Max's Story Is Our Story. Max's War, Our Victory

Most World War Two fiction centers around the great struggles on the battlefield. Libby Fischer Hellmann has given us a fresh look at the conflict through her novel, Max's War. In it, we see the birth of fascism in Germany  through the eyes of Max Steiner, a German Jew. All the familiar historical events are covered...the rise of Hitler, the purges of the Universities, Kristallnacht. We also see the back story, the secret war waged against the Nazis with the help of Europe's refugees. The writing is so fresh, so straight forward, you'd think Libby was writing about current events. And in a disturbing sense, she is.

Seen at such a personal level, it's easy for the reader to believe Max's suffering is happening to your next door neighbor. Fear and fury at the injustice will strike you like a punch in the mouth that you never saw coming. Libby's writing pulls you into the story and at times will shake your faith in humanity. Every small victory for Max will make you smile and turn the page with fresh hope.

By the time Max and his parents decide to leave Germany, their exit strategy has narrowed. Max's father, a prosperous businessman calls in every favor he can to help Max escape Europe. But some doors are closed in his face. Others open to betrayal.

Once safe, Max seeks justice (or is it revenge?) through the only avenue open to him. He joins the U.S. Army, and discovers his language skills and knowledge of Germany are invaluable to his new homeland. By the time Max returns to the fight in an American uniform, we're eager to follow his exploits and cheer him on.

Most readers may never know the extent to which escaped refugees like Max helped America win the war.  German and Italian scientists helped build the first atomic bomb. Some, like Max, gathered intelligence and infiltrated enemy lines, saving countless lives along the way.

In a broader sense, this is story of every refugee who has fled to America for the past 400 years. Fleeing persecution for a better life is an old story in this country, and it continues to this day.  Who will write the next great refugee novel of the migrants from South America and Mexico? Who will tell their story, their suffering and their success?

The answer may come sooner than you think. Libby Fischer Hellmann is still writing.

WRITERS BORN TODAY - IAN FLEMING

    It's the birthday of Ian Fleming, born May 28, 1908. His younger days saw him flourish in journalism and then in naval intelligence during World War II, where he worked on schemes to mislead the Nazis. By 1952, he was semi-retired and bored. Living by the ocean in Jamaica, he decided to write a novel. He based his story on some of the spies and rogues he had met during his wartime activities, and created one of the most famous spies in literary history...James Bond. He would go on to sell over 100 million Bond books.

    His first novel, Casino Royale, gave little hint at the tremendous success that awaited him. After two months at his typewriter, he had a finished draft. But when he re-read it, he thought it was a ghastly effort filled with clichés and could only have been penned by an adolescent mind. He eventually found a publisher despite its flaws. Sales, however, were mediocre. In the United States it sold only 4,000 copies. Nevertheless he kept writing, and by 1961 had published six more Bond novels and a collection of short stories. Sales were good, but not great.

    All that changed in 1961, when LIFE magazine published an article about the new American President, John F. Kennedy. In the article, Kennedy mentioned that one of his favorite books was Fleming's fifth novel, From Russia, With Love. After that sales rocketed. All of his previous works, some of which had gone out of print, were re-issued. The first Bond movie was released in 1962. Dr. No starred Sean Connery as James Bond.

    Fleming continued to write and publish one Bond novel a year until his death in 1964. He was only 56 years old, but years of heavy drinking and a four pack a day cigarette habit resulted in a fatal heart attack, 

    Two more Bond novels were published posthumously, and since Fleming's death, his estate has authorized additional Bond novels, fourteen written by John Gardner and six by Raymond Benson. Others have been penned by Kingsley Amis, Anthony Horowitz and Jeffery Deaver. There have also been 27 Bond films released with the latest, No Time To Die, coming in 2021.

SOYLENT GREEN PREMIERED 50 YEARS AGO TODAY

 On April 19, 1973 Soylent Green premiered in the United States. This science fiction film became a cult classic, and foresaw the devastating effects of global warming decades before the phrase "climate change" came into popular use. It takes place in the year 2022.

The movie is also a murder mystery. The main character, Robert Thorn (played by Charlton Heston), is a police officer investigating the killing of a powerful man in an overcrowded New York City plagued by scorching temperatures and a lack of fresh food. Most people without wealth are condemned to eat government issued wafers made from questionable ingredients, such as Soylent Red, Soylent Yellow, and the infamous Soylent Green. 

Soylent Green features several scenes between Thorn and his roommate, a retired police analyst named Sol Roth, played by Edgar G. Robinson. These scenes are the highlight of the film, and Robinson's performance was praised by critics, even those who didn't like the movie. In one scene, when Thorn presents a piece of fresh beef he's procured, Roth breaks down in tears. 

Edgar G. Robinson was profoundly deaf at this stage in his career, and had to memorize not only his lines, but the lines of the other actors so that he could perform in front of the camera. This fact only served to demonstrate his skills and professionalism. Sadly, he passed away just a few weeks after production ended and didn't live to hear the praise surrounding his performance.

The film ends with Thorn learning about the motive for the murder he's investigating, and the terrible truth behind Soylent Green. If you've seen the movie, you know what I'm talking about. And if you haven't seen it, well...what in hell are you waiting for?

MYSTERY HISTORY: KING KONG DEBUTS 90 YEARS AGO TODAY

 It's only fair that the movie King Kong, which ended with a gigantic ape climbing the Empire State Building, debuted in...of all places...New York City. The film had been inspired by the imagination of Merian C. Cooper, who learned about the hunt for the Komodo dragon and saw one of the first specimens brought back alive from Indonesia. This lead to the creation of a film in which a giant gorilla battles dinosaurs on a tropical island, is captured, and brought to New York City. The beast escapes, and wrecks havoc among the local population before being killed. 

It was a winning plot, pulled off by some cutting edge animation (for the time), dangerous wildlife, and America's fascination with exotic locales. As Humphrey Bogart quipped in Casablanca, "You're not very subtle, but you are effective". The same could be said for Cooper's creation.

The movie was a huge success, entertaining audiences in the depths of the depression with escapist entertainment. King Kong has, since this initial success, inspired dozens of sequels in film, comics and fiction. 

The backstory of how Cooper created filmdom's most famous monster can be located here, compliments of THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.

VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED RELEASED ON THIS DAY IN 1960

62 years ago today, MGM's Village of the Damned made it's movie debut in the United States. Based on the science fiction novel The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham, it starred famed English actor George Sanders and Barbara Shelley. The screenplay was written by Sterling Silliphant, Wolf Rilla (who also directed), and Ronald Killoch.

It was originally planned for production in the United States but the studio caved in to objections from The Catholic League of Decency, which objected to the horror film's depiction of virgin conceptions which lead to the birth of demonic children. 

As a result of these objections, the film was transferred to MGM's British studio. The script had to be rewritten, since it lacked the authentic feel of a small British country village where the action takes place. 

As the movie opens, the village of Midwich is cut off from the surrounding towns and everyone falls into a coma. When they awake a few hours later, all the women of child-bearing age discover they are pregnant. Suspicions of infidelity soon turn to horror when the children are born after just a few months and undergo accelerated development. Within a few years, they are on the verge of puberty, and the villagers become increasingly alarmed at their strange appearance and powers. 

George Sanders plays the role of Professor Gordon Zellaby, whose wife has also given birth to one of the alien children, a boy they name David. Because of his intelligence and education, the children ask Zellaby to educate them. Because of his intellect, the professor is one of the only local villagers who doesn't fear and shun the children, a fact that surprises his normally unflappable son, who proclaims with some shock "You're not afraid of us!". The professor tries to learn from David his true origins, but his son brushes him off, declaring "I wish you wouldn't ask such questions, father. We want to learn from you."

But when villagers begin to die mysteriously, the authorities confide in Professor Zellaby that the children are a serious threat to national security, and that other cities around the world have similar "colonies" of these parasitic aliens. They enlist Zellaby in a plan to destroy them before their powers grow beyond control.

Produced on a budget of 200,000 dollars, the box office topped 2 million, and became one of MGM's biggest hits of the year. It spawned a sequel in 1964, Children of the Damned, which was not as successful.

Diabolique Magazine produced an excellent podcast discussing the film, which you can access by clicking here.

Below is the original trailer released by MGM Studios.

I WON'T BACK DOWN from recommending this thriller.

 J.D. Rhoades has written six books in the Jack Keller series, and this is the latest one. It's also the first one I've read, and now I want to read them all. Keller's come to North Carolina to try to reconnect with his son, and possible rekindle a romance. The story hints at some grave harm that Jack did to his boy, some act of violence that saved him, but also scarred him. 

In the novels first chapter Jack defends some new immigrants at the local school, refugees from the Iraq war. Soon he's hired as their bodyguard by the father, an ex-police officer who fled the country and was given a new identity. But he may not have fled with just his children. There are an awful lot of people who seem to have an interest in this family. I could be military information they want, someone seeking revenge for a past wrong, or a far more simple motive...money. It's no secret that the United States poured hundreds of millions of dollars into Iraq after the war to rebuild it, and a lot of that cash (yes, cash) simply disappeared. Could some of that money be here?

Keller finds himself defending the children not just from schoolyard bullies and redneck bigots, but ruthless assassins and even some federal agents who may not have the refugees' best interests at heart. As a man with a rap sheet, Jack Keller also has to be careful not to attract the attention of law enforcement. This proves to be a difficult task once the shooting starts. 

There are a lot of characters jumping into the narrative with different motives behind each character.  Rhoades has a nifty technique to keep the reader from getting lost. He keeps many of the chapters short, sometimes just two or three pages. This helps pack a lot of information into the story, which is good, because the action starts early and never lets up. I liked it. You will too.

How Angela Lansbury Helped Shape My First Novel

 By now most of you know that Angela Lansbury has passed away. As she leaves us, a generation of television viewers who grew up on her portrayal of Jessica Fletcher in the mystery series Murder, She Wrote, pause to reflect on her legacy. For many, her TV stardom was the first introduction to this versatile actress. But her acting career spanned an incredible eight decades. 

She made her first movie appearance in 1944 in the suspense film Gaslight. This earned her an Academy Award nomination for her sinister performance. In 2014, she made her last acting appearance in Noel Coward's comedy play Blithe Spirit as Madam Arcati, a spiritual guide and potential huckster.

I've seen most of Angela's roles over the years. Her portrayal of Eleanor Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate is a personal favorite. But her influence on my writing has a direct link to the success of her portrayal of a widowed amateur sleuth from the small town of Cabot Cove, Maine. 

While still working on the first draft of In The Dismal Swamp, I decided to target the cozy mystery market. I didn't have an agent, and at the time, most of the publishers who I thought might work with me were focused on the cozy. It was then that I realized that I didn't know exactly what a cozy was...I just had a vague idea. Then someone (an agent?) mentioned Murder, She Wrote. "You want cozy? Jessica Fletcher's cozy!"

That's when I understood. I'd watched MSW for years and the successful formula of minimal violence, the absence of cuss words and quaint settings made sense for my manuscript. The basic structure was the same, whether it was film, television or printed fiction. And the rules for cozy are pretty strict. At one point, my editor suggested (strongly) that I remove the word "piss" from my manuscript, as it wouldn't pass muster.

 Naturally I complied. It wasn't a big issue for me, but it did teach me an important lesson. You need to target your audience. It my case, it was a cozy publisher, and I eventually found one in Avalon Books of New York (which was later purchased by Thomas & Mercer).

Since then I've moved onto different sub-genres of the mystery novel. My current WIP is a heist novel, and you can bet I won't be pitching it to The Hallmark Channel. But I won't forget the lessons I learned from Angela Lansbury. 

If you're a fan of cozy mysteries, you can purchase my novel using the link in the blog post above. I also recommend Nancy Cohen, Agatha Christie, Edith Maxwell, and Eva Gates.