Category: Authors

FIVE GEARS IN REVERSE by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips!

Posted on by

Crime fiction fans will be excited to learn that Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips have a new CRIMINAL graphic novel coming out on June 23, 2026.  It’s titled FIVE GEARS IN REVERSE: A CRIMINAL BOOK.  Here’s the scoop…

A brand new CRIMINAL graphic novel featuring the legendary RICKY LAWLESS and the crazy tale of how he and MALLORY fell in love in the midst of a crime spree.

In one of the wildest, most action-packed books that Brubaker and Phillips have ever done, we delve deep into the life of one of CRIMINAL‘s most complex and tragic characters, Ricky Lawless as he tries to pay off a deep debt to a mobster, while things just keep going from bad to worse.

FIVE GEARS IN REVERSE will have long-time CRIMINAL fans cheering the return of RICKY LAWLESS and new readers will find it a perfect jumping-on-point for the greatest crime comic series of the 21st century.

“Brubaker and Phillips don’t hit a wrong note.” – Shane Black

Pre-orders are available now.

ROCKY: THE COMPLETE FILMS by Sylvester Stallone!

Posted on by

Sly Stallone and Rocky fans are going to love ROCKY. THE COMPLETE FILMS by Sylvester Stallone and  editor, Paul Duncan.  This 9.84″ x 13.39″ hardback will clock in at 320 pages.

Here’s the lowdown…

Rocky Balboa is the Philadelphian icon who took on the world and won. The original “Italian Stallion,” the gutsy fighter who rose above the odds to boxing glory, and a rags-to-riches legend in the business of making movies.

Ever since Sylvester Stallone unleashed his impassioned title character in 1976, the resilient fighter has earned his place in history as a symbol of tenacity and courage and a legend of cinematic success.

The story of Rocky the movie is as exciting as that of its eponymous boxer. Shot on a tight budget, with the virtually unknown Stallone writing the script as well as taking on the lead role, it became a surprise overnight sensation, generating millions in box-office revenues, notching up three Oscar wins, and transforming Stallone into a global star as an actor, writer, and director.

The Rocky phenomenon developed into a franchise of six films, including Rocky Balboa in 2006. In collaboration with Sylvester Stallone and MGM, this tome brings you all the guts and all the glory of the complete Rocky story.

Copious images, including many on-set pictures from famed sports photographer Neil Leifer, come together with precious archival material from the Academy Library and MGM archive to reveal the making of an enduring action hero as much as a movie masterpiece.

A foreword by Stallone and vintage interviews over the course of his career bring insight into the development of the hero and the franchise, as well as privileged access to the tenacity, spirit, and passion that characterized Rocky behind the scenes as much as on screen.

ROCKY, ROCKY BALBOA, and all related ROCKY Trademarks, Logos and Materials © 1976–2025 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

ROCKY. THE COMPLETE FILMS drops on February 9, 2026.  Pre-orders are available now.

“Play Dirty” written/directed by Shane Black; starring Mark Wahlberg and Lakeith Standfield / Z-View

Posted on by

Play Dirty (2025)

Director:  Shane Black

Screenplay: Shane Black, Charles Mondry, Anthony Bagarozzi; based on the PARKER novels by Richard Stark

Stars: Mark Wahlberg, LaKeith Stanfield, Rosa Salazar, Keegan-Michael Key, Chukwudi Iwuji, Gretchen Mol, Tony Shalhoub, Hemky Madera, Alejandro Edda, Claire Lovering and Thomas Jane.

Tagline: Even robbers get robbed.

The Plot…

Parker is a professional thief.  He was part of a crew that robbed a horse track count room.  The heist went sideways, but they got away with the cash.  At the hideout as Parker and the team are getting ready to divide the loot, Zen, the getaway driver betrays them.  She shoots them all and makes off with the dough.

Parker, left for dead, survives.  Once he recovers he makes it his mission in life to track down Zen, get the money back and take her life.  It won’t be easy.  Especially when Parker decides to also rob a crime syndicate known as the Outfit.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

The film was originally supposed to reteam Robert Downey, Jr. and writer/director Shane Black.  They had worked together before on Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.  When Downey dropped out, Mark Wahlberg was chosen to replace him.

Play Dirty is the fifth movie adaptation of Richard Stark’s Parker character.  The other films are: Point Blank (1967) starring Lee Marvin; The Outfit (1973) starring Robert Duvall; Payback (1999) starring Mel Gibson; Parker (2013) starring Jason Statham and now Play Dirty starring Mark Wahlberg.

Play Dirty is okay, but your time would be better served watching one of the other Parker adaptations.

Play Dirty (2025) rates 2 of 5 stars.

LAST HUNT: BOOK THREE IN THE HUNTER TRILOGY by James Byron Huggins!

Posted on by

HUNTER by James Byron Huggins is one of my all-time favorite novels.  The sequel, HUNTER’S MOON was just as great.  Now the third tale in the trilogy is about to be released.  It’s titled LAST HUNT.  Here’s the lowdown…

International bestselling author James Byron Huggins delivers LAST HUNT, the third and final book in the Hunter Saga.

Nathaniel Hunter has faced nightmares most men can’t imagine. In Alaska’s frozen wilderness he confronted a primordial killer. On England’s haunted moors he fought a beast born of legend. Each time he walked away scarred but unbroken. Now the battle comes to his own doorstep.

Scipio Dante, the brilliant, ruthless mind behind the experiments that created those monsters, has perfected a serum that transforms men into savage, unstoppable predators. Backed by limitless wealth and a private army, he will stop at nothing to rid the world of its greatest threat: the hunter who has foiled him twice before.

From his remote mountain cabin, Hunter must prepare for the ultimate confrontation. The wilderness he calls home bristles with danger; the predators he respects may soon turn against him. To survive, he’ll need every weapon at his disposal, every ally he can trust, and every ounce of his primal fury.

The world’s last true hunter is about to face his final, most terrifying prey.

LAST HUNT drops November 3rd.  Get your order in now.  I did.

LAST HUNT Paperback

LAST HUNT Hardback

LAST HUNT Kindle

RIGHTEOUS TRASH by Nick Kolakowski!

Posted on by

I just ordered a copy of RIGHTEOUS TRASH by Nick Kolakowski.  Here’s the lowdown…

Jake Halligan tried living the quiet life.

After years of war and crime, Jake has settled down with his wife and daughter in rural Idaho. But in a country that pushes people to the brink, Jake soon makes a bet to get ahead that will have disastrous consequences.

Spurred by his sister Frankie, the West’s most dangerous arms dealer, Jake is pulled into a chaotic conspiracy that involves a pregnant teenager, gangs of gun-toting thugs, a wetwork specialist from New Orleans, high-powered politicos, and a backwoods shooting competition just begging to be robbed.

Jake Halligan tried living the quiet life, but when the bullets start flying and everything he knows is at risk, he’ll have to decide who he really is and what he really wants. The wrong choice might kill him and everyone he cares about.

Kolakowski’s tales always entertain and I expect RIGHTEOUS TRASH to be no different.  If it sounds like something you’d enjoy, you know what to do.

RIGHTEOUS TRASH paperback

RIGHTEOUS TRASH Kindle

THE MAKING OF QUENTIN TARANTINO’S ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD by Jay Glennie is Coming!

Posted on by

Quentin Tarantino fans are gonna love this.  THE MAKING OF QUENTIN TARANTINO’S ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD by Jay Glennie premieres soon.  Here’s the lowdown…

Legendary filmmaker Quentin Tarantino personally introduces the definitive and official examination of his entire oeuvre with the Quentin Tarantino Library written by Jay Glennie.

In the first book in the series, THE MAKING OF QUENTIN TARANTINO’S ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD, writer Jay Glennie pulls back the curtain on the visionary writer/director/producer’s ninth film, with unprecedented access to the filmmaker, cast, and crew. This epic tome is a stunning and faithful deep dive into the mind of a masterful auteur and a must-have book for all film lovers and Quentin Tarantino fans.

For the first time ever Academy Award winning filmmaker Quentin Tarantino has granted respected journalist and author Jay Glennie unique access revealing the never-before-told behind-the-scenes making of one of the most iconic films of all time, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.

Quentin Tarantino personally introduces the volume, as well as providing hundreds of behind-the-scenes photographs, along with production memos, concept art, and costume and production design sketches. There are also exclusive reproductions of letters, studio documents and film ephemera. The result is an account of the monumental effort undertaken to produce Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood and is the official record of how it was achieved, from inception to the world premiere and on to ten Academy Award nominations, resulting in two Oscars.

The book includes new and exclusive interviews undertaken by Jay Glennie with key cast and crew members, including Oscar winning actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, Oscar nominee Margot Robbie, and the brilliant supporting cast including Oscar winner Mikey Madison, Margaret Qualley, Oscar nominee Austin Butler, Lena Dunham, Kurt Russell, Dakota Fanning, Emile Hirsch, Damian Lewis, Maya Hawke, and Sydney Sweeney.

First book in the series!!

THE MAKING OF QUENTIN TARANTINO’S ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD  Hardcover

THE MAKING OF QUENTIN TARANTINO’S ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD  Kindle

PUSH THE WALL: MY LIFE WRITING, DRAWING, AND THE ART OF STORYTELLING by Frank Miller is Coming!

Posted on by

Frank Miller the genius behind Sin City, 300, The Dark Night Returns, Batman: Year One, Ronin and so many more great comic tales has a new book coming.  Here’s the lowdown…

From the all-time bestselling mind behind Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Daredevil, 300, and Sin City, Push the Wall is part memoir, part master class for budding artists and writers by one of the greatest living creators whose work has influenced pop culture for decades.

Frank Miller is our greatest living comic book writer and artist.

Frank Miller shares his life, and through, his artistic process. Miller’s artistic influence is evident in so very much of our popular culture, perhaps most notably with Batman — every film adaptation from the past forty years has been influenced by Miller’s work with the Dark Knight.

Simply, Frank Miller has transformed the way comics are told.

Here, Frank’s mix of autobiographical lessons evokes Patti Smith’s Just Kids as it weaves his struggles as a seventeen-year-old kid fresh from Vermont into a seedy 1970s New York City with his eventual success on reimagining Daredevil and Wolverine. From there to Miller’s rescue and revitalization of Batman, to his time in Hollywood, the Sin City comics and film adaptations he would codirect, and the retelling of the Spartans’ last stand in 300. Miller, by constantly challenging himself as an artist and writer on his terms, built an iconoclastic career.

With over a dozen illustrations of Miller’s art, PUSH THE WALL is the work of his career—it is a masterclass as it encapsulates his life in sixteen lessons for the aspiring creative reader.

This will be a must-have for aspiring writers and artists, as well as die hard Miller fans.

PUSH THE WALL Hardcover
PUSH THE WALL Kindle

CEREMONY: A SPENCER NOVEL by Robert B. Parker / Z-View

Posted on by

CEREMONY: A SPENCER NOVEL by Robert B. Parker

First sentences…

“She’s a goddamned whore,” Harry Kyle said.  “And I don’t want her in this house again.”

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

April Kyle, a high school student ran away from home.  Although her parents don’t know exactly where she is, they know what she’s become.

A teenage prostitute.

Susan Silverman, a counselor, meets with her parents.  Susan’s lover, a hard case private eye named Spenser could find April.  Spenser could bring her home.  But April’s dad is too self-righteous to care for his daughter because of what she’s become.  Dad doesn’t want April back.  April’s mom is too weak to stand up for her child.  Spenser is ready to walk away.  He can’t stand April’s father.

But Susan cares.  She convinces Spenser to find April.  If April stays on the streets she certain for an early grave.  Spenser agrees to find April, but will only bring her home if she agrees.

What sounds like an easy job, find a high school girl who has gone down the wrong path, turns out to be anything but.  Spenser is soon at odds with Trumps, a pimp with a stable of hoes, as well as people (some who are very “connected”) who specialize in trafficking kids.

Spenser and Hawk are on the case.  Let the fun begin.

+++

CEREMONY was published in 1982.  It’s as relevant today as it was over 40 years ago.  Maybe even more relevant now since it deals with child-trafficking.  Also if written today, I have no doubt that many would make accusations that Parker was making a comment by naming a pimp Trumps.

I’m a huge fan of Robert B. Parker’s tales… especially those involving Spenser.  Not many authors would be willing to have their main character save a teenage girl from a life on the streets using Spencer’s solution.

Rating:

“The Black Camel” (1931) starring Warner Oland and Bela Lugosi / Z-View

Posted on by

The Black Camel (1931)

Director:  Hamilton MacFadden

Screenplay:  Barry Conners, Philip Klein, Dudley Nichols (uncredited); written by Hugh Stanislaus Stange (adaptation), based on THE BLACK CAMEL by Earl Derr Biggers

Stars: Warner Oland, Bela Lugosi, Victor Varconi, Murray Kinnell, J.M. Kerrigan, Mary Gordon, Dwight Frye and Robert Young.

Tagline: The unsolved secrets of Hollywood

The Plot…

Shelah Fayne is a movie star.  Her friends are beginning to worry about her.  Shelah is thinking of marrying a man she has only known a week.  Shelah will make a decision once she speaks to her favorite psychic, Tarneverro.

When Shelah is murdered Inspector Charlie Chan gets the case.  There are many suspects.  One is the killer.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Bela Lugosi plays the psychic.  Dwight Frye appears uncredited as Jessop.  Lugosi and Frye appeared together in Dracula which was released the same year.

Warner Oland made five Charlie Chan films based on novels written by Charlie Chan creator Earl Derr Biggers.  Sadly The Black Camel is the only one that survived.  The other four were lost due to studio fires.

Robert Young who went on to fame playing Marcus Welby, M.D., makes his film debut in The Black Camel.

Most folks enjoy The Black Camel more than I.  Keep in mind your mileage may vary.

The Black Camel (1931) rates 2 of 5 stars.

MYSTIC by Jonathan Maberry / Z-View

Posted on by

MYSTIC: THE MONK ADDISON CASE FILES by Jonathan Maberry

First sentences…

I see dead people.
Make a joke.  Go ahead, people do.
Fuck ’em.
I see dead people.
Not all of them.  My life would be too crowded.  Just some.  The ones who need to be seen.
The ones who need me to see them.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Monk Addison is ex-military.  Ex-Private Military Contractor.  A shooter.  If a high stakes target needed to be done, the government wanted Monk on the trigger.  But the killing took a toll.

Monk left the work and the world behind.  He decided to travel the world to find redemption.  And maybe save his soul.

What Monk learned instead was that he had a gift.  He can see and communicate with the spirits of recently murdered people.  Communicate doesn’t really convey what happens.  Monk can see the recently dead.

Yeah.

Once the murdered spirit (ghost?) appears to Monk, there’s a process.  Blood of the victim and holy water are combined.  The mixture is used as ink for Monk’s new tat… of the victim’s face.  His body is covered with faces.  Of the dead.  Of murdered souls who have come (been sent?) to Monk.  As the new body art is finished, Monk experiences (see, hears, feels) everything the victim felt when he/she was being murdered.

The process takes a toll.  But once Monk recovers, he usually knows who the murderer was.  And then Monk goes to work.  And a sniper shot would be too kind.  No, Monk has other skills he learned as a soldier and bounty hunter.  He puts them to use to meet the killer.   Then justice will be served.

+++++

MYSTIC: THE MONK ADDISON CASE FILES features a forward by Jim Butcher.  Jonathan Mayberry brings readers up to speed with About Monk Addison which is followed by eleven Monk Addison tales.

Monk Addison joins the ranks of classic Maberry characters (many who make appearances in some of the tales presented).

Jonathan Maberry has created another winner.  Bring on a Monk Addison full length adventure!

Rating:

THE GUNMAN JACKSON SWAGGER by Stephen Hunter!

Posted on by

Like  a lot of folks, I’m a fan of Stephen Hunter’s Swagger tales.  THE GUNMAN JACKSON SWAGGER looks to be another winner.  Here’s the synopsis…

Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Hunter, “a true master at the pinnacle of his craft” (Jack Carr), returns with a classic Western — gunfights, horses, saloons, and looming above, the ominous presence of the railroad — about a Civil War veteran investigating the dark reality of a prosperous ranch.

In the frying pan of a drought-scorched 1890s Southwest, an old man shows up at the region’s only prosperous spread, the Callahan ranch, seeking work. Jack is flinty, shrewd, tough, and a natural with a gun. As an incentive to be taken on at his age, he shows the foreman an uncanny skill with one of Mr. Winchester’s latest models. He knows a sharpshooter would be valuable to Colonel Callahan and head gun man Tom Voth.

But he has his own mission. Aware that a young cowboy on the ranch has died mysteriously, Jack begins to investigate. He soon realizes that the death and the source of the Callahan wealth are dangerously entwined and that many of the dark forces of the American West are at play on the ranch. Soon enough, it’s the season of the six-gun and its fastest shootist.

THE GUNMAN JACKSON SWAGGER becomes available on October 14, 2026.  Pre-orders are available now.

THE GUNMAN JACKSON SWAGGER hardback

THE GUNMAN JACKSON SWAGGER Kindle

THE HADACOL BOOGIE (A Dave Robicheaux Novel) by James Lee Burke is Coming!

Posted on by

A new Dave Robicheaux novel is coming from James Lee Burke!  It’s titled THE HADACOL BOOGIE.  Here’s the lowdown…

Dave Robicheaux, James Lee Burke’s iconic detective, returns to investigate the death of an unidentified woman, pulling him into a vortex of corruption and violence in the Louisiana bayou

When a cloaked, disfigured man leaves a dead woman in a garbage bag on Dave Robicheaux’s property, he knows his world and family are about to change.

With Valerie Benoit, a detective new to the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Department who is grappling with sexist and racist harassment from their colleagues, and the volatile but fiercely loyal Clete Purcel, Dave embarks on an investigation that brings him into the most dangerous moments of his career and threatens the lives of Valerie and his daughter Alafair.

He encounters a local handyman who leaves cryptic notes and warns of the ghosts who roam the shores of the bayou and is targeted by a vicious New Orleans button man and gangsters from the north.

Through brilliant prose and a quintessential cast of characters, James Lee Burke weaves a portrait of a gritty, violent Louisiana at the turn of the 20th century. Visceral, atmospheric, and wholly original, THE HADACOL BOOGIE brings to life Dave Robicheaux’s fierce determination to confront evil both past and present.

Pre-orders are available now for a February 10, 2026 release.

THE HADACOL BOOGIE  Harback

THE HADACOL BOOGIE  Kindle

KING OF ASHES by S.A. Cosby / Z-View

Posted on by

KING OF ASHES by S.A. Cosby

First sentence…

He dreams of his mother.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

When Roman Carruthers gets the call that his father was in a terrible car accident, he heads home.  Well, where he grew up anyway.  Jefferson Run hasn’t been his home for years.  But the small town is where he grew up.

Roman arrives to find his dad hospitalized in a coma.  His sister Nevah is exhausted.  Taking care of dad (even before the accident) and running the family business – Carruthers Crematorium – has worn her down.  Their younger brother, Dante, now a young man, should be helping.  But he’s doing the opposite.  Dante’s been a mess since their mother disappeared years ago.  Rumors that their dad may have been behind her disappearance haven’t helped.

Roman figures he’ll quickly get things straightened out.  Then it’ll be back to the big city and his thriving financial business.  Roman has a knack for making his clients rich. And him too in the process.

What Roman hadn’t counted on was Dante’s trouble.

The young fool went into a drug deal with his buddy.  They thought they’d buy some dope cheap, sell it at a profit and make quick cash.  Dante didn’t count on his partner blowing through the product by using it himself and giving it to friends.  Now Dante owes some very bad people a very lot of money.

Roman figures that he has the cash to clear Dante’s ledger with the gangbangers.  He was wrong.

Dante owes the money to Torrent and Tranquil Gilchrist.  They’re the crazy twins who run the Black Baron Boys.  At this point, Dante is worth more to them dead.  It would send a message to others who don’t pay up on time.  When they meet, Roman tries to smooth things over with his charm and money.  It nearly costs him his life.  The only thing that saves him is his promise that he can make the twins rich legally and quickly though his financial dealings.

This promise saves his life.  Instead of being murdered, Roman is given a terrible beat down.  He’s left bloody and with the knowledge that he’s now in debt to the Gilchrist twins.

Roman knows that no matter how much money he makes them, dealing with Torrent and Tranquil Gilchrist can only end with his death.

But Roman has a plan.  A crazy long shot of a plan.

+++

S.A. Cosby has another winner.

Rating:

THE STEPS (A Memoir) by Sylvester Stallone is Coming!

Posted on by

For years Sylvester Stallone fans have hoped Sly would write his memoir.  And now he has.  It’s titled THE STEPS.  Here’s the lowdown…

A gritty, inspiring, heart-wrenching memoir by the Academy Award-winning legend and icon Sylvester Stallone, about his unlikely path to stardom and the creation of the greatest underdog story ever told.

In the fifty years since Sylvester Stallone ran up the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum, he and those steps have become symbols of resilience and determination, and have inspired millions from all over the world to pursue their dreams.

In THE STEPS, Stallone recounts how he pursued his own dreams. A culmination of decades of reflection, Stallone shares where he came from — a difficult birth, an even more difficult childhood, years of struggle in school being misunderstood — and he explains how the real story of a successful life is built by facing, embracing, and ultimately overcoming our challenges. It’s found in the distances we are willing to go and the steps we must take to get from where we are to where we want to go.

In a narrative framed between his arrival in New York City in 1969 and the triumph of Rocky at the 1977 Academy Awards, Stallone weaves a vivid and propulsive portrait of struggle, subsistence, and ultimately success. He writes of his early days and later years, too, and the persistence, creativity, and resilience that led not only to the creation of Rocky but to a career filled with remarkably iconic roles. THE STEPS is a testament to Stallone’s extraordinary life and a profound meditation on the importance of vision and willpower and hard work.

THE STEPS will be released on May 5, 2026.  Pre-orders are available now.  If you order from one of the links below, we will get a small percentage of each sale, without increasing the price of the book.  Your support is appreciated.

THE STEPS hardcover

THE STEPS paperback/large print

THE STEPS Kindle

BLUE MOON: A JACK REACHER NOVEL by Lee Child /-View

Posted on by

BLUE MOON by Lee Child

First sentence…

The city looked small on a map of America.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The Greyhound bus was about to pull into town.  Reacher, sitting several seats behind, notices an old man with a thick bank envelope sticking out of his pocket.  A seat ahead of Reacher, a greasy haired man was also eyeing the packet. It wouldn’t take a crystal ball to see what was going to happen when the senior citizen exited the bus.  So Reacher decided to get off as well.

Sure enough, when the time was right (or so he thought) the greaser made his move.  Reacher ended the robbery but not before the old timer was knocked to the ground.  Reacher made sure the would-be thief went down too.  The creep would wake up with bruisers and maybe a little more respect for his elders.

As Reacher handed the envelope back to the old man, he realized the geezer was carrying $15,000 or maybe more.  It turns out the old guy was in debt to some very bad people.  The old guy’s daughter had cancer.  Insurance was slow to pay and the cancer was fast-moving.  So the old man borrowed from Albanian gangsters.  The excessive interest was causing finanacial ruin to the old man and his wife.  They’d soon lose their house.

Reacher decides to intervene.  He’s pretty sure he can square things with the loansharks.  That’s before he learns that the Ukranian gangsters have an uneasy true with a Albanian gang.  That gives Reacher an idea.  If it works, the old couple will be out of debt and a lot of gangsters will be dead.  If his plan fails, the old couple might be killed.  Worse still, Reacher would suffer a slow torturous death.

But once in a Blue Moon… everything goes just right.  Perhaps this will be one of those times.

+++

BLUE MOON is the 24th in the Jack Reacher series. All the Reacher novels are fun rides.  BLUE Moon is one of the best.

Rating: