The Big Book at the BOUCHERCON in Cleveland was Books to Die For. Steve Stilwell must have sold a gazillion copies! Books to Die For features essays from 120 crime writers on the mysteries and thrillers that they most admire. For example, there’s Michael Connelly on The Little Sister, Kathy Reichs on The Silence of the Lambs, Mark Billingham on The Maltese Falcon, and Ian Rankin on I Was Dora Suarez. You get the idea. If you’re a fan of mystery fiction, you’ll want a copy of Books to Die For. GRADE: A

Homeland swept the Emmys and the recognition was well deserved. Homeland is about the best drama on TV and SHOWTIME should be celebrated for taking a chance on it. I consider Homeland a thinking person’s 24. Clare Danes plays a bi-polar CIA agent on the track of a double-agent. The acting is compelling. President Obama named Homeland as his favorite TV program. I’d say the same thing with Copper and Doctor Who tied for second place. This Blu-ray set is the best way to catch up on Homeland if you missed it on cable. GRADE: A

Diane and I had to leave BOUCHERCON a day early because Diane’s mother celebrated her 93rd Birthday this weekend. Katie flew in from Boston to join the celebration. We had a marvelous time at the Cleveland BOUCHERCON. Here’s my brief critique of our brief stay:

THE GOOD:
1. Art Scott, Steve Stilwell, Tina Karlson, Maggie Mason, Beth & Joe, Jeff & Ann Smith, the Teds, and all our mystery friends in attendance. Great seeing and talking with you guys!
2. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame! Loved the giant guitars!
3. The dinner at LOLA! Yummy!
4. Winning a $50 Gift Certificate for the Dealers’ Room.
5. Free books!

THE BAD:
1. No Abbotts, Criders, Lachmans, Meyersons, Moores, the Robinsons, or Todd Mason. Hope to see you all in Albany in 2013!
2. A pathetic Dealers’ Room. Maybe six booksellers showed up. And one woman selling jewelry. The room was half empty. Sad.

THE UGLY:
1. When I called the Front Desk about Internet access from my room, I was told it would cost $12.95 a day. I passed. When I went down to The Business Center, the charges were $6.95 for 15 MINUTES! Again, I passed. Then, outside the Hospitality Room there was a sign saying BOUCHERCON attendees could access the Internet for free using the password “bouchercon” on the hotel logon screen. I finally gained access to the Internet, but the WI-FI was sloooooooooooow!

Last week, the Bills were cruising 21-7 over the New England Patriots in the Third Quarter. Then the Bills turned into the Titanic and the Patriots turned into the iceberg. The Bills lost 52-28 in a debacle of epic proportions. Today, the lowly Bills face a better team than the Patriots in an away game. The Bills are 9-point underdogs (which I find too low…I figured the spread would be 12 points at least). I have low expectations for this game. How is your favorite NFL team going to do today?

I’m a mild fan of Diana Krull’s work. But, increasingly, the packaging of a Diana Krall CD seems to have taken priority over the music. Glad Rag Doll reveals this marketing strategy clearly. Here’s Diana Krall in a sexy outfit on the cover. If the music on the CD was as hot as this cover, I’d be recommending it. After listening to the entire CD a couple of times, I like only “Wide River to Cross.” The rest of the songs don’t stir me a bit. GRADE: C
TRACK LIST:
1. We Just Couldn’t Say Goodbye 3:07
2. There Ain’t No Sweet Man That’s Worth The Salt Of My Tears 4:29
3. Just Like A Butterfly That’s Caught In The Rain 3:43
4. You Know – I Know Ev’rything’s Made For Love 3:47
5. Glad Rag Doll 4:34
6. I’m A Little Mixed Up 4:36
7. Prairie Lullaby 4:22
8. Here Lies Love 5:09
9. I Used To Love You But It’s All Over Now 2:50
10. Let It Rain 5:44
11. Lonely Avenue 6:57
12. Wide River To Cross 3:51
13. When The Curtain Comes Down

The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg, Volume Seven: We Are for the Dark (Stories from 1987-1990) is the just published tome by Subterranean Press. I feel Silverberg published his best short fiction in the Seventies and Eighties. This volume includes the 1989 Hugo Award winning novelette, “Enter A Soldier. Later: Enter Another.” But there are plenty of other good stories in this collection. The title story, “We Are For the Dark,” is memorable. Subterranean Press plans two more volumes to complete this Silverberg series: Hot Times in Magma City: The Collected Stories Volume 8 (2013) and The Millennium Express: The Collected Stories Volume 9 (2014). Reading the complete Silverberg oeuvre reveals a writer who continued to produce astonishing work for five decades.
Table of Contents
Introduction
The Dead Man’s Eyes
Enter A Soldier. Later: Enter Another
To The Promised Land
Chip Runner
A Sleep And A Forgetting
In Another Country
The Asenion Solution
We Are For The Dark
Lion Time in Timbuctoo
A Tip On A Turtle

In hopes of finding those Louise Penny books that Rick and Carl have raved about, I took a drive over the Border to Canada’s biggest bookstore, The Book Depot, in St. Catherines. I’ve taken Patti Abbott and her husband, Phil, to this massive warehouse filled with thousands of remaindered books. I found two Pennys, and several more books. I bought some duplicates for friends. This whole order came to a mere $93. A pittance considering these are all like-new hardcovers. If you’d like to check out The Book Depot web site, just click here.

By the time you read this, Diane and I should be on the road headed for Cleveland. I was trying to figure out how many Bouchercons I’ve been to (with and without Diane). I came up with a dozen, give or take… I’ve enjoyed every BOUCHERCON I’ve ever attended. Yes, some of the panels are fun, but the friends who attend make the time special. Diane and I hope to see the Meyersons, Beth and Maggie, Art Scott, Steve Stilwell, the Teds, Tina, and a bunch more. There are always surprises at these BOUCHERCONs. That’s half the fun! If you’re within driving distance of Cleveland, you should think about dropping in and hanging out with us. You’ll be glad you did. Oh, and did I mention the free books?

Taken 2 opens on Friday so I’m assuming this promotion is an attempt to goose up the Opening Weekend numbers. Sam’s Club, and I’m assuming other wholesalers like BEST BUY, are selling Taken for $9.98 with a $10 coupon good for a ticket to Taken 2. That’s right: you pay nearly $10 for the Blu-ray version of Taken and you get a free ticket to Taken 2 worth $10. If you haven’t seen Taken it’s basically a kidnap movie. Liam Neeson’s daughter gets kidnapped and Liam spends the bulk of the movie tracking down the kidnappers and killing them. Plenty of action and suspense! I’m taking a wild guess that Taken 2 will be more of the same. Fine with me!

End of Watch walks the tightrope of blending comedy with brutal reality. Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena play two L. A. cops who make one bust too many and as a result become marked for death by a Mexican drug cartel. Jake Gyllenhaal’s role of the brainy cop works well against Michael Pena’s brilliant role as an emotional, family-oriented cop. The on-screen chemistry of these two actors is both funny and moving. We’ve all seen plenty of cop movies, but End of Watch breaks some new ground. Don’t miss it! GRADE: A-