Lawrence Block published 69 Barrow Street back in 1961 while writing as “Sheldon Lord.” He followed it up with Strange Embrace in 1962. Block, like many writers such as Robert Silverberg and Harry Whittington and Donald E. Westlake, supplemented his regular writing income with quick profits from churning out “sleaze.” But Lawrence Block’s sleaze is of a high order. Both of these novels are suspenseful and worth reading. Hard Case Crime uses the old ACE Double format of two novels bound together with two Robert McGinnis covers. For all these reasons, I found this book a must-buy! And I’m hoping for more!

I’ve been a fan of David Brin’s work for decades, especially his Uplift series. Now, Brin shows up with a 556-page novel with a dozen major characters. An “artifact” is discovered that might be the item that leads to First Contact with advanced aliens. But, Brin plays it close to the vest: is the artifact a hoax? Is it a ploy by evil aliens to conquer Earth? Brin explores a society divided by technology. Some human embrace artificial intelligence, others want to restrain it. There are still terrorists, gangsters, political groups all empowered by trillions of dollars and powerful new computer technology. If you’re a Brin fan, you’ll want to read Existence. If you’re in the mood for a large-canvas SF novel of the near future, Existence bursts with ideas and speculation. GRADE: B+

Joss Stone burst on the music scene a decade ago with The Soul Sessions, a CD of covers of soul songs. Now Joss Stone is back with another CD full of soul goodies. If you love this genre of music like I do, you’ll want to hear these songs interpreted by Joss Stone in her unique style. Check out the song samples below.
TRACK LIST:
1. “I Got The…” – Labi Siffre
2. “(For God’s Sake) Give More Power to the People” – Eugene Record (of the Chi-Lites)
3. “While You’re Out Looking For Sugar” – Ronald Dunbar, Edyth Wayne (AKA Holland-Dozier-Holland), written for and originally performed by Honey Cone
4. “Sideways Shuffle” – Tim Renwick
5. “I Don’t Wanna Be with Nobody But You” – Eddie Floyd
6. “Teardrops” – Cecil Womack, Linda Womack
7. “Stoned Out of My Mind” – Barbara Acklin
8. “The Love We Had (Stays On My Mind)” – Terry Callier, Larry Wade
9. “The High Road” – James Mercer (The Shins), Brian Burton (Danger Mouse) (AKA Broken Bells)
10. “Pillow Talk” – Sylvia Robinson, Michael Burton
11. “Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye” – John D. Loudermilk

Bonus Tracks on the Deluxe Edition

12. “First Taste of Hurt” – W. Turbinton
13. “One Love in My Lifetime” – Terri McFaddin, Leonard Perry, Lawrence Brown (originally performed by Diana Ross)
14. “Nothing Takes the Place of You” – Toussaint McCall
15. “(1-2-3-4-5-6-7) Count the Days” – B. O’Dell, Yvonne Williams

Total Recall, the remake, opens Friday. However, just in time for that release, this new Blu-ray of the original Total Recall shows up. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a 21st-century construction worker who discovers that his entire memory of the past derives from a memory chip implanted in his brain. Very little of this movie resembles the Philip K. Dick short story “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” that the movie was supposed to be based on. But director Paul Verhoeven turns the question of identity into a satisfying thrill ride especially when Schwarzenegger gets to Mars. I don’t know much about the remake of Total Recall, but it will be hard to top this version.

Marvelous Beth Fedyn sent me a get-well card and a book while I was in REHAB. The book was Alan Furst’s Mission to Paris, a book I already had waiting in my AMAZON cart. Beth probably remembered from our DAPA-EM days that I was a fan of Alan Furst’s spy novels. Furst has carved out a niche in spy fiction. He sets most of his books in Europe just before World War II. In Mission to Paris, a European actor and Hollywood film star Fredric Stahl is in Paris to make a movie for Paramount France. The Nazis plot “political warfare” against France by using bribery, intimidation, and corrupt newspapers to shape public opinion to their political ends. The Nazis decide to recruit Stahl as a tool in their propaganda campaign. Stahl resists and finds himself involved in a dangerous game of influencing the French in the months preceding the German invasion of their country. If you enjoy spy fiction with a strong historical flavor, I highly recommend Alan Furst’s work. Thanks Beth! GRADE: B+

While recovering from my knee surgery, audiobooks became my main diversion. The BBC dramatizations of Simon Brett’s Charles Paris humorous mystery novels were the perfect entertainment for a Lortab addled patient. Bill Nighy plays the failed actor, sketchy husband, but canny mystery solver masterfully. The supporting cast is good, too. I particularly like Suzanne Burden who plays Nighy’s feisty long-suffering wife, Frances. Jon Glover, who steals every scene he’s in, plays Nighy’s Machiavellian agent, Maurice. This fifth audiobook set came out in May 2012. I can recommend all of these audiobooks: Murder in the Title, The Dead Side of the Mic, A Series of Murders, and Cast in Order of Disappearance. I hope more become available soon. If you’re looking for humor and clever dialogue and a delicious murder mystery, these dramatizations deliver.

Last week, I saw The Dark Knight Rises in a local Regal Theater. This week I saw The Dark Knight Rises at our local IMAX. From the NY TIMES article it’s clear that this new Batman movie makes the most use of IMAX cameras ever.  Yes, there’s plenty of extra footage in this IMAX version.  The scene where the football stadium implodes is worth the price of admission!  If you’re a Batman fan, or if you’re curious about where the IMAX technology is headed, you need to check out The Dark Knight Rises in IMAX format.  You won’t be sorry!

Fans of Harlan Ellison will be thrilled by this recent publication by Kicks Books. This collection of stories from the Fifties show the early Harlan Ellison, all energy and froth. As Ellison says in his Introduction: “No point in apologizing for these original 11 stories. I did ‘em for the buck. I was married at the time and needed the money and did what everybody does. I pulled the plow.
The stories are simplistic not the greatest literature ever proffered but I got a thousand dollars for the tome. That was big money in the Fifties. It was my third book published, in a lifetime of more than a hundred such. But the only one not under my name.” If you’re a Harlan Ellison fan, this is a must-buy. But even casual readers will find plenty to enjoy in this collection. GRADE: B+

I picked up this 2-DVD collection for a pittance at BIG LOTS. If you’re a fan of Burt Bacharach, Bobby Darin, Carole King, Neil Sedaka, Dianne Warwick, and other talented singers and song-writers who worked at the Brill Building in the Sixties, this musical documentary is for you. “The centerpiece is “Hitmakers: The Teens Who Stole Pop Music,” a 90-minute documentary about the many writers who worked side-by-side in New York’s legendary Brill Building in the ’50s and ’60s. It’s a fascinating story, featuring duos like Carole King and Gerry Goffin, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, and Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, nearly all of them Jewish kids from Brooklyn who were at ease writing classic tunes for black and white artists alike. The tale is told in standard documentary style, via interviews past and present, photos, extensive film footage, and, of course, lots of music.” I love this era of pop music and enjoyed all the great stories and music on these DVDs. This set is still available from AMAZON for about $8. A steal!

If you’re going to write a money management guide for twenty-and-thirty-somethings, you might want to go with a sassy title like How to Be Richer, Smarter, and Better Looking Than Your Parents which is exactly what Zac Bissonnette did. Zac covers all of the fundamentals of money management from stocks and bonds to 401ks and 403bs. The book is written in a breezy style, but Zac knows his stuff. You could find pretty much the same information in a Suze Orman book, but Zac Bissonnette is 23 and he’s writing for an audience of young people. His style makes the discussions of buying a house or leasing a car go down with a wit chaser. If you know a young person who needs a quick orientation to money management, this book does the job in a fun way. GRADE: B+