Category: Crime

THE BIG BUNDLE by Max Allan Collins / Z-View

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THE BIG BUNDLE by Max Allan Collins

Publisher: Hard Case Crime

First sentence…

A middle-aged man taking stock of his life is to be expected.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

When Nate Heller is called in to assist authorities, he has reason for concern.  Six-year-old Bobby Greenlease was kidnapped nearly a week ago.  The kidnappers demanded $600,000 (a record ransom at that time) for the little boy’s safe return.  The ransom amount isn’t the concern.  Bobby’s daddy is a millionaire.  He can easily afford the demand.  Further he’s more than willing to pay for his son’s safe return.  Heller’s concern is the kidnappers are idiots.  They’ve already bungled a drop-off.  Stupid criminals make stupid mistakes.  Heller fears that Bobby is already dead.

Bobby’s dad insists on no F.B.I. or police interference when the cash is dropped off.

I won’t give away the outcome of the case other than to say, when the ransom money is recovered, $300,000 is missing.

Five years later, Heller is called back to revisit the case.  Who ended up with the missing $300,000?  As Heller digs into the evidence he discovers that both Bobby Kennedy and Jimmy Hoffa are interested in his findings.  And not for the same reasons.  People are murdered as Heller get closer to the truth.  He could be next.

+++++

I’m a huge fan of Max Allan Collins’ Nate Heller series.  Heller is a fictional detective who finds himself in the middle of real crimes.  Heller ages in real time as the series progresses. His tales are fiction based on extensive research and historical fact. Heller has been in the mix on everything from the Lindbergh baby kidnapping/murder to the suspicious death of Marilyn Monroe, to the Kennedy assassinations (both Jack and Bobby) and more. It’s fun watching Heller interact with famous (and infamous) folks right out of our history books. Equally enjoyable is Collins’ take on the crimes and what may have really happened.

I’m usually familiar with Nate Heller’s cases.  I wasn’t with this one.  Not knowing how the kidnapping would turn out (and Collins’ excellent writing) kept me turning pages.  Then once the kidnapping is resolved, the mystery of the missing $300,000 comes into play.  THE BIG BUNDLE is like two Nate Heller yarns in one.  It doesn’t get any better.

THE BIG BUNDLE is another great addition to the Nate Heller legacy.  It gets my highest recommendation.

Rating:

DON’T LET THE DEVIL RIDE by Ace Atkins is Coming!

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Ace Atkins has a new book coming out June 25th.  Here’s the lowdown…

Addison McKellar isn’t clueless—she knows she and her husband Dean don’t have the perfect marriage—but she’s still shocked when he completely vanishes from her life. At first Addison is annoyed, but as days stretch into a week and she’s repeatedly stonewalled by Dean’s friends and associates, her frustration turns into genuine alarm. When even the police seem dismissive of her concerns, Addison turns to her father’s old friend, legendary Memphis PI Porter Hayes.

Porter and Addison begin to dig deeper into Dean’s affairs and quickly discover that he was never the hardworking business owner and family man he pretended to be. As they piece together the connections between a hook-handed mercenary, one of Elvis’s former leading ladies, and a man posing as an FBI agent, it becomes clear that Dean was deeply enmeshed in a high-stakes web of international intrigue, and Porter and Addison aren’t the only ones looking for him.

Dean angered some very dangerous people before he disappeared—people who have already killed to get what they want—and they won’t hesitate to come after his family to even the score.

Don’t Let the Devil Ride is a thrilling adventure about what can happen when you pull back the curtain on your life. Ace Atkins, long known for gritty Southern noir with a witty edge, has crafted an ambitious, globe-hopping story that comes home to Memphis in explosive fashion.

“Lawman: Bass Reeves” – Season 1 (2023) starring David Oyelowo / Z-View

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Lawman: Bass Reeves – Season 1 (2023)

Created by: Chad Feehan

Director: Christina Alexandra Voros (eps. 1-3, 7 & 8); Damian Marcano (eps. 4-6)

Screenplay: Chad Feehan (ep.1 & 8); Jewel Coronel (ep.2); Jacob Forman & Ning Zhou (ep. 3); J. Todd Scott (ep.4); Terence Anthony (ep.5); Jacob Forman (ep.6); Chad Feehan & K.C. Scott (ep.7)

Stars: David Oyelowo, Lauren E. Banks, Demi Singleton, Forrest Goodluck, Barry Pepper, Dennis Quaid, Grantham Coleman, Shea Whigham and Donald Sutherland.
.

Tagline: Some legends are true.

The Plot…

Dramatization of the life of Bass Reeves.

Bass Reeves was born a slave, escaped to freedom and became one of the first black Deputy US Marshalls. Over his 30 plus years as a Deputy U.S. Marshal, Reeves arrested approximately 3,000 felons.  He killed 14 men without ever being shot himself.  He was smart, fearless and relentless.

It’s time his story was told.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Way back in 2013, I did a post called The Life and Times of Deputy U.S. Marshall Bass Reeves.  At that time I called for a movie or tv series about Bass Reeves.  I’m happy to report that Lawman: Bass Reeves was worth the wait.  Everything about the series is first rate.

The writing and direction are top notch.  All of the characters are well cast.  David Oyelowo who plays Bass Reeves was nominated for a Critics Choice and Golden Globe Award.  He deserves every honor available – he’s amazing in this role.  Dennis Quaid and Barry Pepper have never been better.  Let’s not forget to mention the talents of Lauren E. Banks, Demi Singleton and Shea Whigham.

Bring on season 2.

Lawman: Bass Reeves – Season 1 (2023) earns 5 of 5 stars.

“Death and Other Details” – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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Death and Other Details looks like fun.

Deal me in.

Set amidst the glamor of the global elite, Death and Other Details centers on the brilliant and restless Imogene, who finds herself in the wrong place/wrong time (okay, it was kinda her fault) and becomes the prime suspect in a locked room murder mystery.

Watch Death and Other Details on Hulu!

ABOUT DEATH AND OTHER DETAILS
Imogene Scott finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time and becomes the prime suspect in a locked-room murder mystery; to prove her innocence, she must partner with a man she despises, Rufus Cotesworth, the world’s greatest detective.

“Finestkind” (2023) written & directed by Brian Helgeland, starring Ben Foster, Toby Wallace, Jenna Ortega & Tommy Lee Jones / Z-View

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Finestkind (2023)

Director:  Brian Helgeland

Screenplay: Brian Helgeland

Stars: Ben Foster, Toby Wallace, Jenna Ortega, Tommy Lee Jones, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Lolita Davidovich, Clayne Crawford, Meghan Leathers, Celeste Oliva and Tim Daly.
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Tagline: None.

The Plot…

Charlie (Wallace) and Tom (Foster) are half-brothers.  They have the same mother, but different fathers.  Because of this, they come from opposite worlds.  Charlie’s father is a rich attorney.  Tom’s dad is a working class fisherman.  At one time Charlie and Tom had a great relationship. But they drifted apart.

Now that Charlie’s graduated college he wants to spend the summer fishing with Tom.  Despite some bad luck at first, Charlie’s summer is looking up.  He and Mabel (Ortiz) have hit it off.  Tom and his fishing crew have accepted him.  Now if Tom and his dad could just patch up their differences.  Things go sideways when Tom gets greedy.

Really sideways.  Losing Tom’s dad’s boat bad.

So they decide to do a “one-time” drug deal.  What they don’t know is that someone has a plan of their own.  One that will lead to betrayal and murders.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

I’m a Brian Helgeland fan.  As a writer we can thank him for L.A. Confidential, Man on Fire, Mystic River, Assassins, Payback and more.  He also directed films such as Payback and 42.  With Finestkind, Helgeland served as both screenwriter and director.

Finestkind doesn’t follow the typical Hollywood screenplay format.  Some reviewers have complained that Finestkind can’t decide if it’s a family drama or a crime story.  I find that a silly complaint. The guy who wrote it, directed it.  He knew exactly what he wanted, a family drama that involves a crime story.  Others have nitpicked that the movie takes too long to get to the crime, twists and action.  I like that Finestkind doesn’t follow the expected movie timeline.

Helgeland takes his time.   We come to understand the characters, their lives and the choices they’ve made. Helgeland is supported by an excellent cast.  Tommy Lee Jones is always great and I’d put his performance here near the top of his resume.  Ben Foster always delivers.  Jenna Ortega is a powerhouse.  The camera and audiences love her.  With good reason.  Toby Wallace is new to me, but I’ll be watching for his future films.  Kudos to Clayne Crawford for a smaller but important role.  He nails it.

Finestkind (2023) earns 4 of 5 stars.

MAGIC CITY BLUES by Bobby Mathews

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MAGIC CITY BLUES by Bobby Mathews just came onto my radar.  It checks all the right boxes for me.  Maybe it will for you as well…

When low-level legbreaker Kincaid takes on a new assignment, he discovers it’s not really a step up — it’s a setup. The deal was supposed to be this: Protect Abby Doyle, the daughter of Birmingham, Alabama’s most dangerous crime lord. But when Abby’s fiancé is found murdered, Kincaid is forced to team up with BPD detective Laura D’Agostino to find the killer and protect Abby at all costs … even from her own father.

The killer’s trail winds through Birmingham — the city streets, the back alleys, the world-class food scene and the hole-in-the-wall clubs and bars — and the white-flight suburbs that surround the city, as Kincaid and D’Agostino uncover secrets that everyone would prefer left alone. But Kincaid doesn’t care about secrets. He’s been hired to do a job, and he’ll see it through or die trying.

Thrown together by circumstance, Kincaid and D’Agostino explore their unexpected feelings for one another while chasing down the killer and untangling a land swindle in North Birmingham that’s been in the making for more than a decade. But their relationship may not survive the explosive ending that sees Kincaid stand alone against the toughest crime lord the city has ever known.

If this sounds like you’re jam, you know what to do.

FAREWELL, AMETHYSTINE by Walter Mosley!

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Any time a new Walter Mosley novel is announced, it is cause for celebration.  If it is an Easy Rawlins tale, the party goes to the next level.  Get ready to go to the next level.  FAREWELL, AMETHYSTINE drops June 4, 2024.  Here’s the synopsis…

Easy Rawlins’ latest client sends him down a warren of memory and nostalgia, blinding him to reason and risk, from “master of the genre,” (Washington Post) Walter Mosley.

January 1970 finds Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins, LA’s premier Black detective, at 50 years of age despite all expectations. He has a loving family, a beautiful home, and a thriving investigation agency. All is right with the world… and then Amethystine Stoller, his own personal Helen of Troy, arrives. Her ex-husband is missing. A simple enough case. But even as Easy takes his first step in the investigation he trips. He falls into the memory of things past. Little things, like loss, love, a world war, and a hunger that has eaten at him since he was a Black boy on his own on the streets of Fifth Ward, Houston, Texas.

The missing ex, a young white man named Curt Fields, is found dead. Easy’s only real friend in the LAPD, Melvin Suggs, has gone into hiding rather than allow his femme fatale wife to go to the gas chamber. And that’s only the beginning.

Easy finds himself pressed into a reckoning. All of his success cannot succor his heart. The 1970’s have ushered in new expectations of men and women, Black and White, and Easy has to make a choice that will almost certainly hasten a permanent descent, one that might sunder his soul.

Deal me in.

TRIPWIRE by Lee Child / Z-View

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TRIPWIRE by Lee Child

First sentence…

Jack Reacher saw the guy step in through the door.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Jack Reacher lives off the grid, traveling from place to place with just the clothes on his back. Reacher, a few years retired from the military at age 39, is enjoying life in Key West.  For the last few months, he’s made his living digging pools during the day and bouncing at a local strip club at night.

Life is good.

Then one night a private eye named Costello shows up at the club looking for Jack Reacher.  Costello is sent on his way after being told there’s no “Jack Reacher” there.  A little later a couple of thugs show up at the club’s door.  They’re also looking for Jack Reacher.  Like Costello, they’re sent packing,

The next day a P.I. named Costello is found murdered.

Reacher decides to find out more about Costello and the two thugs looking for him.  The trail leads back to one of Reacher’s former commanders, recently deceased, and his daughter, now a fully grown woman.  While Reacher is meeting with her an attempt is made to kill them both.  Reacher has no idea who is behind this or why.  As he investigates, he learns the answer dates back three decades.  As Reacher sorts out the mystery, a rich, badly burned, one-armed sociopath continues to work behind the scenes, torturing and murdering all in his path, to reach his final goal.

+++++
The villain of TRIPWIRE is a worthy adversary for Reacher.  He breaks people mentally and then abuses them physically before slowly killing them.  He’s rich, powerful and has thugs to do his bidding when he doesn’t want to dirty his hand.  Yep, hand.  He has just one.  One the end of his other arm is a sharpened hook.  Which he loves to put to “good” use.

Bravo to Lee Child for creating a satisfying ending that resolves the mystery with enough action to satisfy the most hardcore fan.

Rating:

“LOVE LIES BLEEDING” written & directed by Rose Glass, starring Kristen Stewart, Katy O’Brian & Ed Harris – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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Nice poster.  Interesting trailer.  Gotta love Ed Harris’ haircut.

Deal me in.

From writer/director Rose Glass and starring Kristen Stewart, Katy O’Brian, Jena Malone, Anna Baryshnikov, with Dave Franco, and Ed Harris.

LOVE LIES BLEEDING – In theaters March 8.

DIRECTOR: Rose Glass
CAST: Kristen Stewart, Katy O’Brian, Jena Malone, Anna Baryshnikov, with Dave Franco, and Ed Harris