Category: Books

“Rambo” Trivia

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Thanks to Military.com today we have 8 Even More Incredible Facts About ‘Rambo’.  Check out three of my favorites before clicking over to all eight.

4. Stallone hated the first cut of First Blood.
The first time Stallone saw the edit for “First Blood,” he hated it. It was three and a half hours long, and Rambo’s dialogue was terrible. At first, Stallone wanted to buy the film so he could burn it. Instead of that, he re-cut the film to 93 minutes with most of his dialogue removed, which is what you see when you watch it today.

5. Without ‘Rambo’ there would be no ‘Predator’
When Rocky Balboa took on Ivan Drago in “Rocky IV,” no one in Hollywood was quite sure who Rocky’s next opponent could possibly be. The joke was made that Rocky would have to fight some kind of Alien in “Rocky V.” After a while, Screenwriters Jim and John Thomas began to take the idea seriously and wrote a Rocky-Rambo Hybrid movie that we call “Predator.”

3. Rambo wasn’t a killer – originally.
John Rambo never actually kills anyone in “First Blood.” There is only one death in the entire movie, and that happened as an accident when an overzealous cop falls from a helicopter while shooting at Rambo. (This refers to the movie “First Blood” not the novel on which the film was based. – Craig)

In subsequent movies, that all changes of course. Rambo’s body count is 76 in “First Blood: Part II,” and 132 in “Rambo III.” In “Rambo,” he appears to kill the entire Burmese Army with one .50-cal.

Lost River by J. Todd Scott is Coming!

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J. Todd Scott’s next novel, Lost River now has a release date; June 23, 2020.  Here’s the synopsis…

A blistering crime novel of the opioid epidemic–and its cops, villains, and victims–written by a twenty-five-year veteran of the DEA.

Angel, Kentucky: Just another one of America’s forgotten places, where opportunities vanished long ago, and the opioid crisis has reached a fever pitch. When this small town is rocked by the vicious killing of an entire infamous local crime family, the bloody aftermath brings together three people already struggling with Angel’s drug epidemic: Trey, a young medic-in-training with secrets to hide; Special Agent Casey Alexander, a DEA agent who won’t let the local law or small-town way of doing things stand in her way; and Paul Mayfield, a former police chief who’s had to watch his own young wife succumb to addiction.

Over the course of twenty-four hours, loyalties are tested, the corrupt are exposed, and the horrible truth of the largest drug operation in the region is revealed. And though Angel will never be the same again, a lucky few may still find hope.

Amazon, let me pre-order Lost River now!

11 Surprising Facts About Sylvester Stallone

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Jake Rossen and Mental Floss posted 11 Surprising Facts About Sylvester Stallone.  How could I not play along even if, my guess is correct, and readers here, aren’t surprised?  Here’s my top three…

1. AN ERRANT PAIR OF FORCEPS GAVE SYLVESTER STALLONE HIS DISTINCTIVE LOOK.
Many comedians have paid their bills over the decades by adopting Sylvester Stallone’s distinctive lip droop and guttural baritone voice. The facial feature was the result of some slight mishandling at birth. When Stallone was born on July 6, 1946 in Manhattan, the physician used a pair of forceps to deliver him. The malpractice left his lip, chin, and part of his tongue partially paralyzed due to a severed nerve. Stallone later said his face and awkward demeanor earned him the nickname “Sylvia” and authority figures telling him his brain was “dormant.” Burdened with low self-esteem, Stallone turned to bodybuilding and later performing as a way of breaking through what seemed to be a consensus of low expectations.

5. SYLVESTER STALLONE WROTE A NOVEL.
In addition to his acting ambitions, Stallone decided to pursue a career in writing. After numerous screenplays, he wrote Paradise Alley, a novel about siblings who get caught up in the circus world of professional wrestling in Hell’s Kitchen. Stallone finished the novel before deciding to turn it into a screenplay. Paradise Alley was eventually produced in 1978. The book, which was perceived as a novelization, was published that same year. (It appeared in hard cover and mass market paperback. – Craig)

10. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER ONCE TRICKED SYLVESTER STALLONE INTO STARRING IN A BOX OFFICE BOMB.
Stallone has often discussed his rivalry with Arnold Schwarzenegger, as the two action stars were believed to be the two biggest marquee attractions in the 1980s. Recalling his 1992 bomb Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, Stallone told a journalist in 2014 that he believed Schwarzenegger was to blame. “I heard Arnold wanted to do that movie and after hearing that, I said I wanted to do it,” he said. “He tricked me. He’s always been clever.”

Do No Harm (A Nate Heller Thriller) by Max Allan Collins is Coming!

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Max Allan Collins returns with a new Nate Heller novel, Do No Harm, in March!

Heller is Collins’ fictional detective who finds himself involved with famous murder cases.  Heller has been in the mix on everything from the Lindbergh baby kidnapping/murder to the suspicious death of Marilyn Monroe and so much more.  Along the way, Heller meets, fights and sometimes gets involved with famous and infamous celebrities.  As the years go by Heller ages, creating a unique reading experience.  Here’s an impressive timeline of Heller’s life and cases thus far.

Ah, but I digress; back to Do No Harm.  Here’s the synopsis…

Do No Harm is the latest mystery in the Nathan Heller series by New York Times bestselling author Max Allan Collins.

It’s 1954 and Heller takes on the Sam Sheppard case―a young doctor is startled from sleep and discovers his wife brutally murdered. He claims that a mysterious intruder killed his wife. But all the evidence points to a disturbed husband who has grown tired of married life and yearned to be free at all costs. Sheppard is swiftly convicted and sent to rot in prison.

Just how firm was the evidence…and was it tampered with to fit a convenient narrative to settle scores and push political agendas? Nathan’s old friend Elliot Ness calls in a favor and as Nathan digs into the case he becomes convinced of Sheppard’s innocence. But Nate can’t prove it and has to let the case drop.

The road to justice is sometimes a long one. Heller’s given another chance years later and this time he’s determined to free the man…even if it brings his own death a bit closer.

Each new Nate Heller is like a visit with an old friend who takes me behind the scenes on real life murder mysteries.  At the end of each Heller tale, Collins provides a detailed bibliography and explains where his novel deviated from the facts (if at all).  I can’t wait for our next visit.

“The Friends of Eddie Foyle” Gets the Cinephilia and Beyond Treatment

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If you’re a crime film fan, you’ve probably seen The Friends of Eddie Coyle.  If you haven’t seen it, you should. 

The Friends of Eddie Coyle was based on George V. Higgins’ crime novel of the same name. The movie was directed by Peter Yates and starred Robert Mitchum and thankfully, gets the Cinephilia and Beyond Treatment in The Friends of Eddie Coyle: Peter Yates’ Crime Masterpiece.  Click over and enjoy!

Howard Chaykin’s Solomon Kane!

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One of the first characters I associated Howard Chaykin with was Solomon Kane.  Kane was created by Robert E. Howard (best known for Conan the Barbarian).  Kane may have created him but when I think of Solomon Kane I always think of Chaykin first.

Thanks to Black & White and Bronze you can read Rattle of Bones by Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin which first appeared in Savage Sword of Conan #18 (April 1977).

Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe

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If you’ve never read a Rex Stout Nero Wolfe story, you should.  You’d be in for a treat. 

Stout did something unique: he married the British Golden Age, puzzle-solving school of mystery fiction with the street-smart, hardboiled, thoroughly American detective novels of Chandler and Hammett to come up with a seamless blend of thought and action, narrated in a prose that was unfailingly literate, witty, and engaging.

Stout’s Nero Wolfe stories are entertaining with just the right mix of action, mystery and humor.  Neil Nyren (who I quoted above) provides an in-depth look at Stout and his stories at Crime Reads.  Check out Rex Stout: A Crime Reader’s Guide to the Classics.

Ms. Tree: One Mean Mother

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I love this cover to Ms. Tree: One Mean Mother.  Ms. Tree was a comic series created by Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty that first appeared back in the 1980’s!

I have to admit I didn’t get the title’s pun until my buddy, Jim Ivey pointed it out to me: Ms. Tree = Mystery.  He thought I was messing with him, but I truly missed it.  At any rate, Ms. Tree tales are being reprinted by Hard Case Crime.  Here’s how the first is being solicited…

When her private detective husband is murdered by the Muerta crime family, Ms. Tree takes over the business! Cold, calculating, and tough as nails, no case is too small, no violence too extreme, so long as a mystery is solved… and Ms. Tree is paid.

The creation of award-winning crime and comics writer Max Allan Collins (Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer, Road To Perdition, Quarry’s War), illustrated by co-creator and pulp legend Terry Beatty (Johnny Dynamite, Mike Danger, Rex Morgan M.D.)!

Collects five classic Ms. Tree stories for the first time since the ’80s, plus the rare Ms. Tree prose story “Inconvenience Store”!

More Better Deals by Joe R. Lansdale!

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Joe R. Lansdale is best known for his Hap & Leonard series of novels (and television series) but Lansdale’s stand alone novels are also excellent.  Case in point, check out More Better Deals coming March 31, 2020.

Ed Edwards is in the used car business. A business built on adjusted odometers, extra-fine print, and the belief that “buyers better beware.” Burdened by an aging, alcoholic mother constantly on his case to do something worthier of his lighter skin tone and dreaming of a brighter future for himself and his plucky little sister, Ed is ready to get out of the game.

When Dave, his lazy, grease-stained boss at the eponymous dealership Smiling Dave’s sends him to repossess a Cadillac, Ed finally gets the chance to escape his miserable life.

The Cadillac in question was purchased by Frank Craig and his beautiful wife Nancy, owners of a local drive-in and pet cemetery. Fed up with her deadbeat husband and with unfulfilled desires of her own, Nancy suggests to Ed- in the throes of their salacious affair- that they kill Frank and claim his insurance policy. It is a tantalizing offer: the girl, the car, and not one, but two businesses. Ed could finally say goodbye to Smiling Dave’s, and maybe even send his sister to college. But does he have what it takes to see the plan through?

Told with Joe Lansdale’s trademark grit, wit, and dark humor, More Better Deals is a gripping tale of the strange characters and odd dealings that define 1960s East Texas.

Sign me up now.

Bob Burden’s Hitman for the Dead!

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Hitman for the Dead.

Even without the cool Andrew Robinson art, the title would have brought me in for a closer look.

And it did.

ANTHONY HARKEN is a drifter, a detective of sorts, and a killer. While he kills the most evil kind of people – the unpunished murderers of the innocent – he knows he’s still a murderer, taking human life and operating totally outside the law.

 In the world of good and evil, Harken has chosen sides, but in the world of normal, everyday life, he has chosen an extreme and dangerous path. He carries a gun, he does drugs (Yage), he kills, and lives detached from a society that has no idea that people like him are even among us.

  To be sure, he fills in where the law fails: he is a vigilante. He is judge, jury and executioner. And there is no guarantee that he is always right or that he, himself will not make a mistake someday and dispatch someone who was totally innocent.

Anthony is not the only “hit-man for the dead” out there. There are others.

If this sounds like something you’d like, you’re going to love this!

Bob Burden, the creative genius of Hitman for the Dead has created a website for the property.  The site has all of the background info you could ask for, art and more.  Oh, and the more includes a 25K word Hitman for the Dead novella that you can download for free!

I hope Burden runs with.  I’d love to see more Hitman for the Dead prose stories and graphic novels.  Fire up the Kickstarter now!