Matthew Costello is prolific in publishing these days, but you wouldn't know it by looking at his covers.
Recently Costello did a book in the loosely related Abbadon Inn series and all of those books were published as "Chris Blaine". His novel, Drowned Night, was one of the best of the three. Though all of them were excellent. Then Mr. Costello put out a novel from Jove called In Dreams. For reasons unknown to me, it was published under the pseudonym, Shane Christopher. A sequel to In Dreams, called Nowhere, is due early in 2007.
Matthew J. Costello also did a recent movie tie-in to the Peter Jackson King Kong remake. This time he was allowed to use his own name.
I've been a fan of the writing of Matthew Costello for years and years. Whether it's horror he publishes, suspense, horror, game or movie tie-ins or collaborations, I know that when I pick up a book from this veteran, I'm in for a good time. Heck, I even enjoyed his first book, Sleep Tight, which reads exactly the way you'd think a debut novel from the boom of the 80's would be. The man is a storyteller. And a damned good one.
I just completed reading In Dreams, and as always I was captivated by his writing. In Dreams is an ingenious suspense story and the novel begins as a beautiful young New York woman is drawn to a seedy basement in a bad part of town. What she finds there is beyond the worst of her already bad dreams. It is a torture room; a charnel house.
Detective David Rodriguez is given the most grisly assignment of his career in finding out why in the hell five seemingly unrelated people came to this ugly room, only to be savagely mutilated and killed. Still recovering from a bullet wound to the leg, Rodriguez is both mentally and physically debilitated, yet refuses to step down from the job. He grudgingly enlists the aid of a female reporter and together they gather clues to what appears to be an impossible series of events. Were these people drawn to their demise by dreams they had?
Costello unfolds his mystery gradually, allowing the reader to know the main protagonists of In Dreams, as well as secondary characters. It's no surprise to the reader that Rodriguez and the reporter begin to become romantically entwined, but I wouldn't describe it as formulaic at all. And the author has numerous surprises in store for the reader. As well as some genuinely unsettling sequences.
In Dreams appears to be the first in a series featuring David Rodriguez and reporter Mari Kinsella. Both are likable, complicated people and I welcome more books that feature them. In Dreams is currently available from The Shocklines Bookstore, and copies are signed at no extra cost to the reader. The followup, Nowhere, is now up for preorder. It's nice to see quality horror/suspense from a talented writer available at a reasonable price. Because you shouldn't have to pay forty dollars to enjoy a good book.
Recently Costello did a book in the loosely related Abbadon Inn series and all of those books were published as "Chris Blaine". His novel, Drowned Night, was one of the best of the three. Though all of them were excellent. Then Mr. Costello put out a novel from Jove called In Dreams. For reasons unknown to me, it was published under the pseudonym, Shane Christopher. A sequel to In Dreams, called Nowhere, is due early in 2007.
Matthew J. Costello also did a recent movie tie-in to the Peter Jackson King Kong remake. This time he was allowed to use his own name.
I've been a fan of the writing of Matthew Costello for years and years. Whether it's horror he publishes, suspense, horror, game or movie tie-ins or collaborations, I know that when I pick up a book from this veteran, I'm in for a good time. Heck, I even enjoyed his first book, Sleep Tight, which reads exactly the way you'd think a debut novel from the boom of the 80's would be. The man is a storyteller. And a damned good one.
I just completed reading In Dreams, and as always I was captivated by his writing. In Dreams is an ingenious suspense story and the novel begins as a beautiful young New York woman is drawn to a seedy basement in a bad part of town. What she finds there is beyond the worst of her already bad dreams. It is a torture room; a charnel house.Detective David Rodriguez is given the most grisly assignment of his career in finding out why in the hell five seemingly unrelated people came to this ugly room, only to be savagely mutilated and killed. Still recovering from a bullet wound to the leg, Rodriguez is both mentally and physically debilitated, yet refuses to step down from the job. He grudgingly enlists the aid of a female reporter and together they gather clues to what appears to be an impossible series of events. Were these people drawn to their demise by dreams they had?
Costello unfolds his mystery gradually, allowing the reader to know the main protagonists of In Dreams, as well as secondary characters. It's no surprise to the reader that Rodriguez and the reporter begin to become romantically entwined, but I wouldn't describe it as formulaic at all. And the author has numerous surprises in store for the reader. As well as some genuinely unsettling sequences.
In Dreams appears to be the first in a series featuring David Rodriguez and reporter Mari Kinsella. Both are likable, complicated people and I welcome more books that feature them. In Dreams is currently available from The Shocklines Bookstore, and copies are signed at no extra cost to the reader. The followup, Nowhere, is now up for preorder. It's nice to see quality horror/suspense from a talented writer available at a reasonable price. Because you shouldn't have to pay forty dollars to enjoy a good book.
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