Saturday, July 23, 2011
Please, No "Ball Skill" Jokes
A Failure of Institutional Memory
The Cincinnati Enquirer reports the items span four centuries and represent more than 20 countries, making it an important collection in the eyes of museum officials and instrument specialists. The instruments include African drums, a Burmese crocodile zither, a Chinese version of a hammered dulcimer and a Native American ceremonial raven rattle."
Amy Winehouse, R. I. P.
The Bolero of Andi Rowe: Stories -- Toni Margarita Plummer
I was hesitant to review this collection of stories because it was written by my editor at St. Martin's. Either I'm a brave man, I'm crazy, or I'm a suck-up. I report you decide.Captain America
When I was a kid, I liked the Captain American comic books a lot, and I also liked the old serial version even though Steve Rogers wasn't the same character as the guy in the comics. So I was prepared to like the new movie version, too, and I did. A lot. [Possible Spoiler: I didn't much care for the ending. End of Possible Spoiler.]Today's Sizzling Summer Read: No One Will Hear You
Top Suspense Group: Today's Sizzling Summer Read: No One Will Hear You: "NOW HEAR THIS! by Max Allan CollinsTwo serial killers vie for the attention of the public in NO ONE WILL HEAR YOU, the second J.C. Harrow thriller by Matt Clemens and me. You needn’t have read YOU CAN’T STOP ME to jump in here, however, and as much as we like the first book – recently a nominee for the Best Paperback Thriller of the Year – Matt and I feel we’ve upped the ante and improved our game second-time around.
We listened to reviewers and readers and sought to make NO ONE WILL HEAR YOU a state-of-the-art thrill ride. We made the chapters shorter, increased the plot twists, even while trying to delve deeper in the characters...not just Harrow and his superstar forensics team, but the killers themselves. And we introduced a secondary protagonist, LAPD sex crimes detective, Lt. Anna Amari, who more than holds her own with Harrow."
They'll Try Anything
Scribe Award Winners Announced
Friday, July 22, 2011
Ohio Cops Are Tougher than Your Cops
The Traditional West
Amazon: The classic American Western returns in this collection of brand-new stories by some of the top Western writers in the world today. Robert J. Randisi, Dusty Richards, James Reasoner, Larry D. Sweazy, L.J. Washburn, Jackson Lowry, Larry Jay Martin, Kerry Newcomb, and many other members of Western Fictioneers, the only writers’ organization devoted solely to traditional Western fiction, take readers from the dusty plains of Texas to the sweeping vistas of Montana and beyond, in the biggest original Western anthology ever published! Western Fictioneers was founded in 2010 to promote the oldest genuine American art form, the Western story. Its worldwide membership includes best-selling, award-winning authors of Western fiction, as well as the brightest up-and-coming new stars in the Western field. The organization's first anthology features original stories by Steven Clark, Phil Dunlap, Edward A. Grainger, James J. Griffin, Jerry Guin, C. Courtney Joyner, Jackson Lowry, Larry Jay Martin, Matthew P. Mayo, Rod Miller, Clay More, Ross Morton, Kerry Newcomb, Scott D. Parker, Pete Peterson, Cheryl Pierson, Kit Prate, Robert J. Randisi, James Reasoner, Dusty Richards, Troy D. Smith, Larry D. Sweazy, Chuck Tyrell, and L.J. Washburn. With original cover artwork by acclaimed artist Pete Peterson, THE TRADITIONAL WEST is more than 100,000 words of classic Western fiction.
Hey, I Can Quit Any Time I Want To
Lack of internet access 'like having a hand chopped off'"
Crossing Over
Wicked Good Words -- Mim Harrison
I don't know about you, but I find this kind of book makes irresistible browsing. There are plenty of expressions that are familiar to a Texan like me, like frog strangler and gully washer to describe a heavy rain. But other parts of the country have phrases that I'd never heard before, like piggle, long butt, and lamb licker. You can find out what those mean, if you don't know already, along with hundreds of others in this entertaining book. You'll find out where they're used, and sometimes even the origin. Check it out.
Sizzling Summer Reads: RIPTIDE
Paul Levine on "Riptide": "Windsurfing Injury Led to 'Riptide'But for an injury, I might never have become a novelist.
This is the backstory of “Riptide,” a Jake Lassiter novel, now available on Kindle and Nook for $2.99.
In 1986, I rented a condo on Maui for the summer, intent on polishing my skills as a competitive windsurfer. My second day at Hookipa Beach, bouncing over the lip of a roller, the board exploded out of the water and smashed my femur. The E.R. physician told me nothing was broken and recommended smoking a little Maui Wowie for the pain. (No, not Dr. House).
So I sat on the beach with a yellow pad and started handwriting a novel featuring a character that popped into my mind: linebacker-turned-lawyer Jake Lassiter. Here’s the first sentence of fiction I ever wrote, (not counting certain statements in my appellate briefs). “The old man loved gadgets, money, and large-breasted women, and at the moment, he had all three.”"
Gil Bernal; R. I. P.
Born February 4, 1931 in Watts, Bernal's neighborhood chums were folks like Charles Mingus, Buddy Collette, and Big Jay McNeely. A proficient saxist and singer by his teens, Bernal jammed at parties and dances and, after graduating from Jordan High, ended up touring nationally with Hampton in 1950. Turns out Hampton had fired a tenor player during a local engagement, and Bernal had chops enough to land into the gig. His band mates included Quincy Jones and Little Jimmy Scott."
Is the World Ready?
Life Imitates "Art"
Brownwood News: "A&E Network presents 'American Hoggers,' a new original real-life series that follows the Campbell family, from Brown County, and their struggle to rescue Texas residents and ranches from the devastating chaos caused by millions of invasive wild boars. The 8-episode half-hour series premieres August 16 at 9pm CST."
Forgotten Books: Cain's Woman -- O. G. Benson
This was O. G. Benson's only crime novel, and it's a good one. Max Raven is a private-eye whose client is a beautiful woman. She's paying someone who has pornographic photos of her, and she wants Raven's help. So right away you're thinking, I've read this one before.Thursday, July 21, 2011
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
A Richland Hills homeowner reported that her 10-foot-tall pool, complete with a slide, was stolen last weekend by unidentified pool thieves."
Plot Device
Soon We'll Have No Freedoms Left at All
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
[. . . .]
Following a one-day trial and four-hour deliberation, a six-panel Angelina County jury concluded Sauceda was guilty of resisting arrest on March 15, 2009, while being pepper-sprayed, shot with a pepper ball gun and wrestled to the ground by nine Lufkin Police officers in his own living room, according to testimony."
Steve Brewer's Bargain Sale
Bubba is my franchise player. Nearly half my crime stories have featured the bumbling Albuquerque private eye and his love interest, reporter Felicia Quattlebaum. Lonely Street was my first published novel and was later made into a Hollywood comedy starring Robert Patrick, Jay Mohr and Joe Mantegna. The seventh in the series, Monkey Man, was a finalist for the Lefty Award for funniest mystery of the year."
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
Sizzling Summer Read RUNNING COLD (A Mick Callahan Novel)
Top Suspense Group: Sizzling Summer Read RUNNING COLD (A Mick Callahan Novel): "I created media psychologist Mick Callahan as the protagonist of my debut hardcover mystery. Mick was born and raised near the small town of Wells, Nevada. He's an alcoholic, a loyal friend, a hot tempered genius. After a failed stint in the Navy Seals, Mick studied Psychology and ended up hosting a television show. Booze, sex and ego brought him down. Over the course of the four novels in the series, he's gone from humiliated and sober and on the comeback trail (Memorial Day), working in radio again (Eye of the Burning Man), back on track but in trouble with the mob (One of the Wicked) and now, in RUNNING COLD, your Top Suspense Sizzling Summer Read of the day, Mick is on the edge of collapse, fighting a return to the bottle and mourning the loss of his girlfriend."
Your Tax Dollars at Work
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Let Joy Be Unconfined
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
Ya think?
Once Upon a Time . . .
Top Suspense Group: Today's Sizzling Summer Read -- SET THE NIGHT ON FIRE by Libby Hellmann
Top Suspense Group: Today's Sizzling Summer Read -- SET THE NIGHT ON FIRE by Libby Hellmann: "The relationship between the past and present, the consequences of events that occurred years ago fascinate me. I also love stories that plunge characters into danger and make them draw on resources they didn't know they had. SET THE NIGHT ON FIRE was the way to combine all those themes. Writing the book was an exorcism of sorts, a way to make peace with the past. And while I enjoyed reliving the past, I loved putting it behind me even more. I'm finally ready to move on.I hope you enjoy the read. To buy the book from Amazon click here. From Nook, here. And for more about the book, and me, and everything else, just click here."
How to Undress a Victorian Lady
So Now You Know
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
A Touch of Class
Sea Serpent Update
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
Enraged Chihuahua WBAGNFARB
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
Best Man for the Job -- Meredith Fletcher
I don't read a lot of Harlequin romantic suspense novels, but judging by this one, I might be making a mistake. It's a fast-action thriller that would have been right at home between the covers of a Gold Medal book back in the late '50s. Sure, the romance angle is played up a bit more than those books would have done it, but it's certainly there in a lot of them.Final Images from Famous Films
If you don't know them all, the answers are at the end.Link via Neatorama.
Forgotten Films: Santa Fe Trail
If you're looking for historical accuracy, well, this isn't the movie for you. It's wildly off the wall. If you're looking for an entertaining western with plenty of action, well, this is a fine choice. Errol Flynn is J. E. B. Stuart, and Ronald Reagan is Custer (Flynn played him a year or so later in They Died with Their Boots On). Olivia de Havilland is the woman they both love. Raymond Massey plays John Brown, and it's almost as if he's in a different movie, at least when compared to Reagan and Flynn. They aren't bad. They're playing the kinds of characters they were best at. Massey is . . . intense. Just watch the trailer and you'll see what I mean. Monday, July 18, 2011
Borders to Shut Down
You Know You Want 'em!
As part of an extensive promotional campaign, Year of the Fan, to observe the 15th season of the show, Comedy Central, which has been presenting “South Park” since August 1997, is teaming up with the Frito-Lay division of PepsiCo to produce 1.5 million packages of Cheesy Poofs to be sold in Wal-Mart stores beginning next month."
Update from Crippen & Landru
Dear Mystery Fan
As you know, Crippen & Landru has been publishing single-author short story collections since 1994; we are now almost up to our 100th volume.
We have not sent out a general announcement for almost 6 months as our computer system collapsed. We have now re-created our address book and the following message goes both to subscribers and to others who are interested (who also should consider becoming subscribers!)
The following books are new and can be ordered through our website, www.crippenlandru.com
Loren D. Estleman, Valentino: Film Detective.
Valentino has a perfect job for a film buff - he is a film detective who locates lost movies so that they can be preserved for future generations. And often he has to become an amateur sleuth as well. To locate a fragment of a film long considered to have vanished, Valentino has to jet to remote locations or to find ancient Hollywood producers and bit players. But there can be danger as well: people sometimes are willing to kill to insure that a film stays lost.
Loren D. Estleman has won 17 major awards for his writing, including 4 Shamuses from the Private Eye Writers of America. In addition to his novels and short stories about Valentino, he is the creator to Detroit PI Amos Walker, hitman Peter Macklin, and Deputy U.S. Marshal Page Murdock. Cover Artist: Carol Heyer.
Trade softcover: ISBN 978-1-932009-96-5. $17.00
Signed, numbered (200 copies -- a handful remaining) clothbound, with add'l story in separate chapbook: ISBN 978-1-932009-95-8. $43.00
Erle Stanley Gardner, The Exploits of the Patent Leather Kid.
The Patent Leather Kid is an elegant crook, hiding his identity with mask, gloves, and shoes made out of black patent leather. In truth, he is a wealthy, seemingly indolent socialite, who becomes a terror to the underworld. In the gang-ridden world of the Depression, The Kid knows that “the rulers of today were the corpses of tomorrow, where survival was the price of keen observation and rapid thought.” His enemy, Inspector Brame, believes that The Kid “is apparently one who loves adventure. His crimes are committed for excitement, rather than gain. And, in everything he does, he gives proof of a superior mentality.”
This is the third volume in Crippen & Landru's collections of Erle Stanley Gardner's short stories. The book is edited by the modern master of the private-eye story, Bill Pronzini. It is also the 30th volume in our “Lost Classics” series. Cover Artist: Gail Cross
Trade softcover: ISBN 978-1-932009-88-0. $19.00
Clothbound: ISBN 978-1-932009-87-3. $29.00
Please check our website (www.crippenlandru.com) for cover designs and full information on these and our other books.
Our books are highest quality in production; first printings are not POD but standard photo-offset. The cloth copies are smyth-sewn, full cloth; trade softcover are notchbound rather than perfectbound so they withstand opening flat.
Many thanks!
Doug Greene
Crippen & Landru
Mystery Sheep WBAGNFARB
The Word Spaceport Has Some Wonderful Connotations for this Reader of '50s SF
Update from Black Dog Books
Greetings from Black Dog Books. We have a number of exciting new titles available for purchase Mid-Summer 2011, spanning a variety of genres. Something for every readers tastes: adventure, mystery, science fiction and Westerns. Perfect for travel and summer reading.
Books will be in hand for shipping at the end of July. All pre-orders between now and July 31 will qualify for FREE SHIPPING.*
Black Dog Books will be appearing at Pulpfest, July 29-July 31, 2011 at the Ramada Plaza Hotel and Conference Center in Columbus, Oh. Stop by and say hello. We look forward to seeing many of you there. Visit www.pulpfest.com <http://www.pulpfest.com> for more information.
Thank you for your interest.
Tom Roberts
info@blackdogbooks.net
www.blackdogbooks.net <http://www.blackdogbooks.net>
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
A committee rejected the complaint last month, but Harris appealed and won and now the book is banned."
My Birthday Is Coming Up soon
I For One Welcome Our New Gastropod Overlords
One completely unscathed snail even gave birth to juveniles after plopping out from the journey in bird waste."




























