Category: reading

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Fight for Books and Revive Reading Culture

I’m worried about literacy. We don’t have enough of it. Too many people either don’t read, obsess over social media, or scan summaries instead of experiencing the immersion of pulling a book and getting movies in their minds. Fewer people make the time or have the patience to enjoy a book, and that’s bad for our brains. It’s bad for all of us.

I’m going to recommend three books. (I wrote two of them.)

One of books I’m enjoying recently is Anthony Hopkins ‘ autobiography, We Did OK, Kid. (If you listen to the audiobook, Kenneth Brannaugh narrates, and his voice work is, as you’d expect, excellent.) Hopkins reminded me of his role in 84 Charing Cross Road. Last night, I ran across the book and I bought it immediately.

This slim volume is an ode to a bygone time when books were valued so much more by many more people. It’s an epistolary story wherein a very literate and funny woman in New York has a back-and-forth with a bookseller in London, England. Beginning in 1949, she requests used books only they can procure to her satisfaction. If you love books, you’ll love the movie and the book.

As soon as I found it at the bookstore, I had to buy a latte and dig in immediately. It’s a funny, plotless book with an unambitious premise. It’s not about dark forces taking over the galaxy. It’s just letters back and forth by bibliophiles who, incidentally, will never meet in person.

And to be honest, I choked up a little. 84 Charing Cross Road takes place in hard times. It’s a time I never lived in, yet I’m nostalgic for: A time when more people loved books, discussed books, and fiction and non-fiction were more centered in the culture. Your phone is full of vitriol. Push back on the brain rot. Reject rage bait that seeks to anger you for clicks. Choose media that informs, entertains, and enriches.

How do we fight forces pushing literacy down? Read books. Make it normal to discuss books. Review books. Support authors. Join a book club. Don’t fall for censorship. Read banned books. Frequent your local library and little libraries. Read to your kids. Put down the phone more and pick up books instead. Make reading ubiquitous again. I don’t know how much we’ll improve literacy, but at least we can try to hold the line and not let reading fall by the wayside completely.

The next book I recommend is mine, and it’s on sale now.

It’s release week for my new psychological thriller, Where the Night Takes Us.

Dr. Simon Fethullah was the FBI profiler who put the Rainy Day Cannibal away. The cannibal’s back, and the madman coming for Simon and his family. Find out more about the plot here.

Or, even better, just do this:

BUY NOW for just 99 cents!

Another recommendation:

I have entered Endemic for the Booklife Prize. Endemic won the North Street Book Prize in 2022, so I’m hopeful. Part of the deal is that I received a review from a Booklife critic. Here’s what they had to say:

Title: Endemic
Author: Robert Chazz Chute
Genre: Fiction/Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror
Audience: Adult
Word Count: 99876

Assessment:

Plot: Set in a post-apocalyptic world, Robert Chazz Chute’s science fiction follows Ovid as she navigates a transformed society and searches for her place within it. Chute creates a believable setting that gives the story a strong sense of possibility and danger. Fans of apocalyptic fiction and detailed world-building will find much to enjoy.

Prose: Robert Chazz Chute opens in medias res, with Ovid on the streets of New York after a virus has ravaged the city and much of the world. For anyone who lived through COVID-19, the premise carries an unsettling echo of reality: a city under lockdown that emerges permanently changed. Chute’s vivid descriptions give this altered world a strong sense of place, while its specialized jargon reflects the communities that have formed without leaving readers struggling to understand them.

Originality: Chute gives the story its own identity through its attention to group dynamics and the communities that emerge after disaster. Its vision of a world that remains recognizable yet has been permanently altered makes Endemic a strong addition to post-apocalyptic science fiction.

Character Execution: For fans of science fiction and end-of-the-world stories, much of the appeal lies in seeing how people adapt when the rules of ordinary life disappear. Chute portrays the community Ovid must navigate with impressive detail, while making her survival something readers will genuinely root for. Her encounters and conflicts with the people around her reveal how this new world is changing her, making Ovid a memorable protagonist.

GET ENDEMIC NOW

~ Thanks for being a reader! I’m Robert Chazz Chute, the suspense writer who works from a blanket fort in Other London. It would help me immensely if you let me entertain you. Enjoy my books for hours of twisty fun. Books make great gifts, so buy in bulk. 😉

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Lowest Prices and New Books for Your Fall Reading

New Books for you!

This month I’m promoting books, and not just my own. Kerrie, at Booklinker, set up a promotion for a bunch of sci-fi and fantasy books. We can all slide into fall at a steep discount and build our TBR piles. (One person reading this is asking, so let me soothe that person right now. TBR means To Be Read.)

My contribution is to set the price for This Plague of Days, Season One, at just 99¢! That’ll give you a great start to my bestselling trilogy. When a bioterrorist’s killer virus turns most survivors into a zombie horde, one mute boy on the spectrum is humanity’s only hope. The battle of Good versus Evil begins here. If you enjoyed The Stand, you’ll love This Plague of Days.

CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR DEAL

And speaking of upcoming books, my new release is almost here!

Where the Night Takes Us launches on September 14th!

My new thriller is perfect for Mindhunter fans!

Dr. Simon Fethullah testified against Roderick Shane, the Rainy Day Cannibal. Shot on the witness stand, the brilliant forensic psychiatrist retired to the remote woods of Montana. For years, the good doctor thought he and his family were safe. Then the threatening postcards arrive.

The Rainy Day Cannibal is still in prison, but his madness reaches far beyond the walls of his cell. And he’s coming for Simon.

GET WHERE THE NIGHT TAKES US AT ITS LOWEST INTRODUCTORY PRICE NOW


Not sure? Learn more about Where the Night Takes Us here.

~ I’m Robert Chazz Chute, your friendly neighborhood suspense writer. Reality often sucks, right? Buy fiction. You’ll become a happier person.

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Like thrillers? Read this one before everyone else.

Where the Night Takes Us is a gripping psychological thriller that releases on September 14, but you don’t have to wait. ARCs (advance review copies) are now available to download.

What is the novel about?

Dr. Simon Fethullah’s weapon was his mind. It is also his torment. 

As a forensic psychiatrist working with the FBI, Simon’s testimony helped to convict the Rainy Day Cannibal. After taking a bullet for his trouble, Simon retreats to the wilds of Montana to hide and to heal with his loving wife Carla and Stefano, their massive dog. The good doctor seeks peace, but murderers have long memories. When the President’s Press Secretary is assassinated, a serial killer’s dreams become our nightmares. 

Though caged, prison walls cannot contain Rainy Day’s ambitions. The madman has a loyal following and a vendetta that demands a terrible price. When threatening postcards find their way to Simon’s door, it’s clear that dangerous people know how to find him, and they are coming for blood.

Why You Might Love Where the Night Takes Us


Why authors give away free copies

Book sales platforms are getting inundated with AI slop. It’s estimated that between 3,000 and 4,000 books are uploaded to Amazon every day. There’s been an alarmingly sharp increase in the number of new books published due to the extensive use of AI.

Note: I do not use AI to write my books, nor is AI used in the creation of my covers and graphics.

To get the attention of the sales algorithms, I need reviews on my work, preferably during the first couple of weeks after the novel’s release.

Here’s how to get your ARC:

Please fill out the short form at this link:

Where the Night Takes Us ARC form


All ARC readers who are accepted will receive a Bookfunnel link to download a digital copy. Enjoy your summer beach read! Thank you!

~ I’m Robert Chazz Chute, the winner of fifteen writing awards. I pen suspenseful thrillers and apocalyptic epics from my blanket fort in Other London.

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Vengeance Is Finally Everywhere

My latest thriller!

A while back, I reevaluated the business side of my publishing experience. For most of my backlist, Amazon was no longer delivering. There are many variables to what makes books hit or miss. I’ve gone into detail about that before, so I won’t belabor that again here.

So I made a move, quite literally.

Most of my books are no longer exclusive to Amazon. You’ll still find them on Amazon, but you’ll also find them on book sales platforms across the planet. Think library services like Overdrive, and publishing platforms such as Kobo, Tolino, Barnes & Noble, and Gardners.

I have also added Vengeance Is Hers to a newish sales platform I’d only discovered recently. Laterpress is one way authors can sell their work directly. Check out Vengeance Is Hers on Laterpress here.

Vengeance Is Hers (and many more can be found on these services.)

Screenshot
The Night Man cover
http://ow.ly/1KcI50BVp04
This was not supposed to be a prediction or a prescriptioon.

Enjoy!

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Reading, Writing, & Books

I miss when books were a bigger deal in the cultural landscape.

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For the Love of Bookstores

She Who Must Be Obeyed and I had a grand day out on Saturday. Though the egg crisis has finally hit us (fewer eggs, higher prices), at least we got out. That’s unusual. She bought shoes, and I got free popcorn at Skechers.

The highlight for me is always browsing bookstores. Not all chains are alike. When I was a book rep, I remember walking into a chain store in Brampton. It was as if all they had were remaindered books. The inventory was a mile wide and an inch deep. The Chapters in the south end of our city is far superior to the Indigo in the north end. I would have thought their inventory would be basically the same, but not so!

Funny, when I first visited Toronto, SWMBO asked what more I wanted to see of her city. Easy! Take me to all the used bookstores! She replied that she had already taken me to all the used bookstores. My suitcase was much heavier heading back to Halifax.

When I look at these pics, I so respect all the work that went into writing and publishing these books. Since my brain works the way it does, I thought, what a great bookstore! And I’ll never live long enough to devour all the books I want to read! Damn! Well, I’ll put a dent in that TBR pile, anyway.

Because of my illness in December, my birthday was a bust. Compensation arrived when SWMBO bought a bunch of books for me! For starters, I am reading Getting Signed. It’s about finding an agent and landing a book deal, and it’s really helping me prepare for my upcoming pitch meetings.

Toronto’s World’s Biggest Bookstore was my shrine until it closed. City Lights Bookshop in London is pretty good (and absolutely crammed). Fanfare Books in Stratford has stock that is expertly curated. It may be small, but they carry stuff you won’t find anywhere else, including my books! Another great one is Munro’s Books in Victoria, British Columbia. When you walk in there, a pleasurable and leisurely afternoon of book browsing lies ahead.

Have you got a favorite bookstore? What is it, where is it, and what drew you to it?

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Become a Reviewer for Vengeance is Hers

Are you a book reviewer? Do you love thrillers filled with clever ways of exacting revenge upon the deserving? I’ve got a vigilante justice novel for you!

As I prepare to release Vengeance is Hers, I’m compiling a list of reviewers. Whether you’re a Booktuber on YouTube, a booktok maven, or you review on Amazon, I’m interested in getting a review copy to you!

We’re making a list and checking it twice. If interested, please email my assistant Holly at expartepress@gmail.com with your contact information and review channel on social media.

Please put BOOK REVIEWER in the subject line. Thank you!

Want to know more about what you’ll be reviewing? Here’s the pitch:

If you can’t forgive and forget, what’s next?

Poeticule Bay, Maine is a coastal village full of secrets. When a student is attacked and run out of town, police and the school administration prove useless. Enraged, Molly Jergins launches a campaign of vigilante justice against the school bully and his nasty family. 

As threats and vandalism escalate to a war ending in death, the line between right and wrong blurs. Molly tries to be a good person, but when hunting monsters, the safer route is to become a better monster.

In the end, is revenge the best success?

VENGEANCE IS HERS RELEASES IN EARLY 2025!

About the Author

Robert Chazz Chute is a former crime and science journalist for newspapers and magazines. A graduate of the University of King’s College and the Banff Publishing Workshop, Robert has won fifteen awards for his writing. He pens suspenseful crime fiction with muscle and apocalyptic tales with heart. His hidden headquarters is a blanket fort in Other London. Vengeance is Hers is his twenty-ninth book.