QUICK (A Hunter Kincaid Novel Book 1) - Kindle edition by Billy Kring. Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com. A sadistic killer roams the shadow world of undocumented aliens, and the first glimpse law enforcement has of him is when tough, dedicated female Border Patrol Agent Hunter Kincaid watches through binoculars as the killer shoots his own partner for being too slow, then crosses the Rio Grande into Mexico.
Two thousand miles away, South Florida Homicide Detectives John Quick and Randall Ishtee investigate the machete murder of an undocumented female, and a slender thread of evidence stretches all the way to West Texas.
John and Randall join forces with Hunter to track down the monster. What they don't know is that the killer is aware, and his focus is now on them, like a Great White as it speeds toward three unsuspecting swimmers.
LA Times: Harold Battiste, the New Orleans-born composer, producer, arranger and musician who put his distinctive stamp on the city's music for several decades, died Friday after a lengthy illness, his son Harlis said. He was 83.
I quit reading two articles today because I decided that if the writers couldn't write with precision, then what they had to say wasn't worth reading. I stopped reading one article when I came to a bit of wisdom about what "the Muslim hoards did when they invaded Spain." If the writer doesn't even know that a hoard is different from a horde, why should I give him my attention? And then I saw this: "While locked in a cell, the man's lawyers petitioned for his release." Possibly this sentence really means what it says, but I doubt it. At any rate, I didn't read any further to find out. I'm a snob.
People.com: Actor Dick Van Patten, perhaps best known as patriarch Tom Bradford on the '80s series Eight Is Enough, has died. He was 86.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Alexander Eliot, Proud Youth, Signet, 1955
The New York Times: Laura Antonelli, who by her own account was an “ugly, clumsy” teenager before transforming herself into one of Italy’s leading and most seductive film actresses, died on Monday at her seaside home in Ladispoli, west of Rome. She was 73.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
AOL.com: Celebrated composer James Horner, best known for his Oscar-winning score for Titanic, died in a tragic plane crash on Monday. Horner was 61.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
I've enjoyed quite a few movies with Charles Bronson, James Coburn, and Strother Martin in them. This is my favorite of all the Bronson movies I've seen, and Coburn and Martin were never better.
It's the Great Depression, and Chaney (Bronson) drifts into New Orleans. To get a bit of money he enters a bare-knuckle fighting contest, bets on himself, and wins. Speed (Coburn), who's running the competition and who also needs money, hooks up with Chaney as his manager. Martin, an opium addict, is the cut man.
You pretty much know where this is going, with a big bout coming at the end, but there are some twists along the way, and the plot doesn't really matter so much, or it didn't to me, although it's very satisfying. It's the performances that make the movie, though, and that atmosphere. You can almost believe the scenes were shot during the Depression if you overlook the window-unit air-conditioners covered with canvas in some of the buildings.
Jill Ireland is around to provide a bit of romance for Chaney, but in the end Chaney is true to himself and Coburn gets a great closing line. I can't believe it's been 40 years since this movie came out. Yikes. If you haven't seen it, check it out.
Jay de Bekker, Keyhole Peeper, Beacon, 1955
Flavorwire: 25 Great Literary Series to Replace Your TV Habit This Summer
How the West Was Written: Glossary - Kindle edition by Ron Scheer, Richard S. Wheeler. Reference Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com. Here's my back-cover blurb. “How the West Was Written is an essential volume for anyone interested in the history of the American west, particularly writers, historians, and those interested in language. Richard Wheeler provides an excellent introduction.”
The New York Times: James Salter, whose intimately detailed novels and short stories kept a small but devoted audience in his thrall for more than half a century, died on Friday in Sag Harbor, N.Y. He was 90.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
AbeBooks: 50 Essential Travel Books: A good author should always suffer for his or her art. Well, the best travel writers suffer more than most, so perhaps that’s why their books are so memorable.� A journey without problems is a dull one and this selection of essential travel writing details obstacles like a boat sinking in 60 seconds in the middle of the ocean and a country on the brink of civil war. When a book is called In the Land of White Death then you know the author faced more problems than missing a bus.
Robert Payne, Blood Royal, Popular Library, 1954
Father’s Day - Holidays - HISTORY.com: On July 19, 1910, the governor of the U.S. state of Washington proclaimed the nation’s first “Father’s Day.” However, it was not until 1972, 58 years after President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day official, that the day became a nationwide holiday in the United States.
