Telos News

NEW TITLES FOR 2006 - CRIME

MIKE RIPLEY'S ANGEL

London in the late 1980s - the era of Thatcherism and Loadsamoney - is an exciting but sometimes dangerous place to live. Fitzroy Maclean Angel gets by partly through gigging as a jazz trumpet player, partly through taking illegal fares in his de-registered black taxi cab, and partly through ... well, just being in the right place at the right time. And, as he often says himself, it's better to be lucky than good.

Back in print for the first time in a decade are the first three titles in Mike Ripley's acclaimed 'Angel' series of comic crime novels. Each title is handsomely packaged and contains an specially-written introduction by the author.

'Mike Ripley is one of the best things to have happened to British crime fiction in years.' Birmingham Post

'Full of good lines and has a plot that grips like a clothes peg.' Times Literary Supplement

'Brisk, eventful and genuinely funny.' Literary Review

'One of the best and most ingenious thrillers to come my way.' Daily Telegraph

'My laugh-aloud read of the year.' The Times

Author Mike Ripley, on the origins of the series, from the Introduction to Just Another Angel:

'I found a name for my hero: Roy Angel. From somewhere in the depths of memory, I remembered the name Ray Angel, who I think had been a BBC cameraman on Doctor Who. For some reason, the name had stuck with me, but I preferred Roy to Ray, and from that came Fitzroy and, simply because I couldn't resist it, Fitzroy Maclean after Sir Fitzroy, the soldier and author of the amazing Eastern Approaches.

'The title came from a line in a Dire Straits song, and it never occurred to me that the first book featuring Angel should not really be called Just Another ..., mainly because I had no idea there would ever be a second.

'Angel himself was based on an old friend from university days; I simply added the London location, my love of jazz trumpet-playing and my fondness for cats. Legal reasons prevent me from identifying him further. The de-licensed London taxi came from another fellow student at university, who had bought one long before actors and rock stars thought it cool to own one. A failing memory prevents me from identifying him, but I think he was called Simon.'

200pp approx. A5 paperback reissue novels.

Just Another Angel: 1-84583-106-3 (pb) £9.99 UK $9.95 US $14.95 CAN
Angel Touch: 1-84383-107-1 (pb) £9.99 UK $9.95 US $14.95 CAN
Angel Hunt: 1-84583-108-X (pb) £9.99 UK $9.95 US $14.95 CAN

Posted by David @ 4:47 pm

NEW TITLES FOR 2006 - HORROR

During July through December 2006, Telos is proud to present a number of new horror titles. From an original novella from a first-time author, to a reprint of a classic novel, a superb collection of horror fiction raising money for charity, and a book all about cinematic zombies of all types.

PRETTY YOUNG THINGS (JULY 2006)
by Dominic McDonagh

What's a girl to do these days? If she's not worrying about her makeup or her drop-dead outfit, it's the total lack of anyone hot to pick up at the local nightclub. Someone strong and silent, someone good looking ... someone who might not mind a bit of rough and tumble. And if he ends up being hung in the cellar with the other bloodcalves then that’s too bad ... after all, a girl's gotta drink.

Chelsea is a vampire, one of a nest of lesbian rave-bunny vampires, but when the nest picks her ex-boyfriend as their newest food source, she takes matters into her own hands ...

A novella featuring sexy vampire girls, blood, horror, and enough catfights to sate even the most jaded of vampire lovers.

A debut novella from an impressive new talent.
112pp. A5 paperback original.
ISBN 1-84583-045-8 (pb) £7.99 UK $8.95 US $11.95 CAN

***

ZOMBIEMANIA: 80 MOVIES TO DIE FOR (AUGUST 2006)
Dr Arnold T Blumberg & Andrew Hershberger

From White Zombie to Land of the Dead ... 80 zombie movies that shaped a horror subgenre and left us all with a mortal fear of flesh-eating ghouls clawing their way out of the cold, dark earth.

Zombiemania takes an in-depth look at one of the most popular horror film categories of all time. What is it that makes us so scared of and yet so attracted to the living dead? Why is it that shambling corpses with a taste for brains, or mindless automatons controlled by a voodoo master still retain such relentless power?

Illustrated with many photographs, some published here for the first time, this is one film guide that will leave you with a restless urge to walk the night in search of living flesh.

Some of the films covered in this book: 28 Days Later, Army of Darkness, Astro-Zombies, Bio Zombie, Blood of Ghastly Horror, Bowery at Midnight, Braindead, Bride of Re-Animator, Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things, City of the Living Dead, Creepshow, Crypt of Dark Secrets, Dawn of the Dead (1978), Dead & Buried, The Dead One, Erotic Nights of the Living Dead, Evil Dead, Flesh Freaks, The Fog, Hell of the Living Dead, The House by the Cemetery, The House of Seven Corpses, House of the Dead, Invisible Invaders, Isle of the Snake People, I Walked with a Zombie, Land of the Dead, The Last Man on Earth, Living Dead at Manchester Morgue, Meat Market, Night of the Comet, Night of the Living Dead (1968), Pirates of the Caribbean, Plague of the Zombies, Plan 9 from Outer Space, Re-Animator, Resident Evil, Return of the Living Dead, Revolt of the Zombies, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Shatter Dead, Shaun of the Dead, Tombs of the Blind Dead, White Zombie, Zombie Holocaust, Zombie Lake, Zombie Planet, Zombies of Mora Tau.

Also features - A brief history of the zombie in cinema - An exhaustive title index with over 500 films described and cross-referenced with all of their alternate titles - A 'Coming Soon' appendix listing many more zombie movies soon to be released.

400pp approx. A5 paperback original.
ISBN 1-84583-003-2 (pb) £12.99 UK $22.95 US $29.95 CAN

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SHROUDED BY DARKNESS: TALES OF TERROR (SEPTEMBER 2006)
Edited by Alison L R Davies

From some of the most innovative writers of horror fiction working today, an anthology of tales guaranteed to bring a chill to the spine.

This collection has been published to raise money for DebRA, a national charity working on behalf of people with the genetic skin blistering condition, Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB). All royalties from this book will go to the charity to help them continue their good work.

Featuring stories by: Debbie Bennett, Poppy Z Brite, Simon Clark, Storm Constantine, Peter Crowther, Alison L R Davies, Paul Finch, Christopher Fowler, Neil Gaiman, Gary Greenwood, David J Howe, Dawn Knox, Tim Lebbon, Charles de Lint, Steven Lockley & Paul Lewis, James Lovegrove, Graham Masterton, Richard Christian Matheson, Justina Robson, Mark Samuels, Darren Shan and Michael Marshall Smith. With a frontispiece by Clive Barker and a foreword by Stephen Jones.

300pp approx. A5 paperback original anthology. Available in standard paperback, or deluxe signed (by all contributors subject to arrangement) and numbered, limited edition hardback. Note that the Hardback will only be available direct from Telos and selected specialist dealers.

ISBN 1-84583-046-6 (pb) £12.99 UK $22.95 US $29.95 CAN
ISBN 1-84583-047-4 (hb) £50.00 UK $89.95 US $99.95 CAN

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A MANHATTAN GHOST STORY (SEPTEMBER 2006)
T M Wright

Do you see ghosts?

Photographer Abner Cray arrives in Manhattan to begin work on an illustrated book of the city. However he finds that Art, the owner of the flat he is staying in, has gone missing, leaving behind a beguiling and sensuous young lady called Phyllis Pellaprat to whom he's instantly attracted. Soon Abner is deeply involved with Phyllis and is wholly unprepared for the revelation that Art is actually wanted for her murder - an event which took place some time earlier. When Phyllis disappears, Abner wanders the streets, and he sees what appear to be disaffected and strangly acting people everywhere - hailing taxis, selling puppies on street corners, pushing baby carriages, and he starts to suspect ...

This classic novel was first published nearly twenty-five years ago: it's a hypnotic, spooky page-turner that is by turns a terrifying slide into madness and an effective love story.

'T M Wright is a rare and blazing talent.' Stephen King
'Wright convincingly proves that he understands, as few do, how to give a scare without spilling blood all over the page.' Publishers Weekly
'T M Wright is the best ghost story writer alive today.' American Fantasy Magazine

200pp approx. A5 paperback reprint novel.
ISBN 1-84583-048-2 (pb) £9.99 UK $9.95 US $14.95 CAN

Posted by David @ 4:04 pm

NEW TITLES FOR 2006 - DOCTOR WHO

Here are details and cover illustrations for several Doctor Who-related books being released throughout the remainder of 2006, including our second interview collection Talkback edited by Stephen James Walker, the 2006 update to the Doctor Who collectors' guide Howe's Transcendental Toybox by Arnold T Blumberg and David Howe, and the follow-up book to the 2005 best-seller, Second Flight: Back To The Vortex 2 by J Shaun Lyon (editor of Outpost Gallifrey), the unofficial guide to the second series of Doctor Who. Also included are details of The Sideways Door by RJ Carter and Troy Riser, one of the final installments of our "Time Hunter" series which was spun off of our Doctor Who novella series two years ago.

Details on each of the books are below; click on each thumbnail for a larger version of the cover.

Howe's Transcendental Toybox
Update 2: The Complete Guide to 2004-2005 Doctor Who Merchandise
by David J Howe and Arnold T Blumberg

Telos Publishing presents the definitive collector’s guide to Doctor Who Merchandise. From the rare and obscure to the commonplace and disposable, every facet of Doctor Who’s penetration into the marketplace is detailed. The book covers Doctor Who merchandise released world wide, including items released in America, France, Portugal, Canada, Hungary and Australia as well as the many UK-produced items. Howe’s Transcendental Toybox is both a fascinating tour through the many ways that Doctor Who has been presented over the years and an entertaining guide to the world of Doctor Who collecting. Featuring: Product descriptions; Black and white photographs of the majority of items; Tips for collectors, both new and experienced; Market Information. This new update volume covers all the items released in 2004 and 2005 - including the first batch of items to tie in with the new 2005 series starring Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor - and also contains updates to the main book, as well as reports and comments from both the people who produce the merchandise and the people who sell it.

Talkback: The Unofficial and Unauthorized Doctor Who Interview Book
Volume Two: The Seventies
Edited by Stephen James Walker

An incredible collection of interviews with the people behind the middle years of the BBC’s classic science fiction adventure series Doctor Who. From directors to designers, producers, story editors, writers and cast, all are featured in this latest addition to Telos’s acclaimed range of factual books about Doctor Who.

Second Flight: Back To the Vortex II
by J. Shaun Lyon

David Tennant is … the Doctor! Picking up where Back to the Vortex left off, Second Flight continues the story of the development of Doctor Who as David Tennant takes over the TARDIS from Christopher Eccleston and embarks on a 2005 Christmas special (The Christmas Invasion) as well as a second series of adventures in time and space with Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), and featuring Noel Clarke as Mickey and Camille Coduri as Jackie Tyler. Second Flight reveals the background to the series, from the announcements, to the press releases, casting calls, the highs and lows, and the return of the dreaded Cybermen as well as several other friends and foes. The book also features detailed analysis of the new adventures, facts and figures; exclusive review commentary from an international panel of writers and critics; and a special introduction by a famous name from the series' own past.

Time Hunter: The Sideways Door
by RJ Carter and Troy Riser

Honore and Emily find themselves in a parallel timestream where their alternate selves think nothing of changing history to improve the quality of life - especially their own. Honore has been recently haunted by the death of his mother, an event which happened in his childhood, but now there seems to be a way to reverse that event … but at what cost? When faced with two of the most dangerous people they have ever encountered, Honore and Emily must make some decisions with far-reaching consequences.

Posted by David @ 6:28 pm

SITE UPDATES

Regular readers will have noticed that there has been a lack of site updates for several months now. This is because our hardworking Webmaster has had to take time off to deal with a variety of 'real world' concerns. As of writing we're not certain when he will be back to help us sort out Telos things, and so for the moment please bear with us. Online ordering and information for all the new titles will be available as soon as we can get it sorted. In the meantime, I'll add some posts to this information feed on what Telos is doing to the end of the year.

Posted by David @ 6:25 pm

NEW BOOKS

We recently received copies of WHOGRAPHS, TRIQUETRA, BLONDE ON THE SPOT and LILIES FOR MY LOVELY. Advance orders have now been despatched.

The next arrivals are expected to be some time in June, and are PRETTY YOUNG THINGS, TALKBACK 1, TIME HUNTER: THE ALBINO'S DANCER. As soon as we have more information, I'll post it here.

Posted by David @ 6:21 pm