Double Dose of Max Collins Plus One Comic Book

Fiction

Lady, Go Die by Max Allan Collins and Mickey Spillane.  The long lost sequel to Spillane's I, the Jury.  Spillane wrote this one after I, the Jury came out in 1947 but he shelved the manuscript.  Collins has been taking old Spillane manuscripts and finishing them.  Sometime Collins just has to polish up a draft.  Other times Collins does a lot more work with a partial manuscript.  Collins has done press and interviews to promote Lady but I've ignored it all to avoid any spoilers before I read the novel.

Antiques Bizarre by Barbara Allan.  Barbara is Max Allan Collins's wife.  They collaborate on this cozy mystery series. I spoke very briefly to Barbara at Bouchercon.  She is a very nice lady.

The Columbus Affair by Steve Berry.  This is supposed to be quite good.  A thriller with a kidnapping and search for 500-year-old secret.

Wild Thing by Josh Bazell.  I don't remember what this is about.  Let's take a look...oh, yeah.  A former mob hit man in hiding in Minnesota helps a paleontologist in trouble.  This, too, is supposed to be quite good and funny, fast, and furious.

Waters of Star Lake by Sara Rath.  Rath lives in Spring Green, WI.  Natalie Waters vacations in the northwoods in the center of Dillinger rumors and timber wolf turmoil.  Whenever I see the word northwoods I think of Leinenkugel.

Blotto, Twinks and the Dead Dowager Duchess by Simon Brett.  Kind of like Jeeves and Wooster but with a mystery.  I think Brett used to be a race car driver but I am too busy to check.

The Singles by Meredith Goldstein.  Bride-to-be wants no single guests.  I don't know if this is a comic novel or what.

Calling Invisible Women by Jeanne Ray.  How do you know when they arrive?

Jack of Ravens by Mark Chadbourn.  Fantasy novel.  Modern guy walks into a mist and emerges into Celtic Britain.  He finds his way to the timeless Otherworld and figures to bide his time for two thousand years.

Dark Magic by James Swain.  Swain's Miami based mysteries do well.  Dark has psychic who is part of a crime prevention group.

Black & White by Raymond Benson.  Part of the Black Stiletto series featuring 1950s crime fighter Judy Cooper.  The Stiletto has to rescue a kidnapped girl.

Beautiful Sacrifice by Elizabeth Lowell.  Archeologist is looking for stolen Mayan artifacts.  Federal cop named Hunter helps her out.  Romance happens.

Redemption by Kate Flora.  Portland cop Reggie's holiday weekend is cancelled to recover a drowned body.  The body is a homeless man and former classmate and fellow Vietnam Vet Reggie.  Reggie's death may not have been accidental.

City of Rocks by Michael Zimmer.  Western novel.  What happened out there in City of Rocks wasn't clean.  It was grimy and smelly and gut-numbingly cold.  And it was scary.  Men died for stupid reasons, and when they did, they didn't just grab their chests and fall over.  They got knocked down hard and the life spilled out of them like blood from a butchered hog.  I guess I ought to know since I was there.  Since it was me who did most of the killing that day.

Graphic Novel

Troop 142 by Mike Dawson.  "Join the Boy Scouts for a week of campfires, merit badge courses, group showers and merciless hazing at Pinewood Forest Camp, New Jersey, in the summer of 1995."  Camp Drake used to have Mountain Dew in old style glass bottles.

NonFiction

Guttenberg Bible by Steve Guttenberg.  Hilarious memoir of life in Hollywood.

Another Beautiful Day in Southern Wisconsin

Southern Wisconsin


[I took this last Tuesday but today is even nicer.]

Music for Monkeys - Music on CDs

Music Come to Life by the Dark Magic of Science!

Up All Night by One Direction.  British boys belting ballads.




Whatever by Hot Chelle Rae.  What a coincidence.  The title is exactly what I was thinking about this disc of song singers. They sound very peppy.




Bangarang by Skrillex.  What is the deal with this?  Electronica or something?  All I know is that kids will check it out.




Point of Morrow by The Shins.  I used to think these guys were from Australia.  Pop music for adults. I know that cardboard CD cases are supposed to be "green" but the stupid thing just tore.




Own the Night by Lady Antebellum.  Country music by people who won a Grammy or something.




MDNA by Madonna.  There are so many, many things I could write about Madonna and none of them fit here.

Hymns by Guy Penrod.  Christian rock checks out.  I'm trying this one out.




Otis Taylor's Contraband by Otis Taylor.  We have Taylor's Recapturing the banjo and it is pretty good.  Here is a track off Recapturing.




Stronger by Kelly Clarkson.  Peppy pop tunes for people.

Media for Monkeys - DVD

DVD Hoo-hoo-  hooo-hoo-hoo

Miss Representation featuring Condoleeza Rice, Lisa Ling, Rosario Dawson.  I ordered this?  I don't remember ordering this.  The difficulty of girls to grow up into positions f power when media culture emphasizes youth and beauty.



Into the Abyss: a tale of death, a tale of life by Werner Herzog.  Herzog looks at the aftermath of a triple murder in Conrow, TX.


Exhale: core fusion thighs and glutes by Core Fusion (Fred DeVito and Elisabeth Halfpapp).  Exercises.




Eagleheart: season one starring Chris Elliott.  Massive silliness with lots of blood.

Large Print Redux (Now WIth More Cover Commentary!)

Large Print

Crystal Gardens by Amanda Quick.  Quick's covers come covered in roses.

Stolen Prey by John Sandford.  Big house in the woods at night.  I'm not sure if the vertical lines on the cover are supposed to be rain drops, scratches on a photo, or fold marks in photo paper.

The Last Boyfriend by Nora Roberts. Bed covered in flower petals, burning candles on bedside table, framed photos next to the candles.  One photo is a picture of a house.  Nothing says romance like black-and-white photos of old buildings.

The Sins of the Father by Jeffrey Archer.  Silhouette of a couple on a park bench staring at the Statue of Liberty during sunset.  The sepia toning looks awful.

What Doesn't Kill You by Iris Johansen.  Some cover as the regular print edition with a Jennifer Garner look alike pointing a pistol at the viewer.


Fiction


Overseas by Beatriz Williams.  I think this is some sort of time-travel romance set in WWI France and modern, super-wealthy Manhattan.

Unnatural Acts by Stuart Woods.  Photo of a restaurant called Elaine's with a CLOSED sign over the double door entrance.

NonFiction


Using Your Computer: the beginner's guide, third edition by Kyle MacRae.  The cover image screams "Great for seniors.  Go online with your granddaughter!"  The inside says, "Task Manager has several tabs but you're interested in Applications."