In the March issue of Mystery Scene magazine, Ed Gorman wrote an article on “My 10 Favorite John D. MacDonald Standalone Novels.” And here’s Ed’s list:
1. Dead Low Tide
2. Soft Touch
3. Deadly Welcome
4. Murder in the Wind
5. The Executioners
6. Slam the Big Door
7. The End of the Night
8. A Key to the Suite
9. A Flash of Green
10. The Drowner
We’re at Number One on Ed’s list: Dead Low Tide, published in 1956. The novel is narrated by Andy McClintock, a 28-year-old contractor’s assistant, who’s embedded in this a tale of murder and suspense. When Andy’s boss is found dead with a harpoon from Andy’s spear gun, Andy becomes the Prime Suspect. Dead Low Tide has a clever mystery, a major plot twist (that fooled me!), and a great chase scene. Dead Low Tide ranks as one of JDM’s best books and worthy of Ed’s top ranking! However, after rereading all the JDM novels on Ed’s list, I’d suggest an alternative list:
GEORGE’S LIST:
1. Dead Low Tide
2. Soft Touch
3. Deadly Welcome
4. A Key to the Suite
5. The Executioners
6. Slam the Big Door
7. The End of the Night
8. Murder in the Wind
9. A Flash of Green
10. One More Sunday
One More Sunday is one of JDM’s later novels, but it sure packs a punch! John D. MacDonald explores the Eternal Church of the Believer, a multi-million dollar operation in the religion business. State-of-the-art computers and data mining are used to solicit “gifts” from believers. The Church processes thousands of dollars daily to keep the organization profitable. But, the head of the Church becomes an issue and crisis after crisis powers the novel to a shattering conclusion. John D. MacDonald may be the best suspense novelist who understands the inner workings of businesses. It was fun to review Ed Gorman’s picks over the past few months for FFB. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

We saw The Book of Mormon at a sold-out Shea’s Performing Art Center in Buffalo. It’s funny and irreverent which is what you should expect from the guys behind South Park. I laughed a lot. The music is entertaining and memorable (except for the language which is not appropriate for children under 16 in my estimation). My favorite number was “Baptize Me.” After experiencing this musical, I can see why it’s a hot Broadway ticket. The play radiates energy. Allegedly, all of the Mormon beliefs presented in this musical are actual teachings of the Mormon religion. The part about everyone getting their own planet intrigued me. If The Book of Mormon comes to your town, you should try to get a ticket and go see it. But go prepared for Something Different. GRADE: A
SONG LIST
1 Act 1. Hello! (2:52)
2 Act 1. Two By Two (4:31)
3 Act 1. You And Me (But Mostly Me) (2:43)
4 Act 1. Hasa Diga Eebowai (4:24)
5 Act 1. Turn It Off (5:03)
6 Act 1. I Am Here For You (2:04)
7 Act 1. All-American Prophet (6:14)
8 Act 1. Sal Tlay Ka Siti (3:41)
9 Act 1. Man Up (4:03)
10 Act 2. Making Things Up Again (4:16)
11 Act 2. Spooky Mormon Hell Dream (4:30)
12 Act 2. I Believe (4:42)
13 Act 2. Baptize Me (4:15)
14 Act 2. I Am Africa (2:21)
15 Act 2. Joseph Smith American Moses (6:12)
16 Act 2. Tomorrow Is A Latter Day (6:01)

Several friends have recommended Janet Malcolm’s quirky book on Chekhov. Malcolm’s Reading Chekhov: a Critical Journey is part travel book and part personal reaction to Chekhov’s work. Malcolm travels to Russia and visits important sites featured in Chekhov’s work: St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Yalta. To get the most out of Malcolm’s insightful book, I’d recommend you read some Chekhov first. The two best editions are The Stories of Anton Chekhov and The Short Novels of Anton Chekhov both translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. Some critics consider Anton Chekhov as the best short story writer ever. I can’t disagree.

One of the fun parts of my childhood was watching ROCKY & BULLWINKLE, the zany cartoon show. I have the complete DVD sets, but now there is The Best of Boris and Natasha, Volume 1 which presents an hour’s worth of Cold War spying. After Rocky and Bullwinkle, Boris and Natasha (especially Natasha) were my favorite humorous cartoon characters. This nifty collection only cost $4.99 at BJ’s Warehouse. You can find it online at a similar price. If you want to indulge in nostalgia with plenty of laughs, watch this marvelous DVD. And, check out the trailer below.

When The Closer closed up shop last summer, Diane and I were wary of the spinoff, Major Crimes. Could Mary McDonnell replace Kyra Sedgwick (not quite, but it’s close). The familiar cast made the transition almost seamless. I was not fond of the troubled teenager, Rusty, but Diane was. One of the casualties of the end of The Closer was the diminishment of Jon Tenny (Brenda’s stoic husband and FBI agent) role in Major Crimes. So it comes as no surprise that Tenny and the talented Rebecca Romijn launch a new crime drama tonight. I’ve deliberately avoided all the hype about this show. I just want to let it unfold tonight with preconceptions. If you’re in the mood for this kind of diverting entertainment, check the times for these TNT shows in your area.

Believe it or not, I’ve made it to 64 (of course, I feel like I’m 12). Thanks to all my doctors my health is good. Diane keeps me on the path to righteous behavior (though I tend to stray from time to time). I have a wonderful wife, great kids, good friends, close family, and a job I enjoy. And a few thousand books I need to read Real Soon. Life is Good.

This review of Songs of the Dying Earth: Stories in Honor of Jack Vance is an extension of yesterday’s tribute to Jack Vance for Forgotten Books Friday. In 2009, this celebratory collection was published to positive reviews. A “Who’s Who” of SF and fantasy writers wrote stories in Jack Vance mode to express their respect for one of the great writers of the 20th Century who influenced them. From Dean Koontz’s laudatory INTRODUCTION, to Jack Vance’s PREFACE, to the excellent stories that follow, this brilliant collection shows the fondness these writers have for Jack Vance and his magnificent work. Last week, Subterranean Press published Dan Simmons’s The Guiding Nose of Ulfant Banderoz, the short novel that was included in Songs of the Dying Earth. I’m happy to own both editions. If you’re a fan of Jack Vance, these stories will delight you.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Thank You, Mr Vance –Dean Koontz
Preface –Jack Vance

The True Vintage of Erzuine Thale –Robert Silverberg
Grolion of Almery –Matthew Hughes
The Copsy Door –Terry Dowling
Caulk the Witch Doctor –Liz Williams
Inescapable –Mike Resnick
Abrizonde –Walter Jon Williams
The Traditions of Karzh –Paula Volsky
The Final Quest of the Wizard Sarnod –Jeff Vandermeer
The Green Bird –Kage Baker
The Last Golden Thread –Phyllis Eisenstein
An Incident in Uskvesk –Elizabeth Moon
Sylgarmo’s Proclamation –Lucius Shepard
The Lamentably Comical Tragedy (or The Laughably Tragic Comedy) of Lixal Laqavee –Tad Williams
Guyal the Curator –John C Wright
The Good Magician –Glen Cook
The Return of the Fire Witch –Elizabeth Hand
The Collegeum of Mauge –Byron Tetrick
Evillo the Uncunning –Tanith Lee
The Guiding Nose of Ulfant Banderoz –Dan Simmons
Frogskin Cap –Howard Waldrop
A Night at the Tarn House –George R R Martin
An Invocation of Curiosity –Neil Gaiman

The late, great Jack Vance left us dozens of masterworks. Vance was an unpretentious, brilliant writer. His science fiction, fantasy, and mystery novels possess a style and sensibility unique in those genres. I started reading Jack Vance back in the 1950s. The first Jack Vance novel I read was a Winston juvenile, Vandals of the Void. Later, I read Vance’s work in Astounding and Galaxy. I bought his paperbacks and read them the same day. As the decades passed, it was clear to me that Jack Vance was a genius. If you haven’t read Jack Vance, I urge you to remedy that. I’ve provided a handy list of many of his works to help you in book selection. All of Jack Vance’s works are available as ebooks. Subterranean is reprinting Jack Vance’s short stories, mystery novels, and SF novels. You can check out the new deluxe edition of The Dying Earth here. I envy those of you who haven’t read Vance’s award-winning novels: The Dragon Masters, The Last Castle, and The Man in a Cage. Click on the covers above to check out the artwork.

Next week, I’ll finish up my review of Ed Gorman’s “My Favorite John D. MacDonald Standalone Novels.” This tribute to Jack Vance, one of the great writers of the 20th Century, took precedence.
Series
Dying Earth
1. The Dying Earth (1950)
aka Mazirian the Magician
2. The Eyes of the Overworld (1966)
aka Cugel the Clever
3. Cugel’s Saga (1966)
aka Cugel: The Skybreak Spatterlight
4. Rhialto the Marvellous (1984)
Morreion (1968)
The Seventeen Virgins (1974)
The Bagful of Dreams (1979)
The Laughing Magician (1997)
The Tales of the Dying Earth (omnibus) (2000)

Big Planet
1. Big Planet (1952)
2. Showboat World (1975)

Demon Princes
1. The Star King (1964)
2. The Killing Machine (1964)
3. The Palace of Love (1967)
4. The Face (1979)
5. The Book of Dreams (1981)
The Demon Princes : Volume 1 (omnibus) (1997)
The Demon Princes: Volume 2 (omnibus) (1997)
The Demon Princes (2005)

Nopalgarth
1. Son of the Tree (1964)
2. The Houses of Iszm (1964)
3. The Brains of Earth (1966)

Magnus Ridolph
The Many Worlds of Magnus Ridolph (1966)
The Complete Magnus Ridolph (1984)
Magnus Ridolph (2012)

Tschai, Planet of Adventure
1. City of the Chasch (1968)
2. Servants of the Wankh (1969)
3. The Dirdir (1969)
4. The Pnume (1970)
Planet of Adventure (omnibus) (1993)
The Chasch (2011)
Tschai (2012)

Durdane
1. The Anome (1973)
aka The Faceless Man
2. The Brave Free Men (1973)
3. The Asutra (1974)
Durdane (omnibus) (1989)

Alastor
1. Trullion: Alastor 2262 (1973)
2. Marune: Alastor 993 (1975)
3. Wyst: Alastor 1716 (1978)
Alastor (omnibus) (1995)

Gaean Reach
1. The Gray Prince (1974)
2. Maske: Thaery (1976)

Lyonesse
1. Suldrun’s Garden (1983)
aka Lyonesse
2. The Green Pearl (1985)
3. Madouc (1989)
Lyonesse II: The Green Pearl and Madouc (omnibus) (2003)
The Complete Lyonesse (omnibus) (2010)

Cadwal Chronicles
1. Araminta Station (1988)
2. Ecce and Old Earth (1991)
3. Throy (1992)
Cadwell Chronicles (omnibus) (1987)
The Cadwal Chronicles (2012)

Ports of Call
1. Ports of Call (1998)
2. Lurulu (2004)

Miro Hetzel
The Dogtown Tourist Agency (2012)
Freitzke’s Turn (2012)
Miro Hetzel (2012)

Novels
Vandals of the Void (1953)
The Five Gold Bands (1953)
aka The Space Pirate
To Live Forever (1956)
The Languages of Pao (1958)
Slaves of the Klau (1958)
aka Gold and Iron
The Man in the Cage (1960)
The Dragon Masters (1963)
Monsters in Orbit (1965)
Space Opera (1965)
The Blue World (1966)
The Last Castle (1966)
Emphyrio (1969)
Bad Ronald (1973)
Galactic Effectuator (1980)
The Grey Prince (1990)
Night Lamp (1996)
Clarges (2011)
The Domains of Koryphon (2011)
The Magnificent Showboats (2011)
The Wannek (2011)
The Rapparee (2011)
The Deadly Isles (2012)
Bird Isle (2012)
The Dark Ocean (2012)
The Flesh Mask (2012)
The Fox Valley Murders (2012)
The House on Lily Street (2012)
The Pleasant Grove Murders (2012)
Strange People, Queer Notions (2012)
The View from Chickweed’s Window (2012)
The Miracle Workers (2012)

Collections
Future Tense (1964)
aka Dust of the Far Suns
Eight Fantasms and Magics: A Science Fiction Adventure (1969)
The Worlds of Jack Vance (1973)
The Moon Moth: And Other Stories (1976)
Fantasms and Magics (1978)
The Best of Jack Vance (1978)
Green Magic (1979)
Nopalgarth (1980)
Lost Moons (1982)
The Narrow Land (1982)
Light from a Lone Star (1985)
Demon Prince: The Dissonant Worlds of Jack Vance (1985)
The Augmented Agent: And Other Stories (1986)
The Dark Side of the Moon: Stories of the Future (1986)
Bird Isle and Take My Face (1988)
Chateau D’If: And Other Stories (1990)
When the Five Moons Rise (1992)
The Jack Vance Treasury (2007)
The Jack Vance Reader (2008)
The Men Return (2009)
Wild Thyme, Green Magic (2009)
Hard Luck Diggings (2010)
The Dragon Masters and Other Stories (2011)
The Houses of Iszm and Other Stories (2011)
Son of the Tree and Other Stories (2011)
The Potter of Firsk and Other Stories (2011)
The World-Thinker and Other Stories (2011)
Dream Castles: The Early Jack Vance, Volume Two (2012)
Golden Girl and Other Stories (2012)
Sail 25 and Other Stories (2012)
Wild Thyme and Violets: And Other Unpublished Works (2012)
Desperate Days (2012)
Magic Highways: The Early Jack Vance, Volume Three (2013)