What do Vin Diesel, an Oscar for “Best Film,” and the first “choose your own fate” movie have in common? They're all coming to Netflix this August! With two Fast and the Furious movies (which is really the goldilocks level of Fast and the Furious movies—any more would just be 2 fast and 2 furious),…
Watch The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and NCIS star David McCallum expertly narrate his debut thriller, Once a Crooked Man. Crime pays. And pays well. Sal, Max and Enzo Bruschetti have proved this over a lifetime of nefarious activity that they have kept hidden from law enforcement. Nowhere in any file, on any computer is there…
Once a Crooked Man by David McCallum is a quirky crime novel, and the first written by the beloved actor (NCIS, The Man from U.N.C.L.E), involving a crime family, a young actor, and several zany situations that add humor to this good-natured debut (Available January 12, 2016). Crime pays. And pays well. Sal, Max and…
I’ve run across an interesting piece by Nathan Abrams, Professor of Film Studies at Bangor (UK) University, on The Conversation website (“a collaboration between editors and academics to provide informed news analysis and commentary”). The title sums it up nicely: “Mossad Agents Were Suave and Effective on Screen, Now They’re Ineffective Blunderers.” Abrams’ thesis: Mossad,…
• According to South Coast Today, a handwritten poem by Edgar Allan Poe, “The Conqueror Worm,” was sold at auction for $300,000 after expecting to fetch $10-20k. A poem of human mortality, whose original has been lost, it was dedicated to one of Poe's former friends, a Griswold, who later became one of his…
Halloween is almost here. Some friends and I decided we needed to create, borrow, and adapt beverages for our favorite Halloween crime classics—both books and TV shows. We got together to mix and test the drinks below. So grab a cocktail shaker and your favorite Halloween crime fiction novel or DVD and let’s get started. …
Mark Harmon is back. Everyone loves the tough-as-nails silver fox who plays Jethro Gibbs on CBS’s NCIS. Can you believe the show just entered its 10th season? Well, actually it’s not so surprising with a great cast headed by Harmon and a story line that manages to make you laugh and still keeps you on…
Back to school means the return of many of our favorite TV shows. Major Crimes, Copper, and Grimm have already started, and we’ll have to wait until 2013 for BBC’s Sherlock, but plenty more premieres await in the golden months ahead. Will Castle and Beckett’s relationship grow or disintegrate as a result of their tryst?…
I’m a voracious reader. At any given time I’m reading at least three books. I know very little about today’s music, even though I was a radio announcer for several years, because all my audio listening is books now. I also love to reread books and re-listen to audiobooks. There are just some writers whose…
The world is in love with methods of forensic crime detection. We have been entranced by CSI (the original) and every spin-off it has produced. Abby Sciuto and her mass spectrometer add immeasurably to the strength of the Navy-based NCIS series, not to mention the ubiquitous Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard and his scalpel and keen…
