John Mauro

3 weeks ago | beforewegoblog.com | John Mauro |Beth Tabler

Born a Ramblin’ Man is the debut anthology of crime fiction from Pennsylvania noir author Michel Lee Garrett, who bursts onto the literary scene with an intensity worthy of Jennifer Egan. Lee Garrett’s goon squad is led by the inimitable Raymond Reynolds, a hard-drinking, country-singing rambler, who eventually becomes a small-town crime reporter and amateur detective. Ray is a noir protagonist par excellence.

1 month ago | beforewegoblog.com | John Mauro |Beth Tabler

Will the next stage of evolution bring the dawn of planetary intelligence? Gaia Wakes by Topher McDougal makes the bold prediction that the planet itself may soon awaken as a unified, intelligent entity, a process accelerated by burgeoning artificial intelligence and ongoing environmental devastation. Gaia Wakes is undoubtedly ambitious in its goals. Planetary intelligence is a concept first appearing in science fiction, viz., the classic 1961 novel Solaris by Stanisław Lem.

1 month ago | beforewegoblog.com | John Mauro |Beth Tabler

The next great grimdark antihero is born in Whispers of the Storm, Book One in the Song of the Damned series by author Z.B. Steele. Now a prisoner charged with unimaginable crimes, Redlin of the Wolves recounts his path from boyhood to his violent adult life. Is Redlin a hero or a villain? Or something in between? Whispers of the Storm has echoes of other great grimdark classics such as the Empires of the Dust trilogy by Anna Smith Spark.

Nov 30, 2024 | grimdarkmagazine.com | John Mauro

Last Updated on December 1, 2024Joe Ledger returns in Burn to Shine, the fourth installment in author Jonathan Maberry’s Rogue Team International series. Never a stranger to bioterrorism, Joe Ledger takes on an all-new adventure to combat a mysterious organization infiltrating top-secret biological weapons research facilities around the globe. The stakes have never been higher for Joe Ledger and company, but will they be able to unravel this conspiracy before it’s too late?

Nov 3, 2024 | grimdarkmagazine.com | John Mauro

The feeling of emotional devastation lingers long after closing the back cover of Mark Lawrence’s The Book That Held Her Heart, the final volume of his mind-bending Library Trilogy, which began with the highly acclaimed The Book That Wouldn’t Burn and continued with its sequel, The Book That Broke the World. I will keep this review completely spoiler-free for readers who have not yet started the series.