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: Kitty Genovese

Book Review: Kitty Genovese: A True Account of a Public Murder and Its Private Consequences by Catherine Pelonero Disclaimer:  I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. I am not quite old enough to have any firsthand memories of the coverage of the March 13, 1964 murder… Continue reading Book Review: Kitty Genovese

Book Review: Hunting Season: Immigration and Murder in an All-American Town

Book Review: Hunting Season: Immigration and Murder in an All-American Town by Mirta Ojito Disclaimer:  I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. In 2008, an Ecuadorian immigrant, Marcelo Lucero, was murdered by a group of teenagers in Patchouge,  New York.  They had been looking for “Mexicans”… Continue reading Book Review: Hunting Season: Immigration and Murder in an All-American Town

Book Review: Kiss Your Elbow

Book Review: Kiss Your Elbow by Alan Handley Before Harlequin became the go-to publisher for romance paperbacks, it published other genres as well, primarily trashy crime novels with steamy bits.  As part of the publisher’s 60th anniversary, it’s reprinting some of these early works, including the one being reviewed here. Tim Briscoe is an actor in late… Continue reading Book Review: Kiss Your Elbow

Book Review: USA Noir

Book Review: USA Noir edited by Johnny Temple Disclaimer:  I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it.  This was an Advanced Reading Copy, and small changes may be made in the final product. “Noir”, here, is short for noir fiction, a form of hard-boiled crime fiction by… Continue reading Book Review: USA Noir

Book Review: The Spider #7

Book Review: The Spider #7 by Grant Stockbridge When the Shadow kickstarted the pulp hero magazines in the 1930s, it was no surprise that a similar character, the Spider, was featured at a rival publishing house.  Written under house name Grant Stockbridge (usually Norvell Page), the Spider was wealthy socialite and amateur criminologist Richard Wentworth.… Continue reading Book Review: The Spider #7

Comic Book Review: King of Crooks

Comic Book Review: King of Crooks by Jerry Siegel, Ted Cowan & Reg Bunn A master safecracker is surrounded by the police after a job gone wrong, when a mysterious man in black offers him safety and wealth, in exchange for his absolute obedience.  This is the Spider (no relation), a master criminal of great… Continue reading Comic Book Review: King of Crooks

Book Review: Nick Carter Volume 1

Book Review: Nick Carter Volume 1 Nick Carter, master detective, is a character with a long history, in three distinct phases.  He started in 1886 in stories most associated with the dime novels, was reinvented in 1933 for the pulps, and then again in 1964 as “Nick Carter Killmaster” for a long running series of… Continue reading Book Review: Nick Carter Volume 1

TV Review: Northwest Passage

TV Review: Northwest Passage This 1958 television series is set during the French & Indian War (1756-1763).  A Colonial militia named Roger’s Rangers battle the perfidious French and their Native American allies in what later became upstate New York and Quebec.  Both this series and the 1940 movie were based on a 1937 novel.  (The… Continue reading TV Review: Northwest Passage