I can barely keep up with Charles Stross and his productivity. Recently, not one but two new Stross novels were published by TOR Books. The first, Escape From Yokai Land, features Bob Howard who is a key figure in Britain’s super-secret agency, The Laundry. The Laundry fights threats of the H. P. Lovecraft variety. In this adventure, Bob is sent to Japan to work with the Miyamoto Group to inspect the wards that lock down sites of danger. In this case, the yokai–traditional magical beings who can be mischievous and bizarre–break free and Bob faces a confrontation with a massively powerful pink yokai. GRADE: B

Charles Stross enjoys taking a break from the Laundry Files story arc to write books like Quantum of Nightmares set in the Laundry universe where magic is common…and deadly. Britain is ruled by a Prime Minister who is secretly an ancient Eldritch god with incredible powers.

Eve Starkey, head of a massive company–the Bigge Organzation–plans to enhance her powers. But Eve’s bohemian brother, Imp, and his crew of transhuman misfits have other ideas.

My favorite character is Mary MacCandless who uses her powers to babysit a group of magical children. Quantum of Nightmares is a wacky, wild screwball fantasy novel with plenty of laughs…and mayhem. GRADE: B+

E. C. R. Lorac was the pseudonym of Edith Caroline Rivett. The Lorac mysteries feature cunning plots and off-beat characters. Lorac’s Checkmate to Murder, published in 1944, possesses a war-time shroud over the murder of a local miser and the theft of his gold. The suspects are a civil servant and a government scientist who were playing chess next door to the miser’s house as an artist–occasionally watching the game–works on a portrait of an actor in the robes of a Cardinal. In the kitchen, the artist’s sister cooks and occasionally looks in on the men.

Inspector Macdonald of Scotland Yard investigates the murder but isn’t sure the Prime Suspect, the miser’s nephew who found the body, is the murderer. Unraveling the truth and solving the crime display all of Lorac’s talents at deception and distraction. Like a chess match, Lorac enters a battle of wits with the reader.

Martin Edwards’s excellent Introduction puts E. C. R. Lorac and her mysteries into perspective. GRADE: B+

This tribute album is dedicated to the memory of Rick Hall (1932-2018) the father of the Muscle Shoals Sound, and all of the great Singers, Songwriters, Musicians Engineers, Producers and Administrators who have helped continue the Muscle Shoals Sound over the years.

Various singers perform some of the iconic songs recorded at Muscle Shoals in 1960s and 1970s. There’s country (a lovely version of Gregg Allman’s “Come and Go Blues,” by Alison Krauss), blues (Grace Potter giving it her best shot on Etta James’s “I’d Rather Go Blind”), gospel (“Respect Yourself”–a natural for Mike Farris and The Blind Boys of Alabama), and soul (Eli “Paperboy” Reed’s very slow rendition of the great “Steal Away”).

And, of course, there are some misses like Kid Rock’s “Snatching It Back”–a far cry from Clarence Carter’s classic. And Aloe Blacc doesn’t come close to The Staple Singers version of “I’ll Take You There.”

I highly recommend the documentary about Muscle Shoals (you can read my review here).

All in all, Muscle Shoals: Small Town Big Sound is a mixed bag celebrating one of the great recording studios in America. Do you remember these songs? Do you have a favorite song that was recorded at Muscle Shoals? GRADE: B

TRACK LIST:

Just in time for Halloween, I found this 1994 vampire anthology, Love in Vein. Most of the stories feature a vampire (or two) although some writers throw in other creatures like ghouls.

My favorite story in Love in Vein is Charles de Lint’s “In This Soul of a Woman.” Nita, an “exotic dancer” in a night club, finds herself approached by a woman who calls herself Imogen. Imogen has an odd request for Nita…a matter of Life or Death.

I also liked Thomas F. Monteleone’s “Triptych di Amore” where a vampire drains geniuses like Mozart until she finds herself exposed and neutralized…until World War II. I also liked Gene Wolfe’s “Queen of the Night” but felt like it was a fragment from a much longer and involving story.

Are you a fan of vampire stories? GRADE: B

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction / Poppy Z. Bright — vii

• Do not hasten to bid me adieu / Norman Partridge — 1
• Geraldine / Ian McDowell — 25
• In the greenhouse / Kathe Koja and Barry N. Malzberg — 55
• Cafe endless: Spring rain / Nancy Holder — 63
• Empty vessels / David B. Silva — 79
• The final fete of Abba Adi / Jessica Amanda Salmonson — 101
• Cherry / Christa Faust — 121
• White chapel / Douglas Clegg — 137
• Delicious antique whore / Wilum H. Pugmire — 169
• Tiptych di Amore / Thomas F. Monteleone — 173
• Queen of the night / Gene Wolfe — 209
• The marriage / Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem — 227
• In this soul of a woman / Charles de Lint — 237
• The alchemy of the throat / Brian Hodge — 259
• Love me forever / Mike Baker — 289
• And the horses hiss at midnight / A.R. Morlan — 309
• Elixir / Elizabeth Engstrom — 319
• The gift of Neptune / Danielle Willis — 337
• From hunger / Wayne Allen Sallee — 345
• A slow red whisper of sand / Robert Devereaux — 363

Nice Work If You Can Get It, a screw-ball musical “inspired by P. G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton” set in the Prohibition Era, blends romantic entanglements and great Gershwin music.

Renee Landrigan, a local actor who will remind you of Carole Lombard, plays bootlegger Billie Bendix. Marc Sacco plays a Bertie Wooster clone, Jimmy Winter, who is about to get married for the fourth time. Meanwhile, the local police and the Feds are surrounding the Long Island beach house where all the shenanigans take place, looking for 400 cases of illegal gin.

The silly plot serves to provide two dozen musical numbers, comedic riffs, and plenty of tap dancing around the stage. The sold out theater audience enjoyed the laughs, music, and frivolity Nice Work If You Can Get It served up with zest and fun! Are you a Gershwin fan? How many of these Gershwin songs do you remember. GRADE: B+

It’s hard to believe the Buffalo Bills (3-1) are 14-point favorites over the Pittsburgh Steelers (1-3) despite the lengthy list of injured players. Although the weather at Highmark Stadium projects to be benign–54 degrees and sunny–the winds off Lake Erie could present a problem to passers. The Steelers claim they’re going to start rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett which strikes me as a panic move. Head Coach Sean McDermott has an 8-3 record against rookie QBs. How will your favorite NFL team do today?

Andor is a 12 episode series that’s a prequel to the Star Wars spin-off film Rogue One (2016). This Disney+ series follows thief-turned-Rebel spy Cassian Andor during the five years leading up to the events of Rogue One.

I’ve only watched the five episodes available–a new episode is released each week. The first episode was slow. The second episode picked up some speed. Finally, things got rolling in the third episode. Basically, Andor provides the backstory to the Rebel Alliance that will topple the Empire in future Star Wars movies.

If you’re a Star Wars fan, you’ll put up with the slow start and enjoy the faster-moving events of the later episodes. If you’re not a Star Wars fan you can safely ignore this series. GRADE: Incomplete

This Puffin Books 2018 collection of stories about The Doctor’s companions feature four of the clever women who manage to avert disaster in The Doctor’s Life.

“Sarah Jane and the Temple of Eyes,” set in the time of the Roman Empire, presents a puzzle of why people suddenly are afflicted with blindness. A mysterious female cult factors into the plot. GRADE: B

My favorite story in this collection is “Rose and the Snow Window” by Jenny T. Colgan. Jenny Colgan, one of Diane’s favorite romance writers, has also written a lot of Doctor Who stories over the years, too. When The Doctor investigates a Time Anomaly, it sends Rose on an adventure that blends Russian aristocrats, sweet romance, and Time problems into a thrilling tale. GRADE: A

 “Clara and the Maze of Cui Palta” takes the arrogant Doctor–who claims he can solve any maze–into a mind-bending maze where Clara and The Doctor may be lost forever! Very suspenseful! GRADE: B+

“Bill and the Three Jackets” by Dorothy Koomson revolves around the situation that Bill’s got herself another date and she wants to really dress up for this special occasion. Bill goes to try on three jackets, but finds herself getting far more than she bargained for.  I found this the weakest of the four stories. GRADE: C+

If you’re a Doctor Who fan and enjoy the various companions, Doctor Who: The Day She Save The Doctor will delight you.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Sarah Jane and the temple of eyes / Jacqueline Rayner — 7

Rose and the snow window / Jenny T. Colgan — 19

Clara and the maze of Cui Palta / Susan Calman — 105

Bill and the three jackets / Dorothy Koomson — 145

“When I was 18 years old, I went on the road with my dad after I graduated from high school. And we were riding on the tour bus one day, kind of rolling through the south, and he mentioned a song. We started talking about songs, and he mentioned one, and I said, I don’t know that one. And he mentioned another. I said, I don’t know that one either, Dad. And he became very alarmed that I didn’t know what he considered my own musical genealogy. And I was very steeped in pop and rock music, and I grew up in Southern California. So he spent the rest of the afternoon making a list for me. And at the end of the day, he said, this is your education. And across the top of the page, he wrote 100 essential country songs. The list might have been better titled “100 Essential American Songs” because it was very comprehensive. He covered every critical point in Southern and American music, early folk songs, protest songs, Delta blues, Southern gospel, early country music, Appalachian. Everything that fed into modern country music was on that list. So his overview was really of a musicologist but formed by his instincts, you know, and just the rhythm in his own blood. So I realized when he gave me the list at the age of 18 that this was an important document, and I set about learning these songs. But it took me, I think, until now to realize that he was really giving me himself, a part of his heart and soul.”

So far as I know, that entire list has never been revealed. But, in 2009, Rosanne Cash decided to record 12 of the songs on Johnny Cash’s list. And Rosanne has help: Bruce Springsteen on “Sea of Heartbreak,” Elvis Costello on “Heartaches by the Number,” Jeff Tweedy on “Long Black Veil,” and Rufus Wainwright on “Silver Wings.” How many of these classic songs do you know? I’m very curious about the other songs on The List. GRADE: B+

Track listing: