For those of you who wanted to watch DOCTOR WHO but felt that you were going to be confused by a series that’s been going for decades, here is your chance to get up to speed. Steven Moffat, the show runner, says the premiere of Doctor Who, Season 10 has been carefully designed so that newcomers to DOCTOR WHO will be oriented to the series and will feel comfortable with the characters. Peter Capaldi returns as the Doctor and he has a new companion, “Bill” Potts (played by Pearl Mackie). Some theaters are bringing this episode to the Big Screen. Check Fathom Events online for details. This looks like a very good season of DOCTOR WHO based on the trailers I’ve seen.

John Holbrook Vance is better known as Jack Vance, famous Science Fiction writer. But, back in the 1960s, Vance wrote two mysteries featuring Sheriff Joe Bain of bucolic San Rodrigo County in California. I reviewed the first Sheriff Joe Bain mystery, The Fox Valley Murders here. The Pleasant Grove Murders opens with a dead mail carrier. Sheriff Joe Bain investigates the wealthy community and finds plenty of conflicts under the surface of this pleasant neighborhood. If you’re looking for a “Small Town” mystery with a clever twist at the end, The Pleasant Grove Murders delivers. GRADE: A-

I’ve been a fan of Patricia A. McKillip’s fantasies since I read The Riddle-Master of Hed 20 years ago. In addition to writing finely crafted fantasy novels, McKillip is a gifted short story writer. Dreams of Distant Shores is a new collection recently published by Tachyon with a great Thomas Canty painting, “By the Window,” on the cover. “Weird” is a clever puzzle story. “Mer” gives us a witch turned into a sort of mermaid. “The Gorgon in the Cupboard” explores the mysteries of Love. “Which Witch” provides an insight into the Witch World. “Edith and Henry Go Motoring” takes the reader on an exotic trip. “Alien” explores what that word really means. “Something Rich and Strange” is the longest story in Dreams of Distant Shores and presents the implications of obsession. I found McKillip’s “Writing High Fantasy” full of insights into McKillip’s work. And Peter S. Beagle’s “Afterward” both praises and analyzes McKillip’s stories in this volume. Dreams of Distant Shores is one of the best fantasy short story collections of the year! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Weird
Mer  (original to this collection)
The Gorgon in the Cupboard
Which Witch
Edith and Henry Go Motoring (original to this collection)
Alien (original to this collection)
Something Rich and Strange
Writing High Fantasy (original to this collection)
Dear Pat: Afterward by Peter S. Beagle

Over the years, I’ve admired Caitlin Kiernan’s work as a fantasy and horror writer. In Agents of Dreamland Kiernan embraces her inner Lovecraft and delivers a chilling tale of doom. The two major characters, the Signalman (an agent for a top secret government organization) and Immacolata Sexton (who has the power to move back and forth through Time), race to prevent a cult from triggering the invasion of Earth by Lovecraftean “Messengers.” This slim 123-page novella delivers a punch to your equilibrium as Reality spins out of control and the Future looks bleak indeed. I’m hoping Caitlin Kiernan is busy at her word processor weaving new adventures of the Signalman and Immacolata as dark forces surround them. GRADE: B+

I enjoyed Rogue One when it was in the theaters. You can read my review here. Now, this Blu-ray disc is in stores and selling fast. When Disney purchased the Star Wars franchise, they developed a strategy of “one-off” movies like Rogue One and the upcoming Han Solo movie to keep fans satisfied while the main Star Wars movies are being filmed. Special features on this Blu-ray edition include: “The Princess and the Governor,” “Rogue Connections” (Easter Eggs), “A Rogue Idea,” and “Visions of Hope: The Look of Rogue One“. The TARGET edition of Rogue One includes exclusive content: “Inside the Creature Shop” with Neal Scanlan.” GRADE: B+

P. J. O’Rourke asks the question torturing most of us. How did things go Wrong so fast? O’Rourke traces the Presidential Campaign from New Hampshire to the Republican Convention (O’Rourke claims he slept for four days!) and the Democratic Convention to the Debates to the Election. A lot of Bad Memories for me. You’ll find the analysis of the candidates humorous. Since How the Hell Did This Happen is one of the first books on the 2016 Presidential Campaign, it lacks the insights into “Fake News,” and Russian hacking. War clouds loom over Syria and North Korea. What do you think happened in the Election of 2016? GRADE: B

Remember when I suggested you should buy some oil stock? It was about a year ago. You can refresh your memory here. At that time, Marathon Oil (ticker symbol MRO) was $8 a share. MRO closed on Friday, April 7 at $16.26. You would have doubled your money in a little over a year. I know Maggie Mason bought some MRO and I hope you did, too. With the latest crisis in Syria and the looming crisis of North Korea, this would be a great time to buy some oil stocks. Oil always goes up when there’s an international incident. And with the present Administration, I suspect there will be a lot of crisis situations during the next four years. You might as well profit from it.

If this book was about me, the title would have to be changed to The House of 30,000 Books. Instead, this book concerns Chiman Abramsky, a key figure in the intellectual movement of Eastern European Jewry. Abramsky and his wife, Miriam, ran a well-known bookstore in London’s East End. Abramsky was a professor. He was friends with Isaiah Berlin, Erie Hobsbawn, and other key intellectuals. Abramsky wrote in a letter to Isaiah Berlin, “…[I would] be classified as an ex-communist, ex-Marxist, a mixture today of a radical-liberal-conservative-cum-counter-revolutionary; one who has lost his faith and has not yet found a new one, in a word a person who searches, gropes, doubts, constantly making ‘post-mortems’ on his own thinking…and somehow still believes in humanistic values” (p. 310). I found the story of Chiman Abramsky’s life fascinating reading. You would, too. How many books do you own? GRADE: B+

The Night Ocean is a mystery disguised as a faux-Lovecraft pastiche. Psychotherapist Marina Willett is married to a creative, but obsessive man named Charlie. Charlie’s latest obsession is with a rare book called the Erotonomicon allegedly written in “code” by H. P. Lovecraft to hide his sexual experiences. Charlie tracks down a copy of the Erotonomicon but that only leads him to the strange characters of Robert Barlow, a teenage fan of Lovecraft who may have had an affair with him, and L. C. Spinks who published the Erotonomicon. Spinks had relationships with the Futurians so Isaac Asimov, Frederik Pohl, Donald Wollheim, Frank Belknap Long, and A. E. Van Vogt are part of this story. Like an onion, layers of story peel away to reveal more convoluted stories. The book is narrated by Marina Willett who suspects Charlie is alive despite the evidence he committed suicide after escaping from a mental hospital. Like all things Lovecraftean, Reality becomes very plastic. I enjoyed The Night Ocean and hope Paul La Farge writes more books in this growing genre. GRADE: B+

Lionel White wrote some of the finest caper novels in the genre. I’m a fan of caper novels because I love the planning, preparation, and execution of the theft. But, of course, something always goes wrong. In his informative “Introduction” to this new STARK HOUSE edition of The Snatchers and Clean Break, Rick Ollerman puts these two works into context and explores the caper genre in detail. In The Snatchers (1953) Lionel White shows how the mechanics of a kidnapping operate. A gang kidnaps the teenage daughter of a wealth man. But, immediately, things start to go wrong.

You might not be familiar with Lionel White’s Clean Break (1955) but you might be familiar with the Stanley Kubrick film, The Killing which is based on White’s fine caper novel. The robbery of a race track produces all kinds of unexpected problems and suspense. If you’re looking for classic caper novels, The Snatchers and Clean Break are two of the best.