Category: Books

The Electric Church

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The Pitch: “Blade Runner” meets “The Dirty Dozen”

The Overview: In the near future the two most powerful organizations on the planet are the United Federation of Nations and The Electric Church. The United Federation of Nations controls the population through the use of their brutal and corrupt System Security Force [think elite military police]. The Electric Church is a new religion growing at an exponential rate due to its promise of salvation through eternal life [as a cyborg]. Avery Cates is a “gunner” – hired muscle available for a price – trying to stay under the radar of both groups. When he mistakenly kills one of the SS cops he finds himself given one option for survival: break in to the stronghold of the Electric Church and assassinate it’s leader.

The Good: Jeff Somers‘ writing. Avery Cates and his band of outlaws. The story moves. The cover illustration by Jae Lee.

The Bad: What happens to converts to The Electric Church.

The Ugly: The way most of the population lives.

The Summary: My guess is the The Electric Church will make my list of Best Books of 2008. I can’t wait to read its sequel, “The Digital Plague.”

Matt Hughes: Legacy?

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We may have seen the last of Matt Hughes as far as MMA fighting goes. Still there are other options that would keep him active in the sport. Hughes would make an excellent commentator. He has already written one well-received book.

But if Matt Hughes decides to retire totally from the limelight, how will he be remembered? I think Dave Doyle sums it up perfectly HERE.

Books – Best of 2007

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My Best of Books 2006 edition was [surprisingly] comprised entirely of author’s who I’d never read previously. Interestingly enough three of them have made it to this year’s list! So without further adu… my Best of Books 2007 edition:

5] (Tie) The Terror by Dan Simmons is a novelization of the true doomed 1840s Franklin expedition to find a Northwest passage. History tells us there were no survivors and the men died from exposure, starvation and worse. Simmons’ story combines all of the interesting historical details and adds a new menace, a creature which feeds on men. The Terror was a national best seller. Stephen King listed it as one of his favorite books of the year. Who am I to argue with Stephen King?

5] (tie) No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. You know how much I loved the book and movie. If you haven’t read it [or seen it], you should.

4] Duane Swiercznski jumped to my “must read” list with his very hip, very cool novel The Wheelman. Since then I’ve also read his Secret Dead Men and The Blonde. All of which get a thumbs up and The Blonde comes in at #4 on this year’s best of list.

3] No Dominion by Charlie Huston. C’mon, it’s Joe Pitt — and Charlie Huston. Enough said.

2] The 47th Samurai by Stephen Hunter. I have to admit I was skeptical. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of Stephen Hunter [especially his Earl Swagger novels], but this one takes place in Japan and had a different feel. I shouldn’t have worried though. Hunter comes through with one of the best Swagger novels in years.

1] L.A. Rex by Will Beall. Beall is a real LA cop and LA Rex is his first novel. I hope that there are more to come because this tale of cops, gangbangers, drug dealers and the gritty life of those in South Central pulled me in and wouldn’t let go. LA Rex is currently a bargain book purchase if you click HERE. You can get the hard cover for less than the price of a paperback… but supplies are limited.

No Country for Old Men

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“No Country for Old Men” brought to the screen by co-writers and co-directors Joel and Ethan Cohen is being talked up for all kinds of awards. After seeing it today, I’d say it’s going to win a bunch. Based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy and boasting a flawless cast that includes Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Woody Harrelson and Kelly MacDonald, this could be THE film to beat come award season.

The Good: not going Hollywood and changing the story; Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Woody Harrelson and Kelly MacDonald are perfectly cast; the scene where Chigurh brings the cuffs to the front, strangles the deputy and then calmly cleans his wrists; when Moss stumbles on the drug-deal-gone-bad aftermath; when Chigurh makes the old man “call it”; Moss barely escaping into the river and then coming out to calmly prepare for the “next attack” which is barreling at him; Moss’ dialogue with his wife and later Carson Wells; Sherriff Bell’s dialogue with everyone; the pacing; when Chigurh appears behind Carson Wells on the steps; Woody Harrelson’s scene with Bardem; the direction.

The Bad: Anton Chigurh. Nothing else comes close to being “The Bad.”

The Ugly: Doctoring your own gunshot wound; and when you hear “there’s a bone sticking out of your arm.”

If you haven’t yet, you should read the book and then see the movie. That way, come Oscars you’ll be ahead of the curve.

The "I am Legend" Legacy

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I saw “I am Legend” at the first showing today in a packed theater. After seeing the CGI “vampires” [although they are never called that in the movie] in this trailer, I must admit I went in with a bit of trepidation. But, because the Richard Matheson novel is so strong, and because the previous two movies [The Last Man on Earth and The Omega Man] based on the same novel worked on their own levels, I felt that Will Smith and crew could pull off a worthy addition to the “I am Legend” legacy. So did he? Let’s take a look:

The Good: The concept; Will Smith as Robert Neville, Sam; how the virus is created; taking the time needed to show Neville’s isolation; Neville going in to save Sam; stumbling on the standing/sleeping “vampires”; snaring a vampire / being snared; Sam saving Neville; how the final scene tied into the title.

The Bad: Most complaints that I’ve read about the movie are gripes about the shift once the woman and her son arrive. While it’s true that the feel of the movie changes, I think that it works because we now see just how much Neville has lost touch with reality. Pretty bold move if you ask me. Some of the CGI effects.

The Ugly: The vampires.

All-in-all I really enjoyed the movie much more than I thought I would going in. It not only will find a place in my dvd library, but adds nicely to the “I am Legend” legacy.

7 Deadly Wonders

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Reading books written by Mathew Reilly is like watching an all-out action movie while riding a rollercoaster. His books are bigger than life, move at breakneck speed, keep you turning the pages — and just when you then there is no way out for the hero, Reilly kicks it up a notch and comes up with another over the top set piece as the story hurtles forward.

Whew!

Reilly’s books are fun and his latest 7 Deadly Wonders is no exception. A rare solar event called the Tartarus Rotation is set to occur shortly. Several teams are racing to gather 7 pieces of a capstone hidden around the world. If they can recover and join the pieces in time for the Tartarus Rotation they will be given power such as the world has never before seen. There’s a team from the United States, a team from England and a team of multi-national adventurers. [We’ll be pulling for the multi-national team not because they’re outgunned and out manned, but because they’re the good guys.]

And that’s all you really need to know. If you’re in the mood for an adrenaline-charged roller coaster ride that’ll make you put down the video game paddles and keep turning pages, then give Mathew Reilly’s 7 Deadly Sins a try.

PS – I just discovered that Amazon has it on sale at a HUGE DISCOUNT — click HERE for full details!

Zablo is Rejected!

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Yesterday I wrote about the amazingly talented artist, Joe Bluhm, and his book Rejects. Here’s what I said:

Joe is a caricaturist and occasionally he does a drawing that the customer doesn’t want. Surprisingly these are often some of the best drawings of the day! Joe has put together a great book called Rejects. It features rejected caricatures and his comments about them. When Joe told Beatty about the book, Beatty said it was a great idea and that he’d pay to have me drawn in “reject mode.” We all laughed. Higashi heard this and decided it really was a great idea. The next thing I knew Higashi had his camera out and aimed in my direction…


Well, as you can see from the photo above Higashi went through with it. LOL! You know, Joe is such a talented artist that I can honestly say it’s the first time I’ve ever been happy to have been rejected!


Not Much on Futuristic SciFi

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I’ve never read anything by Jeff Somers. I rarely read scifi. Especially futuristic scifi. Yet, I think that I might really enjoy The Electric Church by Jeff Somers. It’s described in THIS REVIEW as “BLADE RUNNER meets THE DIRTY DOZEN, with a dash of Sergio Leone” — so I ask, who wouldn’t like that mix?

I decided to READ THE FIRST CHAPTER FOR FREE. The I decided to read JEFF SOMERS’ BLOG. I’m still interested in reading The Electric Church so my next Amazon order will probably include it… even though I’m not much on futuristic scifi.

Secret Dead Men

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Nothing is as it seems in Duane Swierczynski’s first novel Secret Dead Men. Del Farmer appears to be an FBI agent investigating a mob hit. In reality Farmer is a dead reporter trying to discover the reason behind his own murder. Yeah, you read that correctly. Farmer is a dead guy. Well…

…he isn’t just a dead guy.

See, Farmer has the ability to collect souls of the recently departed. In his quest to discover the secrets behind his own murder, Farmer has collected the souls of about a dozen others…

… and they live in his brain hotel.

See, the brain hotel is a mental construct, that appears like a typical hotel and allows the recently departed to have a semblance of life. People in the brain hotel go on about living [although it’s just their memories for the most part] but they can also interact with each other. Sometimes, if their skills are better suited to getting him out of whatever jam he’s in, Farmer even uses them to pilot the body that he currently inhabits…

…and if you’re still with me, then my guess is you’ll enjoy the novel.

I loved Swierczynski’s The Wheelman and The Blonde. And although Secret Dead Men falls a bit short of being as good, we should remember that Secret Dead Men was Swierczynski’s first novel. It’s definitely worth a look.

The Blonde

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I loved Duane Swierczynski’s The Wheelman which opened in the middle of a bank robbery gone wrong and was a fast paced, violent, at times humorous and always unpredictable story. So I couldn’t wait to read Swierczynski’s next novel The Blonde. I’m happy to say that I was hooked from the opening sentence [one of the best in recent memory]:

“I poisoned your drink.”

From there we are taken on a wild ride as Jack Eisley attempts to learn why he was poisoned by a beautiful blonde named Kelly White and why she is infected and on the run from a covert government agency’s hitman. The Blonde is fast paced, lean and will keep you on the edge of your seat as the pages fly by. Duane Swierczynski has another winner that left me excited to start on Secret Dead Men!
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Update: Duane Swierczynski just posted up the paperback cover to The Blonde which will be available October 30th!

Anyone Going to Stumptown?

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Greg Rucka, one of my favorite novelists, has announced that he’ll be writing a new detective series called Stumptown that takes place in the same world as his novels!Although Rucka has been writing award-winning [Whiteout — soon to be a major motion picture] and fan favorite comics [Queen & Country, Gotham Central, etc] for some time, it is his five Atticus Kodiac novels [Finder, Keeper, Smoker, Shooting at Midnight, and Critical Space] that put him on my “must buy” list.

Rucka has a new Atticus Kodiac novel, Patriot Acts, coming out next month.  It’s already on my pre-order list!