X-MEN NOIR: MARK OF CAIN!

X-MEN NOIR: MARK OF CAIN!

WRITER: FRED VAN LENTE
PENCILS & COVER: DENNIS CALERO
VARIENT COVER: DENNIS CALERO

In the dark and steamy jungles of Madripoor, the flashing claws of Logan, the blazing bullets of Cyclops, and the dashing fists of the Angel met with wave after wave of beserk headhunters, all willing to protect the secrets of the Temple-Tomb of Cyttorak with their lives!

The ancient treasure map of mercenary Cain Marko, with its siren-song of the priceless gigantic ruby of the fabled god-king, had lured them only into the icy claws of Death!

FOR MORE INFO CLICK HERE

BEAT TO A PULP #44!

BEAT TO A PULP #44!

THE DEVIL WEARS CARHARTT
ANDY HENION

I'm in Newark, of all places, for a fertilizer conference. Which means I spend the weekend kissing ass in hopes of scoring five-percent discounts. You don't manage two thousand acres these days without sucking up to someone, be it suppliers or lobbyists or government lackeys. [Freaking] politics, man. This is what American farming has become.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andy Henion's crime fiction has appeared in Plots with Guns, Thieves Jargon, Hardluck Stories, Lynx Eye, Twist of Noir, Pulp Pusher and other zines. He's been shortlisted for a Derringer (for "The Day the Bad Men Came" in Thieves Jargon) and nominated for a Pushcart and a Million Writers Award. He lives in Michigan.

TO READ THE STORY CLICK HERE

Next: Stephen D. Rogers's "Year of the Dragon"

Soon: Charles Gramlich with "Hunter’s Moon"

LAST DAYS OF AMERICAN CRIME #1!

LAST DAYS OF AMERICAN CRIME #1!

From writer Rick Remender, the critically acclaimed writer of Punisher, and artist Greg Tocchini.

In the not-too-distant future, as a final response to terrorism and crime, the U.S. government plans in secret to broadcast a signal making it impossible for anyone to knowingly commit unlawful acts. To keep this from the public, the government creates a distraction, installing a new currency system using digital charge cards.

Enter Graham Brick, a career criminal never quite able to hit the big score. In a grand scheme, Graham intends to steal one of the charging stations, skip the country and live off unlimited funds for the rest of his life.

But the media has leaked news of the anti-crime signal one week before it was to go live... and now Graham and his team have just a few days to turn the crime of the century into the last crime in American history.

FOR MORE INFO CLICK HERE

MUSICIAN Q&A!

MUSICIAN Q&A!

Q: What's the difference between a musician and a pizza?
A: A pizza can feed a family of four.

Q: How do you get an musician off your front step?
A: Pay for the pizza.

Q: How do you get an electric guitarist to turn down his amp?
A: Put a piece of sheet music in front of him.

Q: How many bass players does it take to change a light bulb?
A: It doesn't matter - bass players are never in the light anyway.

Q: How many "deadheads" does it take to change a light bulb?
A: They don't change it. They just wait for it to burn out, and then they follow it around for 30 years.

Q: What does it mean when a drummer is drooling out of both sides of his mouth?
A: The stage is level.

WITH A LAUGH IN THE DIRECTION OF MISS CELLANIA

AN EVENING AT THE BUDDIES LOUNGE #70!

AN EVENING AT THE BUDDIES LOUNGE #70!

THE BIG W IS BACK as he continues to explorer, with drink in hand, the Space-Age Pop Hi-Fi musical sounds of the 1950’s and the 1960’s in LIVING STEREO! Tonight the Big W plays rare cuts direct from many 7 1/2 reel to reels such as Les Baxter’s classic SPACE ESCAPADE album!!! They sound AMAZING!!!!!

PLAYLIST:

• Too Darn Hot - Buddy Greco
• Pin Point Percussion - Jim Tyler
• I’ll Remember April - Wayne Newton
• Hawaiian War Chant - Werner Muller
• That Darn Cat - Bobby Troup
• Mexican Shuffle - Glenn Miller
• James Bond Theme - Perez Prado
• Fancy Meeting You Here - Crosby & Clooney
• Washington Square - Dick Hyman
• At The Crossroads - Sammy Davis, Jr.
• High Hopes - Henry Mancini
• Don’t You Forget It - Sarah Vaughan
• Personality - Peter Nero
• Necessity - Sinatra, Fitzgerald
• Mame - Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme
• Drunk in San Francisco - Nancy Wilson
• Mr. Robot - Les Baxter
• The Commuter - Les Baxter
• Saturday Night On Saturn - Les Baxter
• Catch A Falling Star - Mrs. Miller
• The Money Tree - Margaret Whiting

TO DOWNLOAD CLICK HERE

Y/A CORNER ~ FIRE BY KRISTIN CASHORE!

Y/A CORNER ~ FIRE BY KRISTIN CASHORE!

FIRE IS A PREQUEL TO LAST YEAR'S GRACELING. THE GORGEOUS PICTURE ABOVE IS OF THE UK COVER ~ FAR SUPERIOR, AS ALWAYS TO THE U.S. VERSION DUE OCTOBER 5TH.

I WISH I WAS JAMES BOND!

I WISH I WAS JAMES BOND!


THANKS TO FELLOW C.O.B.R.A.S. CHRIS MILLS AND HIS SPY-FI CHANNEL BLOG FOR RESSURECTING THIS CLIP FROM A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO BY THE BAND SCOUTING FOR GIRLS . . .

KOLCHAK ALL SAINTS ARCHIVE!

KOLCHAK ALL SAINTS ARCHIVE!

BROKEN SEA AUDIO PRODUCTIONS has a new podcast, based on the old Kolchak: The Night Stalker TV series!

My name is Carl Kolchak, former reporter for INS, Chicago’s very own independent news service. In all my years of investigative journalism I’ve seen some pretty strange things. Today you’d simply look at them as amusing fodder for the national tabloids, but hear me out when I tell you…that they’re real. The vampires, androids, ghosts, swamp creatures, monkeymen, and even Jack the Ripper; yes–every last one!”

The first episode, just in time for the most ghoulish of months, is already in the feed. It’s the beginning of a serial called “A Playground for Evil.” This is an original KOLCHAK story written by Bill Hollweg!

TO LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD CLICK HERE

A SCRIBBLED LINE IN THE REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK TO SFF AUDIO

HARD CASE CRIME!

HARD CASE CRIME!

COMING IN OCTOBER AND BEYOND!

OCTOBER 2009

HONEY IN HIS MOUTH
Lester Dent
Cover art by Ron Lesser - First publication ever!

If you were small-time grifter Walter Harsh, recovering in a hospital with a broken arm, you’d listen to a proposition that could net you a cool $50,000 for impersonating the South American strongman you resemble. You’d pay attention when the dictator’s sultry mistress started putting the moves on you. And in the dead of night, when no one was watching, you might just hatch a plot to get it all for yourself: the money, the girl, and the stash of stolen loot she’s conspiring to spirit out of the country...

NOVEMBER 2009

QUARRY IN THE MIDDLE
Max Allan Collins
Cover art by Ron Lesser

The enigmatic hitman Quarry—star of seven celebrated novels and an award-winning feature film ("The Last Lullaby")—is back in this violent, steamy tale of warring crime families. When two Godfathers set out to bump each other off, guess who winds up with both contracts...

DECEMBER 2009

THE CORPSE WORE PASTIES

Jonny Porkpie
Cover art by Ricky Mujica

Usually, when you call a burlesque act a "show stopper," you don’t mean it quite so literally. But this time, that’s just what happened: The show stopped dead, and so did the girl. And as I looked at her nearly naked and completely lifeless body and the bottle of poison in her hand with my fingerprints all over it, I thought to myself: Porkpie, you’re in for it this time...

THE VALLEY OF FEAR
A. C. Doyle
Cover art by Glen Orbik

A sawed-off shotgun blast to the face leaves one man dead—and reveals a secret that has pursued another across an ocean and set the world’s most ruthless criminal on his trail. The man needs the help of a great detective...but could even Sherlock Holmes save him now?

THE ROOK - VOLUME FOUR!

THE ROOK - VOLUME FOUR!

BY BARRY REESE - NOW AVAILABLE!

Max Davies - the masked vigilante known as The Rook - returns in six new tales of blazing pulp action! The Rook's never-ending war against the forces of darkness takes him into desperate battle against undead assassins, ghostly pirates, extra-dimensional devil-spawn, a power-mad megalomaniac, and a squadron of Nazi vampires, until - deep in the heart of Berlin - he faces the twisted Master of the Third Reich himself!

Author Barry Reese (Guan-Yin and the Horrors of Skull Island, Savage Tales of Ki-Gor) once again keeps you on the edge of your seat in these two-fisted tales!

Cover Art by Norm Breyfogle and Interior Art by Storn Cook.

Trade Paperback
176 pages
$11.95

FOR MORE INFO CLICK HERE

HONEY WEST REVIVAL!

HONEY WEST REVIVAL!

PULP MASTER RON FORTIER OVER AT AIRSHIP 27 HAS A COOL LITTLE NOTE ABOUT THE HONEY WEST REVIVAL.

WHILE YOU'RE THERE CHECK OUT ALL OF THE COOL AIRSHIP 27 PULP AND COMIC PROJECTS . . .

TO CHECK IT OUT CLICK HERE

THE CAT'S MEOW ~ DOUBLE PLAY!

ANITA O’DAY ~ SINGS THE WINNERS (1958)!

ANITA O’DAY ~ SINGS THE WINNERS (1958)!

KELLY’S LOUNGE SOUNZ HAS POSTED ANOTHER DOWNLOAD OF ONE OF MY FAVORITE GIRL SINGERS . . .

For this Verve album Anita O'Day sings standards associated with other musicians including "Four" (Miles Davis), "Early Autumn" (Stan Getz), "Four Brothers" (Woody Herman), "Sing, Sing, Sing" (Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa) and "Peanut Vendor" (Stan Kenton). Some of the material is unusual for a singer to interpret, but O'Day, one of the top jazz vocalists of the '50s, improvises when the lyrics are not that strong (or barely exist). The backings are by the Marty Paich Orchestra (Tks 1-6) and the Russ Garcia Orchestra (Tks 7-12), but the focus is entirely on the vocalist and O'Day really comes through magnificently.

Side 1:
01) Take The A Train [Ellington]
02) Tenderly [Oscar Peterson]
03) Night In Tunisia [ Dizzy Gillespie]
04) Four [Miles Davis]
05) Early Autumn [Stan Getz]
06) Four Brothers [Woody Herman]

Side 2:
01) Sing, Sing, Sing [Gene Krupa]
02) My Funny Valentine [Gerry Mulligan]
03) Frenesi [Artie Shaw]
04) Body and Soul [Coleman Hawkins]
05) What's Your Story Morning Glory [Jimmie Lunceford]
06) Peanut Vendor [Stan Kenton]

TO DOWNLOAD CLICK HERE

THE PHANTOM RELOADED!

THE PHANTOM RELOADED!

SYFY’S THE PHANTOM ~ RELOADED, REIMAGINED, AND WITH A REALLY DORKY COSTUME.

RHI ENTERTAINMENT HAS POSTED THIS TRAILER ONLINE FOR "THE PHANTOM" MINI-SERIES THAT IS PREMIERING ON SYFY IN 2010. RYAN CARNES (DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, DR. WHO) PLAYS THE TITLE ROLE AND HIS ALTER EGO CHRIS WALKER IN THE RE-IMAGINED VERSION OF THE CLASSIC COMIC BOOK TRANSPORTED TO PRESENT DAY.

THIS IS THE PHANTOM:

THIS IS NOT:

STILL, IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE THE PHANTOM, SO I’LL GIVE IT A CHANCE.

RUSSIAN SURF MYSTERY!

RUSSIAN SURF MYSTERY!

DABOSS OVER AT FAT CITY CIGAR LOUNGE POSTS THE DOWNLOAD FOR A COOL RUSSING SURF LP WITH A PLEA FOR ANY HELP IDENTIFYING THE SOURCE:

Need help identifying this - am clueless. Russian surf that sounds like it is from the 60's first wave in style, instrumentation, and song structure. I think it is really modern surf done retro - but - hey - what do I know. If someone can identify it and point me in the direction for a track list not in Russian, I'd really appreciate it. Enjoy it anyway, it's pretty cool.

TO DOWNLOAD CLICK HERE

LICENSE TO STILL!

LICENSE TO STILL!

ACCORDING TO NEWS.BBC:

An actor from Greater Manchester has been given a "licence to still" after winning a top award in the World Statue Championships in the Netherlands.

Chris Clarkson, 29, from Stockport, became James Bond for the day, firing water out of his "Walther PPK".

Crowned the public's favourite living statue, he managed to stand nearly motionless for four hours at the event attended by about 300,000 people.

He said: "It's hard work, my whole body had to be tense, but it's great fun."

The actor and presenter, who has appeared in Hollyoaks and a Touch of Frost, has worked as a living statue for three years.

It is the second time he has competed in the championships, held in Arnhem every year.

"My James Bond statue took nine months to create.”

HOWEVER, NO MATTER HOW STILL CHRIS CLARKSON WAS, ROGER MOORE STILL MAINTAINS HIS TITLE AS MOST WOODEN BOND ACTOR.

FOR THE FULL STORY CLICK HERE

SPY CONTEST!

SPY CONTEST!

ARMSTRONG SABIAN’S MISTER 8 SPY BLOG HAS BEEN RUNNING A UNIQUE AND WONDERFUL SERIES DISECTING EVERY ASPECT OF AUTHOR LEN DEIGHTON’S HARRY PALMER NOVELS AND FILMS.

NOW, MISTER 8 IS HAVING A CONTEST WITH A MOST UNUSUAL ITEM TO GIVE AWAY ~ A TRIVIAL PURSUIT CARD AUTOGRAPHED BY THE SPY MASTER HIMSELF, LEN DEIGHTON.

FOR FULL DETAILS CLICK HERE

FORGOTTEN BOOKS: THE PRINCESS STAKES MURDER BY KIN PLATT!

FORGOTTEN BOOKS: THE PRINCESS STAKES MURDER BY KIN PLATT!

Max Roper, Kin Platt’s eponymous ‘70s private eye, was near and dear to my heart because most of his cases revolved around different sports. Max made his way through sports from body building, to basketball, to tennis, to baseball, but more important to me, he also took his investigations to the race track in The Princess Stakes Murder. Since a large part of my collection revolved around horseracing mysteries (I once had over 600 horseracing mystery titles), this Max Roper outing fit right in.

Willie Rich asked Max Roper to come out to the Princess Stakes at Del Mar where he would be riding Calamity in the $100,000 race. Willie had a problem he wanted to discuss with the detective after the eighth race. When Willie didn’t show up, and Max couldn’t find him around the track, Roper went out to Willie’s estate. The jockey was there. In his pool. Dead.

The Princess Stakes Murder is further complicated when the beautiful daughter of one of the top stable owners turns up missing at the same time. Throw in a widow who isn’t too heartbroken, some Las Vegas mobsters, a cosmic charlatan and four more murders and you’re off to the races.

Kin Platt started writing in the ‘30s for radio shows, pulps, and comic books. He was a newspaper cartoonist, wrote both children and Young Adult books (including several Alfred Hitchcock’s Three Investigators titles), and cranked out several ‘adult’ novels and a couple of paperback original series. Max Roper, however, was his most memorable character, despite his disappearance from bookshelves and memory.

THE MAX ROPER MYSTERIES:

The Pushbutton Butterfly 1970
The Kissing Gourami 1970
The Princess Stakes Murder 1973
The Giant Kill 1974
Match Point for Murder 1975
The Body Beautiful Murder 1976
The Screwball King Murder 1978

THE CAT'S MEOW ~ DOUBLE PLAY!

GUILE OF THE GRIFFON FROM AGE OF ACES!

GUILE OF THE GRIFFON FROM AGE OF ACES!

AGE OF ACES HAS A NEW ARCH WHITEHOUSE GRIFFIN STORY TO DOWNLOAD FROM FLYING ACES NOVEMBER 1935:

Join Kerry Keen and Barney O’Dare as “The Griffon” returns with another exciting adventure.

Down through the ebony night dived a strange, black amphibian. Glistening in the reflected light of the great Montauk beam, it glided to the water and taxied to a ramp where two men stood in the shadows. And from the cockpit of that eerie craft crawled a hideously deformed creature—a man whose very existence was a cruel mockery of the grave.

“I built—” he croaked, leering at the taller man, “not one plane, but two. The other,” he continued in a queer cackle, “went to a man whom you, Keen, will kill—though as yet you’ve never even heard of him...”

TO DOWNLOAD CLICK HERE

SIMON'S CAT ~ HOT SPOT!

MYSTERY SCENE #111!

MYSTERY SCENE #111!

FALL ISSUE #111 is on its way to readers' mailboxes and brimming with autumnal plenty. Look for interviews with acclaimed writers James Ellroy (Blood's a Rover), Nevada Barr (13 1/2), and James R. Benn (Evil for Evil), as well as a terrific piece commemorating Nero Wolfe on the 75th anniversary of the much-loved classic Fer de Lance.

Mystery Scene's Ed Gorman chats with award-winning author Nancy Pickard (The Virgin of the Small Plains) about why there's no place like her Kansan home, and "What's Happening With..." tracks down Beth Saulnier, the pen behind the Alex Bernier mystery series.

Add in "New Books" essays from Hank Phillippi Ryan, Sharon Wildwind, Clea Simon, Michael Lister, and Roy LaPlante, plus the latest reviews on the best fall reads, your favorite columns, and more.

Happy fall reading!

Sincerely,

Kate Stine

Editor-in-Chief

FOR MORE INFO CLICK HERE

THE CAT'S MEOW ~ TRIPLE PLAY!

THANKS TO LOL CATS

JAMES DEAN ~ WHAT IF . . .

JAMES DEAN ~ WHAT IF . . .

THE RAP SHEET’S J. KINGSTON PIERCE TIP ME TO THIS VERY COOL VIDEO DEPICTING WHAT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED IF JAMES DEAN HAD NOT BEEN TRAGICALLY KILLED AT 24. IT WAS TOO GOOD NOT TO PASS ON . . .

TO READ THE FULL THE ORIGINAL POST FROM CINIMATICAL CLICK HERE

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO JAMES DEAN'S PORSCH 550 SPYDER AFTER HIS FATAL HEAD ON COLLISON ON U.S. ROUTE 466, FIFTY FOUR YEARS AGO TODAY.

GABRIEL HUNT ARTIFACT AUCTION!

GABRIEL HUNT ARTIFACT AUCTION!

NEWS FROM HARD CASE CRIME / GABRIEL HUNT EDITOR CHARLES ARDAI:

Friends,

There's a terrific Web site called "Significant Objects" that asks writers to share stories about intriguing little objects which are then put up for auction on eBay and sold to the highest bidder. They recently asked me if I would participate and I told them that I'd be glad to. What I wrote them was a very short story about a strange artifact Gabriel Hunt sent me from Slovakia shortly after I finished co-authoring HUNT THROUGH THE CRADLE OF FEAR with him. Is the story true? Well, you'll have to decide that for yourself. But either way, I think you might enjoy it, and who knows, maybe one of you will wind up being the high bidder who gets to take the artifact home. (As I write this, the high bid is one dollar, so winning the auction probably won't be too hard.)

Meanwhile, we're only a few weeks away from the publication of the third Hunt adventure, HUNT AT WORLD'S END, penned with the able assistance of co-author Nick Kaufmann. Publishers Weekly just ran a very nice review of the book: "Gabriel Hunt's third adventure...proves him a contemporary heir to Indiana Jones, Bruce Wayne and Travis McGee...Readers willing to suspend disbelief and embrace a touch of the supernatural (not to mention millennia-old death cults...) will enjoy Hunt's romp across several continents." Blogger Randy Johnson concurs: "The third winner in a row...The action is unending...Good stuff."

HUNT AT WORLD'S END will be available just before Halloween; in the meantime, now would be a perfect time to catch up on either of Gabriel's earlier adventures if you haven't read them both yet. You can find HUNT AT THE WELL OF ETERNITY and HUNT THROUGH THE CRADLE OF FEAR at a bookstore near you -- or, if your local bookstore is sold out, you can order copies online or by phone: 1-800-481-9191.

More news soon!

Best,
Charles Ardai

TO CHECK OUT THE AUCTION CLICK HERE

MCGINNIS COVERS!

MCGINNIS COVERS!

IN HIS LATEST BULLETS, BROADS, BLACKMAIL AND BOMBS COLUMN OVER AT BOOKGASM, BRUCE GROSSMAN COVERS THREE CARTER BROWN TITLES.

. . . let’s have fun with my favorite Australian author who likes to write about the dames, all featuring great covers from Robert McGinnis.

AND THOSE MCGINNIS COVERS TOOK MY BREATH AWAY AS USUAL ~ COVERS THAT ARE ALMOST ALWAYS BETTER THAN ANY WORDS IN BETWEEN. ANYWAY, THAT'S MY EXCUSE FOR REPOSTING THEM HERE.

TO READ BRUCE'S ALWAYS ENTERTAINING COLUMN CLICK HERE

MI6 DECLASSIFIED - ISSUE #6!

MI6 DECLASSIFIED - ISSUE #6!

AVAILABLE NOW!

Amongst the special guests featured in MI6 Declassified #6 are: actor Robert Davi reflecting on his role as Sanchez as Licence To Kill celebrates its 20th anniversary, Wing Commander Ken Wallis discussing Little Nellie, and author Charlie Higson on completing his fifth Young Bond book.

This issue includes the first of a series of in-depth features on the classic James Bond films with a 10-page 'Making You Only Live Twice' special. With rarely seen photography and anecdotes from cast and crew, MI6 Declassified #6 is not to be missed!

Whether your passion is with the movies, books, comics or video games, MI6 Declassified will satisfy your appetite with interesting features spanning all aspects of the James Bond canon.

Issue #6 Includes:

Exclusive interview with Robert Davi on his role as Sanchez in Licence To Kill

Making You Only Live Twice - an exhaustive account of the fifth EON production

Author Charlie Higson talks about completing his fifth Young Bond book

Shooting in Key West - following the production of Licence To Kill in Florida

David Hedison reflects on playing Felix Leiter twice

Flying With Commander Ken Wallis - Little Nellie's inventor and pilot

Domark's early Bond games are remembered as a blast from the past

Before Bond - a look back at Cubby Broccoli's pre-007 productions

FOR FURTHER INFO CLICK HERE

SFX ~ THE PRISONER!

SFX ~ THE PRISONER!

Fans interested in the new AMC "Prisoner" series remake may want to buy the latest issue of the British sci-fi magazine SFX.

The magazine includes a 6-page article containing interviews with Sir Ian Mckellen and others, and also briefly looks back at the original series.

There are further claimes in the interviews that Patrick McGoohan was offered a role in the series but only wanted to play Number Two, although this seems doubtful given his widow's recent comments that he wanted no part in it.

FOR MORE INFO ON THIS BRITISH MAGAZINE CLICK HERE

LIVING THE JAMES BOND LIFESTYLE ~ AUDIO SEMINAR!

LIVING THE JAMES BOND LIFESTYLE ~ AUDIO SEMINAR!

Commanderbond.net TIPS US TO THIS MORE AMUSING THAN INTERESTING NEW WAY FOR SOMEONE TO CASH IN ON JAMES BOND . . .

Men admire 007 for his cool, his flash, his women and his adventurous lifestyle — all of which can be duplicated without signing up for Her Majesty’s Royal Service. A former producer of action/adventure films himself and an extra in A View to a Kill, Paul Kyriazi, author of How To Live The James Bond Lifestyle, suggests that men cannot go wrong in any situation in life if they asks themselves this simple question: What would James Bond do?

The James Bond Lifestyle explains that men go to Bond movies and cheer Bond on. They root for him to go on despite the pain and blood. But then they come out of the movie and forget to root for themselves.

With James Bond as a man’s ultimate self-help expert, the challenges of everyday living can be met with a positive attitude and a calm plan for seeing things through.

Paul Kyriazi offers these additional tips for Living The James Bond Lifestyle:

The ultimate secret for attracting women is that girls just want to have fun. Men have to direct that fun by surprising women.

Carry lots of cash. Bond never has to run to an ATM or rely on credit cards. He can relax because he has the cash.

Dress up even at home alone. A Bond woman could drop by.

Undertake plenty of missions and give them names.

YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME . . .

FOR THE COMPLETE ARTICLE CLICK HERE

MCGEE/DECAPRIO ~ KILL ME NOW!

MCGEE/DECAPRIO ~ KILL ME NOW!

Variety is reporting Leonardo DiCaprio is ‘attached’ to star as Travis McGee for director Peter Chernin’s take on The Deep Blue Goodbye:

Peter Chernin is making his presence felt on the 20th Century Fox lot, with the former News Corp. prexy's shingle coming onboard several film projects that were already in development at the studio.

The most prominent [film project for Chernin] of the bunch is The Deep Blue Goodbye, an adaptation of the John D. MacDonald mystery novel series that has Leonardo DiCaprio attached to star.

DiCaprio is in line to play Travis McGee, a self-described beach bum who lives aboard 52-foot houseboat the Busted Flush and alleviates his cash-flow problems by hiring on as a "salvage consultant." He recovers property for clients, taking a hefty percentage and getting into a lot of danger and romance in sun-drenched Florida. "The Deep Blue Goodbye," the first in a 21-volume bestselling Travis McGee series, was originally published in 1964.

While I had a very hard time accepting DiCaprio as the male lead in Titanic, I have come to appreciate his skills as an actor in such films as The Gangs Of New York, The Aviator, and especially his turn in Blood Diamond – but as Travis McGee? Kill me now! Where is the Paul Newman from Cool Hand Luke when we need him?

Yes, I’ll go and see The Deep Blue Goodbye, even if it stars DiCaprio, because it’s a tale from one of my all time favorite series, but it sounds like a recipe for another McGee disaster. Rod Taylor and Sam Elliott could both have worked as the character, but were undermined by lousy scripts. No matter how good the script is for Blue, DiCaprio will have trouble filling McGee’s boat shoes.

ROOFTOPS AND SATELLITES ~ COLLIN JAMES CD!

ROOFTOPS AND SATELLITES ~ COLLIN JAMES CD!

POUND FOR POUND THE SWINGINGEST BLUESMAN AROUND!

Colin's upcoming album Rooftops And Satellites is now available to pre-order on iTunes. Pre-order the album this week, and get a live recording of "Into The Mystic" on release day - but hurry, because this iTunes-only live version will no longer be available after next Tuesday! The iTunes version of the album also includes an exclusive cover of Stealers Wheel's "Stuck In The Middle."

TRACKLIST:

1. Man's Gotta Be A Stone
2. Wavelength
3. Lost Again
4. Johnny Coolman
5. Love Is Calling
6. Find My Home
7. Stronger
8. Corrina
9. More Than You Needed
10. Better Than I Can Imagine
11. Photograph
12. If You Got To Go Go Now
13. Stuck In The Middle (Studio outtake, no overdubs)
14. Into The Mystic (live)

TO PRE-ORDER THE ALBUM ON ITUNES CLICK HERE

SPENSER / JESSE STONE NEWS!

SPENSER / JESSE STONE NEWS!

THE LATEST ISSUE OF THE ROBERT B. PARKER NEWSLETTER ~ AKA: PUBLISHER’S PROPOGANDA ~ HIGHLIGHTS THE NEXT SPENCER OUTING DUE OCTOBER 5TH, 2009, AND A TEASE FOR THE NEXT JESSE STONE NOVEL DUE IN FEBRUARY 2010.

THE PROFESSIONAL

Boston P.I. Spenser returns in a flawless addition to New York Times-bestselling author Robert B. Parker's flagship series.

A knock on Spenser's office door can only mean one thing: a new case. This time the visitor is a local lawyer with an interesting story.

Elizabeth Shaw specializes in wills and trusts at the Boston law firm of Shaw & Cartwright, and over the years she's developed a friendship with wives of very wealthy men. However, these rich wives have a mutual secret: they've all had an affair with a man named Gary Eisenhower, and now he's blackmailing them for money.

Shaw hires Spenser to make Eisenhower ‘cease and desist,’ so to speak, but when women start turning up dead, Spenser's assignment goes from blackmail to murder.

SPLIT IMAGE ~ JESSE STONE

The next Jesse Stone novel, Split Image, is due in February 2010.

Family ties prove deadly in the brilliant new Jesse Stone novel from New York Times–bestselling author Robert B. Parker.

The body in the trunk was just the beginning.

Turns out the stiff was a foot soldier for local tough guy Reggie Galen, now enjoying a comfortable "retirement" with his beautiful wife, Rebecca, in the nicest part of Paradise. Living next door are Knocko Moynihan and his wife, Robbie, who also happens to be Rebecca's twin. But what initially appears to be a low-level mob hit takes on new meaning when a high-ranking crime figure is found dead on Paradise Beach.

Stressed by the case, his failed relationship with his ex-wife, and his ongoing battle with the bottle, Jesse needs something to keep him from spinning out of control. When private investigator Sunny Randall comes into town on a case, she asks for Jesse's help. As their professional and personal relationships become intertwined, both Jesse and Sunny realize that they have much in common with both their victims and their suspects—and with each other.

ICEBOX RADIO THEATER ~ SPRING FLING #2!

ICEBOX RADIO THEATER ~ SPRING FLING #2!

The Icebox Radio Theater presents potluck of live-theatre goodness, recorded at our Spring Fling show in 2009! First up, Vickie Olson and Jeff Adams revisit the classic Nicholls & May skit 'Telephone'. Then it's Harley Droba and Jeff looking at the lives of the super powered in, 'Heroes, 'don cha no' and finally, Jeff reads a new version of 'Casey at the Bat' with a Northland twist.

TO LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD CLICK HERE

THE BRIGHTON BOYS IN THE RADIO SERVICE~ AUDIO DOWN LOAD!

THE BRIGHTON BOYS IN THE RADIO SERVICE~ AUDIO DOWN LOAD!

BY JAMES DRISCOLL

READ BY TOM CLIFTON

The Brighton Boys in the Radio Service is a boys adventure story set in WWI - Three College Chums join the military and face the perils of spies, submarines and enemy soldiers in the trenches of embattled Europe. An engaging story set in a period where good guys wore white hats, bad guys wore black hats and every chapter ends with a cliffhanger so you have to come back for more!

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A SLY WINK TO SFF AUDIO

HARELQUIN NOIR!

HARELQUIN NOIR!

HARLEQUIN LOOKS TO BE TRYING TO CASH IN ON THE POPULARITY OF HARD CASE CRIME’S VITAGE COVERS BY REPRINTING SIX OF THEIR OWN VITAGE TITLES WITH THE ORIGINAL NOIRISH COVERS. INTERESTING, HARLEQUIN WERE THE PUBLISHERS OF JAMES HADLEY CHASE AND OTHERS. I’LL PICK THE FIRST FIVE OF THESE UP FOR THE COVERS ALONE . . .

PARDON MY BODY
Dale Bogard

From the moment Dale's headlights hit the nyloned legs of lovely Julia Casson on that old Connecticut highway, trouble moved right in on him—and stayed there.

Gunmen, straight coppers and crooked coppers, luscious bedtime lovelies and the fabulous mystery of the Task Force dagger deaths…Bogard cracks his way through it all to the most breathless showdown ever.

YOU NEVER KNOW WITH WOMEN
James Hadley Chase

Veda Rux, a beautiful blonde, known professionally as a stripper, steals a priceless Cellini dagger from the safe in millionaire Lindsay Brett's home. Her agent, Cornelius Gorman, approaches Floyd Jackson, a private investigator and first-rate blackmailer, and asks him to return the dagger before the theft is discovered.

Jackson should have known there was something wrong with the whole situation, but, blinded by the beauty of Veda and more money than he had ever seen, he agreed to the proposition.

From the moment he fell in love with Veda, his doom was sealed—he was caught up in a relentless intrigue that made him a cat's-paw for murder.

I'LL BURY MY DEAD
James Hadley Chase

"This is a personal matter. Someone killed my brother. I don't like that. If the police can't take care of it, then I'll bury my own dead."

Nick English meant every word, but his efforts to find his brother's killer started a chain reaction of murder and violence that would nearly end his own life.

Here is a story of organized blackmail punctuated by sudden and gruesome murder. Written with the punch and speed of a rivet gun, I'll Bury My Dead confirms James Hadley Chase's reputation as a leading writer of all-action, edge-of-your-seat thrillers that demand to be read in a single sitting.

KISS YOUR ELBOW
Alan Handley

In the theater, reality and make-believe blend so intimately that Tim Briscoe was convinced that he was playing the role of detective when he stumbled upon the lifeless form of Nellie Brant. But the corpse was real, even though everything and everybody else seemed fictitious.

There was the elusive man who wore dark glasses, the actress who chose sudden death as the background for an audition, the ex–silent-film star who stooged on quiz shows for his daily bottle, and Maggie, who loved him but didn't believe in the effect of too many Scotches.

This backstage mystery was written by a man who knew the theatrical world inside out. The characters and scenes are as authentic as Variety, as real as a closing notice.

NO NICE GIRL
Perry Lindsay

When a thoroughly "nice" girl is clever as well, let her less strongly armed sisters beware.

Phyllis Gordon was completely honest and very intelligent. Terry McLean was her first and only lover, and he really loved her. But Phyllis cared too much for him to marry him until she had rid herself of her unrequited passion for her millionaire employer, Kenyon Rutledge. Kenyon's fiancée, Letty Lawrence, was also well equipped with beauty and brains, and she had money besides.

Yet the arrival in town of Phyllis's little country cousin, Anice Mayhew, spelled danger for both Phyllis and Letty. For Anice was dewy-eyed, supersweet and diabolically innocent.

VIRGIN WITH BUTTERFLIES
Tom Powers

She's a smooth blonde with enough real glamour not to need makeup—especially when she's in tight white satin. She's honest and sort of naïve, but she knows how to get a man or get rid of a wolf.

She's a cigarette girl in a spot just off Chicago's loop, but she's about to start really going places. As she goes, she collects an Indian raja, an amorous sheikh and a mysterious gentleman reputed to be the Rockefeller of Burma. These gents are after something, chasing the gal around the world to get it, and it ain't hay. That's where her butterflies come in—they flutter hard, warning her when she's scared or propositioned, and they're working overtime. Effectively?—read the book and find out.

A TIP OF THE FEDORA TO BILL CRIDER