Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Jonathan Maberry is one of my favorite writers.
Everything I’ve ever read by Maberry has been great. I’m currently reading one of his Joe Ledger novels King of Plagues. Unless something really goes sideways, King of Plagues will keep Maberry’s streak of awesomeness alive.
If you’re a Maberry fan (or want to know more about him) then you’ll probably enjoy this recent interview.
Double Indemnity is one of my favorite noir movies. I’ve seen it a bunch of times.
Raymond Chandler, who wrote just seven novels, is one of the founding fathers of modern detective fiction. I’ve read a lot of Chandler and knew he co-wrote the screenplay [along with director Billy Wilder] adaptation of James M. Cain’s novel of the same name.
Until recently I didn’t know that Chandler had a cameo in Double Indemnity. What makes this an even greater find is that there are no known film or television interviews with Chandler!
Thanks and a tip of my fedora to Adrian Wootten and The Guardian.
Steven Grant is a writer than I’ve written about many times.
Grant is the co-creator of Damned with Mike Zeck. Grant is also the writer of the first Punisher mini-series [which took the character from a second-tier guest star to one of the most popular Marvel characters of all-time] as well as the best Punisher stories ever told.
Grant is also the creator [along with artist Mataes Santolouco] of the comic mini-series Two Guns. As, you’re probably aware, Two Guns is now also a movie starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg. Grant has written an interesting article that he calls Temporary Madness: Lessons Learned from Watching “Two Guns” Get Made. You can read part one here and part two here.
Thanks and a front row seat to Two Guns for CBR.com.
Hearing that Duane Swierczynski is writing an new series called Ex-Con for Dynamite Crime had me smiling enough to star in one of those many “happier than“ Geico commercials.
I’ve been a Duane Swierczynski fan since I first read The Wheelman almost seven years ago. Since then I’ve read and enjoyed every one of Swierczynski’s crime novels. Ex-Con sounds like a winner. Here’s how Swierczynski describes it…
As the name implies, we’re going to be following a jailbird freshly sprung from San Quentin after five brutal years… This is a high-level con artist who thought he could out-think the cops, his marks, his competitors — pretty much everybody — and five years later, he’s still reeling. To stay alive inside, he had to promise a favor to a convict who’s pretty much a living nightmare in a cage, and now that our man is out, he dreads having to pay up…
With Swierczynski writing and Tim Bradstreet providing the covers, the only thing left to take this series to the top is the right interior artist. Unfortunately, one hasn’t been chosen yet.
Two artists that came to mind for something like this are Phil Hester and Cully Hamner. I have no idea if Hester or Hamner would be considered or if they would want to do the series, but from this fan’s perspective, they were the first two artists that I thought of.
Thanks and an early parole to Comicosity and CBR.com for droppin’ a dime.
[And if you’re looking for a great crime comic to read NOW, you can’t do better than the FREE webcomic Gravedigger by Christopher Mills and Rick Burchett.]
Steve Niles was recently interviewed by Kevin Knight at Eat.Geek.Play. (Sadly, that interview is no longer available. But we do have Steve Niles’ Twitter for your viewing pleasure. – Craig, 2021)
If you’re a Walter Mosley fan, you’ve probably already ordered his latest Easy Rawlins novel, Little Green and you’ve probably already read this short but informative interview with Mosley over at the Sunday New York Times.
But just to be on the safe side, I’ve included links to both.
A little less than a year ago we posted a flow chart that maps the connections between Stephen King’s characters and books. We thought maybe it was time to link to the updated version.
Congrats to Tessie Girl for working it all out.
I have a feeling that Todd Robinson may be one of those overnight sensations that everyone discovers after a decade.
Since I’m a big fan of crime fiction, I’m always on the lookout for new authors. I’d heard great things about Todd Robinson. So I ordered his Dirty Words collection. Eleven short crime stories and not a bad one in the bunch. Yeah, it left me wanting to read more of his work — especially about two of his characters, Boo and Junior.
Boo and Junior are two tough guys who spend most nights bouncing at a local bar, but aren’t against making a few extra bucks if muscle is needed. Dirty Words was bookended with Boo and Junior stories. I was stoked to see that Robinson’s new novel The Hard Bounce is about Boo and Junior. Oh, and let’s not forget their buddy, Twitch.
The Hard Bounce is currently getting rave reviews and will be in my next book order. If you like crime fiction, it should be in yours as well.
I think you’re gonna like Boo and Junior. As for Todd Robinson, here’s a short interview with him and you can decide for yourself.
Look what was waiting for me when I got home tonight…
The Posthumous Man by Jake Hinkson
When Elliot Stilling killed himself, he thought his troubles were over. Then the ER doctors revived him. It’s infatuation at first sight when he meets his nurse, Felicia Vogan, a strange young woman with a weakness for sad sacks and losers. After she helps Elliot escape from the hospital, she takes him back to her place. He’s happy to go with her, even when she leads him straight to a gang planning a million dollar heist. Does Felicia just want Elliot to protect her from the outfit’s psychotic leader, Stan the Man? Or is Elliot being set up to take the hard fall? One thing’s for sure: if he’s going to survive this long night of deceit and murder, Elliot will have to finally face himself and his own dark past.
One Too Many Blows to the Head by Eric Beetner
Kansas City, 1939. One story from two points of view: the hunter and the hunted. Ray Ward – seeking revenge for his brother’s death in the boxing ring. Detective Dean Fokoli – hot on a killer’s trail.Ray’s hunt takes him underground into Kansas City’s criminal nightlife. Dean Fokoli lives there full time but he’s on the run from his own troubles. Two men racing forward to collide like a knockout punch.A razor-edged story of revenge, redemption and what happens when you confront the ghosts of the past.
From the creator of Thuglit.com–DIRTY WORDS The first collection from award-winning short story writer, Todd Robinson. Featuring: SO LONG JOHNNIE SCUMBAG—selected for The Year’s Best Writing 2003 by Writer’s Digest. The Derringer Award nominated short, ROSES AT HIS FEET THE LONG COUNT—selected as a Notable Story of the Year in Best American Mystery Stories 2005. PLUS eight more tales of in-your-face crime fiction.
Dig Two Graves by Eric Beetner
Dig Two Graves is a novella-length piece about Val, an ex-con who thinks he has figured out the trick to continuing his bank robbing life without ever getting caught. Except then he gets caught.
It’s not his plan that backfires, oh no. There’s a rat somewhere and Val is pretty damn sure who it is. Ernesto, his prison lover who has joined him on the outside as his partner in bank robbery.
Val stalks the city night on the hunt for Ernesto to exact revenge for breaking the ultimate criminal code: you don’t rat out a partner.
A Bouquet of Bullets by Eric Beetner
From Award-winning short story writer Eric Beetner comes a collection of hardboiled crime tales about losers, punks and wanna-be criminals. These gritty stories bleed and sweat all over the page, but always with a pitch black sense of humor. For fans of Victor Gischler and Duane Swierczynski as much as Cornell Woolrich and Raymond Chandler these crime tales represent the new wave in pulp writers at its best. Winner of the 2012 Stalker award for Most Underrated Author, a finalist in the Derringer Awards, the Watery Grave International and the Million Writers Award, Eric Beetner’s short stories have appeared in Thuglit, Needle Magazine, Crimefactory, A Twist Of Noir, Beat To A Pulp, Pulp Pusher, Powder Burn Flash, Darkest Before Dawn, Thrillers, Killers N Chillers, Flash Fiction Offensive and more.
The toughest part will be deciding which to read first.
I first learned about Eric Beetner from his 60 Second Book Reviews blog.
Beetner and I like the same type of books [crime fiction]. His reviews, for the books that I’ve read, are directly in line with my thoughts. So, if Beetner likes it, it’s a good bet that I will as well.
Then I learned Eric Beetner was a writer of crime fiction and his books were all getting 5 star reviews. Now I was intrigued. So I bookmarked Beetner’s blog.
Next I discovered this trailer for Beetner’s The Devil Doesn’t Want Me. Nice.
So the other night I broke down and ordered Beetner’s Dig Two Graves; One Too Many Blows to the Head and A Bouquet of Bullets.
Well played, Eric Beetner. Well played.
LA Noir is an original series from TNT that has a lot of potential. Frank [The Walking Dead; Shawshank Redemption; The Mist] Darabont not only serves as Executive Producer, but also wrote and directed the pilot.
Jon (The Walking Dead) Bernthal headlines as ex-marine/LA cop, Joe Teague in an era of mobsters and corrupt cops. LA Noir is based on John Buntin’s book of the same name. Coming Soon has more info about the series.
Earlier this week, Deadline.com posted that Warner Bros. had picked up the rights to Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer. Although it hasn’t been decided whether Hammer will be turned loose in a modern day setting or the film will be a period piece, I think that either way we’re in for a potentially fun movie.
The real question is, who to play Mike Hammer? If they’re not going with an unknown, then I’d suggest Karl Urban. I’ll be interested to see who others (especially Chris Mills) would have step into the role. Your thoughts?
Oh, and while we’re making suggestions, might I suggest that Armand Assante’s outing as Mike Hammer in I, the Jury be brought out on dvd?
Jake Hinkson has written an excellent essay, The Little Story of Right-Hand/Left-Hand: Davis Grubb, Charles Laughton and Night of the Hunter. Although it’s only four pages long, it features rare photos and behind-the-scenes information that make it more than worthy of a read.
Well done, Mr. Hinkson.
If you’re a Stephen King fan, then you’ll appreciate this flow chart that maps the connections between his characters and books. Congrats to Tessie Girl for working it all out.
Way back in August of 2008, I posted a very positive review of Victor Gischler’s Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse. The fact that I really enjoyed Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse wasn’t surprising, since I’ve enjoyed all of Victor’s novels and also highly recommend Gun Monkeys; Pistol Poets; and The Deputy.
Victor recently announced that he’s doing a sequel to Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse which will be called, appropriately enough, Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse II: The Luxury Wars. The cool thing is that Victor is bringing Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse II: The Luxury Wars directly to his fans as a Kickstarter project.
I’m on board as a backer of the book and encourage you to consider becoming one as well.
