Category: Crime

Z-View: “Sharkey’s Machine”


The Movie: Sharkey’s Machine

The Pitch: “Dirty Harry goes to Atlanta.”

The Tagline:  “Burt is Sharky. Nobody leans on Sharky’s Machine!”

The Story: Tom Sharky is a narcotics cop demoted to vice after a botched drug bust results in a citizen being shot.  Sharkey discovers a plot involving murders and a high level politician being manipulated by a crime boss.  Sharkey pulls together a team of quirky cops, but as the bodies pile up find they are in over their heads.

The Screenplay: Gerald DiPego from the novel by William Diehl

The Director: Burt Reynolds

The Cast: Burt Reynolds, Vittorio Gassman, Brian Keith, Charles Durning, Earl Holliman, Bernie Casey, Henry Silva, Richard Libertini, Rachael Ward,Suzee Pai, Dan Inosanto .

The Good: The cast.  The action. The soundtrack is awesome.  Rachael Ward in her breakout role.  Reynolds has the right balance of action/violence/humor.  The shootout at the start and end of the movie.

The Bad: Henry Silva is a coked-up psycho hitman and that’s good.  What happens to Reynolds when he crosses some Yakuza.  

The Ugly: The torture scene on the boat.

The Trailer.

The Rating: B

 

Honey West & T.H.E. Cat Team for the 1st Time


As I was going through the latest issue of Previews, I came across this solicitation:

  • Honey West & T.H.E. CAT #1 (of 2)
  • story: Trina Robbins
  • art: Silvestre Szilagyi
  • colors: Patrick J. Williams
  • cover: Valarie Jones
  • 32pgs, color, $3.99
  • Two cult TV icons heat it up together for the first time!
  • Ex-cat burglar and aerialist Thomas Hewitt Edward Cat is back for the first time in 45 years!
  • He puts his skills to good use as a professional bodyguard…primitive…and in love with danger!
  • Now he teams up with TV’s first lead-female private eye.
  • In “Death in the Desert”, 1960’s mob infested Las Vegas, they investigate a series of accidents…but will the attraction between the two cause the case to overheat?

Honey West was a female private eye that first appeared in a series of novels in the 1950’s.  In 1965, Anne Francis played Honey West in an ABC tv series that lasted just one season.  Although the show only lasted 30 episodes it became a cult classic.

Created by Harry Julian Fink (who also created Dirty Harry), T.H.E. Cat appeared in a 1966 tv series that ran for just one season on NBC.  Although T.H.E. Cat only lasted for 26 episodes, it also became a cult classic.

Now nearly 50 years later they are teamed for a 2 issue comic mini-series?  How cool is that?  The eight year old kid in me says, “Pretty dang-gone cool.”

I’ll be pre-ordering the series.  If it appeals to the kid (or adult) in you, then you know what to do.

 

100 Bullets’ Lono is Back!


100 Bullets
by writer Brian Azzarello, artist Eduardo Risso, colorist Trish Mulvihill, letterer Clem Robbins and cover artist Dave Johnson ran for 100 issues and was one of the best crime comics ever.  When it ended, most fans appreciated that the story was done, but hated the loss of their monthly crime fix.

Now, nearly three years later, the entire creative team is returning to bring us a limited series which not only takes place in the same universe as 100 Bullets, but features one of the series most popular characters, Lono.

It’s like Christmas came early.

If you want to learn more about Brother Lono, you can thanks to this interview at Newsarama.

Todd Robinson, Dirty Words & The Hard Bounce


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.

New “Dead Man Down” Posters

I like this poster for Dead Man Down.

If I would make any suggestion, it would be to have a smaller version of the “falling man” figure that appears in this poster for Dead Man Down “falling” along the right side of this poster.  But then again, that might make it too busy.

If you’d like to see a Dead Man Down Up-sized version of this poster, you can thanks to IMPAwards.

The Top Ten Unsolved Murders

Who doesn’t like a good mystery?  Especially if it is a murder mystery.

Smashing Lists posted their choices for the Top Ten Unsolved Crimes… all of which involved murder.  Here are my thoughts about each…

10.  The Zodiac Killer – I would have placed the Zodiac Killer much higher on the list.  

  • Not only did the Zodiac Killer murder at least 7 people, he wrote notes to newspapers taunting the police even as his killing streak continued.  
  • The Zodiac Killer was the inspiration for many movie serial killers with my favorite being The Scorpio Killer played by Andrew Robinson in Dirty Harry.  
  • Unfortunately, there was no real life Harry Callahan to bring down The Zodiac Killer, so we may never know his true identity.

09. The Murder of Edgar Allan Poe – This would not have even made my list.

  • No one is sure what killed Poe.  Note that I said what, not who.
  • Poe’s death has been attributed to everything from heart disease to rabies.  Murder?  Maybe, maybe not.
  • So if we’re not sure he was killed, should Poe’s death be part of a list of the top ten unsolved murders?  No mystery to my answer — I say, “No.”

08. The Tylenol Poisonings – In 1982, seven people mysteriously died after taking Tylenol.

  • Once the link to Tylenol was found, Johnson & Johnson recalled  over 31 million bottles of their product nationwide, issued warnings and offered a $100,000 reward.
  • The seven deaths caused a national alarm and eventually led to the development of tamper-proof packaging.
  • Despite the reward and the involvement of the FBI, the Tylenol Killer was never found.

07. The Murder of JonBenet Ramsey – Six year old JonBenet Ramsey was found in the basement of the family home more than seven hours after she had been reported missing.

  • JonBenet had been the victim of blunt force trauma to the head and died of strangulation.
  • Immediate suspects included her father, her mother and her brother and this was leaked to the media.  A ransom note was found and there was speculation that JonBenet’s mother wrote it.
  • The local police bungled the investigation and JonBenet’s killer was never found.

06.  The Murder of the Black Dahlia – Elizabeth Short aka the Black Dahlia wanted to be a famous actress.  Although she became famous, it was because she was the victim of one of the most infamous murders of all time.

  • Short’s nude body was found on a residential street cut in half and drained of all blood.  
  • Hundreds of men were questioned but the murderer was never caught.  Investigations continue to this day.
  • I would have placed The Murder of the Black Dahlia higher on the list.

05. The Murder of Tupac ShakurTupac Shakur gained fame as a former gang member who became a rapper and was branching out into acting.

  • Shakur never backed away from his gang affiliations and was gunned down in a drive-by shooting that came after an earlier gang-related altercation the same evening.
  • Tupac’s murderer(s) were never identified.

04.  The Lizzie Borden Murders –  Over 100 years later, the chant: “Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks, upon seeing what she’d done, she gave her father forty-one” is still known.

  • Although the counts are wrong and Lizzie Borden was acquitted of the murders, the chant isn’t too far off from the truth.  Or is it?  Did Lizzie Borden really kill her parents?
  • We may never know and that’s why The Lizzie Borden Murders deserves it’s place on this list.

03.  Jack the Stripper – Did you know that in the 1960’s there was a serial killer the press named Jack the Stripper because he killed at least 6 prostitutes and left them nude?

  • I didn’t either.  Perhaps then, this case shouldn’t have made the list.  How famous can it be, if we didn’t know about it?

02.  The Assassination of Oscar Romero – On March 24, 1980, Oscar Romero, an El Savadorian priest who spoke out against the ruling powers was shot and killed in El Salvidor.  His killer was never identified.

01.  Jack the Ripper – The most famous of all serial killers.

  • For three years, Jack the Ripper  killed and mutilated his victims and taunted the police through his letters to newspapers.
  • Jack the Ripper inspired scores of movies, books and perhaps serial killers and definitely deserves the top spot.

Had I made the list, I would have included The Assassination of President Kennedy and The Killing of Jimmy Hoffa.

Some may argue that the Kennedy assassination was solved with the capture of Lee Harvey Oswald, I would say that due to the huge number of conspiracy theories about the Kennedy Assassination that it deserves a spot on the list.

While it is true that it was never proven that Jimmy Hoffa was killed, I think that his disappearance coupled with his mob connections and the unsolved nature of the case would allow it’s inclusion on the list.

So… what unsolved murder didn’t make the list that you’d put there?

Hinkson, Beetner & Robinson

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.

Dirty Words by Todd Robinson

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.

Meet Crime Writer/Reviewer Eric Beetner

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.

Can This Dog Solve the Black Dahlia Murder Mystery

On February 3, 2013, The Daily Beast posted Can This Dog Solve the Black Dahlia Homicide? by Christine Pelisek.  If you have any interest at all in the world famous 70 year old unsolved murder, then you should check out the article.  Here are a few tidbits…

No one has ever been charged with the gruesome slaying, despite years of police work, nearly 50 discredited confessions, and intense media attention…

The most intriguing theory, though, may be the one posited by Steve Hodel, whose says his own father did the deed.

… his father, George Hodel, a surgeon, killed Short after a romance between the two turned ugly. He also believes his father killed close to a dozen women in the 1940s in his Hollywood home and then gruesomely posed them in different locales around the city.

The elder Hodel, it has been revealed, was indeed a suspect in the Short murder, but his son says he was never caught out of a combination of high-powered friends (who may have had dirt on the police) and inept detective work.

Last November, Hodel joined forces with former California police detective Paul Dostie and Buster, his rambunctious 9-year-old cadaver-sniffing black Labrador, for the first-ever forensic search at Hodel’s former home.

Buster was turned loose to search for scents related to human decomposition—and he perked up, or “alerted” as Dostie calls it, at several potential clues in the basement. Soil samples were taken and results are expected next week.

Check out the article for the full story!