Jonathan Janz Offers Top-Notch Literary Western Filled with Terrifying Old West Vampires!

One of my author buddies, the one I think I like because I make him laugh, or maybe I try to make him laugh and he just smiles not really laughing….or maybe he is really laughing at me and not with me…..ah, I digress, no matter the case I actually like Jonathan Janz  AND his writing. Telling you he is a friend of mine doesn’t make my review, evaluation, or recommendation any less REAL. For me to tell you to read it, I have to like it.  My reputation is gold to me.  So, as my writing friends know, even if I dearly respect and admire you, I won’t sell your book as good if it is not. I’m honest and so honestly, THIS BOOK IS A MUST READ!!!

Now, about DUST DEVILS……available Feb. 4, 2014!!

At least so far, I mean I am just a little behind and so only 40% in, but that isn’t because I’m NOT sitting here chomping at the bit, thinking of neglecting my children and feeding them bread crumbs while I finish the book. No I will just torture myself by waiting until bed time and then stay up all night finishing it until I collapse and wake up clutching the comforter in a death grip from the vampirism terror I am bound to come across.

Reading this much so far though, I know a few things. It’s IS the best book I’ve read by him. And yes, I’ve said this each time, but he gets better each time and this one far exceeds any others. His characters have great dimensional depth and emotion. I already feel as if I know the two lead protagonists, Cody and Willet. I’m already pulling for them to leave the winners in any final showdown that may occur. I already know their fears and desires, have seen a father and son relationship blossom between a man who just found a boy who needed saving from some nasty actors, who just happen to apparently also be vampires. I love his use of the traveling stage play and traveling actors as the vampire’s cover and even enjoyed the scenes where they cooked human flesh on the spit….did I just say that?? Ok, ewwww…but it didn’t SEEM gross, because it is so well-done. Kinda like the troll scene in Lord of the Rings?

Janz uses techniques of Stephen King, such as in The Dark Tower series (he may not even realize it) and King’s overall style in creating a character in a way in which we HEAR what is happening in his head. Either through the character talking to himself or some reader asides. Ronald Malfi is a great literary author who also employs these techniques. Beyond that, King is great at creating characterization in which you feel a connection with characters. Janz is spot on in this regard. He’s slowed it down, which creates suspense, and also let his work breathe and live and roll around in your head.

I am not a western or country gal, I know this. BUT I do love history and this time period of the Wild West is so intriguing so I like the setting a lot and his details. I can tell he put a lot of research into the novel. I’ve enjoyed Larry McMurtry in the past, as well as Elmore Leonard. This type of literary western with some horror added to it seems to be blazing new trails. It’s working, at least in Dust Devils it’s a win. From a horror perspective, you might like it if you also liked From Dusk till Dawn. In a vampire market saturated with Victorian era night crawlers, I think, why wouldn’t they have gone through this time period of no holds barred outlaws, too? It’s fits them perfectly! It’s refreshing….well, in a scary way!!

There is so much more to tell, but that is just a taste (a dribble of blood to whet your vampire fetish). I know these bastard vampires are about to get MUCH MORE terrifying. So, I’ll finish up the book and be back this way with a full review and hopefully a short interview with Janz about Dust Devils. Until then, have a peek for yourself at the awesome cover and purchase at the cheap sale price from Samhain Horror link below!

Dust Devils, Synopsis~

Beware when the vampires come to town.

When traveling actors recruited his wife for a plum role, Cody Wilson had no idea they would murder her. Twelve-year-old Willet Black was just as devastated the night the fiends slaughtered everyone he loved. Now Cody and Willet are bent on revenge, but neither of them suspects what they’re really up against.

For the actors are vampires. Their thirst for human blood is insatiable. Even if word of their atrocities were to spread, it would take an army to oppose them. But it is 1885 in the wilds of New Mexico, and there is no help for Cody and Willet. The two must battle the vampires—alone—or die trying.

Get it on-sale at his publsher, Samhain Publishing/Horror, in e-book for a limited time at:

http://store.samhainpublishing.com/dust-devils-p-73199.html

Author Jonathan Janz, Biography~

Jonathan Janz grew up between a dark forest and a graveyard, and in a way, that explains everything. Acclaimed author Brian Keene named his debut novel The Sorrows “the best horror novel of 2012.” The Library Journal deemed his follow-up, House of Skin, “reminiscent of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House and Peter Straub’s Ghost Story.”

Samhain Horror published his novel of vampirism and human sacrifice The Darkest Lullaby in April and his serialized horror novel Savage Species this summer. Of Savage Species Publishers Weekly said, “Fans of old-school splatterpunk horror—Janz cites Richard Laymon as an influence, and it shows—will find much to relish.” His next release, the superhero/action/horror/thriller Bloodshot: Kingdom of Shadows, is available now through Kindle Worlds.

His vampire western Dust Devils just released this February of 2014, and his sequel to The Sorrows (Castle of Sorrows) will be published in July 2014. He has also written three novellas (The Clearing of Travis Coble, Old Order, and Witching Hour Theatre) and several short stories.

His primary interests are his wonderful wife and his three amazing children, and though he realizes that every author’s wife and children are wonderful and amazing, in this case the cliché happens to be true. You can learn more about Jonathan at www.jonathanjanz.com. You can also find him on Facebook, via @jonathanjanz on Twitter, or on his Goodreads and Amazon author pages.

One of Jonathan’s wishes is to someday get Stephen King, Peter Jackson, Jack Ketchum and Joe R. Lansdale together for an all-night zombie movie marathon. Of course, that can only happen if all four drop their restraining orders against him.

For more information, go to www.jonathanjanz.com!

And just for fun, here is a picture of Jonathan Janz and I!! 🙂