Monday, October 31, 2011

New and Notable: PREMONITION by DH Starr

I'm pleased to announce that my friend and fellow author, DH Starr's first foray into the paranormal has just been released by MLR Press. DH usually writes m/m romance, but with Premonition, he combines romance and psychological suspense with a touch of the supernatural. It should be a very interesting--and potent--mix!

SYNOPSIS
Martin Proctor has been on the Boston Police Force for ten years. His record is impeccable and he's helped his precinct and captain maintain one of the best crime records in the city. But no one knows Martin has premonitions which help him solve cases others find impossible.

Justin Franklin is also on the Boston force. Justin may not have supernatural abilities, but as an openly gay man, he possesses a courage that draws Martin in.

When Martin has a premonition about the death of Justin's brother and fails to save him, their lives become intertwined. As they work together to discover the truth behind Larry's murder, Martin foresees Justin's death.

The closer they come to cracking their case, the less time Martin has to piece together his fragmented visions and save Justin before it's too late.

Read an except.

Buy Premonition.

Bookmark and Share

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Check out My Profile in October's Lambda Literary Review

This month, LLR romance columnist and reviewer, Dick Smart, put some hard questions to me and the result was an in-depth and revealing portrait. I hope you'll take the time to give it a read. If you do, you'll discover what connection I think exists between horror and romance, what my early-life head injuries have to do with my creativity, and, finally, the truth about whether my own writing scares me.

Rick R. Reed: Master of Romance and Horror

by Dick Smart on October 26, 2011


Post image for Rick R. Reed: Master of Romance and Horror 

 

 

 

“When fiction is made according to its nature, it should reinforce our sense of the supernatural by grounding it in concrete, observable reality.” -Flannery O’Connor

Caregiver, the latest by the prolific Rick R. Reed, out now from Dreamspinner Press (cover art by Paul Richmond), is a straightforward traditional romance that may surprise his large horror romance fan base. But as Reed points out, “I am not one to stay within the lines when it comes to genre.” Readers who are fans of his horror romances know that they can trust Reed to deliver solid stories and strong characters and that trust is rewarded in this powerfully, satisfying romance set in the midst of the AIDS crisis in the mid-90s...

Continue reading the rest of the interview here.

Bookmark and Share

Monday, October 24, 2011

Caregiver is Released and Reviewed!

I wanted to share with you fellow author (and icon) Victor Banis' 4.5 star review of my latest release (today, in fact, is release day!), CAREGIVER, on Reviews by Jessewave. What better way to launch a new book than with a review from a master of the genre?

In part, Victor had this to say about CAREGIVER, my AIDS-era love story:

"Reed has a fine command of words that sometimes approaches the magical, and I think few readers will come away from reading this emotionally untouched... I could not stop reading until I had finished, and I don’t know how you can pay a writer any better compliment than that...I began by explaining my aversion to AIDS novels—but I’m not so great a fool that I didn’t know from the first page or so that this is a terrific work, insightful and bold, by a very talented writer..."

Read the whole review.

SYNOPSIS
It’s 1991, and Dan Calzolaio has just moved to Florida with his lover, Mark, having fled Chicago and Mark’s addictions to begin a new life on the Gulf Coast. Volunteering for the Tampa AIDS Alliance is just one part of that new beginning, and that’s how Dan meets his new buddy, Adam.

Adam Schmidt is not at all what Dan expected. The guy is an original—witty, wry, and sarcastic with a fondness for a smart black dress, Barbra Streisand, and a good mai tai. Adam doesn’t let his imminent death get him down, even through a downward spiral that sees him thrown in jail.

Each step of Adam’s journey teaches Dan new lessons about strength and resilience, but it’s Adam’s lover, Sullivan, to whom Dan feels an almost irresistible pull. Dan knows the attraction isn’t right, even after he dumps his cheating, drug-abusing boyfriend. But then Adam passes away, and it leaves Sullivan and Dan both alone to see if they can turn their love for Adam into something whole and real for each other.

BUY from Dreamspinner Press (the first 20 paperback sales will receive an autographed copy)
In ebook
In paperback

Amazon Kindle version


Bookmark and Share

Monday, October 10, 2011

Rave Review for My Paranormal Thriller ECHOES

Just wanted to share a great review (4.75 stars) I got from the Bookwenches for my paranormal ghost story, ECHOES. In part, reviewer Bobby D. Whitney said,

"Part ghost story, part suspense, Rick R. Reed’s novella Echoes tells a sad and very human tale about love, death, and closure...Not only did it send a shiver of unease up my spine, but it left me with tears in my eyes...There is no true villain in Echoes, unless you wish to count the seductress that goes by the name of Tina, crystal methamphetamine. Not only does she decimate those who abuse her, but the effects ripple down to friends, family, and in this story even unsuspecting strangers. She brings illness, death, and devastation into all the lives that she touches..."

Read the whole review here.

Buy Echoes.

SYNOPSIS

Rick and Ernie have found the perfect loft apartment on Chicago’s west side. But before they are even settled, Rick begins having strange “dreams” that seem all too real. A young man, emaciated, with sad brown eyes, appears to him, frightening and obsessing him.

From their next-door neighbor, Paula, Rick learns of the gay couple, Karl and Tommy, who lived there before them. Paula had been close to them and Tommy’s mysterious disappearance still pains her. When she shares a photo of her with Tommy and Karl, Rick is shocked and troubled. Tommy is the man who has appeared to him in his dreams.

The dreams and the revelation put Rick on a quest to discover the truth about Tommy’s disappearance. It’s a quest that will lead him to Karl, Tommy’s lover, who may know more about Tommy’s disappearance than he’s telling, and a confrontation with a restless spirit who wants only to, finally, rest in peace...
Bookmark and Share

Friday, October 7, 2011

Free Halloween Stories at Dreamspinner Press!

Halloween Howl from Dreamspinner Press

To celebrate Halloween, Dreamspinner is inviting people to come trick-or-treating at their web site throughout the month of October.

Look for my own free contribution,"St. Boniface Hook-Up" a chilling tale of love amid one of Chicago's oldest cemeteries! Click here to read the free story.


Thirty other Dreamspinner authors have donated free short stories. Search through the different pages on the web site for Gary the Gargoyle door knocker. Each time you find him, click on him for a free download by the author whose page he’s hiding on! And make sure to check out the end of each story for a discount code.





Bookmark and Share

Thursday, October 6, 2011

OBSESSED About a Rave Review!

I just wanted to share a wonderful five-star review my psychological thriller/horror novel, OBSESSED, got from the Bookwenches. In part the review said:

"A few nightmares later, and I still can’t get this book out of my mind...This story took me on quite a ride, and I can describe it as a delightfully insane psychological mind fuck..."

Read the whole review here.

Synopsis
I kill, therefore I am…

Voices slam through the corridor of his wounded mind. The words of his dead sister cry out. His parents' taunts fill the silent room where he sits and waits--waits for the murderous rage, filling him with strength, driving him to kill, to touch the cold flesh, taste the warm blood--to feel alive again… A witness has seen him, but his killing only turns her on and now she wants to protect him. His wife suspects him, but the private detective she hired cannot stop him. Joe MacAree fears nothing--except that he may no longer be human. The thirst that drives him is relentless, moving deeper and deeper into his own shattering, private realm, where each murder is a delicious new gift of life, where revulsion is beauty, and the obsession will never let him go.

Obsessed was part of Dell Abyss' remarkable horror line, lauded by none other than Stephen King.

The book is on sale now from the publisher, Untreed Reads, for only $2.99. BUY.


Bookmark and Share