Book Review: Cooked to Death edited by Rhonda Gilliland and Michael Allan Mallory Let’s return to the world of themed anthologies, a quick way to get a sample of various authors writing on a particular topic. In this case, it’s primarily Minnesota and other Midwestern writers doing crime and mystery short stories around the topic… Continue reading Book Review: Cooked to Death
Tag: frame jobs
Book Review: Gene Autry and the Ghost Riders
Book Review: Gene Autry and the Ghost Riders by Lewis B. Patten Gene Autry (1907-1998) was one of the world’s great cowboy singers, who did well in live performances, record sales, radio, movies and television. You may remember him from such classic songs as “Back in the Saddle Again” or “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Like… Continue reading Book Review: Gene Autry and the Ghost Riders
Manga Review: Orochi the Perfect Edition Vol. 3
Manga Review: Orochi the Perfect Edition Vol. 3 by Kazuo Umezz Quick recap: Orochi is a mysterious, seemingly unageing woman with vaguely-defined supernatural abilities. She wanders around Japan observing bizarre occurrences in humans’ lives, and sometimes interfering in them. As of yet, we know nothing of her own past or why she does what she… Continue reading Manga Review: Orochi the Perfect Edition Vol. 3
Book Review: Branded West
Book Review: Branded West edited by Don Ward The Western Writers of America were founded in 1953 to promote literature related to the American West. It started with primarily traditional Western fiction, but also promotes historical and non-fiction works and even songs. It has an annual prize called the Spur Awards. But this collection published… Continue reading Book Review: Branded West
Book Review: The Hills of Homicide
Book Review: The Hills of Homicide by Louis L’Amour Before he landed the contracts that were to make him America’s most beloved Western writer, Louis L’Amour tried his hand at various other genres of pulp fiction. But the pulp magazine market was drying up, so it was generally a good thing he found other work.… Continue reading Book Review: The Hills of Homicide
Comic Book Review: Astro City Metrobook 4
Comic Book Review: Astro City Metrobook 4 written by Kurt Busiek, art by Brent Anderson, covers by Alex Ross Astro City is filled with superheroes and supervillains. But it’s also filled with ordinary people trying to live their ordinary lives in an extraordinary world. Both these groups have stories to tell. This independent “universe” was… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Astro City Metrobook 4
Magazine Review: High Adventure #190: H. Bedford-Jones – Adventure
Magazine Review: High Adventure #190: H. Bedford-Jones – Adventure edited by John P. Gunnison This issue of the pulp reprint magazine collects three stories from the multiple typewriters of prolific author Henry James O’Brien Bedford-Jones (1887-1949). He was born in Canada, but moved to the United States in his teens and became a naturalized citizen… Continue reading Magazine Review: High Adventure #190: H. Bedford-Jones – Adventure
TV Review: Doctor Who: The Two Doctors
TV Review: Doctor Who: The Two Doctors directed by Peter Moffat One of the fun things you can do in a long-running series about time travel that regularly replaces the main character’s actor is have “crossover” episodes where more than one version of that main character team up. Doctor Who had already done this with… Continue reading TV Review: Doctor Who: The Two Doctors
Magazine Review: Hooded Detective January 1942
Magazine Review: Hooded Detective January 1942 The Black Hood was one of the superheroes created for the MLJ (later Archie) Comics line, first appearing in Top-Notch Comics #9 in 1940. Matthew Kipling “Kip” Burland was originally a rookie cop who was framed for grand larceny and injured to near death by a criminal known as… Continue reading Magazine Review: Hooded Detective January 1942
Book Review: The Big Book of Victorian Mysteries
Book Review: The Big Book of Victorian Mysteries edited by Otto Penzler While stories that could be considered “mysteries” in some sense have existed as long as writing, and perhaps a bit before, the short story mystery came into its own during the lifetime of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). This volume collects forty-nine notable stories from… Continue reading Book Review: The Big Book of Victorian Mysteries