INCOMING

• Martin Delrio, Spider-Man Super Thriller:  Midnight Justice.  Comic book tie-in Ya novel.  "Venom challenges Spider-Man to a deadly midnight showdown, at Manhattan's criminal-court building, in the middle of the worst snowstorm of the century.  It's a brutal no-holds-barred contest, in which all the advantages seem to lie with Venom.  Spider-Man must bag the crazed villain, or go down in the attempt."  Venom, for those who don't know, is a deadly alien symbiote, this time using Eddie Brock as its human host.  In more recent times, Venom has merged with Flash Thompson to become a sort of hero.  I have one question, though:  Just when did a 144-page story become a "super thriller"?
• Christopher Golden, Spike & Dru:  Pretty Maids All in a Row.  Television (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) tie-in novel.  "It's 1940, and europe is ravaged by World War II -- an ideal environment for demon paramours Spike and Drusilla.  The anniversary of Dru's resurrection as a vamp impends, and Spike wants to celebrate.  what better gift than Freya's Strand -- a powerful necklace rumored to allow its wearer to shape-shift at will?  Spike learns of a demon named Skrymir, who claims to possess the bauble and is willing to trade.  Spike's task is to infiltrate the Watcher's Council headquarters and get his hands on the list of young women in training to take over as Slayer should they be called.  In exchange for Freya's Strand, Spike must kill the reigning Slayer, a brazen young woman named Sophie, as well as the Slayers-in-Waiting.  And if he succeed, it could mean the end of the Chosen One -- all of the chosen Ones -- forever..."  I'm a Buffy fan and a Christopher Golden fan, so I'm happy.
• Donald Hamilton, editor, Iron Men and Silver Stars.  The 1967 Western Writers of america anthology, with eleven stories by Carter Travis Young, Tom W. Blackburn, Elmer Kelton, Brian Garfield, Todhunter Ballard, Lin Searles, John Prescott, Wayne D. Overholser, Luke Short, Thomas Thompson, and Donald Hamilton.  A great line-up and, I'm sure, some pretty great stories.
• Phil Hardwick, Mississippi Mysteries #3:  Captured in Canton.  Mystery novella.  "The nationally renowned Canton Flea Market was the destination of the pilot who crashed his plane in nearby Barnett Reservoir.  But divers couldn't find his body or the priceless cargo he was carrying.  Jack Boulder, Mississippi's premier investigator, is called on to sort out this tangled web of greed and ghosts, but he must avoid becoming one himself in the process."  This series has reached ten volumes so far, each set in a different Mississippi town.  This copy was signed and inscribed to the previous owner.
• Ernest Haycox, The Wild Bunch.  Western.  "There he was, Theo McSween, the man he had hunted so long, the man he had come to kill.  and now McSween lay dying in front of him, his body ripped by pain, his voice thick with death.  But there still was strength enough in the man to breathe out a curse, just before his body ceased to stir --"'you'll be in hell...a long time...before you die.'  The curse came true with the shocking speed of a .45.  And Frank Goodnight found himself the target for the fires of hell that burst from the guns of two gangs of cattle thieves.  He had hunted down a Nevada killer -- now they were hunting him."
• Nancy Holder, Buffy the Vampire Slayer:  The Book of Fours.  Television tie-in novel.  "From a place of nightmares -- which Buffy and Faith share -- a terrible evil invades Sunnydale, setting off disaster.  Clearly, the big evil is linked to the Slayers' nightmares, which revolve around four figures:  one burning, one dripping wet, one covered in mud, one shrouded in windswept linen.  Each carries a box of grafted skin and bone.  Giles learns that the last slayer to encounter a similar container was India chosen -- Buffy's immediate predecessor."  Did I mention that I'm a Buffy fan?
• K. W. Jeter, Star Wars:  Slave Ship.  Movie franchise tie-in novel, Book 2 of The Bounty Hunter Wars.  "He's both feared and admired, respected and despised.  Boba Fett is the galaxy's most successful bounty hunter.  Now he finds himself the hunted in the oldest game of all:  survival of the fittest."  The Star Wars universe keeps getting bigger and bigger and I'm having a hard time keeping up -- and, in some cases, wanting to keep up.
• John Vornholt, Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel:  Seven Crows.  Television mash-up tie-in novel.  "In a sleepy little town on the border between Arizona and Mexico, Agent Riley Finn and his operative wife, Sam, have tracked down an international smuggling ring involving vampires.  surprisingly the call for reinforcements is answers by Buffy Summers and the atoning vampire Angel."  Did I mention that I'm a Buffy fan?