Ghost Road Blues [Mass Market Paperback]

Jonathan Maberry (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 1, 2006

Winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel

From a new master of horror comes an apocalyptic showdown between the residents of a secluded, rural town and the deadly evil that confronts them wherever they turn . . .

Evil Doesn't Die

The cozy little town of Pine Deep buried the horrors of its past a long time ago. Thirty years have gone by since the darkness descended and the Black Harvest began, a time when a serial killer sheared a bloody swath through the quiet Pennsylvania village. The evil that once coursed through Pine Deep has been replaced by cheerful tourists getting ready to enjoy the country's largest Halloween celebration in what is now called "The Spookiest Town in America."

It Just Grows Stronger

But then--a month before Halloween--it begins. Unspeakably desecrated bodies. Inexplicable insanity. And an ancient evil walking the streets, drawing in those who would fall to their own demons and seeking to shred the very soul of this rapidly fracturing community. Yes, the residents of Pine Deep have drawn together and faced a killer before. But this time, evil has many faces--and the lust and will to rule the earth. This struggle will be epic.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Maberry supplies plenty of chills, both Earth-bound and otherworldly, in this atmospheric horror novel, the first of a trilogy. Thirty years after the citizens of Pine Deep, Pa., killed the serial killer known as the Reaper, the town enjoys a quiet idyll and a tourist-friendly reputation as "the most haunted town in America." But gearing up for its annual Halloween celebration, the town is unprepared for the real haunts stirring in their corn fields, seeking to finish what the Reaper started. Switching among a large cast of characters, Maberry builds suspense by degrees, in the process exploring the community of Pine Deep. Showing his smalltown Americans at their worst—through domestic abuse, religious fanaticism and cowardice—Maberry proves how everyday, evening –news–grade sadism can dovetail neatly with capital-E Evil and the supernatural big guns that carry it out. This is horror on a grand scale, reminiscent of Stephen King's heftier works (The Stand, Needful Things) and just as dense with detail; though it simmers a bit too long, and the payoff doesn't quite measure up, Maberry can be forgiven—as long as he fulfills his grisly promises in the sequel. (June)
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Review

''Maberry supplies plenty of chills, both Earth-bound and otherworldly, in this atmospheric horror novel . . . This is horror on a grand scale, reminiscent of Stephen King's heftier works.'' -- Publishers Weekly

''Without a doubt this prolific author is the next Stephen King. Maberry deserves more than a Bram Stoker Award for this; he deserves Bram Stoker to rise from his grave and shake his hand.'' --New World Reviews

''A chilling tale--lyrical, melodic, and dark. Maberry breathes new life into modern horror fiction.'' -- Scott Nicholson, bestselling author of The Red Church

''Serves up scares like pancakes at a church social.'' --Gregory Frost, bestselling author of Shadowbridge

''If I were asked to select only one new voice in horror fiction to read today, it would be Jonathan Maberry.'' -- Katherine Ramsland, bestselling author of The Vampire Companion

''If you think small town horror has nothing new to offer, you have a surprise in store. Ghost Road Blues demonstrates that even the most haunted town in America is unprepared for the full depth of evil, either human or inhuman.'' Don D'Ammassa, author of Blood Beast --Don D'Ammassa, author of Blood Beast --This text refers to the MP3 CD edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Pinnacle (June 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786018151
• ISBN-13: 978-0786018154
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (193 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #333,424 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

JONATHAN MABERRY is a New York Times best-selling and multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning horror and thriller author, comic book writer, magazine feature writer, playwright, content creator and writing teacher/lecturer. His books have been sold to more than a dozen countries.

He writes in several genres. His young adult fiction includes ROT & RUIN (2011; now in development for film; named in Booklist's Ten Best Horror Novels for Young Adults, a Bram Stoker and Pennsylvania Keystone to Reading winner; nominee for several state Teen Book Awards; winner of the Cybils Award, the Eva Perry Mock Printz medal, Dead Letter Best Novel Award, and four Melinda Awards); DUST & DECAY (winner of the 2011 Bram Stoker Award; FLESH & BONE (September 11, 2012; and FIRE & ASH (2013). His thrillers include The Joe Ledger Thrillers from St. Martin's Griffin (PATIENT ZERO, 2009, winner of the Black Quill and a Bram Stoker Award finalist for Best Novel; THE DRAGON FACTORY, 2010; HE KING OF PLAGUES, 2011; ASSASSIN'S CODE, 2011; EXTINCTION MACHINE, 2013; CODE ZER0, 2014, and JOE LEDGER: THE MISSING FILES, 2011 from Blackstone Audio.

His horror novels include The Pine Deep Trilogy from Pinnacle Books (GHOST ROAD BLUES, 2006, winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel; DEAD MAN'S SONG, 2007; and BAD MOON RISING, 2008), as well as DEAD OF NIGHT, 2011 and its forthcoming sequel, FALL OF NIGHT, 2014. And the movie novelization, THE WOLFMAN, 2010, winner of the Scribe Award for Best Adaptation.

He is also editor and co-author of V-WARS, a shared-world vampire anthology from IDW.

Jonathan was an expert on the History Channel documentary, ZOMBIES: A Living History. He will also be featured in That $#(!'ll Rot Your Brain: How the Monster Kids Transformed Popular Culture, a forthcoming documentary on horror movies directed by Robert Tinnell.

His many nonfiction works include VAMPIRE UNIVERSE (Citadel Press, 2006); THE CRYPTOPEDIA (Citadel, 2007 -winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction; co-authored by David F. Kramer); ZOMBIE CSU: The Forensics of the Living Dead (Winner of the Hinzman and Black Quill Awards and finalist for a Stoker Award; 2008); THEY BITE! (2009 co-authored by David F. Kramer); WANTED UNDEAD OR ALIVE (2010; Bram Stoker finalist; co-authored by Janice Gable Bashman); THE VAMPIRE SLAYERS FIELD GUIDE TO THE UNDEAD (2001, written under the pen name of Shane MacDougall); ULTIMATE JUJUTSU (Strider Nolan, 2001); ULTIMATE SPARRING (Strider Nolan, 2000); JUDO AND YOU (Kendall Hunt 1991); and many others.

He writes a variety of projects for Marvel Comics involving CAPTAIN AMERICA, BLACK PANTHER, DOOMWAR, WOLVERINE, DEADPOOL, THE X-MEN, FANTASTIC FOUR, the NY Times bestselling MARVEL ZOMBIES RETURN, MARVEL UNIVERSE vs THE PUNISHER. MARVEL UNIVERSE vs WOLVERINE and the upcoming MARVEL UNIVERSE vs THE AVENGERS. All of Jonathan's comic book collections are released as Graphic Novel collections within a month or two of individual comic publication.

Recent short stories include "A Footnote in the Black Budget" (MADNESS OF CTHULHU, 2013), "Pegleg and Paddy Save the World" (HISTORY IS DEAD, Permuted Press 2007), "Doctor Nine" (KILLERS, Swimming Kangaroo Press, 2008; and reprinted in THE STORIES (in) BETWEEN Edited by Greg Schauer, Jeanne B. Benzel, and W.H. Horner. Fantasist Enterprises, 2009), "Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Greenbrier Ghost" (LEGENDS OF THE MOUNTAIN STATE 2, Bloodletting Books, 2008), "Clean Sweeps" (AND SO IT BEGINS, Dark Quest Books, 2008), "Family Business" (THE NEW DEAD, St. Martin's Press, 2010), "Like Part of the Family" (NEW BLOOD edited by Patrick Thomas and Diane Raetz, Padwolf Press, 2010), "Zero Tolerance" (THE LIVING DEAD 2, Night Shade Books), "Flint and Steel" (GI JOE: COBRA WARS, 2011), "Saint John" (THE MONSTER'S CORNER, 2011, St. Martin's), "Spellcaster 2.0" (An Apple for the Creature, Ace Books, 2012), "Jack and Jill" (21st Century Dead, St. Martin's Griffin,2012), "The Death Song of Dwar Guntha" (Under the Moons of Mars: New Adventures on Barsoom, 2012, Simon & Schuster), "The Wind Through the Fence" (an original e-story available for all e-readers), "Property Condemned" (scheduled for the premier issue of NIGHTMARE MAGAZINE), "Chokepoint" (included in THE UNINVITED, Vol 2), and many others. His essay, "Take Me To Your Leader" is included in the nonfiction book, TRIUMPH OF THE WALKING DEAD: Robert Kirkman's Zombie Epic on Page and Screen edited by James Lowder (BenBella Books/Smart Pop, 2011).

In 2012 Blackstone Audio released two collections of Jonathan's short stories: Tales from the Fire Zone and Hungry Tales.

All of Jonathan's novels are available on audio, including the audio-only collection, JOE LEDGER: THE MISSING FILES (Blackstone), which includes the short stories "Countdown", "Zero Tolerance", "Deep Dark", "Material Witness" and "Dog Days". Another Joe Ledger short, "Mad Science", will appear in the audio anthology LIAR LIAR from The Liars Club.

Jonathan is the co-creator (with Laura Schrock) of ON THE SLAB, an entertainment news show in development by Stage 9 for ABC Disney / Stage 9. He was also a 'blog correspondent' on Sony's zombie-themed web show 'WOKE UP DEAD'; and was a recurring character on Laura Schrock's 'IT'S TODD'S SHOW'.

Jonathan's Big Scary Blog (www.jonathanmaberry.com) focuses on the publishing industry. Jonathan's interviews include Sandra Brown, Gayle Lynds, Alafair Burke, Charlaine Harris, James Rollins, Harlan Coben, Jeff Abbott, John Saul, Jonathan Kellerman, Barry Eisler, CJ Box, Laurell K. Hamilton, Jack Ketchum, Tom Piccarilli, Dale Brown, Kevin J. Anderson, Joe Lansdale, Peter Straub, Ramsey Campbell, Carrie Ryan, and many other best-selling authors.

He is a frequent keynote speaker, guest of honor and workshop leader at genre cons, libraries, writers conferences and publishing industry events, including KeyCon, ThrillerFest, Zombie Fest, Heather Graham's The Writers for New Orleans, Central Coast Writers Conference, NeCon, NY Comic Con, Texas Library Association Annual Conference, Sisters in Crime, BackSpace, PennWriters, Dragon*Con, PhilCon, Horror-Realm, Boucher Con, HorrorFind, Monster Mania, Philadelphia Writers Conference, Balticon, Romance Writers of America, American Library Association, The Write Stuff, Hypericon, AnthoCon, KillerCon, NAIBA, LunaCon, and many others.

Jonathan has sold more than 1,200 feature articles and 3,000 columns; as well as greeting cards, song lyrics, poetry, technical manuals, call-floor scripts, and two plays, including Tales from the Fire Zone. He is developing a psychological thriller novel based on that play.

Jonathan is a Contributing Editor for The Big Thrill (the newsletter of the International Thriller Writers), and is a member of SFWA, IAMTW, MWA, SCBWI, SFWA and HWA, as well as a jurist for the Edgar and Stoker Awards.

Jonathan was the Executive Director of the Writers Room of Bucks County (2005-06) and co-owner of the Writers Corner USA (2006-2009). Jonathan regularly visits local middle schools, high schools and colleges to talk about books, reading, publishing and the writing life. He is a board member of the River Union Stage, a professional equity theater based in Stockton, New Jersey.

Jonathan is a founding member of The Liars Club, a group of networking publishing professionals that includes celebrated authors Merry Jones, Gregory Frost, Jon McGoran, Ed Pettit, Dennis Tafoya, Keith Strunk, Don Lafferty, Kelly Simmons, Marie Lamba, Solomon Jones, Stephen Susco, Chuck Wendig, Sara Shepard, William Lashner, and Laura Schrock. The Liars Club works to support booksellers, raise awareness and support for public libraries, and cultivate a joy of reading and books. The late NY Times bestseller L. A. Banks was a founding member of the Liars Club.

On the last Sunday of every month Jonathan hosts the Writers Coffeehouse, a free three-hour open-agenda networking and discussion session for writers of all genres and levels of skill. The event is held at the Barnes & Noble in Willow Grove Pennsylvania. The Liars Club has begun launching additional Writers Coffeehouses throughout the region.

Jonathan has been a popular writing teacher and career counselor for writers for the last two decades. He teaches a highly regard series of classes and workshops including Write Your Novel in Nine Months, Act Like a Writer, Revise & Sell, Experimental Writing for Teens, and others. Many of his students have gone on to obtain representation and/or publish in short and novel-length fiction, magazine feature writing, nonfiction books, TV, film, and comics.

In 2004 Jonathan was inducted into the International Martial Arts Hall of Fame largely because of his extensive writings in that field.

Jonathan lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Sara Jo, to whom he dedicates all of his published works, and their dog, Rosie. His stepson, Sam West-Mensch, serves a general manager of Jonathan's writing business.

Visit his website/blog and sign up for his free newsletter at www.jonathanmaberry.com
www.facebook.com/jonathanmaberry, www.twitter.com/jonathanmaberry

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#47 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Horror

#47 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Horror

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A homerun July 10, 2006

By JT Morris

Format:Mass Market Paperback

This is my first horror novel since high school, and I bought it thinking it was a mystery (the cover looks like a mystery novel). I was surprised to find out that the mystery is built on a supernatural story, and that the book is the first of three. Sooo...I read it anyway, and boy this guy hits a homerun out of the park on his first try. Though I would rather have had everything wrapped up in one book, I have to say that I really dug the way the plot twisted and turned.

47 of 59 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Gotta go against the crowd on this one October 17, 2008

By Colin P. Lindsey VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback

I'll probably get blasted for this review but I have to voice a dissenting opinion from the bulk of the reviews here. Let me first say that this isn't a bad book, but I simply don't feel it warrants the ratings it is getting. I've read far too many horror books which are better and which I feel deserve four and five star reviews before this book. My mom had a copy of this book which I borrowed a few weeks ago. When I looked on Amazon I saw a slew of five star reviews for it and very, very few dissenting reviews. That's normally a sign of a very good book so I borrowed her copy and started reading. The book starts out well, and there is actually two excellent scenes in the beginning which jerk your chain hard. Then the book settles down....then it slows down.... then it kind of begins to drag. Truthfully I got to within 30 pages of the end and then I put it aside and didn't finish. Why? I realized that the book couldn't fit the conclusion in the next 30 pages. It was obvious the story wasn't going to finish in this book. I went back to the website and discovered that this is the first of a trilogy. The problem here is that, in my view, the book's pacing is all wrong and I was tired at the thought of having to read two more books to get to the conclusion.

Why is the pacing wrong? Mayberry sets out at a good pace and then falters along the way. Actually he doesn't so much as falter, as begin to insert more and more space between moments of dramatic tension. All the elements are there in this story. You have some whacked-out crazies, Evil vampire spirits, scary scenes, violent scenes, good people struggling against bad people, etc. but the tension didn't escalate at the end of the book, it slowed down, took a deep breath and obviously began to prepare for the sequel. This really threw me off and I didn't enjoy it.

The other problem I had was that the "Evil" spirit just didn't come off any nastier than humans. Frankly, one of the human characters seemed nastier and came with a bigger body count than the vampire spirit. The goal of the vampire spirit seems to be to wipe out the town. In an age of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Dachau, Auschwitz and other modern horrors the goal of wiping out a town seems like small potatoes. With humans being so accomlished at horror all by themselves you'd think that supernatural Evil would try to set a new standard, yet it came across as something of an underachiever.

In all honesty my feeling at the end of the book was that it was OK but not worth the bother of investing enough time to read two more books. The characters never really developed into truly complex, three dimensional beings, the tension ratcheted down rather than up, and my feeling was that I had read much better, much scarier, and much more enjoyable books. I'd recommend John Dies at the End as an example of five star horror. The supernatural Evil in that one makes humans look like wanna-be evildoers and it is a tremendous book. Try that one and then tell me that Ghost Road Blues deserves the same rating; it doesn't. Or try Infected: A Novel for an example of almost palpably painful escalating tension and five star horror. So while this isn't a horrible book it does have flaws which make me reserve higher ratings for books that I feel are much better.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Halloween is early this year July 3, 2006

By Library Lady

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Ghost Road Blues by Jonathan Maberry is a wonderful read, though it is not a book one would ideally read in the dead of night. It is extremely frightening at times.

I found this at our library in Columbia (SC) and was enchanted by the cover illustration. Though my horror reading tastes seldom venture beyond Mary Higgens Clark, I thought I would give this a try, and I was extremely surprised to find that the novel has taste, sensitivity and well-rounded characters. The dialogue is on the money, and the story is the kind of complex, intricate weaving of plotlines that I find most challenging and rewarding.

I will put Jonathan Maberry's on my "must have" list from now on.