Bouchercon-Here I Come

I'm going to Bouchercon this year. Third time. I'm not good at this sort of thing--not unless you give me chairs to set up or a water pitcher to fill. I think I performed such tasks at my own wedding.

Last Bouchercon, the only one I introduced myself to was Sandra Ruttan.

But gee, the chance to see and hear some of those authors gets me every time. So here I go again.

My panel is: MONEY BACK GUARANTEE: Books we love that you should too.

There are some famous people on it and I'll probably freeze or talk too much. Guaranteed, I won't get it right.

But as this project has always been a joint one--between you and me--maybe you can suggest some books that would fall into this category. What do you love that I should too?

Just throw some names at me and I'll take it from there. I'm taking a handout of all the books chosen here and a card to give to new recruits. (It's beginning to sound strangely religious). Let's call them volunteers instead.

I'll post this invitation once a week until I go. Maybe armed with your picks, I'll get it right. It'll be easier to look down at a list than out at the audience. Maybe I'll talk a little but not excessively. Maybe I won't be in the ladies room or stairwells most of the time. Where are you, Sandra? Anyone want some water?

Rising Damp

In the midst of trying to write a novel, I have tried to write a story or two to keep my hand in, but I may be losing whatever knack I had for it. I wrote a story about 2 months ago and sent it to one of the print journals. They wrote back and said, "loved the first 2/3rds, which were quirky and atmospheric, but the end left us cold and was somewhat absurd."

Now I felt the end was inevitable but probably not the kind of ending this print journal liked. If you tell a story about two really nasty men, shouldn't they get theirs at the end? Okay maybe the means of death was strange, but not so far out.

Place 2 declined without comment.

Place 3-said "the beginning was way too slow but the story picked up midway thought and had a swell ending."

I'm sure you've had this happen. Or at least maybe you have. I only have a few places left to send this with the market the way it is. Most of them will probably agree with Place 3. I see a trend in some zines now to publish stories that are all action and dialog, which is not exactly how I like to write.

Do you write to suit the outlets or suit yourself? Maybe the two aren't in conflict for you. But I feel my strength as a writer, if I have any, is to write about the people who commit crimes and why. If I sacrifice that character development, what's left. I'm sure there are many writers who can do the other things better. I know there are.

My Town Monday: Detroit

I'm borrowing this AP story because I have Bookfest followed by jury duty.

Our long local nightmare is over--and I'm sure I won't be the first or last to use that line in speaking about the resignation of Detroit mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick. It's a real shame that so one with so much potential was so easily corrupted by power, but we need to get on with rebuilding Detroit.

From AP.

©2008 Google - Map data ©2008 NAVTEQ™ - Terms of Use

Detroit Mayor Kilpatrick pleads guilty, resigns

By COREY WILLIAMS and ED WHITE

DETROIT (AP) — Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to felony charges Thursday in a sex scandal and will step down after months of defiantly holding onto his job leading the nation's 11th-largest city. He was ordered jailed for four months and fined $1 million.

The plea deal brings to an end a seven-months-long ordeal that led to felony charges against Kilpatrick and plunged the city, region and state into political chaos.

"I lied under oath," Kilpatrick said in court.

As part of the deal, the 38-year-old Democrat is to serve four months in jail and five years of probation. He also would pay the $1 million in restitution over the five-year probationary period.

During a separate hearing moments after Wayne County Circuit Court Judge David Groner accepted the mayor's plea, Kilpatrick offered a no contest plea in an assault case.

The judge also accepted that plea, which called for Kilpatrick to serve a four-month jail sentence that would run at the same time.

Kilpatrick had faced 10 felony counts in the two separate criminal cases.

Groner asked Kilpatrick if he understood he was giving up the right to be innocent until proven guilty.

"I gave that up a long time ago," Kilpatrick replied.

Kilpatrick also read a statement in court and admitted his guilt, saying "I lied under oath ... I did so with an intent to mislead the court and jury and to impede and obstruct the fair administration of justice."

The married mayor and former top aide Christine Beatty were charged in March with perjury, misconduct and obstruction of justice. They're accused of lying under oath about an affair and their roles in the firing of a deputy police chief.

Beatty did not plead guilty and next will appear in court on Sept. 11. Groner said a plea deal in Beatty's case appeared likely.

The mayor will be sentenced on Oct. 28. He will report to jail that day, said Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy.

"We did not give an inch and these conditions were basically to a letter of what we wanted all along," she said.

The mayor has to announce his resignation immediately, and it will become effective within two weeks.

Worthy said she was glad that Kilpatrick resigned but that was never a "bargaining chip" for her. She said paying restitution and serving time in jail were far more important.

"You don't just lose your job and walk away," she said.

City Council President Ken Cockrel Jr. will succeed Kilpatrick as mayor until a special election is held.

Until now, Kilpatrick had refused to resign even as the calls for him to step down grew louder and the controversy overshadowed all else at City Hall, tarnishing the national image of the much-maligned city even more.

Kilpatrick leaves a mixed legacy. He persuaded big business to invest in a city staggering from the auto industry's woes and a decades-long exodus of people, but he failed to live up to a promising political future due to repeated scandal.

The son of a Detroit congresswoman, Kilpatrick was just 31 when he was elected in 2001, becoming the youngest mayor in city history.

His pro-Detroit rhetoric and diamond stud earring endeared Kilpatrick to many blacks, especially young voters who embraced the "Hip-Hop Mayor."

But Kilpatrick's first term was marked by political immaturity and fiscal irresponsibility. He racked up thousands of dollars in travel on his city-issued credit card and the city's lease of a luxury Lincoln Navigator for his wife, Carlita.

Less than a year into the first term, rumors surfaced of a wild party involving strippers and members of Kilpatrick's security team at the mayor's mansion.

Former Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown filed a lawsuit in 2003, claiming he was fired for looking into the alleged party and investigating the actions of the mayor's bodyguards.

During the 2007 trial, Kilpatrick and Beatty sat in the witness chair and denied having a romantic relationship in 2002 and 2003.

But a bombshell rocked Detroit in January: The Detroit Free Press published sexually explicit text messages recovered from Beatty's city-issued pager that contradicted their courtroom denials.

He and Beatty were charged with perjury and other felonies.

More text messages released in April revealed the evolution of flirty and sexually explicit exchanges to professions of love and promises of marriage.

In May, the City Council asked Granholm to remove Kilpatrick from office, saying it was misled into approving a $8.4 million settlement with Brown and two other officers. Council members said they didn't know about provisions to keep the text messages under wraps.

In July, a sheriff's detective trying to serve a subpoena on a Kilpatrick friend said he was shoved by the mayor. Assault charges followed.

The next month, a judge ordered the mayor to jail for violating the terms of his bond by traveling to Canada. He was released the next day, but the incident prompted some politicians and community leaders who had remained silent on the scandal to call for his resignation.

Check out more My Town Monday posts at the wonderful Travis Erwin's blog: http://traviserwin.blogspot.com/

Frozen River

Spoiler Alert (although the trailers tell more)

Frozen River is without a doubt the best movie I've seen in months. It's the kind of movie that generated an hour-long discussion afterward among the 15 people I saw it with (I don't always travel in gangs, long story).

The director, Courtney Hunt, went on the premise that the viewer was smart enough to figure things out over the course of the movie. And only over time, will you figure out Ray and Lila's full story.

Melissa Leo, always a standout in Homicide, plays the mother of two boys who has to find a way to support them when their father takes off. A young Mohawk woman, first forces her and then joins with her, in escorting illegal immigrants across Mohawk land in upstate New York.

I won't say anymore than that because the plot defies your expectations many times. It also has the good sense to end on a hopeful note. Seeing a movie set in this unfamiliar and remote place became a joyful experience despite the harshness of the story. It was nail-bitingly exciting and moving at the same time. See it. You won't be sorry. Leo deserves an Oscar nomination and her costar, Misty Upham, a supporting one. And give Hunt one too.

ONE MORE THING-THANKS TO WHOEVER RECOMMENDED SHOTGUN STORIES. IT WAS SUPERLATIVE. (Available on DVD)

The Summing Up, Friday, September 5, 2008

Paul Bishop, The Power of One, Bryce Courtney
Joe Boland, A Stranger in This World, Kevin Cantry
Jackie Corley, The Painted Bird, Jerzy Kosinski
David Cranmer, A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole
Bill Crider, Arizona Kiss, Ray Ring
Judith Cutler, Daughter of Time, Josephine Tey
Martin Edwards, Woman of Straw, Catherine Arley
Travis Erwin, Outlaw, Warren Kiefer
Robert Fate, Sunset and Sawdust, Joe R. Lansdale
Lesa Holstine, Silver Lies, Ann Parke
Randy Johnson, And Justice for All, John Clarkson
Brian Lindenmuth, After Silence, Jonathan Carroll
Terrie Farley Moran, Painting as a Pastime by Winston S. Churchill.
Scott Parker, Mascaranda Pass, William Colt MacDonald
Lynne Patrick, Prodigal Summer, Barbara Kingsolver
James Reasoner, Puzzle for Fiends, Patrick Quentin
Kerry Smith, Daughter of Time, Josephine Tey
Roz Southey, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, Tobias Smollett
Jochem Steen, Pretty Ballerina, John Wessell
August West, Valdez Is Coming, Elmore Leonard

Friday's Forgotten Books, September 5, 2008

Jackie Corley is the editor of the zine Word Riot. Her stories have appeared in many online publications

The Painted Bird, Jerzy Kosinski,


Before James Frey and J.T. LeRoy, there was another fabulist whosework has long been forgotten (except, maybe, by hardcore Peter Sellers fans -- seen 'Being There,' anyone?).

Jerzy Kosinski books are frequently bizarre and depraved--a kind of
sadism bootcamp for the reader. Kosinski shot to literary fame in the
1960s with The Painted Bird, which portrayed the life of young outcast
wandering around rural villages in Poland during World War II. While
published as a novel, Kosinski had suggested that many of the events
in the book were autobiographical. The Painted Bird drew wide acclaim
as one of the best in Holocaust literature.

The notoriety of The Painted Bird faded when Kosinski was accused of
plagiarism and of having used ghost writers in a 1982 Village Voice
article. The article also portrayed his experience as a Jew in Poland
during the war as vastly different from what was presented in The
Painted Bird.

While investigations into Kosinski's background pushed many of his
books off the shelves, The Painted Bird is still one holy helluva
mind-warping read. The horrors of the Holocaust are never directly
described in the novel, but the extreme violence and cruelty the young
'gypsy' encounters represents mankind at its most brutish and puts
into focus the more wide-scale horror engulfing Europe at the time.
You'll need a strong stomach to get through The Painted Bird, but it's
definitely a worthy read.

Robert Fate is the author of Baby Shark’s Beaumont Blues and Baby Shark’s High Plain Redemption

Sunset and Sawdust, Joe R. Lansdale

It is difficult to believe that Sunset and Sawdust by Joe R. Lansdale could be a book considered by anyone as neglected, forgotten, or overlooked. Yet, I find myself asking why it has not gotten the attention it deserves. Booklist gave this extraordinary novel a starred review, in which they said, “Lansdale is a superb stylist and a first-rate storyteller, and his sandpaper wit never fails to scratch out a brand of humor that hovers somewhere between knee-slap funny and painfully revelatory.”

For my money, the opening pages of Sunset and Sawdust are as good as any book you want to name. Writers owe it to themselves to sit at the foot of the master with this delightful piece of country noir, and readers who have not discovered Joe Lansdale should do themselves a big favor, start their Lansdale education with this title and get prepared to read every book he has written.

Sincerely, Robert Fate


Lynne Patrick is managing editor of Crème de la Crime, a small independent publishing house specialising in debut crime fiction. Barbara Kingsolver is her antidote to the less savoury aspects of the day job.

Prodigal Summer, Barbara Kingsolver

Sometimes when a book receives huge acclaim from critics and readers alike, the next book by the same author loses out and fades away – often not because it’s lacking in quality, but simply because people are still talking about the successful one.
If I mention Barbara Kingsolver to my bookloving friends, the response is invariably The Poisonwood Bible.
Rarely, if ever, Prodigal Summer.
Yet Prodigal Summer has something just as important to say, and it says it every bit as beautifully, with at least as much richly observed detail, and in language that weaves and flows in a way which makes me gasp in admiration every time I stop to notice it.
Kingsolver could offer masterclasses in location, and how to create it in the reader’s mind. When I re-read Prodigal Summer - and it bears a lot of re-reading - I can smell and taste the feral Appalachian slopes and the lush farmland of the valleys. Her characters go right on living when the narrative ends; and the three storylines cross and link with a subtle and delicate touch. And that’s just the basics.
The real quality of the book lies in the wealth of detail: the scarlet underside of a grasshopper’s wing; the stained chair in the mountain cabin, which reappears as the one the farmer’s daughter in a different story strand left beside the road; the plight of Polish and Palestinian people caught in political crossfire. And in the way the Creationist view of history and proactive, high-input farming methods get a hearing despite the clear (and deftly, engagingly delivered) message in firm and reasoned support of the opposite philosophy.
Barbara Kingsolver always has something important to say, and she has a rare talent for making you want to listen. Prodigal Summer is a novel for our times. It shouldn’t be allowed to hide.

Roz Southey’s two historical crime novels, Broken Harmony and Chords and Discords, are published by Crème de la Crime. Her brand new website is at www.rozsouthey.co.uk

The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, TOBIAS SMOLLETT

If you’re thinking that this doesn’t sound a bundle of laughs, think again. This is an amusing romp through 18th century Britain by someone who was actually there.

Smollett’s hero is coachman to Squire Matthew Bramble as he rambles through England and Scotland in search of adventure. Smollett has carriage-loads of idiosyncratic characters – amongst them, Bramble’s elderly sister who still hasn’t given up hope of finding a husband, and his niece who has too great a fondness for actors. He sends them through an acutely observed landscape, filtered through a novelist’s imagination and exaggeration, certainly, but providing a vivid picture of British life at the time.

And a surprisingly modern picture it is at times. Smollett is scathing about the new building going on in Bath, condemning not just the pretentiousness of the designs, and the haphazard unplanned development but also the poor quality of materials: ‘They are built so slight, with the soft crumbling stone found in this neighbourhood, that I shall never sleep quietly in one of them.’ In London, he is appalled by the noise, the never-ending bustle, and the almost total absence of policing, which, he says, is owing to the insistence of Londoners that ‘all regulation is inconsistent with liberty, and every man ought to live in his own way, without restraint.’

There are glimpses of the social world, the coffee houses, country homes and commerce. To a musicologist like myself, his hints of the culture of the day are fascinating: his adventures with the less than intelligent waits (the town musicians) of Bath, for instance. His description of Tenducci, one of the castrati imported from Italy to grace the musical salons of the rich and fashionable, shows the ambivalence of many with regard to these singers. He adores the voice, which has him swooning with pleasure, but he cannot come to terms with the singer: ‘I heard the famous Tenducci, a thing from Italy,’ he says. ‘It looks for all the world like a man, though they say it is not.’

And at the end, there is a touch of poignancy as Matthew Bramble – believed to represent Smollett himself – tells his doctor that he intends to ‘renounce all sedentary amusements, particularly that of writing ...’ Smollett died almost immediately after the publication of the novel in 1771.

Jochem Steen, a Dutch writer, is the author of White Knight Syndrome and the proprietor of the blog, Sons of Spade.

PRETTY BALLERINA BY JOHN WESSEL

When I was asked to participate in the great Lost Book Project it didn’t take me much longer than 5 minutes to come up with a suitable book. There might have been several books I’ve really enjoyed over the years but few of them seem to have been forgotten. I toyed with featuring one of Charles Knief’s novels (anyone remember those?) but decided to go with one of John Wessel’s because his work influenced me the most.
His debut novel This Far, No Further is a great read but John really hit his stride in the second novel, Pretty Ballerina.
A girlfriend with tattoos who loves metal and who even wears black under the shower, references to the Smashing Pumpkins, Star Wars and B-movies it gives a contemporary edge to this novel that appealed to me a lot when it came out. Here was a PI that operated in my world, instead of a jazz-filled almost retro kind of one. This showed me what the PI novel could use to make it more interesting again while still being true to the genre. This led me (together with Dennis Lehane’s Gone Baby Gone) to write my first Noah Milano novel.
In this novel ex-con and unlicensed PI Harding (no first name, in the Spenser-tradition) is hired by Cassie Rayn to break into her old house. The house where her family was slaughtered by her own father. Her brother (probably) survived however, because he went missing before the tragedy occurred.
The lady also has quite a reputation as a former X-rated and B-movie actress, one of her older more adult offerings being sought out by collectors worldwide. This gives us quite a bit of comic relief and adds a nice degree of atmospheric sleaze to the story.
A lot of the characters are as funny and colourful as those in a Tarantino-movie and serve up some great lines. We’ve got a Vietnamese tough guy with a cowboy-fixation, a Pool King with a hankering for old porn, a killer who wears a necklace of ears.
While those characters might have turned this into a comedy, the moody sarcasm of Harding (for instance when he talks about a neighbourhood where the personnel lies in bed thinking about killing their bosses) and dark past of Cassie make this a pretty dark novel.
During his investigations Harding encounters some really psycho villains (as mentioned above) but manages to uncover the dark secrets of Cassie’s past like a true detective should.
John Wessel showed me how to make a wisecracking PI stand out from the crowd without crazy gimmicks and putting him right into the Now.
Since his third novel that came out in 2002 I haven’t heard from Mr. Wessel but would love to interview him for www.sonsofspade.tk. So if anyone out there knows how to reach him, let me know.


Some more forgotten books to peruse: As always some will appear later in the day. (Or not at all perhaps).

Martin Edwards
Scott Parker
Kerrie Smith
Lesa Holstine
Travis Erwin
Bill Crider
James Reasoner
Judith Cutler
Randy Johnson
August West
Terrie F. Moran
David Cranmer
Susan Smith
Brian Lindenmuth
Joe Boland

A Bit of Motherly Hooplah

The Metrotimes in Detroit, our city paper, did a nice piece on Megan. (And a bit on the rest of us too).

Here's a Question for a Tuesday-

Do different voices creep into your WIP over time?

In other words, if you're feeling buoyant, do you suddenly interject humor into a dark plot? Or vice versa?

I'm still having trouble with this in trying to move to novel writing. I could stay true throughout a short story, keep a consistent voice. And the first attempt at a novel was relentlessly grim. No trouble there since its suits my general mood.

But with the second stab at a novel, every few days brings a new me to the WP. How do we maintain a consistent voice when we are not consistent in our moods? Do the ups and downs of a political campaign, a marriage, the weather, health issues affect us?

Or does it even out over time and give you a richer novel? Does your mood have little to do with your writing? Do I need to learn how to leave my mood at the door of my office?

My Town Monday: Ann Arbor-The Sixth Annual Kerrytown Book Festival: Sept. 7

The Sixth Annal Kerrytown BookFest takes place on September 7th between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m at the Farmers's Market at North 4th and Kingsley in Ann Arbor, Michigan. "It's book heaven for a day," says Bill Hollander, BookFest President.

The schedule is here.

Along with traditional panels and signings, more esoteric subjects such as book-binding, book repair and other fine paper arts get top billing at Kerrytown this year. Tim Hollander, of Hollander's in Kerrytown, said the primary goal is "to highlight the Ann Arbor area's rich heritage in the book and printing arts." Of special note, Monique Lallier and Don Etherton, two of the world's most sought after fine binders, will be on hand. Etherton was responsible for the restoration of the original Magna Carta.

This year also pays homage to Ernest Hemingway thanks to a grant from the Michigan Humanities Council. Hemingway spent summers on the western side of the state and set many of his short stories there. The Nick Adams Stories has been selected to be read this year by more than 500 reading-related programs in Michigan. High School students have also been challenged to redesign the dust jacket of the original book and the winners will be named and awarded cash prizes during the Fest.

In addition, a broadside of the Hemingway poem, "Along With Youth" (1923) has been printed (Deep Wood Press) in a limited edition (100) for purchase. The broadside includes an original engraving by Ann Arbor artist, Jim Horton. Funds derived from this sale will finance future Kerrytown Bookfests. A special panel will feature a number of Hemingway scholars.

On the crime fiction panels will be Megan Abbott, Loren Estleman, Theresa Schwegel, Suzanne Arruda, Rob Kantner, Chris Grabenstein, Peter Leonard and some of the contributors to Detroit Noir--including its editor Eric Olsen.

Short story writers like Joe Borri, Lolita Hernandez, Dorene O'Brien and Peter Ho Davies will talk about the art of the short story. Other panels topics include science, Native-American, and African-American fiction. There is also a Children's Tent with hands-on programs and story-telling.

Book dealer booths with both antiquarian and new books to peruse are fun. It's a one-day event but that one day is crammed with activity, much of it outside, at the Farmer's Market or in the Kerrytown Concert Hall.

Ann Arbor is about 30 minutes west of Detroit.

Robin and Jamie Agnew of the fabulous Aunt Agatha's Mystery Bookstore are responsible for persuading many of the writers to journey to Michigan for the Fest.

If you live anywhere near the Ann Arbor area, come out to Kerrytown BookFest. I'll be signing copies of Prisoner of Memory with fellow contributor Bryon Quertermous.

And while you're in Ann Arbor, make sure you stop at Aunt Agatha's Mystery Bookstore just a few blocks away. This is the only mystery bookstore in the state . Stop, too at Bill Hollander's shop in Kerrytown.

Thanks to Bill Castanier for supplementing my information on this event.

Check out more My Town Monday posts at the wonderful Travis Erwin's blog: http://traviserwin.blogspot.com/

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Sarah?

I believe a presidential election should not be about gamesmanship. Is it really responsible for John McCain to choose a candidate, who claims to know little about the war and foreign policy, to be his vice-presidential running mate? Especially when he is 72 years old and a two-time cancer patient? My husband just wrote a book about accidental presidents and believe me, it happens. Under the best of circumstances with a highly qualified person, it's a difficult proposition.

If McCain took an assassin's bullet months after taking office (like Reagan did) would this woman be able to step in as the so-called "Leader of the Free World." If McCain contracted a disease on the way to his inauguration, would you feel safe with Sarah Palin in the White House?

If McCain wanted to choose a woman, was this the best one? Does she reflect in any way the goals of a Hillary Clinton--or of most progressive women? If the PUMA women vote for her en masse, Hillary should feel betrayed? Obviously the only thing that counted for them was Hillary's sex. They weren't listening to her message at all. They'd prefer to take their chances with Supreme Court picks and more foreign intervention. They'd be willing to wipe out the Polar Bear and caribou. Who cares about the freedom to make choices about our own bodies? Just give me a woman.

Or does the sniff of newness, outweigh everything else in American politics? Did picking someone who'd take the limelight off Obama play into this? Does appeasing the far right outflank choosing a good leader?

I am very frightened that our disregard, even contempt, for smart people will lead us down this path again. The New Republicans think anyone can lead because they really believe that lesser lights can be more easily manipulated. We have seen how that works for eight years. They would prefer to have the oil companies, lobbyists and billionaires continue to run this nation.

When a CV prominently mentions high school basketball experience and beauty pageant contestant successes, isn't it perhaps a bit slight to get you this job?

Sorry to go on like this. Thursday was rant day but then this came along.

The Summing Up, Friday, August 29, 2008

Thanks so much to these fantastic people (excluding myself, of course). Please join us in September. As the days grow short, this list might too.

Patti Abbott, Some Unknown Person, Sandra Scoppettone
Paul Bishop, Teffen, Lyndon Mallet; Shadow of a Broken Man, George Chesbro
David Cranmer, A Treasurey of Great Mysteries, Vol. 2, Haycraft and Beecroft
Bill Crider, Bridge of Birds, Barry Hughart
Denise Dietz, Shop Talk, Lizzie Hart; Cat Tracks, Gordon Aalborg
Lesa Holstine, The Night She Died, Dorothy Simpson
Randy Johnson, Daybreak 2250 A.D. (Star Man's Song) Andre Norton
Marc Lecard, The Black Path of Fear, Cornell Woolrich
Steve Lewis, Seven Suspects, Michael Innes
Jeffrey Marks, Nine Times Nine, Anthony Boucher
Edward Marston, The Three Coffins, John Dickson Carr
John McFetridge, St. Famous, Jonathan Coe
Patti O'Brien, Happy All the Time, Laurie Colwin
Clea Simon, Those Who Hunt the Night, Barbara Hambly
Kerri Smith, The Double Image, Helen MacInnes
Anthony Rainone, Cop Hater, Ed McBain
James Reasoner, Acapulco GPO, Day Keene
Gerald So, The Complete Poetic Works of Michael Madson
August West, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, George Higgins

Friday's Forgotten Books, August 29, 2008

Patricia Abbott is a short story writer.

Some Unknown Person
by Sandra Scoppettone

In 1977, when Some Unknown Person was first published, taking risks in a novel was apparently a viable option, maybe because genre writing had not become victim to the inflexible vise that it often is today. An author could still write a novel that steered imaginatively between suspense, thriller, historical fiction, noir, and a literary work.
However you define it though, Some Unknow Person is a page-turner, and isn’t that what we all seek to read in the end?

Some Unknown Person tells the true story of Starr Faithfull, a striking young woman who was found dead on the beach in 1931, and juxtaposes it with the fictional tale of a newly married Italian musician/writer with troubles and father issues of his own. How the two parallel narratives will converge is what we wait anxiously to see throughout this novel. And it’s realized brilliantly in the final pages.

Of great interest to me was the historical detail, also evident in Scoppettone’s more recent work (This Dame For Hire and Too Darn Hot) set in the forties. She paints with delicate strokes, never stepping outside the language and ambiance of the times. Some Unknown Person is a riveting read and highly recommended.

Denise [Deni] Dietz is the author of Eye of Newt, Footprints in the Butter, Fifty Cents For Your Soul, and the Ellie Bernstein/Lt. Peter Miller “diet club” mysteries. Her alter-ego, Mary Ellen Dennis, is the author of the “paranormal history-mystery-romance, The Landlord’s Black-Eyed Daughter.


Shop Talk by Lizzie Hart

When Patricia asked me to recommend “forgotten books,” two novels immediately came to mind. Both are not easy to find but well worth the search.

SHOP TALK by Lizzie Hart. “Lizzie Hart” is the only-used-once pseudonym of bestselling author Carolyn Haines, and you know you’re in for a treat when the front cover blurb says, “Lizzie Hart has a biting, satirical eye and she’s funny as hell to boot.”

Shop Talk is, without doubt, one of the funniest books I’ve ever read. It was published in 1998 and just thinking about it makes me smile, giggle, chortle, guffaw. Shop Talk’s quirky characters belong to a group called “Writers of Mississippi Books” (WOMB), and the mystery revolves around Marvin Lovelace, ex-CIA agent, a man with a sordid past and a grim view of the future (which includes a dark plot by the CIA to combine human and alien DNA, and that’s not even a spoiler ). But when the dust settles, only one question remains: Which WOMB book will become a bestseller? The historical romance, Forbidden Words? The cheesecake cookbook, De-Lush-Ous? The S&M novel, Leather and Chains? Or perhaps another offering from the Mississippi sleuths…er, writers?

Book #2 is CAT TRACKS by Gordon Aalborg. Published in 2002, Cat Tracks is subtitled “an epic tale of survival.” The feral cat is perhaps the most successful predator in the Australian bush, and Cat Tracks is the story of such a cat, seen partly through the cat’s eyes and partly through the eyes of an old bushman. The amazing thing about this gem of a book is that the author (who must have been a cat in another life) gets into the minds and souls of his characters: Dave Bates, the bushman, and the cat (no name, just “the cat”). This is not a book about a talking cat, or a sleuthing cat, or even a cute cat. It is more along the lines of The Incredible Journey. Here’s a sample: “The arrival of the first proper summer brought a new and easy food source, although the young cat’s mother wouldn’t have approved. Every weekend of warm weather brought increasing numbers of campers who found the cooling waters of the Cotter and the shady sandbanks at Vanity Crossing a veritable godsend after the mugginess of the city. They came in cars, vans, and on motorcycles, but all had one thing in common—they were unbelievably messy. Their departure left behind a rubble of beer and soft-drink cans, along with paper litter in astonishing amounts. And food! Pieces of charred steak, bones from steaks and chops, discarded sausage ends, unfinished sandwiches. The cat learned that it was wisest to be on the scene as the last human visitor departed; otherwise the semi-tame kookaburras and squawking crows would beat him to the spoils.” Fortunately, in 2005 the book came out in large print and that edition is available.

Marc Lecard is the author of Vinnie's Head.


THE BLACK PATH OF FEAR
By Cornell Woolrich (1944)

[warning: one long spoiler]

Titled by Cornell Woolrich with his usual cheerful optimism, The Black Path of Fear is a gem of terror set in prewar Havana. It’s a fine lurid melodrama, with all the little Woolrichian touches that give his stories their unmistakable atmosphere of anxiety and doom.

As the book opens, two lovers arrive at an open-air nightclub in a horse-drawn carriage. It’s not clear to the reader why they’re there, but from their intense, haunted exchanges, it seems they are running away from something or someone. In the crowded nightclub--so crowded that people are pressed up against one another--a roaming photographer stops to take their picture. Just as the flash goes off, the woman collapses. Not sure at first what has happened, the man discovers that the woman has been stabbed to death with a knife with a distinctive handle--a knife he himself had bought earlier that evening.

He is arrested, but talks the cops into taking him to the shop where he had purchased a knife—not the one, he claims, that has done the murder. The shopkeeper remembers it differently, and presents evidence that seems to prove his guilt. The Havana police haul him off.

The man escapes from the cops and flees into Havana’s Chinese quarter. There he encounters a cigar-smoking Cuban girl of the streets who hides him from the police. Holed up in her pitch-black cell of a room, he tells her how he came to be in such a fix:

His name is Bill Scott, a down and outer on the tramp who got a job as a chauffeur with a Miami nightclub owner and crime boss.

One night he is assigned to drive the gangster’s beautiful young wife into town. He is instantly smitten: "I got her by heart between the entrance steps and the car step."

(Only Raymond Chandler throws out so many memorable lines.)

She asks him to stop the car at a spot overlooking the sea:

"She was just looking out there where the water met the sky. That imaginary line that isn’t there when you get to it, but that promises so much to all of us."

Vague but powerful yearnings are erotic in Woolrich; The two fall in love and make plans to run away together--plans that are discovered by the gangster and his henchmen. Closely pursued, the couple manage to board a cruise ship and flee to Havana, one step ahead of the gangsters.

Then the woman is murdered, and Scott blamed for her murder.

Having brought us up to present time, Scott and the Cuban woman figure out that whoever knifed his girlfriend is likely to have been seen--and perhaps even photographed--by the roaming photog in the nightclub.

Scott goes out into the night to find the photographer. But he’s too late--the photographer has been kidnapped. Then Scott and the Cubana figure out (using logic, with a generous assist from Woolrichian coincidence) that the Miami gangster’s connection to Havana must be drug smuggling. Guided by an opium addict who conveniently lives next door, Scott infiltrates an opium den, penetrates to its heart, and discovers that it is run by the Chinese shopkeeper who swore he sold him the murder knife. He is the Miami gangster’s opium supplier.

The bad guys discover Scott, drug him and tie him up, taunting him by revealing how the killing was done. But before the bad guys can escape and dump Scott and the photographer in the Gulf of Mexico, the police raid the opium den (tipped off by the Cubana pickpocket) and rescue him.

In the clear now, Scott is freed on his own recog by the Havana police and returns to Florida, breaks into the gangster’s house at night and, in a long, slow, lovingly detailed scene, strangles him in his bed.

There is no one quite like Woolrich. His doomed characters move like sleepwalkers toward the end they see quite clearly. They talk about it, defy it. but they never flinch, and they never stop. This is pure Gothic melodrama, redeemed by keen psychological insight and a tragic sense of life.

All the elements of a classic Woolrich story are present in Black Path of Fear: doomed characters imbued with fatalism, a frantic sense that your dreams are slipping out of your grasp, a desperate attempt to escape the forces that are crushing you, pursuit by mysterious, malevolent, apparently all-powerful adversaries.

A man undone by grief, in a strange country, unjustly accused of murder. With one night to clear his name and escape.

The book closes with Scott back in the Havana nightclub, toasting his murdered love with a daiquiri and contemplating the future. The last line in the book:

"It was lonely, standing by myself at the bar like that."

The Black Path of Fear went through several editions and remained in print up to 1982 or so, and was performed twice as a radio play, Perhaps not top-shelf Woolrich, Black Path of Fear is nevertheless worth looking up. Woolrich can be uneven, but this is a keeper.

Check out these Forgotten Books. (As usual some will appear later in the day)

August West

Patti O'Brien

John McFetridge

Anthony Rainone

Bill Crider

Lesa Holstine

Gerald So

Kerri Smith

James Reasoner

David Cranmer

Randy Johnson

Jeffrey Marks

Edward Marston

Paul Bishop

Clea Simon

Steve Lewis

Your Turn to Rant on Any Subject in 75 Words or Less

Your rant doesn't have to be political. I'm open to rants on any subject. All rants are welcome on Rant Thursday.

Here's mine:

Television Networks: Please just run the Democratic Convention in its entirety. Don't assume we'd rather hear your commentary than the speakers on the podium or floor. Don't imagine that the deliveryman from Indiana is less interesting than the 1000th discussion of whether Hillary's speech was conciliatory enough. Or whether it was ego or heart that brought her to the floor with the NY delegation. Let the people speak. Let us decide. We can do it.

Forgotten Books Thus Far

With some oddities due to blogger quirks today. Like where did half of the tool bar go.

August 22, 2008
Patrick Shawn Bagley, Cruisers, Craig Nova
Joe Boland, The Sophmore, Barry Spacks
Nathan Cain, Dogs of God, Pinckney Benedict
David Cranmer, A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway
Bill Crider, Night Without End, Alistair MacLean
Kent Gowran, Night Dogs, Kent Anderson
Glenn Harper, Edge City, Sin Sorocco
Lesa Holstine, The Merchant's House, Kate Ellis
Randy Johnson, A Flash of Red, Clay Harvey
Patrick Lennon, Jack's Return Home, Ted Lewis
Juri Nummelin, Dumbo, the Flying Elephant
Mary Reed, Some Must Watch, Ethel Lina White
Kerrie Smith, Criminal Conversation, Nicholas Freeling
Susan Smith, Borrowing the Night, Elisabeth Peters
Kelli Stanley, The Blank Wall and The Innocent Mrs. Duff by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding
August West, The Wind Chill Factor, Thomas Gifford
James Winter, Ross MacDonald, Tom Nolan

August 15, 2008
David Cranmer, The Long Chance by Max Brand, Ride the Man Down by Luke Short
Bill Crider, Kyd for Hire, Timothy Harris (And go back to Bill's blog to see the British cover)
Anthony Flacco, The Golden Gate Murders, Peter King
Michael Haskins, Uptown, Downtown, Dennis Lynds
Lesa Holstine, King of the Hollyhop, Les Roberts
Kevin Holtsberry, A Day No Pigs Would Die, Robert Newton Peck
Naomi Hirahara, The Wheel on the School, Meindert DeJong, The Best Bad Thing, Yoshito Uchida
Randy Johnson, The Stories of Silver John, Manly Wade Wellman
Brian Lindenmuth, The Brotherhood of Mutiliation, Brian Evenson
Adrian McKinty, Thus Was Adonis Murdered, Sarah Caudwell
Barbara Martin, Caesar: The Life Story of a Panda Leopard, Patrick O'Brien
Terrie F. Moran, The Virginian, Owen Wister
Juri Nummelin, The Hell Bent Kid, Charles O. Locke
Graham Powell, The Charleston Knife is Back in Town, Ralph Dennis
Al Tucher, Hard Rain, Peter Abrahams
James Reasoner, The Blonde in Lower Six, Ed Jenkins

August 8. 2008
Patti Abbott, Beyond the Bedroom Wall, Larry Woiwode
Stephen Blackmoore, The Adventures of Pinocchio, Carlo Collodi
Victoria Blake, The Wasp Factory, Ian Banks
David Cranmer, By Line: Ernest Hemingway, William White
Bill Crider, Stone Angel, Marvin H. Albert
Damon, A Spell for Chameleon's Piers Anthony & The Sleeping Dragon, Joel Rosenberg
Ed Gorman, The Blank Wall, Elizabeth Sanxay Holding
Charles Gramlich, Kyrik, Warlock, Warrier
Lesa Holstine, The Lily Bard Books, Charlaine Harris
Randy Johnson, Conjure Wife, Fritz Leiber
B.V. Lawson, Los Alamos, Joseph Kanon
Brian Lindenmuth, Homicide A Year on the Killing Streets, David Simon
Terrie F. Moran, Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election, John Firling
Steve Mosby, Balling the Jack, Frank Baldwin
Juri Nummelin, Root of Evil, James Cross
Ian Rankin, I Was Dora Suarez, Derek Raymond
Darlene Ryan, The Jessica James Mysteries, Meg O"Brien
Sandra Ruttan, Polly Deacon series, H. Mel Malton
Will Thomas, The Big Bow Mystery, Israel Zangwill
Robert Ward, They Don't Dance Much, James Ross
Sharon Wildwood, Chosen for Death, Kate Flora
Woodstock, Stay of Execution, Stewart Alsop

August 1, 2008
Steve Allan, What Makes Sammy Run, Budd Schulberg
Joe Boland, Meeting Evil, Thomas Berger
Max Allan Collins, The Twisted Thing, Mike Hammer, Mickey Spillane
David Cranmer, Contrary Pleasure, John. D. MacDonald
Bill Cameron, The Mystery of the Witches Bridge, Barbie Oliver Carleton
Bill Crider, The Hereafter Gang. Neal Barrett, Jr.
Clair Dickson, Missing Persons, Fay Faron
Sean Doolittle, Fun with Occasional Music, Jonathan Lethem
Ed Gorman, Earthquake Weather, Terrill Lankford
Timothy Hallinan, Coffins' Got the Dead Guy on the Inside, Keith Snyder
Lesa Holstine, Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less, Jeffrey Archer
Randy Johnson, Adam Link Robot, Eando Bender
James McGoran, Serenade, James M. Cain
Medora, The Razor's Edge, W. Somerset Maugham
Terrie Farley Moran, One Thousand White Women, Jim Fergus
Derek Nikitas, God is a Bullet, Boston Teran
James Reasoner, Dead Men’s Letters, Erle Stanley Gardner
Matt Beynon Rees, The King Must Die, Mary Renault
James Lincoln Warner, The Three Mulla-Mulgares by Walter de la Mare
James Winter, On the Road, Jack Kerouac

July 25, 2008
Steve Allan, Getting Away With It, Steven Soderbergh
Patrick Shawn Bagley, Gunsights, Elmore Leonard
Joe Boland, Quick Change, Jay Cronley
David Cramner, A Trap for Fools, Amanda Cross
Bill Crider, Assault on Ming, Alan Caillou
Ed Gorman, The Pat Hobby Stories, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Kevin Guilfoile, The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
Lesa Holstine, The Pershing Pickle, Sandra Dallas
Randall Johnson, The Man Who Moved a Mountain, Richard C. Davids
Ed Lynskey, A Feast of Snakes, Harry Crews
John McAuley, The New Centurions, Joseph Wambaugh
Craig McDonald, Death Will Have Your Eyes, James Sallis
Paul McGoran, Deadlier Than the Male, James Gunn
Bill Peschel, Forgotten News, Jack Finney
Robert J. Randisi, The Falling Man, Mark Sadler
James Reasoner, Hopalong Cassidy, Clarence E. Mulford
Stephen Rogers, Death of a Citizen, Donald Hamilton
S.J. Rozan, This Perfect Day, Ira Levin
Andi Shechter, Raising Demons and Life Among the Savages, Shirley Jackson
Jay Tomio, The Last Hot Time, John M. Ford

July 18, 2008
Barbara D'Amato-HMS Ulysses, Alastair MacLean
David Cranmer, A Treasury of Great Mysteries, Haycraft and Belcroft
Bill Crider, Rafferty: Wrong Place, Wrong Time, W. Glenn Duncan
Jack Getze, Sleeping Dogs, Thomas Perry
Ed Gorman, Don't Cry for Me, William Campbell Gault
Lesa Holstine, A Dangerous Road, Kris Nelscott
Charlie Huston, Complicity, Iain Banks
Randy Johnson, Booked to Die, John Dunning
Colman Keene, Paco's Story, Larry Heinemann
Ken, The Anvil of the World, Kage Baker
Larry, Camp Concentration, Thomas Disch
Medora, Kristen Lavranstatter, Sigrid Undset
David Montgomery, Chinaman's Choice, Ross Thomas
Sandy Parshall, We Have Always Lived in a Castle, Shirley Jackson
James Reasoner, The Hangman of Sleepy Valley, David Dresser
Barrie Summy, Crackpot, Adele Wiseman
Jay Tomio Dossier, Stepan Chapman, Black Brillion, Matthew Hughes, Pandora, Holly Hollander, Coelestis, Paul Park, Sarah Canary, Karen Fowler, Brittle Innings, Michael Bishop
Dave White, Honor Among Thieves, Jeffrey Archer

July 11, 2008
Robert Gregory Browne, Control, William Goldman
Bill Crider, Death Tour, David J. Michael
Al Guthrie, Portrait in Smoke, Bill Ballinger
Woody Haut, Hard Rain Falling, Don Carpenter
Lesa Hostine, Bachelor Brother's Bed and Breakfast, Bill Richardson
Randy Johnson, Gone South, Robert McCammon
Claire Lamb, Kate Vaiden, Reynolds Price
Todd Mason, On Wings of Song, Thomas M. Disch
Craig McDonald, Four Corners of Night, Craig Holden
Karen E. Olson, Lockout, Lillian O'Donnell
Barrie Summy, The Sweet Second Season of Kitty Malone, Matt Cohen
Louise Ure, No Human Involved, Barabara Seranella, 2008

July 4, 2008
Kids' Forgotten Books for Friday, July 4, 2008

Patti Abbott-The Return of the Twelves, Pauline Clarke
Steve Allan-Something Wicked This Way Comes, Ray Bradbury
Patrick Shawn Bagley, The Great Brain, John Fitzgerald
David Cranmer, Dig Alley Space Edxplorers' Series by Joseph Green
Bill Crider, The 21 Balloons, William Pene DuBois
Travis Erwin, Where the Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls
Lesa Holstine, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, Betty MacDonald; Snow Treasure, Marie McSwigan, The Happy Hollisters, Jerry West
Randy Johnson, The Mushroom Series, Eleanor Cameron
Steve Lewis, Don Sturdy on the Desert of Mystery, Victor Appleton
Brian Lindenmuth, The Mouse and His Child, Russell Hoban
Todd Mason, The Loner, Ester Wier
Terrie Farley Moran, The Paperbag Princess, Robert Munsch
James Reasoner, The Rocket's Shadow, John Blaine
Sandra Ruttan, Twenty and Ten, Claire Huchet Bishop and Janet Joly
Susan Smith, The Ghost Next Door, Wylly Folk St. John
Sarah Weinman, The Golden Road, L.M. Montgomery

Adult Forgotten Books

Todd Mason, Signal Through the Flames, Mitch Snyder and America' Homeless, Victoria Rader; The Pleasure Tube, Robert Onopa; The Moon's Wife, A.A. Attanasio
Chuck Nichols, The Real Revolution: The Global Story of American Independence, Marc Armstrong
Mike Ripley, Watcher in the Shadows, Geoffrey Householder
Kirk Russell, Cutter and Bone, Newton Thornberg
Gerald So, The Fifth Profession, David Morrell
Jay Tomio, Black Brillon, Matthew Hughes
Medora, Kristin Lavransdatter, Sigrid Undset

June 27, 2008
Lori Armstrong, Naked in Death, J.D. Robb
Patrick Bagley, The Great Brain, John D. Fitzgerald
Joe Boland, Up in the Air, Walter Kirn
Gerard Brennan, The Salesman, Joesph O'Connor
Tony Broadbent, Funeral in Berlin, Len Deighton
Shannon Clute, New York Trilogy, Paul Auster
Bill Crider, Wolf House, Jack Lynch
Ed Gorman, Dog Soldiers, Robert Stone
Libby Hellman, Briarpatch, Ross Thomas
Lesa Holstine, Charms for the Easy Life, Kay Gibbons
Randy Johnson, The Mushroom Planet series, Eleanor Cameron
J.A. Konrath, Blackburn, Bradley Denton
Steve Lewis, Don Sturdy on the Desert of Mystery, Victor Appletion
Todd Mason, The Loner, Ester Wier
James Reasoner, The Ghosts of Elkhorn, Kerry Newcomb and Frank Schaefer
Peter Rozovsky, Bertie and the Seven Bodies, Peter Lovesey
Barry Summy, The Chrysalids, John Wyndham
Susan, Corpse de Ballet, Lucy Cores
David Thompson, The David Handler Series
Mary Ellen Walsh, Salvation, Lucia Nevai

June 20, 2008
Gerard Brennan, Joseph O'Connor, The Salesman
Lyman Feero, Robert Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
James Reasoner, Lewis B. Patten, Rope Law
Joe Boland, Thomas Perry, Island
Lesa Holstine, Stephen Cannell, King Con
David Corbett, Pete Dexter, God's Pocket
Bill Crider, Henry Kane, Too French and Too Deadly
Ed Gorman, John D. MacDonald, Border Town Girl
Steve Lewis, Donald Hamilton, The Ambushers
Robin Gorman Newman, Patrick McDonnell, The Gift of Nothing
Susan, Todd Borg, Tahoe Deathfall
Todd Mason, William Kotzwinke, The Exile
Lee Gold, Henrik Van Loon, Van Loon's Lives
Jim Ingraham, Kate Chopin, The Awakening

June 13, 2008

Patti Abbott, October Light, John Gardner
Joe Boland, Freak's Amour, Tom DeHaven
Gerard Brennan, Father Music, Dermot Bolger
Steve Brewer, The Tango Briefing, Adam Hall
Mark Coggins, Samurai Boogie, Peter Tasker
Bill Crider, One for Hell, Jada Davis
Deborah, Mother Love, Domini Taylor
Chris Holm, The Elementals, Michael McDowell
Ruth Jordan, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, George V. Higgins
Vince Keenan, Violence, Nudity and Adult Content, Vince Passaro
Larry, The Famished Road, Ben Okri
Steve Lewis, Pangolin, Peter Driscoll
Brian Lindenmuth, Four Kinds of Rain/Red Baker, Robert Ward
Tim Maleeny, Chinaman's Chance, Ross Thomas
Terrie Farley Moran, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith
James Reasoner, The Dark Brand, H. A. De Rosso
Rochelle Jewel Shapiro, Jamaica Inn, Daphne DuMaurier
Gerald So, The Spy Who Loved Me, Ian Fleming
Jay Tomio, Sarah Canary, Karen Joy Fowler
Jeri Westerson, The House on the Strand, Daphne DuMaurier

June 6, 2998

Robin Agnew, The Last Witness, K.J. Erickson
Patrick Shawn Bagley, When the River Flows North, Howard Frank Mosher
John Baker, Murphy, Samuel Beckett
Joe Boland, The Art of Losing, Keith Dixon
Julia Buckley, I Don't Kow How She Does It, Allison Pearson
Sean Chercover, Derek Rayond's Factory Series
Bill Crider, Down and Dirty, W.B. Murphy
Travis Erwin, You Never Believe Me: And Other Stories, Davis Grubb
Anne Fraiser, Uther and Igraine and Sorrell and Son, Warwick Deeping
Steve Hockensmith, I Am the Cheese, Robert Cormier
Caroline Leavitt, After Life, Rhian Ellis
Steve Lewis, 57, Chicago, Steve Monroe
Lee Lofland, Postmortem, Patricia Cornwell
Jeff Marks, Home, Sweet Homicide, Craig Rice
Russel McLean, The Shark-Infested Custard, Charles Willeford
Medora, Guard of Honor, James Gould Cozzens
James Reasoner, The Sharpshooters, John Benteen
Clea Simon, Crooked Man, Tony Dunbar
Jay Tomio, Brittle Innings, Michael Bishop 2008

May 30, 2008

Joe Boland, Lightening of the Sun, Robert Bingham
Gerard Brennan, Sacrifice of the Fools, Ian McDonald
Ken Bruen, Michigan Roll, Tom Kakonis
Bill Crider, The Hot-Shot, Fletcher Flora
Deborah (Knit Lady) Brat Farrar, Josephine Tey
Stephen Elliott, (an extensive list: see link from yesterday)
Alison Gaylin, The Dice Man, Luke Reinhart
Charles Gramlich, Desert Dog, Jim Kjelgaard
Lisa Kenney, The Dogs of March, Ernest Hebert
Kristy Kiernan, Into the Road, Adrienne Richard
Steve Lewis, Too Much Poison, Anne Rowe
Brian Lindenmuth, (an extensive list of forgotten Sci-Fi: see link)
Dick Lochte, The Honest Dealer, Frank Gruber
Stuart MacBride, Shooting Dr. Jack, Norman Green, Diamond Dove, Adrian Hyland
Todd Mason, Alfred Hitchcock: Stories to be Read with the Door Locked, edited by Harold Q. Masur
Jason Pinter, The Long Walk, Stephen King
Sandra Seaman, The Quiet Game, Greg Iles
Andi Shechter, Cut to the Quick, Kate Ross
Clea Simon, A Place of Greater Safety, Hilary Mantel
Wallace Stroby, The Rare Coin Score, Richard Stark
Dave Zeltserman, The Captain, Seymour Shubin

May 23, 2008
Dick Adler, When the Sacred Ginmill Closes, Lawrence Block
Steve Allan, Horse Latitudes, Robert Ferrigno
Bookwitch, Home, Sweet Homicide, Craig Rice
Bill Crider, Revenge, Jack Ehrlich
Lonnie Cruse, We Have Always Lived in a Castle, Shirley Jackson
Jenny Davidson, Colors Insulting to Nature, Cintra Wilson
Martin Edwards, Reputation for a Song, Edward Grierson
J.T. Ellison, Songs of Innocence, Richard Aleas (Charles Ardai)
Victor Gischler, Clans of the Alphane Moon, Philip K. Dick
Ed Gorman, Spree, Max Allan Collins
Lynne Hatwell (Dovegreyreader), The Scapegoat, Daphne Du Maurier
Laura Lippman, A Novel Called Heritage, Margaret Dukore
John McFetridge, Cutter and Bone, Newton Thornburg
Todd Mason, Trouble Valley, Lee Hoffman A.R. Pickett
(Woodstock’s Blog) Alas Babylon, Pat Frank
James Reasoner, Day of the Moon, Bill Prozini and Jeffrey Wallman
Linda Richards, Swann, Carol Shield

May 16, 2008

Steve Allan, Splinters of the Mind's Eye, Alan Dean Foster
Baglady, The Crystal Cave, Mary Stewart
Bookwitch, Sapper, Herman Cyril McNeile
Declan Burke, Wild at Heart, Barry Gifford
Bill Crider, The Night Remembers, Ed Gorman
Travis Erwin, The Me I Used to Be, Jennifer Archer
Ed Gorman, The Kidnappers, Robert Bloch and 361 by Donald Westlake
Kirsty, Other Stories and Other Stories, Ali Smith
Todd Mason, The Aleph and Other Stories 1933-1969
Tom Piccirilli, The Hunter, Richard Stark (Donald Westlake)
Sarah Weinman, The Late Man, James Preston Girard
Megan Powell, Cuckoo's Egg, C.J. Cherryh
James Reasoner, The Siamese Twin Mystery, Ellery Queen
Jeff Shelby, The Standoff, Chuck Hogan
Kevin Burton Smith, The January Corpse by Neil Albert
Shauna Sturge, Crossfire, Jeanette Windle
David Terrenoire, Cruddy, Lynda Barry
Sarah Weinman, The Late Man, James Preston Girard

May 9. 2008

Patti Abbott: Roseanna (Sjowal and Wahloo)
Steve Allan: The Giant's House (Elizabeth McCracken)
Stephen Blackmoore: On Strange Tides (Tim Powers)
Declan Burke: Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (Horace McCoy)
Bill Crider: The Assistant (Malamud), Passing Strange (Sale)
Sara Crowley: The Trick is to Keep Breathing (Janice Galloway)
Daniel Hatadi: Gun in Cheek (Bill Prozini)
Jen Jordan: One Man's Chorus (Burgess
Lisa Kenney: A Fine and Private Place (Peter Beagle)
Brian Lindenmuth: Scalped (Jason Aaron)
Todd Mason: The Lively Lives of Crispin Mobey (Gary Jennings
Terrie Farley Moran: The Great Divide (Terkel)
J. Kingston Pierce: The Lunatic Fringe (DeAndrea)
R2: The Criminalist (Izzi)
Keith Raffel: Kolymsky Heights (Davidson)
Peter Rozovsky: Harper and Iles series (Bill James)
Steven Torres: Moony's Road to Hell (Ramas)
Jim Winter: Blunt Darts (Healy)

May 2, 2008

Steve Allan, THE TEMPLE OF GOLD (Goldman)
Jennifer Archer, THE BRONZE HORSEMAN (Pauline Simmons)
William Boyle, FATHER AND SON (Larry Brown)
Declan Burke, THIEVES LIKE US (Anderson)
Clair Dickson, THE WESTING GAME (Raskin)
Ello, SILK (Alessandro Barrico)
Christa Faust, RUN (Douglas Winter)
Angie Johnson-Schmidt, SALLY'S IN THE ALLEY (Norbert Davis)
Ali Karim, MEMOIRS OF AN INVISIBLE MAN (Saint)
Katrina Kimble, THE RED TENT (Diamant)
Brian Lindenmuth, GENERATION LOSS ( E. Hand)
Todd Mason, THE ENQUIRIES OF DOCTOR ESTERHAZY (Davidson)
James Reasoner,SEVEN FACES (Max Brand)
Sandra Ruttan, THE 50/50 KILLER (Steve Mosley)
Kay Sexton, FRED AND EDIE (Jill Dawson)
Gerald So, SPADEWORK (Prozini) and Collected Poems (Justice)

April 25, 2008

Patti Abbott, Desperate Characters. Paula Fox
Patrick Shawn Bagley, The Dog of the South by Charles Portis
Bill Crider, City, Clifford D. Simak
Josephine Damian, Don't Let's Go to the Dog Tonight, Alexandria Fuller
Clair Dickson, The Lady in the Lake, Raymond Chandler
Ello, When the Elephants Dance, Tess Uriza
Eudamonia, The Price of Salt, Patricia Highsmith
Travis Erwin, The Rock Orchard, Paula Wall
Brian Lindenmuth, The God Files, Frank Turner
Sandra Ruttan, Dust Devils, James Reasoner
A.N. Smith, Scar Lover by Harry Crews
Sandra Scoppettone, Death of the Heart, Elizabeth Bowen

For the Love of Grover

Anyone else have a 20 month old who can't get enough of Grover? The rest of the Gang can go to the dogs. It's Grover he yearns to watch on our computer. Is it Grover's high-pitched voice. Is it that Grover always seesms somewhat mystified? Or does he just like to sit our Poppop's lap and watch Grover all day long?

Instant Replays for Homeruns

Instant replays to substantiate that a home run wasn't really a ground rule double will soon be part of the game. Were that many mistakes being made in calling a HR? Or is there another consideration? Will we soon get another two or three commercial spots during the rewind? Will they stop the game for instant replays even when the ball clears the park? Even when the guy on the roof across from Wrigley field waves his hand.
I used to watch a lot of sports on TV but crimey, I can't stand to watch a game now. I didn't watch five minutes of the Olympics. Every time I turned it on it was either a bio, a commercial, table tennis on a table the size of a handkerchief, or beach blanket volleyball.
Mostly though, I just can't take the endless commercials. If more than 20 of the average 60 minute show is commercials, why not DVR everything?
Maybe sports aren't meant to be viewed live. That's for saps. The day after is looking better and better. But damn those Chinese sure play well on those hankies.