SMFS Member Publishing News: The ESC Choice by Chuck Brownman

 

SMFS list member Chuck Brownman’s short story, The ESC Choice, has been published today at Kings River Magazine. The story is online and free to read at the website.

SMFS Member Publishing News: No Score by J. Michael Taylor

Today is publication day for SMFS list member J. Michael Taylor’s new book, No Score. Published by Unnerving Books, the read is available in digital format at Amazon.

 

Amazon Description:

From the author of Night of the Furies and Dark Heat.

Babe Ruth’s glove, a bloody shirt, a diamond-encrusted bag: the score of a lifetime.
Drowning beneath a wave of gentrification, Drew Hackett wants only to support his family and grow his weekend business. When he learns that Boston sports legend Bernie Oakes has a memorabilia collection ripe for robbery, he thinks his problems are solved. Drew puts together a daring plan that—somehow—succeeds.
But nothing is ever as it seems.
Moving the goods only sinks Drew deeper into trouble, the kind of trouble that means spilled blood and an executioner’s blade looming over his head and the heads of everyone he loves. He has one chance to make things right. He slips into a scheme that takes him from high society to a secret sex club, from a grandiose charter school to the sludge beneath the city, and finally into the relentless grip of a crime boss looking to squeeze him like a grape.
Drew must brave it all or there’ll be No Score.

SMFS Members Published in Prohibition Peepers: Private Eyes During the Noble Experiment

 

Today is publication day for Prohibition Peepers: Private Eyes During the Noble Experiment. Published by Down & Out Books in digital and print formats, the read is available at the publisher, Amazon, and other vendors. The anthology is edited by SMFS list member Michael Bracken. The SMFS list members that reported being in the read are:

 

Editor Michael Bracken with "Cigarette Girl."

 

David Dean with "Three Irishmen.”

 

Jim Doherty with "The Private Untouchable."

 

John M. Floyd with “River Road."

 

Nils Gilbertson with "Lovely and Useless Things."

 

Richard Helms with “West of the Ashley.”

 

Hugh Lessig with "Cloths of Heaven."

 

Steve Liskow with "Peace of Mind Guaranteed."

 

Adam Meyer with “The Dance.”

 

Joseph S. Walker with "Getting Away Clean."

 

Stacy Woodson with “Moonshine Turn.” 

 

Publisher Description:

The 18th Amendment created prohibition—a “noble experiment” that banned the manufacture, transportation, and sale of intoxicating liquors—and gave rise to criminal activity associated with bootlegging, gang violence, and more. During the 1920s and early 1930s, the police had their hands full, and private investigators were there working both sides of the law.

Prohibition Peepers stories are set during and immediately after the end of Prohibition, with private eyes serving clients of all social statuses. These hardboiled and fast-paced tales written by some of today’s hottest crime fiction short story writers will have you reaching for your own mason jar of moonshine or highball glass of bathtub gin.

Edited by Michael Bracken with stories by Michael Bracken, Susanna Calkins, David Dean, Jim Doherty, John M. Floyd, Nils Gilbertson, Richard Helms, Hugh Lessig, Steve Liskow, Leigh Lundin, Adam Meyer, Penny Mickelbury, Joseph S. Walker, and Stacy Woodson.

SMFS Member Publishing News: The Power of Evil by Alan Orloff

SMFS list member Alan Orloff’s short story, The Power of Evil, is now published in Black Cat Weekly #108. Published by Wildside Press, the issue is available here in digital format. 

 

Website Description: 

It seems the Halloween season starts earlier and earlier each year. I first began noticing Halloween candy in stores in July (!), and every time I turned around since then, there were more decorations, party favors, and treats at hand. Is it any wonder I’ve been wandering around the house humming “The Monster Mash” for the last few weeks?

Our 108th issue kicks off a truly epic celebration of the season, with a pair of nightmarish treats. You will never look at seagulls the same way after experiencing Adrian Cole’s “The Birds Are Back in Town.” And Lin Carter’s “Keru” is a tale that would have been right at home in Weird Tales in its heyday.

 “The Power of Evil,” by Alan Orloff, is not a supernatural tale, but futuristic suspense (thanks to Acquiring Editor Michael Bracken), so it’s doing double duty this time. And the grisly-sounding “A Burn That Reaches Bone,” by Karen Odden is not a mad slasher tale, but a tale of a horrible crime that reaches through the generations. (Thanks to Acquiring Editor Barb Goffman for this one.) And, of course, there are traditional mysteries, too—I found a rare Victorian-era mystery by Australian writer Ernest Favenc while I was browsing issues of Australian Town and Country Journal looking for mysteries by Mary Fortune (my favorite classic Australian mystery writer) and couldn’t resist adding it to this issue. Plus we have a detective novel featuring Nick Carter and a solve-it-yourself puzzler from Hal Charles.

On the science fiction and fantasy side, we have another great Norman Spinrad story, a classic by Robert F. Young, and the first entry in the Pillsworth & Toffee series by Charles F. Myers (we have more coming up). Fun stuff

Here’s the complete lineup:

 

Mysteries / Suspense / Adventure:

 “The Power of Evil,” by Alan Orloff [Michael Bracken Presents short story]

“Swimming into Troubled Waters,” by Hal Charles [Solve-It-Yourself Mystery]

“A Burn That Reaches Bone,” by Karen Odden [Barb Goffman Presents short story]

“The Mystery of the Death Stroke,” by Ernest Favenc

The Forced Crime, by Nicholas Carter [novel]

 

Science Fiction & Fantasy:

“The Power of Evil,” by Alan Orloff [Michael Bracken Presents short story]

“Entities,” by Norman Spinrad [short story]

“The Birds Are Back in Town” is copyright © 2019 by Adrian Cole [short story]

“The Courts of Jamshyd,” by Robert F. Young [short story]

“Keru,” by Lin Carter

“I’ll Dream of You” by Charles F. Myers [short story]

SMFS Member Publishing News: Liz and Drew and Betty Lou by John Floyd

SMFS list member John Floyd’s short story, Liz and Drew and Betty Lou, appears in the just released Strand Magazine #70. The issue is available at the website and from other vendors.

 

Description

Unpublished Truman Capote Story

Truman Capote’s unpublished, lost short story “Another Day in Paradise” has now been published for the first time ever here in The Strand. The story remained unpublished until it was found handwritten in the pages of a red and gold scrolled Florentine notebook. It has, like so much of Capote’s other works, some autobiographical elements, as well as Capote’s signature style—evocative descriptions, wry humor, and all too human characters. While Capote will forever be associated with his 1958 novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s, made more famous by the 1961 film starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard, and his 1966 true-crime novel In Cold Blood, it was short stories that were the author’s first love and enduring passion.  And once again, here is an unforgettable story from the quintessential mid-century American author.

Also in this issue, the incomparable, always unique, and ever-prolific Joyce Carol Oates returns to The Strand with “The Chair of Tranquility,” a haunting tale that feels simultaneously classic and contemporary. John M. Floyd, speeds us to more modern times with an AI-inspired caper involving a couple of teenagers and a captivating car in “Liz and Drew and Mary Lou.” And what would an issue of The Strand be without a Sherlock Holmes yarn? Derrick Belanger, has Holmes taking a back seat this time, allowing Watson to try his hand at detecting in “Dr. Watson Takes the Case.” Headlining this issue’s interview is Martin Cruz Smith, the legendary creator of the Arkady Renko series. In this insightful interview with Strand managing editor Andrew Gulli, Cruz Smith shares his perspective on writing, his career in journalism, and the state of affairs in Eastern Europe. As usual, The Strand’s team of expert book reviewers has the scoop on the latest offerings from the mystery world.

 In addition featuring this unpublished short story by Truman Capote, we’ve featured scores of unpublished works by legendary authors including  Shirley Jackson, Ernest Hemingway, Raymond Chandler, H.G. Wells, Agatha Christie, Dashiell Hammett, Tennessee Williams, Louisa May Alcott, John Steinbeck, and Ray Bradbury.

SMFS Members Published in School of Hard Knox

Several SMFS list members are published in School of Hard Knox. Published by Crippen & Landru Publishers last month, the anthology is available in a variety of formats from the publisher, Amazon, and other vendors. The SMFS list members in the read are:

 

Editor Donna Andrews with “Not Another Secret Passage Story."

 

Toni L.P. Kelner with “Baby Trap.”

 

Marcia Talley with “The Island Boy Detective Agency.”

 

Editor Art Taylor with "Ordeals."

 

Description:

Rebels with a Cause!

Nearly 100 years ago, The Reverend Monsignor Ronald Knox of the famed Detection Club developed ten rules-a Decalogue he called them-that he felt were "necessary to the full enjoyment of a detective story." Fairness with readers seemed an author's highest calling, and-lo!-"the faculty for writing a good mystery story is rare."

Writers (those heretics!) regularly bristle at a challenge, and being told that a literary twist is forbidden makes their fingers twitch at the keyboard.

This anthology contains fourteen of today's outstanding English and American short story authors, trying their best to break one-or more!-of the good monsignor's rules. Twins, supernatural events, and sleuths not sharing their clues are all in here-transgressions in all directions.

SMFS Members Published in Vautrin - Volume 5, Issue 1, Fall 2023

 

Several SMFS list members are published in the new issue, Vautrin - Volume 5, Issue 1, Fall 2023. Edited by Todd Robins, the print issue is available at Watermark Books and Café. The SMFS list members in the issue are:

 

Jeff Esterholm with “Tollund Man.”

 

James D.F. Hannah with "Murder Ballad."

 

Rob D. Smith with “Our Most Sorrowful Mother of the Blessed Hardwood.”

 

Website Description:

This issue features seedy goings-on at a Spanish Colonial pile, a lawyer’s scrap with a London tabloid, an old guy who’s haunted by a ghost, and a town team baller with a Napoleon complex. These scenarios, a labor strike right out of today’s headlines, and much more in Vautrin Fall 2023.

 

Table of Contents

 

Fiction

Nick Kolakowski, Back to Hell House

Jen Conley, They’re Coming for You, Baby

Saira Viola, Seven Red

Rob Smith, Our Most Sorrowful Mother of the Blessed Hardwood

Jeff Esterholm, Tollund Man

Lyz Mancini, Sugarhigh

Michael Maiello, Deb Needs Braces

Ilyn Welch, In a Snap

Michael A. Gonzales, Brazil

James D.F. Hannah, Murder Ballad

 

Poetry

Scott Richard, The King Queen of Sixth Street

 

Book Review

Tim Hennessey on Lew Berney’s novel, Dark Ride

 

Photography by Hannah Miner

 

Design by Beth Golay

SMFS Members Published in Thrill Ride: The Magazine #3: No W.W.M. (Western White Males)

 

Today is publication day for Thrill Ride: The Magazine #3: No W.W.M. (Western White Males). Published by Buchman Bookworks, Inc., you can pick up the issue at the publisher, Amazon, and other vendors. The SMFS members in the issue are: 

 

K.L. Abrahamson with "An Adventurous Nature."

 

Editor M. L. ‘Matt” Buchman with "Dead People Happen."

 

Diana Deverell with “Spooked.”

 

C.A. Rowland with “The Cost of Admission.”

 

Laura Ware with "One More Time."

 

Amazon Description:

12 Tales not led by WWMs.

Thrillers may be the last great bastion of the Western White Male. From Doc Savage to James Bond. From Dirk Pitt to Alex Cross to Jack Reacher.

Now is the time to venture into the rest of the world. Who rides to the rescue? Vietnamese magicians, female undercover operatives, Chinese assassins, and women like you never imagined.

Western White Males? Who needs them!

SMFS Members Published in Animals in Mysteries I, Volume 39, No. 3, Fall 2023

Several SMFS list members have published essays in Animals in Mysteries I, Volume 39, No. 3, Fall 2023. Published earlier this week by Mystery Readers International, the read is available in print and pdf formats on the website. The SMFS list members published in the issue are:

 

 

Elizabeth Elwood with the author essay, “Reinventing Max and Thomasina Bug.”

 

Shannon Hollinger with the author essay. “The Terrier Takeover.”

 

Mary Reed with the author essay, “Cat Mummies and Other Feline Tales.” (Cowritten with Eric Mayer.)

 

Elena E. Smith with the author essay, “The One Percent Cat.”

 

Description:

ANIMALS IN MYSTERIES I

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

ARTICLES

• Agatha’s Ark: Animals in Classic Crime Fiction by Kate Jackson

• Beastly Business: Animals in Mysteries by Martin Edwards

 

AUTHOR! AUTHOR!

• No Wombats Involved by Donna Andrews

• On Horses and Drug Sniffing Dogs by Anne Louise Bannon

• Solving Crime From a Dog’s Point of View by Louisa Bennet

• Best Friends to the End by Cleo Coyle

• Dogs Are Supernatural by Jeffrey B. Burton

• Rescuing Animals Through Mysteries by Cate Conte

• What The Dog Knows by Krista Davis

• When Disaster Strikes, Dogs Answer the Call by Sara Driscoll

• How Tugger Became Boone by Darlene Dziomba

• Reinventing Max and Thomasina Bug by Elizabeth Elwood

• The Character of Creatures by Kate Fellowes

• The Making of a Hobby by Chris Goff

• Hold Your Horses by Sasscer Hill

• Beasts in the Garden by Cary Griffith

• The Strength of Animals by Elle Hartford

• I Don’t Do Goodbyes by Nancy Lynn Jarvis

• The Great (Cat) Detectives by Sofie Kelly

• The Terrier Takeover by Shannon Hollinger

• A Foot and a Half Long Bundle of Love by Syrl Kazlo

• A Writer’s Recipe for Happiness: Books and Dogs and Trees by Paula Munier

• Animals and the Mysterious Ordinary by Priscilla Paton

• Tale of a Whale by Richie Narvaez

• Chet and Me by Spencer Quinn

• Cat Mummies and Other Feline Tales by Mary Reed and Eric Mayer

• The One Percent Cat by Elena E. Smith

• Then There Was a Dog by Linda L. Richards

• Getting To Know Dogs by Leigh Russell

• Where the Wild Things Are by Wendall Thomas

• Eight Paws, Two Wings by Lois Winston

 

COLUMNS

• Mystery in Retrospect: Reviews by Lesa Holstine, Kathy Boone Reel, L.J. Roberts

• Children’s Hour: Animals in Mysteries by Gay Toltl Kinman

• From the Editor’s Desk by Janet A. Rudolph 

SMFS Member Publishing News: Sleep Rough by Brandon Barrows

SMFS list member Brandon Barrows’ short story, Sleep Rough, is published at Shotgun Honey. You can read the tale for free here.

SMFS Members Published in Unnerving Magazine 18

 

SMFS list members are published in Unnerving Magazine 18. The issue was released last week as a PDF and is available for free online here. SMFS list members in the read are:

 

Michael Bracken with "Neighbor Boy."

 

J. Michael Taylor with an excerpt from his upcoming novel, No Score.

SMFS Members Published/Honored in The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2023

 

Today is publication day for The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2023. Published by the Mysterious Press, the book is available in a variety of formats at the publisher, Amazon, and other vendors. Some SMFS list members have stories reprinted in the main section of the book and another is listed in the “Honor Roll” section. The list members that reported their presence in the book are:

 

Main Full Story Section:

 

Joslyn Chase with “Cold Hands, Warm Heart.” Originally published in Cold Cases: Mystery, Crime, and Mayhem #12, published by Knotted Road Press.

 

David Krugler, with “Two Sharks Walk into a Bar.” Originally published in Mystery Magazine: September 2022.

 

Annie Reed with "The Promise." Originally published in Cold Cases: Mystery, Crime, and Mayhem #12,  published by Knotted Road Press.

 

Joseph S. Walker with "Crime Scene." Originally published in Malice in Dallas: Metroplex Mysteries Volume 1, published by the North Dallas Chapter of Sisters in Crime.

 

Honor Roll 

Michael Bracken with "Kissing Cousins." Originally published in Starlite Pulp Review #1, published by Starlite Pulp.

 

Description:

Amor Towles selects the best mystery short stories of the year, including tales by Andrew Child, Jeffrey Deaver, and T.C. Boyle. 

Under the auspices of New York City's legendary mystery fiction specialty bookstore, The Mysterious Bookshop, and aided by Edgar Award-winning anthologist Otto Penzler, New York Times bestseller Amor Towles has selected the twenty most puzzling, most thrilling, and most mysterious short stories from the past year, collected now in one entertaining volume. The volume also contains a "bonus story" selected from the bookshop's rare book room, featuring a look into the history of this illustrious genre.

SMFS Colorado Gold Rush Award Winners

 

SMFS congratulates SMFS list members, Mindy Kinnaman, and the sisters, Jennifer and Jessica Slee, on their Colorado Gold Rush Awards win. The awards were handed out by the Rocky Moutian Fiction Writers earlier this month. You can learn more about the awards and the group at their website as well as see the full list of nominees and winners. Our members and their awards are:

 

Mindy Kinnaman won a Colorado Gold Rush Award in the “Romance Category” category for the unpublished novel, Closer Than You Know.

 

Jennifer and Jessica Slee won a Colorado Gold Rush Award in the “Mainstream/Literary” category for the unpublished novel, Perfect Fifth.

SMFS Member Publishing News: Sleep Like a Baby by Julie Hastrup

SMFS list member Julie Hastrup’s short story, Sleep Like a Baby, is published at Shotgun Honey. You can read the tale for free here.

SMFS Member Publishing News: Up in Smoke by Gregory Meece

SMFS list member Gregory Meece’s short story, Up in Smoke, is now published in Black Cat Weekly #107. Published by Wildside Press, the issue is available here in digital format.

 

Website Description:

Welcome to Black Cat Weekly. Our 107th issue has everything you could possibly want: police detectives, spacemen, cats, boy detectives, a man (literally) fighting cancer, an abandonned mill chimney, murder in space…. I could go on and on, but that would take all the fun out of it for you!

Here’s the complete lineup:

 

Mysteries / Suspense / Adventure:

“Up In Smoke,” by Gregory Meece [Michael Bracken Presents short story]

“Point Taken” by Hal Charles [short story]

“Method for Murder,” by Michael Mallory [Barb Goffman Presents short story]

“The Blue Line,” by Hal Meredith [short story]

The Mystery Hunters at the Haunted Lodge, by Capwell Wyckoff [novel]

“Earth Transit,” by Charles L. Fontenay [short story]

 

Science Fiction & Fantasy:

“Carcinoma Angels,” by Norman Spinrad [short story]

“No Heaven Will Not Ever Heaven Be…,” by A.R. Morlan [short story]

“Earth Transit,” by Charles L. Fontenay [short story]

“Deadline,” by Walter L. Kleine [short story]

“Rockabye, Grady,” by David Mason [short story]

SMFS Member Publishing News: Stacy, Under The Sky by Joseph S. Walker

SMFS list member Joseph S. Walker’s short story, Stacy, Under The Sky, appears in the recently released anthology, So West: Wrong Turn. Published by the Sisters in Crime Desert Sleuths Chapter, the read is available in digital and print formats at Amazon.

 

Amazon Description: 

Assassins ♦ Blackmail ♦ Revenge ♦ Protecting the family ♦ Redemption ♦ Escape from abuse Survival.

Surprises and twists abound in these sixteen stories set on Arizona’s city streets, highways, and in the desolate desert where the heat muddles the mind and the next turn may be your last.

Get your copy today.

Sisters in Crime Desert Sleuths Chapter Contributing Authors: Paula Barr Skillicorn, Patricia A. Bonn, Lauren Buckingham, Susan Budavari, Jo Burrough, William D. Butler, Meg E Dobson, Suzanne E Flaig, Robert Gibson, Kim McCavan, Kathy McIntosh, Laura MacKenzie, Susan Cummins Miller, Claire A Murray, D.R. Ransdell, Joseph S. Walker. Lead Editor: Claire A Murray. Co-editors: Meg E Dobson, Suzanne E Flaig, Sarah Smith. Cover Designer: Maegan Beaumont.

SMFS Member Publishing News: Yellow Stars by Elizabeth Zelvin

SMFS list member Elizabeth Zelvin’s poem, Yellow Stars, was recently published at Portside. The issue is online and a free read here.

SMFS Member Publishing News: Free as a Bird by John M. Floyd

SMFS list member John M. Floyd’s short story, Free as a Bird, appears in the current issue of Woman's World. The September 18^th issue is available in grocery stores, newsstands, and at Woman’s World.

SMFS Member Publishing News: Dead Men Do Tell Tales by Teel James Glenn

SMFS list member Teel James Glenn’s novella, Dead Men Do Tell Tales, has been published in Cirsova Magazine of Thrilling Adventure and Daring Suspense Issue #16 / Fall 2023. The issue was released today and is available at Amazon and other vendors.

 

Amazon Description:

Novels

The Gold Exigency

(Part 3 of 4)

By MICHAEL TIERNEY

Conrock and Mackstar narrowly escaped the Five-Thousand Fingered Hand! Can they track down the missing Philean with help from Phaedra and her companions?!

 

 

Novelettes

Dead Men Do Tell Tales

By TEEL JAMES GLENN

A gangster with vampire thugs is on the warpath, and Dead Fred’s still-talking head may hold the key as to why! Will Ghostmaker Jack Silence get answers or the bite?!

 

Fossils of Truth and Grace

By E.E. KING

A young grad student staying on the Cornish coast discovers a witch’s pit! Is the mystery connected to her past? Her mother had been a guest at Trelawny Manor!

 

Metamorphoses at the Gate

By LYSANDER ARDEN

There is nothing quite like a Summer friendship! However, Kaz is a stranger friend than most, especially since the local cult seems to have a keen interest in him!

 

The Chilling Account of the Wolf-Bann of Krallenburg

By J.E. Tabor

Krallenburg is beset by a werewolf! Can witchhunter Friedrich Rosch stop the monstrous curse before the town succumbs to siege by Protestant mercenaries!?

 

 

Short Stories

The Dusk Next Door

By MARK PELLEGRINI

Every year, the children draw doodles for the Duskmen! And every year, one high-schooler must deliver them to the town of Dusk to keep them over there!

 

Children of Summer

By LOUISE SORENSEN

A scouting party has gone missing! Can Aedyn and Kerry find them in the bug-infested post-apocalyptic wastes, or will they too become food for giant insects?!

 

The Angel Hanna

By RODICA BRETIN

Alix has always been a bit odd… but her past is even stranger! An orphan tells her strange tale of friendship and loss—a story of a girl who thought she was an angel!

 

Trapped in the Loop

By JIM BREYFOGLE

Kat has a daring plan to trap Rhygir’s forces, baiting them into a bend in the river where they themselves risk being cut off! Can Kat and Mangos hold their lines and catch Rhygir outside of Alness before his reinforcements are able to arrive?!

 

Texas Goth

By MICHAEL TIERNEY with ABRAHAM STRONGJOHN

Jesus Dunn Jr. plans to do away with his abusive father… And there are no wit-nesses, except for the strange Goth girl who has started following him around!

 

Black Sky, White Knight

By MARK MELLON

Stranded in the woods without a mount, a Christian knight must make for Heils-berg Castle! Can he survive the trek through pagan territory and reach safety?!

 

To a Dead Soul in Morbid Love

By MATTHEW PUNGITORE

In a ghoulish tale that drives to madness, the blasphemous corpse wizard Lord Tryphon, cheater of death, must make his grim way to the revelry of Dionysus!

SMFS Member Publishing News: Footwork by M. E. Proctor

SMFS list member M. E. Proctor, Footwork, is published at the Mystery Tribune. The story can be read for free at the website.

SMFS Members Published in Crimeucopia: Rule Britannia: Britannia Waves The Rules

Today is publication day for Crimeucopia: Rule Britannia: Britannia Waves The Rules. The new anthology includes short stories by several of our SMFS members. Published today by Murderous Ink Press, the read is available at Amazon and other vendors. SMFS list members in the read are:

 

 J. Aquino with "Murder at Elephant and Castle."

 

Edward Lodi with “The Big Dig.”

 

Daniel Marshall Wood with "Triple Crown."

 

Amazon Description:

This anthology, we hope, contains short stories that, were you to cut them in half with a knife, they would flash you their Union Jacks without a moment's hesitation.

Rule Britannia - Britannia Waves The Rules features fiction from Daniel Marshall Wood, Gerald Elias, S. E. Bailey, Alexander Frew, Kelly Lewis, Carew S. Bartley, Madeleine McDonald, Edward Lodi, Michaele Jordan, J. Aquino, David Rich, Kelly Zimmer, Sharon Richards, T. K. Howell, Maroula Blades, David William Johnson and Harris Coverley

The fiction ranges from general British cosy, through Harry Palmer and George Smiley territory, before going deep into very British Modern Noir. And as with all of these anthologies, we hope you'll find something that you immediately like, as well as something that takes you out of your comfort zone - and puts you into a completely new one. In other words, in the spirit of the Murderous Ink Press motto:

You never know what you like until you read it.