SOUL MEN!

SOUL MEN!

OPENING NOVEMBER 7TH

Louis and Floyd used to be one of the country's top musical duos, until they broke up and never spoke again. Twenty years later, old animosities resurface when the two are thrust together on a cross-country trip to take part in a tribute concert honoring their late band leader. Louis and Floyd have just five short days to bury the hatchet -- hopefully not in someone's head -- before they take the stage at New York's famous Apollo Theater.

A CRABBY REMINDER!

COCKTAIL NATION & HARD CASE CRIME!

COCKTAIL NATION & HARD CASE CRIME!

Thanks to the cad.net Koop Kooper talks to the editor of Hard
Case Crime Charles Ardai....hard case crime are small publishing house in New york that specializes in those classic pulp fictions with the racey covers from the 40's through to the 60's and the are constantly adding books by new artists.....I've got some letters to Kooper to read to you...a look at the Jerry Lewis tour of Australia and the world of swank with a look at a special charm and deportment school coming up which is run by the charming Darling sisters.

www.cocktailnation.podomatic.com

www.myspace.com/loungelothario

email thecocktailnation@gmail.com

PLAYLIST:

Sammy Davis Jr - Love me or leave me

Jimmy Vargas - High Heels Black Stockings

Enoch Light - April in Portugal

Arthur Lyman - Aphrodisia

Paige Delancey - Black Coffee

Waitiki - China Fan

Mantovani - Perfidia

Nina Ferro - Everything I got

Octobop - Have you hugged your martian today

Roni Perez - Ah Ha

Henry Mancini - Pink Panther theme

Piere Le Blanc and his orchestra - All the Way

Dean Martin - Pardon

Ralph Flanagan - Opus one

Herbie Mann - Fever

BRITISH HALLOWEEN THEME COMIC!

BRITISH HALLOWEEN THEME COMIC!

WRITTEN BY KEN MENNELL

ILLUSTRATED BY ERIC BRADBURY

FIRST APPEARANCE:

SMASH! MARCH 19, 1969

(* Cursitor Doom © IPC Media.)

THANKS TO BEAR ALLEY

HALLOWEEN CRABBY!

HAVE A DEMOCRATIC HALLOWEEN!

PROPS TO DAUTHER-IN-LAW AMBER FOR THIS ONE!

BRITISH COMIC OF THE WEEK!

CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE

VALIENT CIRCA 1962

CONGRATULATIONS - DOUBLE O SECTION BLOG!

CONGRATULATIONS - DOUBLE O SECTION BLOG!

BIG TIME PROPS TO TANNER ON THE TWO YEAR BLOGIVERSARY OF HIS DOUBLE O SECTION BLOG -- THE BEST PERSONALIZED ESPIONAGE THEMED SITE ON THE WEB!

FORGOTTEN BOOKS: MORGAN’S REBELLION BY JOHN WHITLATCH!

FORGOTTEN BOOKS: MORGAN’S REBELLION BY JOHN WHITLATCH!

Author John Whitlatch is an absolute enigma. I’m sure there is somebody out there in the mystery genre who is familiar with Whitlatch, but they aren’t talking. All of the regular genre resources and personalities simply shrug their shoulders and admit to their mystification at the lack of information.

Between 1969 and 1976, Whitlatch ground out 11 novels published by Pocket Books, each filled with pulp-style action. While The Judas Goat was a WWII, Dirty Dozen style action thriller, and The Iron Shirt was a traditional western, his other novels all fell into the crime and adventure genre – most often with one lone man going up against everything from motorcycle gangs, to political conspiracies, to corrupt, third world, government regimes.

Whitlatch’s titles were somewhat generic (Cory’s Losers, Frank T’s Plan, Stunt Man’s Holiday, etc.), but the lurid paperback original covers made each title immediately collectible. Blazing primary colors set off action illlustrations torn from the Men’s Adventure magazines of the day. And while Witlatch was a more than competent, if straighforward, writer, it would be my guess the covers were the reason the books were repeatedly reprinted.

TO VIEW A COVER GALLERY VIA THE MYSTERY FILE CLICK HERE

Usually, this little information about an author would indicate the use of a house owned pseudonym, with a number of authors penning the tales. However, this doesn’t appear to be the case with Whitlatch. First, I’ve read all eleven novels and each is has the same distinctive tempo and sentence structure.

Secondly, about twenty years or more ago, I tried tracking Whitlatch through his publisher. I was put in touch with Whitlatch’s agent who informed me Whitlatch was deceased. He did, however, provide me with a contact number for his family, warning me they would probably not want to be interviewed.

I actually made contact with (I believe) Witlatch’s sister in Arizona, but while polite, she refused to impart any information. A strange situation, especially when coupled with a tid-bit from mystery historian Al Hubin noting there have been no copyright renewals on Whitlatch’s titles – was Whitlatch or his work an embarrassment to his family? The work certainly shouldn’t have been.

My introduction to Whitlatch came through his second published title, Morgan’s Rebellion. This was a great adventure tale with our California hero being falsely imprisoned in Central America and having to overthrow the corrupt regime in order to get his life back and revenge on his wife and business partner.

Prison made a man of Morgan. And the man became a legend.

Jamey Morgan – a quiet California citizen – was arrestd on a business trip to Central America. Accused of aiding a revolution he knew nothing about, Morgan was deprived of all diplomatic rights, branded an international renegade, and sentenced to hard labor.

And so, the only way he could return to the United States was to overthrow the government that imprisoned him. He made the revolution his own.

After escaping fromprison, Morgan fled into the hills and joined the rebel forces.

An experienced bowman, he trained and organized an extrodinary guerrilla troop – Los Arqueros, the Archers – fifty rugged men on horseback, armed with bows and explosive arrows.

The exploits of this daring commando unit hhelp bring a ruthless dictatorship to its knees – and brough fame, love, and fortune to Captain Jamey Morgan.

This was great stuff! Morgan was a cool character with his archery background and his righteous American indignation. Whitlatch is hardly politically correct and he wears the male chauvinist lable proudly – definitely a product of his time.

Morgan eventually returns in a late Whitlatch novel, Morgan’s Assassin:

A squad of mean, smart killers was out to bring the nation to its knees. Only one man was tough enough to stop them –El Arquero!

The history books said bows and arrows had gone out years ago. But nobody has told Jamey Morgan. Armed only with his great longbow, he had led a revolution freeing a Central American nation from tyranny. His men were all arqueros, or archers, but he was the only one called “El Arcquero.”

Now back in the States, Morgan received another call for help – from the F.B.I. This time it was to foil an assassination attempt everyone else seemed powerless to stop. But then he discovered he was next on the assassin’s list!

It was kill or be killed – and as Morgan stalked his man, he discovered he was up against the most diabolical political fonspiracy America had ever seen. To defeat it, the arqueros would have to march again…

Both Morgan novels and Whitlatch’s two novels featuring his only other reoccurring character, Frank Gannon (Gannon’s Vendetta, Gannon’s Line), are fine examples of Whitlatch’s storytelling – but in the end, it is still the covers that standout as special.

If anyone out there has more information on Whitlatch, I’d enjoy hearing from you.

GABRIEL HUNT!

GABRIEL HUNT!

Raymond Benson (author of numerous James Bond pastiches) has been signed to write the last of six planned pulp adventure novels to be published by Hard Case Crime. The books feature the character GABRIEL HUNT and will be in the tradition of Sax Rohmer, Edgar Rice Burroughs, H. Rider Haggard, and Indiana Jones. Each book will be by different authors, credited to the fictional hero Hunt (but the actual authors will be credited on the cover page).

The other authors are Christa Faust, James Reasoner, David J. Schow, Nicholas Kaufmann, and Charles Ardai. Benson's book is entitled HUNT THROUGH NAPOLEON'S WEB.

You can see more at the Hunt for Adventure Website!

CRIME JAZZ!

CRIME JAZZ!

THE CRIME LOUNGE HAS A GREAT NEW DOWNLOAD . . .

I don't know much about this album or the artist but I sure know one thing.....This is Crime Jazz in the traditional mould! Although this release dates as the 90's I presume these recordings are from around the early 60's or if not have been re-created with superb authenticity. Take a trip back to the Golden-Age with these swinging jazz greats!

THE LARRY MILLS ORCHESTRA :

THE JAZZ SQUAD Music in the first degree
VINTAGE CLASSIC SERIES
VCS 026
STEREO
1995

FRIDAY THE 13TH QUIZ!

FRIDAY THE 13TH QUIZ!

MENTAL FLOSS COMES THROUGH JUST IN TIME FOR HALLOWEEN VIEWING

TO TAKE THE QUIZ CLICK HERE

HALLOWEEN CATS!

PEANUT STEALING CAT!

THANKS TO MISS CELLANIA!

LA (TIMES) CONFIDENTIAL!

LA (TIMES) CONFIDENTIAL!

FOR ANYONE WHO LOVED JAMES ELLROY’S LA CONFIDENTIAL, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES IS CURRENTLY IN THE MIDDLE OF A SSEVN PART SERIES ON THE LA GANGSTER SQUAD, WHICH OPERATED DURING THE ‘40s AND ‘50s. GREAT WRITING BY PAUL LIEBERMAN AND GREAT PHOTOS . . .

TO CHECK OUT PART ONE CLICK HERE

VIBRATO JAZZ!

FIGHT CLUB!

VEIL OF LIES: A MEDIEVAL NOIR

VEIL OF LIES: A MEDIEVAL NOIR

Jeri Westerson's debut novel, Veil of Lies: A Medieval Noir, hits the bookstores today. A nice twist on the hystorical mystery . . .

Crispin Guest is a disgraced knight, stripped of his rank and his honor - but left with his life - for plotting against Richard II. Having lost his bethrothed, his friends, his patrons and his position in society. With no trade to support him and no family willing to acknowledge him, Crispin has turned to the one thing he still has - his wits - to scrape a living together on the mean streets of London.

In 1383, Guest is called to the compound of a merchant - a reclusive mercer who suspects that his wife is being unfaithful and wants Guest to look into the matter. Not wishing to sully himself in such disgraceful, dishonorable business but in dire need of money, Guest agrees and discovers that the wife is indeed up to something, presumably nothing good.

But when he comes to inform his client, he is found dead - murdered in a sealed room, locked from the inside. Now Guest has come to the unwanted attention of the Lord Sheriff of London and most recent client was murdered while he was working for him. And everything seems to turn on a religious relic - a veil reported to have wiped the brow of Christ - that is now missing.

TO FIND OUT MORE CLICK HERE

TWILIGHT ANONYMOUS!

TWILIGHT ANONYMOUS!

IF YOU ARE IN TO THE WHOLE TWILIGHT THING - I KNOW, IT'S MOSTLY A GIRL THING, BUT . . . - YOU CAN VISIT TWILIGHT ANONYMOUS AND FIND OUT WHAT TWILIGHT CHARACTER YOU BEST REPRESENT.

CLICK HERE

NEW FROM ORSON SCOTT CARD!

NEW FROM ORSON SCOTT CARD!

TO ORDER CLICK HERE

ENDER'S GAME!

ENDER'S GAME!

STILL ONE OF THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVELS I'VE EVER READ -- NOW A GRAPHIC NOVEL!

MY CURRENT LIFE!

WHY I AM VOTING DEMOCRAT!

WHY I AM VOTING DEMOCRAT!

I'm voting Democrat because Barbara Walters is my idol and so is P.Diddy.

I'm voting Democrat because I'd rather pay $4 for a gallon of gas than allow drilling for oil off the coasts of America.

I'm voting Democrat because I think the government will do a better job of spending my money than I could.

I'm voting Democrat because when we pull out of Afghanistan and Iraq, I know that Islamic terrorists will stop trying to kill us because they'll think we're a good and decent country.

I'm voting Democrat because I believe people who can't tell us if it will rain in two or three days, can now tell us the polar ice caps will disappear in ten years if I don't start riding a bicycle, build a windmill, or inflate my tires to proper levels.

I'm voting Democrat because it's alright to kill millions of babies as long as we keep violent, convicted murderers on death row alive.

I'm voting Democrat because I believe businesses in America should not be allowed to make profits. Businesses should just break even and give the rest to the government so politicians and bureaucrats can redistribute the money the way they think it should be redistributed.

I'm voting Democrat because I believe guns, and not the people misusing them, are the cause of crimes and killings.

I'm voting Democrat because when someone with a weapon threatens my family or me, I know the government can respond faster through a call to 911 than I can with a gun in my hand.

I'm voting Democrat because oil companies' 5% profit on a gallon of gas are obscene, but government taxes of 18% on the same gallon of gas are just fine.

I'm voting Democrat because I believe three or four elitist liberals should rewrite the Constitution every few months to suit some fringe element that could never get their agenda past voters.

I'm voting Democrat because illegal aliens are not criminals, are not sucking up resources through government aid, hospital services,education, or social services, but are just people trying to make a better life by coming to America illegally. We can't blame them for that, can we?

I'm voting Democrat because the same teacher that didn't teach my child to read can reasonably educate them about sex.

I'm voting Democrat because my trial lawyer's crippling multi-milliondollar lawsuits against doctors, hospitals, drug companies, and HMO's will make health insurance and medicine much more affordable.

I'm voting Democrat because Al Sharpton, Louis Farrakhan, and Jesse Jackson will end racism once and for all.

I'm voting Democrat because Christians in the Republican Party are intolerant, theocratic warmongers and atheists like William Ayers have never hurt anybody.

I'm voting Democrat so that no family member of mine will die in a hospital bed. They will still be waiting in line for Obama's socialized medicine so they will never actually make it into a hospital bed.

I'm voting Democrat because I like eminent domain and the government kicking me out of my home and taking my land.

I'm voting Democrat because everyone knows that raising taxes at the top won't hurt people at the bottom.

I'm voting Democrat because skin color and good oratory skills are more important than judgment and experience.

I'm voting Democrat because protecting barren wasteland is more important than energy independence.

I'm voting Democrat because my college professor told me that America is evil and should give up its leadership place in the world.

I'm voting Democrat because I believe that Cuba , Russia , and China should be on the United Nations Human Rights Council.

I'm voting Democrat because I believe that everyone is essentially good – even people like Ahmadinejad who call for the destruction of Israel. He just needs a little understanding.

I'm voting Democrat because we should all be forced to drive ugly cars with the horsepower of a riding lawnmower.

I am voting Democrat because I believe in change; although I don't know WHAT the change will be, or HOW it will happen, AND I am pretty sure that I won't WANT to actually change anything I do, but still...I believe in change.

I'm voting Democrat because the government knows how to raise children better than parents do.

I'm voting Democrat because I want the rich to work harder, give me their money, and pay for my services so I don't have to.

THE TRAILSMAN: SEMINOLE SHOWDOWN!

THE TRAILSMAN: SEMINOLE SHOWDOWN!

BLOG BUDDY AND PROLIFIC WRITER JAMES REASONER TIPS US TO HIS LATEST RELEASE . . .

This book should be out this week, if it's not already. I have a soft spot in my heart for it, because it's the last book that was written in my old studio. I had started another one before the fire [WHICH BURNED JAMES AND HIS FAMILY OUT OF HOUSE AND HOME] and written about 200 pages of it, but I lost that and had to start over. (That book will be out this week, too, but it's one of those ghost jobs I can't talk about.) I remember that the first book I wrote in the studio was COSSACK THREE PONIES, but I have no idea how many there were between it and SEMINOLE SHOWDOWN. Quite a few, though. It was the best place I ever had to work. I'm hoping that my office in the new house will be even better.

CASABLANCA & THE THIRD MAN @ THE CRIME LOUNGE!

CASABLANCA & THE THIRD MAN @ THE CRIME LOUNGE!

THE CRIME LOUNGE HAS UPLOADED A COUPLE OF CLASSIC MOVIE SOUNTRACKS FOR YOUR DOWNLOADING PLEASURE . . .

Here we present a good old-fashioned "Double-Feature" starring Bogey himself.

Included here is the original movie soundtrack featuring dialogue, music & effects.

Also included is the radio play which also features all the original cast and finally as a bonus there is a related radio play called "Casbah" starring Tony Martin.

CASABLANCA DOUBLE-FEATURE PRESENTATION
Main Feature:
CASABLANCA THE MOVIE PLAY
WARNER BROS
ORIGINAL CAST
1942
Supporting Feature:
CASABLANCA THE RADIO PLAY
as heard on "THE SCREENGUILD PLAYERS"
CBS RADIO (Sponsored by Lady Esther)
April 26, 1943
Bonus Feature:
CASBAH THE RADIO PLAY
Complete as heard on "SCREEN DIRECTOR'S PLAYHOUSE"
NBC RADIO (Sponsored by Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer)
July 22, 1949

This is the "Lux Radio Theatre" presentation of "The Third Man" originally transmitted in 1951.

This stars Orson Wells and is essentially the movie in "sound".

The play runs for an hour and is sponsored by Lux Soap. Step back in time and enjoy the mystery!

LUX RADIO THEATRE : THE THIRD MAN
RADIO PLAY
MONO
1951

HALLOWEEN HUMOR!

WEEKLY BRITISH COMIC!

WEEKLY BRITISH COMIC!

OKAY, THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE OUT FRIDAY AND HERE IT IS MONDAY - MY BAD!

This is the debut episode of "One-Eyed Jack" from the pages of Valiant's 20 December 1975 issue. According to Steve Holland over at BEAR ALLEY:

To all intents and purposes, Valiant was being relaunched at this time: new strips, new attitude. A hard-hitting new war series, "Death Wish" and a new style football strip, "The Lout That Ruled The Rovers", debuted in the same issue.

The editor was John Wagner, recently involved in the launch of Battle Picture Weekly, which he helped put together with Pat Mills. Mills went off to create Action and Wagner was offered the editorship of Valiant, having previously held editorial posts only on girls' titles.

Wagner took over the title shortly after a new batch of strips had just begun so it took some months before he was able to stamp his mark on the title (and then not for long as he quit not long after).

Of the new strips, "One-Eyed Jack" is probably the most Wagner-ian: violent with occasional doses of black humour. It predated Action's "Dredger" by a few months which also used Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry as a role-model.

The artwork is by John Cooper who was to rise to greater heights in the pages of Battle when he took over the artwork on "Johnny Red".

FIVE THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT STEVE MCQUEEN!

FIVE THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT STEVE MCQUEEN!

THE WEBSITE ASKMEN.COM HAS A COOL POST ON MY FAVORITE ICONIC ACTOR . . .

Known as the King of Cool, few actors have ever exuded the self-possessed sang-froid of Steve McQueen. The award-winning action star was the highest paid actor of the 1960s, thanks to a succession of hits including The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Thomas Crown Affair, and Bullitt.

Every bit the maverick he played on screen, Steve McQueen lived fast and tragically died far too young. He was also an adrenaline junkie who consistently put his life on the line in the pursuit of his passions.

Here are five other things you probably didn't know about this Hollywood legend.

1- McQueen's break came via Sammy Davis, Jr.'s slip-upBy 1959, McQueen was fast on his way to becoming a Hollywood nonentity. Despite his promising start on Broadway, the Indiana-native squandered his talent in films like The Blob, in which he shared the screen with an omnivorous lump of jelly. That's when serendipity finally kicked in.

At that time, Frank Sinatra was beginning production at the time on a film called Never So Few, in which he and fellow Rat Packers Peter Lawford and Sammy Davis Jr. were to play O.S.S. operatives. Cast and crew were ready to go when Davis committed a career-threatening gaff. Speaking on a Chicago radio broadcast, Davis made the mistake of saying, "I love Frank, but I think I'm bigger than he is." The perceived slight drew Sinatra into a fit of anger, and within hours Davis had been dropped from the cast and removed from Sinatra's Christmas card list.

In the days that followed, McQueen's agent managed to get his client the role of operative Cpl. Bill Ringa. The physical, wisecracking role was perfect for McQueen, and he used the part to launch himself into stardom. McQueen received only $25,000 for the role (compared to the $75,000 that had been promised to Davis), but he came away with a three-picture deal and a taste of things to come.

TO READ THE COMPLETE LIST CLICK HERE

TAKE COURAGE!

TONY HILLERMAN, R.I.P.

TONY HILLERMAN, R.I.P.

FROM THE AP OBITUARY:

Tony Hillerman, author of the acclaimed Navajo Tribal Police mystery novels and creator of two of the unlikeliest of literary heroes — Navajo police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee — died Sunday of pulmonary failure. He was 83.

Hillerman's daughter, Anne Hillerman, said her father's health had been declining in the last couple years and that he was at Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque when he died at about 3 p.m.

Hillerman lived through two heart attacks and surgeries for prostate and bladder cancer. He kept tapping at his keyboard even as his eyes began to dim, as his hearing faded, as rheumatoid arthritis turned his hands into claws.

"I'm getting old," he declared in 2002, "but I still like to write."

Anne Hillerman said Sunday that her father was a born storyteller.

"He had such a wonderful, wonderful curiosity about the world," she said. "He could take little details and bring them to life, not just in his books, but in conversation, too."

TO READ THE FULL OBIT CLICK HERE

THE CAT'S MEOW!