Week One of the 2022 NFL season shocked many people (especially bettors on FanDuel and DraftKings). As I predicted, the New York Giants–with former Offensive Coordinator of the Buffalo Bills, Brian Daboll, now Giants’ Head Coach–played above their station and beat the Tennessee Titans 21-20 on a gutsy 2-point conversion call.
Deb’s New Orleans Saints stole a victory over the unlucky Atlanta Falcons 27-26 after trailing most of the game. And, projected Super Bowl bound Dallas Cowboys lost their Quarterback, Dak Prescott, for 8 weeks because of a thumb injury. Meanwhile, another Super Bowl bound team, the Green Bay Packers, got slammed in Minneapolis during BOUCHERCON by the suddenly powerful Vikings, 23-7.
Death and the Conjuror: A Locked Room Mystery for Fans of Golden Age Crime Fiction by Tom Mead takes readers back to the 1930s where a locked room murder in London baffles police. But, a magician named Jospeh Spector starts to unravel the cunning crime.
The victim is celebrity psychiatrist Anselm Rees. His body is discovered in his locked office. His throat had been cut. The list of possible “Persons of Interest” leads Tom Mead to provide a handy “Dramatic Personae” to help us keep track of the many suspects.
And, just as Golden Age Crime Fiction liked to do, Mead includes a Reader’s Challenge on p. 227 to solve the murder because all the clues had been revealed.
If you enjoy Locked Room mysteries in the John Dickson Carr and Edward D. Hoch tradition, you’ll enjoy Death and the Conjuror. GRADE: B
“As the series went on and on and as I became more secure with the voicing and with my apparent ability to circumvent surface and not get fired, Wuliff came crazier and crazier.” (p. 9)
Barry N. Malzberg (aka, “Mike Barry”) wrote The Lone Wolf series in the white heat of the drug-addled Seventies–16 volumes so this new Stark House omnibus takes us halfway through this bloody and violent saga. Burt Wulff, avenging the death of his fiancé, launches an international mission to Peru. In the Hotel Crillon in Lima, Wulff is approached to deliver several million dollars worth of heroin to the USA.
A Nazi, who knows who Wulff is, promises Wulff an out for the trap he’s in–as long as Wulff does what he wants. Deception and double-crosses result.
Los Angeles Holocaust begins with Wulff aboard a hijacked helicopter returning to El Paso from Peru. Wulff has millions of dollars worth of heroin in a bag. Wulff connects with Williams, his former partner on the NYPD, who was stabbed in Chicago Slaughter. Williams leaves his pregnant wife in New York, buys a U-Haul full of weapons from a Harlem priest, kills a couple of carjackers in Nebraska, and arrives in L.A. ready to do battle.
The stage is set for an epic battle fueled by the heroin worth millions and Wulff’s lust for vengeance. Drug cartels, Mafia dons, illegal drugs galore mixed with sudden death and carnage: The Lone Wolf series takes the reader on a guided tour of the modern Circles of Hell. GRADE: B+ (for both)
I was in the mood to listen to Roy Orbison and I dug out these two collections that have some overlap but with some differences.
Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) sang songs that were described by critics as operatic, earning him the nicknames “The Caruso of Rock” and “The Big O.” Roy Orbison performed while standing motionless and wearing black clothes to match his dyed black hair and dark sunglasses, which he wore to counter his shyness and stage fright.
It’s amazing that 22 of Orbison’s singles reached the Billboard Top 40. He wrote most of those songs. In 1988, Orbison co-founded the Traveling Wilburys with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Jeff Lynne. Orbison died of a heart attack in December 1988 at age 52. One month later, his song “You Got It” (1989) was released as a solo single, becoming his first hit to reach the US & UK Top 10 in nearly 25 years. Are you a Roy Orbison fan? Any favorite songs? GRADE: A (for both)
Back in the 1960s and 1970s, Playboy magazine bought Science Fiction stories to wrap around their popular nude photos. Playboy’s rates were much higher than Galaxy, Analog, and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction could pay so SF writers would try selling their stories to Playboy first.
After these stories were published in Playboy magazine, Playboy Press would publish anthologies of those stories. From the “S” File, published in 1971, features 16 stories…all written by SF writers whose last names start with “S.” And, some of the “S” writers are included multiple times–a rarity in most SF anthologies.
My favorite stories are Robert Sheckley’s snarky “The Same to You Doubled” about the problem of making the wrong wish, and Henry Slesar’s classic “Examination Day” where passing a test can have dire consequences. Jack Sharkey takes a different view of making wishes in “Conversations With a Bug.” I enjoy these Playboy Press anthologies, and you would too! Were you a fan of Playboy back in the day? GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
PREFACE — 4
The Nail and the Oracle (1965) by Theodore Sturgeon –7
The World of Heart’s Desire (1959) by Robert Sheckley — 32
Can You Feel Anything When I Do This? (1969) by Robert Sheckley — 42
Triplication (1959) by Robert Sheckley — 55
The Same to You Doubled (1970) by Robert Sheckley — 63
Cordle to Onion to Carrot (1969) by Robert Sheckley — 77
Control Somnambule (1962) by William Sambrot — 97
The Man from Not-Yet (1968) by John Sladek — 115
Melodramine (1965) by Henry Slesar — 128
Victory Parade (1957) by Henry Slesar — 146
Examination Day (1958) by Henry Slesar — 152
The Jam (1958) by Henry Slesar — 158
After (1960) by Henry Slesar — 164
The Pool (1964) by Jack Sharkey — 171
Conversation with a Bug (1961) by Jack Sharkey — 179
THE GOOD: It was fun seeing Beth Fedyn, Maggie Mason, Ted Hertel, Ted Fitzgerald, Thom Walls, and Steve Stilwell–all veterans of DAPA-EM.
My favorite panels were “Get Lost In the Plot: Short Stories,” “True North: A Vince Flynn Tribute,” “Small and Indie Press,” “Everybody Knows Your Name: Legacy Writing,” “Under the Sun or Below Zero,” and “The Modern Gumshoe.”
The most moving moment of BOUCHERCON 53 for me was hearing Alexander McCall Smith wax eloquent on what the death of the Queen meant to him.
THE BAD: Getting to BOUCHERCON 53 was hellish. When I first booked my flights on Delta Airlines to Minneapolis, they were direct flights from Buffalo to Minneapolis and returning from Minneapolis to Buffalo. Two weeks later, Delta sent an email saying my flights were no longer “direct.” Now, I was flying from Buffalo to Detroit, then Detroit to Minneapolis. The return flight would be from Minneapolis to Atlanta, then Atlanta to Buffalo.
No way was I going to fly to Altanta–a 1000 miles out of my way–to get to Buffalo. I managed to get that changed to Minneapolis to LaGuardia Airport in New York City–and then flying backwards to Buffalo.
When I landed in Detroit, I was at Gate 70. Then I found out my flight to Minneapolis was at Gate 23–a mile away. Even with the moving sidewalks, it took time and effort to travel that distance. When I landed in Minneapolis, I took a cab to the Hilton, checked in, and then had to begin my usual search for a store that sold distilled water for my CPAP. Fortunately, there was a Target store about three blocks away.
THE UGLY: The Hilton “Business Center” on the Second Floor consisted of one antique computer…with the sign OUT OF ORDER taped to the screen. So I had no access to the Internet and my blog while I was at BOUCHERCON 53 (I’m sure you all figured that out). I should have brought my iPad…Had I But Known!
The Dealers’ Room was a joke. I can remember the days (decades ago) when dozens of dealers showed up with great books and buyers crowded the aisles. This Dealers’ Room had four book sellers swallowed up in a large room. One dealer specialized in vintage paperbacks, the others mostly featured current hardcovers for the few BOUCHERCON attendees who wandered in. Very sad.
The flight from Minneapolis to LaGuardia Airport experienced “turbulence” which freaked some passengers out. Plus, the flight crew decided NOT to distribute the usual drinks or snacks even when the turbulence calmed down. The Friendly Skies aren’t that friendly anymore.
All in all, BOUCHERCON 53 was enjoyable and informative. Plenty of good, free books! GRADE: B+
Garrett Hongo, who teaches poetry at the University of Oregon, finds himself in a quest for the perfect audio system. Part of Hongo’s story goes back to his father who in the 1950s and 1960s built audio equipment from Heathkit, Allied Knight, Lafayette, and Eico. The tragedy was Hongo’s father was rapidly losing his hearing. The audio equipment he built provided the last sounds of music he would ever experience.
After his father died, Hongo pursued his teaching career, but felt unfulfilled. Hongo loved music and when his CD changer broke, he decided to buy something better. But the better CD player needed a more powerful amplifier. Then the system needed better speakers. And before long, Hongo had gone down the stereo Rabbit Hole to find the perfect sound system.
As the reader follows Hongo on his quest, the history of modern audio becomes part of the story. The history of the vinyl record, the invention of the amplifier–with those glowing tubes!–and why speakers work they way they do. Plenty of detail and data across the decades!
As a bonus, Hongo goes into the music that he loves…and why. You’ll come away with a list of pop, jazz, and classical music you’ll be searching for. If you’re interested in music sound systems, The Perfect Sound will give you plenty of tips on the type of equipment you should be considering. If you’re just interested in obsession, Hongo’s search for the perfect sound system shows that starkly! What kind of stereo system do you listen to? GRADE: A
Table of Contents
Preludio — 1
Part One The Perfect Sound — 11
Part Two I Started Out on Stereo — 55
Part Three Tubeworld, 1 — 127
Part Four Tubeworld, 2 — 163
Part Five It’s My Life — 209
Part Six Wandering Rocks, 1 — 255
Part Seven The First Amplifiers — 283
Part Eight Talking Heads and Singing Platters — 345
While I travel back to Buffalo on Delta Airlines, I’m sure you’ll be enjoying your favorite NFL team in action today. New seasons always open up with Hope. How will your team perform today?
I’ve read all eight novels in Genevieve Colman’s The InvisibleLibrary series. With The Untold Story (2021), the series is going on hiatus. Genevieve Cogman writes in her Acknowledgements, “I do have more ideas concerning Irene, and about the Library and its other inhabitants, and at some point they may get written. My next project is in a completely different area (involving vampires and the Scarlet Pimpernel and a hapless maidservant who’d rather be doing embroidery)… ” (p. 384)
In The Untold Story, Librarian and spy Irene Winter tries to solve some of the major mysteries that have persisted over the story arc of this series. Who set up the Library (and inter dimensional force for stability in the Universe)? Why was the greatest traitor in the Library’s history now trying to make a deal with Irene? Was there a conspiracy at the heart of the Library?
Irene, her lover Kai (who shifts between human and dragon mode), and a Sherlock Holmes clone, Peregrine Vale, attempt to solve the puzzles that have bedeviled them in the preceding volumes of The InvisibleLibrary series.
I’ve enjoyed this series with its quirky plots and characters. If you’re in the mood for mystery, adventure, and fantasy, this is the place to find it. Click on the previous titles to read my reviews. GRADE: B+
I’ve read all of John Creasey’s novels about Chief Inspector George Gideon of Scotland Yard (written under his “J. J. Marric” psuedonym). Although Creasey wrote hundreds of novels, Anthony Boucher called his Gideon’s Day Creasey’s best book. HFR Keating included Gideon’s Work in his 100 Best Crime and Mystery Books. The Mystery Writers of America awarded Creasey the Edgar for Best Novel for Gideon’s Fire.
Crippen & Landru surprised Creasey/Gideon fans with this new collection of Gideon short stories mostly published in the 1970s in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and uncollected until now. These short stories focus on Gideon’s ability to understand the crimes…and those committing the crimes. My favorite story in this collection is “Gideon and the Vintage Car Thefts.” Very clever!
Martin Edwards, fresh from finishing his monumental The Life of Crime (you can read my review here), provides an insightful “Introduction” to the George Gideon series. Francis M. Nevins’s “A Reflection on the Life of an Author” focuses on the man who wrote the Gideon series. Creasey’s son delivers some compelling insights about his father in his “Afterword.”
If you’re a John Creasey fan, don’t miss Gideon and the Young Toughs & Other Stories! GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction by Martin Edwards –3
Gideon and the Park Vandal –11
Gideon and the Drunken Sailor — 17
Gideon and the Teen-Age Hooligans — 23
Gideon and the Shoplifting Ring — 31
Gideon and the Pickpockets — 39
Gideon and the Young Toughs — 47
Gideon and the Pigeon — 55
Gideon and the Chestnut Vendor –63
Gideon and the Vintage Car Thefts — 71
Gideon and the Inside Job — 79
Gideon and the Flu Epidemic — 87
Gideon and the East End Gang — 93
Gideon and the Innocent Shoplifter –101
A Reflection on the Life of an Author By Francis M. Nevins –109
