Max Allan Collins's Blog, page 24

Book Giveaway Part Two – Antiques Carry On and More

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Hardcover:
E-Book:

I have ten copies of Antiques Carry On by Barbara Allan (my wife Barb and me) to give away in exchange for reviews at Amazon (and elsewhere). These are beautiful hardcovers from our new publisher, Severn. Only about half the books on last week’s giveaway are gone, so this is Part Two.

List the order of preference for a book you’d like from this list: Antiques Carry On, Antiques Fire Sale, Hot Lead Cold Justice, Shoot-out at Sugar Creek. Write me at macphilms@hotmail.com, and include your full snail-mail address including your name.

IMPORTANT: If you entered last week’s Part One of this Book Giveaway, do not enter again. Everyone who requested a book is already getting one.

Another important aspect of these giveaways that I sometimes fail to mention is that Amazon won’t publish a review until a book is available for purchase – until its publication date. And sometimes I am sending advance copies. So don’t try to post something, fail because of this Amazon loophole, and forget about your (don’t mean to sound scolding) obligation. As usual, that obligation becomes optional if you don’t like the book.

* * *

Barb and I ventured into the wild again – a day trip to Cedar Rapids (sixty miles from us) and Iowa City (a little more than half of that). We had a wonderful time, though it got rainy late in the afternoon, as we headed home.

We are simple souls. We listened to Dragnet radio shows in the car, to and fro, and had a nice Italian lunch at Biagi’s in CR. We shopped a little – separately – and wound up in Iowa City for more shopping, a modest amount, and had a pizza at Pagliai’s, probably our favorite pizza anywhere.

A delightful day, but the world is…different. Masks are still in evidence, and various Covid precautions, which is fine by us. We were the first patrons in the door at Biagi’s and it felt a bit like eating in a haunted house. But for some years, the older version of us has sought to eat early and go to movies at off-times, because we find our species better taken in small doses.

Barb, in her clothes shopping, found higher-end merchandise – which I quaintly refer to as designer clothes – in short supply. The amount of sweat pants on display indicates a lifestyle change during the pandemic. More startling were the bookstores, both Half-Price and especially Barnes & Noble, where things were laid out differently. Nothing negative about it – mostly bigger aisles and sometimes areas arranged in a square you entered to shop in – just different. At both Barnes & Noble and Best Buy, the decline of physical media was shockingly apparent. Best Buy’s Blu-rays and DVDs were perhaps a tenth of what they’d been pre-pandemic, areas partitioned off with nothing inside. Barnes & Noble’s music and movie section was a ghost town, perhaps a third empty bins and a dominance of the hipster LPs that have me scratching my head – I guess some people like clicks and pops.

Books and magazines seemed about the same at the CR Barnes & Noble, although rearranged and moved around, sometimes for Covid safety, with perhaps a dollop of having kept the staff occupied with busy work during the pandemic.

At any rate, the notion that we could blink away a year and a half and return to “normal” seems wishful thinking. This feels more like England after World War Two.

Another aspect of this new normal is that Barb and I watched, that evening, Army of the Dead, the new Zack Snyder movie that is in theaters and on Netflix. It’s exactly the kind of movie we’d have gone to see in the theater, pre-Covid. While I won’t review it, I will say we both liked it. I may discuss it in detail later on.

I mentioned Dragnet in passing, and one of these days I’ll go into that in depth, too. I will say the collection we’re listening to – “Get ‘Em” from Radio Spirits – is an outstanding one, including some of the earliest, toughest episodes (from 1949).

In the meantime, Matt Clemens and I have answered the proofreader queries on To Live and Spy in Berlin, which is now safely in the Wolfpack pipeline. And I am about to begin a novel based on an unproduced Mickey Spillane screenplay (non-Mike Hammer), also for Wolfpack.

So, with your permission, I’ll get to work.

M.A.C.

Reviews A Go Go (and a Book Giveaway!)

Paperback:

We are offering ten copies of the paperback edition of Antiques Fire Sale, the hardcover edition of Shoot-out at Sugar Creek (Caleb York #6), and ten copies of the paperback edition of Hot Lead, Cold Justice (Caleb York #5) in exchange for reviews at Amazon and other reviewing sites/blogs. Amazon, of course, is key.

You must include your complete mailing address, USA only, and write me at macphilms@hotmail.com. State your order of preference for which book you’d like to receive and let me know if your interest applies only to one or two of them.

If you read the book and dislike it, you are relieved of your obligation to review it (though of course you can).

If you drop by here regularly, you know that reviews are a matter of some interest on these updates, and even of controversy. But reviews are important because they are one of the only sales tools available to authors. In our case, Barb and I are of an age (even before the pandemic) where we are no longer doing book tours. For years we supported our books with trips to such exotic locales as California, Texas and New York. But a waning desire to travel, and the increasing ineffectiveness of signings, has made book tours less attractive to us. (Centuries and Sleuths in Chicago remains our only regular stop.)

For a long time we maintained regular attendance at Bouchercon, where we could do signings for readers from hither and yon, but health issues prevented attending several of those and of course Covid prevented Bouchercon entirely last year. And we have already decided to pass on New Orleans.

We also did San Diego Comic Con regularly, but that too fell victim to health issues and later the pandemic. I will be doing a one-man (well, two-man because Andrew Sumner of Titan is interviewing me) panel for the upcoming virtual SDCC.

Barb and I hope to do both Bouchercon and SDCC next year. Those health issues I mentioned are well in hand, but we had to skip Bouchercon because of my heart surgery and later lung surgery, and Barb’s pertussis, which had me landing in New Orleans and immediately getting called back to Iowa, never getting beyond the New Orleans airport.

How much good reviews do, I’m not sure. But they seem to be the only thing left to us. They are not infallible –Antiques Ravin’ got rave reviews in all four publishing industry trades (Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus, Library Journal and Booklist), after which the series was promptly dropped by Kensington after thirteen successful entries.

The good news about the Antiques/Trash ‘n’ Treasures series, of course, is that we’re doing it for another publisher now – Severn, a British house, which pleases Vivian Borne no end (everything, she reports, is “tickety boo”).

And now I will interrupt myself to share with you this remarkable review for the first Severn House Antiques entry, Antiques Carry On , from Publisher’s Weekly.[image error]
Hardcover:
E-Book: Antiques Carry On
Barbara Allan. Severn, $28.99

Allan’s fast, funny 15th Trash ‘ n’ Treasures mystery (after 2020’s Antiques Fire Sale) takes brassy Vivian Borne and her long-suffering daughter, Brandy, the owners of the Trash ‘n’ Treasures antiques shop in Serenity, Iowa, to London, where, at the request of fellow Serenity antiques dealer Skylar James, they drop by the Old Curiosity Shop, whose proprietor, Humphrey Westcott, has a reprint of Murder on the Orient Express for Skylar to give his Christie-loving wife. When Humphrey is found stabbed to death with a letter-opener bearing Brandy’s fingerprints, the women are interrogated by a representative of MI5. Fortunately, CCTV footage proves the Bornes’ innocence, and they are unceremoniously sent back to Iowa, where more suspicious deaths await them. The pair investigate in their own inimitable fashion, eventually discovering a link between the murders and the copy of Murder on the Orient Express. Vivian and Brandy share narrative duties, and their amusing commentary provides much of the book’s appeal (Vivian admits she has “just a teensy-weensy, hardly-worth-mentioning, hint of bi-polar disorder”). Allan (the pen name of Barbara and Max Allan Collins) consistently entertains.

We are obviously thrilled about that one. The book will be out in early July. And the industry trades, PW a star in that galaxy of four planets, fuel both library and bookstore sales.

Let me interrupt this discussion (if me yammering can be so described) and share a wonderful fan letter we received – an actual, physical, through-the-mail letter.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Collins,

Thank you so much for continuing to add new novels to the Trash ‘n’ Treasures series. I just finished reading

Antiques Fire Sale. I am looking forward to the release of your newest addition, Antiques Carry On! The characters seem almost like friends to me, since I have followed their adventures and shenanigans through all of your novels.

My sister Jessica Butler and I are huge fans! We share laughs as we discuss the stories. Please keep writing because your works bring joy and delight into our world! Thank you for sharing your talents with us.

Best wishes,
Suzanne Schumann

To say this kind of response makes our day (and not in a Dirty Harry sense) is an understatement. A reader response like this makes the struggle worth it, and believe me, writing – and publishing – is a struggle. Hoping it doesn’t sound patronizing, I am so proud of Barb for developing into a wonderful writer and collaborator – she is the one who makes these books really, really special.

* * *

On another front, it’s been difficult to get reviews for the John Sand series. This may be because Wolfpack – despite getting huge attention in the trades for its burgeoning success and innovative ways – places an emphasis on e-book publication, which seems (to me at least) to make reviews from the trades more difficult to get. How difficult? Neither Come Spy With Me nor Live Fast, Spy Hard has received a single review in any one of them.

Which is why the Amazon reader reviews are so crucial, as are reviews on Internet sites and in the handful of surviving newsstand mystery magazines (Ellery Queen, Strand, Mystery Scene). Thankfully we have had support from two key sites, Bookgasm and Pulp Fiction Reviews, and the Rap Sheet may be doing reviews soon. With your forbearance, I will share the Bookgasm review of Live Fast, Spy Hard with you right now:

Live Fast, Spy Hard, the second title in the John Sand series by Max Allan Collins and his writing partner, Matthew Clemens, again features the former MI6 agent and his wife, Stacey. This time, however, Stacey is the cause of the problems that send Sand around the globe while keeping one stop ahead of potential assassins.

John Sand is living out his role as a high-ranking executive of the oil company owned by Stacey’s father. But all the while he keeps a secret from his wife. He has been tracking Jake Lonestarr, the traitorous business partner of Stacey’s father. Lonestarr is assumed dead, but Sand still feels he is still at large.

Then Stacey mysteriously disappears. Lonestarr is the chief suspect in Sand’s search for his wife. But there is reason to believe that Las Vegas gangster Anthony Morello might also be responsible. Or is Stacey actually hiding from someone that Sand does not know of?

Sand’s search takes him Berlin to Mexico, and finally to the jungles of Curacao. But can he find his missing wife before an army of assassins catches up with him?

The authors present the novel in a third-person perspective, keeping the focus mainly with Sand. There are, however, occasional shifts that allow us to know the thoughts and emotions of Stacey and those intent on ending Sand’s life.

And while the novel’s tone and structure continues to follow the traditions of Ian Fleming’s classic James Bond stories, the references to Bond are noticeably less than the first Sand novel (Come Spy With Me), but Collins and Clemens continue their satirical wordplay with both the title and chapter headings.

Also reduced are the real-life figures Sand encounters. Here, they are mainly confined to President John F. Kennedy – who tries to enlist Sand into a new international spy agency — and, briefly, movie legend John Wayne.

Familiarity with the first Sand novel is not essential. The authors even devote the opening chapter to how Sand and Stacey first met. But reading this latest Sand adventure is greatly enhanced if you already met both characters.

Is this the last encounter of John Sand and his beautiful, resourceful wife? That, it seems, is up to Collins and Clemens. For the time being, we have these two thoroughly entertaining and exciting thrillers to enjoy. —Alan Cranis

Well, Live Fast, Spy Hard will not be the last John Sand book, because just last night Matt and I shipped To Live and Spy in Berlin to Wolfpack editor Paul Bishop.

We love doing these books and the only way we will stop is if sales don’t encourage us to continue. Reader response has been excellent – lots of nice things have been (and are being) said on Facebook about John Sand. But we need you readers out there who like Quarry, Mike Hammer, Nolan, and Nate Heller (even the Antiques fans) to give Sand, John Sand, a try.

Ron Fortier at Pulp Fiction Reviews also likes Live Fast, Spy Hard. His lovely review is right here.

Finally, here’s another great Shoot-out at Sugar Creek review.

M.A.C.

Barb’s Mom and Writing From Experience

Barb’s mother passed away last week. I mention this not to initiate a flood of condolence wishes, which since Barb does not use Facebook might fall on deaf ears anyway. Dorothy Carolyn Jensen Mull was 97 and had endured a long bedridden convalescence, although saying Dot’s passing was a “blessing” in a way does not make it any easier for Barb and her six siblings.

I mention it here because Dorothy deserves thanks and recognition for inspiring, to a degree, the character Vivian Borne in the Antiques cozy mystery series that Barb and I write. This is not to say that Dot was a zany eccentric or a local theater diva – neither was the case. But she was highly spirited and for a number of years went antiquing with Barb from this flea market to that garage sale. This led to Barb and her mom running a booth at an antiques mall together for a good number of years, which was a major inspiration for the book series.

And I am happy to say that Dot enjoyed the Trash ‘n’ Treasures mysteries, which in her later years (with her eyesight failing) were read to her by Barb’s sister Anne.

I go into this in part because it speaks to Barb’s methods and mine where it comes to writing fiction. Though we work in a genre with its own conventions and (to use the tiresome current favorite term) tropes, we both instill elements from our own experience in our storytelling. The psychologist character in the Antiques books draws from Barb’s sister Cindi, yes, a psychologist. Barb has an older sister just as Brandy Borne does, although past a few superficial similarities the resemblance ends there. She also has a sister, Kathe, whose work in Broadway theater impacted our novel, Antiques Con. My brother-in-law Gary inspired a friend of Quarry’s who has somehow managed not to get killed, either in real life or fiction.

This kind of thing goes back to the earliest days of my career, when I was first able to inject elements of my real life into my crime-fiction fantasy. Mourn the Living had an Iowa City setting and reflected the hippie era there when I was in college. Bait Money finds Nolan and Jon robbing the bank where Barb was working at the time; she provided me with their security protocols!

Even in writing historical fiction I draw upon my own experiences. I wouldn’t have written The Titanic Murders if I hadn’t read in grade school a Tab book club edition of Jacque Futrelle’s The Thinking Machine. Getting betrayed by my best friend from high school (who embezzled from me) played a part in any number of my novels in the last twenty years, including Quarry’s Ex, which also drew upon my experiences making indie movies.

Anyway, it’s a lesson aspiring writers in any genre should take to heart. Don’t just write out of the books you’ve read and movies and TV you’ve seen. Draw on your experiences even in the context of mystery fiction or s-f or westerns or…really, any genre.

And one last thing – thank you, Dorothy. You inspired me, through your daughter and your own unique spirit.

* * *

Scarface and the Untouchable – the Capone/Ness non-fiction work by Brad Schwartz and me – hit the entertainment news last week. CBS is exercising their option to pick up the property for a series and it’s going to Showtime. We’ll see if it happens.

Read about it here, where you’ll discover my middle name is “Allen” and that apparently no one but me (and you) remembers that this all began with The Untouchables TV series starring Robert Stack.

* * *

Barb and I went to a movie at the local theater for the first time since the pandemic hit – something like fourteen months. We are, as you may be aware, frequent moviegoers and it was definitely strange to be back doing something so familiar after over a year and a half away from it. The theater did a good job with every other row blocked off and masks in the outer areas. We went at an off-time (3:30 pm on a Sunday) and were among perhaps seven other moviegoers.

The film was terrific – Wrath of Man, starring Jason Stratham and directed by Guy Ritchie. I like Ritchie’s films very much – he is essentially the UK’s Tarantino. It’s a very hardboiled crime story and not for the faint of heart (or the five year-old whose parents took her to this screening), minus the humor and quick cutting of most Ritchie films. This has more of a Richard Stark feel than the Parker film Stratham starred in a few years ago.

* * *

Here’s a wonderful review of Shoot-out at Sugar Creek, the new Caleb York.

And another.

Jeez, maybe you guys ought to read this one.

M.A.C.

And Now the Creator of Corliss Archer…Just As You Expected….

It’s very encouraging to see the positive reader and reviewer response to the two newest books of mine, Shoot-Out at Sugar Creek and Skim Deep. Right out of the gate, however, Skim Deep received an absolutely terrible Publisher’s Weekly review, and I wondered if I’d delivered a bomb; but every review since has been stellar, like this one from Steve Steinbock in the new Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine:

**** Max Allan Collins, Skim Deep, Hard Case Crime, $12.95. Nolan is on his way to Las Vegas to marry the love of his life. The former thief has come to an amicable arrangement with the Chicago mob and now owns a restaurant in Davenport, Iowa. But the family of an old enemy has a score to settle with him, and a former colleague wants to involve him in a Vegas skim operation. Nolan will need his wits and his comic-collecting sidekick Jon to get out of this alive. Loaded with blood, sex, and humor, the Nolan series was created by Collins in the early 1970s as an homage to Donald Westlake’s Parker novels. Skim Deep, set in the late 1980s, is Collins’s first Nolan book in more than thirty years.

And thus far the reader response has been glowing, too. Shoot-out at Sugar Creek is also getting raves from readers. This is from Dave at GoodReads:

In a dry parched land filled with gunfire and cattle, the tag team of the late Mickey Spillane and his friend Max Allan Collins have delivered a double trifecta, six exciting westerns that are so good you’ll read them cover to cover even if you don’t normally read westerns. Shoot-Out at Sugar Creek offers us readers a Hatfield-McCoy type feud when knockout Victoria Hammond and her sons move into the Trinidad area with her eyes on Willa Cullen’s Bar-O Ranch and aims to take it by any means necessary. Don’t think the women out there in the Wild West were all shrinking violets. Never have two such forceful determined women faced off before and the West may never be the same. Like all the books in the Caleb York series, the writing is tight, the action furious, the stakes high. What a great read!

A bunch of other five-star reviews follow, some of the best I’ve ever received at GoodReads.

So why am I splashing around in all this praise raining down on me? Because it shows the ironies of the working writer’s life. Kensington cancels Caleb York and I immediately get more praise for it than any other book in the series. I write one last book (Skim Deep) about Nolan, who I created around 1968 and who was first in print in 1972, and suddenly people love him just when I’ve determined not to write about him anymore.

Well, you never know with me. I have a habit of coming back to characters – Quarry a prime example – after they have supposedly run their course. I’ve started thinking about a possible Quarry/Nolan crossover novel already. And thanks to Charles Ardai and Hard Case Crime, the existing Nolans are all coming back out in two-to-novels-to-one-book format. A new edition of Two for the Money (collecting the first two Nolans, Bait Money and Blood Money) is available now. Such a deal.

And Wolfpack has expressed interest in continuing Caleb York, but – as I mentioned last week – I am booked up into early next year, so that’s a decision that’s on hold.

Here’s Bill Ott’s Booklist review of today about my yesterday books.

Two for the Money
By Max Allan Collins
May 2021. Hard Case Crime, paper, $14.95

The reappearance of Collins’ first series hero, superthief Nolan, in Skim Deep (2020) was an unexpected treat for the author’s fans, but it was only the first course. Now Hard Case Crime is reissuing all of the long-out-of-print Nolan novels. This volume brings together the original Nolan adventure, Bait Money, along with its sequel Blood Money. Originally conceived as a one-off homage to Donald E. Westlake’s Parker, Nolan immediately stood on his own legs, and, with Westlake’s blessing, Collins went on to give the aging thief, tough as they come but longing to get out of the game, extended life through seven novels published in the ’70s and ’80s. These first two hold up just fine, thanks to Collins’ ability to create indelible characters in a few brushstrokes and to construct plots that are just twisty enough to work. Bait Money finds Nolan, nearing 50 with gray hairs sprouting, forced to take on a bank job with a trio of headstrong youngsters. Naturally, it goes bad, leading to the revenge plot in Blood Money. An old-school pulpy pleasure, but with plenty of meat on its bones.

Despite (or perhaps because of) all this praise, I find myself reflecting on the ephemeral nature of writing popular fiction (not that all the fiction I write is particularly popular). I have been mulling of late the fate of F. Hugh Herbert, who has become a favorite writer of mine. And now, for those of you who have waded through all this shameless self-promotion and yay-me applause, I am about to subject you to something that will strike many of you as ridiculously obscure even for me.

Last year, when I began working on the first of the three Fancy Anders novellas for Neo-Text (more news about them soon), I gathered research about the WW 2 home-front in general and Los Angeles in particular. My main focus was on female defense plant workers and the Rosie the Riveter phenomenon. I encountered a wonderful book called Slacks and Calluses (1944) by two teachers, writer Constance Reid and illustrator Clara Marie Allen, a memoir of a summer vacation working at an aircraft plant. It’s a terrific, funny, insightful book and still in print.

I loved it so much I sprang for an original edition in dustjacket signed by the authors, including a Clara Marie Allen drawing. The co-authors went onto distinguished careers in writing and art respectively.

I also picked up, to get some flavor of wartime America and particularly a feel for a young woman of the times, the book Meet Corliss Archer (1944). A handful of you will be pop culture junkies enough to remember Corliss Archer, once a household-name character who began in a series of Good Housekeeping short stories that were gathered loosely into a sort of novel called, yup, Meet Corliss Archer.

The character was part of an era that produced Andy Hardy, Henry Aldrich, and Archie and his gang, but of course the focus was on a teenage girl. I found the book charming and funny and a snapshot of the era, featuring wonderfully forgotten slang and very interesting attitudes of the day. The Corliss Archer stories became a huge hit Broadway show, Kiss and Tell (1945), and later a film starring a “grown-up” Shirley Temple, followed by a sequel, A Kiss for Corliss (1949). A radio show ran from January 7, 1943, to September 30, 1956, and there were briefly comic strips and comic books (drawn by EC’s Jack Kamen and Al Feldstein) about Corliss, her boyfriend Dexter, her parents and others. The radio show’s most famous Corliss was Janet Waldo, who was the voice of Judy Jetson on, well, The Jetsons. TV versions of Kiss and Tell played live in the early ‘50s, followed by a not very good Meet Corliss Archer TV series.

Creator F. Hugh Herbert had little if anything to do with the TV series, but he was apparently somewhat hands on with the radio show. He wrote the screenplay for the film of Kiss and Tell but not the not-so-good sequel.

Herbert isn’t the “woo woo” comedian, by the way, despite what some Internet sources may tell you. But he was an enormously successful playwright and screenwriter. His play The Moon Is Blue (1951) is infamous for the Otto Preminger film version (1953) going out without the Production Code seal. It was mildly racy by today’s standards, but the word “virgin” was a big no-no in movies then, and in Blue it was uttered several shocking times on screen.

Herbert was very good at racy dialogue, and actually dialogue in general. His screenplays include Dark Command, Margie, Sitting Pretty, Home Sweet Homicide and Let’s Make It Legal. He wrote and directed a few films, including Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! (in which Marilyn Monroe spoke her first screen line).

Herbert began in silent films when a novel of his, There You Are! (1925), attracted Hollywood attention. While his plays generated a number of Broadway hits, his novels attracted little notice (except for Meet Corliss Archer). He only wrote a handful – five that I know of. I’ve located all of ‘em (no small trick) with only the first 1920s-era novel left to go. I’ve read most of his plays, as well.

Look, I get on a “kick” every now and then. Somebody’s work interests me and I start tugging on loose strings in search of a sweater. I can only say I like F. Hugh Herbert’s work. He would probably get into trouble today because he liked to explore (long before Lolita) the attraction between young women and older men. Margie, a very popular film considered a harmless 1946 piece of fluff about the 1920s, is about a teenage girl going to the prom with her male French teacher (who in a postscript we discover she married).

Herbert was, in his way, pushing the sexual envelope in the 1940s and ‘50s. Kiss and Tell revolves around Corliss Archer’s parents thinking Corliss is pregnant by a soldier on leave – not something you’d find in Andy Hardy or Henry Aldrich, and I’m pretty sure Archie never got Betty or Veronica in the family way.

The Moon Is Blue was notorious for its sexual content, however innocuous it now seems. The dialogue remains witty.

His novel A Lover Would Be Nice (1935) is about a shallow young woman who marries a nice if somewhat boring young man and ponders whether an affair would improve things; the conclusion is surprisingly adult. The Revolt of Henry (1937), a wonderfully written novel, is about a henpecked personnel man at a department store whose wife is casually cruel and takes Henry to the brink of murder. Henry has an affair with a younger woman, of course, and the ramifications are also surprisingly adult and modern in what essentially is a James M. Cain novel that somehow doesn’t result in homicide and/or prison. Herbert’s final novel, I’d Rather Be Kissed (1954), rather shamelessly reboots Corliss Archer but changes her name and everyone else’s, though the cast is otherwise identical right down to the dumb family dog. He states on the dustjacket that he’s been inspired by J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye to take things up a level. And he does, brilliantly.

He died shortly thereafter at age 61.

I am not recommending these books. You might find them too dated or the young woman/older man aspect creepy. And you might be right. But I liked Herbert’s artistry and craft, and his sort-of-novel Meet Corliss Archer was very helpful to me in creating Fancy Anders.

But mainly I’m not recommending his novels because you won’t be able to find them, except perhaps Meet Corliss Archer in a reprint edition or a first edition sans dust jacket (you don’t want to know what my copy of the latter cost me in dust jacket) (or anyway Barb doesn’t). And that’s my point.

F. Hugh Herbert was once a famous author and playwright responsible for two major pop culture creations (Corliss Archer and The Moon Is Blue). You likely never heard of him. You can see a good number of the movies he wrote, and probably already have, but his novels are gone. As if they never existed.

The ephemeral nature of what his accomplishments add up to troubles me. I mean, I already knew the sun was going to burn up someday, but I was kind of hoping my body of work would last till then, in some form.

Many of the authors I really admire are either forgotten or on their way to obscurity – Calder Willingham, William March, Mark Harris.

What that leaves, in all this, is you – those of you still out there reading, and the ones reading my work please know…I am grateful.

* * *

Let’s wind up with this delightful review of Quarry’s List by someone who has read a lot of my stuff and really seems to get it.

M.A.C.

Caleb York Rides…One Last Time?

Hardcover:
E-Book:
Digital Audiobook:

Today the sixth – and, for now at least, final – Caleb York western, Shoot-Out at Sugar Creek, goes on sale. Those of you who won advanced copies are now free to review it. It’s a hardcover. The previous Caleb York, Hot Lead, Cold Justice, is out simultaneously in mass market paperback.

I usually just provide a link, but this review from that first-rate writer Ron Fortier at his Pulp Fiction Review blog is too good not to share.

Here it is, and thank you, Ron:

SHOOT-OUT AT SUGAR CREEK
A Caleb York Western
By Mickey Spillane & Max Allan Collins
Kensington Books

The sixth chapter in the Caleb York series picks where the fifth ended, with the people of Trinidad New Mexico dealing with the aftermath of the worst winter recorded in the west. Many of the local ranchers, having lost most of their stock, have packed up and left the territory, while Willa Cullen, owner of the big Bar-O, is struggling with a decimated herd and a lack of clean running water to support them. The only unfouled source is Sugar Creek which sits on neighboring Circle G land.

As the story opens, the once abandoned ranch is bought by a beautiful widow named Victoria Hammond, who entertains grandiose plans to become the richest, most powerful figure in the county. Events get off on less than desirable footing when Sheriff Caleb York is forced to shoot and kill Victoria’s youngest of three sons for raping and savagely beating a local working girl. Upon meeting the woman to respectfully report the circumstances of the shooting, York discovers that she has no intentions of allowing any other ranchers access to Sugar Creek. She is also planning on buying out Willa for pennies on the dollar. No stranger to past range wars, York finds himself in the precarious role of peace-keeper, between the woman he loves and the ambitious widow Hammond.

Along about this time, we found ourselves musing over Collins’ ingenuous plot with its echoes of a several classic television settings. Thus far the adventures of Caleb York and Trinidad have seemed much like Matt Dillon in the popular Gunsmoke series. Whereas with this book, he offers up a dark-mirror image of another well known oater, The Big Valley; what with Victoria Barclay (note the same first name) and her three boys. That the two, York and Victoria Hammond are on a collision course is obvious from their first scene together. Then, in his usual masterful touch, Collins ups the ante and violence erupts quickly towards the tale’s second half leaving blisters on our fingers. We simply could not put it down. The end was so Mickey Spillane, it was eerie.

We’ve enjoyed all the Caleb York books but this one clearly stands out as a high mark. Nobody spins a yarn like Max Collins. Nobody.

As for why this is the last Caleb York, at least for a while, it’s simple: Kensington didn’t ask for any more. I have strong interest, however, from Wolfpack, who have (obviously) been incredibly supportive of my work of late, and they are a top publisher of westerns. So Caleb may saddle up there in the (as Mystery Science Theater puts it) not too distant future.

Well, somewhat distant, because I am booked up for the rest of the year and into the next. Ironically, a lot of this has to do with getting ready for the 75th anniversary of Mike Hammer next year. This includes a new Hammer novel, developed from an unpublished Spillane manuscript, and I haven’t started that yet. Very much under way is a biography of Mickey for Mysterious Press, which Jim Traylor and I are doing. I’m also considering an expanded version of my documentary, Mike Hammer’s Mickey Spillane, if I can work it in. Also on the docket is a possible non-Hammer novel based on an unproduced Spillane screenplay, which I may do for Wolfpack – still in the talking stages, but….

In addition, I have an Antiques novel to co-write and a Nate Heller(although that will slop over somewhat into next year). And currently I’m doing the third John Sand novel with Matt Clemens – working from his draft, I’m half-way through mine. It’s called To Live and Spy in Berlin.

Besides all this, I’m involved with getting my ‘40s female PI Fancy Anders out to the reading public. She will appear in three novellas: Fancy Anders Goes to War; Fancy Anders For the Boys; and Fancy Anders Goes Hollywood. These are written. When they are collected into book form, I intend to title it Meet Fancy Anders. These are for Neo-Text, who will be bringing them out initially as e-books.

Neo-Text will also be doing e-books of the three-part serialized The Many Lives of Jimmy Leighton by Dave Thomas and me. That will be the title of the eventual collected edition. I’m pleased to announce that the incredible Howard Chaykin will be illustrating Jimmy Leighton.

As I’ve mentioned here before, artist Fay Dalton, a fantastic talent, is doing the illos for Fancy Anders. She’ll be doing cover illos as well as one illustration per chapter (numbering 10 per novella, not counting covers). Some will be in color, a few in black-and-white or partial color for a noir effect. We have not seen Howard’s work on Jimmy yet, but I know it will be outstanding. This is not comics, or graphic novels, rather prose novels that include a good amount of strong artwork, perhaps invoking the classic magazine illustration of the ‘30s through the ‘50s.

To give you the first look at Fancy, I’ve included one of her roughs, which I predict will knock your eyes out and your socks off. I am incredibly excited about both of these Neo-Text projects. They are at once typical of my work even as each charts a new course.

* * *

There was a bit of fuss last week over my stating that if a winner in a book giveaway here didn’t like that book, the responsibility to review the book could be considered optional.

A bait and switch went on to some degree, because the complaining parties seemed not to be winners in the book giveaways, but actual paying customers…and of course an actual paying customer can dislike a book and say so in an Amazon review with my (grudging) blessing.

But this seemed to be really about those who don’t like my complaining (which I did) about self-professed “big fans” advising other big fans not to read the book – scaring off other paying customers. No law against that, but I don’t think they understand the concept of Amazon reviews. When you write a review for Amazon, or Barnes & Noble or Goodreads, you are not a professional reviewer with the status and credibility of a critic in, say, Entertainment Weekly or for that matter The New York Times. You’re just a reader expressing an opinion. Which is fine. But the public forum you’re in does carry weight, and particularly at Amazon with its averaging of reviews, its reliance on the number of reviews, and policy of showing a “top” negative review.

I went into some detail about this in the comments last week, and so did people on both sides of this fence, and you may wish to check that out.

* * *

This is a long, freewheeling interview (audio only) with my buddy Andrew Sumner, one of my favorite people on the planet.

M.A.C.

Not Another Book Giveaway! Live Fast….

Yes, another book giveaway!

I have ten copies of the second John Sand novel, Live Fast, Spy Hard by Matt Clemens and me, and ten copies of the new Wolfpack edition of Regeneration by Barb and me. It’s first-come first serve. You must include your address (include your name as part of your address, so I can copy paste) and agree to write a review for Amazon (Barnes & Noble and review blogs are also welcome). USA only, please – foreign postage is prohibitive.

Write me at macphilms@hotmail.com .

Give me an order of preference, or if you are only interested in one title of these two.

If you read and then don’t like the book, you are released from your pledge to review it, and in fact I’d rather you didn’t. The purpose of these exercises is not to show you what a fine, generous man I am (though of course that’s true), but to attract favorable attention to these books.

You know – get others to buy them.

Live Fast, Spy Hard represents the second of what will be at least three John Sand novels. I’ve mentioned the premise here – that Sand is the spy who (reading between the lines) Ian Fleming based James Bond upon. The secondary conceit is that what happened at the end of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (SPOILER ALERT: Bond marries and his wife is killed) was not reflected in John Sand’s “real life.” He does marry, but the wife – and, so far, the marriage – survives.

I have heard through the grapevine that some readers have avoided Come Spy With Me and now Live Fast, Spy Hard because they are assuming that these are spoofs of spy novels. This may be a result of the lead espionage agent being married and teaming up with his wife for duties with a new spy agency called GUILE, which is vaguely like UNCLE in, you know, THE MAN FROM.

A couple of things.

First, these novels derive from my love for the Ian Fleming novels and the Sean Connery-starring Bond films. I only tolerate Roger Moore, and defend Timothy Dalton because his Bond is like the book Bond, and enjoy the two later Bonds (Brosnan and Craig) because they are loyal to Fleming and Connery each in his own way. As for George Lazenby, he was a faithful to Fleming Bond, too.

I’ve told the story here many times that when – at around age 14 – I ran out of Mickey Spillane books to read, I turned to the author advertised as “the British Mickey Spillane” – Fleming, Ian Fleming. And you may recall that, in junior high, I talked my parents into taking me to see the opening of Dr. No on a school night.

Second, while I was very much caught up in the spy craze that accompanied Beatlemania while I was in high school – watching every dreadful spy spoof from Dean Martin as Matt Helm to James Coburn as Flint (actually walked out of In Like Flint) – I have no love for any spoofy spy thing of the period with the exception of Get Smart. (I do love the latterday OSS 117 films from France. Also, for the record, I love both Dino and Coburn, just not in those films – though I own all of them on Blu-ray, so go figure).

Third, the UNCLE reference, which puts some people off, has a basis in Ian Fleming, thank you very much. First of all, the acronym thing was a big deal in real life, and in the reality of the spies Fleming wrote about (SMERSH being real, with of course SPECTRE a Fleming invention). Fleming named both Napoleon Solo and UNCLE, but was forced off the TV project by the producers of the Bond film series. Hardcore Bond fans may recall that “Solo” was the name of a gangster in Goldfinger.

So the presence of GUILE does not indicate that Matt and I are going down a spoofy path.

Readers who think John Sand marrying a beautiful woman means there is no sex in these books need to either (a) if single, start dating, or (b), if married, buy their wives some flowers and see what happens.

And readers who like the harder-edged side of my work – who value Quarry, Mike Hammer and Nate Heller – should not misconstrue the nature of the John Sand books, which are extremely tough with brutal action and lots of plot twists and turns. Heller fans may in particular enjoy the historical aspect. In pursuing the conceit of John Sand being the “real” James Bond, Matt Clemens and I have devised stories within the early ‘60s time frame that bring in the likes of Castro, JFK and the Rat Pack. These are at once historical novels and espionage thrillers, as well as bloody valentines to Ian Fleming.

But in some ways John Sand is a change of pace, simply because I haven’t written much espionage, although such movie tie-ins as I Spy, Air Force One and In the Line of Fire seem to qualify, as well does the Reeder & Rogers trilogy (Supreme Justice, Fate of the Union and Executive Order) that Matt and I did for Thomas & Mercer.

Here is an interview Matt and I did with Wolfpack editor Paul Bishop.

As I mentioned above, the point of these book giveaways is generating good reviews to in turn generate sales. That’s how I keep food on the table, the lights on, and you entertained. When I – or any writer whose work you enjoy – change things up with a different type of book, and you don’t like it, might I make a suggestion? If you usually like the writer, don’t write an Amazon review advising other fans to steer clear of it. Have some respect for the author, and give your fellow fans the opportunity to judge for themselves.

Now and then I see an Amazon review that begins, “I’m a big Max Allan Collins fan,” followed by a blisteringly bad review. Either I’m not writing as well, or these readers may just not really be “big” fans.

The other book in this week’s giveaway, Regeneration, has generated many terrific Amazon reviews, but I am always up against resistance when I try to break out of my specific noir/historical niche. I write different kinds of things to stay fresh, to stay interested. Particularly when I collaborate, as with Barb or Matt or recently Dave Thomas, I am looking to do something different. That’s on purpose.

Regeneration is a novel I’m particularly proud of. It began as a short story of Barb’s in which I saw possibilities for a novel. As the Mommy movies indicate (and the Mommy novels for that matter) (available from Wolfpack), I am interested in horror and dark suspense. My anthology Reincarnal is packed with specifically that kind of tale. And Regeneration, thanks to Barb’s terrific idea as well as her draft on the novel, is definitely in that cubicle of my wheelhouse.

Regeneration explores ageism on the one hand, and the failure of Baby Boomers to save for retirement on the other, putting them together in a darkly comic and intentionally disturbing mix that reflects Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone as influences on both Barb’s and my work.

Check out the knockout cover Wolfpack has come up with for this new edition.

* * *

Here’s a podcast interview with me, nicely handled by Joe Meyers.

M.A.C.

Ladies and Gentlemen – Brian Van Winkle

Those of you who are nice enough to stop by here from time to time, because of interest in my fiction writing, may also know my other creative interest has always been music, specifically rock ‘n’ roll. I’ve been a rock fan since early childhood, after seeing Elvis on Ed Sullivan, and my enthusiasm for Bobby Darin is well-known by, well, those who know me. The Beatles infected my generation and I was no exception – an interest in vocal and instrumental music in junior high and high school led me into playing in “local pop combos.” In 1965, the first of those, briefly, was the Barons (Barrens was more like it), but the Daybreakers arrived in mid-1966 and made a certain mark.

How big a mark? Well, in 1967 our one national single, on Atlantic subsidiary Dial, “Psychedlic Siren,” charted regionally and over the years became a cult favorite among garage band enthusiasts. A footnote about this will follow.

But first I need to say that in over fifty years of rock and roll, playing in a surprisingly small number of bands (really, only three – the Daybreakers, Crusin’, and Seduction of the Innocent) I performed with some remarkable musicians, who were always able performers and a few were incredible ones; but every single one became my close friend and road-warrior comrade and touched my life in a profound way. It’s the closest thing to what soldiers in foxholes experience, and I say that without embarrassment though I know it’s an exaggeration. But perhaps less of one than you might think.

There are stories I could tell, but not right now.

The sad truth of it is, over fifty years – particularly among rock musicians – there are a lot of ways to die. Terry Beckey, a great bass player and fine singer with the Daybreakers, was murdered in his motel room. Guitarist Paul Thomas died of sleep apnea. Cancer got Daybreakers/Crusin’ bassist Chuck Bunn and Seduction drummer Miguel Ferrer. Guitarist Larry Barrett was a suicide. I can’t say for sure, but an early member of the Daybreakers appears to have died, as they used to say, of drink. Singer/guitarist Bruce Peters died due to over-medication (by his doctors, not himself).

About a week ago we lost Brian Van Winkle.

After Chuck Bunn’s passing in 2011, our then-guitarist Jim Van Winkle asked us to give his brother Brian a try. Jim is one of the best guitarists the band has ever known – and that is saying something, when the list includes Bruce Peters, Rob Gal, Paul Thomas and Bill Anson. It took about half-way through one song to know Brian was right for the band, and a shorter time than that to realize he was sweet and fun and just a pleasure to be around. Not everybody in a band has those attributes. Bands tend to break up after a few years, but Crusin’ began in 1974 with little to no bad blood when someone left the group.

I wish I could convey what a joy Brian was to be around. He was sunny and funny, but he carried some heavy baggage. His brother Jim was such an outstanding player that Brian had to feel he was performing in that shadow. But Brian was a military veteran who had seen combat and who suffered periodically – and seriously – from PTSD. He shared his experiences with me, and had me read some journal entries about those traumatic experiences. His writing blew me away, and I told him so. I encouraged him to write a book. If pretenders like me could get away with it, the real deal like Brian should really tell his story.

About mid-way through 2018, Brian was having difficulty feeling comfortable in crowds and stepped away from the band. Our current, very talented guitarist Bill Anson suggested his son, Scott, who is our current and also very gifted bassist. We have always been something of a family affair. DeWayne Hopkins was our drummer for many years and when he left (to run successfully for mayor, among other things) his son Jaimie ably took over the drum kit.

We did not perform in 2020 and haven’t had our first rehearsal yet this year, but intend to perform this summer and early fall. We had looked forward to Brian sitting in with us, and lending his uniquely warm presence. I will get a little crude here, so forgive me. He could give and take shit as well as anyone in the history of the band.

And that is saying something.

He was in the hospital for several harrowing weeks, and was diagnosed with Covid but other factors were at work. When I last spoke with him, not that long ago, he was feeling fine and felt and looked fit. Finding out, a few weeks later, that he was in intensive care came as a shock.

One last thing about Brian – he was a sensitive soul. He cared deeply about others and had a deep spiritual side that not everyone might have guessed, since he had a fun, sometimes silly, sometimes raunchy sense of humor. Now and then, as a writer, I encounter a person whose complexity would challenge me to recreate on the page – and I am failing to this wonderful guy justice here. Nor does this brief write-up, but check it out anyway and bask in Brian’s smile for a few moments.

https://www.trimblefuneralhomes.com/obituaries/Brian-M-Van-Winkle?obId=20667290

Here is our performance at the 2018 induction concert, when Brian and the rest of the band (Steve Kundel on drums, Bill Anson on vocals and guitar, myself on vocals and keys, with founding Daybreakers member Denny Maxwell guesting on a few numbers) were inducted into the Iowa Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. You can hear Brian’s excellent bass playing clearly and enjoy his loose, easy stage presence…and is it my imagination or can you see just what a sweet, nice guy he was?

By way of the promised footnote…when I was checking YouTube to find the above recording of our 2018 performance, I ran across a number of other performances by the Daybreakers at our 2008 induction as well as any number of other Iowa Hall of Fame performances at various induction concerts over the years. Most of these videos have scored perhaps a couple of hundred viewers; the Daybreakers clips are mostly between 400 and 700 views – very respectable.

And then there’s “Psychedelic Siren.” Which, as some of you may know, has been covered quite a bit by other bands with names like the Tellers, the X-Ray Harpoons, and the Outta Place, and the original record has been anthologized numerous times, in particular Sundazed’s Garage Beat ‘66. Some of these cover versions are in live performance by various bands on YouTube, and rack up decent numbers – the Tellers an impressive thousand views.

The Daybreakers performing in 2008 at the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is right here, right now, for your enjoyment – with the great Chuck Bunn on bass, and the four surviving original members – Mike Bridges, guitar, Buddy Busch, drums, myself on keys/lead vocal, and guitarist Denny Maxwell on siren.

We have 3800 views.

Rack a few more up for us, would you?

M.A.C.

New Editions of Regeneration and Kiss Her Goodbye

Paperback:
E-Book:

The Zoom presentation Barb and I made Saturday morning (for the DSM Book Festival) was attended by around seventy people, and went very well. This is the first online dual appearance we’ve made. We concentrated on five writing tips each, which not only gave participants some decent advice, but highlighted the differences in our approach as well as how we go about collaborating.

We spoke for about forty minutes, followed by answering questions from attendees.

As it happens, our first collaborative novel – Regeneration – is out this week in a new edition from Wolfpack, with another of that company’s stunning covers. The novel – which I’d classify as Dark Suspense, but could be a Psychological Thriller or even Horror – began as a short story by Barb, which we expanded into our debut collaborative novel. Bombshell would follow, and of course we began the Antiques/”Trash ‘n’ Treasures” cozy mystery series after that. (Wolfpack is planning an edition of Bombshell as well.)

Regeneration was originally published by Leisure Books, and a while back by Thomas & Mercer under our joint “Barbara Allan” byline. In many respects, this book was Barb’s baby as the idea was hers, as was the original plot of the short story, and nicely reflects the way she explores some social concern of hers in her fiction (a topic we discussed in that Zoom “Master Class”).

She really deserves top billing, but for marketing reasons I’ve reluctantly taken it.

* * *

The recent book giveaway (and more will follow, possibly including Regeneration) was nicely successful, and all thirty books were gone in 23 hours and signed copies have gone out in the mail to the winners.

Kiss Her Goodbye – one of the three books in that giveaway – is out tomorrow (April 6). My mentioning that it has the previously censored ending has attracted some attention, including questions like, “What previously censored ending?”

The editor of the original hardcover edition (and there was a trade paperback as well) of the third of the first three of my “Mike Hammer” Spillane/Collins collaborative novels objected to what he saw as an ending too similar to a certain famous Mike Hammer novel. I am dodging exactly which novel, and what ending, by way of avoiding a spoiler.

But I should say this editor was and is a friend to my efforts to get the unpublished, unfinished Mike Hammer novels in Mickey Spillane’s files finished and published. He aggressively went after those first three novels, and would have continued on with them, but his relationship with the publisher came to an end.

Publisher Nick Landau of Titan then stepped up immediately to take over publishing the Hammer novels as part of a greater Mike Hammer Legacy Project. Also, Nick went after mass market publication rights of the first three of those collaborative Spillane/Collins Mike Hammer novels (The Goliath Bone, The Big Bang, Kiss Her Goodbye), to bring the entire run under one imprint.

When this occurred, I asked my editor, the great Andrew Sumner – a true Hammer fan and expert – if I might restore the ending of Kiss Her Goodbye. Andrew thought it was a great idea, both in terms of honoring my artistic vision and to give the mass market edition something special to set it apart. (Ironically, I rather like the rewritten ending – if less than the previously unpublished one – and hope diehard fans will put both the original and the restored version on their shelves.)

Call it double-dipping if you like, but – as I’ve said elsewhere – double-dipping never hurt a hot fudge sundae.

* * *

I was very excited about HBO Max, specifically after the announcement that all Warner Bros movie releases for the next year would be streaming in tandem with actual theatrical presentations.

Then came the Wonder Woman 1984, as pathetic a major super-hero release as has come down the pike since Green Lantern.

Now Barb and I have endured Godzilla Vs. Kong, a movie we had been looking forward to for months. One of the definitions of insanity is to keeping doing the same thing over and over, always expecting a new result. That’s me and American Godzilla movies – I am always excited, thrilled by the preview, and the movie always disappointments.

Some people like this film – it’s 73% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes – but that’s just Covid Derangement Syndrome. So starved are theatergoers (and streamers) for entertainment, they embrace this vapid, stupid exercise in SFX artistry and screenwriting incompetence. Only Stranger Things star Millie Bobbie Brown emerges with her dignity. Well, also the great Kyle Chandler, wasted in a walk-on.

* * *

The print edition of the International Association of Media and Tie-in Writers anthology, Turning the Tied, is available now (the e-book too, of course) (Paperback: | E-Book: ). It features many terrific writers doing famous characters in new short stories, including a Sherlock Holmes by a couple of guys named Collins and Clemens.

Check out this lovely gallery of Hard Case Crime Quarry covers.

M.A.C.

Previews of Coming Attractions

Last week’s book giveaway went well and all thirty signed copies (ten each of Two for the Money, Kiss Her Goodbye (with the uncensored ending), and Shoot-out at Sugar Creek) have been distributed.

I am grateful for those of you who participate in these book giveaways and follow up with reviews. It’s one of the few things an author can do to promote titles in the Covid era, though even before that bookstore signings had already declined in effectiveness.

A giveaway for the recently published third John Sand novel, Live Fast, Spy Hard, will be offered here as soon as I get copies of the trade paperback. At this writing, I’m not sure the “real book” edition is available yet, though I’m checking. The e-book is available now, of course, and we’re already generating some nice Amazon reviews.

The new publisher of the Antiques Trash ‘n’ Treasures series has asked for another book, and Barb and I had already been working on the proposal for what will be Antiques Liquidation. We will be plotting it in more detail this week, doing a chapter by chapter breakdown. As some of you know, Barb writes a complete first draft and then I do the final one, with her input of course.

Meanwhile, my co-author Matt Clemens has been working on his draft of To Live and Spy in Berlin, the third John Sand novel, which we plotted and broke down into chapters a few months ago. I will be starting my draft very soon.

What I have been working on are two projects for Neo-Text, a new publisher (chiefly of e-books) with a great web site you should be checking out regularly.

The first project, which I completed several months ago, is Meet Fancy Anders, the overall title of a series of three novellas about a female private eye during World War Two in Los Angeles; the novellas are interrelated and will become a novel of that title. Fancy goes undercover as a defense plant worker, a Hollywood Canteen hostess, and a movie extra. I’m extremely excited about this series, which was fun to do, and the e-books will be illustrated by a top female artist, those illustrations porting over to various book versions – likely a trade paperback but also a larger-size, possibly hardcover book with full display of the mostly color art. The idea is for each chapter to begin with a full-page illustration.

The second project, which I’ve hinted at here, is co-written by Dave Thomas of SCTV fame (who was also a writer/producer on the TV series Bones and Blacklist). It’s called The Many Lives of Jimmy Leighton and is a genre-straddling (s-f and crime) saga that will appear in three parts and, like Fancy, be collected as a book, again possibly in several formats. We are lining up a top comic book artist to do the covers and illustrations. I finished my draft of the third and final part today, and will be doing revisions this week, then shipping it out to Dave for our final mutual edit/tweak. He’s a great storyteller and this is very much a fifty/fifty collaboration. And I think this novel will be one of my best.

This is sizing up as a very busy year for me. The Heller novel I’ll be doing (well, it straddles the latter part of this year and next) will sideline Quarry for a while, and Caleb York will have to cool his spurs likely till 2022 or even ‘23. I have a Mike Hammer novel to complete, the Spillane bio with James Traylor, and another Spillane project that will be announced later.

I think I’ve spilled enough beans already.

* * *

I have encountered two films that are not likely to be on your radar – indie productions that are not big-budget affairs but that you may find worth your while.

My son Nate and I liked the sound of The Kid Detective, a 2020 film starring Adam Brody, and decided to give it a try. It’s one of my favorite films in some time (and I think Nate has the same opinion). The premise is whimsical – in a small town, a 32-year-old private detective is existing on the fumes remaining from his high octane reputation as a kid detective when he was, yes, a kid. It’s as if Encyclopedia Brown grew up and tried to continue his detective adventures into adulthood, with the expected absurd results. The idyllic town hasn’t weathered the years any better than the now-grown kid detective, and his fellow citizens rather resent and even deride him. But he hangs in there. The humor here is gentle with a surprising edge, and laugh-out-loud funny frequently, though two real crimes – one old, one new – hang over the comical proceedings like dark, gathering clouds.

Despite the smalltown setting, and the quirky caprice of the premise, this is a genuine private eye movie with film noir themes and under- and overtones despite a surface that might be an after-school special. Prepare to be sucker-punched, because when the two mysteries converge and pay handsomely off, things get as dark as any noir. And the final moments are serious and moving and also surprising.

The other film worth checking out, if what I am about to describe intrigues you, is VHYES, a 2019 feature described thusly on IMDB: “This bizarre retro comedy, shot entirely on VHS and Beta, follows 12-year-old Ralph as he accidentally records home videos and his favorite late night shows over his parents’ wedding tape.” If you read the Amazon reviews, you will find some viewers outraged and highly annoyed by the film, and others loving it (I am in the latter camp). Like Kid Detective, it has a whimsical premise that becomes more serious as the film progresses. The home-movie events that get intermittently recorded over are, as unlikely as it first seems, a narrative that has some emotional impact (again, like Kid Detective).

What the IMDB write-up neglects to mention is that the VHS cartridge is being taped over in 1987 and the entire film is set in that period. In some respects VHYES is in the tradition of the ‘70s TV parody films like The Groove Tube, Tunnelvision and Kentucky Fried Movie, pre-SCTV efforts often featuring Second City performers. VHYES features Kerri Kenney and Thomas Lennon of RENO 911, which may be enough to sell some of you – it did me.

You get snippets of public access, PBS and kid’s shows, commercials, spoofs of Home Shopping Network and Antiques Roadshow, and a real story, if you’re paying attention.

* * *

A reminder that Barb and I are doing a Master Class via Zoom that is available to anyone interested. Here’s the info again:

DSM Book Festival: Sat. April 3
Workshop: Max Allan Collins at 9 a.m. (duration 1 hour)
Log-in: 8:40 a.m.

Workshop description:
Learn from the masters, Max Allan Collins and his wife Barbara Collins, as they each present their Top 5 Fiction Writing Tips and then field questions from the class. Together, Max and Barb have published the Trash & Treasures mystery series. Max is the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of Road to Perdition, True Detective, the Quarry series, Girl Can’t Help It and many more.

The registration deadline is today! (March 30)

https://www.dsmpartnership.com/dsmbookfestival/attend/writers-workshops

M.A.C.

Biggest Book Giveaway Yet, Boys and Girls!

This book giveaway may be my biggest yet.

Paperback:

I am offering ten copies each of Kiss Her Goodbye, Shoot-out at Sugar Creek, Two for the Money – these are all books that will be published in April.
Kiss Her Goodbye is a trade paperback from Titan of the third Spillane/Collins Mike Hammer novel, with my original, previously censored ending.

Shoot-out at Sugar Creek is the final Caleb York western being published by Kensington, although I hope to revive the series next year (probably with Wolfpack). This edition is a trade paperback the size of the hardcover and is an advance reading copy.

Two for the Money is a reprint of Hard Case Crime’s omnibus of the first two Nolan novels, Bait Money and Blood Money, with a new cover (the previous one being the rare HCC cover that disappointed).

To enter, e-mail me at macphilms@hotmail.com, and – THIS IS IMPORTANT – include your snail mail address, even if you’ve entered and won before. You will receive only one of the three books, but with thirty available, everybody has a good shot. Accordingly, you must list your order of preference for which book you’d like to receive. If there’s a title you’re not interested in, just leave it off.

You agree to write a review for Amazon and/or Barnes & Noble (and other review sites, blogs, etc.). This is the honor system, but Big Brother is watching. Or anyway I am.

Kiss Her Goodbye will be of interest to Mike Hammer fans because this is indeed the correct ending for the novel. My previous editor objected to what he considered too big a similarity to the ending of a classic Spillane title; he is a Spillane fan and expert, and I mean no disrespect to him – he was instrumental in getting Mike Hammer back out there – but I should not have given in to him and rewritten it.

So if you already have the hardcover, you still need to get the trade paperback. Yes, it’s double dipping, but there’s a new cherry on the sundae.

* * *

Barb and I are doing a Master Class via Zoom that is available to anyone interested.

DSM Book Festival: Sat. April 3
Workshop: Max Allan Collins at 9 a.m. (duration 1 hour)
Log-in: 8:40 a.m.

Workshop description:
Learn from the masters, Max Allan Collins and his wife Barbara Collins, as they each present their Top 5 Fiction Writing Tips and then field questions from the class. Together, Max and Barb have published the “Trash & Treasures” mystery series. Max is the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of “Road to Perdition”, “True Detective,” the Quarry series, “Girl Can’t Help It” and many more.

Here’s the link: https://www.dsmpartnership.com/dsmbookfestival/attend/writers-workshops

They are taking registrations for until March 30.

* * *

Several classic films got watched around the Collins household this weekend.

First, one of my top ten turned up in high-def on TCM – Anatomy of a Murder. I watch this once a year, and am astonished by how caught up in it I get every time. It’s a perfect movie. Otto Preminger may have been a cruel taskmaster, but he made some great films (Anatomy the greatest, but Laura and Advice and Consent ain’t chopped liver, nor are a bunch of other films noir, and he pushed the censor’s envelope with Moon Is Blue and Man With a Golden Arm) (on the other hand…Skidoo).

James Stewart is at the top of his powers in Anatomy, and I am reminded that he was the greatest film actor of the 20th Century. That sounds like I’m stating a fact. I am. No one starred in, and propelled, more great films than Stewart. If you can top this list with your choice, feel free to try – Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Shop Around the Corner, The Philadelphia Story, It’s a Wonderful Life, Winchester ‘73, Harvey, Rear Window, Vertigo, Anatomy of a Murder, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance).

And that’s just the great films. It doesn’t count the really good ones, like the other Anthony Mann films he made, or Bell, Book and Candle, or Rope, or Destry Rides Again, or The Man Who Knew Too Much, or Flight of the Phoenix, or The Shootist.

He made Vertigo, Bell, Book and Candle and Anatomy of a Murder right in a row – astounding. On my birthday Barb and I watched Vertigo in 4K in case I’d forgotten that it was my favorite movie. I would hate to have to choose between Vertigo and Anatomy of a Murder for Stewart’s best performance, and they are quite different, at that.

I love courtroom dramas and Anatomy is the best I’ve ever seen. It’s based on a novel by a lawyer (Robert Traver) and was itself based on a real murder case that lawyer won as a defense attorney. Boldly shot entirely on location, the film has a stunning, innovative jazz score by Duke Ellington and amazing opening credits by Saul Bass. For its day it was daring in its subject matter and frank expression thereof.

But perhaps what dazzles me most, every time I see it, is the intersection of two eras – Stewart as a Golden Age movie star going head to head with the Method crowd of Ben Gazzara, George C. Scott and Lee Remick. Gazzara and Remick are terrific in it, and Scott too…but Stewart owns the picture anyway. He is aided and abetted by two classic Hollywood supporting players – Eve Arden and Arthur O’Connell.

Two supporting performances stand out for me – Orson Bean, a personal favorite of mine (for The Star Wagon if nothing else), and Joseph Welch, Joe McCarthy’s real-life nemesis who, though an amateur actor, more than holds his own in this heady company.

Interestingly, another supporting player – Russ Brown – turned up in the second half of our amazing double feature this weekend – Damn Yankees (1958), on Blu-ray at last. Brown played the trainer of the Washington Senators in the great Broadway hit brought very faithfully to the screen by George Abbott and Stanley Donen. In the original show, Brown won a Tony as did Gwen Verdon and Ray Walston, and choreographer Bob Fosse.

Damn Yankees is one of the handful of Broadway musicals done justice by Hollywood – others include Li’l Abner, Pajama Game and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Pajama Game was based on the novel 7 ½ Cents by Iowa novelist Richard Bissell (another personal favorite). Both Pajama Game and Damn Yankees (also from a novel, Douglas Wallop’s The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant) had scores by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, but tragically Ross died at age 29, leaving only these two great shows and a few pop songs as a nonetheless amazing legacy for the team.

The films of Damn Yankees and Pajama Game brought almost the entire Broadway casts along for the ride. Pajama Game replaced Janis Paige with Doris Day and Damn Yankees replaced Robert Shafer with Tab Hunter. Hunter gets a bad rap, sometimes, for his performance, but he’s quite good.

While I’m ruminating about (not quite reviewing) films I’ve seen recently, I should mention Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which lasts four hours plus and is streaming on HBO Max. This is an odd duck of a movie for many reasons. Director/writer Snyder left the original filming due to a family tragedy and Joss Whedon took over. Fans largely recoiled at Whedon’s version, which took a somewhat light approach to what had been conceived as a dark film. He re-shot most of it. I’ve often liked Whedon’s work, but his Justice League only looks good if you compare it to Wonder Woman 1984.

Snyder restored the material Whedon either cut or ignored of a film Snyder had shot 80% of, albeit minus most special effects. Fan pressure, amazingly, got Snyder the opportunity (i.e., the funding) to complete the film his way, and it’s better. Obviously over-long, but on its own quirky terms, it’s a super-hero epic worth seeing.

But quirky is right – for one thing, he presents the film in 4:3 ratio, which is to say, old-fashioned square TV format, apparently because that’s the I-Max format, even though not much of the film had been shot that way. Oh-kay….

And he got most of the cast back to film an apocalyptic dream sequence that ruins an otherwise acceptable epilogue. The dream sequence features ridiculously misjudged dialogue between Ben Affleck’s Batman and Jared Leto’s Joker (otherwise not in the film). How ridiculous? Batman talks about “fucking killing” Harley Quinn, and the Joker rhapsodizes about giving Batman a “reach-around.” Plus, it lasts a long time, right after we’ve sat through about four hours of capes and quips. Not okay.

Curiously, the film goes out of its way to set up the next film in the saga that Snyder would have made had Warner’s and DC not cancelled it. So rather than take the opportunity to bring his saga to a satisfying conclusion, Snyder tosses loose ends right and left, as if daring somebody to give him more money to keep going.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed it. I took the ride. I just wish I had turned it off when the dream sequence (initially not obviously a dream sequence, more a flash-forward) (including the Flash) gave a bad taste to a good time.

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Here’s an interview I did with Brian Vakulskas on KSCJ radio in Sioux City, largely about the current Nolan novel, Skim Deep. The interviewer knew his stuff.

And here’s an advance look at the third Ms. Tree collection from Titan.

M.A.C.