Friday, June 14, 2013
Friday's Forgotten Books, June 14, 2013
Two weeks until Elmore Leonard Day. For anyone who has a review but no blog, please send your review to me. SIDESWIPE, Charles Willeford
Following MIAMI BLUES and NEW HOPE FOR THE DEAD, Miami homicide detective Hoke Moseley abandons his pregnant partner and housemate, Ellita Sanchez, and his two daughters to manage his father's apartment complex in Riviera Beach, Florida.
When the book begins he cannot even get himself out of bed.
Stanley Sinliewicz, a Ford retiree spending a night in jail, does a favor for a killer named Louden, which results in his release from jail. The two then embark on an odyssey which can only lead to disaster.
Hoke soon finds the simple life is easier to envision than envelop. Coping with a job offer from the local police, a string of local burglaries, and a daughter with an eating disorder puts him back on the path home. Playing the disinterested father can only go so far.
Like others in the series, SIDESWIPE is packed with action and humor. Elmore Leonard says no one writes a better crime novel than Willeford. Who am I to argue with that? Walter Mosley claims he reads Willeford for a break for the monotony of endless grimness. There is a real art to telling a hard-boiled crime story with this much humor.
This is my favorite of the Hoke novels although I am saving the final one.
Joe Barone. SHALLOW GRAVES, Jeremiah Healy
Brian Busby, THE BROKEN TRAIL, George W. Kirby
Bill Crider, TAKE MY FACE, Peter Held (Jack Vance)
Martin Edwards, THE 10:30 FROM MARSEILLES, Sebastian Japrisot
Curt Evans, STUDIES IN MURDER, Edmund Lester Pearson
Jerry House, MOON MISSING. Edward Sorel
Randy Johnson, WEB OF THE CITY, Harlan Ellison
George Kelley, DEAD LOW TIDE and ONE MORE SUNDAY, John D. Macdonald
Margot Kinberg, THE LODGER, Maria Belloc Lowndes
B.V. Lawson, DR. NICHOLA RETURNS, Guy Boothby
Evan Lewis, MORE LONE RANGER, Big Little Books
Steve Lewis , IT TAKES A THIEF #3, APPOINTMENT IN CAIRO, Gil Brewer
Todd Mason, THE MEN IN MY LIFE by Vivian Gornick; BENCHMARKS CONTINUED by Algis Budrys...books about books and writers...
Neer, DEATH IN RETIREMENT, Josephine Bell
J.F. Norris, MURDER IN A NUNNERY, Eric Shepherd
J. Kingston Pierce, THE BIG FIX, Roger Simon
James Reasoner, TO THE HEART OF THE STORM, Will Eisner
Gerard Saylor, ON THE WRONG TRACK, Steve Hockensmith
Michael Slind, THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD, Agatha Christie
Kerrie Smith, THE MAKEOVER MURDERS, Jennifer Rowe
Kevin Tipple/Barry Ergang, THE VANISHERS, Donald Hamilton
TomCat, THE SHADE OF TIME, David Duncan
Prashant Trikannad, NO COMEBACKS, Freerick Forsythe
James Winter, THE POET, Michael Connelly
Thursday, June 13, 2013
LONGMIRE
I do not understand why these episodes need to be 40 minutes. Why not 75 as the British so often do with their crime series. I like everything about this series but that issue. The stories feel rushed, underdeveloped. A show like MAD MEN is written to conform to that time period, but this tries to cram entire novels into forty minutes and does them no justice. Why can't we spend more time on the crime, their lives, the backstory, the setting. A grave injustice is being done here. What might be a brilliant evocation of an area and people we have seen little is now just another generic crime story.
What do you think?
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
The Hardest Hardboiled?
What is the hardest hard-boiled crime novel you have read? Or the noirest noir?
I am going with THE KILLER INSIDE ME. Top that!
I am going with THE KILLER INSIDE ME. Top that!
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Forgotten TV: The Equalizer
This scene (with Adam Ant) reminds us that TV was just as scary thirty years ago as now. Eek!
The series stars British actor Edward Woodward as Robert McCall, a former covert operations officer of an unnamed U.S. Government intelligence organization, which was often referred to simply as "The Agency" or "The Company" (it is implied that it is the CIA), who tries to atone for past sins by offering, free of charge, his services as a troubleshooter (often literally), a protector, and an investigator. People in need find him through a newspaper ad: "Got a problem? Odds against you? Call the Equalizer. 212 555 4200". In the pilot episode (as he "opens for business"), we discover that the nickname "Equalizer" was bestowed on him by another operative, played by comedian Jerry Stiller.
The show was on from 1985-89. Would he be considered a vigilante if he hadn't been paid for his services?
I liked it for a while but the level of violence and similar plots eventually got to me. It was easy to see too that the likelihood of a man like this drifting into indiscriminate crimes for money was awfully high.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Actors working Under the Bar
You see it all the time. An actor in a role on TV or a movie that anyone can play. CSI and LAW and Order have trapped some fine actors in very forgettable parts. I am thinking particularly now of Gary Sinise but it is also true for Marg Helgenberger and virtually all the stars of these franchises.
Gary Sinise showed his acting muscle in Of Mice and Men, A Midnight Clear, The Stand, That Championship Season and ever Forest Gump. But here he is stuck in a generic role in CSI New York. I suppose they are glad for the steady income but still...
Who else is playing way below their talent level?
Gary Sinise showed his acting muscle in Of Mice and Men, A Midnight Clear, The Stand, That Championship Season and ever Forest Gump. But here he is stuck in a generic role in CSI New York. I suppose they are glad for the steady income but still...
Who else is playing way below their talent level?
Say Something Good About Detroit: The Whole Foods Market and Murals
This might not seem so wonderful to you but WHOLE FOODS is the first upscale or even middle-scale food stores to put a store in Detroit in decades. It is taking is mission seriously by enriching the lives of passersby as well as customers.
Local artists created the murals that deck all four outside walls. About 100 artists submitted proposals for what they would do and it came down to these four. Each winner received $1000 for supplies and a payment of $7500. The artists did their work on individual frames that were all linked seamlessly on the corners.
The artists are Jerome Ferretti, Katherine Larson, Tylonn Sawyer and Matthew Sharum, all local painters.
The store is located across the street from the Detroit Medical Center and near the Detroit Symphony buildings in midtown Detroit. The store is set to open this week.
Sunday, June 09, 2013
Saturday, June 08, 2013
Friday, June 07, 2013
Friday's Forgotten Books, June 7, 2013
THE CRIMES OF JORDAN WISE, Bill Pronzini
Another fine novel from Mr. Prozini.
Jordan Wise is a curious fellow who seems to have been born as pretty much an empty vessel, having few sustaining desires. When a woman comes along who puts a few ounces of liquid into that vessel, he risks everything for her. He uses his job as an accountant to embezzle the money that will entice her to marry him. And his foolproof plan for them to escape works brilliantly. They end up in the Caribbean where the rest of the novel plays out.
But she grows dissatisfied, and he, in his own strange way, does too. He's more interested by now in his new pal and his boat. So when she suddenly leaves, taking as much as she can carry with her, his discontent in not exactly the sort you'd expect. He is angry that she's left, but mostly the desire for her is gone.She had lost her luster.
I don't want to really tell you any more about this novel's plot because it will ruin it for you if I do. What I'd like to briefly discuss is what an interesting character Jordan Wise is. He has the talent, looks and intelligence to succeed but not the will. Every interest is a temporary one. Each desire is replaced by something else, only to have that one disappear too. This novel is a great character study.
His final desire is an odd one too. As they said in the fourth grade, you will have to read the book to find out.
Sergio Angelini, THE NAKED FACE, Sidney Sheldon
Joe Barone, THE ROSARY MURDERS, William X. Kienzle
Les Blatt, REVELATIONS OF A LADY DETECTIVE,
Brian Busby, WIRE THRILLERS, Frank L. Packard
Bill Crider, FORGOTTEN MAGAZINES, MYSTERIOUS TRAVELER
Curt Evans, THE GREEN BICYCLE CASE, H. R. Wakefield
Scott Cupp, THE LOST CITY, Rick Brandt
Elisabeth Grace Foley, COPPER STREAK TRAIL, Eugene Manlove Rhode
Jerry House, GIANT IN GRAY, Manley Wades Wellman
Michael G. Jacob, YARDIE, Victor Headley (THE RAP SHEET)
Randy Johnson, BOUNTY KILLER, Marvin Albert
George Kelley, JACK VANCE
Margot Kinberg, CROOKED LAKE, Nelson Brunanski
B.V Lawson, THE PORT OF LONDON MURDERS, Josephine Bell
Evan Lewis, FIFTY ROADS TO TOWN, Frederick Nebels
Steve Lewis, ONE CORPSE TOO MANY, Ellis Peters
Todd Mason, HUMOR AND SATIRE, in prose and comics
Neer, FUZZ, Ed McBain
J.F. Norris, WHEN I GROW RICH, Joan Fleming
James Reasoner, THE OPIUM SHIP AND MR. SHEN OF SHENSI, H. Bedford, Jones
Richard Robinson, ASSORTED FORGOTTEN BOOKS
Gerard Saylor, KILLING CASTRO, Lawrence Block
Michael Slind, FIND A VICTIM, ROSS Macdonald
Kerrie Smith, THE NEGOTATOR, Frederick Forsythe
Kevin Tipple, PILIKIA IS MY BUSINESS, Mark Troy
TomCat, THE CASE OF THE DROWNING DUCK, Erle Stanly Gardner
Prashant Trikannad, HARD TEXAS WINTER, Preston Lewis
James Winter, FUZZ, ed McBain
Thursday, June 06, 2013
Wednesday, June 05, 2013
Enigmatic Characters
We watched TAKE THIS WALTZ on Netflix streaming last night. We were highly disposed to like it after seeing Sarah Polley's new documentary, STORIES WE TELL.
And we did like it, despite, or maybe because of the enigmatic character of the main character, Margo, played by the amazing Michelle Williams. At the end of the film, we had no more understanding of her actions than at the beginning.
Are you able to tolerate enigma in characters in books and movies? Or do you require the book's end to bring about a full understanding? Can you think of an enigmatic character who never came into focus for you?
And we did like it, despite, or maybe because of the enigmatic character of the main character, Margo, played by the amazing Michelle Williams. At the end of the film, we had no more understanding of her actions than at the beginning.
Are you able to tolerate enigma in characters in books and movies? Or do you require the book's end to bring about a full understanding? Can you think of an enigmatic character who never came into focus for you?
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