Saturday, April 18, 2015

Jon Land

Jon Land is the bestselling author over 25 novels. He graduated from Brown University in 1979 Phi Beta Kappa and Magna cum Laude and continues his association with Brown as an alumni advisor.

His new novel is Black Scorpion.

Recently I asked Land about what he was reading. His reply:
I’m currently reading Revival by Stephen King and loving it. I read authors, not just books. King is at the top of my list and Revival has all the elements that explain why. First and foremost, King is a great storyteller. And reading his stories when I was in college made me want to be a writer. Two of the best books I read last year were Doctor Sleep and Mr. Mercedes, both King tales that were entirely different from each other but both were wondrously entertaining. King invests you in the plight of his characters, makes you feel what they’re feeling. Revival features an ex-preacher obsessed with electricity whose path crosses for a second time with a man he knew as a young boy. It’s kind of a play on the classic Frankenstein-theme, a vision wholly realized and entirely satisfying. And that’s the thing that defines a book’s greatness: how much did it live up to the expectations I had going in? The ability of a writer like King to still scare the living hell out of me (Doctor Sleep), make me forget I’m on an airplane (Mr. Mercedes) or keep me up into the cold hours of the morning (Revival) is exactly what I aspire to do in my own books like Black Scorpion.
Visit Jon Land's website.

The Page 69 Test: Black Scorpion.

--Marshal Zeringue