This is the third omnibus edition of Al Wheeler mysteries, Numbers 7-9, that Stark House has published. Like the previous volumes (you can read my reviews here and here), these novels come from the mid-1950s when Alan Geoffrey Yates (aka, “carter brown”) was churning out mystery novels for his Australian publisher, Horwitz, on a monthly basis. A couple years later, the Al Wheeler books migrated to a U.S. publisher.

The seventh Al Wheeler mystery, No Law Against Angels(1957; revised U.S. edition, The Body, Signet 1958), involves Wheeler in the murders of two young girls with snake tattoos. The snake tattoos are required by the largest call-girl ring on the West Coast. Wheeler confronts a millionaire who wants to build a casino and almost dies as a result of the encounter. Later, a murderous meeting in a funeral home brings Wheeler to the brink of death again. No Law Against Angels delivers more than the average quota of dead bodies and plot surprises for a Carter Brown novel. GRADE: A-

Doll For the Big House (1957; revised U.S. edition, The Bombshell, Signet 1960), starts out with Al Wheeler searching for a missing rich girl and leading to a number of deaths as Al Wheeler works outside the Police bureaucracy to expose a massive corruption scheme. GRADE: B+

Chorine Makes a Killing (1957) features a change of pace when Al Wheeler leaves the Police Department to work for the law firm of Hammond, Irvine, and Snooks. Wheeler has to clear one of their clients from a murder charge. In exchange, Wheeler will get a new sports car. With his usual unorthodox tactics, Al Wheeler peels back all the lies and deceptions to get to the root of the crime. GRADE: B

These early Al Wheeler mysteries crackle with humor and violence and clever plots. And, like potato chips, you just can’t stop at one!

Tom Holland returns as teenager Peter Parker (aka, Spider-Man) in this 23rd movie set in the MARVEL Universe. Dealing with the aftermath of the events in THE AVENGERS: ENDGAME, Peter Park needs to get away and reflect on events. A class trip to Europe seems to provide the perfect solution. Also, Peter is interested in M.J. (Zendaya), but another student, Brad Davis (Remy His) competes for M.J.’s affection.

Of course, this wouldn’t be a MARVEL movie without some cool battle scenes with Bad Guys–in this case powerful Elementals. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Quintin Beck (aka, Mysterio), who is more than he appears to be. Samuel L. Jackson returns as Nick Fury to complicate Spider-Man’s life. If you’re looking for a fun Summer movie, Spider-Man: Far From Home is your ticket to action-movie entertainment! GRADE: A-

Director Ron Howard is not known for his documentaries. But Pavarotti manages to capture the essence of the flamboyant opera singer. I’m not a huge fan of opera, but I have a couple dozen CDs of various operas (mostly Mozart) and opera singers (mostly Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, and Renee Fleming). Ron Howard manages to interview Pavarotti’s ex-wife, his daughters (one of whom had completely broken with her father), various managers, some of Pavarotti’s mistresses, and friends. Yes, there’s plenty of music in Pavarotti but Ron Howard is more interested in exploring Pavarotti’s life instead of his opera performances.

For all of Pavarotti’s flaws, he clearly had a good heart. When his friend, Jose Carreras, wanted to return to the stage after a year of cancer treatments Pavarotti joined with Placid Domingo and Carreras to become The Three Tenors. Their concert was historic and the CD became the best selling opera recording ever. Over his career, Pavarotti’s recordings sold 100 million copies. He was on the cover of TIME and even starred in TV commercials. Pavarotti became the most well-known opera figure of his time. And, of course, Pavarotti’s voice was one of the best of the 20th Century. Luciano Pavarotti was a complicated man (even though he called himself a “simple peasant”) and Ron Howard’s documentary shows many aspects of his multi-faceted personality. Highly recommended! Are you an opera fan? Do you like Pavarotti’s music? GRADE: A

FX Network is pulling the plug on Legion after these 8 episodes air. Legion features Dan Stevens as David, a powerful mutant who has been treated as a patient with schizophrenia when in fact he was possessed by an alien. This final season blend psychedelic aspects with Alice-in-Wonderland references. This MARVEL series specializes in quirky characters–a woman who can switch bodies just by touching you, a time traveller, and two mutants who share a body, etc. Episode One started off with an assault on David’s cult by the strike team of Division 3 (the organization responsible for dealing with mutant threats). David dies, but time travel saves him. More incredible plot twists ahead! If you’re in the mood for something very, very different, I recommend Legion. GRADE: B+

Kevin Bacon plays a bent FBI agent, Jackie Rohr, who teams up with an African-American District Attorney, Decourcy Ward (Aldis Hodge), to solve a series of armored car robberies. If this has the look and feel of Homicide: Life on the Street, the explanation is the show-runner for City on a Hill is Tom Fontana–the guy who created Homicide: Life on the Street. Fontana grew up in Buffalo so there’s a local connection. Although it’s supposed to be set in Boston in 1993, City on a Hill is shot in Brooklyn with scenes from Boston weaved in. I like the roguish demeanor of Keven Bacon’s character. I like the earnestness of Aldis Hodge’s character as a rising star in a racist bureaucracy. Plenty of cop shows reside on cable and the Networks, but I’ve found after just a couple of episodes City On a Hill is a cut above the rest. GRADE: B+

Yesterday begins with Jack Malik (Himesh Patel), a struggling musical performer, getting hit by a bus just as the world is plunged into darkness during a weird electrical shutdown. Jack wakes up in a hospital with bumps and bruises and missing a couple of teeth. But in a short time, Jack realizes he’s the only person who remembers The Beatles. Everyone else has no idea who The Beatles were. They’ve been erased.

Yesterday is a high concept movie and either you buy into this alternate reality or you’ll not like this movie. Jack’s manager, school teacher Ellie Appleton, is the only person who believes in Jack’s dream of becoming a successful musician. Of course, Ellie is in love with Jack but for a decade Jack has only focused on his seemingly dead-end music career. But now that Jack is the only one who remembers The Beatles and their great songs, he decides to sing “Yesterday,” “Hey, Jude,” and “Eleanor Rigby” online. Suddenly, Ed Sheeran shows up at Jack’s door offering him a gig as Sheeran’s opening act. And, as you can expect, Jack’s songs fire up the crowd and stardom beckons. But as the crowds grow and Jack’s songs rocket up the charts, Jack becomes more unhappy. He’s guilty because he’s “stealing” The Beatles songs. And Jack finally realizes he loves Ellie. At its heart, Yesterday is an old fashioned love story. Danny Boyle juggles all the high concepts and Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral and Love, Actually) provides a clever script. And, of course, if you’re a fan of The Beatles’ music, you’ll enjoy Yesterday. Are you a Beatles fan? Do you have a favorite Beatles song? GRADE: B

Jerry House mentioned that an early draft of Philip Jose Farmer’s epic “Riverworld” novels was published back in the 1980s. I’d heard rumors about this book, but until Jerry jogged my memory, I’d forgotten all about it (making River of Eternity a truly “forgotten” book in this case). I tracked down a copy of River of Eternity and read it in one day.

Philip Jose Farmer is known for his mind-blowing concepts and Big Ideas. How Big are Farmer’s Ideas? How about a River 40 million miles long! How about every person ever born on Earth resurrected and living along this incredible River! Is that Big enough for you?

Admittedly, Philip Jose Farmer’s Ideas are his strength. His weakness is sketchy characterizations. When Farmer introduces Samuel Clemens, I’m not seeing Mark Twain. There are mysteries and puzzles to solve in Farmer’s “Riverworld” series. River of Eternity has a complicated history that Farmer discusses in his “Author’s Introduction.” I’m glad Phantasia Press published River of Eternity back in 1983, but it reads like a rough First Draft of something much more complex and involving. Are you a fan of Philip Jose Farmer’s “Riverworld” series? GRADE: C+
RIVERWORLD SERIES:
To Your Scattered Bodies Go (1971) – Hugo Award winner
The Fabulous Riverboat (1971)
The Dark Design (1977)
Riverworld and Other Stories (1979) (a Farmer anthology with one Riverworld story titled “Riverworld”)
The Magic Labyrinth (1980)
Gods of Riverworld (1983; later published as The Gods of Riverworld)
River of Eternity (1983) – an earlier version of Riverworld
Tales of Riverworld (1992) (includes one story written by Farmer: “Crossing the Dark River”. A second story, “A Hole In Hell”, was written by Farmer under the pseudonym Dane Helstrom)
Quest to Riverworld (1993) (includes two stories written by Farmer: “Up the Bright River” and “Coda”

When I was kid, I spent summers listening to music on my transistor radio. The Sixties transformed America with changes to our society, culture, and music. The 25 All-Time Greatest Summer Songs: The Ultimate Collection features plenty of great Summer songs. Probably the biggest hit on this CD is The Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Summer in the City.” I love Billy Stewart’s classic version of “Summertime.” I wish this collection included one of my favorite Summer songs, Robin Ward’s 1963 hit “Wonderful Summer.” A girl kissed me while that song was playing in 1963 so it’s imprinted on my brain. Do you have a favorite Summer Song? GRADE: A
TRACK LIST:
1. Summer In The City – The Lovin’ Spoonful
2. A Summer Song – Chad & Jeremy
3. Summertime, Summertime – The Jamies
4. Vacation – Connie Francis
5. Wipe Out – The Surfaris
6. Summer Means Fun – Bruce And Terry
7. Dancing In The Street – Martha And The Vandellas
8. Sunny Afternoon – The Kinks
9. In The Summertime – Mungo Jerry
10. Happy Summer Days – Ronnie Dove
11. Sealed With A Kiss – Brian Hyland
12. The Theme From A Summer Place – Percy Faith And His Orchestra
13. On The Beach (In The Summertime) – The 5th Dimension
14. Summer Wine – Nancy Sinatra And Lee Hazlewood
15. Summer Sand – Dawn
16. Here Comes The Summer – Jerry Keller
17. School Is Out – Gary U.S. Bonds
18. Palisades Park – Freddy Cannon
19. Lets Go Trippin’ – Dick Dale & His Del-Tones
20. Beach Party – Annette
21. Lost Summer Love – Shelley Fabares
22. Gonna Hustle You – Legendary Masked Surfers
23. Wombling Summer Party – The Wombles
24. Summer – War
25. Summertime – Billy Stewart

And so it begins. Tonight’s Democratic Presidential Debate features Elizabeth Warren who leads the pack in poll numbers and intelligence. Warren has policy positions for all the common issues: immigration, international trade, Iran, climate change, gun control, abortion, etc. Yet, I get that sinking feeling that 2020 America is NOT going to choose a woman to be President. The Zeitgeist is all wrong for that. Can any of these 10 candidates beat Trump. In my opinion…no. I have my doubts about Biden given all the gaffs he’s already committed. Is the country ready for Sleepy Joe? Do you have a favorite Democratic candidate? I’m still skeptical that any of these candidates can beat Trump.