The Perfect Coed (Oak Grove Mysteries Book 1) - Kindle edition by Judy Alter. Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.: Susan Hogan is smart, pretty—and prickly. There was no other word for it. She is prickly with Jake Phillips and her Aunt Jenny, the two people who love her most in the world. And she is prickly and impatient with some of her academic colleagues and the petty jealousies in the English department at Oak Grove University. When a coed’s body is found in her car and she is suspected of murder, Susan gets even more defensive.
But when someone begins to stalk and threaten her—trying to run her down, killing the plants on her deck, causing a moped wreck that breaks her ankle—prickly mixes with fear. Susan decides she has to find the killer to save her reputation—and her life. What she suspects she’s found on a quiet campus in Texas is so bizarre Jake doesn’t believe her. Until she’s almost killed.
The death of one coed unravels a tale of greed, lust, and obsession.
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Free for Kindle for One Day Only
The Perfect Coed (Oak Grove Mysteries Book 1) - Kindle edition by Judy Alter. Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.: Susan Hogan is smart, pretty—and prickly. There was no other word for it. She is prickly with Jake Phillips and her Aunt Jenny, the two people who love her most in the world. And she is prickly and impatient with some of her academic colleagues and the petty jealousies in the English department at Oak Grove University. When a coed’s body is found in her car and she is suspected of murder, Susan gets even more defensive.
But when someone begins to stalk and threaten her—trying to run her down, killing the plants on her deck, causing a moped wreck that breaks her ankle—prickly mixes with fear. Susan decides she has to find the killer to save her reputation—and her life. What she suspects she’s found on a quiet campus in Texas is so bizarre Jake doesn’t believe her. Until she’s almost killed.
The death of one coed unravels a tale of greed, lust, and obsession.
A Short History of The Gunsmith & an Update -- Robert J. Randisi
OUR MAN CLINT
The Gunsmith Continues
By Robert J. Randisi, aka J.R. Roberts
It was a bloodbath, probably fitting, given how long adult westerns and men's adventure paperbacks have been spilling blood within their pages. But in one fell swoop publishers, with seeming disregard for the readers—or the readers that were left, anyway—cancelled all the Adult Western series—notably the long running Longarm and Gunsmith series—and mens adventure series—most notably, the Mack Bolan series. This move, as of April of 2015, will not only rob loyal readers of the adventures of Custis Longarm and Mack Bolan, but will also put entire stables of writers out of work. Both series, along with many others, were written by multiple writers, having supplied work for many working writers for a good 40 years. In fact, the Adult Western genre not only invigorated the western genre and kept it alive, but provided income for dozens of writers over the years. And now it’s the end of an era for all of them . . .
. . . except The Gunsmith.
Why?
Very simple answer. For the most part, the Gunsmith was created and written by one man. When Charter Books contacted me in 1981 and asked me if I could create an Adult Western series for them, I jumped at the chance. I created a bible and, when it was approved, signed a two book contract. Then a contract for a third. And then they called me and said they wanted to go into the genre whole-heartedly, and could I write a book a month. I was 30 years old, had no idea if I could write a book a month, but I said “Yes!”
I started writing under the pseudonym J.R. Roberts. When I attended my first Western convention I discovered what anomaly the Gunsmith and I were. There were several other monthly adult westerns running at the time, and they were being written by three or four writers under a single house name. A “house name” is a name used by many authors on one series. My “J.R. Roberts” nom de-plume was a pseudonym used by one person, not a house name. (It was only after Berkley Books purchased Charter Books and wanted to keep the Gunsmith going that they asked if they could hire two more writers, just to build up an inventory. The writers were to be approved by me, and I was to own even those books which I did not write, and receive a royalty. It made me even more of an anomaly in the genre. Once we had built up a one year inventory, I went back to writing all the books.).
And I have done so since then, for over 32 years. Gunsmith #1: Macklin’s Women came out in January of 1982, and there has been a Gunsmith every month since then. Berkley Books decided to end of the run in April of 2015 with #399, and I was given enough warning so that I was able to place the series elsewhere and assure that Gunsmith #400 would appear in May of 2015, with no break in the action. They will appear with a new cover design in ebook for from Piccadilly Publishing, and in paperback from Western Trailblazers. And Our Man Clint will go on appearing in a book a month for as long as my flying fingers can flex.
So to those loyal Gunsmith readers who pick up up each and every month, you may continue to do so, with heartfelt thanks from me, and from Our Man Clint Adams.
I should also thank Charter Books, where it all started, and then Berkley Books, which has kept the series going all these years, as we all move on to the next bend in the road.
The Gunsmith Continues
By Robert J. Randisi, aka J.R. Roberts
It was a bloodbath, probably fitting, given how long adult westerns and men's adventure paperbacks have been spilling blood within their pages. But in one fell swoop publishers, with seeming disregard for the readers—or the readers that were left, anyway—cancelled all the Adult Western series—notably the long running Longarm and Gunsmith series—and mens adventure series—most notably, the Mack Bolan series. This move, as of April of 2015, will not only rob loyal readers of the adventures of Custis Longarm and Mack Bolan, but will also put entire stables of writers out of work. Both series, along with many others, were written by multiple writers, having supplied work for many working writers for a good 40 years. In fact, the Adult Western genre not only invigorated the western genre and kept it alive, but provided income for dozens of writers over the years. And now it’s the end of an era for all of them . . .
. . . except The Gunsmith.
Why?
Very simple answer. For the most part, the Gunsmith was created and written by one man. When Charter Books contacted me in 1981 and asked me if I could create an Adult Western series for them, I jumped at the chance. I created a bible and, when it was approved, signed a two book contract. Then a contract for a third. And then they called me and said they wanted to go into the genre whole-heartedly, and could I write a book a month. I was 30 years old, had no idea if I could write a book a month, but I said “Yes!”
I started writing under the pseudonym J.R. Roberts. When I attended my first Western convention I discovered what anomaly the Gunsmith and I were. There were several other monthly adult westerns running at the time, and they were being written by three or four writers under a single house name. A “house name” is a name used by many authors on one series. My “J.R. Roberts” nom de-plume was a pseudonym used by one person, not a house name. (It was only after Berkley Books purchased Charter Books and wanted to keep the Gunsmith going that they asked if they could hire two more writers, just to build up an inventory. The writers were to be approved by me, and I was to own even those books which I did not write, and receive a royalty. It made me even more of an anomaly in the genre. Once we had built up a one year inventory, I went back to writing all the books.).
And I have done so since then, for over 32 years. Gunsmith #1: Macklin’s Women came out in January of 1982, and there has been a Gunsmith every month since then. Berkley Books decided to end of the run in April of 2015 with #399, and I was given enough warning so that I was able to place the series elsewhere and assure that Gunsmith #400 would appear in May of 2015, with no break in the action. They will appear with a new cover design in ebook for from Piccadilly Publishing, and in paperback from Western Trailblazers. And Our Man Clint will go on appearing in a book a month for as long as my flying fingers can flex.
So to those loyal Gunsmith readers who pick up up each and every month, you may continue to do so, with heartfelt thanks from me, and from Our Man Clint Adams.I should also thank Charter Books, where it all started, and then Berkley Books, which has kept the series going all these years, as we all move on to the next bend in the road.
Literature from Librarians: Great Reads Written by the Experts
Literature from Librarians: Great Reads Written by the Experts: This is a unique reading list - these books were all written by librarians and most of them were recommended to us by librarians. If any profession is well qualified to write books then librarians truly fit the bill.
Friday, February 27, 2015
Leonard Nimoy, R. I. P.
Leonard Nimoy, RIP: American actor Leonard Nimoy, best remembered for playing Spock on Star Trek, died today at the age of 83. He passed away in his home in Los Angeles as a result of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Sleep Tight and Don't Let the Mutant Monsters Bite
TIME: The hotel, which opens in April in Tokyo’s buzzing Shinjuku district, promises a monstrous good time for fans of the big lizard. The 30-story hotel will feature two Godzilla-themed rooms, one of which requires the hotel to construct an enormous Godzilla head on the roof of the Toho Cinema, which sits on the ground floor of the hotel tower. The gigantic mutant lizard head will peek into the window of one of the rooms, promising that your slumber will be under the ‘zilla’s never-sleeping eyes.
Strangers on a Beach: The Origins of Tom Ripley
Strangers on a Beach: The Origins of Tom Ripley: Patricia Highsmith's most memorable supervillain was inspired by a chance encounter. But how fictional was he really?
Golden Wedding Day
FFB: Dream Lovers -- Dodd Darin
This is a repeat from October 26, 2004.
Because I was an adolescent in the late 1950s, Bobby Darin was a guy I sort of grew up with. Not that I ever met him. I watched him on American Bandstand when “Splish Splash” came out, and I remember that he and Buddy Holly both had hits with “Early in the Morning” (Darin was singing under the name of the “Rinky Dinks” for that one, but everybody knew it was him). I remember when “Mack the Knife”hit the air, and I realized that Darin could be Frank Sinatra if he wanted to, and I remember his folk phase with “If I Were a Carpenter” and “Long Line Rider.” Then he had a TV series. And then he was dead.
I knew all that, but I didn’t know much else. When I read that Kevin Spacey was making a movie based on Darin’s life, I was interested, and when I saw a copy of Dream Lovers by Dodd Darin, Bobby’s son, at Half Price Books for a couple of books I picked it up. It’s a fascinating
story.
I’d heard that Darin was “brash,” but he was more than that. He was a terribly obnoxious egotist, but he was also a guy who had many loyal friends. And he was smooth with the chicks. Possibly my favorite story in the book involves is relationship with Connie Francis. I didn’t know he even had a relationship with her, but apparently two of them were very much in love, or Darin was as much in love with her as he could be with anybody. Here’s the story: “While he was seeing Connie, [Bobby] was having sexual relations with other women. Bobby told her that he had to have sex to keep his skin clear, and Connie not only believed him but has said that she was not threatened by these other girls.” Now that’s a convincing guy. Either that or Connie was remarkably naive.
While I knew about Darin’s career, I didn’t know much about Sandra Dee. I’d seen her in the movies (Gidget!), and I knew that she and Darin had married, but that was about all. She just dropped out of sight during the late 1960s and never showed up on my radar again. Little did I know what a mess her life has been. I guess that cutie-pie screen image fooled me. You’d think I’d know better. The book was published in 1994, and at that time she was still in the grip of alcoholism and anorexia. I don’t know how she’s doing now, but I’d like to think that she was recovering. She’s three years younger than I am, which is a scary thought for me. I don’t know exactly why, though.
Dream Lovers is a pretty melancholy book, all in all. I’m sure that writing it was therapy for Dodd Darin, and it’s not a happy story. Bobby Darin went became a big star, and then he went from the penthouse to the outhouse before staging a hugely successful comeback. But he died before the comeback was complete, apparently through his own carelessness, or something. He’d had a heart condition since a childhood bout with rheumatic fever, and he was having serious problems . So there’s no real explanation for this: “He went to the dentist to have his teeth cleaned. Heart patients are supposed to take antibiotics when having dental work done, as a preventive against bacteria invading the bloodstream. . . . For reasons known only to [Darin], he didn’t take the antibiotics.” And septicemia killed him not long afterward.
For a guy who’s Bobby Darin’s son, Dodd Darin at times has a shaky grasp of music history. He says at one point, “The Stones followed the Beatles, then came the Beach Boys . . . .” Having been around during those days, I know full well that the Beach Boys were selling hit records years before Beatles came along. Don’t let a little thing like that bother you if you’d like to know more about Bobby Darin, though. It’s a fascinating, if depressing, story.
Because I was an adolescent in the late 1950s, Bobby Darin was a guy I sort of grew up with. Not that I ever met him. I watched him on American Bandstand when “Splish Splash” came out, and I remember that he and Buddy Holly both had hits with “Early in the Morning” (Darin was singing under the name of the “Rinky Dinks” for that one, but everybody knew it was him). I remember when “Mack the Knife”hit the air, and I realized that Darin could be Frank Sinatra if he wanted to, and I remember his folk phase with “If I Were a Carpenter” and “Long Line Rider.” Then he had a TV series. And then he was dead.
I knew all that, but I didn’t know much else. When I read that Kevin Spacey was making a movie based on Darin’s life, I was interested, and when I saw a copy of Dream Lovers by Dodd Darin, Bobby’s son, at Half Price Books for a couple of books I picked it up. It’s a fascinating
story.
I’d heard that Darin was “brash,” but he was more than that. He was a terribly obnoxious egotist, but he was also a guy who had many loyal friends. And he was smooth with the chicks. Possibly my favorite story in the book involves is relationship with Connie Francis. I didn’t know he even had a relationship with her, but apparently two of them were very much in love, or Darin was as much in love with her as he could be with anybody. Here’s the story: “While he was seeing Connie, [Bobby] was having sexual relations with other women. Bobby told her that he had to have sex to keep his skin clear, and Connie not only believed him but has said that she was not threatened by these other girls.” Now that’s a convincing guy. Either that or Connie was remarkably naive.
While I knew about Darin’s career, I didn’t know much about Sandra Dee. I’d seen her in the movies (Gidget!), and I knew that she and Darin had married, but that was about all. She just dropped out of sight during the late 1960s and never showed up on my radar again. Little did I know what a mess her life has been. I guess that cutie-pie screen image fooled me. You’d think I’d know better. The book was published in 1994, and at that time she was still in the grip of alcoholism and anorexia. I don’t know how she’s doing now, but I’d like to think that she was recovering. She’s three years younger than I am, which is a scary thought for me. I don’t know exactly why, though.
Dream Lovers is a pretty melancholy book, all in all. I’m sure that writing it was therapy for Dodd Darin, and it’s not a happy story. Bobby Darin went became a big star, and then he went from the penthouse to the outhouse before staging a hugely successful comeback. But he died before the comeback was complete, apparently through his own carelessness, or something. He’d had a heart condition since a childhood bout with rheumatic fever, and he was having serious problems . So there’s no real explanation for this: “He went to the dentist to have his teeth cleaned. Heart patients are supposed to take antibiotics when having dental work done, as a preventive against bacteria invading the bloodstream. . . . For reasons known only to [Darin], he didn’t take the antibiotics.” And septicemia killed him not long afterward.
For a guy who’s Bobby Darin’s son, Dodd Darin at times has a shaky grasp of music history. He says at one point, “The Stones followed the Beatles, then came the Beach Boys . . . .” Having been around during those days, I know full well that the Beach Boys were selling hit records years before Beatles came along. Don’t let a little thing like that bother you if you’d like to know more about Bobby Darin, though. It’s a fascinating, if depressing, story.
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Bitter Water Blues -- Patrick Shawn Bagley
Bitter Water Blues is Patrick Shawn Bagley's first novel, and it's a good one. The basic situation's a familiar one: a cold-blooded hit man decides it's time for him to get out of the killing racket, and he does. But of course it's never that easy. Just when you think you're out, they pull you back in. But while the situation's familiar, several things make Bagley's book stand out. The writing is topnotch, the setting is different, and the characters are all engaging. The setting, for the most part, is a small town in Maine. You don't see a lot of hit man books set in small towns, and Bagley does the local color very well, indeed. Joey, the hit man, is a more complicated character than it might first appear, and the cops in the small town, particularly one named Wanda, have depths you might not be expecting. The plot involves a McGuffin and has a nice twist or two, but it's really the characters that matter here, the characters and what happens to them. I don't want to say too much about that, other than that the book has a touch of noir. That being said, the ending isn't entirely dark. Check this one out. You can thank me later.
Review Copies Available
Croc Update (Chockablock Edition)
Chockablock with crocs: Seven species rocked ancient Amazon: That is what life was like in the lush Peruvian Amazon basin 13 million years ago. It featured Earth's all-time croc bloc: the most crocodilian species dwelling in the same place and time in our planet's history, scientists said on Tuesday.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
The Silkworm -- Robert Galbraith (J. K. Rowling)
Cormoran Strike, private-eye, is back for his second fictional adventure, and this time it involves a particularly bizarre murder in which an author, Owen Quine, is disemboweled. His acid-drenched body is then posed on a dinner table, surrounded by place settings for seven. This happens to duplicate the final scene in the manuscript of what is purportedly Quine's latest novel, Bombix Mori (translation: The Silkworm). Galbraith/Rowling has a lot of unseemly fun in this book writing and making nasty comments about authors (both self- and traditionally published), agents, books, and the publishing world. That kind of thing is irresistible to me, so I enjoyed reading the book. But be warned. It's 450 pages long, and it's the kind of case that Strike solves on about page 365, with the rest of the book being taken up with his complicated maneuvers to get some proof to back up his theory and then with his lengthy explanation of everything. The reader is kept in the dark about most of what's going on, of course, until the end.
A couple of words about the writing. People who object to point-of-view hopping are going to be driving nuts by this one, since the sometimes PoV changes not just on one page but sometimes from one paragraph to the next. It doesn't happen all the time, just often enough for me to notice. The thing is, as I might have said before, I'm not really bothered by it. Others, I know, are. I mentioned that the book was long, so people who don't like a lot of description and rumination should look elsewhere for their fun. As for me, I liked it all well enough to consider reading another in the series especially if, as in this case, someone drops by with the book and hands it to me.
There's Still Time to Sign Up
Insect Fear Film Festival: The 32nd Annual Insect Fear Film Festival will be held on Saturday, February 28, 2015 at 6:00 pm in Foellinger Auditorium (UIUC Campus). Admission is free. In addition to the films, there will be the traditional IFFF activities, including face painting, the insect petting zoo, and Bugscope.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Here's the Plot for Your Next ATM Heist Comedy
Cops can’t catch gang that’s stolen 73 ATMs: A group of five increasingly brazen ATM bandits has dodged police for more than a year while pulling off 73 heists across the city and netting hundreds of thousands of dollars, The Post has learned.
Launch Day!
Li'l Tom and the Pussyfoot Detective Bureau: The Case of the Parrots Desaparecidos - Kindle edition by Angela Crider Neary. Children Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.: Someone is stealing the parrots of Telegraph Hill! San Francisco is plagued with a rash of exotic birdnappings, and it's up to Li'l Tom and Lola of the Pussyfoot Detective Bureau to track down the culprits and put an end to this sinister scheme. With the help of a motley crew of cats, one rat, and a dog, they'll venture into the dangerous back alleys of Chinatown to rescue the brilliantly plumaged captives! LI'L TOM AND THE PUSSYFOOT DETECTIVE BUREAU: THE CASE OF THE PARROTS DESAPARECIDOS is a whimsical, all-ages mystery featuring a pair of charming feline detectives. Packed with action, humor, colorful characters, and vivid settings, it's a delightful reading experience for young and old!
The link above is to the Kindle edition. Here's a link to the paperback if you prefer a "real" book.
If you'd like to review the book on Amazon or on a blog or both, e-mail me (macavityabc [at] gmail.com) and I'll send the first five people who do a code for an e-copy at Smashwords.
Overlooked Movies: Here Comes Mr. Jordan
I like Warren Beatty's remake of this movie (Heaven Can Wait) a lot, but I also like the original a lot. It's a pretty well-known film, but have any of you seen it lately? Or seen it at all? Robert Montgomery is Joe Pendleton, who's supposedly died in a plane crash, except that he hasn't, and rookie messenger 7013 (Edward Everett Horton) has picked him up to put him on a fast plane to heaven. It's up to Mr. Jordan (Claude Raines) to straighten out this blunder when it's discovered that Joe can't return to his body because it's been cremated.
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(Okay, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking (1) that heaven shouldn't make mistakes like that and (2) that a little thing like cremation shouldn't be a problem for the Big Guy. Just go with the flow and don't let this stuff bother you. There's another mistake coming right up.)
What Mr. Jordan has to do is find Joe a new body. Joe's very particular, but he finally settles for the body of a millionaire named Farnsworth, who's just been murdered by his wife and secretary. Joe's a prizefighter, and after he wreaks havoc with Farnsworth's crooked business dealings, he starts training Farnsworth's body and getting his old manager to set up a championship bout for him. He's hardly had time to get back in the pink when he learns about that other mistake I mentioned. Farnsworth is going to die again. There's no way around it; it's his destiny. Joe will have to get into another body.
This time Joe gets the champion boxer's body. Not a bad deal, but all of this is complicated by the fact that Joe's fallen in love with Bette Logan (Evelyn Keyes). Will things work out? Hey, this is the 1940s, not the cynical 21st century. No wonder I miss the old days.
I really like this movie. The performances are wonderful right down the line, and both Montgomery and James Gleason (who plays his manager) were nominated for Academy Awards. The sound is great, and even my old ears can understand every single spoken word. The B&W photography looks really good. Again, it's no wonder I miss the old days. See this movie, and you might, too.
Monday, February 23, 2015
Deal of the Day
WeBundle.It: There are three deals. Click on "Thrills and Intrigue" for this one: 8 Thriller & Intrigue Novels - Irving Wallace, Allen Drury, James Dalessandro, William Bayer, Thomas Sullivan, John Farris, Stacy Childs and Philip Ross! Pay what you want.
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Winter in Texas
In case you were wondering, the temperature at my house is 80 degrees right now. The high tomorrow is supposed to be 45 degrees. And that's what winter is like in Texas.
Clark Terry, R. I. P.
Rolling Stone: Trumpeter Clark Terry, a jazz legend who in his seven decades as a musician and bandleader collaborated with artists ranging from Quincy Jones and Duke Ellington to Charles Mingus and Count Basie, passed away Saturday following complications from a long battle with diabetes. He was 94. For his contributions to jazz music, Terry was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Strongest Material Known to Man Discovered
The Washington Post: It’s as strong as steel and tough as a bulletproof vest, capable of withstanding the same amount of pressure it takes to turn carbon into a diamond. Scientists have discovered nature’s newest strongest material, and it comes from … a sea snail.
Graeme Flanagan, R. I. P.
Graeme Flanagan was the only Australian member of DAPA-Em, the world's only amateur press association devoted to crime and mystery fiction. He was an expert on Australian paperbacks and their history, and he was also an expert on American blues music and singers, having taught courses in them in Australia. He was, as his son said in a tribute posted to Facebook, "a bloody good bloke."
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