Movie Review: The Sweeney (2012)

Movie Review: The Sweeney (2012) Note:  This review contains SPOILERS for the end of the movie. Jack Regan (Ray Winstone) is the field leader of an elite police unit nicknamed “the Sweeney.”  They’re a “Flying Squad” (mobile unit not tied to a specific location) of armed police, specializing in battling armed robbery gangs.  Unlike most… Continue reading Movie Review: The Sweeney (2012)

TV Review: Lock-Up

TV Review: Lock-Up Lock-Up was a 1959-1961 crime drama loosely based on the files of real-life attorney Herbert L. Maris.  Mr. Maris was played by Macdonald Carey, and John Doucette played police lieutenant Jim Weston, depicted as Maris’ best friend. Herbert Maris was actually a specialist in corporate law who sometimes championed people who’d been… Continue reading TV Review: Lock-Up

TV Review: Michael Shayne

TV Review: Michael Shayne Michael Shayne is a private detective who works out of Miami.  He was created in 1939 by Brett Halliday (pen name of David Dresser) for the novel Dividend On Death.  He went on to star in a long-running book series (the later ones produced under the Halliday house name by other authors),… Continue reading TV Review: Michael Shayne

Book Review: The Third Chimpanzee for Young People

Book Review: The Third Chimpanzee for Young People by Jared Diamond, adapted by Rebecca Stefoff Disclosure:  I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. This is a young adult version of Jared Diamond’s The Third Chimpanzee, originally printed in 1992.  I have not read that book, so will… Continue reading Book Review: The Third Chimpanzee for Young People

Book Review: Wounded Tiger

Book Review: Wounded Tiger by T. Martin Bennett Disclosure:  I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. Mitsuo Fuchida was the flight leader in the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Jacob DeShazer was a bombardier who participated in the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo.  The Covell family were missionaries.  This… Continue reading Book Review: Wounded Tiger

Book Review: Deathless

Book Review: Deathless  by Catherynne M. Valente Marya Morevna is not like the other girls in Saint Petersburg/Petrograd/Leningrad.   She sees the husbands of her sisters while they are still birds.   But times are changing in Russia, now the Union of Soviet Socialistic Republics.   The People have no time for magic, and Marya… Continue reading Book Review: Deathless

TV Review: The Cases of Eddie Drake/Code 3

TV Review: The Cases of Eddie Drake/Code 3 The Cases of Eddie Drake was a private eye series broadcast on the DuMont network in 1952.  The framing device was that psychiatrist Dr. Karen Gayle (Patricia Morison) was writing a book on criminal psychology, and paid Eddie Drake (Don Haggerty) to tell her about his cases.… Continue reading TV Review: The Cases of Eddie Drake/Code 3

TV Review: Alfred Hitchcock Presents

TV Review: Alfred Hitchcock Presents This half-hour anthology program ran from 1955-1962, when it was replaced by The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.  The series concentrated on suspense stories, with rare supernatural elements (and even these usually explained by the end of the story.)  Mr. Hitchcock himself would appear as the host to introduce the episode, crack a… Continue reading TV Review: Alfred Hitchcock Presents

Book Review: Washington Masquerade

Book Review: Washington Masquerade by Warren Adler Disclaimer:  I received this book as part of a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. When Adam Burns, a vitriolic newspaper columnist who savaged the U.S. President at every opportunity, is found dead under suspicious circumstances, the media immediately picks up the “government conspiracy”… Continue reading Book Review: Washington Masquerade

Book Review: Splatterlands

Book Review: Splatterlands edited by Anthony Rivera and Sharon Lawson Disclaimer:  I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. According to Wikipedia, “splatterpunk” was a movement in horror writing between roughly 1985 and 1995,  distinguished by its graphic and often gory descriptions of violence and attempts to… Continue reading Book Review: Splatterlands