Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
The Most Dangerous Animal of All is going to be must-see TV! Check out the trailer below!
Based on The New York Times best-selling book of the same name, The Most Dangerous Animal of All is a four-part documentary series on FX that explores one man’s search for the father who abandoned him, only to uncover the worst: he believes his father is the Zodiac killer, one of the most infamous serial killers in American history.
Herman Mudgett took the name Henry Howard Holmes when he moved to Chicago to begin work as a pharmacist. He took on the new identity because he was on the run from as a suspect in some unexplained murders. Rather than start a new uneventful life, Holmes instead continued his killing spree, which earned him the title of America’s First Serial Killer.
Holmes famously built a rooming house that has been called a Horror Hotel and Murder Castle. He hired workers and fired them after they completed sections of the building. This was so none but Holmes would know the layout and the horrors hiding within. There were secret passageways, spots to spy on unsuspecting guests and rooms designed for murder.
The year was 1893 and the World’s Fair was in Chicago. Rooms were at a premium and Holmes had new potential victims arriving daily. After he was caught Holmes confessed to 27 murders but some folks put the actual number closer to 200.
Cheish Merryweather at Listverse posted 10 Horrifying Facts About H. H. Holmes’ Hotel. If you’ve read this far, you’ll probably want to click over.
I also recommend The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson. It’s an award-winning novel chock full about facts about you know who and his horror hotel.
The Expendables Go To Hell is a full color graphic novel with a story by Sly Stallone & Chuck Dixon and art by Graham Nolan, Kelsey Shannon, Jason Johnson, Butch Guice and Daniel Brown. The idea is that The Expendables are killed in combat and awaken in hell. There they find fallen comrades, famous and infamous folks from history and more than a few surprises.
Graham Nolan will handle the art chores on the 50 page main story with three side stories adding to the graphic novel’s page count. Here’s how they break down:
THE BRIDGE- Barney Ross is stunned to find the soul of his still-living friend Tool, trapped in Hell! Art by Jason Johnson (TEAM 7).
CHRISTMAS IN HELL- Lee Christmas is lured away from the team just when they need him most! Art by Kelsey Shannon (NORAH’S SAGA)
BARBARIAN’S HOLIDAY- Gunner Jensen makes the most of a bad situation! Art by Butch Guice (DOCTOR STRANGE).
The Main Cover will feature art by Kelsey Shannon. In addition, there will be Variant Covers by…
Billy Tucci (SHI)
Richard C. Meyer (JAWBREAKERS, IRON SIGHTS)
Jason Johnson (TEAM 7)
Renzo Rodriguez (DESOLATION WAVE)
And possibly MORE!
The Expendables Go To Hell is being crowd-funded on Indiegogo. As the campaign grows, STRETCH GOALS will be unlocked which will add more value to each perk with no additional cost! Pin-ups, bookmarks, decals and more and projected.
Since the initial goal was $10,000 and The Expendables Go To Hell is now over $36,000.00 we should start seeing quite a few stretch goals soon. This is going to be a fun project. I’m on board (for the Kelsey Shannon cover!) and look forward to watching the project grow. Click over and join in!
Yesterday we looked at the best movie Dracula. Today we’ll answer who is the most evil Dracula. The answer is, of course, the real person Dracula was based on: Vlad III aka Vlad the Impaler, the Prince of Wallachia (now known as Romania).
Most folks know that the real-life Vlad III was infamous for killing his enemies by impaling them, but that’s just one of the many evil things he did. Eli Nixon at Listverse details much more in 10 Fascinating Facts About The Real Dracula. Normally, with posts like this, I list my three favorite facts, but here there were no favorites. Vladd III was truly a horrible human being and much worse than any movie Dracula.
Ask most folks if they are familiar with Rot & Ruin and if they are, they’ll begin talking about Jonathan Maberry’s award-winning four book series that takes place in a zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic America. The series is good enough to have twice won the Bram Stoker Award for Best Young Adult Fiction.
But that’s not the Rot & Ruin I’m talking about today.
Today I’m talking about the Rot & Ruin webtoon. Adapted by Mayberry with art by Alempe, this Rot & Ruin posts an update every Monday.
Benny Imura and his friends must navigate a post-apocalyptic zombie-infected America in which teenagers are forced to find labor or face starvation. When Benny grudgingly joins his annoying older brother Tom as an apprentice zombie hunter, he soon discovers that almost everything he believed about his sheltered life is wrong–and zombies aren’t the greatest thing to fear in the Rot & Ruin. Based on the novel Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry.
Ok. Above is the poster for Spenser Confidential. Directed by Peter Berg, Spenser Confidential stars Mark Wahlberg, Winston Duke and Alan Arkin. Below is the synopsis and trailer. I’ll be back below the trailer with some thoughts.
When two Boston Police officers are murdered, ex-cop Spenser (Mark Wahlberg) teams up with his no-nonsense roommate, Hawk (Winston Duke), to take down criminals in this action-comedy.
Spenser (Mark Wahlberg) — an ex-cop better known for making trouble than solving it — just got out of prison and is leaving Boston for good. But first he gets roped into helping his old boxing coach and mentor, Henry (Alan Arkin), with a promising amateur. That’s Hawk (Winston Duke), a brash, no-nonsense MMA fighter convinced he’ll be a tougher opponent than Spenser ever was. When two of Spenser’s former colleagues turn up murdered, he recruits Hawk and his foul-mouthed ex-girlfriend, Cissy (Iliza Shlesinger), to help him investigate and bring the culprits to justice. From director Peter Berg, SPENSER CONFIDENTIAL is an action-comedy co-starring Bokeem Woodbine, Marc Maron, and Post Malone. Inspired by Robert B. Parker’s Wonderland, a best-selling novel by Ace Atkins.
As a long-time fan of Spenser (the Robert B. Parker novels, the Ace Atkins novels and the Robert Urich tv show), let me say, this is NOT Spenser… at least the Spenser created by Robert B. Parker and carried on by Atkins and Urich. If you’re going to make Spenser (or ANY known character) stay true to the source material or create a new one.
Max Allan Collins posted an excellent piece on The Shining – the book, the movie and the differences that Stephen King and Stanley Kubrick had in regard to their versions. As a bonus Collins looks at Doctor Sleep and the 1997 TV mini-series of Stephen King’s The Shining.
Max Allan Collins’ blog is always worth reading (as are his novels) and his “Shining” post is just an example of the fun to be had.
Little Green: An Easy Rawlins Mystery by Walter Mosley
Hardcover: 291 pages
Publisher: Doubleday
First sentence…
“I came half-awake, dead and dreaming.”
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Still recovering from a near-fatal car accident, Easy Rawlins agrees to find a missing teenager named Evander “Little Green” Noon. Finding Little Green is tough enough, but the real mystery is how did he come into possession of two bags of money covered in blood? There’s also the problem of what can be done about the men out to get the money back and kill those who possess it.
F. Paul Wilson’s popular character Repairman Jack will be appearing in a 120 page graphic novel published by Dynamite Comics in 2020. Wilson will team with artist Antonio Fuso, colorist Pippa Bowland and letterer Crank to produce Repairman Jack: Scar-Lip Redux.
Got a problem? He can fix it. He thought he’d seen the last of the Rakoshi, but one has survived. A particularly cunning and deadly Rakosh known to Jack as Scar-Lip. Now, Jack faces the fights of his life as he seeks to end the creature once and for all, before it ends him!
Source: Bleeding Cool.
The Detachment (A John Rain Novel) by Barry Eisler
Paperback: 324 pages
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
First sentence…
“I hadn’t killed anyone in almost four years.”
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
When Colonel Scott “Hort” Horton reaches out to John Rain, Rain knows things are bad. Horton has learned of a plan to overthrow the United States government. In order to stop the coup, Horton wants Rain to team with three other assassins and take out the three high level government officials behind the plan.
The complexity of multiple hits, coupled with the big payday offered convinces Rain to team with a former friend and two talented, but unknown killers provided by Horton. Things go sideways and the new team is betrayed. Rain doesn’t know who he can trust. As the clock ticks down, the four assassins must figure out who the traitor is and still find a way to effectively end the coup.
Eisler is an excellent writer with skills enhanced by his experience in a covert position for the CIA and a black belt in judo. He’s especially good at bringing out the underlying tension when a group of mercenaries are brought together under circumstances where any one (or more of them) may be secretly part of the group they are working to bring down.
Rating:
Robert B. Parker’s Angel Eyes by Ace Atkins
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
First sentence…
“Whoever said, ‘It never rained in Southern California lied.”
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Gabby Leggett left her wealthy Boston family and went to Hollywood to become a star. Beautiful, talented and after making a popular commercial Gabby’s star was on the rise.
Then Gabby Leggett disappeared.
Spenser is hired by Gabby’s family to find her. In Hollywood the suspects include 1) Gabby’s ex-lover (and her current agent), 2) a powerful womanizing movie producer, 3) a “self-help” sisterhood some would call a cult led by an ex-con scam artist and 4) Armenian gangsters. Spenser does what he does best, irritating all suspects until his life is threatened. Then things get even more interesting. Gabby may or may not be dead, but many are going to die before Spenser finds out.
Ace Atkins creates another welcome Spenser tale.
Rating:
Rage by Jonathan Maberry
Paperback: 462 pages
Publisher: Griffin
First sentence…
If the world is on all four wheels and nothing is burning, you’ll never hear from guys like me.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
A bio-weapon released on a small island off the coast of Korea turns men, women and children into raging killers. Making things worse, a video shows what appear to be US soldiers behind the terrorist attack.
As North Korea, China, and the US begin to posture for all out war, Joe Ledger leads the newly formed Rogue International team to the island. Finding himself commanding elite soldiers from North and South Korea along with members of his old squad, Ledger will learn that there is a traitor among them.
As the clock clicks down, the virus spreads and rumors that the US was behind the bio attacks leaks to the media. Rogue International must find the source of the Rage attacks and prevent further terrorist actions before its too late. A mission like this comes with a high cost — and hats off to Maberry because he has the reader worried about one thing and delivers something more surprising and equally as devastating. And then hits the reader with something even worse.
Jonathan Maberry’s Joe Ledger novels never disappoint.
Rating:
Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips are coming back strong with a new graphic novel titled Pulp.
Max Winters, a pulp writer in 1930s New York, finds himself drawn into a story not unlike the tales he churns out at 5 cents a word – tales of a wild west outlaw dispensing justice with a six-gun. But will Max be able to do the same, when pursued by bank robbers, Nazi spies, and enemies from his past?
One part thriller, one part meditation on a life of violence, PULP is unlike anything the award-winning team of BRUBAKER and PHILLIPS have ever done. A celebration of pulp fiction, set in a world on the brink. And another must-have hardback from one of comics most-acclaimed teams.
Pulp premieres May 26, 2020. I cannot wait.
Last of the Independents by Matt Fraction (Writer) and Kieron Dwyer (Artist) was first published nearly 20 years ago. Here’s part of what I said when I reviewed it back in 2007:
Last of the Independents is Fraction’s love letter to the creators and fans of the movie “Charley Varrick”. Like in the movie, a middle aged guy and his crew knock off a small town bank only to discover it’s mob money that they’ve stolen. There are other similarities, but never does this feel like anything more than a tip of the fedora to a movie, a genre and an era that had an enormous impact on crime fiction fans. Fraction’s story and script are first rate. He drops us in as the bank is being robbed and introduces us to the main characters quickly without wordy exposition. In fact, he often lets Kieron Dwyer’s art tell the tale. Dwyer’s art is perfect for the graphic novel. [I’ve been a fan of his work for some time and hope to someday see a piece by him in my Stallone Gallery.] Last of the Independents rates an “A”.
On May 26, 2020, Last of the Independents will get a new hard cover printing! It has already received my highest recommendation, so if this sounds like something you’d like, jump on board.
Rating:
The photos above, of the beautiful young woman and the scary looking hag are sadly the same person. Blanche Monnier was a wealthy aristocratic woman who was reported as dead by her family and then kept prisoner for 25 years. The mystery isn’t why they did this, but who finally tipped off the police.
This is just one of the Top 10 Unsolved Mysteries Involving Celebrities you’ll read about if you check out Jamie Frater’s interesting post at Listverse. Others include:
