Because time isn’t always kind: economic reviews in a world full of waste!

David Hewson’s THE SACRED CUT got lumped into the post-DA VINCI CODE heap of clones upon its hardcover release last year, which is more than a bit unfair since Hewson’s been writing this style of stuff for several books. Now in paperback, SACRED is an Italian-set thriller about a serial killer who’s left strange markings on the backs of his seven victims. That alone is interesting enough, but moreso is that the novel puts as much emphasis on the procedural in as it does the chase, whereas most would have settled for the chase. The mix raises it above its peers and makes the pages fly faster as it draws you into both its forward-thinking plot and richly drawn world.

The out-of-print INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS: A TRIBUTE is now available once more, thanks to the lit-historians at Stark House Press. Originally published by Berkley in 1999 under the title “THEY’RE HERE…,” this edition is the one you want, sporting better cover art, updating the filmography of Kevin McCarthy (who co-edited the book with Ed Gorman) and featuring two new pieces: a career-encompassing interview with McCarthy and a brief thinkpiece on how SNATCHERS connects to the spiritual. The essays, interviews and remembrances from the first book – from Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Fangoria editor Anthony Timpone and others – remain intact, covering Jack Finney’s original novel and each of its three screen adapations, from Don Siegel’s classic to Philip Kaufman’s remake and Abel Ferrara’s reimagining. Even if you haven’t seen them all, this is essential for the sci-fi film fanatic’s shelf.

Anthologies of vintage crime fiction are a dime a dozen, but so what? When they’re good, like the Otto Penzler-edited PULP FICTION: THE CRIMEFIGHTERS, they’re worth dozens and dozens of dimes. As Harlan Coben writes in his intro, he envies the person coming in new to these 14 stories, all from the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s, most from the pages of the influential Black Mask magazine. Inside you’ll find excellent work from the usual suspects – Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammet, Cornell Woolrich – but not represented by the same ol’ same ol’ stories from every other anthology. (My favorite among these old pros is Erle Stanley Gardner’s non-Perry Mason story, “Honest Money,” a D.A. tale with cleverness to burn.) But the collection also throws a curveball with the inclusion of lesser-known practitioners of the era; while perhaps not as fluid as the household names, they more than step up to the plate. Given the book’s subtitle of THE CRIMEFIGHTERS, here’s hoping Penzler has plans to turn this into a themed multi-volume series. –Rod Lott

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OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THESE AUTHORS:
• THE ADVENTURE OF THE MISSING DETECTIVE AND 19 OF THE YEAR’S FINEST CRIME AND MYSTERY STORIES edited by by Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg
• DEAL BREAKER by Harlan Coben
• DEAN KOONTZ’S FRANKENSTEIN: BOOK TWO – CITY OF NIGHT by Dean Koontz and Ed Gorman
• DIFFERENT KINDS OF DEAD AND OTHER TALES by Ed Gorman
• GHOST TOWN by Ed Gorman
• GRAVES’ RETREAT by Ed Gorman
• GUNSLINGER AND NINE OTHER ACTION-PACKED STORIES OF THE WILD WEST by Ed Gorman
• MURDER AT THE FOUL LINE edited by Otto Penzler
• MURDER IN THE ROUGH edited by Otto Penzler
• MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA PRESENTS DEATH DO US PART: NEW STORIES ABOUT LOVE, LUST, AND MURDER edited by Harlan Coben
• WOLF MOON by Ed Gorman