Steven M. Moore's Blog, page 63
July 11, 2019
Hello. How are you?
“Fine. Thank you.” Seven words travelers often learn when visiting countries outside the US. Maybe even more if they’re brushing up on a language learned long ago, either in courses or via total immersion somewhere. It’s a polyglot world.
There are over 800 languages spoken in NYC. This polyglot nature of the Big Apple can cause problems for the foreign traveler to the city. Most signage is in both English and Spanish, but what do speakers of other languages do? Most who live in the NYC urba...
July 10, 2019
Book review of Zari Reede’s Sins of the Sister…
Sins of the Sister. Zari Reede, author (Black Opal Books, 2018) Lana has been looking for her twin sister, Dania, who was abducted three years earlier. In the opening scene, Lana meets the sex traffickers who she’s been pursuing, thinking they’re somehow involved with Dania’s disappearance. But there’s another candidate too, a mad gamer who carries his role-playing too far. Lana knows her sister’s alive because she can sense how her captor tortures her and abuses her sexually. If he’s the rol...
July 9, 2019
Titles…
I’ve seen some original and interesting titles lately just browsing through Amazon or bookstores. Many authors have learned that titles and covers are eye-catchers.
As examples, let me consider some from my fellow writers (you can email me and critique mine): Sins of the Sister, Waiting in the Shadows, Rose Scented Murder, Reciprocal Evil, Dead Shrinks Don’t Talk, Last Gasp…the list is long. These are all eye-catchers.
Consider Sins of the Sister. Don’t you just want to know what sins the sis...
July 5, 2019
Dr. Gell-Mann and Mr. Rubik…
When A.B. Carolan was writing Mind Games, he was torn between various names for a principal character. Should he call the android cop Olivaw, Rebus, or Rubik? Rebus won, in honor of Ian Rankin’s inspector.
But both Olivaw and Rebus are cops, so Olivaw fit the bill in that sense. Daneel Olivaw was Asimov’s android detective who worked with Elijah Bailey in the sci-fi mysteries Caves of Steel and The Naked Sun. Given that Mind Games is part of the “ABC Sci-Fi Mystery Series” of books written by...
July 4, 2019
Book review of Harol Marshall’s The Case of the Missing Mobster…
Happy July Fourth to all U.S. readers of this blog! Celebrate, be safe, and be responsible.
[Note from Steve: For an interview with this author, see the previous post.]
The Case of the Missing Mobster. Harol Marshall, author (Black Opal Books, 2019). When wannabe actress Sally Martin walks into PI Polly Berger’s office, Polly is glad to get the case of finding her client’s missing husband Ricky Martin—another wannabe actor, not the singer. But the case becomes complicated. Her client knows th...
July 3, 2019
Interviewing author Harol Marshall…
Steve: I have the pleasure today of interviewing author Harol Marshall who writes in the mystery and political thriller genres. Without further ado, why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself, Harol.
Harol: My father named me after his brother and dropped the ‘d’ from Harold, so I’m a female! I grew up in Upstate New York where my father was deputy chief of police in my town. No doubt as a consequence of all the stories I heard growing up, I write novels in those genres, as well as short sto...
July 2, 2019
The economical Ian Rankin…
I’ve expressed before how much I like British-style mysteries, defining them as any crime story featuring a DCI or DI in a commonwealth setting—P.D. James, Louise Penny, and Ian Rankin oeuvres are famous examples. (The android agent in Mind Games is named Rebus for a reason—A.B. Carolan shares my predilection. See Tuesday’s post. The name of the main character is Della. Does everyone remember Perry Mason’s trusty aide?)
Unless one of their ebooks goes on sale, I don’t read any of those famous...
June 28, 2019
Movie Review #75…
Rocketman. Dexter Fletcher, dir. Many posts ago, I reviewed Bohemian Rhapsody. Rocketman is a very different biopic. The titles of each movie correspond to two famous songs, but that’s where the similarities end. Rocketman focuses on Elton John’s singer/pianist’s life just a bit beyond when he checked into a rehab center to save himself because he was abusing liquor and drugs…and ultimately to find himself.
The movie is a bit slow in parts, but it has its moments. I especially liked the part...
June 27, 2019
Obsessions…
Esther Brookstone in Rembrandt’s Angel (Penmore Press, 2017) obsesses over recovering a painting; in the sequel Son of Thunder (to be published by Penmore Press), she obsesses over finding St. John the Divine’s tomb. Obsession is common enough in fiction, and it takes many forms.
In Teeter-Totter between Lust and Murder (Carrick Publishing, 2013), a senator is obsessed with making the country great again…his definition of greatness, of course. In Aristocrats and Assassins (Carrick Publishing,...
June 26, 2019
Steve’s shorts: WREK…
[Note from Steve: Here’s another Chen & Castilblanco case as a short story. Enjoy.]
WREK
Copyright 2019, Steven M. Moore
Chen and her husband Eric had taken off on a vacation to Costa Rica. Pam and I had some time off too, but not enough money for that kind of vacation. Our little old house in Brooklyn we’d bought to make more of a home for our adopted children Ceci and Pedrito came with a stiff mortgage. It was getting so only one-percenters could live there. Prices were up all over the NYC...
