The Ick Factor
Recently I read a kickass review of my new book, Bite Marks, in the December 2009 issue of RT Book Reviews magazine. I’m not going to quote it here (because it’s a great publication and you should all run out and buy ten copies) except to say my reviewer noted that Bite Marks has a rather intense “ick factor.”
Can I just say how delighted I am, not only by that phrase, but by the fact that it’s being used to describe the sixth book in the Jaz Parks series? It’s not like I’m into gratuitous ick. Or gratuitous anything for that matter. In my books I want everything to happen for a reason. Except, maybe, for humor. Which has its own beanbag chair and an outfit we’d all giggle wildly about after seeing while secretly wishing we had one just like it. Possibly something in pink chiffon, with army boots, and those headbands with springs attached to eyeballs that should go “boingggg” but–sadly–don’t. However, I digress.
The reason I include ick in my books is because my heroes are assassins. So, you know, gore kinda comes with the territory. Especially when the assassins find themselves fighting monstrous creatures that require special methods of extermination, at which point, sometimes parts get separated from the whole and, well, you get the picture.
Which is my point. I badly want for you to get the picture. In fact, I feel like it’s my duty to immerse you as deeply into it as I possibly can considering the fact that I’m feeding you some extraordinary plottage. A vampire named Vayl and a Sensitive named Jasmine? Killing on behalf of the CIA? With gnomes—as terrorists? Really?
Sure. But when I put it that way, maybe you can see why I’m such an avid proponent of details that feel real. Which include ick. But also a lot of other elements that you’ll find throughout the Jaz Parks series. Like . . .
Great music, so you can easily see Jaz tearing down the highway in her fully reconditioned 1965 Corvette Stingray 327 Convertible while Steppenwolf sings “Born to Be Wild,” and she beats out complimentary rhythms on her steering wheel.
The stench of rotting meat and standing water that follows some undead, while Vayl and his buddies have somehow achieved the lung-filling scent of pine and new snow.
Sights from fascinating spots all over the globe, including Bite Marks’s gorgeous Australian location. (Can anyone say Birrigai Rock Shelter? Because I can’t.)
Or, conversely, the vision of a broken body and the knowledge of just how powerful a creature must be to pull off that kind of damage.
I could go on, but you get it. I want every one of your senses in play when you read a Jaz Parks book, so that you couldn’t put it down if you wanted to. Go ahead, get a meal, just accept the fact that you might get mustard stains on the top of page thirty-seven. Yup, you can visit the bathroom, but only because you know you can take the book with you. Otherwise you’d have to wait at least three minutes to find out why Jaz’s psychic, Cassandra, is screaming out orders as she ties sheets into knots. And that just isn’t an option, now is it? Especially now that you know about the “ick factor.”
Bite Marks officially releases Thursday, October 29
For even more immersion into the world of Jaz Parks and Bite Marks, catch my interviews and the chance to win some awesome prizes at the following sites:
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