Book Review: The Black Lizard Big Book of Locked-Room Mysteries

Book Review: The Black Lizard Big Book of Locked-Room Mysteries edited by Otto Penzler The title of this volume is slightly misleading; “locked room” stands in for the general idea of impossible crimes in mystery stories.  A man  is found stabbed in the back in a windowless room with the door locked from the inside.… Continue reading Book Review: The Black Lizard Big Book of Locked-Room Mysteries

Book Review: The Cryptic Case of the Coded Fair

Book Review: The Cryptic Case of the Coded Fair by Barbara & Robert Tinker with Pendred Noyce, illustrated by Yu-Yu Chin Disclaimer:  I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. Once again the Galactic Academy of Science must reach out to kids from the 21st Century to… Continue reading Book Review: The Cryptic Case of the Coded Fair

Magazine Review: Conjunctions: 51 The Death Issue

Magazine Review:  Conjunctions: 51 The Death Issue edited by David Shields and Bradford Morrow Conjunctions is a literary journal published twice a year by Bard College.  Each issue contains essays, short fiction, poetry and less classifiable writing on a given subject, with this issue being about death.  Literary journals tend to have a connotation of… Continue reading Magazine Review: Conjunctions: 51 The Death Issue

Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents the Great Disaster Featuring the Atomic Knights

Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents the Great Disaster Featuring the Atomic Knights by too many to list.  Trust me, a lot of great names. Between the late 1940s and somewhere in the 1990s, one of the most pervasive fears of the American public was atomic war. For the first time in known history, humans were… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents the Great Disaster Featuring the Atomic Knights

TV Review: Man with a Camera

TV Review: Man with a Camera Mike Kovac (Charles Bronson) is a World War Two veteran who works as a freelance photographer.  He’s a tough fellow who’s known for getting the shots other shutterbugs can’t make.  As a result, he’s often called in to help investigate incidents for newspapers and private citizens.  Mike is aided… Continue reading TV Review: Man with a Camera

Anime Review: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood/Battle Tendency

Anime Review: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood/Battle Tendency This 2012 anime series was based on the first two story arcs of the manga by Hirohiko Araki.  The series as a whole deals with the bizarre adventures of the extensive Joestar family, with protagonists having repeated “Jo” sounds in their names, thus “Jojo.” Phantom Blood takes… Continue reading Anime Review: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood/Battle Tendency