The late Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun continues to amaze, impress and bewilder in more or less equal measure. Erudite and richly written, the series has sunk its hooks into me and is currently making me curse the fact that I have to work for a living. I've just started the second book, 'Claw of the Conciliator'. It's set in a future so distant it can easily be mistaken for a fantasy setting. It's slow but compelling stuff and I highly recommend it.
Also recommended is F Paul Wilson's The Keep which has been on my shelf for ages. I wish I'd started it sooner. Yes, it's about Nazis being killed off by an unspeakable evil in a remote Romanian keep, but there's more to it than that. In the midst of the horror, there's an interesting morality tale taking place and it's very well-written.
I've only just started Christa Faust's Choke Hold, but Money Shot was awesome and this is shaping up to be similarly good. Faust is an excellent storyteller; her protagonist and narrator (ex-porn star Angel Dare) has an instantly recognisable and appealing 'voice' and there's enough sardonic quips and hardboiled observation to keep me smirking - usually grimly. It's great stuff.
So, what are you lot reading at the moment? If anyone's got any recommendations for (particularly psychological) horror or crime fiction of the gritty and hardboiled variety, comment away! :D
