Online Novels

Not long ago I started looking for online novels to read, and I was surprised by the quality I managed to find. Of course there’s a lot of crap out there as well, but here’s a couple that are worth your time.

Caught Stealing, by Charlie Huston



I first discovered this book in paperback a couple years ago, and got pretty into it. Since then I’ve followed Huston’s other books, including The Shotgun Rule and Already Dead, both which are entertaining reads.

As for Caught Stealing, it’s the story of Hank Thompson, a young, regular guy from California who works as a bartender in New York City. But the simple act of babysitting a pet cat plunges Hank into 3 days of sheer hell. He’s tortured and then hunted through New York by professional bank robbers, the Russian Mafia, and crooked cops, and has to watch his friends get killed one by one. Until finally, Hank learns how to start fighting back. It’s a cool, violent little story, and pretty damn addictive.

http://www.pulpnoir.com/


Dingo, by Michael Alan Nelson



This one is posted up on blogspot by writer Michael Alan Nelson, and it’s been adapted into a well-reviewed comic series by Boom Studios. But one thing I found surprising about this novel is that it hasn’t been picked up by a major book publisher. And believe me, I’ve read much worse things in paperback.

“Dingo” is the nickname of Daniel Asher, who’s on a cross-country quest to recover a box that contains a family heirloom. What exactly the heirloom might be is one of the mysteries of this story, but it’s valuable enough to attract the attention of several dangerous, supernatural creatures. And it all ties back to one dark secret; why exactly Daniel Asher is called Dingo.

http://dingonovel.blogspot.com/


John Dies At The End, by David Wong



All right, this story’s not online anymore. But it did start life as an online novel, and it grew so popular that a publisher pretty much had to pick it up. Since then “John Dies” has been optioned for film, though it’s hard to imagine any Hollywood studio producing something this off-beat, weird, and downright funny.

John Dies At The End follows two guys named John and David who work at a series of crappy, dead-end jobs and don’t seem to be going anywhere in life. But after coming in contact with a drug called Soy Sauce, they suddenly find their senses opened up to otherworldly events that most people simply blot out from their minds. This experience only makes their lives more difficult, yet they’re soon dealing with threats that threaten all of humanity. Can John and David rise up and deal with the situation?

Of course not. But it’s entertaining to watch them try.

http://www.johndiesattheend.com/


Makers, by Corey Doctorow



This one’s a sci fi novel, set in a future that’s quickly becoming the present. The story kicks off when a journalist named Suzanne Church starts following two garage-inventors named Perry Gibbons and Lester Banks. They attract a large investment firm, and soon get involved with cheap 3D printing, building up communities from scratch, wild cures for obesity, and theme park rides with a near-religious following. But with success also comes unwanted attention, and soon the ire of the Disney corporation is turned upon them.

Now the great thing about Makers is how much passion Doctorow brings to the act of creating something cool from spare parts and imagination. This is the type of novel that will get folks off their butts and working on that project they’ve had in mind for years. Quite frankly, I wish more people would read it.

One other interesting thing I’d mention about Corey Doctorow; whenever one of his books gets published, he also releases it online for free. That might sound nuts, but according to him, it does more to drive up his books sales than anything else he’s done. Apparently when someone starts reading his work in a pdf, they become much more likely to pick up one of his printed novels. And hell, for a sci fi writer, his books are doing well.

http://craphound.com/


Of course, these are just a few of the free books you can find online. Folks, they’re easy to download, they won’t take up much space on your PDA, and you can pass them on to your friends. And hell, they’ve gotta be more fulfilling than running the Tickle Me app on your iPhone.

- Nate