Saturday, August 20, 2022
Jerry's House of Everything: TOP ADVENTURE COMICS #1 (1958)
Jerry's House of Everything: TOP ADVENTURE COMICS #1 (1958): Here's a title I had never heard of. Top Adventure Comics evidently lasted for only two issues. It was produced by I. W. Comics which...
SleuthSayers: Ethel, Is That Henry Fonda? by John Floyd
SleuthSayers: Ethel, Is That Henry Fonda?: Okay, I know that's an odd title. Here's a bit of backstory, before I get to the main topic. Ideas for SleuthSayers columns can com...
Scott's Take: Black Panther Vol 1: The Long Shadow by John Ridley
Black Panther Vol 1: The Long Shadow
by John Ridley is the first volume in the newest Black Panther
series. In this series, Wakanda and T’challa are not doing well under their
transition to democracy and the change has been very hard. Forcing T’challa
into a ceremonial role as leader has forced him having to sit back and watch as
his fellow Wakandans seem to spend more time bickering in committees then
actually acting in the people’s interest.
Soon T’challa is back in action as one of his
secrets as Kings has started to come out. During the early days of opening
Wakanda to the outside world, T’challa secretly placed several agents in
various countries to act as guerilla warfare agents if those countries attempted
to attack Wakanda. He had them cut off all contact, faked their deaths, and made
them deep undercover sleeper agents elsewhere. One of those folks was his best friend.
Now his best friend is truly dead and his other agents
are being hunted. T’challa needs to get his agents out while trying to keep the
plan and their actions secret from the world. Other nations could potentially
see the planting of sleeper agents in their countries as an act of war or
potential terrorism.
This is a more cynical take on T’challa than a lot
of the most recent runs by most writers. Current Marvel writers have tended to
just highlight his preparedness and not the fact that he prepared so much
because he does not trust anyone else. He knows the truth that friends can become
enemies at any time. His desires to protect Wakanda at all costs can lead him
to ends justify the means behavior.
His usual supporting cast outside of the Dora Milage
are included in the read. The Dora Milage was disbanded in the last comic run
along as well as the idea that Wakanda has a secret space empire. The last run
was widely considered pretty but confusing. Something that I found to be true,
so I read only part of it.
This is a more straight forward run so far. I look
forward to reading the second volume when they do get around to releasing it in
November. I do recommend Black Panther Vol 1: The Long Shadow by
John Ridley.
My reading copy came by way of the Hoopla app through the Dallas Public Library.
Scott A. Tipple ©2022.
Friday, August 19, 2022
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman: Reviewed by Laura Something in the Water was one of Reese's Book Club picks and was written by Catherine Steadman, an actress know...
Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: OUTLAW by Frank Gruber
Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: OUTLAW: Outlaw by Frank Gruber (1941) Jim Chapman was just sixteen when he joined the Confederate army. Four years later he was a hardened, wear...
FFB Review: Come Dark by Steven Havill-- Reviewed by Aubrey Nye Hamilton
Back in late April 2017, Aubrey started contributing guest reviews. As I have long said, you could make quite the reading list just off the reviews she contributes here. Add in the books she reviews at her own place, Happiness Is A Book, and you are very well set. Her first one here, reprinted below, was on an installment of one of my favorite series. I very much liked this read in the series, probably because I love planetariums, telescopes, and all things space related. This place would be awesome to visit if it actually existed. The power of fiction to make things feel real is very evident in the read. If you have not read this series, you really should.
Come Dark by Steven F. Havill (Poisoned Pen Press, 2016) is the 21st title in the Posadas County contemporary mystery series. Set in fictional Posadas County, New Mexico, a few miles from the Mexico border, this series began with Undersheriff Bill Gastner as the protagonist and shifted in the 10th title to Estelle Reyes-Guzman, originally a detective in the sheriff’s office who later moved up in rank. Books 16 and 18, according to the publication dates, feature Gastner again, as Havill decided to go back in time to expand on some of the characters’ history in those stories. Otherwise each book builds logically on the previous books.
Havill’s entry on Stop! You’re Killing Me sorts the
books in chronological sequence according to the story line, not the
publication date. Readers new to the series might find this list helpful. And
yes, it is possible to read each book as a stand-alone. Havill is adept at
sketching enough backstory for the reader to grasp context and
characterization. However, these books are so good that it is not likely anyone
will want to read just one.
In this latest entry, the huge astronomy park
rancher Miles Waddell is building inches closer to completion, with the train
that will convey visitors finished enough to allow journalists and local
politicians to ride to the top of the mountain where the park is sited.
However, the park’s massive satellite dish falls victim to the anonymous
graffiti artist who has been decorating the schools and other buildings in
town. In addition, one of the patrolling officers runs a routine check on a car
with an out-of-state license plate to learn the plate is not on the vehicle
it’s registered to and the people in the car don’t have a good explanation. On
the same day the young wife of a banker walks into a big box store, leaving her
baby and puppy in a hot car with the windows closed, and does not return. To
spread the staff of the Sheriff’s Office even thinner, the high school
custodian goes to the school Saturday to clean up after the big game the night
before and finds the body of the coach in the showers. With multiple visible
gunshot wounds, the cause of death is not in question. On the homefront
Estelle’s mother is celebrating a milestone birthday and Francisco, Estelle’s
musical genius of a son, arrives unexpectedly from the conservatory where he is
studying to participate. Bill Gastner is still recovering from the hip fracture
incurred in the previous book.
All of the usual characters are present, if a couple
of them are only mentioned by the others. For instance, Estelle doesn’t want to
bring Linda Real, the department photographer, to the crime scene because she
is in the last stages of pregnancy and Estelle thinks there’s no need for her
take chances. New officers and some temporary personnel bring a sense of
realism to the department, which is perennially short-staffed and underfunded
as any rural sheriff’s office is likely to be.
The plot lines unfold in a coherent manner; pacing
is smooth and unrushed. My only quibble here is with the subplot involving
Francisco, the musical prodigy, and it isn’t intrinsic to the story. Highly
recommended, as is the entire series.
Series: Posadas
County Mysteries (Book 21)
Hardcover: 308
pages
Publisher:
Poisoned Pen Press (April 5, 2016)
Language:
English
ISBN-10:
1464205256
ISBN-13:
978-1464205255
Aubrey Hamilton ©2017, 2022
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal IT projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
Thursday, August 18, 2022
The Reading Room: Death in a Blackout (WPC Billie Harkness #1) by Jessica Ellicott: Reading Room Review
The Reading Room: Death in a Blackout (WPC Billie Harkness #1) by Je...: I read quite a bit of WWII fiction, especially mystery/crime, set in England, but most of it is set in London. Of course, London does have...
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Sussex Cuckoo (1935) by Brian Flynn
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Sussex Cuckoo (1935) by Brian Flynn: I've noted in past reviews that one of the most attractive features of Brian Flynn 's detective fiction is the shift from style to s...
Jerry's House of Everything: WHITEHALL 1212: MURDER IN THE BLACK MARKET (JANUARY 8, 1952)
Jerry's House of Everything: WHITEHALL 1212: MURDER IN THE BLACK MARKET (JANU...: Taken from the files of Scotland Yard's Black Museum, Whitehall 1212 aired in the US from November 18, 1951 to September 28, 1952 on N...
Jeanne Reviews: Midnight Riot aka The Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch
Peter Grant is a young mixed race probationary constable in London. He and his friend Lesley are hoping for better assignments but at the moment they’re on call as extra warm bodies when needed—as they are one blustery evening when a body turns up in Covent Gardens. The somewhat inebriated discoverer of said body believed at first it was just a passed out drunk until he noticed it was missing a notable feature—namely, its head.
While trying
to not freeze to death waiting on the Murder Investigation Team to do its work,
Peter catches sight of a potential witness to the crime, one Nicholas Wallpenny. He begins with his best interview techniques
and the gentleman turns out to be a veritable fount of information: he saw the whole thing and can describe
exactly how the crime took place and even offer a description of the murderer.
There’s just
one problem: Nicholas is a ghost. Which
he proves by vanishing.
The next
thing Peter know is that he’s been assigned to Inspector Nightingale as… well,
an apprentice. Because apparently ghosts
are real, magic is real, and the Things That Go Bump in the Night are also real—and
dangerous. Nightingale is a one man department, so it’s not exactly a plum assignment
but since the alternative was the Case Progression Unit (in which one sits and
types in reports for other officers all day), Peter is willing to give it a
shot.
He’s going to
be for a heck of a ride.
By the way,
Nightingale is a wizard—not like Harry
Potter.
One of the
first things I noticed was how funny this book is. It’s not slapstick, but wry observations on
London, the police, and life in general.
I also got caught up in the storylines, even if sometimes I didn’t quite
understand what was going on. (The titular Rivers of London have personas and
complicated relationships.) I really
wanted to know how it all was going to turn out. Aaronovitch has a strong grasp of folklore
and the history of London which he uses to full advantage. I was also enchanted by the mini-tours of
various sections of London as commented on by Peter. It reminds me a bit of the wonderful
Christopher Fowler series The Peculiar
Crimes Unit aka Bryant and May.
Fun and
addictive, I think I’ll be reading the whole series.
Rivers of London aka Midnight Riot
Moon Over Soho
Whispers Under Ground
Broken Homes
Foxglove Summer
The Hanging Tree
Lies Sleeping
False Value
Amongst Our Weapons (April 2022)
Wednesday, August 17, 2022
Little Big Crimes Review: Blindsided by Eric Brown
Little Big Crimes: Blindsided, by Eric Brown: "Blindsided," by Eric Brown, in The Book of Extraordinary Femme Fatale Stories, edited by Maxim Jakubowski, Mango, 2022. I ha...
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: CHRIST IN FLANDERS by Honore de Balzac
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: CHRIST IN FLANDERS: "Christ in Flanders" by Honore de Balzac (first published in 1931 as "Jesus-Christ en Flandre;" reprinted and translate...
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Short Story Wednesday: "Fire Watch" by Connie Willis
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Short Story Wednesday: "Fire Watch" by Connie Willis: My short story for this week is the title story from Fire Watch by Connie Willis. I have read (and reviewed) all of the four novels in the...
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