I’ve had Ron Goulart’s Author’s Choice Monthly #11 on my shelves since it was first published in 1990 by Pulphouse Publishing. I bought several of the Author’s Choice Monthly volumes in the series…but I digress.

The Idea behind this series was to allow the writer to choose a handful of his favorite stories. Goulart had a fondness for supernatural elements in his stories and the stories in this collection reflect that. I enjoyed the Max Kearney story, “Hello From Hollywood.” Kearney works in advertising, but his hobby is banishing ghosts. This particular ghost has taken possession of a TV executive and is picking winning TV shows for the Fall Schedule.

I also enjoyed “Groucho,” a story of a reincarnated TV script writer who returns as a cat. “Crusoe In New York” doesn’t have any supernatural elements, but it does have Time Travel as a woman from the Future visits our time to meet her favorite writer.

These Author’s Choice Monthly volumes are fun to read. I’ll review a few more for future Wednesday’s Short Stories. GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• 1 · Introduction · Ron Goulart · in
• 3 · Street Magic · Ron Goulart · ss Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine Mar 1984
• 23 · Hello from Hollywood [Max Kearny] · Ron Goulart · ss The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction Dec 1983
• 47 · Crusoe in New York · Ron Goulart · ss Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone Magazine Mar 1982
• 61 · Skyrocket Steele Conquers the Universe [Skyrocket Steele] · Ron Goulart · ss Espionage Magazine Aug 1985
• 81 · Groucho · Ron Goulart · ss Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone Magazine Apr 1981

With over 20 Tennessee Titan players testing positive for Covid-19, it’s astonishing this game is going to be played at all. The Buffalo Bills started out as 3-point favorites, but as the Covid-19 List of the Titans grew, the point spread swelled to 8 points. I don’t have a lot of confidence about this game. The Titans are down several starters because of their infection. The Bills are down a number of players because of their injuries. And, looming on the horizon for next week for the Bills is the Kansas City Chiefs. Tough schedule!

Back in 1971, Jay Parini was a graduate student at The University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Like most twenty-somethings, Parini was struggling with his career path, his virginity, and the prospect that he might be sent to Viet Nam. Parini’s friend, poet and translator Alastair Reid, asked Parini if he could serve as a tour guide to a visiting Latin American writer. Parini reluctantly agreed.

The “visiting Latin American writer” turned out to be the blind, elderly, and quirky Jorge Luis Borges who Parini knew nothing about. The result of the trip around Scotland by Borges and Parini produces humor and melancholy. Borges babbles on and on about everything while Parini drives and tries to figure out his life.

The funniest scene for me was the night Borges and Parini stay at an old inn run by an old woman. The only bathroom in the inn can only be accessed through the old woman’s bedroom. And, of course, Borges has to pee every hour. The antics that night cracked me up!

If you’re in the mood for a road trip with fun, frivolity, and fatalism, Borges and Me is an adventure worth sharing. Are you a Borges fan? GRADE: A

You just knew this had to happen in the Age of the Coronavirus: over 20 Tennessee Titans players and staff tested positive for the virus. So, the NFL in their infinite wisdom has decided to move the Buffalo Bills vs. Tennessee Titans game from Sunday, October 11 to Tuesday, October 13. But, like dominoes, that affects other games.

The Bills were supposed to play the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday, October 15. But that game has been moved to Sunday, October 18. Of course, this is all predicated on the assumption that no more Titan players test positive between now and Tuesday. If they do, then all bets are off. How will your favorite NFL do today?

The Osiris Ritual (2010) is the second book in the Sir Maurice Newbury and Veronica Hobbs steam-punk mystery series. Newbury possesses the passion and ability for investigation that Sherlock Holmes has. Veronica Hobbs serves her role as Watson admirably. Queen Victoria sends Newbury on a mission to find a cyborg secret agent who has gone rogue. Hobbs investigates a series of missing women who disappear during a stage magician’s act. As you might suspect, the two inquires merge. I like George Mann’s decision to make Newbury susceptible to opioids. And Hobbs has some secrets of her own. I reviewed the first book in the series, The Affinity Bridge, here. If you’re looking for a diverting steam-punk mystery with zeppelins and robots, this is where you’ll find some fun reading. GRADE: B

George Mann has written a couple of Sherlock Holmes pastiches (Sherlock Holmes: The Will of the Dead Titan Books, 2013 and Sherlock Holmes: The Spirit Box Titan Books, 2014) but I chose The Affinity Bridge, Mann’s steampunk mashup. Dr. Maurice Newbury, a Sherlock Holmes clone with skills in the occult sciences, together with his feisty assistant Veronica Hobbs, investigate two apparently unrelated events: a series of horrific murders in London and the crash of an airship where 50 passengers die.

Since The Affinity Bridge is a steampunk novel, automatons factor into the plot as well as weird technology that is keeping Queen Victoria alive. Mann provides some effective battle scenes and enough mysteries unresolved to fuel a sequel. If you’re looking for a different spin on the Sherlock Holmes template, you’ll find some fun reading The Affinity Bridge. GRADE: B
NEWBURY & HOBBS INVESTIGATION SERIES:
The Affinity Bridge (ISBN 978-1905005888) (Snowbooks, 2008)
“The Hambleton Affair” (Newbury and Hobbes short story) – appeared in the hardcover edition of The Affinity Bridge, free PDF available for download.[11] Included in The Casebook of Newbury & Hobbes.
“The Shattered Teacup” (Snowbooks, 2010) (free PDF eBook/Audiobook download)[12]* Included in The Casebook of Newbury & Hobbes.
The Osiris Ritual (ISBN 978-1906727048) (Snowbooks, 2009)
“What Lies Beneath” (short story), free PDF available for download[13] Included in The Casebook of Newbury & Hobbes.
The Immorality Engine (ISBN 978-1906727185) (Snowbooks, 2011)
The Executioner’s Heart (ISBN 978-1781160053) (Titan Books, 2013)
The Revenant Express (ISBN 9780765334091) (Titan Books, 2019)
The Casebook of Newbury & Hobbes Collection (ISBN 978-1781167427) (Titan Books, 2013)

Benedict Cumberbatch reads these four new Sherlock Holmes stories by John Taylor: “An Inscrutable Masquerade,” “The Conundrum of Coach 13,” “The Trinity Vicarage Larceny,” and “The 10.59 Assassin.”

I find Benedict Cumberbatch a convincing narrator. I have some audio versions of RUMPOLE stories that Cumberbatch narrated expertly, too. Do you enjoy audio books? GRADE: A

David Stuart Davies has written a handful of Sherlock Holmes pastiches–Sherlock Holmes and the Hentzau Affair (1991), The Scroll of the Dead (1998), Shadow of the Rat (1999), The Veiled Detective (2004), The Games Afoot (2008), The Devil’s Promise (2014), and The Ripper Legacy (2016)–but I think Davies’s The Tangled Skein (1995) is his most successful book. The Tangled Skein purports to be a “lost” adventure that comes to light. An old adversary attempts to assassinate Sherlock Holmes which leads Holmes and Watson into a tangled plot with supernatural elements. Davies manages to simulate Watson’s style (not easy to accomplish) and produces a tale where Watson plays a critical role. GRADE: A-

My review of The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer can be read here. This Netflix movie version follows the book fairly closely. In a movie like Enola Holmes the actress playing the role generally spells success or failure. In this case, Millie Bobby Brown makes Enola Holmes a success (at least in my eyes). Yes, there are flaws. Henry Cavill as Sherlock Holmes is both stuffy and passive. Perhaps Director Harry Bradbeer wanted to suggest that Enola is smarter than her older brother. Sam Claflin as Mycroft Holmes presents an arrogant, priggish character.

On the plus side, Helena Bonham Carter as Eudoria Holmes is first-rate as an unconventional mother of three unique children. Louis Partridge as Viscount Tewkesbury, Marquess of Basilwether, generates some on-screen chemistry with Enola.

If you’re in the mood for a entertaining Holmes pastiche, you might give Enola Holmes a try. I’m hoping Netflix orders a few more of these movies. GRADE: B+

Welcome to another Sherlock Holmes Week! For the next few days I’ll be reviewing Sherlock Holmes pastiches and movies. I decided to start with the second book in Nancy Springer’s Enola Holmes series: The Case of the Left-Handed Lady (2007). You can read my review of the first book, THE CASE OF THE MISSING MARQUESS here.

Enola Holmes is Sherlock and Mycroft’s little sister. And, like her older brothers, Enola loves to solve mysteries. After the events in The Case of the Missing Marquess, Enola has eluded her brothers and set up a consulting service where she pretends she’s the assistant of the famous Dr. Ragostin. In reality, Enola is searching for her mother who has also left the oversight of Sherlock and Mycroft.

Enola involves herself in the mysterious disappearance of Lady Cecily, a young woman like herself with puzzling tendencies. Nancy Springer does a nice job capturing aspects of Victorian London as Enola unravels the clues. This series is aimed at a Young Adult audience, but adults will find Enola’s antics entertaining, too. GRADE: B