Generous Rick Robinson sent me the first five volumes of the SECRET AGENT “X” series published by Altus Press. I love pulp fiction and these wild adventures soar above many stories from that era. From 1934 to 1939, 41 issues of SECRET AGENT “X” were published. Altus Press is reprinting the entire series in nine deluxe volumes. Tom Johnson’s informative Introduction provides a clear history of the series. The text has been completely reset and all of the interior illustrations have been remastered. I’ve only read Volume One (542 pages!), but I can’t wait to read the rest of the series! If you’re looking for thrill-a-minute reading, SECRET AGENT “X” provides that in spades! GRADE: A-
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction By Tom Johnson i
The Torture Trust 1
The Spectral Strangler 117
The Death Torch Terror 255
Ambassador of Doom 399

At the Shaw Festival, Brian Friel’s play about an Irish family dealing with dysfunction and the Great Depression is a mixed bag. The family is made up of five sisters who squabble a lot. The “glue” that keeps the family together is Kate, a teacher at the local Catholic school. She provides most of the income for the family. Katie’s younger sister, Christina, had an illegitimate child (who functions as a narrator). Katie’s other younger sister, Rose, has mental issues. Their older brother, Father Jack, spent 20 years as a missionary priest in Africa, but is sent home to Ireland because he “went native” and is suffering from malaria. Maggie, the most energetic and fun-loving sister, provides the narrator with riddles and the audience with her spontaneous humor and dancing.

As you can see, this struggling family fights against difficult odds. A movie version of Dancing at Lughnasa featured Meryl Streep as Kate and Michael Gambon as Father Jack. Be prepared for sadness and tragedy if you decide to see Dancing at Lughnasa. GRADE: B+

Last night, Diane and I went to the Steely Dan concert at the sold-out Shea’s Performing Arts Center. Of course, we saw only half of Steely Dan because Walter Becker died on September 3, 2017. Mid-way through the concert, Donald Fagan (the surviving half of Steely Dan) did a tribute to his friend. Donald Fagan performed with the Steely Dan Band: eight musicians and three lovely backup singers. Not a lot of chit-chat (fine by me!). They just played the hits I grew up with. Do you have a favorite Steely Dan song? GRADE: A-
SET LIST:
Fan It, Janet
Black Cow
Green Flower Street (Donald Fagen song)
Aja
Hey Nineteen
New Frontier (Donald Fagen song)
Rikki Don’t Lose That Number
Time Out of Mind
Book of Liars (Walter Becker song)
Black Friday
Dirty Work
Bodhisattva
I Want To (Do Everything for You) (Joe Tex cover)
Josie
Peg
My Old School
Reelin’ In The Years

Encore:
Kid Charlemagne
The Untouchables

Steve Oerkfitz recommended this 50th Anniversary Special Edition Blu-ray so I went out and bought it. Steve is right! This new edition is superior to the other DVD and Blu-ray versions I own of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (1966). It’s one of my favorite movies of all time. And, this package is full of great Special Features! Check them out. What’s your favorite Clint Eastwood movie? GRADE: A
Special Features:

Disc 1:
– 4K transfer of the Original U.S. Theatrical Cut Available for the first time in HD
– New Audio Commentary by Film Historian Tim Lucas
– Trailers From Hell with Ernest Dickerson
– Newly Restored 2.0 Mono Audio
– Restored 1967 UA Logo
– Alternate Scene: The Optical Flip
– Deleted Scene 1: Skeletons in the Desert
– Deleted Scene 2: Extended Torture Scene
– GBU on the: animated behind-the-scenes image gallery
– Promoting GBU: Posters & Lobby Cards animated image gallery
– Sergio Leone Westerns: Original Theatrical Trailers
– Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
– English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Audio
– Reversible Art

Disc 2:
– 4K transfer of the Extended Cut
– Newly Restored 2.0 Mono Audio
– Audio Commentary by Film Historian Richard Schickel
– Audio Commentary By Noted Cultural Historian Sir Christopher Frayling
– Leone’s West: Making Of Documentary (19:55)
– Il Maestro: Ennio Morricone and GBU Featurette Part 1 (7:48)
– Il Maestro: Ennio Morricone and GBU Featurette Part 2 (12:26)
– The Leone Style: On Sergio Leone Featurette (23:48)
– The Man Who Lost The Civil War: Civil War Documentary (14:24)
– Reconstruction GBU (11:09)
– Deleted Scene 1: Extended Tuco Torture scene (7:15)
– Deleted Scene 2: The Socorro Sequence – A Reconstruction (3:02)
– Vignette 1: Uno, Due, Tre (0:40)
– Vignette 2: Italian Lunch (0:43)
– Vignette 3: New York Accent (0:09)
– Vignette 4: Gun in Holster (0:58)
– Original U.S. Theatrical Trailer
– Original French Theatrical Trailer
– English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Audio
– Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono

THE GOOD:
1. Getting hugged by Louise Penny!
2. Attending some great panels:
THURSDAY: 1:00 P.M. 2:00 P.M. Grand West Best Paperback Original Meet your Best PBO Anthony nominees Patricia Abbott, Eric Beetner, Matt Coyle (M), Jess Lourey, Jay Stringer, Jim Ziskin

2:30 P.M. 3:30 P.M. Sheraton B So Many Books, So Little Time How to determine what to read, what to read next, and shelving tips Robin Agnew (M), Bill Crider, Marvin Lachman, June Lorraine Roberts, Peter Sellers

5:30 P.M. 6:30 P.M Grand Centre Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine is Honoured Celebrating 75 years of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, featuring an interview with Janet Hutchings, and vignettes from many contributors. Host – Art Taylor Art Taylor, Janet Hutchings, Laura Benedict, Jill D. Block, Michael Bracken, Dana Cameron, Bill Crider, Brendan DuBois, Lee Goldberg, Richard Helms, Marvin Lachman, Josh Pachter, Twist Phelan, Naben Ruthnum, Jennifer Soosar, Steve Steinbock, Marilyn Todd

FRIDAY: 10:00 A.M. 11:00 A.M. Grand Centre Three Good Friends: Three classy women just having a chat Rhys Bowen, Deborah Crombie, Louise Penny

2:00 P.M. 3:00 P.M. Grand Centre Best Short Story Meet your Short Story Anthony nominees Megan Abbott, Alan Orloff (M), Johnny Shaw, Art Taylor, Holly West

5:00 P.M. 6:00 P.M. Grand Centre Megan Abbott Interview Our American Guest of Honour is interviewed by Laurie King

SATURDAY: 8:30 A.M. 9:30 A.M. Sheraton E The Experienced: Long writing careers make for great stories P.M.Carlson (M), Bill Crider, Howard Engel, Francine Mathews / Stephanie Barron, Sara Paretsky, Kathy Reichs

10:00 A.M. 11:00 A.M. Grand Centre Best Novel Meet your Best Novel Anthony nominees Megan Abbott, Reed Farrel Coleman, Chris Holm, Laura Lippman, Louise Penny, Hank Phillippi Ryan (M)

2:30 P.M. 3:30 P.M. Grand Centre Hidden Past Writing characters with secrets Debra H. Goldstein (M) , Laura McHugh, Louise Penny, Mark Pryor, Michael Stanley (Michael Sears), Heather Young

SUNDAY: 9:30 A.M. 10:30 A.M. Sheraton E Louise Penny Interview Our Canadian Guest of Honour is interviewed by Ann Cleeves
3. Scoring a ton of FREE books!
4. Spending time with Jeff & Jackie Meyerson, Bill & Angela Crider, Patti & Phil Abbott, Maggie Mason, George Easter, and many others. Jeff & Jackie snuck us into the Elite Lounge each night for great conversations.
THE BAD:
1. Driving in Toronto where you can’t make LEFT HAND TURNS and are forced to make U-TURNS on busy streets in dense traffic. Nightmarish!
2. Maggie Mason falling off a hotel treadmill and ending up in the Emergency Room.
3. Skimpy refeshments (a few cookies) and few cans of soda between panels. Lame.
THE UGLY:
1. Jeff & Jackie & I all got our dinners in Shopsy’s restaurant, but Diane didn’t. We spoke to three waiters about the problem and they all went away, but nothing happened. Finally, Jackie told the Manager about the problem and Diane finally got her dinner…an hour after the rest of us finished! The Manager was apologetic and told us our meal was FREE and then gave us FREE desserts. That was nice, but the experience was a bummer.
2. The New Orleans BOUCHERCON innovated the free book process by allowing attendees to choose their own books. Toronto regressed by going back to shoving a bunch of random books in our backpacks.

The BOUCHERCON in Toronto was one of the Top 5 BOUCHERCONs I’ve attended (I’ve been to 20). It was great fun to hang out with friends and great writers!

The 3-2 Buffalo Bills stagger into their Bye Week with plenty of injuries and questions. How can they fix their non-existent Offense? Will their excellent Defense break down from being on the field too long? Maybe a week off will improve things. How will your favorite NFL team perform today?

Dame Judi Dench stars as a declining Queen Victoria who meets a clerk, Abdul Karim (played by Ali Fazal), and begins a decade long relationship. Abdul becomes Queen Victoria’s munshi (teacher) and instructs Victoria how to speak and write in Urdu. Of course, this friendship causes the royal family and staff to panic. They hate Abdul because he is a commoner and a Muslim. And a competitor to their influence and access to the Queen.

Comedian Eddie Izzard is terrific as Victoria’s greedy and apoplectic son, Bertie. Director Stephen Frears, who also directed Helen Mirren in The Queen, knows how power and privilege works in the Palace. As Steve Oerkfitz pointed out, Victoria and Abdul resembles a Masterpiece Theater episode. That’s a Good Thing. GRADE: A-

Although this volume was published in 1987 (and a paperback version came out in 1991), I found the essays on writing enlightening. Most of the essays in this Writer’Digest Book publication focus on the writing process and getting published. But, the essays are also a window into the individual writers and their methods of writing. Copies of this book are available online for a pittance. But there’s a lot here to enjoy and learn from. If you’re a fan of Horror, Fantasy, or Science Fiction you’ll find How to Write Tales of Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction fascinating. GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Editor’s Foreword – Certain of what We Do Not See.
Introduction – How to Write Horribly for Fun and Profit by Robert Bloch.
Chapter 1: Run Fast Stand Still by Ray Bradbury,
Chapter 2: Plotting as Your Power Source by Williamson,
Chapter 3: Reality and the Waking Nightmare by Mort Castle,
Chapter 4: One View by Steve Rasnic Tem,
Chapter 5: Oh Just Call me Cuthbert by Thomas Millstead,
Chapter 6: Involving Your Reader by William F. Nolan,
Chapter 7: Freedom of Originality by James Kisner,
Chapter 8: Creating Fantasy Folk by Ardath Mayhar,
Chapter 9: Keeping the Reader on Edge by Dean R. Koontz,
Chapter 10: Stepping Into the Shadows by Charle L. Grant,
Chapter 11: Innocence and Terror by Robert R. McCammon,
Chapter 12: World Building in Fantasy by Marion Zimmer Bradley,
Chapter 13: Sword and Sorcery by Darrell Schwitzer,
Chapter 14: Science Fiction by Michael A.Banks,
Chapter 15: Researching Science Fantasy by Sharon Baker,
Chapter 16: Avoiding What’s Been Done to Death by Ramsey Campbell,
Chapter 17: Why Novels of Fear Must Do More than Frighten by Dean R. Koontz,
Chapter 18: The Supernatural, Naturally! by J. N. Williamson,
Chapter 19: Sexist Stereotypes by Jeannette Hopper,
Chapter 20: They Laughed when I Howled at the Moon, by Richard Christian Matheson,
Chapter 21: The Psychology of Horror and Fantasy by Katherine Ramsland,
Chapter 22: Fantasy and Faculty X by Colin Wilson,
Chapter 23: A “Do” List for Getting Your Literary Agent by Mary T. Williamson,
Chapter 24: Putting It on the Editor’s Desk by Alan Rodgers,
Chapter 25: The Mechanics and Mystique of Submitting Your Novel by Patrick LoBrutto,
Chapter 26: Darkness Absolute aThe Standards of Excellence in Horror Fiction by Douglas Winter,
Chapter 27: Overview of Horror, SF and Fantasy A Long-range Market Study by Janet Fox.
Contributors to This Book
The Top Ten “Favorites” List–in Horror, Fantasy & SF (Novels and Short Stories)
Recommended Reading Library in Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction
Index

Each season, The Shaw Festival revives one of George Bernard Shaw’s plays. In 2017, Saint Joan, Shaw’s blistering critique of war and religion, stars Sara Topham as Joan. Joan leads the underdog French armies to victory over the invading British forces. Despite saving the country, Joan is betrayed by both the religious bureaucracy and Charles VII, who wouldn’t be King without Joan’s bravery.

I first read Saint Joan in the late 1960s while I was a student at Marquette University. I went to dozens of plays on and off campus during those years and was drawn to Shaw’s plays. I listened to an audio version of Saint Joan with Siobhan McKenna as Joan. Electrifying! This Shaw Festival version was compelling and thought-provoking. Do you have a favorite George Bernard Shaw play? GRADE: B+

Diane and I will be driving to Toronto by the time you read this. The drive to Toronto takes about two hours. The variables are getting over the International Bridges (Customs can provide extensive delays at times) and Toronto traffic. If you’ve driven in New York City, Boston, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, or LA you know what Big City traffic can be like. We’re looking forward to seeing Patti & Phil Abbott, Bill Crider, Jeff & Jackie Meyerson, Maggie Mason, and many other friends. Diane can’t wait to hear Louise Penny, one of her favorite writers. I’ll be hanging on Megan Abbott’s every word! And FREE BOOKS!

I’ll be posting a BOUCHERCON report on Monday. I’m sure others will be posting BOUCHERCON reports in Real Time. Hope to see you there!