Joe Hill, son of Stephen King (who looks so much like his father I’m not sure he isn’t really a clone) is a talented scribe in his own right. I loved the movie HORNS which was based on his novel of the same name. Mr. Hill has another book entitled NOS4A2. Clever title, isn’t it? I thought so. I thought so twenty years ago, when my friend, another novelist named Scott Oden, came up with it.
Yeah, he who hesitates loses, and Scott never got around to writing his version of NOS4A2. It stood for “Nighttime Operations Specialist” and was a genetically-engineered vampire, dropped behind enemy lines during war to decimate the enemy, a bipedal biological weapon. It doesn’t sound like Joe Hill’s story even remotely resembles Scott’s, so only the name is the same.
Scott has found success in another genre. Two genres, actually. Historical Fiction and Historical Fantasy. His MEN OF BRONZE is a good old-fashioned swashbuckler set in ancient Egypt, and THE LION OF CAIRO featured a badass character he describes as “Conan the Muslim.” His biggest love, though, is Orcs. He digs on some Orcs. In A GATHERING OF RAVENS he introduced the world to the Orc Grimnir, the “Corpse-maker and Life-quencher, the Bringer of Night, the Son of the Wolf and Brother of the Serpent.” It’s damn fine stuff. I recommend you check it out.
And no, Scott did not pay me to write that, nor do I owe him money.
Joe Hill, however, bummed twenty bucks off me once and has yet to pay me back.