Stark House has just published two of Clifton Adams’ noir classics: Death’s Sweet Song and Whom Gods Destroy. Cullen Gallagher’s informative Introduction traces Clifton Adams’ prolific writing career. Cullen gives credit to Bill Crider and Ed Gorman for their writing on Clifton Adams. Adams wrote over 50 novels mostly in the crime and western genres. This new Stark House omnibus volume includes two of Clifton Adams’ best novels. Very noirsh and very readable! Don’t miss this one!

I’m a big fan of Alastair Reynolds so I immediately bought this BBC DOCTOR WHO novel. Although Harvest of Time was published in 2013, Reynolds features the flamboyant Jon Pertwee verson of The Doctor. In addition, The Master is up to his usual dastardly schemes, UNIT is constantly blowing things up, and there’s a sinister alien invasion. Reynolds juggles several plotlines as this complicated story comes together in a shattering conclusion. If you’re a fan of Alastair Reynolds’ work, you’ll want to read Harvest of Time. If you’re a Doctor Who fan, you’ll enjoy this book, too. GRADE: B+

The Devil’s Door is the second book in Sharan Newman’s Catherine LaVendeur series of medieval mysteries. Set in the 12th Century, Catherine investigates the beating death of the wife of a local Count. But one death leads to another as various forces vie for the land the death woman left to the Paraclete convent. Why is this undeveloped land so sought after? Why is it so valuable to so many powerful nobles? I enjoyed Sharan Newman’s first Catherine LaVendeur Macavity Award winning mystery, Death Comes as Epiphany (1993). The Devil’s Door is just as good. GRADE: B+

This mini-series should be be called 12 because there are only 12 episodes instead of the traditional 24 episodes. Last night in a 2-hour premire, Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), after a four year hiatus, shows up in London to stop the Bad Guys who want to kill the visiting U.S. president (William Devane). Cranky Chloe O’Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub) is back, but hostile (so far) to Jack. For those of you who didn’t watch the original 24 , the format was that all the action happened in one day. Each of the 24 episodes presented one day of action against terrorists. This stripped-down version of 24 is a good example of half a loaf being better than none. I hope the ratings are high and 24 returns to it’s old format next season.

Each year the North Tonawanda Library holds a book sale. On the final two days, there’s a “bag sale.” You buy a shopping bag for $5 and you can fill it with as many books as you can jam in the bag. These hardcovers are the goodies I took home in my bag.

A week ago I woke and got out of bed. A stab of pain started in my back and then radiated down my left leg. I figured I just slept wrong. But, the next day, I woke up to more pain. I took some 800mg Motrins (they didn’t do much). The pain got worse. So I called my doctor, but he was totally booked (plenty of people around here are still getting the flu). But I was offered an appointment with Diane’s doctor, Dr. O’Donnell, and I grabbed it. By the time the appointment rolled around, my pain was intense. Dr. O’Donnell examined me and she said, “I know what your problem is and I know what caused it.”

I couldn’t believe what she said next! “You are experiencing sciatic nerve pain caused by your wallet.” Art Scott can attest to the fatness of my wallet. It’s about 4 inches thick. I carried all my credit cards and ID cards around with me. Dr. O’Donnell told me she sees guys–especially truck drivers with those huge wallets–coming in all the time with sciatic nerve pain. The wallet over time creates stress on the back and that triggers the sciatic nerve pain. I’m on a muscle relaxer, Cyclobenzaprine, and those 800mg Motrins. The pain is slowly receding–Dr. O’Donnell said it would take about a week–and I’ve been doing the exercises she recommended in the pool.

So please heed my warning: don’t carry that huge wallet in your back pocket!

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 disappointed me on several levels. There’s the sub-plot about Peter Parker’s parents. There’s Peter’s Aunt (Sally Field) and her problems. But the element that brings the movie almost to a halt is Peter (Andrew Garfield) and Gwen’s (Emma Stone) “relationship.” Too much angst. I like both actors, but none of their love scenes seem convincing. Even with three villains–the Green Goblin, Electro, and Rhino–the action quotient seemed way down after last month’s excellent Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Unless you’re a hype Spider-Man fan, you can skip this lame movie. GRADE: C

Yes, this is the third FFB in a row featuring Milton Lesser’s work. Lesser legally changed his name to Stephen Marlowe. In the past two FFBs, I reviewed Milton Lesser’s science fiction stories. After a decade of writing SF, Lesser switched to crime and suspense in the 1960s writing under the Stephen Marlowe pseudonym that was to become his name. Marlowe’s Chester Drum series featured a unique private eye. Where many private eyes were based in a single city–Michael Shayne in Miami, Philip Marlowe in L.A., Sam Spade in San Francisco–Marlowe gave Drum an international beat. Cases in France, Spain, and Italy are included in this book. Bill Pronzini’s detailed Introduction explores the Stephen Marlowe oeuvre. I’d never seen this book before because it was published by Five Star, a publisher who specialized in selling its books to libraries. But Drum Beat is available at the usual Internet sources at reasonable prices. This collection is well worth it especially because it includes what Marlowe considered his best Chester Drum novel, Dominique.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Prelude: A Fast Drumroll by Bill Pronzini
“Drum Beat”
“Baby Sister”
Chester Drum Takes Over
Wanted–Dead and Alive
A Place to Visit
Drum Beat–Dominique

I’ve been delighted by the previous three collections of Jack Vance’s early science fiction stories. Subterranean Press and Dowling and Strahan should be praised for bringing this work to a new audience. This 376-page collection contains
Table of Contents
◦ Introduction
◦ Nogpalgarth
◦ Telek
◦ Four Hundred Blackbirds
◦ Alfred’s Ark
◦ Meet Miss Universe
◦ The World Between
◦ Milton Hack from Zodiac
◦ Parapsyche

Gross Deomestic Product (GDP), the unemployment rate, inflation, consumer sentiment, and a dozen other indicators of the economy are explained in clear detail by Zachary Karabell. Karabell shows that “the economy” wasn’t a major topic until 1940. During the Great Depression, the key indicators that we take for granted today were developed. “The economy” lacked the measurements and structure that it has today. And the U.S., the World Bank, and the U.N. imposed these economic measurements on the entire world. I knew a few of these stories from the economics courses I took, but Karabell’s comprehensive picture of the various indicators and how they were developed makes for fascinating reading. GRADE: A
Table of Contents:
The ripples of domesday
Unemployment
National income and the man from Pinsk
The invention of the economy
The economic gestalt
Inflation: from leading indicator to government con
Diminishing returns
Where’s Waldo?
Gross national happiness
The avatars.