GHOST
ROAD BLUES
By Jonathan Maberry
A Pinnacle Books paperback
Release Date: June 2006
ISBN: 0-7860-1815-1
Available: Everywhere
www.ghostroadblues.com
PRAISE FOR GHOST ROAD BLUES
Read What Today’s Top Storytellers are Saying
About Ghost Road Blues by Jonathan Maberry:
"Every so often, you discover an author whose
writing is so lyrical that it transcends mere storytelling.
Jonathan Maberry is just such an author, and his writing
is powerful enough to sing with poetry while simultaneously
scaring the hell out of you."
-- Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author
of THE MEPHISTO CLUB
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"Jonathan Maberry writes in the grand poetic
horror tradition of Poe and Robert McCammon. His novel
is not just a frightening tale, but one in which the
reader can truly identify with both the honestly human
and the dishonestly self absorbed and doomed characters.
The language and descriptions are vivid, threatening
and beautiful. Maberry belongs with the big names including
King and Koontz."
-- Stuart Kaminsky
Bestselling author; 2005 recipient of the Grand Master
Award from the Mystery Writers of America, etc.
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"Prepare to be scared. Maberry frightens, amuses,
and makes you think, often on the same page. The horror
is pervasive, but so is a deeply entrenched sense of
fun. Move over Stephen King..."
JA Konrath, author of Dirty Martini.
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"Maberry writes with a rare combination of precision,
power and poetry, all with a masterful skill that will
scare the bejibbers out of you! Finishing one of his
books is a little like stepping off a roller coaster
--you might be a bit wobbly, but you're eager to go
again."
-John Lutz
Two-time Shamus Award-winner, author of 30 novels and
200 short stories. His SWF SEEKS SAME was the basis
for the 1992 movie SINGLE WHITE FEMALE starring Bridget
Fonda.
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"A fabulously written novel that grips you from
its first line to its last. Jonathan
Maberry's writing runs from dark and beautiful to sharp
and thought-provoking, and his books should be on everyone's
Must-Read list."
Yvonne Navarro, author of Mirror Me, AfterAge, Hellboy,
Elektra, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Tempted Champions,
Species, Species II, Aliens: Music of the Spears, and
Ultraviolet
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“Get ready to be totally hooked, because it’s
all here: incredible atmosphere, characters you truly
care about, and a level of pure suspense that gets
higher with every page. Jonathan Maberry is writing
as well as anyone in the business right now, and I’ll
be counting the days until his next book.”
Steve Hamilton, Edgar Award-winning Author of A STOLEN
SEASON
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"Ghost Road Blues begins with more horror than
one can imagine, and ends savagely beautiful, intricately
and deftly written. Don't start this book unless you
can finish it!"
--Jack Fisher, Flesh & Blood magazine/President GSHW
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"If you have an appetite for evil you'll love
sitting down to Ghost Road Blues which is deliciously
creepy. Just remember though that you'll be sleeping
with the lights on!”
Richard Sand, author of the award-winning Lucas Rook
Mystery Series
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“Jonathan Maberry is the big guy you'd want
to back you up in a fight. Now, he's writing big, scary
books that feel just right. Ghost Road Blues is dues
paid in advance: read it now so you can say you were
there at the beginning of a blockbuster career.”
--Bill Kent, Author of Street Legal, Street Fighter
and Street Money
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"A wild mélange of soulful blues music
and gut-wrenching horror! Through vivid characters
and clever descriptions, Jonathan Maberry carefully
crafts a very special town that any horror fan would
love to live in -- that is, until it starts to get
ugly.... REALLY ugly. He brings terror to life in a
uniquely contemporary way. I'll be so excited to read
the second book in his trilogy!"
Brinke Stevens -- Horror actress and author
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“Wow, talk about a great novel. Not just a ‘first
novel’ (and yes, that’s what it is, making
Ghost Road Blues even more amazing), but a novel in
and of itself. Greatness doesn’t come by very
often, but here, Jonathan Maberry has shown us that
it is out there, and it does exist: greatness, in every
respect of the word, is what Ghost Road Blues delivers
to those fortunate enough to read it. Dark, scary,
and so darn well-written, one might think this book
something Stephen King wrote and forgot about many
years ago.”
Michael Laimo—author of DEAD SOULS and THE
DEMONOLOGIST
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If fear is your fun, Ghost Road Blues is a carnival.
Most really good books leave a scar. Ghost Road Blues
leaves a gaping wound. Maberry writes with heart and
adrenaline. Ghost Road Blues is full of love and fear
in equal measure. Ghost Road Blues reminded me why
I'm afraid of the dark.
-Charles Gramlich, author of Cold in the Light
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“Maberry weaves words of mesmeric power. Gruesome,
scary and bloody good fun.”
Simon Clark
Author of Vampyrrhic, London Under Midnight, and Night
of the Triffids
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"Ghost Road Blues will leave you breathless.
Make sure you read it with the lights on."
David Housewright
Edgar Award winning author of Pretty Girl Gone and
Tin City
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“If you like your thrillers steeped in the bone-chilling
efforts of the supernatural underworld to overwhelm our
own, you will love Jonathan Maberry's GHOST ROAD BLUES.
As effective an opening as I've ever read, and the jolts
just keep on coming as the author focuses on ordinary
Pennsylvania folk trying to stave off the unthinkable.
Highly recommended, and I can't wait for the second novel
in this projected trilogy."
Jeremiah Healy, author of THE ONLY GOOD LAWYER and
TURNABOUT
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“GHOST ROAD BLUES is steeped in the Blues and
saturated with violence and foreboding. It starts with
a sucker punch that sets the stage and tone for what
lies ahead. Maberry has created a quirky, oddball of
a small town that thrives on being haunted, given it
a grim history, isolated it in the heart of a dark
Pennsylvania forest, populated it with eccentric, charming
characters--and a handful who most definitely are NOT
charming--and unleashed both a modern and an ancient
evil upon the unsuspecting residents.
Karl Ruger is one of the baddest, meanest, kickass
villains to grace the pages of a horror novel...and
he's not the worst villain the book has to offer! Ruger's
exploits seem ripped from the pages of IN COLD BLOOD,
and the terror he inflicts on Pine Deep isn't half
what I expect to see in the subsequent books in the
series when Ubel Griswold kicks into high gear.
Maberry's use of language is shocking and refreshing
in its originality and his expertise in the martial
arts allows him to orchestrate some of the most genuine
hand-to-hand fight scenes I've ever read. Every blow
inflicts pain and (most of) the combatants aren't superhuman
beings who can withstand a beating without being disabled,
maimed and scarred. Readers will come away from these
scenes feeling like they've taken a thrashing, too.
Bad days are ahead for the residents of Pine Deep.
I can hardly wait!”
-Bev Vincent
Bram Stoker nominated author of The Road to the Dark
Tower: Exploring Stephen King’s Magnum Opus
http://www.bevvincent.com/
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"Ghost Road Blues is a hell of a book – complex,
sprawling, and spooky...with strong characters and
a setting that's pure Americana Halloween hell. A satisfying
chunk of creepy, visceral horror storytelling with
a strong background in murderous folk blues and the
tragedy of America's history of racism and domestic
cruelty - I'd recommend this to anyone who loves the
more musically-slanted works of Stephen King, and the
terror-in-the-cornfields horror films of the 70s.”
Jemiah Jefferson
Author of Wounds, Voice of the Blood, Fiend, and A
Drop of Scarlet
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“I read as much horror fiction as I can get
my hands on, and it’s been a LONG time since
I’ve read anything that I’ve enjoyed as
much as GHOST ROAD BLUES. Incredible, awe-inspiring
stuff. And how bold, to end on what is essentially
a cliffhanger!
Stephen Susco
Screenwriter of The Grudge and The Grudge II
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“Evocative and chilling, Maberry's fiction is the
work of a dark magician with a poet's soul.”
Tim Waggoner, author of Darkness Wakes, Pandora Drive,
and Like Death.
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“Ghost Road Blues calls to mind the writings
of H. P. Lovecraft and Manly Wade Wellman. Jonathan
Maberry is obviously steeped in the classic literature
of horror, but has adapted it to his own unique uses.
He captures the eerie whine of the early blues singers
in his prose and takes his reader to new and chilling
places. If you read horror, you can't miss this book.
Ghost Road Blues manages to touch every kind of horror
from creepy chills to gruesome gore and builds to an
unforgettable climax.”
H. R. Knight
Author of What Rough Beast
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"With GHOST ROAD BLUES, Jonathan Maberry lands
solidly on his feet in territory once dominated by
Manly Wade Wellman and Joe Citro; this haunting, complex,
terrifying, and deeply humane novel is steeped not
only in folklore and history, but in modern dark mythology
and the exploration of humankind's most valiant and
unspeakable impulses.
It's a wonder to behold, and a heady feast for those
who've been looking for something new and lyrical in
horror."
--Bram Stoker Award-winner Gary A. Braunbeck, author
of DESTINATIONS
UNKNOWN and PRODIGAL BLUES
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“Stunning! A fierce and new talent!”
-Ken Bruen, international bestselling author of THE
GUARDS
"Jonathan Maberry writes with the assured hand
of a veteran wordsmith. His voice is a confident one,
his stories possessed of the kind of rhythmic, lyrical
quality one might find in the work of Cady, Conrad,
or even Faulkner. And yet such comparisons, though
hard to avoid when sitting around Maberry's campfire
and hearing his voice, are not entirely fair, for there
is a uniqueness here that is exciting to behold. Jonathan
Maberry is reaping a crop all his own, and I, for one,
eagerly await the fruit of future harvests."
-- Kealan Patrick Burke, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Currency of Souls,
The Turtle Boy, and Vessels.
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"Maberry's Ghost Road Blues leads with a hard
left hook and never lets up, full of good, strong writing
and complex characters who step right off the page
and into readers' heads. It's a lyrical, frightening
and often astonishing read. Although Pine Deep is not
a place you'd like to call home, you'll feel as if
you've been there before. A wonderful novel from a
fresh new voice in the genre."
Nate Kenyon, author of Bloodstone
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"Dark and mischievous... fun and inspired...
Jonathan Maberry knows how to serve up the creepy goods!"
Jim O’Rear - Horror Film Stuntman & Haunted
Attraction Consultant
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“Maberry takes us on a chilling roller coaster
ride through the cursed town of Pine Deep. You might
want to keep the night light on for this one. Really.”
Laura Schrock -- Emmy Award-winning writer/producer
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"Jonathan Maberry writes densely layered prose
full of real characters and plenty of eerie atmosphere.
He's in tune with both the dark side of human nature
and the simple goodness that can redeem us all."
David Wellington, author of Monster Island and Monster
Nation
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“Jonathan Maberry's Ghost Road Blues is not
only the top horror debut of the year, it is, hands
down, the best horror novel of 2006. It reads like
vintage King or McCammon. Ghost Road Blues obliterates
the competition. From the first page to the last, Jonathan
Maberry displays the sure hand of a master of the craft.
I can't wait to see what this new king of horror has
in store for us next."
Bryan Smith, author of Deathbringer and House of Blood
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"If I were asked to select only one new voice
in horror fiction to read today, it would be Jonathan
Maberry. Ghost Road Blues jumps so easily out of his
blend of words, images, and characters you hardly realize
you're reading a novel rather than watching a movie."
Katherine Ramsland,
Author of The Vampire Companion: The Official Guide
to Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, Piercing the Darkness:
Undercover with Vampires in America Today, Ghost,
Cemetery Stories, and The Science of Vampires.
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“A chilling tale –lyrical, melodic, and
dark. Maberry breathes new life into modern horror
fiction.”
Scott Nicholson
Author of The Home, The Harvest, The Manor, The Red
Church and Thank You for the Flowers
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“If you think that small town horror has nothing
new to offer the reader, you have a surprise in store
for you. Jonathan Maberry's Ghost Road Blues, first
in a trilogy, demonstrates that even the most haunted
town in America is unprepared for the full depth of
evil, either human or inhuman. A fine blend of authentic
supernatural folklore and conventional villainy in
a fully realized contemporary setting.”
Don D'Ammassa Author of Haven, Servants of Chaos,
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Scarab, Blood
Beast, Encyclopedia of Fantasy & Horror, etc.
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There might be a dozen subgenres of horror open for
discussion. We can divide up the field in various ways,
but one way relevant here might be "personal" versus "epic." Personal
horror might include (in movies) Halloween, and (in
books) most Richard Laymon and Jack Ketchum novels.
The stage is small, the cast tiny, point of view fairly
limited, and the big picture is the size of a postage
stamp. Epic horror evokes wide, sweeping settings and
stages, with huge casts and multiple points of view,
such as (in movies) Independence Day, and (in books)
The Stand or They Thirst.
Ghost Road Blues is epic horror that puts you in the
mind of The Stand, They Thirst, It, and Boy's Life,
but beats its own scary path by being both personal
and epic. How's that for a subgenre? Nicely tied to
the blues and the dark magic of Halloween, Ghost Road
Blues is the first of an impressive new trilogy by
Jonathan Maberry, whose vivid prose hits the right
rhythms and whose creeping horrors will feed your nightmares
until the next installment—and maybe forever.
Pine Deep, Pennsylvania, makes a lot of money off
Halloween and related activities, but no one realizes
that a series of murders thirty years before may have
set the stage for an apocalyptic confrontation between
the forces of Good and Evil. But though that sounds
fairly epic, through the first book, we are only given
the small picture, as the small cast begins to dance
around the ring and feint.
Malcolm Crow and his fiancée, Val Guthrie,
are about to face the unimaginable. Malcolm is an ex-cop
whose own brother was murdered thirty years before
by a serial killer who was then killed by a blues-singing
vagrant, who was in turn murdered by a gang of local
toughs. Unfortunately, those local toughs now include
the chief of police, a seriously crazed tow-truck driver
with a Messiah complex, and teenager Mike Sweeney's
sadistic step-father, Vic—who has made a bargain
with some sort of evil force that has been brewing
for a long time down around where the killer's body
was buried in muck. Crow's friend, the mayor, is a
truly tortured soul and a brilliantly realized character
in his own right. In this swirling cocktail, inject
a carload of fugitive Philly hard-ass criminals, two
of them wounded, and the third one Karl Ruger—one
of the worst bad guys you'll ever meet in the pages
of fiction (or in the newspaper, for that matter).
His car crashes in Pine Deep, but he's been drawn there,
because his talents are needed. Whatever's mutating
down there in the muck, it's beginning to infect certain
townspeople. Unfortunately for the town, the month
before Halloween is about to become very scary—and
very fatal.
The writing has the Stephen King touch—the realistic
internal monologues, affecting small town humor, and
the characters you love to hate and those you're happy
to love. Maberry manages to create people you find
yourself caring about, and Malcolm Crow and his young
friend Mike are two of the best. You know from what
happens that their destinies are tied together, but
not exactly how—and you fear it won't be the
way you'd rather have it. When Ruger shows up at the
Guthrie farmhouse, it sets up a series of very disturbing
scenes that beg for film interpretation. In fact, the
whole story unfolds like a movie penned by some of
our favorite writers, but the use of details and local
color signal the arrival of a new voice to contend
with. Saying more would ruin this very effective, very
seasonal offering that's only Act One of a classic
in the making. Halloween, the blues, and good-versus-evil
on a small stage with large-stage implications, Ghost
Road Blues is high-octane storytelling meant for chilly,
full-moon nights
W.D. Gagliani, author of Bram Stoker Award finalist
WOLF'S TRAP
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"Maberry writes a vivid, fast-paced prose, creating
characters and events that are memorable and often
frightening. If you like your fiction compelling and
deliciously dark, this is an author you should get
to know."
--Bruce Boston, author of Flashing the Dark and Masque
of Dreams
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"With Ghost Road Blues Jonathan Maberry resurrects
the spirit of Manly Wade Wellman in rural Pennsylvania,
and serves up scares like pancakes at a church social.
This is a fun, fun read and creepy as hell."
--Gregory Frost
Author of Attack of the Jazz Giants & Other Stores,
Fitcher’s Brides, The Pure Cold Light and Lyrec
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"Reading Maberry is like listening to the blues
in a graveyard at the stroke of midnight--the dead
surround you, your pounding heart keeps steady rhythm
with the dark, melodic prose, and the scares just keep
coming. You find yourself wondering if it's the wind
howling through the cold, foreboding landscape of gray-slate
tombstones or whether it's Howlin' Wolf's scratchy
voice singing Evil."
Fred Wiehe, author of Strange Days, Starkville , Night
Songs, and The
Burning
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As a tickler of words myself, let me tell you it's
tough getting all the sought-for elements in storytelling
down right. Maberry does it with such aplomb you think
you've stumbled into a real, albeit alternate, universe
in which the scary parts make you plead for the slow-down
of the world's highest roller coaster. Like a camp
counselor with a sadistic streak, Maberry sucks us
into his dark tale in the Pennsylvania Pine Deep with
no let-up, though the forest behind is full of unnerving
sounds and the brisk air chills to the bone.
-Noreen Ayres –Author of the Smokey Brandon
mystery series
