A DEAD RED HEART (The Dead Red Mystery series Book 2) - Kindle edition by RP Dahlke. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.: What would you do if the love of your life lost their chance at a heart transplant because the donor organ went to a convicted felon? Grieve and let go--or wait until the convict is released and then hunt him down and make him pay?
Lalla Bains certainly doesn't need any more distractions during the simmering summers in the San Joaquin Valley of California; her tight-wad, widowed father is now a born-again lady's man, a disreputable crop-dusting competitor threatens her business, and last but not least, she worries whether the sultry redhead in the local police department is taking more than a professional interest in her honey, Sheriff Caleb Stone.
But when a homeless vet is stabbed and dies at her feet, Lalla Bains, being the exasperating, pushy, tenacious gal she is, Lalla believes the dead man deserves a better homicide investigation than what he's getting.
Joe Lansdale told me long ago, maybe as much as twenty years ago, that what he really wanted to write was a novel about Nat Love, aka Deadwood Dick. It took him a while to get to the point in his career that he was able to write it, but he's been doing research all along and also writing some things about Deadwood Dick. The novel is called Paradise Sky, and it will be out from Mulholland Books next year. But if you're eager to see what it will be like, Subterranean has published a novella about Deadwood Dick
The story is about the second battle of Adobe Walls, which is famous in Texas history. There's no record of Nat Love's being there, but he could've been, along with his good friend Black Hat Jack. There are a good many accounts of the battle, where a handful of men (and a couple of women) stood off hundreds or thousands of Comanches and Kiowas and members of a few other tribes, but history plays into Lansdale's hands because the accounts agree on almost nothing. This leaves Lansdale free to include some of the things that are pretty well documented, like Billy Dixon's amazing rifle shot, and to make up pretty much whatever he wants to.
If you're familiar with Lansdale's work, you know what to expect: plenty of blood, action, and violence, lots of cussing, an abundance of rough-and-tumble humor, occasional social commentary, and even a few tender moments. It's all here, and it's all great fun, just the thing to to enjoy on its own and to whet your appetite for Paradise Sky.
Dorcas Knight, The Flesh Is Willing, Midwood, 1962
Dorcas Knight is my new favorite author's name.
Will Cuppy, The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody, Dell, 1959
From Lee Goldberg: We're giving away two new Kindle Voyages pre-loaded with all of our Brash Books. All you have to do to win is post a review of one of our books on Amazon, or on your blog or on your Facebook page and send us the link at brashbooks@gmail.com...or tweet it with hashtag #brashbooks The winner will be chosen at random Dec. 15th.
For a while, Robert Campbell was a screenwriter. He did screenplays for such classics (at least to me) as Hells Angels on Wheels, Teenage Caveman, Machine-Gun Kelly, The Masque of the Red Death, and others. When he turned to fiction, he was successful under several names, mostly variations of his own, with both standalones and series.
His most successful series, and the one I prefer, features Jimmy Flannery, a Democratic committeman in Chicago's twenty-seventh ward. I like the voice in these books, and of course I especially liked Hip Deep in Alligators, which has sewer gators and won the Anthony for Best Paperback in 1987 when I won for Best First Novel. Pardon me while I digress. When I picked up my award, I noticed that they'd given me the wrong one. I had Campbell's award, and I assumed he'd been given mine. I went over to him, he checked, and sure enough, he had mine. We traded, and I asked him if his title for his winning book had been the original one. He grinned and said that it hadn't, but the publisher wouldn't go for the title he'd given it, the line that you're probably familiar with.
Campbell's series about railroad detective Jack Hatch wasn't nearly as successful as the one about Flannery. In fact, since there are only two books about Hatch, is it really a series? One of my college profs told the class that it took three trees to make a row, but maybe a series is different.
I think the problem with the Hatch series is the voice. Jake is a good enough first person narrator, but he just doesn't have the snap that would set him apart. However, the setting is good, what with Hatch working for the Burlington Northern. The setting is contemporary (1980s), with Amtrak and all, so the railroad stuff is interesting.
The plot's interesting, too. Hatch is on a train that makes an emergency stop when someone pulls the cord. An search reveals the torso of a man who's apparently been cut in half by the train. A lower torso is also found. [BIG SPOILER ALERT] The torsos don't match up. The lower torso belongs to a woman. [END OF BIG SPOILER ALERT]
Hatch is a curious guy, and he's determined to find out what happened. He travels up and down the line, which he enjoys because he has a widowed friend in every town, and unravels a plot that involves gypsies, the CIA, the FBI, and espionage in addition to murder. The plugged nickel of the title is a major clue.
Not a bad little book, just nothing really special. The followup was The Red Cent, which I haven't read. Maybe someday I will.
Dane Coolidge, Fighting Men of the West, Bantam, 1952
PodOmatic | Best Free Podcasts: EPISODE 62: "The Problem of the Old Oak Tree"
AOL.com: Geraldine "Jerrie" Mock, the Ohio housewife who 50 years ago became the first female pilot to fly solo around the world, has died. She was 88.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
August Derleth, editor, Strange Ports of Call, Berkley, 1958
NYTimes.com: George Shuba, the Brooklyn Dodgers outfielder who played in three World Series during the 1950s but who was best remembered for his welcoming gesture to Jackie Robinson at home plate on the day Robinson, as a minor leaguer, broke baseball’s color barrier, died on Monday at his home in Youngstown, Ohio. He was 89.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
NYTimes.com: Ray Lambrecht, a small-town Chevrolet dealer who became far better known for the cars he kept than the ones he sold, died on Sept. 22 at his home in Pierce, Neb., across the street from the auto dealership he owned and operated for 50 years. He was 96.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
As some of you may recall, my son, Allen, is part of the Cornell Hurd band and records their CDs. The latest one is XX, and there's some info about it here. The album has been reviewed in Country Music People, British print magazine, and I can't resist quoting a few lines from it: By the second spin I realised that each of these songs - all originals by Hurd and/or Allen Crider - was already like an old friend. . . . the instrumental "When You Smile" is so strong melodically, at no point did I wish there were lyrics. I should point out that the instrumental was written by Allen and that he plays lead guitar on it. In fact, he plays lead guitar on just about every number on the CD, sings harmony, and plays rhythm guitar on a couple of cuts. If you're ever in the mood for some great western swing music, get a copy of this one and settle back for 42 minutes of the good old stuff.
Flavorwire: 50 of the Greatest Characters in Literature
2014 Kirkus Prize Finalists Announced – Flavorwire: Hey! It’s a book prize that actually offers a significant amount of money to the recipients, and the list of finalists reflects the way we read now, and it’s the very first year this all has happened.
E. M. Hull, Sons of the Sheik, Dell, 1949
The Flying Flivver: Henry Ford's Attempt to Make Us All Pilots: "Mark my words: a combination airplane and motorcar is coming. You may smile, but it will come."
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "How can a movie with a Criterion DVD, a movie that many people love, be called 'overlooked'?" That's the wrong question. The question is, "Have you looked it over lately?"
There are a lot of things to like here. This movie's only 83 minutes long, but it has more plot and more grace notes than just about all the 120-minute-plus movies I've seen lately. The scene of the first meeting between gentleman thief Gaston Monesque (Herbert Marshall) and gentlewoman thief Lily (Miriam Hopkins), besides being very funny, takes care in a few minutes of information that would be parceled out in half an hour. When the two of them plot to steal a fortune from Madame Mariette Colet (Kay Francis), setting their plans in motion takes about 2 minutes, not an hour.
Complications abound. Colet has two suitors (the very amusing Edward Everett Horton and Charles Ruggles) that don't appeal to her. Horton happens to be someone Marshall has robbed in the past, and when Marshall becomes Colet's secretary, Horton almost (but not quite) recognizes him. It's obvious that he'll figure things out sooner or later, though. There are other problems, the biggest one being that Marshall falls for Francis, though it's clear that he still loves Lily and that they're meant for each other.
The director, Ernst Lubitsch, keeps the whole thing lighter than air, with impeccable timing from the entire cast. The costuming and sets are great, too. It's impossible for me to watch this one without smiling all the way through, except for the times I'm laughing. Sure it's 80 years old now. More, actually. So some of it is going to appear dated to you youngsters. And in spite of the color poster up above, the movie is in black and white. It looks great for the most part (I found the first couple of minutes a little murky). I know some younger people who say they can't watch B&W movies. That's their loss, especially in the case of one like this.
Note: The unofficial trailer above was put together by someone not affiliated with the movie or the studio, but it'll give you an idea of what the movie is like.
Check it out. (Might take a few seconds to load.)
Government employees and politicians get special status from TSA: Meanwhile, everyone else is stuck in an “aviation security caste system” based on dozens of watchlists compiled by the TSA, FBI and other law enforcement agencies, along with a secret formula the TSA believes can sort passengers based on hypothetical analyses and conjecture.
The Beatles Never Broke Up...
Listen to a couple of the songs and see if you don't want to believe, too. The title of #11 is enough to sell me.
Link via Neatorama.
The Five-Two: John David Muth
ANOTHER SHOOTING
March Hastings, The Outcasts, Midwood, 1961
I'm happy to have a story included in this volume.
Noir Riot: Presented by NoirCon and Out of the Gutter (Volume 1): Jeff Wong and Lou Boxer, Cullen Gallagher, Ken Bruen, Bill Crider, Richard Godwin, Paul Krueger, BV Lawson, Suzanne Lummis, James Campbell, Joseph Goodrich: 9780692296608: Amazon.com: Books: NoirCon and Out of the Gutter bring you 23 thrilling, unrestrained stories and poems of 21st century desperation and destitution. These tales are sure to shake you out of your complacency, warp your mind and remind you that you, too, are doomed. No one is safe from the Noir Riot! Authors include Ken Bruen, James Campbell, Bill Crider, Thomas A. Crowell, Richard Godwin and many more! Sometimes funny, sometimes terrifying, Noir Riot is the companion to, and official publication of, Noir Con, the premier East Coast crime fiction conference.
A DEAD RED HEART (The Dead Red Mystery series Book 2) - Kindle edition by RP Dahlke. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.: What would you do if the love of your life lost their chance at a heart transplant because the donor organ went to a convicted felon? Grieve and let go--or wait until the convict is released and then hunt him down and make him pay?
