It’s hard to believe Stark House has been publishing great crime and mystery paperbacks for 25 years. To celebrate their quarter century in publishing, Rick Ollerman and Gregory Shepard have assembled The Stark House Anthology. Check out the wonderful 30 stories in this book!

I’m hard pressed to pick favorites from these quality stories, but I really enjoyed “Chester Drum Takes Over” by Stephen Marlowe, a tale of murder and betrayal. Frank Kane’s “Sleep Without Dreams” involves Johnny Liddell in a deadly love triangle. Day Keene delivers a noir thriller in “The Geek-Girl.” I really liked Bill Pronzini’s story of a hit-man who finds himself hunted in “Night Games.”

The Stark House Anthology stands as a sterling example of the excellence Stark House maintained over its 25 years of publishing quality books by outstanding writers! Don’t miss this marvelous anthology! GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Stark House Press: The first 25 Years/Gregory Shepard — 7

Introduction/Rick Ollerman –10

1. Hangover/Charles Runyon — 13
2. A Matter of Balance/Peter Rabe — 24
3. Invitation to an Accident/Wade Miller — 35
4. The Tormented/James McKimmey — 48
5. Murderer #2/Jean Potts — 64
6. To Kill a Wife/Lionel White — 75
7. So Curse the Day/Jada M. Davis — 89
8. Art for Money’s Sake/Dan J. Marlowe — 198
9. Chester Drum Takes Over/Stephen Marlowe — 204
10. Sleep Without Dreams/Frank Kane — 216
11. The Memory Guy/228
12. Nothing in My Way/Orrie Hitt — 241
13. Preventive Medicine/Harry Whittington –250
14. Die, Darling, Die/Gil Brewer — 256
15. The Geek-Girl/Day Keene — 275
16. Woman Missing/Helen Nielsen –297
17. Backbite/Lorenz Heller writing as Fredrick Lorenz — 218
18. Angie/Ed Gorman — 323
19. Night Games/Bill Pronzini — 336
20. The Silent One/Fletcher Flora –343
21. Beware of the Dog/Fredric Brown — 349
22. Hit Me/Rick Ollerman — 354
23. Axe/Gregory Shepard — 370
24. Last Night at Skipper’s Lounge/Timothy J. Lockhart –378
25. Barbarians/Robert W. Chambers — 390
26. Politics Pays Best/E. Phillips Oppenheim — 402
27. Secretaries Make Such Nice Wives/A. S. Fleischman — 415
28. The Dead Man’s Eyes/Robert Silverberg –418
29. Disorderly/Barry N. Malzberg — 432
30. Instruction for Murder/Bruno Fischer — 436

While Jeff and Jackie Meyerson were enjoying the Santana concert at Jones Beach this weekend, I was watching Santana: Supernatural Live, a DVD from 2000. Santana also invited some “friends” to participate in this concert: Carter Before, Dave Matthews, Sarah McLachian, Everlast, Cee-Lo, Lauryn Hill, The Product G*B, Wayne Shorter, and Rob Thomas.

Supernatural celebrates its 25th Anniversary this year. “It reached No. 1 in eleven countries, including the US for 12 non-consecutive weeks, where it is certified 15× platinum. The first of six singles from the album, “Smooth” featuring Matchbox Twenty singer Rob Thomas, and co-written by Thomas and Itaal Shur, was a number one success worldwide and topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 12 weeks. The next, “Maria Maria“, featuring the Product G&B, was number one in the US for 10 weeks. Supernatural is Santana’s best-selling album to date, the best-selling album by a Hispanic artist in music history, and one of the best-selling albums of all time, selling an estimated 30 million copies worldwide.”–Wikipedia

Are you a Carlos Santana fan? Do you have a favorite Santana song? GRADE: A

TRACK LIST:

Well, this did not pass. Biden pulled out of the Presidential race and now Trump and J.D. Vance face Kamala Harris. With only 106 days to the Election, the clock is ticking on campaigning and finding undecided voters to sway.

I have no special insights into Biden’s decision, but I suspect the fact that Biden was behind Trump in all key seven Battleground States–Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin–had a lot to do with decision.

Now Trump is the oldest Presidential candidate–with some memory problems. J.D. Vance–who has done nothing in the Senate in 18 months–faces the blowback on his plans for a National Abortion Ban, his lack of support for Ukraine, his opposition for addressing Climate Change, his 2020 Election denialism, and his support for the January 6th “hostages.”

Is it too late for the Democrats to win in November? Who should Kamala Harris chose for her VP? Will Trump debate Kamala…or just insult her? GRADE: Obsolete

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction: A recognizable target

Reciprocity

Fire and forget

Trump determined to strike

The blue shift

The dark winter

The last line

Defeat and dishonor

Do the right thing

“How big can we go?”

Flat-ass stalled

A purely political exercise

Amateurs

Epilogue: A very important battleground

Pascal Bruckner believes that the threats of global warming, terrorism, wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and divisive politics motivate more and more people to retreat to the safety of their homes. However, Bruckner cites many of the costs of this retreat from public life: depression, increased suicides, drug addiction, isolation, and social atrophy.

The Pandemic lockdowns accelerated these trends. The home became a wired cocoon that discourages any travel to the outside world. The internet, Netflix, and home delivery of Take-Out food make withdrawal comfortable and appealing. “Countless people in France and other European countries no longer wish to return to the office…” (p. 4). Both Patrick and Katie work from home a couple days a week now. They only go into the office for meetings and Birthday Parties.

“Should we be surprised that the birth rate collapsed in 2020…” (p. 11) Now economic as well as cultural factors make raising a family a pricey proposition.

“Every exceptional person,” writes Nietzsche, “instinctively seeks out his fortress, his secrecy, where he is delivered from the crowd, the multitude, the majority where he is allowed to forget the rule of ‘humanity,’ being exception to it.” (p. 71)

With so many divisions in our country, Bruckner’s warnings that isolation could make things a lot worse in the long run provides plenty to think about. Do you feel isolated? GRADE: A

Table of Contents

Preface: The Oblomov Hypothesis — viii

Chapter 1: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse . . .  — 1

Chapter 2: The Bankruptcy of Eros? — 8

Chapter 3: Forbidden Travel? — 15

Chapter 4: Is a Banal Life Worth Living? — 24

Chapter 5: The Bovarysme of the Cell Phone –31

Chapter 6: Cave, Cell, and Bedroom — 36

Chapter 7: The Beauty of One’s Own Home — 43

Chapter 8: The Torments and Delights of a Life in Shackles — 49

Chapter 9: The Land of Sleep: Hypnos and Thanatos — 55

Chapter 10: Digital Wonderland or the Triumph of Slouching? — 61

Chapter 11: Diderot’s Dressing Gown — 73

Chapter 12: Those Who Have Deserted Modernity — 79

Chapter 13: Weather Sorrow — 87

Chapter 14: Existential Defeatism — 93

Chapter 15: The Extremists of Routine — 99

Conclusion: Fall or Transfiguration? — 104

Notes — 109

A little more than a year ago, I read the first volume of M. R. Carey’s “Pandominion” series, Infinity Gate (you can read my review here). Now there’s volume two in the series, Echo of Worlds. Carey presents a Universe at war–genocidal war. Two galactic empires are battling each other: the machine run the Ansurrection and the human Pandominion. Things look dire for human civilization because the intelligent machine civilization has technology vastly superior to that of us puny humans.

While billions of machines and humans battle it out across hundreds of planets, a group of mis-fits stand a slim chance of saving both colossal empires.

Let’s start with Hadiz Tambuwal, a brilliant scientist who currently exists only as an uploaded person–mostly she resides a a portable box. Hadiz’s best friend is Rupshe, “a massively powerful untethered AI,” friendly and protective to humans. Most of the planning and strategy of Echo of Worlds come from Hadiz and Rupshe.

Next comes two soldiers in Iron Man suits. The human Essien Nkanika deals with massive guilt. My favorite character is the feline Moon Sostenti, with her irreverent comments and constant anger. She’s a born killer. Finally we have Paz, a young female “lagomorph.” Paz lost about 25% of her brain in an explosion and has to deal with significant effects from her injuries. Paz’s AI companion, Dulcie, an ex-spy for the Ansurrection, is the most enigmatic character of the team.

Carey sets up a series of missions that might turn the tide of the war…if they were successful. Needless to say, there’s a lot of failed missions in Echo of Worlds. But Carey saves some surprises for the last part of this novel. Echo of Worlds is perfect for Summer Reading! GRADE: B+

From 1982 to 2004, TOR Books published 48 Conan pastiches (the complete list is here). I’ve read a couple dozen of those TOR Conan novels and found the quality to be uneven. But there seems to be agreement that one of the best pastiches in the TOR series was Conan and the Emerald Lotus (Nov. 1995) by John C. Hocking (check out rankings here).

After almost 20 years, John C. Hocking finally finished the sequel to Conan and the Emerald Lotus: Conan and the Living Plague (2020). Titan Books has brought out Conan and the Emerald Lotus and Conan and the Living Plague together in one large volume titled Conan: City of the Dead (2024).

Conan and the Emerald Lotus tells the tale of Conan and a beautiful, but addicted sorceress who travels to The Dragon’s Spine deep in the desert to get more magic power from the Emerald Lotus. Evil sorcerer Ethram-Fal’s stronghold in the badlands of ancient Stygia holds both the Emerald Lotus and deadly traps.

Conan and the Living Plague is a solid sequel to Conan and the Emerald Lotus. Conan is recruited by a weak nobleman to be part of a small mercenary force headed to the isolated mountain city of Dulcine. Dulcine is situated on a diamond mine and rumored to have colossal wealth. But, the city is filled with ghouls and a murderous entity created from dark magic. The mercenary force manage to enter the doomed city of Dulcine, but the terrors just begin. I really loved Hocking’s adding a dash of H. P. Lovecraft to the mix!

If you’re a fan of Conan the Barbarian, you’ll love Conan: City of the Dead. GRADE: A (for both)

On June 13, 2024, I posted about The Soul Story, Volume 2. Steve Oerkfitz liked the compilation and commented, “Probably the best one you have reviewed that I can recall.”

So to honor Steve after his untimely death, I offer this initial 2-CD set of the TIME-LIFE series. I would like to think Steve would have loved this compilation as much as he loved The Soul Story, Volume 2. GRADE: A

TRACK LIST:

Robert Hichens (1864-1959) was a prolific writer producing over 60 novels, a dozen short story collections, travel non-fiction, and plays. Several movies were made based on Hichens’s works, most prominently, Alfred Hitchcock’s THE PARADINE CASE (1947).

In his excellent “Introduction,” S. T. Joshi maps Hichens’s long writing career from decade to decade. Of the short stories included in The Folly of Eustace and Other Satires and Stories I was most affected by “The Lift.” A young man finds himself stuck in a stalled elevator with a middle-age woman who does not understand his language. The woman is married to a man who insults her and abuses her. The woman’s husband has threatened to kill her. The woman begs the young man for help, yet he thinks he’s helpless in this situation. The psychological aspects of the story are haunting.

Hichens’s stories always feature strong women. I also liked “A Boudoir Boy” where a 64-year-old woman entices a young man to teach her how to be “decadent.” A clever and satiric story!

If you’re looking for something different from a century ago, you might give The Folly of Eustace and Other Satires and Stories a try. You’ll be entertained and surprised! GRADE: B

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction by S. T. Joshi –7

The folly of Eustace — 13

The Two Fears — 33

The Lift — 38

The Last Time — 51

The Facade — 92

The Letter — 135

A Boudoir Boy — 181

The Piano — 192

The Worth While Man — 206

Bibliography — 222

I fell in love with Lucy Lawless when she showed up on my TV in  Xena: Warrior Princes. Now she plays PI Alexa Crowe, former detective of the Victoria Police Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) in My Life is Murder.

The fourth season consists of 8 episodes. If you’re in the mood for a “cozy” style of mystery, give My Life is Murder a try. I’ve only watched one episode so…GRADE: Incomplete but trend towards a B.

Dmitri Alperovitch is a member of a national security think tank. He is also cofounder of Crowdstrike, one of the world’s largest cybersecurity companies. Alperovitch believes China is preparing for a 2028 invasion of Taiwan. He provides the data that leads him to this conclusion.

Alperovitch suggests several strategies to prepare for this eventuality…and perhaps dissuade China from taking this world order destabilizing step. But we have to act quickly!

Alperovitch believes China plans the Taiwan invasion as a result of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Alperovitch’s analysis of the U.S. and NATO response to Putin’s actions only gives China incentives to prepare to conquer Taiwan. One way China might be deterred from their Taiwan plans is if Ukraine “wins” against Russia. If the U.S. and NATO can provide the weapons and resources for the Ukrainians to stop the Russian advances into their territory, China may re-think their Taiwan plans.

So far, both the U.S. and NATO have not done a good job providing the Ukrainians with the resources they need to resist Russian aggression. That leads China in believing if they attack Taiwan, the U.S. and its allies in the Pacific won’t support Taiwan enough to stop the Chinese invasion.

My favorite chapter in World on the Brink is Chapter 4: They Are Weaker Than We Think. Alperovitch’s analysis of Chinese politics and culture show significant problems. The major problem is China does not have advanced computer chips that make Western military weapons so sophisticated and and powerful. That could be a turning point in an attack on Taiwan if the island nation has better weaponry. Chinese leaders know that a long war could be a threat to their Government.

Alperovitch calculates that if the U.S. can keep its allies united, China will continue to procrastinate with their military plans. Also, if the U.S. can stay focused and avoid the gaffs committed in the past year with failures to supply Ukraine adequately, disaster might be avoided. What do you think? GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Prologue: A Dispatch from the Future 1

Introduction 13

Part I Cold War II, a New Era

Chapter 1 The Road to the Brink 31

Chapter 2 Distracted and Disoriented 67

Chapter 3 The Taiwan Dilemma 95

Chapter 4 They Are Weaker Than We Think 139

Chapter 5 We Are Stronger Than We Think 169

Part II A Game Plan for Victory

Chapter 6 Step One-Enable Innovation 191

Chapter 7 Step Two-Defend Innovation 257

Chapter 8 Step Three-Say Yes to Our Friends 299

Chapter 9 Step Four-Say No to Distractions 329

Conclusion 353

Acknowledgments 363

Source Notes 367