The 1-1 Buffalo Bills travel to Washington, D.C. to take on the 2-0 Commanders and Tropical Storm Ophelia. The Bills are favored by 6 1/2 points but the wind and the rain may affect the game. How will your favorite NFL team do today?
If you’re a fan of the John Wick series, you’re going to be disappointed with this prequel to the saga where we’re supposed to learn more about the history of The Continental hotel for assassins.
This 3-episode series is in the 1970s during the middle of a labor strike that leaves New York City overflowing with garbage–an apt metaphor for these shallow and sordid 90-minute duds. The Continental starts with story of how a young Winston Scott (Colin Woodell) winds up fighting for his life after his brother Frankie (Ben Robson) steals something valuable from assassin hotel.
Despite featuring some High Table villains like the masked Adjudicator (Katie McGrath) and eerie sharpshooters Hansel (Mark Musashi) and Gretel (Marina Mazepa), The Continental’s big villain is the disappointing Mel Gibson as Cormac, the New York hotel’s manager. Sure, the body count is high, but this series just doesn’t have class of the institution it’s supposed to be about. GRADE: C-
Mary Kelly (no relation) is best known for her Inspector Brett Nightingale and Hedley Nicholson series of mysteries. But as Martin Edwards points out in his informative Introduction, Mary Kelly was a dynamic writer for decades. She won the Golden Dagger Award for The Spoilt Kill in 1961.
Due to a Death (1962) features a blood-covered narrator named Agnes who is trapped in a loveless marriage, flashbacks that influence the investigation of the murder of a young girl, and a mysterious stranger new to the quaint English village where a murderer lurks.
Classic British Library Crime Classics deserves praise for reprinting this innovative and suspenseful mystery novel. GRADE: B+
Last week I was listening to these collaborative CDs. The Chieftains and a bunch of their friends–Sting, Jagger, Sinead O’Connor, Van Morrison, Mark Knopfler, Ry Cooder, Marianne Faithfull, Tom Jones, and The Rolling Stones–produced a satisfying album back in 1995.
I hadn’t heard Mick Jagger’s version of “The Long Black Veil” before and it’s pretty good. Rod Stewart had a hit with his version of Van Morrison’s “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?” but this rendition is pleasing, too.
Sadly, we won’t have any more music from Sinead O’Connor. The two songs she sings on this CD reminds you of how wonderful her voice was. On the other hand, Marianne Faithfull’s voice is raspy. GRADE: B+
I’ve had Better Together: The Duet Album since it came out in 1991 and only got around to listening to it last week. Johnny Mathis gets played every year at Christmas time. Diane loves his Christmas albums! Mathis and his friends–Patti Austin, Regina Belle, Angela Bofill, Jane Oliver, Take 6, Dionne Warwick, and Deniese Williams–deliver a very listenable album of love songs. Mathis and Deniese Williams had a hit with “Too Much, Too Little, Too Late.”
I really liked “It’s All In the Game” and “In the Still of the Night” with Mathis and Take 6. I’m a big fan of Regina Belle’s voice and she’s stellar on her cut: “Better Together.” If you’re in the mood for some wonderful music, check out Better Together: The Duet Album. Do you remember these songs? GRADE: A-
TRACK LIST:
| 1 | Mo Ghile Mear – “Our Hero” Featuring – Sting | 3:22 | |
| 2 | The Long Black Veil Featuring – Mick Jagger | 3:38 | |
| 3 | The Foggy Dew Featuring – Sinéad O’Connor | 5:20 | |
| 4 | Have I Told You Lately That I Love You? Featuring – Van Morrison | 4:40 | |
| 5 | Changing Your Demeanour | 3:16 | |
| 6 | The Lily Of The West Featuring – Mark Knopfler | 5:10 | |
| 7 | Coast Of Malabar Featuring – Ry Cooder | 6:01 | |
| 8 | Dunmore Lassies (Instrumental) Featuring – Ry Cooder | 5:14 | |
| 9 | Love Is Teasin’ Featuring – Marianne Faithfull | 4:36 | |
| 10 | He Moved Through The Fair Featuring – Sinéad O’Connor | 4:54 | |
| 11 | Ferny Hill (Instrumental) | 3:43 | |
| 12 | Tennessee Waltz / Tennessee Mazurka Featuring – Tom Jones | 3:58 | |
| 13 | The Rocky Road To Dublin Featuring – The Rolling Stones | 5:06 |
TRACK LIST:
| 1 | Regina Belle– | Better Together Written-By – R. Bowland* |
| 2 | Patti Austin– | You Brought Me Love Written-By – A. Goldmark |
| 3 | Deniece Williams– | Too Much, Too Little, Too Late Written-By – J. Vallins*, N. Kipner |
| 4 | Take 6– | It’s All In The Game Written-By – C. Sigman*, C. Dawes |
| 5 | Deniece Williams– | Love Won’t Let Me Wait Written-By – B. Eli*, V. Barrett |
| 6 | Angela Bofill– | You’re A Special Part Of Me Written-By – A. Bofill*, L. Gold |
| 7 | Jane Olivor– | The Last Time I Felt Like This Written-By – A. Bergman*, M. Bergman*, M. Hamlisch |
| 8 | Dionne Warwick– | Friends In Love Written-By – B. Champlin*, D. Foster*, J. Graydon |
| 9 | Take 6– | In The Still Of The Night Written-By – F. Parris |
| 10 | Deniece Williams– | You’re All I Need To Get By Written-By – N. Ashford And V. Simpson |
| 11 | Dionne Warwick– | Who’s Counting Heartaches Written-By – I. Wolf |
Perfect Summer reading! That’s what Fourth Planet from the Sun (2005) turned out to be for me. Gordon Van Gelder collects some of the best Mars stories first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and provides catchy introductions.
What would a Mars anthology be without a Ray Bradbury story? Or an Arthur C. Clarke story? And, who could resist Leigh Brackett’s “Purple Priestess of the Mad Moon”?
Roger Zelazny’s “A Rose for Ecclesiastes” was nominated for a Hugo Award in 1964. John Varley’s “In the Hall of the Martian Kings” was nominated for a Hugo Award in 1977. “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” morphed in the Arnold Schwarzenegger hit, Total Recall.
I also got a kick out of Van Gelder putting Robert F. Young’s “The First Mars Mission” next to Michael Casutt’s “The Last Mars Trip.” All together, Fourth Planet from the Sun delivers a dozen stories that will delight you! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION — xi
| The Wilderness | – | Ray Bradbury — 1 |
| Mars Is Ours | – | Alfred Coppel — 13 |
| Crime on Mars | – | Arthur C. Clarke — 27 |
| Purple Priestess of the Mad Moon | – | Leigh Brackett — 35 |
| A Rose for Ecclesiastes | – | Roger Zelazny — 57 |
| We Can Remember It For You Wholesale | – | Philip K. Dick — 101 |
| Hellas is Florida | – | Gordon Eklund & Gregory Benford — 127 |
| In the Hall of the Martian Kings | – | John Varley — 149 |
| The First Mars Mission | – | Robert F. Young — 199 |
| The Last Mars Trip | – | Michael Cassutt — 213 |
| The Great Martian Pyramid Hoax | – | Jerry Oltion — 233 |
| Pictures from an Expedition | – | Alex Irvine –251 |
Loosely based on Robert Jordon’s best selling Fantasy series, The Wheel of Time, Season 2 continues the storylines set up in Season 1. In this new season, Rand al’Thor (Josha Stradowski) and his friends are separated and under attack by the evil Dark One and his minions. Meanwhile, Moiraine Damodred (Rosamund Pike) and her Warder, Lan Mandragoran (Daniel Henney), are trying to protect Rand and company despite losing their special abilities.
I’m most interested any segment of The Wheel of Time with Rosamund Pike in it. As in Season 1, Season 2 has eight episodes full of conflict and magic. A third Season has been approved. Mildly entertaining. GRADE: B
I’ve read the entire Sean Duffy series: The Cold Cold Ground, I Hear the Sirens in the Street, and In the Morning I’ll Be Gone. You can read my reviews here and here. Then The Troubles Trilogy expanded to include Gun Street Girl, my review is here. Then Rain Dogs, review here. And Police at the Station and They Don’t Look Friendly, review here.
The seventh book in the Sean Duffy series just showed up: The Detective Up Late. Throughout the book, Adrian McKinty hints that this might be Duffy’s last case. Duffy is a veteran Detective Inspector in Belfast, Ireland. The previous books in the series were all based in the 1980s, but The Detective Up Late opens with a new decade dawning.
Sean Duffy is an unconventional police officer. He’s educated and smart–which generates resentment from some of his fellow officers. Duffy investigates the possible murder of a teenage girl and the twists and turns of the case unearths a number of surprises. My favorite episode in The Detective Up Late occurs when Duffy and his squad are ambushed by a hit team armed with automatic weapons. McKinty knows how to write edge-of-your-seat action scenes!
In addition to Duffy’s literary references, his love of music pops up at various times in these novels. For example, “But if you’ve got a record player and you’ve got an album by Ella Fitzgerald, you’r going to change you mind about topping yourself.” (p. 248)
If you’re in the mood for an unorthodox police procedural with sparkling wit and intense action, The Detective Up Late will keep those pages turning! GRADE: B+
After the debacle in the Meadowlands on Monday Night football, the 0-1 Buffalo Bills face the 1-0 Raiders with Bills fans fired up for the Home Opener with hopes of redemption. The Bills are inexplicable 9 1/2 point favorites. How will your favorite NFL team perform today?
Diane and I drove over to the North Tonawanda Public Library and joined a dozen other Ann Patchett fans to watch a ZOOM interview of Ann Patchett with Shannon DeVito, Sr. Director, Book Strategy and Customer Experience at B&N and Miwa Messer, Executive Producer of B&N’s POURED OVER podcast.
The hour-long interview covered details of Patchett’s new novel, Tom Lake, which Diane had read (Diane’s read just about every book Ann Patchett has published). I enjoyed Patchett’s stories of how the novel came about (it actually started while she was finishing writing The Dutch House). Patchett also spoke about the impact of the Pandemic on the book and its characters. Patchett also choses the artwork for her novels. She and her husband were vacationing in Paris when she saw the painting that would become the cover of Tom Lake.
I wish I could include a link to this interview, but there’s none on the Barnes & Noble Book Club website. Ann Patchett mentioned how she asked Tom Hanks to do the audio book for The Dutch House and also asked Meryl Streep to narrate Tom Lake. “If you don’t ask, it won’t happen,” she advised. Are you an Ann Patchett fan? GRADE: A
Most readers of this blog are familiar with the collaborations of Barry N. Malzberg and Bill Pronzini especially The Running of the Beasts and Night Screams. But Malzberg. also collaborated on short stories with a number of other writers that editor of Collaborative Capers Robert Friedman selected for this new Stark House volume.
My favorite story in Collaborative Capers is “Approaching Sixty” (with Mike Resnick) where a gambler uses a religious text to help him pick winning horses at a race track. I also enjoyed “Beyond Mao” (with Paul Di Filippo) where a spooky resurrection could save or doom a Mars mission.
In the Introduction, Malzberg says collaboration produces a different dynamic in writing mode. This effect shows up in “Tourist Trap: A Companion Piece to Gene Wolfe’s ‘The Marvelous Brass Chessplaying Automaton'” (with Mike Resnick) where both writers meet the challenge.
Barry N. Malzberg displays his dazzling talents with these brilliant stories that blend the JFK assassination, race tracks, cryptic aliens, dormant Artificial Intelligence, war, and troubled peace. Don’t miss this mind-expanding collection! GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION by Robert Friedman and Barry N. Malzberg — 9
Pater Familias (with Kris Neville) — 14
Human Error (with Kris Neville) — 18
Getting Back (with Jeffrey W. Carpenter) — 21
Calling Collect (with Arthur L. Samuels) — 26
Bringing It Home (with Jack Dann) — 32
Blues and the Abstract Truth (with Jack Dann) — 37
Getting Up (with Jack Dann) — 43
Art Appreciation (with Jack Dann) — 52
Ghosts (with Mike Resnick) — 60
Thus, to the Stars (with Carter Schotz) — 66
1967: Letter stop the Wall (with Batya Swift Yasgur) — 71
Blessing the Last Family (with Batya Swift Yasgur) — 78
Things Primordial (with Batya Swift Yasgur) — 87
Job’s Partner (with Batya Swift Yasgur) — 96
Beyond Mao (with Paul Di Filippo) — 105
Aortic Insubordination (with Batya Swift Yasgur) — 119
The Starry Night (with Jack Dann) — 128
Faulkner’s Seesaw (with Jack Dann) — 138
Approaching Sixty (with Mike Resnick) — 143
The Art of Memory (with Jack Dann) — 148
The Man Who Murdered Mozart (with Robert Walton) –157
The Rapture (with Jack Dann) — 174
Tourist Trap (with Mike Resnick) — 188
Let the Games Begin (with Robert Friedman) — 192
BIBLIOGRAPHY — 204