When asked about my Caitlin Strong series, I always describe them as modern-day westerns. And, in fact, the thriller form itself owes a great deal of its heritage to that genre. Having grown up with the films of Audie Murphy and Roy Rogers—not to mention classics like Shane, The Magnificent Seven, and High Noon along…
Regardless of characters, setting, or storyline, a single word always comes to mind when I read a Michael Connelly novel: authenticity. The details of how Harry Bosch, Mickey Haller, and Renée Ballard investigate crimes, identify suspects, and interact with their colleagues always withstand scrutiny. In a recent review of Connelly’s newest book The Night Fire,…
Some books really do change your life. For me, it was Dr. No, not the first James Bond novel but the first to be turned into a movie in 1962. I read it when I was ten years old, stuck in an all-boys boarding school in North London, the sort of grim institution that the…
Renowned gamesman Barclay Cooke (1912-1981) called backgammon “the cruelest game.” Memorable hyperbole? Perhaps. But vital skills are needed to play: intense concentration, clever strategy, and an ability to see ahead to possible traps—and still the probability of the roll can level the steel nerves of even the finest. That brutal unpredictability translates well to the…
7 actors and 26 films. The James Bond series has created a plethora of baddies over 54 years. From Dr. No to Spectre, James Bond has gone up against some of the toughest, most memorable villains in all of film. Every Bond fan has a favorite—who’s yours!
Created in 1953 by Ian Fleming, James Bond has captivated moviegoers as the world’s famed secret agent since Sean Connery first portrayed 007 in Dr. No in 1962. With all of the world saving over the last 50 years, 24 films, and 6 different actors, James Bond has defeated a motley crew of villains. We…
The golden sands, verdant hills, and crystalline waters of the Caribbean Sea have called to authors since the age of piracy ended. Indeed, one of the first works set there, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, was about that most Caribbean of occupations. Following Stevenson’s path, the greats (Ernest Hemingway, Islands in the Stream), the near-greats…
The WWII thriller and alternate history set in the same period are small time machines. If Walter Benjamin’s famous quote is taken into account, “History is written by the victors,” then it is rewritten as we come to terms with the past. Alternate histories concerning World War II appeared almost immediately following the war, and…
Whenever I complain about the misogyny in a James Bond film, I'm inevitably told: “What do you expect? It's Bond.” The fact that this is said so matter-of-factly—it's often delivered in a condescending tone of voice, as if my outrage is unreasonable—is appalling. An entire series of movies shouldn't carry such a reputation like a…
Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young—meet Connery, Craig, Moore, and Brosnan. Let Etsy user geoartcrafts upcycle all of those Perry Como Christmas albums you see at thrift stores into a truly unique and functional work of art. Handmade from used 12” vinyl records, this cool clock comes fashioned with a wall mount and a sweep motion…
