In 1929, there were two “Canary Murder” Cases. The first was a film starring Louise Brooks, William Powell, and Jean Arthur, released in February, which told the story of a showgirl (“The Canary”) who was strangled after a failed attempt at blackmail. The second “Canary Murder” occurred in Chicago towards the end of the year,…
The Advocate's Daughter by Anthony Franze follows Sean Serrat, a Supreme Court lawyer on the short list to be nominated for the U.S. Supreme Court, as he searches for his daughter's killer and uncovers secrets that involve some of the most powerful people in the world. Everything is looking sweet for Sean Serrat. A nomination is…
The Advocate's Daughter by Anthony Franze follows Sean Serrat, a Supreme Court lawyer on the short list to be nominated for the U.S. Supreme Court, as he searches for his daughter's killer and uncovers secrets that involve some of the most powerful people in the world (Available March 22, 2016). Among Washington D.C. power players,…
Crooked Brooklyn by Michael Vecchione and Jerry Schmetterer is a harrowing, true tale of the chief of Brooklyn's Rackets Division who helped clean up the storied New York City borough (Available November 17, 2015). Read this exclusive excerpt of Crooked Brooklyn by Michael Vecchione and Jerry Schmetterer, and then make sure you're signed in and comment…
“We deserve a better world.” Yes, we do. Just as in Season 1, the tying up of loose ends isn’t True Detective’s strong point, and unfortunately that’s the majority of the finale this time around. The big mystery is finally addressed: Who killed Ben Caspere? And that is quickly revealed, after a lingering scene with…
If there's anyone who typifies the if you can't beat 'em, join 'em mantra, it's Whitey Bulger, the infamous mafia boss who terrorized South Boston in the 1970s. Bulger became an FBI informant in order to help take down a rival mafia family who was trying to overtake his territory. Black Mass is the story…
“I’ve been waiting for that all my life.” Too many hotel rooms, not enough maps. The story comes together like an L.A. cloverleaf interchanged designed by M.C. Escher in this penultimate episode. Ray (Colin Farrell), Ani (Rachel McAdams), and Paul (Taylor Kitsch) are holed up in a motel with Vera (Miranda Rae Mayo), the escort…
“I sold my soul for nothing.” That’s Ray’s opening complaint, as we pick up from last week’s cliffhanger. He’s learned that the event he considers his personal Rubicon—when Frank Seymon (Vince Vaughn) slipped him the identity of his wife’s rapist—was a setup, that he was sent after the wrong guy, to put him in Frank’s…
“You and me need to talk.” After last week’s disastrous gunfight, where Ray’s (Colin Farrell) old partner dirty Dixon (W. Earl Brown) led the trio to a Mexican-run meth lab that was supposedly inhabiting Caspere’s L.A. sleaze pad, we recoup three months later, with our detectives reassigned or demoted, and a politician announcing that the…
“Well, that’s a bold choice.” Charlaine Harris, author of the Sookie Stackhouse novels from which True Blood was adapted, said that phrase was her most polite way of telling someone they were possibly a walking disaster; as the husband of a Southern woman, I’m not sure if that’s better or worse than “Bless your heart,”…
