Search Results for: nate heller

Do No Harm (A Nate Heller Thriller) by Max Allan Collins is Coming!

Max Allan Collins returns with a new Nate Heller novel, Do No Harm, in March!

Heller is Collins’ fictional detective who finds himself involved with famous murder cases.  Heller has been in the mix on everything from the Lindbergh baby kidnapping/murder to the suspicious death of Marilyn Monroe and so much more.  Along the way, Heller meets, fights and sometimes gets involved with famous and infamous celebrities.  As the years go by Heller ages, creating a unique reading experience.  Here’s an impressive timeline of Heller’s life and cases thus far.

Ah, but I digress; back to Do No Harm.  Here’s the synopsis…

Do No Harm is the latest mystery in the Nathan Heller series by New York Times bestselling author Max Allan Collins.

It’s 1954 and Heller takes on the Sam Sheppard case―a young doctor is startled from sleep and discovers his wife brutally murdered. He claims that a mysterious intruder killed his wife. But all the evidence points to a disturbed husband who has grown tired of married life and yearned to be free at all costs. Sheppard is swiftly convicted and sent to rot in prison.

Just how firm was the evidence…and was it tampered with to fit a convenient narrative to settle scores and push political agendas? Nathan’s old friend Elliot Ness calls in a favor and as Nathan digs into the case he becomes convinced of Sheppard’s innocence. But Nate can’t prove it and has to let the case drop.

The road to justice is sometimes a long one. Heller’s given another chance years later and this time he’s determined to free the man…even if it brings his own death a bit closer.

Each new Nate Heller is like a visit with an old friend who takes me behind the scenes on real life murder mysteries.  At the end of each Heller tale, Collins provides a detailed bibliography and explains where his novel deviated from the facts (if at all).  I can’t wait for our next visit.

Max Allan Collins’ Interview: Nate Heller, Batman, Quarry, Wild Dog and More!

Max Allan Collins is one of my favorite novelists.  Collins’ Nathan Heller historical novels are buy-as-soon-as-they-come-out must reads.

Collins discusses…

  • the soon to be released trade for Wild Dog [co-created with artist Terry Beatty]
  • Ms. Tree [also co-created with Terry Beatty]
  • the upcoming Quarry tv show [based on Collins’ hitman Quarry novels]

Rare Marilyn Monroe + Nate Heller

Would you like to see some rare photos of Marilyn Monroe taken in 1953 when she was filming [my favorite] Monroe film, River of No Return [with Robert Mitchum]?  Thanks to The Huffington Post, you can.

If you have any interest in Marilyn Monroe and/or  historical fiction you should check out Bye Bye, Baby by Max Allan Collins.  It’s one of my favorite Nate Heller books and they are all excellent.

 

TOO MANY BULLETS (Nathan Heller) by Max Allan Collins!

Max Allan Collins’ Nate Heller series is one of my favorites. Collins takes famous murders, thoroughly  researches them and then sticks Nate Heller in the middle of things.  It’s cool seeing Heller (who ages in real time through the series) interacting with famous people in cases and often with an ending not quite like what we’ve come to believe.  Collins always includes an afterward with insights and a bibliography.

Collins latest Nate Heller yarn is TOO MANY BULLETS.  Here’s the lowdown…

Acclaimed “True Crime” detective Nathan Heller, whose cases have sold more than 1 million copies, returns to uncover the secrets behind Robert F. Kennedy’s 1968 assassination in this brand-new novel from bestselling ROAD TO PERDITION author Max Allan Collins.

In 1968, Nate Heller is there when Robert Kennedy is shot at the Ambassador Hotel. Heller takes it upon himself to investigate the murder when a friend of his and Bobby’s raises doubts about the LAPD’s investigation. Heller strongly suspects the involvement of Jimmy Hoffa (currently imprisoned), but Hoffa seems to be in the clear as the private eye looks into the possible presence of CIA enemies of RFK’s on the murder night, the apparent manipulation of Sirhan Sirhan into a Manchurian Candidate-style assassin, and a probable second shooter.

Better Dead: A Nathan Heller Thriller by Max Allan Collins

Better Dead: A Nathan Heller Thriller by Max Allan Collins

Publisher: Mysterious Press

First sentence…

I was there when the Commies took over.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Better Dead is actually two interconnected novellas.

In the first Nathan Heller is hired to find evidence to exonerate Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, a married couple sentenced to die for providing Russia with secret information on how to build nuclear bombs.  Senator Joe McCarthy, who is leading the hunt for American Commies, wants Heller to serve as a double agent and provide him with whatever information Heller learns about the Rosenbergs.  Before long Heller is on the wrong side of government agents and gangsters and a possible death sentence of his own.

In the second story, Heller learns about government-funded mind control experiments on unknowing subjects from a scientist who has a change of heart.  When the scientist turns up missing, Heller knows that he’s next up unless he can figure a way out.

I’m a huge fan of Max Allan Collins’ Nate Heller series.  Heller is a fictional detective who finds himself in the middle of real crimes.  Heller ages as the series progresses and fiction is mixed with extensive research and historical fact.  It’s fun watching Heller interact with famous (and infamous) folks right out of our history books.  Equally enjoyable is Collins’ take on the crimes and what may have really happened (if it is not as we’ve been taught).

In Better Dead Heller interacts with Joe McCarthy, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, Roy Cohen, Bettie Page, Bobby Kennedy and others.  I also like that Heller in these outings is a bit more hardboiled.  Perhaps it’s the decade.

Better Dead is another great addition to the Nate Heller legacy.  I’m hoping for more!

Rating:

Angel in Black: A Nathan Heller Novel by Max Allan Collins / Z-View

Angel in Black: A Nathan Heller Novel by Max Allan Collins  (2001)

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: NAL

First sentence…

The two pieces of her lay porcelain-white in the ankle-high grass and weeds of a vacant lot on South Norton Avenue, like the upper and lower sections of a discarded marionette.

 

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

I’m a sucker for the Nate Heller series by Max Allan Collins.  Heller is a detective who finds himself involved in famous murder cases.  Collins is a stickler for historical accuracy and has created a timeline and plausible setting that allows Heller to find himself (over the course of the series) mixed up in everything from the Lindbergh baby murder to the assassination of JFK!

This time out Heller ends up at the scene of the Black Dahlia murder and discovers that he had dated her in Chicago just months before her murder.  She had told him she was pregnant and he was the father… then disappeared.  Since Heller had since married her murder could ruin his marriage, his career and makes him the number one suspect in her death.  Heller must stay a step ahead of the reporters and the law and find out who killed the Black Dahlia before he ends up taking the fall.

Rating:

THE BIG BUNDLE by Max Allan Collins / Z-View

THE BIG BUNDLE by Max Allan Collins

Publisher: Hard Case Crime

First sentence…

A middle-aged man taking stock of his life is to be expected.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

When Nate Heller is called in to assist authorities, he has reason for concern.  Six-year-old Bobby Greenlease was kidnapped nearly a week ago.  The kidnappers demanded $600,000 (a record ransom at that time) for the little boy’s safe return.  The ransom amount isn’t the concern.  Bobby’s daddy is a millionaire.  He can easily afford the demand.  Further he’s more than willing to pay for his son’s safe return.  Heller’s concern is the kidnappers are idiots.  They’ve already bungled a drop-off.  Stupid criminals make stupid mistakes.  Heller fears that Bobby is already dead.

Bobby’s dad insists on no F.B.I. or police interference when the cash is dropped off.

I won’t give away the outcome of the case other than to say, when the ransom money is recovered, $300,000 is missing.

Five years later, Heller is called back to revisit the case.  Who ended up with the missing $300,000?  As Heller digs into the evidence he discovers that both Bobby Kennedy and Jimmy Hoffa are interested in his findings.  And not for the same reasons.  People are murdered as Heller get closer to the truth.  He could be next.

+++++

I’m a huge fan of Max Allan Collins’ Nate Heller series.  Heller is a fictional detective who finds himself in the middle of real crimes.  Heller ages in real time as the series progresses. His tales are fiction based on extensive research and historical fact. Heller has been in the mix on everything from the Lindbergh baby kidnapping/murder to the suspicious death of Marilyn Monroe, to the Kennedy assassinations (both Jack and Bobby) and more. It’s fun watching Heller interact with famous (and infamous) folks right out of our history books. Equally enjoyable is Collins’ take on the crimes and what may have really happened.

I’m usually familiar with Nate Heller’s cases.  I wasn’t with this one.  Not knowing how the kidnapping would turn out (and Collins’ excellent writing) kept me turning pages.  Then once the kidnapping is resolved, the mystery of the missing $300,000 comes into play.  THE BIG BUNDLE is like two Nate Heller yarns in one.  It doesn’t get any better.

THE BIG BUNDLE is another great addition to the Nate Heller legacy.  It gets my highest recommendation.

Rating:

TOO MANY BULLETS by Max Allan Collins / Z-View

TOO MANY BULLETS by Max Allan Collins

Publisher: Titan Books

First sentence…

At the end of this narrative, certain guilty people go free.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

When Robert Kennedy asks Nate Heller to be his bodyguard, Heller agrees.  How could he refuse?  Nate and Bobby had been friends for years.  Plus security is a service that Heller and his agency provides.  Nate agreed even when Bobby’s demands made protecting him nearly impossible.  “No guns” and Nate as the only bodyguard. That’s how Nate Heller came to be present when Robert Kennedy was assassinated.

Of course the conspiracy theories started almost immediately.  The same people who killed John Kennedy got to Robert.  It was the mafia, the C.I.A., the… you fill in the blank.  It was a conspiracy.  There’s no way it was a lone gunman.  Heller didn’t buy into any of it.  He was there.  Hell, he was one of the first to grab Sirhan Sirhan as the little murderer was still firing.  No, they got the right guy.

Then Heller begins to hear things that don’t add up.  The number of bullets for instance.  By almost every account, there were more bullets fired than Sirhan’s gun could hold.  There were witnesses who saw more than one gunman.  Their reports were dismissed without merit.  Plus Sirhan Sirhan’s lawyer didn’t present evidence that could have brought doubt as to if he acted alone.  Then there were the questionable characters all around the periphery of the assassination.  Even though Nate was there, he was starting to have questions.

So Nate Heller decides to do his own investigation.  What he discovers isn’t in any history book and just might get him killed.

+++++

I’m a huge fan of Max Allan Collins’ Nate Heller series.  Heller is a fictional detective who finds himself in the middle of real crimes.  Heller ages in real time as the series progresses. His tales are fiction mixed with extensive research and historical fact. Heller has been in the mix on everything from the Lindbergh baby kidnapping/murder to the suspicious death of Marilyn Monroe and much more. It’s fun watching Heller interact with famous (and infamous) folks right out of our history books. Equally enjoyable is Collins’ take on the crimes and what may have really happened.

TOO MANY BULLETS is another great addition to the Nate Heller legacy.  It gets my highest recommendation.

Rating:

Max Allan Collins Drops a Dime

Max Allan Collins recently spoke with The Rap Sheet and they covered a wide range of topics.  Here are a few tidbits [with a link to full interview]…

…like a lot of Americans, he [Mickey Spillane] was deeply troubled by the terrorist attacks on September 11, and I think he just had to get Mike Hammer into that fray. But as much as I like Goliath Bone, I think King of the Weeds, with its traditional crime elements, feels more like the final Hammer novel.

The amount of unfinished, unpublished material Mickey left behind was and is staggering. Even now I haven’t read every word of it.

JKP: I understand you’re also now working on a Western, based on an unproduced screenplay Mickey Spillane wrote originally for actor John Wayne. Can you fill in more of the background on that particular tale, which you’ve titled The Legend of Caleb York? MAC: …Over a Bouchercon breakfast I said, “You know what I have? An unproduced screenplay Mickey Spillane wrote for John Wayne. You guys publish Westerns, right?” And my editor sort of pounced.

The interview also covers the next Nate Heller books [and potential tv series], the Quarry books [and potential tv series – the pilot has been filmed] and much more.

The Rap Sheet interview is worth a read!

Max Allan Collins, Chris Mills & Nolan


Don’t you love the look of the new editions of Max Allan Collins’ Nolan crime novels coming for Perfect Crime Books?  For those not in the know, Nolan is an aging thief and Max Allan Collins is the author of the Nate Heller series, the Quarry series, and many, many other books.  I’ve never read anything that wasn’t excellent that was written by Max Allan Collins.   

Oh, by the way, our buddy, Chris Mills designed the Nolan covers and did a fantastic job.  Take a bow, Chris!

Marilyn Monroe: 30 Classic Images

About a month ago we posted a link to some rare photos of Marilyn Monroe taken in 1953 when she was filming [my favorite Monroe film], River of No Return [with Robert Mitchum]? The link cam thanks to The Huffington Post.

If you have any interest in Marilyn Monroe and/or historical fiction you should check out Bye Bye, Baby by Max Allan Collins. It’s one of my favorite Nate Heller books and they are all excellent.

Bruce Lee Gets the Criterion Collection Treatment!

Bruce Lee is getting the Criterion Collection treatment and his fans are going to love it.  The seven-disc Blu-ray box set will contain Lee’s greatest hits (The Big Boss / Fist of Fury / The Way of the Dragon / Enter the Dragon / Game of Death) and will be chock full of special features, including alternate versions of the films, interviews, documentaries and much more!

Here’s some of what the seven disc Special Edition will feature…

  • 4K digital restorations of The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, Game of Death, and The Way of the Dragon, with uncompressed original monaural soundtracks
  • New 2K digital restoration of the rarely-seen 99-minute 1973 theatrical version of Enter the Dragon, with uncompressed original monaural soundtrack
  • 2K digital restoration of the 102-minute “special-edition” version of Enter the Dragon
  • Alternate audio soundtracks for the films, including original English-dubbed tracks and a 5.1 surround soundtrack for the special-edition version of Enter the Dragon
  • Six audio commentaries: on The Big Boss by Bruce Lee expert Brandon Bentley; on The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, Game of Death, and The Way of the Dragon by Hong Kong–film expert Mike Leeder; and on the special-edition version of Enter the Dragon by producer Paul Heller
  • High-definition presentation of Game of Death II, the 1981 sequel to Game of Death
  • Game of Death Redux, a new presentation of Lee’s original Game of Death footage, produced by Alan Canvan
  • New interviews on all five films with Lee biographer Matthew Polly
  • New interview with producer Andre Morgan about Golden Harvest, the company behind Hong Kong’s top martial-arts stars, including Lee
  • New program about English-language dubbing with voice performers Michael Kaye (the English-speaking voice of Lee’s Chen Zhen in Fist of Fury) and Vaughan Savidge
  • New interview with author Grady Hendrix about the “Bruceploitation” subgenre that followed Lee’s death, and a selection of Bruceploitation trailers
  • Blood and Steel, a 2004 documentary about the making of Enter the Dragon
  • Multiple programs and documentaries about Lee’s life and philosophies, including Bruce Lee: The Man and the Legend (1973) and Bruce Lee: In His Own Words (1998)
  • Interviews with Linda Lee Cadwell, Lee’s widow, and many of Lee’s collaborators and admirers, including actors Jon T. Benn, Riki Hashimoto, Nora Miao, Robert Wall, Yuen Wah, and Simon Yam and directors Clarence Fok, Sammo Hung, and Wong Jing
  • Promotional materials
  • New English subtitle translations and subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by critic Jeff Chang

Bruce Lee’s Greatest Hits: The Criterion Collection will be available July 14, 2020.