I read Lawrence Block’s A Walk Among the Tombstones when it was published back in the early Nineties. It’s the 10th book in the Matthew Scudder series. Scudder is a former cop who is a recovering alcoholic. He’s a private investigator who does “favors” for people who reward him with “gifts.” Scudder is asked to investigate the murder of a woman and discovers a series of similar murders. Liam Neeson plays an effective Scudder. A Walk Among the Tombstones is one of the creepiest books Lawrence Block ever wrote and the movie captures that creepiness very effectively. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Liam Neeson in another Matthew Scudder movie. GRADE: B

My favorite story in this Sherlock Holmes meets H. P. Lovecraft collection of original stories is “A Study in Emerald” by Neil Gaiman. Most of the stories in this volume follow the A. Conan Doyle template: Watson narrating an adventure. But Neil Gaiman goes in a different direction and produces a very off-beat story of the Cthulhu Mythos. I also enjoyed “Tiger! Tiger!” by Elizabeth Bear who features Irene Adler instead of Holmes and Watson. Of the traditional format stories, I liked John Pelan’s “The Mystery of the Worm,” Michael Reaves’ “The Adventure of the Arab’s Manuscript,” and Richard A. Lupoff’s “The Adventure of the Voorish Sign.” If you’re a fan of Sherlock Holmes and H. P. Lovecraft, you’ll find some fun stories in Shadows Over Baker Street.” GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
“A Study in Emerald” 1881 (This story won Neil Gaiman the 2004 Hugo Award for Best Short Story)
“Tiger! Tiger!” 1882 Elizabeth Bear
“The Case of the Wavy Black Dagger” 1884 Steve Perry
“A Case of Royal Blood” 1888 Steven-Elliot Altman (Narrated by H.G. Wells)
“The Weeping Masks” 1890 James Lowder
“Art in the Blood” 1892 Brian Stableford
“The Curious Case of Miss Violet Stone” 1894 Poppy Z. Brite, David Ferguson
“The Adventure of the Antiquarian’s Niece” 1894 Barbara Hambly (Thomas Carnacki is one of the main characters)
“The Mystery of the Worm” 1894 John Pelan (Dr. Nikola also appears; an annotated version of this story was published in Studies in Modern Horror, issue no. 3 )
“The Mystery of the Hanged Man’s Puzzle” 1897 Paul Finch
“The Horror of the Many Faces” 1898 Tim Lebbon
“The Adventure of the Arab’s Manuscript” 1898 Michael Reaves
“The Drowned Geologist” 1898 Caitlín R. Kiernan
“A Case of Insomnia” 1899 John P. Vourlis
“The Adventure of the Voorish Sign” 1899 Richard A. Lupoff
“The Adventure of Exham Priory” 1901 F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre
“Death Did Not Become Him” 1902 David Niall Wilson, Patricia Lee Macomber
“Nightmare in Wax” 1915 Simon Clark
Contributors

The first soundtrack albums I bought as a kid were the soundtracks to the James Bond movies. I bought Goldfinger first (because that was the first Bond movie I saw), and then I bought From Russia With Love (great cover!), and later, Thunderball. I wore the grooves out on all of them. I’ve always liked John Barry’s music. If you look at the track list of this CD, you’ll see all of the action and adventure movies he’s been involved with. Barry’s a very versatile composer. Sadly, John Barry’s style of brassy music isn’t popular today. Movie soundtracks today seem to compilations of current songs or retro-songs (the songs on The Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack are mostly from the 1970s). But I still like this music and continue to listen to it. Do you have a favorite John Barry piece of music?
TRACK LIST:
1 Goldfinger (2:41)
2 The James Bond Theme (2:01)
3 From Russia with Love (2:54)
4 Thunderball (2:33)
5 007 (1:48)
6 You Only Live Twice (2:22)
7 On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (2:03)
8 Diamonds Are Forever (2:26)
9 All Time High (3:56)
10 Until September (4:25)
11 King Kong (2:37)
12 Zulu (2:45)
13 Pawnee Attack, Pt. 1 & 2 (4:05)
14 Kicking Bird’s Gift (2:06)
15 Journey to Fort Sedgewick (2:40)
16 Two Socks (The Wolf Theme) (1:32)
17 Farewell and Finale, Pts. 1 & 2 (9:52)
18 Did You Call Me (5:24)
19 The Specialist (5:39)

Choosing a book to take with you on a trip is always a little chancy. You want a book that will hold your interest. You want a book that you won’t finish reading leaving you nothing to read. And you want a book that’s fun to read. The Second Rumpole Omnibus was the book I chose to take with me on my flights to and from Albuquerque. Our itinerary, compliments of Southwest Airlines, took us from Buffalo to Baltimore (1 hour), then Baltimore to Albuquerque (4 hours). On the trip back, with typical airline logic, we flew from Albuquerque to Phoenix (1 hour) and Phoenix to Buffalo (4 hours). In those 10 hours of reading, I managed to read about 600 pages of this 654-page book. The Rumpole stories delighted me and the tedious travel hours flew by. You can’t ask more from a book than that. GRADE: A
Table of Contents:
Rumpole for the Defence
Rumpole and the confession of guilt
Rumpole and the gentle art of blackmail
Rumpole and the dear departed
Rumpole and the rotten apple
Rumpole and the expert witness
Rumpole and the spirit of Christmas
Rumpole and the boat people
Rumpole and the Golden Thread
Rumpole and the genuine article
Rumpole and the golden thread
Rumpole and the old boy net
Rumpole and the female of the species
Rumpole and the sporting life
Rumpole and the last resort
Rumpole’s Last Case
“Rumpole and the Winter Break”
“Rumpole and the Blind Tasting”
“Rumpole and the Bright Seraphim”
“Rumpole and the Judge’s Elbow”
“Rumpole and the Official Secret”
“Rumpole and the Old, Old Story”
“Rumpole’s Last Case”

Fans of Breaking Bad will love this “Breaking Bad” donut from Albuquerque. Diane and I drove to Rebel Donuts to find this amazing creation. Diane brought the donut in the photo back to our daughter, Katie. She ate it and announced, “Best donut ever!”

I’ll watch anything with Jessica Chastain in it. Jessica Chastain plays a woman dealing with loss. In fact, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby is all about loss in various forms. James McAvoy plays Eleanor Rigby’s husband. He has plenty of issues, too. William Hurt appears as Eleanor Rigby’s father, Isabelle Huppert plays Mary Rigby (Eleanor’s Mother), and Jess Weixler plays Eleanor’s sister, Katy Rigby. As you can see, this is a talented cast. But the actress who steals every scene she’s in is Viola Davis as Professor Lillian Friedman whose class Eleanor Rigby takes after her loss. I would have liked to see more of Viola Davis’ character–but that would have made this a far different movie. The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby almost overwhelms the viewer with sadness. Be prepared, if you decide to see this film. GRADE: B

Diane and I almost quit watching Under the Dome, Season Two several times this summer. A dead woman resurrected, characters leaving the dome…and coming back under the dome, and some crazy weather conditions are just some of the weird plot twists that had us throwing up our hands in disbelief. We’ll be watching tonight, but if Under the Dome is renewed for a third season, we won’t be watching.

Already, the 2014 TV season is shaping up to be a disaster. The only program I’m eager to see is tonight’s Gotham, a prequel to the Batman series. I think this is a high risk/high reward gamble by FOX. If the program fails to deliver for the ardent fans, it will crash and burn quick. What new programs are you watching?

The San Diego Chargers dominated the Super Bowl winning Seattle Seahawks last Sunday in a 30-21 win. Today, the Chargers are in town to face the 2-0 Bills. This will be a Major Test for the young Bills. Philip Rivers is the best quarterback they’ve faced this season. Somehow, the Bills defense needs to find a way to control All-World Tight End Antonio Gates who scored three TDs against the Seahawks. How will your team do today?

Hammered is the 3rd book in the IRON DRUID series. Kevin Hearne’s books feature the last Druid who lives in contemporary Tempe, Arizona. But legendary and mythological characters are everywhere. The Druid’s lawyers are partners: a werewolf for day work and a vampire for Night Court. In Hammered, the Druid heads for Asgard to confront the Norse gods–and one in particular. You’ll be able to make a Good Guess who that is from the title of this book. The IRON DRUID series is silly and fun. If you’re looking for light, entertaining contemporary fantasy these books fit the bill. GRADE: B

Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite writers and this early collection from 1998 shows off his talents before he hit the Big Time. Gaiman is a crafty writer who dabbles in fantasy and science fiction. My favorite stories in this collection are based on Gaiman’s version of H. P. Lovecarft’s Cthulhu Mythos: “Shoggoth’s Old Peculiar” and “Only the End of the World Again.” The range of stories here span Hollywood pastiches to apocalyptic tales. I was surprised that this book was published in hardcover by Avon Books (remember them?). If you’re in the mood for some delicious fiction, you’ll find it here.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Reading the Entrails – a Rondel about the pleasures and perils of fortune-telling
The Wedding Present – a story included in the introduction
Chivalry – a story about the Holy Grail written for an anthology by Marty Greenberg
Nicholas Was… – a very short story (100 words) used for a Christmas card
The Price – on the subject of cats and angels
Troll Bridge – an adult retelling of The Three Billy Goats Gruff written for the anthology Snow White, Blood Red by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
Don’t Ask Jack – inspired by a demonic jack-in-the-box sculpture by Lisa Snellings
The Goldfish Pool and Other Stories
Eaten (Scenes from a Moving picture) †
The White Road – a narrative poem retelling some old English folktales
Queen of Knives (for Eric Stern’s opera of the same name see Queen of Knives) – a narrative poem about stage magic
The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch †‡
Changes – written for Lisa Tuttle about gender reflection
The Daughter of Owls – written in the style of John Aubrey
Shoggoth’s Old Peculiar
Virus – written for the anthology Digital Dreams by David Barrett[disambiguation needed] about computer fiction
Looking for the Girl – commissioned by Penthouse for their 20th anniversary issue
Only the End of the World Again
Bay Wolf – a story poem retelling Beowulf as a futuristic episode of “Baywatch”
Fifteen Painted Cards from a Vampire Tarot †
We Can Get Them For You Wholesale
One Life, Furnished in Early Moorcock – written for an anthology of Elric stories by Michael Moorcock
Cold Colors – inspired by computers and black magic
The Sweeper of Dreams – inspired by a Lisa Snellings statue
Foreign Parts
Vampire Sestina – a poem originally published in Fantasy Tales and later reprinted in the Mammoth Book of Vampires by Stephen Jones
Mouse – a short story inspired by Raymond Carver and written for Touch Wood, edited by Pete Crowther
The Sea Change
How Do You Think It Feels? †‡
When We Went to See the End of the World by Dawnie Morningside, age 11¼
Desert Wind – written for Robin Anders of Boiled in Lead to accompany one of his tracks
Tastings – included in the anthology of erotic fantasy stories, Sirens by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
In the End †*
Babycakes – written to include in a benefit for PETA
Murder Mysteries – a detective story written for the anthology Midnight Graffiti by Jessie Horsting
Snow, Glass, Apples