Here’s a quick “heads up” about two new books you should check out.

First up is good friend Ben Tanzer’s new short story collection Repetition Patterns. In a very cool move, the collection is being released as an e-book only download by The Chicago Center for Literature and Photography (CCLaP), with a pay-what-you-want pricing setup (just like Radiohead did with In Rainbows). It is great to see someone testing out the pay-what-you-want scheme with publishing. But lest I get too caught up on the distribution side, do check out Repetition Patterns for the stories. Having read with Ben and really enjoyed his first novel, Lucky Man, I can tell you he’s a hell of a storyteller.

Also just released is the brand new novel from fellow ex-New Jersian Alex Austin, titled The Red Album of Asbury Park. I was lucky enough to read a few chapters from The Red Album… prior to its publication and Alex nails that down-and-out sadness of the Jersey Shore perfectly. It has the characters — the gangsters and musicians and lowlifes and surfers and the beaten and broken. But it also has a good story; a tale of murder and ambition set in a 1960s Asbury Park that’s lost its luster. Gritty stuff and well worth $15 cover price.