Croc Update (Thrill-Seekers Edition)

Thrill-seekers snap up new Aussie dare - croc swim: "DARWIN - Swimming face-to-face with a massive saltwater crocodile might not be everyone's idea of fun but thrill-seekers are snapping up northern Australia's new tourist attraction.

Tourists who want to get cozy with a crocodile climb into a clear acrylic cage, dubbed 'the cage of death,' which is about 145 mm (5.7 inches) thick and 2.8 meters (9.2 feet) high, wearing just a pair of swimming goggles and a swimsuit."

Gator Update (Traffic Stop Edition)

KTRE.com Lufkin and Nacogdoches |Alligator Stops Traffic on Hwy 59: "Diboll (KTRE) - Texas motorists are used to seeing all kinds of road kill, but this morning was a different story.

Motorists traveling Highway 59 south of Diboll got a big surprise when they saw a huge alligator on the side of the road in front of a rest stop.

Some drivers headed north of 59 had to make a U-turn to go back to make sure their eyes weren't playing tricks on them. Others headed south on 59 stopped to see what the commotion was all about. People whipped out their cell phones making calls and taking pictures. This was a gator tale that was sure to get bigger and bigger as the day went on."

Top 10 Irritating Phrases

Oxford compiles list of top ten irritating phrases - Telegraph: "Heading the list was the expression 'at the end of the day', which was followed in second place by the phrase 'fairly unique'.

The tautological statement 'I personally' made third place – an expression that BBC Radio 4 presenter John Humphreys has described as 'the linguistic equivalent of having chips with rice.'

Also making the top 10 is the grammatically incorrect 'shouldn't of', instead of 'shouldn't have'."

Thanks to Art Scott for the link.

Night of Thunder -- Stephen Hunter

Having recovered from his adventures in Japan, Bob Lee Swagger is doing so well that he knows something bad is going to happen. Sure enough, his older daughter, a reporter in Bristol, Tennessee/Kentucky, is the target of a hired killer who calls himself Sinnerman and who specializes in killing by auto. She survives the accident, but she's in a coma. You don't mess with Bob Lee's daughter and get off lightly. Bob Lee goes to Bristol, where everybody underestimates him. They think he's just some hapless gray-haired old goober. Boy, are they wrong.

This book is Stephen Hunter's love song to NASCAR. Lots of car stuff along with the usual ton and a half of gun stuff. Hunter, what with his having been a movie critic for so long, must just naturally think visual terms. The climactic firefight in the novel is definitely made for the big screen. He even casts the movie: Clint Eastwood as Bob Lee, Kevin Costner (the evil one) as the Sinnerman, Tommy Lee Jones as Papa Grumley.

This book is a far cry from Point of Impact, the first one with Bob Lee. It's not just that Swagger is older. It's a whole different thing, so far over the top that it's hard to suspend disbelief. It's also comic. The Grumleys might be a criminal clan, murderous and deadly, but they're also funny, especially Papa. Hunter appears to be trying to conceal the identity of "the boss" behind the goings-on, but anybody who's read a single thriller or mystery novel will have it figured out almost instantly. There are some "surprise" developments that come pretty much out of left field, so obvious that they seem like last-minute additions.

Fans of Hunter and Bob Lee Swagger probably won't be disappointed in the book, but, as I said, it's a far cry from Point of Impact.

Outside

This squirrel was really upset with something in my front yard. I went outside to have a look, and he wasn't too pleased about that, either. While he fussed at me, I snapped his picture.

Planet of Dinosaurs

Where We Are

Fort Worth, Texas, that's where, staying with some friends while getting ready for tonight's gig at the Fort Worth library. Posting will be light for the next couple of days, but if all goes as planned, there should be at least some book reviews and the usual movie clips. I won't be able to respond to comments or e-mail for a while, but I'll get around to that when I get back to Alvin on Sunday.

Gun Work -- David J. Schow

This latest Hard Case Crime volume is a bit longer than usual 249 pages. I liked it anyway. It has guns, firefights, and (I'm not making this up) Mexican wrestlers. I'll bet that can't be said of the last few books you've read. Having said that, I need to warn you that just about everything else in these comments is a spoiler.

Barney is a guy who's good with guns, somebody people call on when they have trouble. His old buddy Carl call for help when his wife, Erica, is kidnapped in Mexico. Barney agrees to help out. He goes to Mexico, he and Carl get the ransom money, and make the drop. Things (don't they always?) go wrong, but in this case they go really wrong, and Barney learns that everything he'd seen and heard was a lie.

He learns this too late, of course, and he finds himself in a sort of kidnap hotel, where he's tortured for many, many pages. He gets out of it eventually, but minus his trigger fingers on both hands. After a period of recovery, surgery (look carefully at the cover illustration), and more recovery, he puts together a team and goes out for revenge. Lots of people die, and Barney learns that once again, he's been wrong about nearly everything. When he finally meets Erica, she turns out to be real piece of work.

Okay, that's it for the spoilers. I saw this as sort of a Gold Medal novel on speed. Hardboiled, fast-moving (except for the middle part), and well written. Check it out.

Forgotten Books: CROCKETT ON THE LOOSE -- Brad Lang

Fred Crockett appeared in only three books, of which this was the first. The publisher was Leisure Books, not the top of the line, which might explain why hardly anyone remembers Crockett: "He's young, hip, long-haired -- a private detective." Very '70s. I mean, look at the cover.

But you know what? It's a fine series of books. I liked every one of them (Brand of Fear and The Perdition Express are the other two). this one's about a missing daughter. You know how that goes. It's never really about a missing daughter, and as the back cover says, you get to follow Crockett through "the sleazy massage parlors, topless bars, and narcotic hideouts of the midwestern college town" where he lives and works. Not to mention you'll run across the funniest torture scene around, not that there's a lot of competition.

Brad Lang doesn't write P. I. novels these days, but he has some cool websites, including Hardboiled Heaven and Classic Movies. I highly recommend you check those out, and if you run across any of the Fred Crockett books, give 'em a try. Maybe you'll like them as much as I did.

Update:  Check out this material on Steve Lewis's Mystery*File.

The People that Time Forgot

Top Ten Paperback Writers

Lawrence McKenna, a reader of the blog, asked me about some of my favorite writers and books. I couldn't really answer his question, but I thought I might try a list of my Top Ten Paperback Writers. My list would have some guys who started out in paperback and later went on to hardcovers, but I consider them paperbackers nevertheless. So here goes, in no particular order (and, yes, I can count; I just couldn't keep it to ten):

Jim Thompson
Harry Whittington
Day Keene
Donald Hamilton
David Goodis
John D. MacDonald
Charles Williams
Richard Stark (aka Donald Westlake)
Lawrence Block
Dan J. Marlowe
Peter Rabe

5 Movies Ruined by Last-Minute Changes

You can find them here.

Michael Chabon's 12 Favorite Works of Adventure Fiction

DRIN - Del Rey Internet Newsletter: "What earlier tales of adventure inspired Michael Chabon? Del Rey asked him to recommend a few, and thus was created:
THE DASHING DOZEN
Chabon's 12 Favorite Works of Adventure Fiction"

A good list. You can f ind it at the link, which comes via Marshal Zeringue's Campaign for the American Reader.

I, for One, Welcome Our New Robot Master Flautists

The flawless flautist: The musical robot that plays Flight Of The Bumblebee perfectly | Mail Online: "Classical musicians could have good reason to be worried as scientists have developed a musical robot that makes no mistakes.

Waseda University’s robotic flautist can play the challenging musical score of the ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’ almost flawlessly.

And the robot has been designed with a human-like quality that allows it to engage with the audience, making in a contender for concert performances."

The Land that Time Forgot

The Space Alien Weeps

ALIEN WEEPS FOR MCCAIN LOSS�|�Weekly World News: "The Alien, well known for correctly endorsing every presidential winner since 1980, is in shock over his first losing endorsement."

Photo at link.

Jesse Stone Update

Sounds like this one's not based on a published novel. Probably the novel's already written, though.

Sixth 'Jesse Stone' in works: "CBS has greenlighted a sixth installment in its 'Jesse Stone' movie franchise, starring Tom Selleck as a small-town police chief.

The movie has gone into production in Halifax, Nova Scotia, ahead of the premiere of the fifth movie in the franchise from Sony Pictures TV. Airdates for both are yet to be determined.

'Jesse Stone: No Remorse' will find Jesse (Selleck), having been suspended by the local town council, moonlighting for his friend, State Homicide Commander Healy (Stephen McHattie), by investigating a series of murders in Boston."

Michael Crichton, R. I. P.

Very sorry to hear this. I very much enjoyed Crichton's early novels under his own and other names.

Thanks to Todd Mason for the tip.

Best-Selling Author Michael Crichton Dies, "Jurassic Park" Author And "ER" Creator Succumbs To Cancer. He Was 66. - CBS News: "(CBS) Best-selling author and filmaker Michael Crichton died unexpectedly in Los Angeles Tuesday, after a courageous and private battle against cancer, according to a statement released by his family. He was 66.

Crichton is best known as the author of 'Jurassic Park' and the creator of 'ER.' His most recent novel, 'Next,' about genetics and law, was published in December 2006."

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

iWon News - Determined Texas woman, 92, votes in ambulance: "SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Betty Owen is 92 and after a stroke four years ago, needs a feeding tube and can't walk. But she was determined not to miss Tuesday's election. She arrived at her polling place on a gurney in an ambulance, where an election judge and support worker climbed aboard with an electronic voting machine and let her cast her ballot."

Thanks to Jeff Meyerson for the link.

The Little Professor Reviews the Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 2008

Click here.