I have no dog in this fight so if I were a betting man (which I am NOT) I would take the Kansas City Chiefs and the 1 1/2 points. Who do you think will win the Super Bowl this year?

Velma is an American adult animated mystery horror comedy television series based on the character Velma Dinkley from the Scooby-Doo franchise. Since Velma was my favorite character–the one with the brains to solve the mysteries–in  Scooby-Doo  I decided to check this new series out.

Created  by Charlie Grandy for HBO Max, Velma stars executive producer Mindy Kaling as the voice of Velma, with Sam Richardson (Norville), Constance Wu (Daphne), and Glenn Howerton (Fred) in supporting roles. Grandy also serves as the showrunner of the series. The action involves Velma Dinkley and the other teenage members of Mystery Inc. before their official formation, making it the first television series in the franchise to not feature the Scooby-Doo character–which is okay by me.

Velma premiered on January 12, 2023, to mixed reviews from critics, who praised the vocal performances, but were divided about the “humor” and criticized its meta storytelling, characterization, and departures from the Scooby-Doo franchise. Velma earned a 42% rating on Rotten Tomatoes by the critics and a 9% from the audience.

I’ve only watched four of the 10 episodes so I hesitate to make any definitive statements about the quality (or lack thereof) of this show. I like the snarky characters, but the vibe tends to be negative. Were you a  Scooby-Doo fan? Did you have a favorite character? GRADE: incomplete

One of the benefits of sorting through boxes in order to reduce one’s book collection happens to be the surprise of finding something you packed away nearly 40 years ago…in mint condition! That’s what happened to me last week. I found some Rolling Stone magazines and this digest issue of Espionage.

Espionage was published from 1984 to 1987. As you might expect, Espionage specialized in spy fiction. This issue features a clever story, “An All American Hero,” by Joe R. Lansdale (not known for spy stories) and a wild story by Ron Goulart, “The Monster of the Maze.” Another writer better known for his Science Fiction stories, Charles L. Harness (The Paradox Men), delivers a suspenseful tale in “Crossings.”

Interest in spy novels tends to ebb and flow over the years. Espionage appealed to lovers of spy fiction, but after three years the thrill was gone. Did you read digest magazines back in the day? GRADE: B

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

I pretty much listened to music every chance I got in the early 1960s. Walking to school and walking home from school I carried my transistor radio and listened to WKBW, the Buffalo rock & roll station. I remember all of these songs vividly and although many were sung by older performers like Andy Williams, Eddie Arnold, and Al Martino, these songs haven’t lost their meaning for me.

Back in the Sixties, I was falling in love with someone every other day. Maybe it was teenage hormones, maybe it was just being around attractive girls at school. Maybe it was the power of Emma Peel to reach out through our TV set to grab my heart. Whatever the reason, I loved these love songs back then. And with Valentine’s Day around the corner, this seemed like a good time to share this music I grew up listening to. Do you remember these songs? Any favorites? GRADE: A

Track Listing

Occasionally, TOR Books publishes a short novel in the Science Fiction or Fantasy genres. Occasionally, Kate Elliott, veteran writer of massive Fantasy novels and series, writes a stand-alone novel. With this first book I’ve read with a 2023 copyright, The Keeper’s Six, these two eventualities intersect.

Esther is the leader of a team–a Hex–who travels between Universes to learn and to trade. But, this being a Kate Elliott book, there are dragons. The dragons in The Keeper’s Six are intelligent and scheming. One of the dragons kidnaps Esther’s son, Daniel (the Hex’s Keeper), and Esther will do anything to rescue him.

Elliott has Esther’s Hex traveling between Realms and facing the menacing Beyond. One of Kate Elliot’s strengths is her ability to create worlds rich with atmospheric challenges and threats.

I read The Keeper’s Six in one sitting. Sometimes short novels are the ideal format for Science Fiction and Fantasy stories. This is one of them. GRADE: A-

Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne of Russian Doll) is a cocktail waitress and former card hustler working at the Frost Casino in Nevada, but following the murder of her best friend Charlie uses her power to tell when someone is lying to solve the murder. But, that solution comes with a cost.

Rian Johnson, of Knives Out and Glass Onion fame, said in an interview he grew up watching Columbo and Murder She Wrote. That affection for TV mysteries shows up in Poker Face as director Rian Johnson’s lead character, Charlie, finds herself involved in 10 hour long murder mystery episodes. The clever idea of a woman who is a human lie detector is the key to this series.

Rain Johnson uses Charlie’s extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying with clever plotting. Charlie hits the road with her Plymouth Barracuda and with every stop on her journey she encounters a new cast of characters and strange crimes she can’t help but investigate and solve. I love Natasha Lyonne’s approach to this role!

If you’re a fan of those classic TV mystery series from the past, you’ll enjoy this 21st Century version. GRADE: B+

With the national obsession with the Chinese spy balloon, I thought a book like Lawrence Freedman’s Command fits right into the tenor of our times with political paranoia and conspiracy theories.

Lawrence Freedman, a specialist in Strategy, delivers a comprehensive volume on leadership, strategy, tactics, and command. Freedman’s chapter on the future of command focuses on the War in Ukraine. The Russian Army, poorly trained, poorly equipped, and expecting an easy victory in Ukraine found savage fighting, mounting losses, and imploding morale in Putin’s War. Freedman points out that the Russian Army doesn’t have noncommissioned officers like the American Army does. The orders from the Russian Generals travel down the Chain of Command and mostly go unexecuted because of the Fog of War. Once circumstances go South, Russian troops don’t know what to do. Confusion reigns and the losses mount. That’s because Command fails in the Russian/Ukraine setting. The result is battlefield causalities and retreat.

Command (2022) is a brilliant book filled with insights from the military campaigns over the past 70 years. Technology has changed the way wars are fought. It’s also changed the Command Structure of most advanced military units. Failure to adapt to these changes results in the mess the Russians created in Ukraine. China would do well to consider the costs of war before they contemplate an invasion of Taiwan. GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1: Introduction: The Politics of Command
2. Commanding Supreme Commanders: Korea and Kosovo
3: The Fury of the Legions: The French Army in Indochina and Algeria
4; Keeping Control: The Cuban Missile Crisis
5: The Surrender of East Pakistan
6: The Easter Offensive
7: Model of Insubordination: Ariel Sharon
9: The Falklands Campaign
10: Guevara, Kabila and the Congo
11: Russian Rebellions: Chechnya and Ukraine
12: Saddam Hussein
13: Osama Bin Laden Escapes: The Battle of Tora Bora
14: Surging in Iraq

15: Past, Present, and Future of Command

Notes

Index

American Masters: Roberta Flack follows the music icon from a piano lounge through her rise to stardom. From “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” to “Killing Me Softly,” Flack’s virtuosity was inseparable from her commitment to civil rights. Detailing her story in her own words, the film features exclusive access to Flack’s archives and interviews with Clint Eastwood (actor, director, and producer), Yoko Ono (multimedia artist, singer-songwriter, activist), Angela Davis (political activist), Eugene McDaniels (singer-songwriter), Joel Dorn (producer), Peabo Bryson (singer-songwriter), Valerie Simpson (songwriter, producer, and performer), Les McCann (musician), Sean Lennon (musician), Jason King (music scholar, musician, and author), Ann Powers (music critic, author) and more. In addition to Flack’s timeless music.

My favorite story in American Masters: Roberta Flack was the story about “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.” The song had been released three years before Clint Eastwood directed his first movie, Play Misty For Me. Eastwood was driving to work when he heard “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” on the radio. He almost drove off the road because of the impact the song had on him. When Eastwood contacted Roberta Flack about the song, she initially turned him down. Finally, she agreed but tried to get Eastwood to drop the beginning 8 measures of the song. Eastwood said, “I want every note of your song for my movie.” And, once people heard “The First Time Every I Saw Your Face” in Eastwood’s movie, the song began to get airplay again.

“The First Time Every I Saw Your Face” won Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Billboard ranked it as the number one Hot 100 single of the year for 1972. That launched Roberta Flack’s career. Do you have a favorite Robert Flack song? GRADE: A (for both the TV program and the CD)

TRACK LIST:

I’ve read about a dozen books by Tanya Huff, but none as frustrating as Into the Broken Lands. Huff’s new novel straddles the border of fantasy and science fiction. The novel is set in a desolate world where survivors of the Mage War struggle to survive. Six incredibly powerful Mages unleashed death and suffering that still persist in the Broken Lands where the Mage War has lasting effects.

A group of warriors and scholars from Marsan arrive at Gateway, the last stop on the Mage Road to the Broken Lands. There, they add “the weapon” to their party–a mage-created creature with astounding strength and knowledge of the dangers of the Broken Lands.

This quest gets off to a very slow start. The group is stuck in Gateway for 156 pages (of a 452 page book). Finally, the trip into the Broken Lands begins and the group faces traps and weird creatures all along the way. Reality is skewed in the Broken Lands and death is just a wrong step away.

One by one, members of the group get picked off and die from the sinister dimensions of the Broken Land. Huff annoyed me when she killed off the most interesting member of the group so unless reincarnation is an option in a possible sequel, the characters who survive the trip flirt with mediocrity. I slogged through Into the Broken Lands to the end, but it was Not Fun. GRADE: C

Hugh Pentecost created several characters for his mysteries. I wrote about Uncle George a few weeks ago (you can read my review here). Then there’s Pierre Chambrun who runs a luxury hotel where some one seems to get murdered with regularity. Another Pentecost series revolves around Julian Quist, head of a high-powered public relations firm. Quist’s clients always seem to be involved in murder and Quist and his team have to find a way to clear them…and find the real killer.

Die After Dark (1976) starts out with Quist approached by a friend who plans to run for the Senate seat from New York State…but may be involved in the death of a woman he entertained romantic intentions about. The divorced woman was found stabbed multiple times. Quist and his team need to discover who the woman had sex with before she was murdered.

Like all the Hugh Pentecost mysteries I’ve read (about a dozen) the story unfolds with alacrity and the pages turn quickly as Quist discovers more facts about the murdered woman and her past. If you’re looking for an entertaining, quick read, Die After Dark is your ticket to satisfaction. GRADE: B

Julian Quist series:
   Don’t Drop Dead Tomorrow (1971)
   Champagne Killer (1972)
   Beautiful Dead (1973)
   The Judas Freak (1974)
   Honeymoon with Death (1975)
   Die After Dark (1976)
   The Steel Palace (1977)
   Deadly Trap (1978)
   Homicidal Horse (1979)
   Death Mask (1980)
   Sow Death, Reap Death (1981)
   Past, Present, and Murder (1982)
   Murder Out of Wedlock (1983)
   Substitute Victim (1984)
   The Party Killer (1986)
   Kill and Kill Again (1987)