been given the go-ahead by DC Comics to write a full-length novel treatment of the final days of the planet Krypton, from which an infant named Kal-El escaped, only to come to Earth and grow up to be Superman. Sure, I suppose we know how it will end, but when Anderson plays around with iconic fiction (i.e. THE MARTIAN WAR), the results are assuredly entertaining. (Oct. 15)
DEAN KOONTZ’S FRANKENSTEIN: BOOK THREE – This one’s just wishful thinking, as no set date has been announced. The first two were issued in a timely fashion, but for whatever reason, Koontz is taking his sweet time getting to the final installment of this wildly (and perhaps unexpectedly) popular trilogy. Enough with the ODD THOMAS sequels, Dean; it’s this series that provides us with a much-needed jolt. (by Dec. 31? Please?) –Rod Lott
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