Archive for the ‘thriller books’ Category

“If this isn’t exactly the way the Old West was, it should have been.” – John Farris, author of The Fury and Son of the Endless Night.

Sunday, April 7th, 2019

“Meet Joe Noose.  A good bounty hunter with a bad attitude.  In the cutthroat world of bounty hunters, Joe Noose is as honest as they come. Which isn’t saying much. Just look at his less-than-honest colleagues. They framed Joe for a murder they committed. They made sure Joe’s face wound up on a wanted poster. Now they’re gonna hunt Joe down and collect the reward money. There’s just one problem: Joe Noose thinks it’s his bounty. It’s his reward. And it’s their funeral.”

“Exceptionally fast-paced and blood-spattered. Full of action, overflowing with defiant characters and deadly gunplay.” – Ray Walsh, Lansing State Journal.

NOOSE, the first novel in the Joe Noose Western book series, is available in from Kensington Publishing Corp. in Mass Market Paperback, Large Print and Kindle editions on Amazon at: https://amzn.to/2MIVTWZ

“Joe Noose is back.  The Devil Is A Woman.  In all his days as a bounty hunter, Joe Noose never met an outlaw like Bonny Kate Valence. The notorious female gunslinger has the kind of beauty that drives men wild—and a criminal record longer than the Snake River. She also has a date with the gallows. But before anyone can put a rope around that pretty neck, Joe Noose has to bring her in alive. On the way, he’ll have to protect his prisoner from a vile ex-lover and a vengeance-seeking posse. Which puts Noose’s neck on the line, too. Especially when this female of the species is deadlier than the male…”

“This is an edge-of-your-seat novel with plenty of action from start to finish. You wonder how Noose will escape each trial he is faced. It’s well-written, with great characterization throughout. This book is a Western lover’s dream read…A writer of several blockbuster films, Eric Red is a welcome addition to the Western genre.” - Historical Novels Review.

“Red is a writer who deserves to have his stories told on his own terms, and his latest is a treat…Hanging Fire’s world is populated with compelling characters, boasts danger at every turn, and contains an abundance action-packed mayhem with a bloody punch that begins swiftly and never lets up throughout the story. Additionally, Red’s writing style is breezy, fun, hard as nails and punctuated with lively dialogue, making for a leisurely read and an addictive page turner. You really can’t ask for more from a book of this ilk, and those readers who find themselves constantly searching for new badass heroes will find a new one in Joe Noose should they decide to give Hanging Fire a chance.” - Scream Magazine.

HANGING FIRE is available from Kensington Books in Mass Market Paperback and Kindle Editions on Amazon at: https://amzn.to/2G0d2Lx

Excellent review in Scream Magazine for my new novel, HANGING FIRE.

Wednesday, March 6th, 2019

“The name Eric Red is no doubt familiar to SCREAM readers given that he’s an accomplished screenwriter who penned acclaimed horror classics like The Hitcher and Near Dark. That said, he’s perhaps more prolific as a novelist these days, with works spanning several genres including crime, science fiction, fantasy, and – of course – horror. He’s also a very good storyteller regardless of whatever genre field he’s playing in at the time, and if you’re a fan of his movies you’ll likely enjoy his literature. And the best thing about literature is that the author’s imagination less restricted by compromise due to studios, collaborators and budgets.

Red is a writer who deserves to have his stories told on his own terms, and his latest is a treat. Following his previous novel Noose, Hanging Fire (which is an awesome title) is the second instalment of a western series chronicling the adventures of bounty hunter Joe Noose. In this one, our hero is tasked with reprimanding a notorious female outlaw that knows how to use a pistol. This mission is no easy task, however, given that the law aren’t the only ones who want her dead. Thus, Joe must protect his bounty from some deadly assassins if he hopes to bring her to the gallows alive. But the pursuing killers might be the least of his problems…

I’ve always held the belief that the Old West is the greatest setting to base stories in. The lawlessness, the adventure, and the mythos often inspire some fine storytelling. The Joe Noose saga is shaping up to be a highly entertaining pulp adventure series that will cater to the sweet spot of readers who have an affinity for an old-school western yarn.

Red’s version of the Old West is a familiar one in many ways. If you’ve read or watched any mission westerns

featuring outlaws and bounty hunters then you have a good idea of what to expect here. Still, that’s not a bad thing when stories are executed with this much aplomb. Hanging Fire’s world is populated with compelling characters, boasts danger at every turn, and contains an abundance actionpacked mayhem with a bloody punch that begins swiftly and never lets up throughout the story.

Additionally, Red’s writing style is breezy, fun, hard as nails and punctuated with lively dialogue, making for a leisurely read and an addictive page turner. You really can’t ask for more from a book of this ilk, and those readers who find themselves constantly searching for new badass heroes will find a new one in Joe Noose should they decide to give Hanging Fire a chance.

Rating: four out five skulls.”

- Kieran Fisher, Scream Magazine.

HANGING FIRE is available from Kensington Books in Mass Market Paperback and Kindle Editions on Amazon at: https://amzn.to/2G0d2Lx

NOOSE, the first novel in the Joe Noose book series, is available in Mass Market Paperback, Large Print and Kindle editions on Amazon at: https://amzn.to/2MIVTWZ

“This book is a Western lover’s dream read.” Historical Novel Society reviews my new novel HANGING FIRE

Thursday, February 7th, 2019

“HANGING FIRE (A Joe Noose Western)

Review by Jeff Westerhoff

Bess Sugarland is Marshal of Jackson Hole, Wyoming in 1888. In her jail is outlaw and gang leader Bonnie Kate Valance, found guilty and sentenced to hang in Victor, Idaho, located about 16 miles across the Talon Pass. Because Bess is suffering from a gunshot wound, her friend and bounty hunter, Joe Noose, volunteers to take the prisoner to Victor. Noose is soon followed across the Pass by Sheriff Bojack and his five deputies. They want to take Valance from Noose and return to Arizona and try the woman for another murder. Unbeknownst to Noose, gunfighter Johnny Cisco is waiting to ambush Noose in the Pass and rescue Valance. Then there is Bill Tuggle and his gang, awaiting Noose’s arrival in Victor. The gang will stop at nothing to free Valance.

This is an edge-of-your-seat novel with plenty of action from start to finish. You wonder how Noose will escape each trial he is faced. It’s well-written, with great characterization throughout. This book is a Western lover’s dream read. Even though it’s a sequel to Noose, I just had to go out and purchase the first book. A writer of several blockbuster films, Eric Red is a welcome addition to the Western genre.”

Read the full review at: https://historicalnovelsociety.org/…/hanging-fire-a-joe-no…

HANGING FIRE is available from Kensington Books in Mass Market Paperback and Kindle Editions on Amazon at: https://amzn.to/2G0d2Lx

Publication day for HANGING FIRE, my western novel sequel to NOOSE from Kensington Books, now in bookstores everywhere!

Thursday, January 31st, 2019

“Joe Noose is back—in the blistering Western series from Eric Red, the acclaimed author of THE GUNS OF SANTA SANGRE and THE WOLVES OF EL DIABLO.

The Devil is a Woman.

In all his days as a bounty hunter, Joe Noose never met an outlaw like Bonny Kate Valence. The notorious female gunslinger has the kind of beauty that drives men wild—and a criminal record longer than the Snake River. She also has a date with the gallows. But before anyone can put a rope around that pretty neck, Joe Noose has to bring her in alive. On the way, he’ll have to protect his prisoner from a vile ex-lover and a vengeance-seeking posse. Which puts Noose’s neck on the line, too. Especially when this female of the species is deadlier than the male. . . .”

HANGING FIRE is available from Kensington Books in Mass Market Paperback and Kindle Editions on Amazon at: https://amzn.to/2G0d2Lx.

NOOSE, the first novel in the Joe Noose book series, is available in Mass Market Paperback, Large Print and Kindle editions on Amazon at: https://amzn.to/2MIVTWZ

All of my novels are on the shelves of Valley Bookstore in Jackson, Wyoming.

Friday, November 2nd, 2018

Valley Bookstore is on 125 N Cache Street, right across from Antler Square.

http://www.valleybookstore.com

#DONTSTANDSOCLOSE #ITWAITSBELOW #WHITEKNUCKLE#THEGUNSOFSANTASANGRE #THEWOLVESOFELDIABLO #NOOSE#ERICRED

New interview on Kendall Reviews.

Monday, March 19th, 2018

Eric Red chats to Kendall Reviews

Coffee is ready…

KR: Could you tell me a little about yourself please?

I’m a Los Angeles-based film director and screenwriter and novelist. I started in the motion picture business thirty years ago and have been writing novels for six years now.

KR: What do you like to do when not writing?

I love spending time with my wife and dogs and seeing friends. Otherwise I’m reading or watching movies.

KR: What is your favourite childhood book?

The Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit. I also loved the Dr. Suess books.

KR: What are you reading now?

Just finished Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, and Without Fail by Lee Child, my favorite contemporary author, and am starting Six Four by Hideo Yokoyama.

KR: What is your favourite album, and does music play any role in your writing?

Hard to pick a favorite album but The Beatles are my favorite musicians. I have all their records on a playlist on iTunes I listen to constantly. When I’m writing, I listen to a lot of movie scores, especially by Jerry Goldsmith and Elmer Bernstein. Maybe it’s my movie background but film music inspires me when I write and gets me into the zone.

KR: Who were the authors that inspired you to write?

As a young author, in no order, Richard Price, Jim Harrison, John Irving and William Goldman. Given my books and films, those are probably not the authors people would expect, but these were the writers whose books spoke to me on a very deep level and made me want to be a writer.

KR: Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer to just see where an idea takes you?

I’m methodical. Because of my screenwriting background I’m a structure wonk rigorous about working out the story beats—for me character flows from story, not the other way around. First I come up with a three- or four-sentence summary of a novel because all books must begin with a great idea in my opinion. Then I write a one-page synopsis, after which I write a ten-page outline with a beginning, middle and end. Once I have that, I’m ready to start the book. And during this time I’m making pages and pages of notes, because ideas start coming to me constantly for a novel I’m hot on.

KR: What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

The short answer is all the research necessary, but that depends on the book and the subject matter. My third novel IT WAITS BELOW was a science fiction thriller involving a submersible sub that dove to the bottom of the ocean, so I spent months interviewing one of the top pilots of those kind of subs and oceanographic scientists to get all the details right. On the other hand, my first novel DON’T STAND SO CLOSE was a high school coming-of-age thriller and most of the research involved remembering my own high school experiences.

To read the rest of the interview, go to http://bit.ly/2IxLMBT

Arrow in the Head at JoBlo.com on my new thriller movie WHITE KNUCKLE with Horror Equity Fund.

Friday, February 2nd, 2018

Eric Red is one of our favorite writers around here. How could we not love the work of the scribe who gave us such cool films as THE HITCHER, NEAR DARK, BLUE STEEL, BODY PARTS, BAD MOON, and 100 FEET (which featured Arrow in the Head founder John Fallon)? Back in 2015, Red wrote a novel titled WHITE KNUCKLE (you can read Jake Dee’s review of the novel at THIS LINK), and now we are excited to hear that he’s teaming up with Horror Equity Fund, Inc. to write and direct a film based on the novel.

Described as a “terrifying road thriller in the tradition of THE HITCHER”, WHITE KNUCKLE is

a gripping story of female empowerment about a woman who survives an attack by a serial killer, and then takes it upon herself to stop him from hurting anyone else.

For a more detailed synopsis, we can turn to the book’s description:

There’s a killer on the road… He’s a big rig truck driver who goes by the CB handle White Knuckle, and he’s Jack the Ripper on eighteen wheels. For thirty years he has murdered hundreds of women in unimaginable ways, imprisoning them in a secret compartment in his truck, abducting them in one state and dumping their dead bodies across the country. Dedicated FBI agent Sharon Ormsby is on a mission to hunt down and stop White Knuckle. She goes undercover as a truck driver with a helpful long hauler named Rudy in a cross-country pursuit that will ultimately bring her face-to-face with White Knuckle in a pedal-to-the-metal, high-octane climax on a highway to Hell.

Horror Equity Fund’s CEO Marlon Schulman, CCO Brian Herskowitz, and EVP Tony Timpone will be executive producing WHITE KNUCKLE. An entertainment company focused solely on the horror and thriller genres, Horror Equity Fund aims to “bring content creators, fans, and investors together and give them access to the tools that help them see their passions into profits”. The company is currently raising funds through a soon-to-close Regulation CF investment funding campaign.

Timpone promises that WHITE KNUCKLE will “keep people off the highways like JAWS kept ‘em out of the water”.

Read the full article at: http://bit.ly/2DYaTPL

The movie version of my novel WHITE KNUCKLE is on the way.

Friday, January 26th, 2018

For Immediate Release:

Visionary writer/director Eric Red is teaming with Horror Equity Fund for the new horror movie, WHITE KNUCKLE. Eric has crafted a script and will helm the movie based on his novel of the same name. Horror fans know Eric as the writer of genre favorites, Near Dark (1987) and The Hitcher (1986). He is also the writer / director of Body Parts (1991) and Bad Moon (1996).

WHITE KNUCKLE tells a gripping story of female empowerment about a woman who survives an attack by a serial killer, and then takes it upon herself to stop him from hurting anyone else.

Marlon Schulman CEO, Brian Herskowitz CCO, and Tony Timpone EVP of Horror Equity Fund have signed on as Executive Producers and plan on taking this project to the next level of horror entertainment.

Eric Red says, “I’m very excited to be joining forces with Marlon Schulman, Brian Herskowitz and Tony Timpone at Horror Equity Fund for my new film, WHITE KNUCKLE. It’s a great team to be working with making a terrifying road thriller in the tradition of THE HITCHER.”

Tony Timpone says, “Very happy that the first project that I brought into Horror Equity Fund to be fast-tracked is Eric Red’s super-kinetic WHITE KNUCKLE. Eric’s previous work in the genre, THE HITCHER, NEAR DARK and BODY PARTS, were unique and terrifying. WHITE KNUCKLE will keep people off the highways like JAWS kept ’em out of the water. And HEF supporters can be part of the ride!”

To read the full article on horrornews.net go to: http://horrornews.net/129123/creator-near-dark-hitcher-partners-horror-equity-fund-new-horror-movie-white-knuckle/

Great new review of my novel WHITE KNUCKLE in the San Francisco Review of Books.

Sunday, December 10th, 2017

“White Knuckle’ by Eric Red is well worth reading:

What do you do when a trucker starts playing games with you on the freeway? He’s trying to damage your car and make you stop. This woman attempts to get away and thinks she has when he drives on by. Unfortunately, he just went up and turned around and came back. Now he’s getting out of his truck. She’s locked her doors, but that doesn’t slow him down…

Mr. Red writes an interesting story about a man who has gone insane. He thinks the highways belong to him. He can pick his victims and torture them without remorse or guilt. No one can find him; or so he thinks.

We had the I-5 killer in the Pacific Northwest. It took a long time to take him down. So this premise is actually believable. What the killer in this story didn’t understand was that the FBI was after him. New technology allowed them to find DNA and compare marks on the bodies and find links that showed that a very old cold case was related to a more recent one. How long had this man been on the road? A long, long time…
The FBI agent is a newbie, trying to earn her special agent badge. When they haul in a potential suspect and she determines he’s not her man, she disappointed and feeling a bit bad that they accused him. He was glad to be cut free, but he offers to help if he can. She comes up with the idea she’ll travel with him and pretend to be his wife so she can try to locate the killer.
The reader will learn CB trash talk, learn the common terms for prostitutes, and learn about trucker bars. You’ll also find out just how far a person can go if they are determined. Both the cop and the killer are determined so the final confrontation is horrific, exciting, and a toss-up. You’ll keep flipping those pages until the end. Mr. Red knows how to keep your attention. His words flow well, the story holds up and you won’t forget it soon.”
- San Francisco Review of Books.
Read the full review at http://bit.ly/2AI5Ei7

True West Magazine reviews my novel THE WOLVES OF EL DIABLO.

Sunday, November 19th, 2017

“Readers of director-screenwriter Eric Red’s latest Western-horror novel will rediscover an Old West genre that is an international fan-favorite in print and film.” – Stuart Rosebrook, True West Magazine.

Available in hardcover, paperback and Kindle editions from SST Publications at: https://www.amazon.com/Wolves-Diablo-Men-Walk-Like/dp/1909640980/ref=la_B0034OY3T8_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1503670130&sr=1-2