Book Review: Sherlock Holmes: The Crossovers Casebook

Book Review: Sherlock Holmes: The Crossovers Casebook edited by Howard Hopkins One of the fun things about fan fiction is the “crossover.”  That’s where two separate fictional worlds are combined in the same story, which is generally impossible in the source material.  Having the Enterprise crew battle the Daleks, Sailor Moon teaming up with the Brady… Continue reading Book Review: Sherlock Holmes: The Crossovers Casebook

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

TV Review: Decoy | The Shadow

TV Review: Decoy | The Shadow Decoy is a 1957-58 series about Casey Jones (Beverly Garland), a female police officer in New York City.  She often goes undercover, thus the series title.  This show is noteworthy as the first TV cop series to star a woman in the lead role.  Like Dragnet, the series fictionalized real… Continue reading TV Review: Decoy | The Shadow

Book Review: The Avenger: Roaring Heart of the Crucible

Book Review: The Avenger: Roaring Heart of the Crucible edited by Nancy Holder & Joe Gentile Moonstone Books is a publisher that specializes in new material about pulp magazine characters.  This is their third anthology of stories about Richard Henry Benson, the Avenger, and his organization, Justice, Inc. For those who have not heard of the… Continue reading Book Review: The Avenger: Roaring Heart of the Crucible

Book Review: The Saint: The Man Who was Clever

Book Review: The Saint: The Man Who was Clever by Leslie Charteris, with art by Dave Bryant Simon Templar, the Saint, was created by Leslie Charteris in the late 1920s and went on to become a major franchise.  Mr. Templar (not his birth name) was a roguish young man with a murky past, and a… Continue reading Book Review: The Saint: The Man Who was Clever

Magazine Review: Out of the Gutter #7

Magazine Review: Out of the Gutter #7 (Winter 2010) Back in the day, the low-cost entertainment option of choice was the pulp magazine.  It contained fast, exciting stories on cruddy paper–a lowbrow art form that is still fondly remembered by some.  “Out of the Gutter” tries to be somewhat in that tradition. This is the… Continue reading Magazine Review: Out of the Gutter #7

Book Review: Good Advice from Bad People

Book Review: Good Advice from Bad People: Selected Wisdom from Murderers, Stock Swindlers and Lance Armstrong by Zac Bissonnette Disclaimer:  I received this book from a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. People love to give advice.  Maxims, moral pronouncements, proverbs and detailed instructions on how other people should live their… Continue reading Book Review: Good Advice from Bad People

Book Review: Blood Aces

Book Review: Blood Aces: The Wild Ride of Benny Binion, the Texas Gangster who Created Vegas Poker by Doug J. Swanson Disclaimer:  I received this book as part of a Goodreads giveaway in the expectation that I would review it.  This was an Advance Uncorrected Proof copy, and there will be changes to the final… Continue reading Book Review: Blood Aces

Book Review: Strangers of Different Ink

Book Review: Strangers of Different Ink edited by Richard & Allen Okewole Disclaimer:  I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. This anthology of short stories appears to be primarily by authors in the Philadelphia area.  Other than that, there doesn’t seem to be a particular theme,… Continue reading Book Review: Strangers of Different Ink

Book Review: In the Wet

Book Review: In the Wet by Nevil Shute This is rather an odd book by the author of On the Beach and A Town Like Alice.  It starts as the story of Roger Hargreaves, an aging Anglican priest in Northern Australia in the 1950s.  In the course of his parish duties,  Father Hargreaves meets a colorful local… Continue reading Book Review: In the Wet