Amazon.com: Turn Left at Paradise eBook: Fred Zackel: Kindle Store: Why would a man, after a massive heart attack, check himself out of the ICU just hours before he was due to be released, and then take off three thousand miles to the city of his birth – without telling his family why? San Francisco Homicide cop Max Kelly chases after his father. Bobbie Kelly hasn’t been back to his hometown for thirty-eight years. After generations of silence, what terrible family secrets will be revealed? Can a father and son find reconciliation after years of distrust and anger? Bobbie and Max have stirred up other troubles, too. After thirty-eight years a cop killer is stepping out of the shadows. Oh, the murders never stopped. And now Max and Bobbie are in the crosshairs. A family saga by the author of COCAINE AND BLUE EYES, MURDER IN WAIKIKI, and TOUGH TOWN COLD CITY. Cover by L. Zackel.
Saturday, February 08, 2014
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Possible Interest
Amazon.com: Turn Left at Paradise eBook: Fred Zackel: Kindle Store: Why would a man, after a massive heart attack, check himself out of the ICU just hours before he was due to be released, and then take off three thousand miles to the city of his birth – without telling his family why? San Francisco Homicide cop Max Kelly chases after his father. Bobbie Kelly hasn’t been back to his hometown for thirty-eight years. After generations of silence, what terrible family secrets will be revealed? Can a father and son find reconciliation after years of distrust and anger? Bobbie and Max have stirred up other troubles, too. After thirty-eight years a cop killer is stepping out of the shadows. Oh, the murders never stopped. And now Max and Bobbie are in the crosshairs. A family saga by the author of COCAINE AND BLUE EYES, MURDER IN WAIKIKI, and TOUGH TOWN COLD CITY. Cover by L. Zackel.
Free for Kindle for Sunday and Monday Only! Important Update!
Amazon.com: Outrage at Blanco (Ellie Taine) eBook: Bill Crider: Kindle Store: Western action thriller in the tradition of Elmer Kelton and Louis L'Amour. The bank robbers killed Ellie Taine's husband. They didn't kill Ellie. That was their mistake. Now Ellie's going to make them pay.
Sa-loot!
'Hee Haw' Is Broadway Bound: ‘Hee Haw,’ the classic television variety show known for its country music, corn pone humor, rural Southern culture and hilarious sketches, is being crafted into ‘Hee Haw: the Musical,’ the New York Post reports.
Friday, February 07, 2014
The Real Lives of 21st-Century Cowboys
Peter Byrne photographs modern-day cowboys: The Real Lives of 21st-Century Cowboys
Panoramic Tours
This is an amazing site of panoramic tours from all over the world. You can manipulate the photos, so play with them to figure it out. You can start with this one: "Grand tour of Manhattan, New York, USA
FFB: The Best Science Fiction Stories and Novels 1956 -- T. E. Dikty, Editor
I saw this one on the shelves the other day and had a brief but enjoyable frenzy of nostalgia. It's one of the books that I got from the Science Fiction Book club, and it some how survived my mother's purge when I went away to college. I've reproduced the contents page and the acknowledgements so you can see where the stories came from. Some of the stories are still remembered and talked about, while others have disappeared. There are a couple of them that I don't remember at all, though I probably read everything in the book at least twice all those years ago. My two favorites than and now are "The Game of Rat and Dragon" and "A Canticle for Leibowitz."
I was a great buyer of anthologies from the SF Book Club. I have four or five other volumes that are "best ofs" from a couple of magazines, and I also have a couple of the massive Grof Conklin anthologies. Plus the big Astounding collection. I was a great reader of short stories in those days, and I have collections by Simak and Asimov, as well. How those all survived the Great Purge, I have no idea, but I'm glad they did.(Sorry, no Shirley Jackson story in this one.)
Thursday, February 06, 2014
Ralph Kiner, R. I. P.
One of my childhood heroes.CBSSports.com: “With the passing of Ralph Kiner, the baseball world has lost one of its greatest ambassadors and the Hall of Fame has lost a wonderful friend,” said Jane Forbes Clark, Chairman of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. “Ralph spent eight decades as a player, executive and broadcaster. He was a man who truly loved our National Pastime and made it better in every way. His legacy will live forever in Cooperstown.”
99-Cent Sale!
Amazon.com: Switch (The Janek Series) eBook: William Bayer: Kindle Store: "He spent hours drawing sketches of how she might be killed. And the more work he put into them the more exciting the idea became. And then he started following her and then he was caught up. And the more caught up he was the more definitely she was doomed, for once an idea took hold in him he felt compelled to carry it out It was the Switch that made his crime a work of art... "
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Wednesday, February 05, 2014
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Possible Interest
Amazon.com: FIST OF AFRICA (FIGHT CARD MMA) eBook: Jack Tunney, Balogun Ojetade, Paul Bishop: Kindle Store Nigeria 2004 ... Nicholas 'New Breed' Steed, a tough teen from the mean streets of Chicago, is sent to his mother’s homeland – a tiny village in Nigeria – to avoid trouble with the law. Unknown to Nick, the tiny village is actually a compound where some of the best fighters in the world are trained. Nick is teased, bullied and subjected to torturous training in a culture so very different from the world where he grew up. Atlanta 2014 ... After a decade of training in Nigeria, a tragedy brings Nick back to America. Believing the disaffected youth in his home town sorely need the same self-discipline and strength of character training in the African martial arts gave him, Nick opens an Academy. While the kids are disinterested in the fighting style of the cultural heritage Nick offers, they are enamored with mixed martial arts. Nick decides to enter the world of mixed martial arts to make the world aware of the effectiveness and efficiency of the martial arts of Africa.
Pursing a professional career in MMA, Nick moves to Atlanta, Georgia, where he runs into his old nemesis – Rico Stokes, the organized crime boss who once employed Nick’s father, wants Nick to replace his father in the Stokes’ protection racket. Will New Breed Steed claim the Light Heavyweight title … Or will the streets of Atlanta claim him?
Free for Kindle for a Limited Time
Amazon.com: Breaking Point eBook: Gerard Brennan: Kindle Store: Brian Morgan's relationship with his weed dealer has moved on to the next level. Stony Tony is a kung fu enthusiast with ambitions to become a master in his own style. But first he needs to establish a loyal following of students. Brian could use some time away from Rachel O'Hare to figure out whether he loves her or is afraid to leave her, although it's hard to focus on anything after a few tokes of Tony's Blueberry Cheesecake. Rachel is as indecisive about their relationship as Brian, but she knows that no good can come of a strange little pot-head getting involved in their lives. Meanwhile, a goon with a bad ear a big grudge also has eyes for Brian...
Song of the Day
"Detective of Love" by the Regals. This one has many references to famous detectives.
Once Again Texas Leads the Way
Mail Online: Texas university professor moves into a DUMPSTER on school campus for a year to show students that they can live with less
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson
Dead Sea Scrolls Update
Israel brings Dead Sea scrolls to life with upgrade of digital archive: Website includes 10,000 new images, more manuscript descriptions and translated content, and a faster search engine
Croc Update: Once Again Texas Leads the Way
History in the Headlines: They say “everything is bigger in Texas,” and that’s certainly true of the Triassic-Period species of 17-foot-long, crocodile-like creatures that has been discovered by a team of Texas Tech University paleontologists.
Tuesday, February 04, 2014
Richard Bull, R. I. P.
Mail Online: Richard Bull, who is best known for starring on the '70s TV series Little House On The Prairie, has died at age 89.
According to People, the actor passed away on Monday in Calabasas, California but the cause of death has not been revealed.
He played shop owner Nels Oleson on Prairie and appeared for the show's entire run, from 1974 to 1983.
According to People, the actor passed away on Monday in Calabasas, California but the cause of death has not been revealed.
He played shop owner Nels Oleson on Prairie and appeared for the show's entire run, from 1974 to 1983.
In Other Words, It's Just Like Texas
Mail Online: Nasa finds weird, wildly wobbly world where seasons change by the day
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee
News from The Associated Press: MAN DIES AFTER FIGHT OVER JUKEBOX MUSIC AT TAVERN
Here's the Plot for Your Next Donkey-Related Thriller
UPI.com: Texas family claims mayor was killed by attackers, not a donkey
Overlooked Movies: Prizzi's Honor
We both enjoyed the movie quite a bit. I've never read the Richard Condon novel, but the movie is a mafia comedy, a caper film, a romantic comedy, a hit man (and woman) movie, and probably a few other things I'm missing. Scattered? Sure, but it worked for me.
One thing that makes it work so well is the famed Nicholson charisma, even when he's playing a not-too-bright character (just the kind Kathleen Turner said she liked in another good movie). He's doing a comic turn here, and he's great. So are a radiant Kathleen Turner and a smoldering Anjelica Houston, and so is the entire cast. What a great ensemble the casting director put together for this one.
I'm not going to try to describe the plot. Let's just say that Nicholson falls for Turner, and complications ensue. Lots of them. You'll wonder right up to the end if she's playing him or not (well, maybe not you, but I did).
The worst thing about many of the trailers for this movie (not the one below, however) is that they gave away the climactic scene. What a misstep that was. But if you haven't seen the movie before, you won't be bothered by it. Even having seen it, I had a great time at the movie.
Monday, February 03, 2014
Happy birthday, Robert McGinnis!
Robert McGinnis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Robert McGinnis (born 1926) is an American artist and illustrator. McGinnis is known for his illustrations of over 1200 paperback book covers,[1] and over 40 movie posters, including Breakfast at Tiffanys (his first film poster assignment),[2] Barbarella, and several James Bond and Matt Helm films.[3]
The Day the Music Died
The day the music died — History.com This Day in History — 2/3/1959: On this day in 1959, rising American rock stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson are killed when their chartered Beechcraft Bonanza plane crashes in Iowa a few minutes after takeoff from Mason City on a flight headed for Moorehead, Minnesota. Investigators blamed the crash on bad weather and pilot error. Holly and his band, the Crickets, had just scored a No. 1 hit with "That'll Be the Day." After mechanical difficulties with the tour bus, Holly had chartered a plane for his band to fly between stops on the Winter Dance Party Tour. However, Richardson, who had the flu, convinced Holly's band member Waylon Jennings to give up his seat, and Ritchie Valens won a coin toss for another seat on the plane.
Image via The Fifties Web.
Calvin and Hobbes Update
AFP: US comic artist Watterson wins top French prize: US cartoonist Bill Watterson, author of the worldwide cult series "Calvin and Hobbes", won the top prize Sunday for his craft at France's Angouleme world comic strip festival, organisers said.
New Poem at the 5-2
The 5-2 | Crime Poetry Weekly, Annual Ebooks - Gerald So, Editor: Elizabeth Lash
IN MEMORIAM: EX-KGB AGENT COMPLAINS OF MYSTERIOUS TOXIN IN HIS VEINS
I Found a Penny Last Week
But not like this one.
A penny inside man's desk drawer could be worth $250K
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
A penny inside man's desk drawer could be worth $250K
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Sunday, February 02, 2014
Philip Seymour Hoffman, R. I. P.
WSJ.com: Award-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead Sunday afternoon in his New York City apartment, a law-enforcement official said.
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