Category: Authors

CRUX by James Byron Huggins / Z-View

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CRUX by James Byron Huggins

First sentence…

A bolt of lightning shattered the Observation Room, but even in the deafening thunder Blanchard heard horrified screams and glimpsed a scientist scramble under equipment that was obliterated by a blinding blue streak.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

An experiment at the Hadron Super Collider in Geneva goes horribly wrong.  When the smoke clears seven physicists are missing. Something unexplainable caused a bolt of blue lightning, a massive explosion and seven scientists to vanish.  Although the public learns there was an accident at the Hadron Collider, they aren’t given details.

Amanda Decker’s sister was one of the physicists who died in the “accident”. Amanda realizes the official story doesn’t make sense. She suspects a cover-up.  To get answers, Amanda enlists the aide of a man known only as Isaiah.  Isaiah, for those in the know, has skills to aid people when all hope is gone.

Isaiah and Amanda arrange entry into the Hadron Collider.  Unknown to them (or anyone without a need to know) a small team of US military operatives are headed to the Collider. The US soldiers will make sure the location is secure.  US Military intelligence thinks that the Hadron Collider “accident” was caused by a terrorist attack.

They’re wrong.

Once inside the Collider, Isaiah, Amanda and the soldiers learn the explosion wasn’t an experiment gone wrong.  It wasn’t caused by terrorists.  Someone alone or with the assistance of others used the Collider to attempt to open a gateway to another dimension.

And it worked.

The portal was open just long enough for scientists to be sucked through. And some thing(s) from the other side to enter our world.

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James Byron Huggins has never written a book that fails to entertain.  CRUX joins Huggins’ HUNTER trilogy, CAIN, LEVIATHAN, RORA and others that I can easily suggest to lovers of action thrillers.

Rating:

“Death Wish” starring Charles Bronson / Z-View

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Death Wish (1974)

Director:  Michael Winner

Screenplay:  Wendell Mayes;  based on DEATH WISH by Brian Garfield

Stars:  Charles Bronson, Vincent Gardenia, William Redfield, Hope Lange, Steven Keats, Stuart Margolin, Kathleen Tolan, Olympia Dukakis, Art Evans, John Herzfeld, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Eric Laneuville, Saul Rubinek and Jeff Goldblum.

Tagline: Vigilante, city style — Judge, Jury, and Executioner

The Plot…

When his wife is murdered and his daughter raped and left for dead, Paul Kersey, a mild-mannered middle-aged architect is told that finding the killers is unlikely.  It was a random crime.  One of many that happen daily and nightly in New York City.

Kersey decides to start carrying a weapon.  When a mugger attempts to rob him, Kersey kills the thug.  Kersey is surprised to get away with the homicide.

They say that the first killing is the hardest.  Kersey discovers that to be true as he becomes Judge, Jury, and Executioner of criminals prowling the streets and subways after dark.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Death Wish is based on Brian Garfield’s novel of the same name.  Several changes were made for the adaption including changing the protagonist’s name, job and making him bigger and more physical than the mild-mannererd accountant in the book.  Brian Garfield said he thought Bronson was miscast — Garfield also didn’t like the changes made to his book.

Death Wish features the film debut of Jeff Goldblum.  John Herzfeld, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs and Eric Laneuville make cameos as muggers.

Jill Ireleand, Charles Bronson’s real life wife, usually appears in his films as his wife/love interest.  Bronson didn’t want her in this film because of the scene where she would be “humiliated” by the muggers.  Bronson suggested “someone like Hope Lange”.  So the producers got Hope Lange.

Although there are rumors that Denzel Washington appears uncredited in Death Wish as a mugger, and the actor looks like him, Washington denies it is him.  Further, Washington hadn’t started acting at that time!

Death Wish is the fourth of sixth films that director Michael Winner and Charles Bronson made.

The success of Death Wish led to four sequels and a reboot starring Bruce Willis. Before Willis, Sylvester Stallone was set to direct and star in a remake.

I saw Death Wish when it was first released and many times over the years.  It holds up.  I was surprised that Paul Kersey never found/had a run-in with the punks who murdered his wife and raped his daughter.  A lot of movies would have forced that.

Death Wish (1974) rates 4 of 5 stars.

CRONE by Keith Rosson / Z-View

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CRONE by Keith Rosson

First sentences…

The van is blue.

Okay, Hannah thinks the van is blue, with the rain beading her glasses, and the way, even in the best of times, that nighttime diminishes her vision, presses everything into vague smears of flattened color, it’s hard to tell.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Eli Lamp used to be a respected police detective.  But that was years ago.  Before his wife died in childbirth.  Before he began drinking too much.  Before he started using.  Before he lost his job.

Eli loved his daughter Hannah, but his parenting sucked.  Then when Hannah was fifteen, walking home at night from a party with a friend, she got into a van… and was never seen again.

That was thirteen years ago.

Eli spent every penny he had in his search for Hannah.  But it was his run-in with the Brother Night motorcycle gang that cost Eli the most. Dave Novak, the leader of a rival gang, the  Crooked Wheel motorcycle gang helped Eli.  Now to pay off his debt Eli works as an enforcer and bag man for Novak.  Eli busts heads, makes the weekly drop to the corrupt Sheriff and whatever else Novak needs done.

When Novak’s grown son is found brutally murdered with his body mutilated, Novak wants revenge.  He orders Eli to use his detective skills to find the killer.  Eli reluctantly agrees when Novak says Eli’s debt will be cancelled if he finds the killer.

Eli’s investigation leads to Avery Bryant.  Avery was his daughter Hannah’s best friend.  As Eli digs deeper, he uncovers a conspiracy that goes back decades.  It may provide the key to his daughter’s disappearance and something that defies rationale explanation.

+++

Keith Rosson is a relatively new author to me.  Earlier this year I read his FEVER HOUSE, followed it with the sequel DEVIL BY NAME and now CRONE.  Each book has been a winner.  His other books are now on my to be read list.  If you haven’t already, consider giving him a look.

Rating:

“Rambo” (2008) directed by and starring Sylvester Stallone / Z-View

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Rambo (2008)

Director: Sylvester Stallone

Screenplay:  Art Monterastelli, Sylvester Stallone

Stars:  Sylvester Stallone, Julie Benz, Paul Schulze, Matthew Marsden, Graham McTavish, Rey Gallegos, Tim Kang, Jake La Botz, Maung Maung Khin and Ken Howard.

Tagline: Live for nothing, or die for something.

The Plot…

Twenty years have passed since Rambo’s rescue of Colonel Trautman in Afghanistan.  Rambo makes his living as a snake catcher and ferryman.

When Michael Burnett approaches Rambo to take his missionary group up river, Rambo refuses. Burnett wants to go into a war zone to render humanitarian aide to villagers brutalized by the Burmese Army.  Burnett’s fiancée, Sarah, makes an appeal to Rambo, but he again refuses.  Burnett’s group believes in nonviolence.  They’re traveling without weapons or additional security.  Odds would be against their survival.

Later that night Sarah speaks to Rambo again.  Burnett’s group is going with or without him.  Against his better judgment, Rambo agrees to take them up river, drop them off and return home.

Not long after, Arthur Marsh informs Rambo that Burnett’s group are held prisoner by Burmese soldiers.  Marsh has hired mercenaries to rescue them.  He wants Rambo to take the mercs up river.

Rambo agrees.  But this time, Rambo’s not just doing a drop off.  This time, he’s going to war.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Rambo’s creator, David Morrell had this to say about the movie: “I’m happy to report that overall I’m pleased. The level of violence might not be for everyone, but it has a serious intent. This is the first time that the tone of my novel FIRST BLOOD has been used in any of the movies. It’s spot-on in terms of how I imagined the character – angry, burned-out, and filled with self-disgust because Rambo hates what he is and yet knows it’s the only thing he does well.”

Rambo, like Rocky Balboa is such a great bookend to its franchise.  While it is true that each had more movies to come, at the time it was thought that each would end the series.

One of my favorite John Rambo scenes is when the river pirates stop the group.  Stallone’s direction, shows Rambo silently assessing the situation.  Rambo determines the greatest dangers and the order he needs to eliminate them.  I also love the scene when Sarah returns in the pouring rain to try to convince Rambo to take them up river.

I know it’s sacrilege, but if push came to shove, I’d pick Rambo over First Blood.

Rambo (2008) rates 5 of 5 stars.

“Frank Miller: American Genius” (2021) / Z-View

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Frank Miller: American Genius (2021)

Director: Silenn Thomas

Screenplay:  Silenn Thomas

Stars:  Frank Miller

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

Frank Miller revolutionized comics with his groundbreaking art and writing.  Hollywood called and Miller answered.  Along the way there were personal struggles which Miller overcame.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Frank Miller is considered a living legend.  This is his story.

Frank Miller created Sin City, my all-time favorite comic series.  He also revolutionized comics with Daredevil, The Dark Knight Returns, Ronin, Batman: Year One and so many other stories.  I’m glad he overcame his personal issues to see the love fans have for him.

Frank Miller: American Genius (2021) rates 4 of 5 stars.

THE PROTECTOR by Arnold Schwarzenegger & James Patterson is Coming!

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Arnold Schwarzenegger is teaming with James Patterson to co-author THE PROTECTOR.  Here’s the scoop…

The world’s bestselling author and the global icon, actor, former governor, and seven-time Mr. Olympia are co-authoring a new novel.

Father Viktor Brennan is a parish priest. He’s also The Protector.

At Saint Dominic’s in East Los Angeles, Father Viktor Brennan — a spiritual leader with a murky past — builds a soup kitchen, and a gym with a boxing ring. He is determined to protect his flock from both moral and physical harm, and to keep his new congregation safe from gang violence.

LAPD Detective Sandra Reyes’s beat covers the same local territory, and she’s strictly by the book. Reyes is keeping a wary eye on the new priest—and both she and Brennan are watching a kingpin known as Cera.

When an innocent victim is caught in murderous crossfire—and as revenge becomes a conversation with God—will good win out over evil?

THE PROTECTOR drops on October 4, 2027.  Pre-orders are available now.

THE STEPS: A MEMOIR by Sylvester Stallone / Z-View

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THE STEPS: A MEMOIR by Sylvester Stallone

First sentence…

On a dirt road leading to the sea, deep in the Pyrenees Mountains, I saw a sign.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Most everyone thinks they know Sylvester Stallone’s story.  He’s that famous.

The child raised by dysfunctional divorced parents.  The student expelled from twelve schools.  The young man who wanted to be an actor, but was rejected time and time again.  So incredibly determined to get just one shot that he turned to writing… and struck gold with a screenplay.  He created a story that producers wanted so much that they were willing to pay a small fortune for him NOT to star in it.  But Sylvester Stallone stuck to his guns.  He got his shot for less money, but a percentage of the profits.  Rocky was made and the rest is history.

Yeah, most everyone thinks they know Sylvester Stallone’s story.  And they do, if you’re just talking broadstrokes.  The amazing thing is that what we know just scratches the surface.

Until now.

Sly Stallone’s memoir THE STEPS is an unvarnished look at his life.  He takes us from his difficult birth in a charity ward (which left him with a partially paralyzed face due to an accident with forceps) to his international stardom thanks to Rocky.   Most Stallone fans know it wasn’t an easy journey.  It wasn’t.  But even his most ardent fans will be surprised by Stallone’s candor and the things we didn’t know.

THE STEPS is an easy read, even when the situations are tough.  Stallone’s writing style makes you feel as if Sly is sitting with you telling you stories of his life. (And if you get the audible version, he will be!)  Sly’s sense of humor comes through.  So does his determination.  Although THE STEPS isn’t a self-help book, there are lessons that Sly learned that can be adapted to one’s daily life.

I’ve been a Sly Stallone fan, and followed his career since Lords of Flatbush. Yet there’s so much in THE STEPS I didn’t know.  And even the things I did know, Sly discusses in greater depth.  THE MEMOIR is everything Sylvester Stallone / Rocky fans could want.

Hopefully Sly enjoyed the process of writing THE STEPS enough for him to take the story farther.  Who wouldn’t love to get Sly’s thoughts and behind-the-scenes stories on each project in his career?

THE STEPS by Sylvester Stallone gets my highest recommendation.

Rating:

A VIOLENT MASTERPIECE by Jordan Harper / Z-View

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A VIOLENT MASTERPIECE by Jordan Harper

First sentence…

He tells them, “This place is a crime.”

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Jake Deal makes his living live-streaming nightly from L.A.’s dark, dangerous, crime-ridden hot spots. Jake takes his subcribers “live” to scenes of murders, crimes in progress, or whatever location that needs a police response. Jake’s car is loaded with a police scanner, cameras, wifi, and more. Jake planned to livestream the locations of the LA Ripper, a serial killer still on the loose.  That changed when Jake was hired to follow and compile dirt on a list of powerful and influential folks.

Doug Gibson is a lawyer for the common man.  Gibson’s clients are the under-served, the poor and the powerless.  So you can imagine Gibson’s surprise when Eric Alger contacts him. Alger needs a defense attorney and wants Gibson.

Eric Alger became rich as the producer of tween television shows.  Alger became even richer with his behind-the-scenes sex trafficking of youngsters.  He also served as a conduit to others with similar tastes.  Now Alger is behind bars.  Alger says if he’s not released, he’s going to name names.  If he’s going down, he’s taking rich and powerful sex deviants (like himself) with him.

Kara Delgado works for an underground concierge that gets the super-rich whatever they want. It could be the location for a private sex party, drugs, men, women, whatever the customer wants and can afford.   When Kara’s best friend goes missing and her apartment is scrubbed clean, Kara decides to investigate.

When Eric Alger is found dead in his jail cell, Jake, Doug and Kara’s paths cross.  Now they’re on the wrong side of powerful people with the money and contacts to make them disappear… and perhaps even the LA Ripper.

+++

Jordan Harper has another winner. A VIOLENT MASTERPIECE is a great follow-up to EVERYBODY KNOWS and gets my highest recommendation.

Rating:

HANGING AND BURNING: A KING OLIVER NOVEL by Walter Mosley!

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A new Walter Mosley tale is always welcome.  We have one coming on October 20th when HANGING AND BURNING: A KING OLIVER NOVEL drops.  Here’s the scoop…

A dying gangster’s plea sends Joe King Oliver on a quest for a missing woman across America’s coasts ― unraveling a dark and violent family history along the way―in this engrossing new novel from one of the most celebrated and acclaimed crime writers at work today.

Joe King Oliver is the big man you call to solve the most delicate and dangerous of problems. Fresh off unraveling the mystery of his own parents’ fates, King finds himself accepting (again at his grandmother’s request) a case from Arman Babylon, a powerful Los Angeles gangster now dying from cancer.

Babylon’s granddaughter, Twyla Mann, has been missing for years, and he’s desperate to find her before he passes. The search pulls King into the Babylons’ stained past and the cold case of Dalia Shorts, a torch singer who vanished without a trace and whom Arman was once suspected of killing.

As King follows her trail from L.A. to New York and back, he’ll realize nothing is what it seems as he uncovers a pattern of violence that has targeted the women around Babylon for decades. How much will King be willing to risk to finally set things right?

Pre-orders are available now.

THE NOWHERE MAN: AN ORPHAN X NOVEL by Gregg Hurwitz / Z-View

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THE NOWHERE MAN: AN ORPHAN X NOVEL by Gregg Hurwitz

First sentences…

A naked selfie.

      It starts with that.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Evan Smoak was a child with no family. Raised in a secret government off-the-books program, Evan and other children like him became known as Orphans. Evan was Orphan X.

As children the Orphans were trained to become the ultimate assassins. As adults, they were perfect for black bag assignments. Able to kill with their hands, or any weapon, the Orphans possessed every strategy to covertly and alone complete a mission. The added bonus, if caught or killed, because they had no family, the government had plausible deniability.

Orphan X became legendary among the Orphans and their handlers. Outside of the program, Orphan X was someone spoken about in whispers.

Finally, Evan Smoak had enough of the killing. He escaped and set up a new life. Instead of taking lives, he saved them. Smoak found people with nowhere to turn and rescued them.

Smoak is aware that in just a few days a young woman will be taken from a cargo ship and sold as a sex slave.  Smoak’s plan to rescue her goes sideways when he is kidnapped.

Smoak wakes from his drugged stupor to discover he’s in a remote mountain mansion. He’d been out long enough that he’s not sure he’s even in the United States.  René Peter Cassaroy kidnapped Smoak to gain access to his considerable bank account.  Cassaroy has a squad of trained mercenaries, 24 hour camera and audio surveillance, guard dogs and snipers.   Come Monday morning, Smoak will give him access and then be set free.

Yeah, right.

Smoak knows that it will take all of his skills and training to overcome the odds and escape.  Plus the clock is ticking.  He needs to not only escape but do so in time to save the young woman on the cargo ship.

The clock is ticking.

+++

I love that Smoak was kidnapped not because he was an Orphan, but because of his wealth. 

René Peter Cassaroy doesn’t provide a physical challenge.  It’s his brains (and mercenaries) that make him so dangerous.  Cassaroy would make a great James Bond villain.

It’s interesting to see how Smoak’s mind works and that each set-back makes his escape (or survival) less likely.  And if he doesn’t escape, the girl is doomed.

And if that wasn’t enough, Hurwitz ups the ante.  To say more would be to say too much.

Rating:

THE ADVENTURES OF CLIFF BOOTH by Quentin Tarantino

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Before we see the return of Cliff Booth* at our local theater (or a few weeks later on Netflix), THE ADVENTURES OF CLIFF BOOTH by Quentin Tarantino will hit bookstores everywhere.  Here’s the scoop…

SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE

From Quentin Tarantino, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOODO and CINEMA SPECULATION, comes a new novel featuring one of his most iconic creations, Mr. Cliff Booth.

Hollywood, 1977. The Swinging Sixties are long gone — but Clifford Booth keeps on keeping on…War hero, stuntman, bartender, cinema projectionist . . . with the occasional “clandestine services” for his friends. . . .

Pre-orders for the December 8th release are available now.

* The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth written by Quentin Tarantino, directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt will debut globally in IMAX theaters for an exclusive two-week run on November 25, 2026, followed by its streaming release on Netflix on December 23, 2026.

 

SATORI by Don Winslow / Z-View

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SATORI by Don Winslow

First sentence…

Nicholai Hel watched the maple leaf drop from the branch, flutter in the slight breeze, then fall gently to the ground.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

1951.  The Korean War rages.

Nicholai Hel, perhaps the most dangerous man in the world, has spent the last three years in solitary confinement in an American prison.  Hel is twenty-six, has a genius-level IQ, is fluent in seven languages and is a master of the martial art hoda korosu (“naked kill”).

The C.I.A. offers Hel a chance at freedom.  It’s a suicide mission.  Hel will pose as an arms dealer, travel to Beijing and kill the Soviet Union’s commissioner to China.  If Hel is successful, and if he survives, he will be given a full pardon and enough money to live anywhere he wants.

Hel accepts.  What the C.I.A. doesn’t know is Hel has an additional reason to accept besides a chance at freedom.  What Hel doesn’t know is that someone in the C.I.A. doesn’t want him to succeed.

+++

SATORI is a prequel to SHIBUMI by by Trevanian, a pseudonym of Rodney William Whitaker.

I had never read SHIBUMI (and plan to correct that), but it didn’t affect my love of SATORI.

A movie adaptation of SHIBUMI is in the works with Chad Stahelski (director of the John Wick movies) set to produce and direct.  Stahelski is obviously a fan of the book.  In two of his movies (John Wick and Bullet Train) characters are shown reading the novel.

Nicholai Hel is a great protagonist.  I would love to see more of his adventures.

Don Winslow’s SATORI gets my highest recommendation.

Rating:

KILLING TOWN: THE LOST FIRST MIKE HAMMER THRILLER by Mickey Spillane & Max Allan Collins / Z-View

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KILLING TOWN by Mickey Spillane, Max Allan Collins

First sentence…

The blonde dame in the sleeper car window was damn near naked in front of the mirror on the back of her closed door, and ready to finish the job.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

World War II is over.  Mike Hammer made it back.  Many of his fellow soldiers didn’t.  Now a civilian, Hammer has a promise to keep.

Which is why he sneaks under a train and rides into Killington on the sly.  As Hammer exits from under the train, through a window in a car across the tracks, he spies a woman undressing.   She’s a looker, but Hammer isn’t a Peeping Tom and wants to get out of there before the railyard cops catch him.

So Hammer scoots.

But it isn’t long before Hammer is picked up for murder.  The murder of the woman he saw in the railyard.  The cops get rough trying to get Hammer to confess.  Things look bad.  He was in the railyard.  He saw the woman.  He has no alibi.

And then the cops turn Hammer loose.  Melba Charles, Senator Charles’ beautiful daughter says that Hammer was with her at the time of the murder.  In fact, she says she and Hammer are soon to be married!

Hammer is happy to be free.  He came to Killington to keep a promise.  That’ll get done after.  Now he needs to find the mystery woman’s killer.  But first he needs to meet his future bride and find out why she provided an alibi for a man she’d never met.

+++

KILLING TOWN takes place before Mike Hammer became a private eye.  It was actually an unfinished novel that Mickey Spillane started but never finished.  Max Allan Collins, Spillane’s friend was selected by Spillane to complete the tale.

KILLING TOWN is my one of my favorite Mike Hammer tales… on par with I, THE JURY.  (And I don’t say that lightly.)

Rating:

PUSH THE WALL by Frank Miller / Z-View

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PUSH THE WALL by Frank Miller Hardcover: 224 pages Publisher: S&S/Saga Press First sentences…
How to start a story? At the ending. Know your ending. I repeat: Know your ending.
The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

If you know of Frank Miller, it could be for any number of reasons.  Perhaps it was because of the comics he took to new heights (Daredevil; The Dark Knight Returns; Batman: Year One) or those groundbreaking comics that he created (Ronin; Sin City; 300) to name just a few.  Maybe you know Miller from his work as a writer and/or director on feature films (Sin City; 300; Robocop 2 and Robocop 3; The Spirit).  Miller revolutionized comics.  Then he went to Hollywood.  He’s considered a living legend.

PUSH THE WALL is Miller’s memoir.  Through stories and remembrances he takes us back to his childhood in Vermont.  Wanting to be a comic artist from an early age.  Coming to New York City and discovering he’s not ready.  Getting work.  Getting lucky.  Honing his craft.  Getting better and wanting to be better still.  Success that took him to the stratosphere.  Expectations that rose as well.  Falling short.  Going to Hollywood.  Again success… and failure.  Getting back to what he loves… comics.  With more stories to tell.

Miller set the book up as a series of lessons.  These are lessons that he learned and can be used by other writers/artists to improve their craft.  Miller’s anecdotes are both entertaining and enlighting.  We get a glimpse behind the curtain of Miller’s thought processes, as well as the artists, comics, books and movies that influenced him.  All told in a writing style that makes you feel as he’s talking to you.

The more of a Frank Miller fan you are, the more you will like the book.

Rating:

RIP: Dolly Parton

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Dolly Parton, the singer, songwriter, actress, business woman and philanthropist died today.  Ms. Parton was 80.  No cause of death was given.

Dolly Parton was born in a one-room cabin in Pittman Center, Tennesse.  She was the fourth of twelve children.  Dolly’s father worked as a sharecropper, and tended to his own small tobacco farm.  Her mother stayed at home to take care of the family.

Dolly’s singing talent was recognized at an early age.  By the time she was ten Dolly sang regularly on local radio programs.  When Dolly was thirteen she sang at the Grand Ole Opry and released a single through a small recording label.  The day after she graduated high school, Dolly moved to Nashville.

Dolly was first recognized as a successful songwriter, often teaming with her Uncle, Bill Owens.  Several of her (and their) songs became top hits for recording stars such as Bill Phillips, Hank Williams Jr. and Skeeter Davis.   In 1967, Dolly became a regular on The Porter Wagner Show.  Dolly and Wagner released a top ten single the same year.  It became the first of their six consecutive top ten hits.

Dolly’s first solo number one hit came in 1970 when “Joshua” topped the country music charts.  As her hits continued, her fan base expanded beyond country music devotees.  In 1976, Dolly hosted a variety television series.  After one season, despite good ratings, Dolly asked to be released from her contract due to stress on her vocal cords.

In 1980, Dolly appeared in her first feature film, 9 to 5.  Dolly also wrote and sang the film’s title song.  For her efforts, Dolly received nominations for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Musical or Comedy and a Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress. Her song received nominations for an Academy Award for Best Song and a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.  The song, which hit #1 won the Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and the Grammy Award for Best Country Song.

Dolly would continue to record songs, tour, headline on television and in feature films.  Her themepark, Dollywood, opened in 1986.  Dolly wrote three memoirs/autobiographies, co-authored a mystery with James Patterson, a cookbook with her sister, and five children’s books.  In 1995, Dolly started the Imagination Station, which sends books free of charge monthly to children from birth to the age of five.  Currently over 3 million books are mailed out each month.

Dolly Parton was known for her generous philanthropy.  In addition to her Imagination Station, Dolly donated to and helped raise money for many clinics and hospitals, PETA, the American Eagle foundation, victims of the 2016 Great Smokey Mountain fires, Pediatric cancer programs, hurricane relief, COVID research and many, many more programs.

Dolly Parton was one of a kind.  Her rise to international fame and success in every area she ventured is remarkable.  As talented as she was, it is her humanitarianism that impresed me the most.  Dolly was kind, humble and loved by all.  We will not soon see her like again.

Out thoughts and prayers go out to Dolly Parton’s family, friends and fans.