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Do You Believe in Life After BEA?June 5, 2007Ever wish all books came out in mass market size? I do. And if you're schlepping home from an exausting BEA with the early stages of heat stroke and about four dozen galleys, each more ugly and unwieldy than the last, maybe you sympathize.  Thus, I was extra-pleased to find Warner's mass market reissue of Jeff Povey's debut novel, The Serial Killer Club, in our bookroom last week. I've been meaning to read it since it came out last year, but hardcovers are such a chore to deal with on the subway, my reading environment of choice--difficult to hold in one hand, impossible to read in close quarters--I can barely be bothered to pull it out of my bag.Anyway, having grabbed the mass paperback on Friday, I'm 200-some pages in (no small feat for me) and pretty excited with it. It's less a thriller than a dark comedy, centering around a regular guy who impersonates a murderer to join a social club for serial killers, where everyone goes by movie star names to protect their anonymity. Our hero, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., loves the camraderie and the grisly stories, and claims to suffer from "killer's block" to keep from having to share stories of his own. Unfortunately, though, each time a member comes close to figuring out Douglas isn't the killer he claims to be, he's had to kill them. When the action picks up, four years after he first joined, he's already killed 11 club-mates.Povey is a writer for British primetime TV (including the megahit drama Eastenders), and his novel makes, arguably, the best unrealized TV series since David Lynch's Mullholland Dr. I see Martin Freeman (of the UK The Office) as the reluctant murderer and Robert Downey, Jr. as the FBI agent moving in on him. Bonus: it'll mark Cher's triumphant return to the small screen, in a role she was born to play.So if you're a fan of serial killer stories, or you're a fan of Cher, or you're just looking to flush your head of unsightly BEA buzz buildup, try this wicked little novel. You won't be sorry.
Posted by Marc Schultz on June 5, 2007 | Comments (3)
June 6, 2007
In response to: Do You Believe in Life After BEA? Mark Levine commented: Oh, how nice to be young! But the American populatrion is growing older, and mass market is not a viable format for them: Eyes (print too small); arthritic hands (harder to hold open); format (narrow gutters, the above two being the case, obscure print at margins). Nope, trade pb is the way into our decre[pit future!
June 6, 2007
In response to: Do You Believe in Life After BEA? PAM S-J commented: Mark...we the denizens of the paperback realm applaud your love of the ever-portable mass market format. Not to worry...we'll keep sending 'em.
June 6, 2007
In response to: Do You Believe in Life After BEA? BYAMA commented: I'm with you on the mass market size. And this book, The Serial Killer Club, sounds like a lot of fun. Reminiscent of Darkly Dreaming Dexter but with more twisted humor. I'll definitely check it out. Thanks for the recommendation!
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