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Reading a Dresden Files tale is like engaging in a conversation with a good friend: it fills the time with quality conversation and worthy companionship. Out Law: A Dresden Files Novella, by the one-and-only Jim Butcher, meets this standard squarely. Baron John Marcone, Harry’s mortal nemesis, offers the wizard a chance to repay an old debt, which involves helping one of the crime boss’s underlings go straight. But, as usual, this offer is not what it seems. Layers unpeel lik

I’ll be attending BaltiCon 60 this month in Baltimore, Maryland, and I’ve devised a marketing strategy. Of course, I’ll abide by Jim Butcher’s advice, which he gave me a few months ago during one of my writers’ group meetings, which involves conversing with others without talking about my potential authorship or my books. But I have another approach as well. As you can see, I had t-shirts printed, advertising The Ectoverse—thanks, VistaPrint—as well as business cards. I wil

I am currently reading Out Law: A Dresden Files Novella, by Jim Butcher. What can I say? It’s Jim Butcher. I look forward to this book with relish. I’ll share my thoughts when I’m through.

There’s nothing like watching a trainwreck: everything is in slow motion—the derailment, the toppling, the accordioning and piling up of train cars—but, knowing exactly what’s coming, you watch anyway, fascinated, enthralled, bewildered. These were my thoughts as I read Midnight Cowboy, by James Leo Herlihy. But, surprisingly, it ended with such a whisper—a whimper, even—that I forgot that the train was crashing. This is not a bad thing. As mentioned, I chose to read this nov

Like all writers, I'm sure, I want to be published. And I am: I have three short stories published, one in an urban fantasy monthly magazine, Dirty Magick, and two in my friend Brian McKinley’s anthology, Drawing Blood Volume One. (You can see it, and perhaps purchase it, in the Books Section on my website). And I only started seriously putting effort into my writing less than two years ago. A good start, right? But more to the point, I want my book traditionally published. I

Because I will be viewing the movie this week with my Weekly Movie Club—where a bunch of old college friends and I get together on Zoom every Sunday evening to discuss a movie—I have decided to read the novel Midnight Cowboy by James Leo Herlihy before watching the film version. As usual, I’ll share my thoughts when I’m through.

I’ve read a lot of horror novels—although it’s not a preferred genre of mine—and I’ve seen many horror and violent action films. So much that I thought I’d seen it all. I didn’t. Charlie Huston’s Every Last Drop (Joe Pitt Casebooks Book 4) plunges into the depths of what is considered horrific events and stomach-churning situations. Huston is no stranger to brutal violence. His Henry Thompson Trilogy also illustrates hard brutality. The author deploys an almost clinical voice

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a problem, mostly because many of us don’t know exactly what to make of it. Or what to do with it. Or how it works. Yet, we ask, “Will it take away our jobs?” Or, “Will it replicate—or, gods forbid, replace—humanity?” Will it take over the world!?!?!?!?! These same questions have been asked for centuries. About technology. Since the Industrial Revolution, technologies have been introduced to make jobs and human lives easier. However, the only e

Of the long list of actors who portrayed Phillip Marlowe on screen—including Humphrey Bogart, Robert Mitchum, and Powers Boothe—I’ve never thought that Elliot Gould (Ocean’s Eleven) would fit the bill. Mostly because the other actors playing the iconic private eye worked well as all-around tough guys. Don’t get me wrong, Gould had the cynicism, and he certainly was a wiseass, but I had to be convinced that he would be believable as Raymond Chandler’s famous PI. I wasn’t convi

I love me a good violent action movie, but only in small doses, only if it’s done well, and only in special circumstances. Mayhem (2017) fits this bill perfectly. The action is evenly distributed; the violence is brutal, but not over-the-top or cartoonish, while the pacing is fast but not exhausting. Everything works in this film. Directed by Joe Lynch (Creepshow) and written by Matias Caruso (The Dollmaker), Mayhem uses the common, if not overused, trope of a mysterious viru

The Blues Brothers (1980) is the kind of movie that can get anybody out of a foul mood. It’s so ridiculous and fun, and it was obvious that everyone involved had a blast making it. Where else can you have a car chase through a shopping mall, numerous—and I mean numerous—police car pileups, and the petite Carrie Fisher wielding a rocket launcher? The damned thing was bigger than she was! Dan Akroyd (Ghostbusters), co-writer and co-star, called the film “a road movie interrupte

What is it about images of snowy landscapes that evoke a sense of bleakness? Even when dotted with leafless trees and other sparse vegetation, feelings of desolation—even hopelessness—rise to the surface. And what does the addition of a lone figure traversing said elements add to this? Or subtract from it? Is it simply juxtaposition? Or a refreshing feeling of hope? Does this person symbolize faith? Or signify misplaced optimism? These thoughts still stir around in my brain a

There’s nothing like a good vampire/noir tale to cleanse the palette. Wow, did the last book I read suck! Every Last Drop: Joe Pitt Casebooks #4, by Charlie Huston, is a novel I expect to enjoy, given that I enjoyed the three installments preceding it. As usual, I’ll share my thoughts when I’m through (and I expect them to be good ones).

Wow. What an absolute piece of tripe! In Pinkertons, Prostitutes, and Spies: The Civil War Adventures of Secret Agents Timothy Webster and Hattie Lawton, John Stewart, the author, sends many punches Allan Pinkerton’s way, but none of them land. None of them. Stewart’s biggest problem with Pinkerton, especially his book, The Spy of the Rebellion (1883), is that the original detective makes bogus claims, introduces false events—and even false people—and tells flat-out lies. Ste

The Pinkerton Detective Agency has always fascinated me. This might be a result of my interest in mystery novels, or vice versa. Pinkertons, Prostitutes and Spies: The Civil War Adventures of Secret Agents Timothy Webster and Hattie Lawton, by John Stewart, contends to be a history filled with tales of danger, intrigue, and treachery, as well as a chronicle of mysteries. Which is right up my alley. Of course, I’ll share my thoughts when I’m done reading.

I’m no fan of hard science fiction, mostly because the science (fiction) therein can befuddle me, and I’ll find myself rereading passages just to get the gist of things. This was the case for Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, but the rest of the narrative is so well-written, accessible, and even heartwarming that, at times, the science did not matter. Essentially, the world is going to end, thanks to microscopic organisms that eat the sun. Yes, that sun, our sun. A multinationa

Having seen the original Toxic Avenger (1984) a long while back, I was interested in seeing the remake, especially what Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones), Elijah Wood (LOTR), and Kevin Bacon (Footloose) could do with it. I was highly entertained, joyously grossed out (and this wasn’t even the unrated version), and weirdly satisfied. The film tickled me, with its blend of camp and violence: one which was witty, the other, over the top and ridiculous (only practical special effe

Peter O’Toole is such a wonder to watch, a master to witness, a phenomenon to behold. The landmark roles he’s played—Colonel T.E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Henry II in The Lion in Winter (1968), and Henry II in Becket (1964), to name a few—are timeless portrayals, benchmarks that all aspiring actors should pursue. He’s just as remarkable, just as fantastic, just as perfect in My Favorite Year (1982), where not only does he steal every scene he’s in, he has a wond

I am currently reading the science fiction novel, Hail Mary, by Andy Weir. I look forward to reading this book with relish. After that p.o.c. I just finished reading, I need a good, complex, sophisticated speculative fiction novel to sink my teeth into. As usual, I’ll share my thoughts when I’m through.

Have you ever found yourself reading a book and encountering one event, one plot point, one small detail, and say, “What the f*&k?” I did so reading Coming In Hot: A Piper Harris Mystery, Volume 1, by Deany Ray. And it happened early on. The plot involves Piper Harris and her grandmother being relocated via WITSEC to a retirement village in Florida. Both of them originally lived in Oregon, where they were “employees” of a biker gang called the Falcons—a gang under serious scr