One of the great things about comics are alternate-reality scenarios. The No Man’s Land series, which spans four reasonably thick volumes, is an excellent specimen, offering most (if not all) of the significant Batman villains, while providing a fresh look at relatively stale heroes including Batman, Commissioner Gordon, Oracle, and Huntress.
I’ve been reading Frederick Forsyth since his classic thriller The Day of the Jackal came out in 1971.
I like that Forsyth uses his skills as a journalist to infuse his thrillers with true facts and details about crime, espionage, terrorism and war. Forsyth also offers a good, thrilling and suspenseful story.
His new thriller, The Cobra (G.P. Putnam’s Sons), continues in that fine tradition.
Last month I wrote a piece here about John le Carre’s disparaging remarks about Ian Fleming’s iconic character James Bond. The piece generated some interesting responses.
Although I attempted to offer a spirited defense of Ian Fleming and James Bond (the character from the novels not the films), I did note that I also liked le Carre’s novels, especially Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
This is perhaps le Carre’s year as a film is being made of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (the TV miniseries based on the novel was outstanding), and he has a new novel coming out called Our Kind of Traitor.
To promote his new book, the 79-year-old author gave an interesting interview to the British newspaper the Sunday Telegraph.
You have been warned. This will contain spoilers, but beyond those I plan to discuss a plot hole so massive I’ve continually tried to find ways to rationalize it, thinking, “There’s no way Stieg could have missed this.” I still have not. I have discussed it with other people — it hasn’t always destroyed the experience for them, but it certainly has damaged it. Still with me? Let’s forge ahead. [Read more →]
I have to admit that I requested this book based on the title. Angels, Vampires and Douche Bags is a title with a lot of potential. Unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations.
The book separates the people in our lives into three categories. Angels are the people who love you and take care of you. Vampires are the people who are sexy and seductive but ultimately bad for you, and Douche Bags are the people who make your life more difficult. Things can also be in these categories. The whole prospect is kind of muddled and unfocused. It just didn’t quite work. [Read more →]
Recently I’ve been reading Son of Hamas by Mosab Hassan Yousef the oldest son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, one of the founders of Hamas. Yousef is a Christian convert who worked for years for the Israeli Shin Bet, feeding them information about planned terrorist attacks and so preventing countless deaths. [Read more →]
Writing in the Philadelphia Inquirer today, our Frank Wilson takes on Philly’s blogging tax — a business license fee being charged to bloggers who have ads on their sites, even if the ads only make them $5 a year.
This book really took me back to my heavy metal roots. I was a fan in high-school and college, saw a lot of head-banging bands play live, and still have the hard rock/alternative stations programmed in the car radio. Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir is a look behind the scenes at how a scrawny kid from La Mesa, California became a rock and roll god. It’s full of great backstage stories and plenty of gritty truth about how Dave Mustaine got to where he is today. It’s a must-read for heavy metals fans. [Read more →]
A team of U.S. Navy SEALs huddles around a coffee urn at their firebase in Afghanistan after an exhausting firefight with the Taliban.
“How can you account for people doing something so … savage?” asks the team’s shocked and appalled medic.
“Easy,” replies the more jaded SEAL team leader. “They’re savages.”
Don Winslow’s crime thriller Savages (Simon and Schuster) opens with two words:
Regarding John le Carre’s recent critical remarks about fellow thriller writer Ian Fleming’s iconic character James Bond, the author of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is right about one thing.
Le Carre is correct in stating that the Bond films have overtaken the books. Its true that the general public’s image of the fictional secret agent is that of the often silly, superman-like film character, rather than the darker, more complex and more realistic Bond character in the novels.
Le Carre is wrong about everything else.
I recently sent this e-mail to an automaton who works in the marketing department at the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company:
Hi Nxxxx,
I’m writing ask if we might have an informal conversation about a marketing partnership that could, potentially, be mutually beneficial. While it might seem a bit unconventional or “outside the box,” it’s something that I’m sure has been done, and, at very least, would present the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company with an opportunity whose risk is negligible compared to the potential reward.
[Read more →]
As I’ve noted here before, I believe thrillers are an art form. Thrillers are like jazz to literary fiction’s classical music.
I devoured thrillers when I was a teenager and I still read and love them today.
So I was very interested in reading Thrillers: 100 Must-Reads (Oceanview), edited by thriller writer David Morrell and critic Hank Wagner.
Because I’ve already promised my fans (my mother, my toddler upon occasion, etc.) that my next book will be an in-depth study of American writers and their lack of integrity, I felt it was not out of character (or desperation only) to conduct an interview with a gentleman I am most grateful to for bringing my first published novel to print. So in honor of in-house propaganda everywhere—fuck it; Dan is crazy enough to throw some dollars down on my novel, so why not?—I give you an interview with life-long book guy Dan Cafaro. This October, his new imprint Atticus Books will publish its debut title, Fight for Your Long Day, and follow with fiction by Joe Zeppetello and Randall Devallance. What I like most about Dan is his unabashed love of literature; it takes courage to profess open affection for anything in these cynical times, but Dan isn’t one to hide his passion. Despite the demanding schedule of an independent press, he found time to respond to each of my prompts. Yes, at times, in excess, but that’s only because I pay by the word. You’ll learn that Dan Cafaro is a former sports journalist and bookstore owner, well read, bald, and able to add self-deprecatory humor to the mix. Not necessarily in that order. Enjoy.
Alex: You’ve worked in the book trade in many different capacities—store owner, acquisitions editor, writer, and publisher. Could you describe what you’ve enjoyed the most and liked least about your various occupations within the book business? [Read more →]
I’ve just discovered that the third-string quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles is named Mike Kafka. It’s a tale that cannot end well. While most NFL players simply have to succeed on the field, Kafka has larger problems.
Try as Kafka might, he cannot learn what plays the Eagles want him to run — the playbook is kept from him by mysterious authorities; despite his many inquiries he cannot find the stadium — even though he always seems about to arrive, it remains just beyond his reach; he is accused of breaking league rules, but no one will tell him what crime he has committed or how he might defend himself against the unspoken charges; Kafka is tortured by feelings of unworthiness and knows he can never measure up to his father; and despite devoting himself to his family and working himself to exhaustion to provide them with his hefty NFL paycheck, in the moment of his greatest need his own family, even his beloved sister, will wish he were dead and leave him to starve to death as he gives up on life.
(Photo from philadelphiaeagles.com)
If you wanted to completely change the face of American politics, what would you do? If you had nothing left to lose, what risks would you take? In Steve Martini’s The Rule of Nine, one character decides on a dramatic plan to change the political scene for decades to come. The Old Weatherman is dying — he has nothing left to lose, a fortune at his disposal, and an idea so crazy that it’s not on anybody’s radar. The Rule of Nine is a great twisty, exciting, political thriller. [Read more →]
The other day, as I was browsing my cookbook shelf, looking for something that didn’t actually require cooking, it occurred to me that I have a lot of books there that deserve a review. I’m a big fan of cookbooks — I like serious, gourmet recipes, ethnic choices, theme cookbooks — all kinds of cookbooks!
Rock & Roll Diner (Menus and Music) by Sharon O’Connor is an older book, but diner food is always in style. The cookbook came as a box set with diner music! Mustang Sally, Blueberry Hill, and Where Did Our Love Go? all remind me of those little jukeboxes you find on diner tables. The only problem: it’s a cassette tape. I don’t even own a tape player anymore. [Read more →]
I love short stories and I truly love short stories about crime.
Back in May I wrote a column about a collection of short stories called Boston Noir. At the end of my column I asked why there was no Philly noir collection and an editor at Akashic Books subsequently informed me that a collection of Philly crime noir stories would soon be published.
So while I wait for the Philly collection, I read another one of Akashic’s noir series, Manhattan Noir 2, The Classics.
Proust’s Overcoat: The True Story of One Man’s Passion for All Things Proust
When it comes to talking books, I’d be hard-pressed to find a better correspondent than regular WFTC contributor Frank Wilson, who was Book Editor for the Phildelphia Inquirer for eight years … I’m looking forward to Frank’s review of these books.
“How to get boys to read?” asks this report from AP’s Leanne Italie. “Try a book on farts.”
The article goes on to report that parents — and some teachers — hope gross-out humor can close a gender gap in reading achievement. It focuses upon teacher and author Ray Sabini, who self-published SweetFarts in 2008 under the name Raymond Bean, and is set to release Sweet Farts, Rippin’ it Old-School, next month.
[Read more →]
I’ve been a student of crime since I was an aspiring writer growing up in South Philadelphia in the early 1960s.
My interest in crime, and my particular interest in organized crime, stems partly from my being half-Italian and my coming of age in South Philly, the hub of the Philadelphia-South Jersey Cosa Nostra organized crime family. Angelo Bruno, the long-time local mob boss, lived around the corner from my home.
