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Cindy Harkness

Bimbos of the Death Sun by Sharyn McCrumb

Titles that Beg To Be Picked Up

By Cindy Harkness

August 4, 2011

Do you ever get bookstore whiplash? You’re walking casually down the aisle, scanning the titles, when you stop dead in your tracks and whip your head around, thinking, Did I really just see that? Or possibly just What the…? After all, it’s the combination of the title and cover art that attracts the casual browser…

Cover of Hard Case Crime’s The Colorado Kid by Stephen King

Is Haven Your TV Haven?

By Cindy Harkness

July 18, 2011

I just finished rewatching the first season of Haven, and of all the returning summer shows, I’m looking forward to this one the most. The series is based on the Stephen King novella The Colorado Kid, published by Hard Case Crime. I haven’t read the book, but judging from reviews I’d say the connection between…

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

True Crime Literature?

By Cindy Harkness

June 24, 2011

Many true crime books are as disposable as yesterday’s newspaper. And that’s really not surprising, as they have a similar purpose. They usually report on the facts, investigation, and trial, just in more depth than the newspaper. Frequently, an author picks up on a current case that gets a lot of media attention and tries…

The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry

When Is a Mystery Too Fantastic?

By Cindy Harkness

May 22, 2011

Recently, I overheard two women in the mystery section in a bookstore: “Oh my gawd, I can’t believe it, they have this in the mysteries! It has spells and magic and everything!!!” “Oh gawd, that’s so stupid!!!” I moved away before my inner librarian erupted to explain to the shocked duo that the books had…

Zombie librarian

Not-so-Special Agent Pendergast?

By Cindy Harkness

May 12, 2011

This is kind of an unusual topic for me because, frankly, I like almost everything I read. It’s not that I have no standards, and naturally I like some books more than others. But there are different books that are right for different moods. Feeling emotionally fragile? Put down that Thomas Harris and pick up…

William Shatner in Star Trek Khaaan!

On the Frustration of Series

By Cindy Harkness

May 7, 2011

Finding something new to read can be a tiresome and treacherous ordeal. I use a method that has served me well for many years, a sort of hunter-gatherer approach: I stalk the bookstore aisles, searching for something ripe and fresh enough to tempt me. Hunting. And there it is; the cover art attracts me, the…

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