I’m a big fan of Steeger Books, the reprint publisher known for bringing back pulp fiction to a contemporary audience of readers. A couple weeks ago, Steeger Books had their Summer Sale and I bought a Murray Leinster classic, Masters of Darkness (you can read my review here) and the book I’m reviewing today: The Twisted Trap.

Like many of you, I bought those “M.E. Chaber” paperbacks with the glorious Robert McGinnis covers from the early 1970s. Now, Steeger Books has reprinted the entire series–sadly, without the McGinnis covers–but in affordable, attractive formats.

For the first time in book form, the Steeger Books edition of The Twisted Trap brings stories of Milo March which were long unavailable. March is an insurance investigator (and sometime secret agent) who attracts danger. My favorite story in The Twisted Trap is “The Jelly Roll Heist” where a belly dancer has a precious ruby stolen right out of her navel–an interesting trick!

If you’re a Milo March fan, you’ll want to read The Twisted Trap. I’m also tempted to go back and read some of March’s adventures in novel form. GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• FOREWORD: THE MILO MARCH STORIES By Kendra Crossen Burroughs — 7
• “The Jelly Roll Heist.” A series of thefts in Denver has the insurance executives biting their nails. Judging by the loss of a belly dancer’s navel gem, it looks like a seducer is preying on ladies with sparkly things. Or is there a more sinister gang behind it? — 13
• “Hair the Color of Blood.” Milo’s on vacation at a swank Santa Monica hotel when he hears a scream. He rushes to save the damsel in distress, and the next thing he knows, he’s waking up in bed with the naked body of a red-haired corpse! — 55
• “The Hot Ice Blues.” A new jewel robbery occurs every night, while Milo sits around playing Dixieland platters with a real gone chick. Is the insurance company’s star investigator really goofing off? — 81
• “Murder for Madame.” Someone swipes a worthless box, tossing aside the costly pearl necklace that was inside. Now four people are desperate to retrieve the box―five if you count Milo, who can’t resist trying to figure out why. — 123
• “The Red, Red Flowers.” Major March, U.S. Army Reserve, is sent undercover to Moscow, where a captured American U-2 pilot is on trial. As usual, Milo has no plan but makes it up as he goes along. He will have mere moments to retrieve a coded message and snatch the pilot from the Communists’ hands—but things don’t go exactly as expected. — 171
• “The Twisted Trap.” Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you. A wealthy old policyholder claims that his sexy young wife and her psychiatrist lover have teamed up to poison him with a drug that mimics the symptoms of madness. If he should die “accidentally” as a result of this condition, his wife will get an enormous life insurance payout. Having escaped from a sanatorium, the old man insists that Milo must rescue him. But doing so may cost Milo his own sanity! — 215
• Other Stories by Kendall Foster Crossen: An Annotated List — 245
• About the Author — 253

Back in 2023, Wednesday was the series with the highest ratings on Netflix. The 8-episodes featured the surly Wednesday Addams–based on Charles Addams classic cartoons that originally appeared in a series of 150 standalone single-panel comics, about half of which were originally published in The New Yorker between 1938 and Charles Addams death in 1988– dealing with the dangers of Nevermore Academy, a school for “Outcasts” like vampires, werewolves, and sirens. Wednesday was just learning how to deal with her power: visions.

While Wednesday nearly loses her life in Season One, her return to Nevermore plunges her right into a series of killings caused by “a murder of crows.” Netflix dropped four of the eight episodes on August 6 with the final four episodes being released on September 3rd. The Wednesday cast–Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams, Emma Myers as Enid Sinclair, and Joy Sunday as Bianca Barclay with other returning regulars including Steve Buscemi as Barry Dort, Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia Addams, Luis Guzmán as Gomez Addams, Isaac Ordonez as Pugsley Addams–is already in Ireland filming Season Three. If you’re a fan of the Addams Family, you’ll enjoy this new series! GRADE: Incomplete…but trending towards a B+

Anthony Gottlieb is the executive editor of The Economist so his history of philosophy from the beginning to the Renaissance aims at enlightening the general reader. This isnot an academic book. Its aim is to explain the ideas of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle to the intelligent reader. A surprising number (to me) of philosophers were killed because of their ideas. Still more philosophers, like Cato, committed suicide rather an repudiate their ideas because the Government or Church didn’t like them. Others like Galileo, were threatened with death unless they “changed their opinions.” After reading a book like The Dream of Reason, I always come away with new respect for the power of ideas. If you’re interested in philosophy, this is a good place to start. GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction p. vii
• Acknowledgements p. x
• Part 1
• 1 The Archetypes: the Milesians p. 3
• 2 The Harmony of the World: the Pythagoreans p. 21
• 3 The Man Who Searched for Himself: Heraclitus p. 41
• 4 The Truth about Nothing: Parmenides p. 52
• 5 The Ways of Paradox: Zeno p. 65
• 6 Love and Strife: Empedocles p. 73
• 7 Mind and Matter: Anaxagoras p. 84
• 8 He Who Laughs Last: Democritus p. 94
• 9 Opening Pandora’s Box: the Sophists p. 109
• Part 2
• 10 Philosophy’s Martyr: Socrates and the Socratics p. 131
• 11 The Republic of Reason: Plato p. 169
• 12 The Master of Those Who Know: Aristotle p. 220
• Part 3
• 13 Three Roads to Tranquillity: Epicureans, Stoics and Sceptics p. 283
• 14 The Haven of Piety: From Late Antiquity to the Renaissance p. 346
• Notes p. 432
• Index p. 457

While I’m a fan of David Mamet’s play, Glengarry Glen Ross (which won a Pulitzer Prize) and his screenplays for The Verdict and Wag the Dog, it’s sad to see a bright guy like Mamet drink the Trump Kool-Aid and join the MAGA movement.

Back in 2022 Mamet’s decline started with Recessional: The Death of Free Speech and the Cost of a Free Lunch (you can read my review here). Then in 2024, there was EVERYWHERE AN OINK OINK (you can read my review here). The Disenlightenment: Politics, Horror, and Entertainment (2025) completes the trip to the darkest rings of Hell for Mamet.

But amid the ranting about the dangers of Liberal America and how great Trump is, Mamet includes nuggets like this: “To excuse his invasion of Poland in 1939, Hitler dressed a company German convicts in Polish uniforms, trucked them to the border, shot them, and announced that Poland had tried to invade Germany. With our knowledge of his subsequent monstrosities, we might see this charade as quaint. ” (p. 113)

Mamet comments on college protestors for Gaza this way: “But the gays for Hamas would be killed in Hamas-controlled territory, and the feminists doing so would be killed, as would any Westerners. What, then are the enlightened voting for? For representatives to offer them the thrill of social protest. If this isn’t entertainment, I miss my guess. But it is a costly entertainment.” (p. 89)

When Mamet occasionally writes about the theater in The Disenlightenment some of his assertions can be thought-provoking: “A play benefits from an intermission. All young directors want to improve an evening by doing away with the intermission. (Other directorial apercus are limited to ‘do it in street clothes,’ ‘on a bare stage,’ ‘in a different period,’ or ‘change the gender of the roles.’ All these are moot, as the audience cares as little of these as for change the hat of the campfire storyteller). But the audience benefits from an intermission. They are allowed a chance to wonder and prognosticate the progress of the next act.” (p. 95)

Reading about how all our problems are the result of Biden’s policies and Democratic/Liberal thinking while Trump is the only one who can save us gets tedious fast. I’m done with reading Mamet’s essays on politics. GRADE: D (for dismal)

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Open City—an Introduction — 1
2. Box Jumper — 5
3. The Kennedys — 9
4. The Shill — 19
5. The Springbok — 24
6. The Bally and the Tip — 32
7. No Coups in England — 36
8. “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes” — 42
9. Road Trip — 49
10. Hypothermia — 53
11. Decision Height — 57
12. Dese Dem Dose — 62
13. Come Smoke a Coca-Cola — 65
14. The Temp Score and the Look Back — 70
15. The Generation of the Desert — 73
16. Intersectionality — 77
17. “The Poor Are Always with Us” Explained — 84
18. The Zero Point — 90
19. Woody Allen and the IDF — 101
20. Armageddon –105
21. Firewall — 111
22. Upstage of the Couch — 115
23. The Hangman’s Rope — 121
24. Failing Up and Down — 128
25. The Benjamins — 137
26. Lesbians and Whaling — 140
27. Some Maxims of Napoleon — 144
28. Stonewall — 155
29. Herman Melville and the Jews — 158
30. Motherless Children — 162
31. Song of Praise — 165
32. Bartenders’ Guide: The Shirley Temple and the Molotov — 168
33. Munchausen by Proxy — 171
34. My Romance — 177
35. Oklahoma — 182
36. What Shall We Give the Sun God? — 187
37. Maverick — 192
38. Carmen Miranda and the Panama Canal — 196
39. The Farmhouse — 207
40. The Wheel — 213
41. The Bus Station — 217
42. Gandhi N’ Me — 221
43. Inherit the Wind — 224
44. The New Zealander — 228
45. The Long Way Around the Barn — 234
46. Acknowledgments — 239

I’ve been a Buffalo Bills fan since 1960–I was 11 years old. The team is 65 years old and has had some success…and lots of failure. Until present Head Coach Sean McDermott arrived in 2017, the Buffalo Bills missed the Playoffs 17 years in a row! But, the loyal Bills fans stuck with the team. Now many fans think This Might Be the Year the Bills Make It to the Super Bowl. The five straight years of winning the AFC East has led to the Bills being the focus of this year’s Hard Knocks series. An episode will air every Tuesday night on HBO MAX until the Bills take on the Ravens in Highmark Stadium for Week 1 to kick off the 2025 NFL regular season.

Episode 1 delivered a fun look at the Bills Training Camp at St. John Fisher University in Rochester, NY. There were both serious and silly moments. The serious moment came when First Round Pick Max Hairston fell to the ground with what would later be diagnosed as a LCL strain. Hairston will be week-to-week.

The silly stuff featured Dawson Knox’s beautiful wife packing his travel bag for Training Camp. And A.J. Epenesa–Bills Defensive End–with an 11-foot snake he captured.

This week’s episode will probably concern running back James Cook who is holding out for a new contract. Are you a fan of Hard Knocks? GRADE: Incomplete, but treading towards an A.

• Episode 1: Aug. 5 at 9 p.m. ET

• Episode 2: Aug. 12 at 9 p.m. ET

• Episode 3: Aug. 19 at 9 p.m. ET

Episode 4: Aug. 26 at 9 p.m. ET

I’m a sucker for books by successful writers who share some of their wisdom and secrets. STEERING THE CRAFT: A TWENTY-FIRST-CENTURY GUIDE TO SAILING THE SEA OF STORY has gone through several iterations, but this 2015 edition presents a comprehensive–although brief–presentation of Le Guin’s thoughts about writing.

I really like Le Guin’s approach which stressing finding your own voice and style. And, according to Le Guin, you develop your voice and style by writing–of course–and reading. Here’s list of Ursula Le Guin’s favorite books:

Ursula K. Le Guin recommends:

(How many of these books have you read?)

1		The Hobbit, or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien
2		Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
3		Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
4		Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre
5		A Writer’s Diary by Virginia Woolf
6		All the Names by José Saramago
7		Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
8		The Works of William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
9		The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke by Rainer Maria Rilke  4.36 avg rating — 17,006 ratingsscore: 178, and 2 people voted
10		Shelley: Poems (Everyman’s Library Pocket Poets Series) by Percy Bysshe Shelley
10		The Complete Poems by John Keats
12		The Waste Land and Other Poems by T.S. Eliot
13		Crazy Weather by Charles L. McNichols
14		Robert Frost’s Poems by Robert Frost
15		The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
16		Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy	Want to ReadRate this book1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
17		The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
18		The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
19		Moments of Being: A Collection of Autobiographical Writing by Virginia Woolf
20		A Room of One’s Own / Three Guineas by Virginia Woolf
20		Embassytown by China Miéville
22		Persuasion by Jane Austen
23		Jane Austen: Complete Novels by Jane Austen	Want to ReadRate this book1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
24		Seeing by José Saramago
25		The Cave by José Saramago
26		The Stone Raft by José Saramago
27		The Elephant’s Journey by José Saramago
28		Bleak House by Charles Dickens
29		Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
30		Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
31		Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
32		The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats by W.B. Yeats
33		The Complete Poems by Thomas Hardy
34		The Complete Poems by Emily Brontë
35		On the Nature of Things by Lucretius
36		The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
37		Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin
38		The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard
39		Little Big Man by Thomas Berger
40		Middlemarch by George Eliot
41		Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
42		Kim by Rudyard Kipling
43		Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
44		The Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling
45		The Day’s Work by Rudyard Kipling
46		War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
47		The Jump-Off Creek by Molly Gloss
48		The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss
49		Falling from Horses by Molly Gloss
50		Roughing It by Mark Twain
51		Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain
52		The Collected Poems of A. E. Housman by A.E. Housman
53		At the Mouth of the River of Bees: Stories by Kij Johnson
54		Islandia by Austin Tappan Wright
55		Carmen Dog by Carol Emshwiller
56		The Fountain by Charles Morgan

Ursula Le Guin died in 2018, but she left a legacy of wonderful books. Steering the Craft is one of them. GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction ix

1 The Sound of Your Writing 1

2 Punctuation and Grammar 11

3 Sentence Length and Complex Syntax 20

4 Repetition 36

5 Adjectives and adverbs 43

6 Verbs: Person and Tense 47

7 Point of View and Voice 61

8 Changing Point of View 87

9 Indirect Narration, or What Tells 94

10 Crowding and Leaping 117

Appendix: The Peer Group Workshop 127

Glossary 136

Exercises

1 Being Gorgeous 8

2 Am I Saramago 18

3 Short and Long 32

4 Again and Again and Again 41

5 Chastity 45

6 The Old Woman 58

7 Points of View 71

8 Changing Voices 89

9 Telling It Slant 97

10 A Terrible Thing to Do 124

The perfect time to listen to Yacht Rock music is mid-Summer! Many critics compare Yacht Rock to Easy Listening music, but I would argue the quality of Yacht Rock music is a cut above. Some consider Steely Dan’s music of the 1970s the beginning of Yacht Rock. There’s no doubt that Michael McDonald is a key player in the genre. The same goes for Kenny Loggins.

The groups most closely associated with Yacht Rock music are Toto, Poco, Pablo Cruise, 10cc, Chicago, REO Speedwagon, and Air Supply.

Are you a fan of Yacht Rock? Do you remember these songs? Any favorites here? GRADE: B+ (for both)

TRACK LIST YACHT ROCK 1:

A1	Chuck Mangione–	Feels So Good Written-By – Chuck Mangione	3:30
A2	Toto–	Africa Written-By – David Paich, Jeffrey Porcaro*	4:23
A3	Kenny Loggins–	This Is It Written-By – Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald	3:37
A4	Little River Band–	Cool Change Written-By – Glenn Shorrock	4:49
B1	Peter Frampton–	Baby, I Love Your Way (Live) Written-By – Peter Frampton	4:41
B2	Player (4)–	Baby Come Back Written-By – J.C. Crowley, Peter Beckett	4:01
B3	Looking Glass–	Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl) Written-By – Elliot Lurie	3:06
B4	Rupert Holmes–	Escape (The Piña Colada Song) Written-By – Rupert Holmes	4:34
C1	Bobby Caldwell–	What You Won’t Do For Love Written-By – Alfons Kettner, Bobby Caldwell	4:45
C2	Climax Blues Band–	Couldn’t Get It Right Written-By – Colin Cooper, Derek Holt, John Cuffley, Pete Haycock, Richard Jones (10)	3:18
C3	Ace (7)–	How Long Written-By – Paul Carrack	3:21
C4	Gino Vannelli–	I Just Wanna StopWritten-By – Ross Vannelli	3:37
C5	Dave Mason–	We Just Disagree Written-By – Jim Krueger	3:01
D1	Poco (3)–	Crazy Love Written-By – Rusty Young	2:51
D2	The Ozark Mountain Daredevils–	Jackie Blue Written-By – Larry M. Lee*, Steve Cash	3:34
D3	Pablo Cruise–	Love Will Find A Way Written-By – Cory Lerios, David Jenkins	4:08
D4	10cc–	I’m Not In Love Written-By – Eric Stewart, Graham Gouldman	3:43
D5	Dan Fogelberg–	Longer Written-By – Dan Fogelberg	3:14

TRACK LIST YACHT ROCK 2:

A1	Kenny Loggins Featuring Stevie Nicks–	Whenever I Call You “Friend”Written-By – Kenny Loggins, Melissa Manchester
A2	Michael McDonald–	I Keep Forgettin’ (Every Time You’re Near) Written-By – Ed Sanford, Jerry Leiber, Michael McDonald, Mike Stoller
A3	Gerry Rafferty–	Baker Street Written-By – Gerry Rafferty
A4	Chicago (2)–	If You Leave Me Now Written-By – Peter Cetera
B1	REO Speedwagon–	Keep On Loving You Written-By – Kevin Cronin
B2	Air Supply–	All Out Of Love Written-By – Clive Davis, Graham Russell (2)
B3	Eric Carmen–	All By Myself Written-By – Eric Carmen
B4	Paul Davis (3)–	I Go Crazy Written-By – Paul Davis (3)
B5	Toto–	I’ll Be Over You Written-By – Randy Goodrum, Steve Lukather
C1	Little River Band–	Reminiscing Written-By – Graham George Goble*
C2	Seals & Crofts–	Summer Breeze Written-By – Dash Crofts, James Seals
C3	Gordon Lightfoot–	Sundown Written-By – Gordon Lightfoot
C4	Elvin Bishop–	Fooled Around And Fell In Love Written-By – Elvin Bishop
D1	Atlanta Rhythm Section–	So Into You Written-By – Perry Carlton Buie*, Dean Daughtry, Robert Lafayette Nix*
D2	Walter Egan–	Magnet And Steel Written-By – Walter Egan
D3	Exile (7)–	Kiss You All Over (1986 Version) Written-By – Michael Chapman*, Nicky Chinn
D4	Captain And Tennille–	Love Will Keep Us Together Written-By – Howard Greenfield, Neil Sedaka
D5	Santana–	Hold On Written by Ian Thomas

If you look closely at the cover above, you’ll notice this 1955 AVON Books paperback sold for 25 cents. AVON publishes a number of paperback collections of The Saint stories. From time to time, I dip into a stack of paperbacks featuring The Saint. The Saint, (aka, Simon Templar) is an adventurer and modern day Robin Hood. Many of these stories feature The Saint righting wrongs in clever ways.

My favorite story in The Saint Cleans Up is “The Charitable Countess” where an arrogant Countess challenges The Saint to steal her diamond neckless. You can guess how that turned out!

I also liked “The Arrow of God” where a rich man dies from being stabbed with a beach umbrella. All the suspects–including The Saint–found the rich man a boor and all had motives to kill him. But The Saint unravels the case with aplomb. If you’re in the mood for some entertaining, clever mystery stories, just read The Saint collections. Are you a fan of The Saint? GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

The green goods man — 7

The charitable countess — 26

The mugs game — 51

The unkind philanthropist — 75

The arrow of God — 102

The trailer for Music Box: Yacht Rock, A Dockumentary (above) explains what “Yacht Rock” is. You’ll be familiar with most of the songs featured in this one hour and 35 minute tribute to the mellow music of the 1970s and 1980s.

“Yacht rock is a subgenre of soft rock that emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s, characterized by its smooth, sophisticated sound, polished production, and influences from jazz, R&B, and funk. It’s often associated with a laid-back, breezy vibe, evoking images of relaxing on yachts or enjoying sunny California coastlines. While it’s sometimes considered a subset of soft rock, yacht rock is distinguished by its higher production quality, sophisticated arrangements, and focus on melody and musicianship. “

Music Box: Yacht Rock, A Dockumentary includes snippets of interviews and performances of Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross, Steely Dan, Steve Lukather, Toto, David Paich, Steve Porcaro, Brenda Russell, Jay Graydon, David Pack, Tom Scott, Gary Katz, JD Ryznar, Steve “Hollywood” Huey, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Thundercat, Mac DeMarco, Prince Paul, Brian Robert Jones, Bethany Cosentino, Fred Armisen, Steven Hyden, Amanda Petrusich, Alex Pappademas, Jason King, Molly Lambert, Rob Tannenbaum

Check out the compilation Yacht Rock CDs on Thursday, August 7, 2025. GRADE: A

“A moment of reckoning has arrived for the West. The loss of national ambition and interest in the potential of science and technology, and resulting decline of government innovation across sectors, from medicine to space travel to military software, have created an innovation gap.” (p. xiii)

Alexander C. Karp, CEO of tech company Palantir (palantíri are powerful, magical stones that allow users to see and communicate across vast distances.  These stones, also known as “seeing stones,” were created by the Elves and given to the Numenoreans in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings) sees plenty of problems for the U.S.–and this was before Trump took power and Elon took a chainsaw to Government agencies. Cuts in research and technology place our country at a disadvantage to the more advanced and focused Chinese. The race to master Artificial Intelligence slips away from us.

Karp defends his decision to use Palantir to provide advanced weapons systems for the Department of Defense (where Microsoft and GOOGLE refused). Future wars will be fought with drones and robots. AI will direct combat operations. And the better AI will win more battles.

The Technological Republic predicts a grim future for the U.S. and the world. The World Order that kept the Peace post-WWII is breaking down and an invasion of Taiwan in 2027 by China looks likely. What do you think? GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Preface — xiii PART I The Software Century — 1 Lost Valley — 3 Two Sparks of Intelligence — 16
The Winners Fallacy — 29
End of the Atomic Age — 37
Part II
The Hollowing Out of the American Mind — 55 The Abandonment of Belief — 57
Technological Agnostics — 69
A Balloon Cut Loose — 83
“Flawed Systems” — 97
Lost in Toyland — 103 Part III The Engineering Mindset — 113
The Eck Swarm — 115
The Improvisational Startup — 122
The Disapproval of the Crowd — 130
Building a Better Rifle — 139

A Cloud or a Clock — 156
Part IV
Rebuilding the Technological Republic — 169 Into the Desert — 171
The Next Thousand Years — 190
An Aesthetic Point of View — 205
Acknowledgments — 219
Notes — 221
Bibliography — 261
Art Credits — 285
Index — 287