tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57421407281974187922024-03-05T01:13:59.703-06:00 Picks By Pat Book Reviews and Mystery News by a mystery writer who enjoys reading other mystery writers. Here's a peek at what catches my eye.Picks by Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03210946161490466694noreply@blogger.comBlogger287125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742140728197418792.post-63826991427814175972023-04-19T20:46:00.000-06:002023-04-19T20:46:24.154-06:00SOYLENT GREEN PREMIERED 50 YEARS AGO TODAY<p> 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.</p><p>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. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhest27cnBwQkdcY_6_XLEfZgAJ_L8EgL7e6DKCDuEluucXCcyJw5Nimc1ysNb0G83g_-G7F3WsbcCLl6uINBt36EeZ190ofAR9SPcDkurveExNgM4U1abezo8mCIhvGBwk1jgnQiQUrdOTEIGL3gTSirs1n-PEsMlhPAYpL3N1NDZJVvSGRRSU8IpE6w/s594/Soylent%20Green%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="396" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhest27cnBwQkdcY_6_XLEfZgAJ_L8EgL7e6DKCDuEluucXCcyJw5Nimc1ysNb0G83g_-G7F3WsbcCLl6uINBt36EeZ190ofAR9SPcDkurveExNgM4U1abezo8mCIhvGBwk1jgnQiQUrdOTEIGL3gTSirs1n-PEsMlhPAYpL3N1NDZJVvSGRRSU8IpE6w/s320/Soylent%20Green%201.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>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. <p></p><p>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.</p><p>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?</p>Picks by Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03210946161490466694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742140728197418792.post-26475253863328371732023-03-03T23:35:00.000-06:002023-03-03T23:35:36.871-06:00MYSTERY HISTORY: KING KONG DEBUTS 90 YEARS AGO TODAY<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfulvDI_0ZUO7uEEFKTYRuVVqH5EpFhmRCrSdKT5MXt4K7NPR8C_THyrPH9ig0YNV9dmYSDeMYBepLWQIob5YhQJGhypPnaJirgDcKK_-Wb40zdjElezxDdewzVdmpq_RR4h6cv36eBl66Apnug0EPQTdBHC-ZLOrjDM7O1UWjhLVE9gASuGNrmo-Lsg/s768/King_Kong_1933_Promotional_Image.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="768" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfulvDI_0ZUO7uEEFKTYRuVVqH5EpFhmRCrSdKT5MXt4K7NPR8C_THyrPH9ig0YNV9dmYSDeMYBepLWQIob5YhQJGhypPnaJirgDcKK_-Wb40zdjElezxDdewzVdmpq_RR4h6cv36eBl66Apnug0EPQTdBHC-ZLOrjDM7O1UWjhLVE9gASuGNrmo-Lsg/s320/King_Kong_1933_Promotional_Image.png" width="320" /></a></div> 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. <p></p><p>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.</p><p>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. </p><p>The backstory of how Cooper created filmdom's most famous monster can be located here, compliments of <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/king-kong-unbelievable-true-story-hollywoods-favorite-giant-ape-984785/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER</a>.</p>Picks by Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03210946161490466694noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742140728197418792.post-235922775929955972022-12-07T21:14:00.000-06:002022-12-07T21:14:08.373-06:00VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED RELEASED ON THIS DAY IN 1960<p>62 years ago today, MGM's <i>Village of the Damned</i> made it's movie debut in the United States. Based on the science fiction novel <i><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/194579/the-midwich-cuckoos-by-john-wyndham/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Midwich Cuckoos</a></i> 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.<br /></p><ul style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.32px; line-height: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></ul><p>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. </p><p>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. </p><p><span style="clear: right; color: black; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="253" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkq3iO9hQrWEcpEoNBGttlh0dYrpGYz_i8d03BxLvYMBEcTUNrGfkgXC6HkrOuCV6mQHWjVznZQT8V_Z-LQWQtG0Pfp1-Hb7q1ozAYP_UaM1oEBcpMsqsU5igQ7Zz1esGpNooKaOqdK6Z5hj-pJQjUQLuQoRkuythDTqdRb1usrcoLLB_x66r77TLPXg/s320/Villageofthedamned1960.jpg" width="205" /></span>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. </p><p>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."</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkq3iO9hQrWEcpEoNBGttlh0dYrpGYz_i8d03BxLvYMBEcTUNrGfkgXC6HkrOuCV6mQHWjVznZQT8V_Z-LQWQtG0Pfp1-Hb7q1ozAYP_UaM1oEBcpMsqsU5igQ7Zz1esGpNooKaOqdK6Z5hj-pJQjUQLuQoRkuythDTqdRb1usrcoLLB_x66r77TLPXg/s394/Villageofthedamned1960.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div><div>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.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">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.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Diabolique Magazine produced an excellent podcast discussing the film, which you can <a href="https://diaboliquemagazine.com/episode-no-41-village-damned-1960/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">access by clicking here</a>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Below is the original trailer released by MGM Studios.</div><p style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/-AUBlW5EWnI" width="480"></iframe></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;"><br /></span></span></p>Picks by Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03210946161490466694noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742140728197418792.post-12174177915934083352022-10-17T20:01:00.003-06:002022-10-17T20:01:27.782-06:00I WON'T BACK DOWN from recommending this thriller.<p> 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. </p><p>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?</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Wont-Back-Down-Jack-Keller/dp/1947993712/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=won%27t+back+down+rhoades&qid=1665456595&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIwLjI1IiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sr=8-2" rel="nofollow" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1896" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUut_XZu9lqkOFsFj27Xo2O8YGqHAlyYwdzwmp3z9sRdiHDq1JW2KyrJ2p9OntJZhqBNdAyaSqpBLpGDUDWhT-RlnF8WD0DUyGC1uO5NoxGD67jkK3EHrnhl_FU2E4AqzAvVxkngFbGN60wXGSX0lFbI84JB87Uq8HlOGvnSa-M3N03L9VGZkOUCCAlg/s320/Wont%20Back%20Down.jpg" width="216" /></a></div><br />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. <p></p><p>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.</p>Picks by Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03210946161490466694noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742140728197418792.post-32163382301129336722022-10-12T21:03:00.000-06:002022-10-12T21:03:26.504-06:00How Angela Lansbury Helped Shape My First Novel<p> 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 <i>Murder, She Wrote</i>, 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. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcMX8aYzH1eVio_TrXvyFoG-cFar9qA9t7WYRp4Zr9MhgSCzO3XlOjPlywePIWNZWJfwmZL_1-fLDNyOmn8WEqcRvQ7P8OYBgjUYpPLC6D461FxuN8mSbNVbBD8o9Fj6f-BhzfB2-j1MxlrKy4PVLYeMgMxoev0t-hGq-7a_xqzy1Hh53mhdyugArCQg/s780/gaslight_lansbury.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="780" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcMX8aYzH1eVio_TrXvyFoG-cFar9qA9t7WYRp4Zr9MhgSCzO3XlOjPlywePIWNZWJfwmZL_1-fLDNyOmn8WEqcRvQ7P8OYBgjUYpPLC6D461FxuN8mSbNVbBD8o9Fj6f-BhzfB2-j1MxlrKy4PVLYeMgMxoev0t-hGq-7a_xqzy1Hh53mhdyugArCQg/w200-h113/gaslight_lansbury.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>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 h<span>er last acting appearance in Noel Coward's comedy play Blithe Spirit as Madam Arcati, a spiritual guide and potential huckster.</span><p></p><p>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. </p><p>While still working on the first draft of <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dismal-Swamp-Patrick-Balester-ebook/dp/B00941R3GA/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">In The Dismal Swamp</a></i>, 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!"</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNKbypTZt1GFikOw8EC1Ys2x6CvUe8MqBx1k8TQF6j7WnXPHvAAO0GBsVW3C1_AH0orAmhF6lXN00Jht7txKQ7nkYy_EqKLHl5o8E1ebYpQzfjqZwP4touvZoGmKiVTRJfVRMFpQqQaZB7avd4JP9keNfbNb7SVx-gshn89mFadTAcWxY7FDaO3QsQYg/s2400/murder-she-wrote.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="2400" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNKbypTZt1GFikOw8EC1Ys2x6CvUe8MqBx1k8TQF6j7WnXPHvAAO0GBsVW3C1_AH0orAmhF6lXN00Jht7txKQ7nkYy_EqKLHl5o8E1ebYpQzfjqZwP4touvZoGmKiVTRJfVRMFpQqQaZB7avd4JP9keNfbNb7SVx-gshn89mFadTAcWxY7FDaO3QsQYg/w200-h113/murder-she-wrote.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>That's when I understood. I'd watched <a href="https://murdershewrote.fandom.com/wiki/Murder,_She_Wrote" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">MSW</a> 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.<p></p><p> 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).</p><p>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. </p><p><i>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.</i></p>Picks by Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03210946161490466694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742140728197418792.post-30928879425775207802022-09-27T21:07:00.003-06:002022-09-27T21:08:16.160-06:00WRITERS BORN TODAY: Jim Thompson, American Master of Nasty Noir<p> It's the birthday of Jim Thompson, born 116 years ago today in Oklahoma. Raised in the hard scrabble oil fields of Texas and abandoned by his father for a time, Thompson struggled from a young age to help support his family. There was no odd job he wouldn't take. His stint as a bellboy introduced him to the seedier side of life as he used his skills to procure women, drugs, and bootleg alcohol for the hotel's clients. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH3eJqSh0xKwAAnU_3I6jo3VtPmtDzZZazRPuyhwmzBaid1ZJ97bNS6TawkW506zm9Pss9upP3A16G9xuZgbh5B90PM4iAaX1QxCiRkyZAmmSyWiW9pIE1qYqx7qtAr9DPJY7GR0U-DZGrfldPOWWwgkeAiUXQLVdJnFpijMPpI4oUqS8h_LUquF3rqg/s500/The%20Grifters%20by%20Jim%20Thompson.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="334" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH3eJqSh0xKwAAnU_3I6jo3VtPmtDzZZazRPuyhwmzBaid1ZJ97bNS6TawkW506zm9Pss9upP3A16G9xuZgbh5B90PM4iAaX1QxCiRkyZAmmSyWiW9pIE1qYqx7qtAr9DPJY7GR0U-DZGrfldPOWWwgkeAiUXQLVdJnFpijMPpI4oUqS8h_LUquF3rqg/s320/The%20Grifters%20by%20Jim%20Thompson.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>Along the way he turned to writing for the pulp publishers who flourished after World War II. It was during this time that he produced some of the most vicious characters ever put to paper in American crime literature. His villains were corrupt cops, con men and psychopaths. His protagonists were little better. If someone asks you how to tell the different between the good guys and the bad guys in one of his novels, don't answer; it's a trick question. In many of his stories, there are no heroes. <p></p><p></p><p>Thompson wrote most of his best work in the 1950s and 60s. Eleven novels were written and published just between 1952 and 1954 when he was at the height of his creative output. The two things that drove him to write were his desire to tell a story, and the need to pay his bills. He had a brief and successful fling with Hollywood with Stanley Kubrick's <i>The Killing</i>, and <i><a href="https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/76168/the-getaway/#overview" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Getaway</a></i> starring Steve McQueen. But like most flings. it ended badly. Though Thompson and Kubrick wrote the screenplay for The Killing, <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/2011/08/stanley-kubrick-jim-thompson-almost-fell-out-over-screenwriting-credits-to-the-killing-116760/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kubrick cheated him out of the credit</a>. After The Getaway, several promising Hollywood options faded away. Thompson was treated almost like one of the failures in one of his novels, short-changed by grifters and con artists who wore suits and ties instead of cowboy hats and jeans.</p><p style="text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEc3-9eGN0PijWR-6ZWWGfNd2Hzaset3PoxAOPKrBKpHIDcByWJRtpAsvyPRbIBt9vLEy327U0TATPyAKJymNVQojz0YJPpux-Rgf0g1Q3uO7PMsM8nme12aBL1roo-k9xrdLPsxWR9J4GUMLrLOyM0ZM3OZG-Q4ggLnvZvdoDOzehD-JUrjIQ0_86yw/s632/the-getaway-md-web.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="632" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEc3-9eGN0PijWR-6ZWWGfNd2Hzaset3PoxAOPKrBKpHIDcByWJRtpAsvyPRbIBt9vLEy327U0TATPyAKJymNVQojz0YJPpux-Rgf0g1Q3uO7PMsM8nme12aBL1roo-k9xrdLPsxWR9J4GUMLrLOyM0ZM3OZG-Q4ggLnvZvdoDOzehD-JUrjIQ0_86yw/w152-h200/the-getaway-md-web.jpg" width="152" /></a></p><div style="text-align: left;">By the time Jim Thompson died in 1977 after suffering a series of strokes he was broke, and all of his books were out of print. But he never gave up hope that his literary reputation would be rehabilitated. He told his wife that someday his work would be critically acclaimed. It didn't take long. By the 1990s, Hollywood had discovered him again, and his work was being produced on the silver screen. One of the most notable was a film based on <i><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0954947/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Killer Inside Me</a>, </i>starring Jessica Alba and Casey Affleck. Most of his books are back in print.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">One final mystery surrounds Jim Thompson's life, and it's a doozy. Kubrick commissioned him to write a novel for a future film project, and Thompson delivered. The manuscript, titled Lunatic At Large, was send to Kubrick and then misplaced. Thompson didn't make a copy. But after Kubrick's death, the novel was found. Rumor has it, <a href="https://variety.com/2021/film/news/stanley-kubrick-film-lunatic-at-large-1234904891/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">filming has already begun</a>.</div><p></p><p>This short documentary on Jim Thompson's life includes great commentary by Donald Westlake, who needs no introduction. </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/TD6ebab1qVA" style="background-image: url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TD6ebab1qVA/hqdefault.jpg);" width="480"></iframe></p></blockquote></blockquote>Picks by Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03210946161490466694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742140728197418792.post-31648074366059181252022-09-24T08:18:00.000-06:002022-09-24T08:18:56.693-06:00Twist Phelan Hits The Bullseye with THE TARGET<p> What would you do to prove your father's innocence? How far you you go to clear the name of the man who raised you after accusations of embezzlement destroy both of your lives and lead to your dad's suicide?</p><p>Would you lie to your boss? Steal from your employer? Betray the woman you love? All three?</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Target-Twist-Phelan-ebook/dp/B07JLJ3NJY/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=" imageanchor="1" rel="nofollow" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="907" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIPPbdr0w4k1ne2L4lwivpmeDkCxDUaGXElxFZJAH9-zPiwU1ZDfHqzsI8VCptV43ckRNhxzOA54Jgjfim0YCbR8dpICMZPpEECGmJFCptH16XZZ-08tWbHMim-v6NlN0JgIBdlZpg33nl796xqqmc6_sanTqF43luwzRBELY5TtLuM_3ilmp3UgsMpw/w213-h320/The%20Target%20by%20Twist%20Phelan.png" width="213" /></a></div>Sean Dwyer is about to find out. It's been several years since his life was turned upside down by a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into his father's financial firm. For those of you not in the know, the SEC is Wall Street's version of Darth Vader, feared by every stock broker and financial advisor in the country. A letter from them can tank a company's stock price faster than you can say "No Luke, I Am Your Father!" For Sean, it's goodbye Ivy League law school, goodbye dad, and goodbye to the only girl he ever loved. But a few years later, he stumbles into a chance to work for the very government organization that ruined his life, and he grabs it. In his mind, Sean sees a chance to reopen the investigation into his father's crimes, and perhaps clear his family name. <p></p><p>There's just a couple of minor problems. </p><p>His new boss hates him. The second person he meets at his job just happens to be the woman he dumped. And the case files on his father's firm are locked behind a door secured by a keypad with 10,000 possible combinations.</p><p>Well... they might be larger than "minor" problems. OK, OK, I admit they're massive obstacles on par with Frodo's journey to Mordor to destroy the One Ring. Don't look at me like that. I didn't write the thing!</p><p></p>Frankly, at times I wish I had. This story is good...really good. But I'm not jealous. Really.<p></p><p>The fun in reading this thriller is seeing how Sean overcomes these challenges. One of his best weapons is a tech wiz named Frankie, a girl with fabulous hacking and hardware skills. When not helping Sean break into a secure room at the SEC, she imagines herself to be a Samurai Princess, defeating imaginary enemies, and sometimes, real enemies...like Sean's ex-girlfriend. You see, Frankie's in love with Sean, and she is mighty miffed at seeing Sean reconnect with his former love.</p><p>As for Sean, he has some serious decisions to confront once he gains access to his father's files. How can he makes things right without getting fired or tossed into jail, and who can he trust? He's so determined to find out if his father really is innocent he ignores the biggest problem that sits right in front of him...if his dad was innocent, someone must have framed him. And that someone will not look kindly on Sean's efforts to learn the truth.</p><p>This story works on so many levels. It's a mystery (and a locked room mystery at that), a romance, and a thriller. There's something here for everyone. So if you love to read and you're looking for something new, stop reading my review and buy this book! </p><p>As for me, I have my own mystery to solve, mainly, how did Twist write such a fabulous novel? Maybe if I ask her nice, she'll spill the secret. Wish me luck.</p><p><i>A former attorney, Twist Phelan travels, writes thrillers, and short stories. Besides her latest thriller, she's been on fire, having several stories accepted for publication in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Follow her on <a href="https://twitter.com/twistphelan" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TwistPhelan" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a>.</i></p>Picks by Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03210946161490466694noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742140728197418792.post-730987134162548402022-09-19T18:31:00.000-06:002022-09-19T18:31:26.074-06:00Once You Start Reading BRING HER HOME, You Won't Leave The House.<p>Writer David Bell invites us to witness every father's worst fears with this nail chewing thriller. Two years after his wife dies in an accident, Bill Price and his teen daughter, Summer, are battling to maintain their fractured lives. But when Summer and her closest friend go out, what begins as a normal weekend turns into a nightmare. Both girls disappear and Bill will stop at nothing to find out what happened. Along the way, he'll learn secrets that will make him doubt his ability as a parent, and force him confront what kind of husband he was to his wife. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDMroRpgrtr-3vGcU-VOuUXXsZ38quoJoAkz3SGcce8fcimJqJCiL9CRgiC7rIpaK2oD0IAr3hbGy5js2eZ502KQEZ4bMC1NxFSGadbehj-jHEuvw8TR2eSfND8ktg-zgIRqWDZYaJ1vD55h0filV9oxIDa_aS3oXGrlyS9A8nRzYrvyox9ap4G2ogWg/s1920/Bring%20Her%20Home%20by%20David%20Bell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDMroRpgrtr-3vGcU-VOuUXXsZ38quoJoAkz3SGcce8fcimJqJCiL9CRgiC7rIpaK2oD0IAr3hbGy5js2eZ502KQEZ4bMC1NxFSGadbehj-jHEuvw8TR2eSfND8ktg-zgIRqWDZYaJ1vD55h0filV9oxIDa_aS3oXGrlyS9A8nRzYrvyox9ap4G2ogWg/s320/Bring%20Her%20Home%20by%20David%20Bell.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br />Desperate to assist in the search, Bill barges into hospital rooms, schools and public parks. He's sometimes his own worst enemy as he ignores pleas from the police to let them investigate without his interference. At one point, his quick temper leads the police to put him on the list of suspects. But the reader is hard pressed to blame him as he staggers between grief and outrage.<p></p><p>David Bell throws plenty of roadblocks into Bill's path and like a crafty old pitcher, tosses a few curve balls that leave both our hero Bill and the reader swinging at air, and wondering what just happened. The surprises keep coming until the final shock. Read fast, because you'll be holding your breath for the last few chapters. Better yet, keep an oxygen tank handy. </p>Picks by Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03210946161490466694noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742140728197418792.post-8639544831132520312022-08-29T20:08:00.002-06:002022-08-29T20:10:03.417-06:00Did You Miss This Book When It Came Out? Maybe You Were BLINDSIDED.<span> </span>Dr. Cadence Lawrence's successful career as a young surgeon takes a wrong turn when she sees Dirk Lyons, an old high school acquaintance in a fellow doctor's office. Her shock and anguish become clear once the reader learns that Dirk was once accused of murdering Cadence's best friend....by Cadence herself. Within days, she's being stalked by him and now fears she may be his next target. Without hard evidence, the police are helpless to protect her, so she flees into the North Woods. In her haste, her car becomes stuck on a side road during a major snowstorm. She faces a chilly death, until a knock on her car window by a stranger offers her hope for survival. Having just fled the horror of a suspected killer, can she trust the offer of shelter in a storm from a total stranger?<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUG24wXBeWMkUIh_afA33E5kgnpn7TKwNCVbl0Eg_fOcsnqSSMl8kEeFJfwJh-vkAkmlu88xT6mlkLy7nSOfwX119uaLhhsoReY78yMQxTyO5X2zF5kXqq2HXIazid1GoK2XozN2uDWzV8fkN7nXBiKMbduI57Sh7JqQRtYy0CQl7BKA0Kh3EzpAisBQ/s450/Blindsided%20by%20Kate%20Watterson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUG24wXBeWMkUIh_afA33E5kgnpn7TKwNCVbl0Eg_fOcsnqSSMl8kEeFJfwJh-vkAkmlu88xT6mlkLy7nSOfwX119uaLhhsoReY78yMQxTyO5X2zF5kXqq2HXIazid1GoK2XozN2uDWzV8fkN7nXBiKMbduI57Sh7JqQRtYy0CQl7BKA0Kh3EzpAisBQ/s320/Blindsided%20by%20Kate%20Watterson.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><span> </span></div><div><span> </span>Thus begins this thriller by Kate Watterson, a terrifying tale that almost feels like a romance novel once Cadence settles in with her rescuer in a snow bound cabin, cooks for him, chats, and begins to fall in love with this tall stranger with a chiseled jaw, his own construction company and some really good wine! </div><div><br /></div><div><span> OK, I admit a good wine will catch my attention as well, but the tale soon moves from the improbable to the absolute terrifying as Cassandra decides to return to her hometown and confront her stalker. She's accompanied by Mick, the man who couldn't turn his back on a stranded motorist in a snowstorm (and begins to like his decision on a personal level).</span><br /></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span><span> The author interrupts the storyline several times by shifting the point of view to give the reader a glimpse into the mind of the killer. This is what kept me reading, and it will keep you reading as well, assuming you're not too scared to turn the page as the true malevolence of this skilled predator is unveiled.</span><br /></span></div>Picks by Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03210946161490466694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742140728197418792.post-33877663329288360632022-08-20T21:06:00.001-06:002022-08-20T21:09:28.374-06:00If a poor little rich girl is kidnapped in the woods, does anyone hear it? THE GIRL WHO CRIED WOLF by Robert Ferrigno<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">This thriller tackles some of the
usual suspects…fast paced action, a dedicated protagonist, and the threat of widespread
destruction and death. It adds another underused theme by its emphasis on
eco-terrorism. When the daughter of a wealthy capitalist is kidnapped, the
ransom demand includes turning</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB45cRbwFPi8qDfOcCuItMmcNNQddPDQNb3uWrWa0mNg-GFt5TzE7XGXdv8-tvvJZ8JYVPh0lno-xTgU5qewE_7X0MdOAeR1TUYp8glTlw0QM2vm0ADWP-UgwggSowdDC9kpV-IivJPEPpikcaujreD-__AKTDTXk4vd2-oiJRsRKEO2MEVvg-s5oJqQ/s500/s-l500%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="323" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB45cRbwFPi8qDfOcCuItMmcNNQddPDQNb3uWrWa0mNg-GFt5TzE7XGXdv8-tvvJZ8JYVPh0lno-xTgU5qewE_7X0MdOAeR1TUYp8glTlw0QM2vm0ADWP-UgwggSowdDC9kpV-IivJPEPpikcaujreD-__AKTDTXk4vd2-oiJRsRKEO2MEVvg-s5oJqQ/s320/s-l500%20(1).jpg" width="207" /></a></div><br /> over an old growth forest to a conservation
group, which will save it from clear-cutting by ruthless loggers…or so we are told.
Remy Brandt, the victim, has a history of making false claims, which
complicates the case. It seems the police and the FBI have a hard time
believing she’s actually been kidnapped. Her wealthy father doesn’t seem to be
in any hurry to rescue her, which adds to the problem. Remy’s boyfriend has no
doubts however, and his skills as a security expert and determination to find Remy
make him a powerful ally…perhaps Remy’s only ally. <o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
villains are part of an underground network of ecological misfits and tree
huggers who cross the line from peaceful protest into violence. The leader of
the kidnappers, Glenn, has more than saving the earth on his mind. Greed dominates
his mind. His partners, Eli and Tree, are faithful followers who begin to doubt
the wisdom of this crime as time passes. Each of them has their own personal
motives for aiding Glenn. Eli begins to fall in love with Remy, while Tree loves
only the woods, especially the forest where they’ve hidden Remy. Tree may be
the most interesting character. He appears to be a brute, but we learn that he
was once a foreman on a lumberjack team, until he heard screams in the forest…the
screams of the trees being destroyed, and turned against capitalism. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As
Mack, Remy’s boyfriend, scours the Seattle underground looking for clues, he
grapples with Glenn and then Cleo, journalist for an underground newspaper who
offers to help him. But Cleo has secrets of her own and may not be the ally Mack
has hoped for. As the ransom deadline draws near Mack, Remy, the kidnappers,
and Cleo collide. The reader will find it hard to put this book down until the violent
ending.<o:p></o:p></p><br /><p></p>Picks by Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03210946161490466694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742140728197418792.post-15325395751811333202018-10-11T22:57:00.000-06:002018-10-12T00:12:34.290-06:00Double Wide Is A Triple Threat To Reader Boredom<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuXZNfSwlgOBa8THEcRxYSCzvyrOnYSWuEXZG56WQmbriSfTALyKsS4pFOJ5snI-HQSejyad-KfMER7T4gz0TKCCSy-jDORHi78CSwmqIjLsfG6Vb5e6VkXUAeJcTMrLXpyebja3UNtBp9/s1600/Double+Wide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuXZNfSwlgOBa8THEcRxYSCzvyrOnYSWuEXZG56WQmbriSfTALyKsS4pFOJ5snI-HQSejyad-KfMER7T4gz0TKCCSy-jDORHi78CSwmqIjLsfG6Vb5e6VkXUAeJcTMrLXpyebja3UNtBp9/s320/Double+Wide.jpg" width="200" /></a>When a story opens with a dismembered human hand, the reader and the protagonist both know that trouble lies ahead. There's something else that lies in wait for the reader...a great story with a narrator who has a wry, understated sense of humor and a strong desire to seek justice for the death of a close friend.<br />
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<a href="http://www.brash-books.com/book/double-wide-coming-in-november/" target="_blank">Double Wide</a>, by <a href="https://leowbanks.com/" target="_blank">Leo W. Banks</a>, is a simple story well told. The narrator, Prospero Stark, is a former major league star pitcher fallen on hard times. He runs a trailer park populated by a collection of characters you'd expect to find in a David Goodis novel, with one important difference. They're down on their luck, but not desperate. Indeed, they often have more faith in Stark than he has in himself. With their help, and some assistance from a ruthless TV reporter who is hungry for a good story, Stark uncovers a scheme by a famous baseball agent to break the rules for his prospects.<br />
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It's a con that worth millions of dollars, and could be the key to learning what happened to Stark's friend, who was a promising catcher until he disappeared. Whoever left that hand for Stark to find wanted to reveal the truth, but now that witness is dead, murdered by Mexican drug runners. Stark has just one shot to break open the case, if he can face some personal demons, get back on the pitching mound and prove he still has the power to face down a batter. He still has the name recognition from his glory days, but it may not be enough if his arm can't back it up.<br />
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Leo Banks paints a vivid portrait of the southwest that would impress Georgia O'Keeffe. The setting and the characters are absorbing. It's a gripping tale of friendship, the things we lose as we age, and the redemption we gain when we face our worst fears. That's a lot to pack into 352 pages. And you may not notice all that because you're too busy turning the pages, engrossed in the story. But later, when you're done, you'll wake up in the middle of the night and mutter under your breath, "Wow." Then you'll reach for the book, because you'll want to read it again.<br />
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Well done, Mr. Banks.Picks by Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03210946161490466694noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742140728197418792.post-67497795821906208562018-08-15T00:12:00.000-06:002018-10-11T23:05:32.475-06:00Book your next vacation to Gangster Nation <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaNI1FijO9mZwfxuc01KVk5Hwxizds15UVbnzQrE3Jqtpv9KjP75TF00YSuO3pKHEmXnjPV6_Lo6lW2K-zwcRyxQuRoWS0AlWnpoKcex2n1XOLXf-FM0xYt-ikrp98wqC-nZs75ngbIQv4/s1600/Gangster+Nation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="331" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaNI1FijO9mZwfxuc01KVk5Hwxizds15UVbnzQrE3Jqtpv9KjP75TF00YSuO3pKHEmXnjPV6_Lo6lW2K-zwcRyxQuRoWS0AlWnpoKcex2n1XOLXf-FM0xYt-ikrp98wqC-nZs75ngbIQv4/s320/Gangster+Nation.jpg" width="211" /></a>Sal Cupertine, a mob hit man, screws up and kills some FBI agents by mistake. Now every cop in the country is looking for him. There's no way out, right? So naturally, he does the only thing left to do...he heads for Las Vegas, gets some plastic surgery and takes on a new role as...a Rabbi?<br />
<br />
This is the implausible premise behind <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y32GR14/" target="_blank">Gangster Nation</a>, by Tod Goldberg. Hard to believe? But then I read the book. And somehow, by hook or by crook (or by some damn fine writing) he makes it work. Meet Sal Cupertine, aka Rabbi David Cohen. With the help of another Rabbi with ties to the mob, he gets a gig at a synagogue and school in Vegas. It's appropriate since Vegas is the city where nothing is real. Sal fits in by hiding behind the glitter and polish.<br />
<br />
When he's not dispensing advice from the Torah to his congregation, he's helping to dispose of rival gang members at the local cemetery, and making a fast buck at the same time. His long term plan is to reunite with his wife and son once the heat cools down. That may take a while, seeing that the reward for his capture is a half million bucks. While he waits and stashes cash in several safety deposit boxes in town, we learn his background and begin to understand what made him the killer he is. As a kid, he sees his father tossed out of the window of a skyscraper and splatter on the pavement. Who wouldn't be traumatized by that? His brother heads a crime syndicate in Chicago, so Sal enters the family business.<br />
<br />
But he's had enough. He doesn't want the same future for his own son. Soon, he'll have enough money to make his escape, maybe to South America. But then, Sal makes a mistake. He kills a woman who'll be missed, and comes to regret it. Not only was she not the threat he suspected, her death alerts an ex-FBI agent who was the partner of one of Sal's victims. As Sal, aka Rabbi Cohen, prepares to go under the knife once more to rebuild his botched plastic surgery, an accumulation of bad decisions by him and his family threaten to expose his secrets. The writer doesn't reveal the shocking conclusion until the very last line.<br />
<br />
Tod Goldberg is a craftsman from the old school, a man who knows how to tell a story. He makes you sympathize with a main character who has killed dozens of people, which is not an easy task. As a writer, I'm still trying to figure out how he does that. But don't concern yourself with my problems. Just buy his book. It would be a crime not to read it.Picks by Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03210946161490466694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742140728197418792.post-92085991679118312412018-07-18T10:43:00.000-06:002018-07-18T10:43:37.745-06:00The Girl In The Window should be The Book in Your Hand<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjezyH9D_18Z7FlhQZLNAppykEx3BPd9pxRGrcsvnmGLI-jSMy3Gu6ciVB4KtfoJyWVvIWWlTyX-O8xclqwjtuL5OUjVNhtUJnkCX5KkiElT_afx55A-jn_1-bUCR7aWPlOwc_ECWYySonY/s1600/Jake+Needham%252C+The+Girl+In+The+Window.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjezyH9D_18Z7FlhQZLNAppykEx3BPd9pxRGrcsvnmGLI-jSMy3Gu6ciVB4KtfoJyWVvIWWlTyX-O8xclqwjtuL5OUjVNhtUJnkCX5KkiElT_afx55A-jn_1-bUCR7aWPlOwc_ECWYySonY/s320/Jake+Needham%252C+The+Girl+In+The+Window.jpg" width="200" /></a>I look forward to starting a new series because, if I like the main character, I know I'll have more great books to read. And I just found a good one. The Girl In The Window was nominated for a Barry Award and though it didn't win, it's well worth a read.<br />
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The protagonist, Inspector Samuel Tay works for the Singapore police investigating crimes of murder. A fascinating character, he's been solving murders longer than any normal human being should. Fortunately, he not quite normal...by Singapore's standards, anyway. He's a bit cynical, but does his job well in a country that has become more and more determined to sanitize it's streets, its image and even the way people think. But these are minor problems when Inspector Tay is asked to work with Singapore's Internal Security Division and join the hunt for an international terrorist. Tay's boss warns him that ISD may simply want to set up the police for the blame in case things go wrong. And wrong they do go.<br />
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Tay's longtime partner is killed during an undercover operation. Tay must not only handle his grief but hunt down the very terrorist they were seeking, a man who appears to getting protection from some very powerful people. To prevent himself from being drummed out of a job and catch the killer, Tay must draw on some longtime contacts with shady backgrounds. What he doesn't yet know is how a mysterious witness fits in. The girl in the window, whom he sees for a moment just before his partner is gunned down, may be key to solving the crime...if he can find her.<br />
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Singapore makes for an interesting setting for a crime novel, even if the people who run it make it hard to enjoy a good smoke and a cup of coffee. Sam Tay refuses to give up the two things (caffeine and nicotine) that fuel him through the day (and the Irish whiskey that soothes him as he sits in his garden in the evening). As an ex-smoker and still coffee drinker, I can relate. Tay doesn't fit in with the changes that have swept over modern Singapore. He longs for a better time, when the character of the place he calls home hadn't been demolished, scrubbed, and covered over with modern architecture that lacks humanity. His humorous thoughts on food, women and government planning are not only funny, but pretty accurate. I wouldn't mind joining him in his garden with a tumbler after a tough day. For now, I'll just have to seek out the rest of this series.<br />
<br />Picks by Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03210946161490466694noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742140728197418792.post-53672184969388528312018-03-09T10:13:00.000-06:002018-03-09T10:19:57.285-06:00Writers Born Today - Mickey Spillane Born 100 Years Ago<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHR_4vQkVHZR5IJKZLJGfqrTq9GDM8GL6d9W0m9k8wJH8ne8XCThzt__-uRfLfCv6lbb9dVLA9bvzJOsWdNxwpXOuvUZksldQcLJSHhdsBKbjEcQOBywkZvTShlF9RvaADInUt95Y85QyN/s1600/spillane.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="296" data-original-width="300" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHR_4vQkVHZR5IJKZLJGfqrTq9GDM8GL6d9W0m9k8wJH8ne8XCThzt__-uRfLfCv6lbb9dVLA9bvzJOsWdNxwpXOuvUZksldQcLJSHhdsBKbjEcQOBywkZvTShlF9RvaADInUt95Y85QyN/s200/spillane.jpg" width="200" /></a>It's the 100th anniversary of the birth of Frank Morrison Spillane, born March 9, 1918 in Brooklyn. The creator of Mike Hammer, his writing had a huge impact in the publishing world. Readers loved his novels, but critics despised them.<br />
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Spillane's father, an Irish bartender, gave him the nickname "Mickey". He developed a knack for story telling...it helped him avoid beatings by older kids in his tough neighborhood. By the end of high school, he had sold his first story to a pulp magazine. After some college he got a job writing comics. World War II interrupted his literary pursuits and with scant success in the comic trade, Spillane turned to writing novels using Mike Danger, a P.I. hero he created for the comics. He renamed the character <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Hammer" target="_blank">Mike Hammer</a>, and churned out the first novel with this hero in just three weeks. The publisher, E.P. Dutton, didn't think much of the writing, but bought it anyway, in part as a favor to Spillane's agent. It would change how people thought of the detective novel.<br />
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<i><br /></i><i><a href="https://kingofthenerds.wordpress.com/2010/02/17/review-i-the-jury-by-mickey-spillane/" target="_blank">I, The Jury</a> </i>sold a respectable 10,000 copies in hardcover, but when released in paperback, sales exploded, literally. Over a million copies were sold, and Spillane churned out half a dozen more novels in the next few years featuring his hard hitting and often brutal hero. Spillane's timing was perfect. Paperbacks were cheap and fed the public's postwar demand for action and adventure filled stories.<br />
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Literary gems they were not. A new Mike Hammer novel brought enormous sales, but also scathing reviews from book critics. Anthony Boucher in the San Francisco Chronicle wrote of <i>I, The Jury</i> ,"<i>so vicious a glorification of force, cruelty and extra-legal methods that the novel might be made required reading in a Gestapo training school."</i> The Saturday Review of Literature was more succinct. <i>"Lurid action, lurid characters, lurid writing, lurid plot, lurid finish. Verdict: Lurid"</i><br />
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But Spillane didn't let the bad reviews bother him. "I don't give a hoot about readin' reviews. What I want to read is the royalty checks," he said. And the checks poured in, not just from print, but from television, radio and movie rights. One of the most successful screen adaptations was the movie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048261/" target="_blank"><i>Kiss Me Deadly</i></a>, which starred Ralph Meeker as Mike Hammer.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXZdiq_eAid5xP-XWm9zj36L7nrklcU6ceewBvzloSjhTNmS5IxqkE35tWXsbFVvtPOKro5XM4wz-XWznUkt6g-53IfBugU4a1gxaNV755KAeOBg-c9MLc7CQt31E8hTXwQHRVTMjwEGZO/s1600/80391.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="332" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXZdiq_eAid5xP-XWm9zj36L7nrklcU6ceewBvzloSjhTNmS5IxqkE35tWXsbFVvtPOKro5XM4wz-XWznUkt6g-53IfBugU4a1gxaNV755KAeOBg-c9MLc7CQt31E8hTXwQHRVTMjwEGZO/s200/80391.jpg" width="132" /></a>Spillane created other protaganists, including spies Tiger Mann and Mako Hooker. He even wrote a few children's books and won a Junior Literary Guild award for one of them, <i><a href="https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/mickey-spillane-11/the-day-the-sea-rolled-back/" target="_blank">The Day The Sea Rolled Back</a>. </i>In real life, Spillane bore little resemblance to his hard as nails characters. He was a Jehovah's Witness, and neither drank nor smoked.<br />
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By the time he returned to writing Mike Hammer novels in the 60s, his literary reputation was improving. In 1995, the Mystery Writers of America gave him their <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/28/books/mystery-writers-name-spillane-a-grand-master.html" target="_blank">Grand Master</a>, the highest award in the mystery field in recognition of his lifetime achievements as a writer.<br />
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To date, his novels have sold over 200 million copies.<br />
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<i>"Mike Hammer drinks beer because I can't spell Cognac."</i></div>
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<i>- </i>Mickey Spillane</div>
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Picks by Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03210946161490466694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742140728197418792.post-83675070604369923702018-02-19T23:59:00.000-06:002018-02-20T01:17:07.447-06:00Mystery History - Ann Savage Born Today<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0C8-k5xBwK8251gXN-f0UBdJP_8XeFM0pGCRmKyLynK2u9FYBOHD6Wg3HDTpv3Cz3YuRdZMDPU95k0g4xaPLlOZa5bmcYAE7JmAvFAEvOl97iB-muYPQr6cGq6a6FosXL0d00Kpifb65D/s1600/Ann+Savage1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="760" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0C8-k5xBwK8251gXN-f0UBdJP_8XeFM0pGCRmKyLynK2u9FYBOHD6Wg3HDTpv3Cz3YuRdZMDPU95k0g4xaPLlOZa5bmcYAE7JmAvFAEvOl97iB-muYPQr6cGq6a6FosXL0d00Kpifb65D/s320/Ann+Savage1.jpg" width="259" /></a>It's the birthday of actress Ann Savage, born February 19, 1921 in South Carolina. She gained fame in the 1940s as a sultry femme fatale in more than a dozen low budget noir films. She grew up in Los Angeles and had her first screen test at the age of 17. She studied acting with the famous director Max Reinhardt. After signing a contract with Columbia Pictures, she was cast in several crime films, including <i>One Dangerous Night</i> and <i>After Midnight with Boston Blackie</i>.<br />
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Most of her roles were simply window dressing. As she said once, <i>"The actresses were just scenery. The stories all revolved around the male actors; they really had the choice roles. All the actresses had to do was to look lovely, since the dialogue was ridiculous."</i><br />
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All that changed in 1945 with her most famous role as Vera. A hitchhiker picked up by Al Roberts in the film <i>Detour,</i> Vera discovers a deadly secret about Al and uses this knowledge to extort money from him. Her venomous performance and cutting dialogue earned her high praise and elevated the film to cult classic status. After the film entered the public domain, it began to receive more attention and was shown on television and made its way to VHS. During the 70s, critics began to recognize its important status in film noir history.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ7C7qDnYoyGy7AM-od6CsJruBR3XhPEh_pPhzuIo3PI084T81RPm66JV-NHn2gPnGbAOALkw8DZSIy09txsIkexeiIB_yfQBlYap50A2Q5LHL7cH6als0jx99osHpZhB8y0O9FvDtfJIC/s1600/Detour_%2528poster%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1064" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ7C7qDnYoyGy7AM-od6CsJruBR3XhPEh_pPhzuIo3PI084T81RPm66JV-NHn2gPnGbAOALkw8DZSIy09txsIkexeiIB_yfQBlYap50A2Q5LHL7cH6als0jx99osHpZhB8y0O9FvDtfJIC/s320/Detour_%2528poster%2529.jpg" width="212" /></a>Roger Ebert had this to say about the film: <i>"This movie from Hollywood's poverty row... filled with technical errors and ham-handed narrative, starring a man who can only pout and a woman who can only sneer, should have faded from sight soon after it was released in 1945. And yet it lives on, haunting and creepy, an embodiment of the guilty soul of film noir. No one who has seen it has easily forgotten it."</i><br />
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The movie's revival encouraged Ann to attend numerous film festivals, where she began to attract a new generation of fans, including film director Steven Spielberg. Time magazine named her as one of film's "Top Ten Villains" in 2005. In 2007, she was cast as the mother in the critically acclaimed movie <i>My Winnipeg</i>.<br />
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She discussed her acting career in an rare interview which you can watch below.<br />
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<br />Picks by Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03210946161490466694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742140728197418792.post-46041270170356323142018-02-14T01:18:00.000-06:002018-02-14T01:18:19.283-06:00Wicked Wednesday Villains We Love - Michael Lister's Gauge"Did you just take a picture of me?"<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS8cq12gEMe4TnWv7H9PGZNzMpAG9DQtqJMQiGDSJ-qwwq54_S72q8zf4CvCjqL_htOUh_Z4Ow9Xlu-gUoUgPCZM87jGk5-Y83FbEoKkOoddzugY7ZHJjtT9bR04g4YhUo1oQSMeJig8q6/s1600/double-exposure-30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="848" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS8cq12gEMe4TnWv7H9PGZNzMpAG9DQtqJMQiGDSJ-qwwq54_S72q8zf4CvCjqL_htOUh_Z4Ow9Xlu-gUoUgPCZM87jGk5-Y83FbEoKkOoddzugY7ZHJjtT9bR04g4YhUo1oQSMeJig8q6/s320/double-exposure-30.jpg" width="226" /></a>The voice is not hostile. In fact, it's friendly and even a little whimsical. But that doesn't last long. Remington is in deep trouble. He discovers this when he attempts to take another picture of the man behind that voice, and a rifle slug nearly takes his head off.<br />
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"I'm tired of having my picture took." As Remington flees into the woods the words of the murderer echo in his head..."It's the end of the line, partner."<br />
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But it's not the end of our encounter with Gauge, the killer in <i>Double Exposure</i>. It's just the beginning.<br />
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Michael Lister's suspense novel, <i>Double Exposure</i>, places his hero in mortal danger early in the story. Remington retrieves his camera trap from deep within the Florida wilderness and discovers a series of photographs that could make his reputation as a photographer. That's the good news.<br />
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The bad news? Those photographs could also get him killed.<br />
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The photos expose the murder of a woman and the man who murdered her. Remington has to get out of the woods and to the police. Unfortunately he's not alone, as he discovers when the camera trap is triggered and the flash goes off. And a voice from the dusk asks a question. "Did you just take a picture of me?"<br />
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Gauge is one of the most disturbing villains in crime fiction, because he's so damn likable. I haven't encountered a villain quite like this in crime literature since I first read <i>The Killer Inside Me</i> by Jim Thompson.<br />
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Even after being shot at, Remington finds himself talking to the very man who is hunting him, courtesy of a walkie talkie he lifted from one of Gauge's friends, called in to help hunt Remington down. Remington had to kill the man in self defense, and Gauge uses this knowledge to his advantage.<br />
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"You out there killer?" he says over the airwaves. He plays with Remington's emotions, pointing out the similarities between them. Both men have killed, both in order to defend themselves. At least that's the story Gauge feeds to Remington as he tries to create self doubt in the young photographer's mind. This self-rationalization has only one purpose, of course...to flush out Remington, kill him, and destroy the evidence. The soothing voice of the devil could be the man at the corner diner having breakfast with you before a deer hunt.<br />
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What do we know of Gauge? He's an employee of the Florida Wildlife Dept, as evidenced by the patch on his uniform. He knows the woods as well, perhaps better than Remington, who grew up in them. He comes from the same background, the same culture. And we also know that he has killed a woman, and buried her in the Florida woods. Remington has the pics to prove it, and Gauge can't allow him to leave these woods alive.<br />
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The author described him in these words: <i>"Gauge is a character I feel like I "met" or was introduced to far more than one I created. He seemed to arrive fully formed to do only what he wanted to do. I view him as a charming shark, a sociopath. He is honest and practical and as cold as you'd expect someone without a soul to be. He doesn't have a conscience and he doesn't believe he's missing out on anything. Unburdened by empathy, he has decided to try and have fun during every immoral act he commits."</i><br />
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We see what Michael Lister means as the novel progresses and the night deepens. Gauge continues to talk to Remington, even flattering the young man. He's giving Remington odds on his survival. They started at 20 to 1. They're now down to 12 to 1.<br />
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"I'll take a piece of that. Put me down for twenty," Remington says.<br />
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"You got it," Gauge replies.<br />
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The reader gets the impression that Gauge is actually an OK guy. But the illusion doesn't last when Gauge strikes out at the person Remington cares most about. I never saw it coming. Neither will you.<br />
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It's easy to create a protagonist you can admire. It's a lot harder to create villains with sympathy who aren't two-dimensional. Michael Lister does both. And it's a pleasure to read. If we're lucky, we'll never meet Gauge in person...or someone like him.Picks by Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03210946161490466694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742140728197418792.post-87516381054359854472018-01-22T13:25:00.002-06:002018-01-24T02:10:27.768-06:00Hail Storme is a Pounding Thriller<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUk5pqHgIi8LaPSKl7qWo98gD4WKExdOrGCL8TWgNF6_2J3qVCU90YV_lkEoVCOgNrGHcYK77ycZJWQjET7fXd2vlZvLKAIoZPOsLcyWNzrDCWrEwOV1I08QGoWgpbMUclz3O4dHJZ-60C/s1600/27761414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="308" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUk5pqHgIi8LaPSKl7qWo98gD4WKExdOrGCL8TWgNF6_2J3qVCU90YV_lkEoVCOgNrGHcYK77ycZJWQjET7fXd2vlZvLKAIoZPOsLcyWNzrDCWrEwOV1I08QGoWgpbMUclz3O4dHJZ-60C/s320/27761414.jpg" width="207" /></a>Ex-NFL player Wyatt Storme is bow hunting in Missouri when he stumbles across a huge marijuana field in the middle of the woods. He manages to subdue the guard dog and it's handler, but his discovery sets off a chain of disasters that Wyatt feels compelled to put right. The sheriff he alerts is shot dead the next day, and other people drawn into the investigation face danger from a drug conspiracy far bigger than just a few dozen acres of illicit weed. In the rural town of Paradise, some powerful businessmen have plans to mass produce a new drug called <i>Dreamsicle</i> that will make the crack epidemic of the 1980s look like a cozy tea party. Wyatt is determined to stop them before everyone he cares about is killed.<br />
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He teams up with Charles (Chick) Easton, a bounty hunter who's after the chemist who has concocted this new drug. Both men are Vietnam veterans and have seen more than their share of killing. They quickly bond as only battle hardened soldiers can. As Wyatt puts it, "<i>He would be difficult to avoid liking.</i>" I liked him. You will, too. In fact, Chick is so likeable, he steals the scene in several chapters. Perhaps the author will give Easton his own series someday.<br />
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In the meantime, check out <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hail-Storme-Wyatt-Thriller-ebook/dp/B00TR7IEK0" target="_blank">Hail Storme</a></i>. It has snappy dialogue and a story that keeps the pages turning. It's a great start to a excellent series, by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/W-L-Ripley-101365683386954/" target="_blank">W. L. Ripley</a>.Picks by Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03210946161490466694noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742140728197418792.post-25353702154115732782017-12-24T16:24:00.001-06:002018-12-24T16:22:33.082-06:00A Christmas Carol For WritersFor all writers who have submitted a query this year to an agent in hopes of getting published, this song will ring true! Sing to the tune "Oh, Christmas Tree".<br />
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<span lang=""><em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Oh manuscript, Oh manuscript,</span></em></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I long for agents calling,</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">with hope that they will never say</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"You're storyline's appalling!"</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I edit you all day and night,</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">to prove that I can truly write,</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Oh manuscript, Oh manuscript,</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I long for agents calling.</span></em><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Oh manuscript, Oh manuscript,</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I long for agents calling.</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Revisions done, it wasn't fun.</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My fingertips are bleeding.</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My query's sent with greatest hope</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">that it will show I'm not a dope.</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Oh manuscript, Oh manuscript,</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I long for agents calling.</span></em><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Oh manuscript, Oh manuscript,</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I long for agents calling.</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My hopes and dreams wait anxiously,</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Rejections can be mauling.</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's ramen noodles for my next meal</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Until I snag that three-book deal.</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Oh manuscript, Oh manuscript,</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I long for agents calling.</span></em><br />
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Merry Christmas Everyone!<br />
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Picks by Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03210946161490466694noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742140728197418792.post-80779395826517329352017-11-18T16:41:00.000-06:002017-11-18T16:41:48.606-06:00Picks By Pat Mentioned In Ellery Queen's Mystery MagazineI'm humbled to learn that my mystery blog, Picks By Pat, was mentioned in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine's Sept/Oct issue. This magazine has been a staple for lovers of crime fiction since 1941. Hat tip to <a data-hovercard-prefer-more-content-show="1" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=1533675236&extragetparams=%7B%22directed_target_id%22%3A0%7D" href="https://www.facebook.com/julie.m.tollefson" saprocessedanchor="true" style="background-color: white; color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration-line: none;">Julie Mangan Tollefson</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span>Picks by Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03210946161490466694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742140728197418792.post-90123017652563005012017-10-23T01:25:00.000-06:002017-10-23T01:28:05.392-06:00Writers Born Today - Joel Goldman<div style="text-align: right;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX0MnNyTiP9AhGQnvKOHHyzelPu0oNSagBdCFdERzmhGkeN2YBS1abm9j-7FxM3XenCl8x_jZBX6L05eofU702ggs3Gz9ujA60x1VADKjwglc9CQdWBRFvVL8fq7UmWSvhnPTyO3DnfAQR/s1600/IMG_4549.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1585" data-original-width="1600" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX0MnNyTiP9AhGQnvKOHHyzelPu0oNSagBdCFdERzmhGkeN2YBS1abm9j-7FxM3XenCl8x_jZBX6L05eofU702ggs3Gz9ujA60x1VADKjwglc9CQdWBRFvVL8fq7UmWSvhnPTyO3DnfAQR/s200/IMG_4549.jpg" width="200" /></a>It's the birthday of Joel Goldman, born October 23, 1952 in Kansas City. He began his career as a lawyer, but switched to another life of crime; a writer of legal thrillers.<br />
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While joking around with another attorney in his firm, Joel suggested the best way to handle a difficult colleague was to write a mystery and kill him off. It was a good joke, but it got Joel to thinking. The result was his first thriller, <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12073566-motion-to-kill" target="_blank">Motion To Kill</a></i>, published in 2002. Publisher's Weekly said it was filled with high tension and had an electrifying finish. Four more thrillers followed featuring his smart and sassy protagonist Lou Mason, including <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Deadlocked-Mason-Thriller-Joel-Goldman/dp/1466462736/" target="_blank">Deadlocked</a></i>, which Mystery Scene Magazine called <i>"a real page turner delivered by a pro."</i> It seemed that Goldman could do no wrong. Then unexpected health problems ended his legal career. Rather than dwell on the matter, Goldman turned to writing full time and created a new hero, FBI Special Agent Jack Davis, and gave his hero the same health issues that plagued him as a way to deal with the change in his life.<br />
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Not content to just write crime fiction, Joel got into the publishing business with a new company he started with fellow crime writer <a href="http://www.leegoldberg.com/" target="_blank">Lee Goldberg</a>. They started <a href="http://www.brash-books.com/" target="_blank">Brash Books</a> in 2014 with the ambitious goal of publishing "the best crime novels in existence". At first they focused on top notch authors whose works had gone out of print, and even went so far as to hire a private detective to track down one missing writer who they wanted to publish! Since the company started they have published dozens of award winning authors and over 80 novels.<br />
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<i>"Ask yourself the question I ask myself each time I start writing a new mystery – what happens when things go wrong, especially when you think no one’s looking?"</i></div>
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- Joel Goldman</div>
Picks by Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03210946161490466694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742140728197418792.post-64227702158650132372017-10-15T00:24:00.001-06:002017-10-15T00:24:48.509-06:00Writers Born Today - S. S. Van Dine<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEbJV7gclZMOGFMqF2ubSrv4hsN2VJEo1x1Zzc1hK2OJqGeizbH1YQczYtAdyhpEsDNmxhDrBRq3pvp0DXL3n9ElErZ6v-xaUjXdxjsPq4Qf1hSwVfCWmlQLQr1ifNsV2HAu6wtQFAx9HO/s1600/SS-Van-Dine-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="704" data-original-width="515" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEbJV7gclZMOGFMqF2ubSrv4hsN2VJEo1x1Zzc1hK2OJqGeizbH1YQczYtAdyhpEsDNmxhDrBRq3pvp0DXL3n9ElErZ6v-xaUjXdxjsPq4Qf1hSwVfCWmlQLQr1ifNsV2HAu6wtQFAx9HO/s320/SS-Van-Dine-3.jpg" width="234" /></a>It's the birthday of Willard Huntington Wright, born October 15, 1888 in Charlottesville, Virginia. He wrote under the pen name S.S. Van Dine, in part because he was too embarrassed to admit to his high brow friends that he had stooped to writing "detective fiction". He created the dapper amateur detective <a href="http://www.thrillingdetective.com/more_eyes/philo_vance.html" target="_blank">Philo Vance</a>, who was an immediate hit, both in print and on the silver screen, portrayed by such actors as William Powell and <a href="http://www.basilrathbone.net/films/bishopmurdercase/" target="_blank">Basil Rathbone</a>. Few people living today have ever read one of Van Dine's novels or even heard of him. Yet for a brief period of a dozen years, be was one of the most widely read authors on the planet.<br />
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Wright began his career as a critic, first for the Los Angeles Times and later for <i>Smart Set</i>, a jazz age magazine owned by the great writer H. L. Mencken, one of Wright's literary influences. Although Wright was known for his scathing reviews of romance and detective fiction, he never achieved the fame he felt he deserved, and after a series of personal and business setbacks, he was ordered complete bed rest by his doctors to deal with his drug abuse.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqbGL4Gcjr819rujQ5Kt-TdkkSEggrTURRuIsR-gu_vaTq4S_bhCn9_APyijNK0gvqMMP099WSInuFsPOeYAf0b19dQv1D5Hk3tNbhAYV0edbxuVjezAga-k7MLwthVT4vO1zPAwN4vA5Q/s1600/vandine-canary-scribner-pb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqbGL4Gcjr819rujQ5Kt-TdkkSEggrTURRuIsR-gu_vaTq4S_bhCn9_APyijNK0gvqMMP099WSInuFsPOeYAf0b19dQv1D5Hk3tNbhAYV0edbxuVjezAga-k7MLwthVT4vO1zPAwN4vA5Q/s1600/vandine-canary-scribner-pb.jpg" /></a>Bored, he began reading detective novels by the dozen, and to his surprise, found some of them quite entertaining. He decided to try his hand at a couple, but aware of his own reputation for slandering the mystery genre, came up with the pen name S.S. Van Dine to disguise his authorship. He created Philo Vance, a protagonist modeled after himself, or at least, how Wright saw himself...educated, cultured, wealthy, and an expert on any number of subjects, a man to admire with his fancy clothes and monocle. He was the perfect detective for the jazz age, a model for the boom years when it seemed everyone was destined to become wealthy and wise. First with <i><a href="http://meadowparty.com/blog/2015/04/10/the-benson-murder-case/" target="_blank">The Benson Murder Case</a></i> and the blockbuster <i>T<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Canary_Murder_Case" target="_blank">he Canary Murder Case</a>, </i>Van Dine's<i> </i>writing formula was a hit. By the time the third Philo Vance novel was published, Wright was as rich as his main character. So popular were his books that they helped keep his publisher from going out of business during the Depression.<br />
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Wright even penned a guide for other writers with an essay he published called <i><a href="http://www.thrillingdetective.com/trivia/triv288.html" target="_blank">Twenty Rules For Writing Detective Stories</a></i>. It holds up well and still has some good advice. Van Dine influenced many other writers of the mystery genre, perhaps the most famous being the writers who created Ellery Queen.<br />
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Van Dine's novels and trademark character lost popularity as the Jazz Age and the Roaring 20s gave way to the deepening Great Depression. By the mid 1930s his wealthy protagonist began to appear dated and out of place. New writers, such as Dashiell Hammett and James Cain emerged with a gritty, realistic style that caught the public's eye. By the time the last Philo Vance novel, <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/88578.The_Winter_Murder_Case" target="_blank">The Winter Murder Case</a></i> was published in 1939, Van Dine's literary shooting star had burnt out. And not just his career was over. He died on April 11 of that same year from heavy drinking and heart disease.<br />
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<i>"There simply must be a corpse in a detective novel, and the deader the corpse, the better."</i><br />
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- S.S. Van Dine<br />
<br />Picks by Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03210946161490466694noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742140728197418792.post-37583258601446942872017-10-06T19:52:00.000-06:002017-10-06T19:52:58.952-06:00MYSTERY HISTORY - FIRST TRAIN ROBBERYOn October 6, 1866, the Reno Gang pulled the first moving train robbery in U.S. history near Seymour, Indiana. The four brothers made off with 10,000 dollars in gold and currency, worth over<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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166,000 dollars in today's money. It was a daring and inspired crime that set off a wave of copycats. <div>
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For a while, it became the most profitable method of robbery in the Wild West. The transcontinental railroad had just been completed, uniting the country. Large sums of cash were being hauled around by rail to stock banks and mines with payroll money in the fast growing western territories. But the area was still sparsely populated. Robbers had plenty of isolated spots in which to ambush trains, and organizing a posse to chase the thieves was nearly impossible. Rugged landscapes provided countless hiding places. Even the infamous crime duo Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid got in on what seemed to be easy pickings.</div>
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But it was not to last. Train owners didn't like being robbed (imagine that). They began to protect their cargo with larger safes, armored boxcars and armed guards. The Pinkerton Detective Agency was hired to chase down the gangs, sometimes with men on horseback leaping from special train cars. By the late 1880s, the good times were over.</div>
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It ended a lot sooner for the Reno Gang. Three of the brothers were arrested after a train robbery in 1868 in which a guard was beaten to death. An enraged mob of vigilantes stormed the jail where they were being held and hung them.</div>
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Picks by Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03210946161490466694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742140728197418792.post-22678147161698357902017-09-29T16:29:00.000-06:002019-09-29T15:33:07.125-06:00MYSTERY HISTORY - LIZABETH SCOTT<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZiPvU6EKkEb6NHlwoW7BULhAvdN899kYk6QpKxHzPTV9qb0jcNkOny7v7P5ibyBZoknQVpqgrOqIGKzsmJG9Vj6lw2cucOwfOlupiH_zYqjigwTD6F0c0_fZtVnaugR1zowX6bG2lx-W8/s1600/142278412_1423269267.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1245" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZiPvU6EKkEb6NHlwoW7BULhAvdN899kYk6QpKxHzPTV9qb0jcNkOny7v7P5ibyBZoknQVpqgrOqIGKzsmJG9Vj6lw2cucOwfOlupiH_zYqjigwTD6F0c0_fZtVnaugR1zowX6bG2lx-W8/s320/142278412_1423269267.jpg" width="249" /></a>It's the birthday of Lizabeth Scott, born September 29, 1922 in Scranton, Pennsylvania to poor immigrant parents. Her distinctive voice and seductive looks would make her a leading star of film noir in the 1940s and 50s.<br />
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She got her acting start at Marywood Seminary and Scranton Central High School performing in numerous school plays. Her mother wanted her to become a journalist, but Lizbeth threatened to enter a convent if she couldn't pursue her acting career.<br />
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After moving to New York, she won roles in vaudeville and Broadway shows but had trouble breaking into film. At one point she failed screen tests at Warner Brothers, International Pictures and Universal. One studio head said of her, <i>"She'll never be a star, only a second leading lady."</i> But others saw her potential. She got her first break starring in <i>You Came Along</i> opposite Robert Cummings. Other films followed.<br />
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Her third film, <i><a href="http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/216310%7C0/Dead-Reckoning.html" target="_blank">Dead Reckoning</a></i>, helped establish her reputation as a femme fatale when she was paired with Humphrey Bogart in one of her finest roles. Bogart played Rip Murdock who investigates the mysterious murder of his war buddy, Johnny. Scott played Johnny's wife, Coral . Mixed up in the story are a night club run by a gangster, an attempt to frame Rip for murder, assorted violence and questionable motives by Coral, who has plenty to hide.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfdWLjyWohVdj9VDGCSfpnaPMxwRFXRnwKrUzbuZWd2N-Vh-TSn3zkU3ZL-F_PLmnLCfDgX4c3dQxYHgbwFKKLrQ0mULXTZBNuBNyACGW2c7NSW0_S-LC5qNE7yTW_ZXNGPB94BMl9nojm/s1600/Dead_Reckoning_%25281947%2529_film_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="220" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfdWLjyWohVdj9VDGCSfpnaPMxwRFXRnwKrUzbuZWd2N-Vh-TSn3zkU3ZL-F_PLmnLCfDgX4c3dQxYHgbwFKKLrQ0mULXTZBNuBNyACGW2c7NSW0_S-LC5qNE7yTW_ZXNGPB94BMl9nojm/s320/Dead_Reckoning_%25281947%2529_film_poster.jpg" width="209" /></a>Scott continued to receive roles in mostly noir films where her smoky voice and sultry appearance were a great asset. Many of Hollywood's leading men appeared with her: Burt Lancaster in <i><a href="http://www.noiroftheweek.com/2012/04/desert-fury-1947.html" target="_blank">Desert Fury</a></i> and <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039482/" target="_blank">I Walk Alone</a></i>, Charlton Heston in <i>Dark City</i> and <i><a href="http://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=28161" target="_blank">Bad For Each Other</a></i>, Dick Powell in <i><a href="https://twentyfourframes.wordpress.com/2011/03/31/pitfall-1948-andre-de-toth/" target="_blank">Pitfall</a></i>, Robert Mitchum in <i>The Racket</i>.<br />
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Her movie career was damaged by a tabloid article in 1955 with accusations that she was a lesbian. In the ensuing trial, she failed to win any damages against the publisher. But she continued to appear in television roles and a few films, including <i><a href="http://www.pulpcurry.com/2016/03/mike-hodges-pulp-mass-paperback-fiction-on-the-big-screen/" target="_blank">Pulp</a></i>, one of her last roles, with Michael Caine and Mickey Rooney in 1972.<br />
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In 1957 she tried to recreate herself as a singer and even released an album of torch and romantic ballads through RCA Victor. But it was her only release.<br />
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<i>“What you call film noir I call psychological drama. It showed all these facets of human experience and conflict - that these women could be involved with their heart and yet could think with their minds.”</i></div>
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- Lizabeth Scott</div>
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Picks by Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03210946161490466694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742140728197418792.post-19177592645168629402017-09-22T17:00:00.000-06:002017-09-22T19:29:34.865-06:00Writers Born Today - Gail Bowen<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMKMn0PLsAueandtwKH3-3wutsz-w-B40LHRANUrVYwnFmD0pcKPoqokt4Ca6wuERgmlEKd0pR1lzPfdejLHtt7ZA1dZ9efAJTJT6p4f1QQ1-09xs1iOZEI4wXLsjPAEvQ2_AFCFYIg8sh/s1600/GailBowen-WIR-sm_mg_9674.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="640" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMKMn0PLsAueandtwKH3-3wutsz-w-B40LHRANUrVYwnFmD0pcKPoqokt4Ca6wuERgmlEKd0pR1lzPfdejLHtt7ZA1dZ9efAJTJT6p4f1QQ1-09xs1iOZEI4wXLsjPAEvQ2_AFCFYIg8sh/s200/GailBowen-WIR-sm_mg_9674.jpg" width="200" /></a>It's the birthday of playwright and mystery novelist Gail Bowen, born September 22, 1942 in Toronto. She developed an early interest in death in part because she learned to read by perusing the tombstones in <a href="http://www.interment.net/data/canada/ontario/york/toronto/prospect/prospect.htm" target="_blank">Prospect Cemetery</a> (really...you can't make this stuff up).<br />
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Fortunately, she turned this curiosity into a literary career, rather than become a serial killer. Her readers are very grateful. And the books are quite good, which is just icing on the cake.<br />
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Although she grew up in Toronto, her best selling mystery novels are set in Saskatchewan, in the west of Canada. Her protagonist is Joanne Kilbourn, a college professor and widow. Raising three teenagers would be enough to drive her (or anyone) to murder, but instead, she solves them. In 1995 she won the Arthur Ellis Award for <i><a href="https://reactionstoreading.com/2010/11/22/review-a-colder-kind-of-death-by-gail-bowen/" target="_blank">A Colder Kind of Death</a></i>, in which Joanne is a suspect. In 2009, she won the <a href="http://www.crimewriterscanada.com/awards/derrick-murdoch-award/about" target="_blank">Derrick Murdoch Award</a> for her contributions to the crime genre.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhckaGDW9u9ql5OeM_iwW7EsDrGPbdsKmnMqVaH0LCZElJ4yEBQDwzNw0QoqTbKyu0hc_ZfKRPbXDcOPZR9kiZDfDbRdrY9gfoiVV5M74MTUr5GuZaPB9KbxvRqnGjmmBd36cVKSmQRFr1z/s1600/The+winners+Circle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="714" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhckaGDW9u9ql5OeM_iwW7EsDrGPbdsKmnMqVaH0LCZElJ4yEBQDwzNw0QoqTbKyu0hc_ZfKRPbXDcOPZR9kiZDfDbRdrY9gfoiVV5M74MTUr5GuZaPB9KbxvRqnGjmmBd36cVKSmQRFr1z/s320/The+winners+Circle.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
Her novels have been praised for tackling some weighty social issues, including racism and child prostitution, and also for her descriptions of the Canadian prairie. Several of the Kilbourn books have been filmed for television movies. Her latest in the series, <i><a href="http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/240452/the-winners-circle-by-gail-bowen/9780771024061/" target="_blank">The Winner's Circle</a></i>, was released in August of this year.<br />
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<i>“Joanne is really someone who, when she sees injustice or inequity, rolls up her sleeves and tries to do what she can to right what she perceives as wrong. I see that as a very Canadian attitude.”</i><br />
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- Gail Bowen </div>
Picks by Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03210946161490466694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742140728197418792.post-46150909756338828972017-07-08T13:24:00.000-06:002017-07-08T13:50:34.256-06:00Mystery History - Otto Penzler Born Today<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXS77dJZx4XZHPtLosdeiXTrhY0YL4QlvuHLdZGOXNPgrUm0cKzjo6giD7rkLmUHxev0hPAep5vyFMkAlLOLFkG-n_7vfQ-98JAeIrivBY9PiskLMAN1NdSLljZdwqbSdo4WiAQkQ8pk3k/s1600/Otto+Penzler+crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="731" data-original-width="731" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXS77dJZx4XZHPtLosdeiXTrhY0YL4QlvuHLdZGOXNPgrUm0cKzjo6giD7rkLmUHxev0hPAep5vyFMkAlLOLFkG-n_7vfQ-98JAeIrivBY9PiskLMAN1NdSLljZdwqbSdo4WiAQkQ8pk3k/s320/Otto+Penzler+crop.jpg" width="320" /></a>It's the birthday of Otto Penzler, born July 8, 1942. A crime fiction editor, publisher, and the founder of The Mysterious Press, Penzler has done more to promote the mystery genre than any other individual over the past 50 years. He is one of the world's leading experts of mystery and suspense fiction. The list of writers he has worked with reads like a Who's Who from the Best-Sellers list, and include Joyce Carol Oates, Mary Higgins Clark, Michael Connelly and Sue Grafton (just to name a few). His accomplishments and their importance can hardly be exaggerated, but we will try.<br />
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Penzler studied English Literature in college, reading heavyweights like James Joyce. After graduation he started writing columns about sports. One of his first jobs paid the princely sum of thirty-seven dollars a week. He set aside five dollars of that to buy books. He loved to read, but he was through with Dickens and Melville. <i>“I wanted to keep reading, but I didn’t want to hurt my head anymore. So I thought mysteries, I’ll read some mysteries.” </i>He started with the early classics, such as The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie. It was when he started reading Chandler and Hammett that he was struck by the revelation that mystery stories were not all sub-par, but could be real works of art.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis9CBtW8sppXnl0_gOJPLkT4p2jUgsKyW9MaFNKvsDRiKlR5laseslkeR2pH1Amh3hXiKT-RSH-k52gOE5G2INrz8UEvcgFF2OM__Cjo7DDoUWAsh6e3dCBlbvVgZ1hMLv-RpC8EH-O1on/s1600/3961960.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="424" data-original-width="318" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis9CBtW8sppXnl0_gOJPLkT4p2jUgsKyW9MaFNKvsDRiKlR5laseslkeR2pH1Amh3hXiKT-RSH-k52gOE5G2INrz8UEvcgFF2OM__Cjo7DDoUWAsh6e3dCBlbvVgZ1hMLv-RpC8EH-O1on/s320/3961960.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
He growing knowledge of the genre led to his co-authorship of the <i>Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection,</i> a detailed catalog of mystery authors, books and films. It won an Edgar Award in 1977.<br />
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In 1979 he opened <a href="https://www.mysteriousbookshop.com/" target="_blank">The Mysterious Bookshop</a>, now the oldest and largest bookstore devoted to mystery, suspense and thrillers. His bookstore office is marked by crime scene tape.<br />
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He edits the annual edition of <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MU0FO93" target="_blank">The Best American Mystery Stories</a></i>. During his career he has edited dozens of anthologies, including my favorite, <i>The Black Lizard Big Book of Locked-Room Mysteries</i>.<br />
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His most important contribution was the founding of <a href="http://mysteriouspress.com/" target="_blank">The Mysterious Press</a>, a publisher of mystery and crime fiction. With it, he's published most of the best writers of mystery, thriller, and spy stories. Determined to not only publish the best writers in the genre, he wanted to put out quality books by using acid-free paper, ensuring that the books would last a long time. It was not for nothing that mystery novels were called pulps for so many years. They were often printed using the cheapest paper and could literally fall apart after just a few readings. Penzler challenged that reputation by treating his product as a quality work of literary art. He succeeded on both counts with quality authors and a quality book.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxKKWvbGdpWTXTVkweMQeoC_ELKoZMbrasubCoxbTGjLlrfd1NZ8lW88Y4iPW9W0QaSHk9FYWyUOdNQOK2mR-XstV7rupbw6kCrcABQoV5rlULINKjrsT6jnaYtFI-0Ak1jzMnY1GlTG-W/s1600/518nPffj4WL._SX383_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="385" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxKKWvbGdpWTXTVkweMQeoC_ELKoZMbrasubCoxbTGjLlrfd1NZ8lW88Y4iPW9W0QaSHk9FYWyUOdNQOK2mR-XstV7rupbw6kCrcABQoV5rlULINKjrsT6jnaYtFI-0Ak1jzMnY1GlTG-W/s320/518nPffj4WL._SX383_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="246" /></a><br />
With the advent of electronic publishing, Penzler has jumped in with both feet (perhaps dipping in a toe first). Mysterious Press is working with publishers to bring the works of established writers like Donald Westlake, James Ellroy, and Christianna Brand to ebooks and audio release.<br />
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Penzler has won three Edgar Awards for Best Critical/Biographical Work from the <a href="https://mysterywriters.org/" target="_blank">Mystery Writers of America</a>. He also won that organizations's Ellery Queen Award in 1994 and the Raven Award in 2003<span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"> </span>for outstanding achievement in the mystery field.<br />
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At this moment he is probably working on another anthology that will delight us later this year, or next. Hopefully, he'll take some time to blow out the candles and have a slice of cake.<br />
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References -<br />
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Atlas Obscura<br />
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Fine Books Magazine<br />
LA Review of Books<br />
Los Angeles Times<br />
Mysterious Press<br />
Mystery Writers of America<br />
New York Times<br />
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Picks by Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03210946161490466694noreply@blogger.com0