Paul Bishop's Blog, page 68
August 13, 2013
MYSTERY CORNER: COMPOUND MURDER!
MYSTERY CORNER: COMPOUND MURDER!BILL CRIDER
Small-town Texas sheriff Dan Rhodes is in for another puzzling mystery in this next in the entertaining, award-winning series ...
Before classes start one morning, the body of English instructor Earl Wellington is found outside the building of the community college. Wellington was clearly involved in a struggle with someone and has died as a result. Sheriff Dan Rhodes pursues and arrests Ike Terrell, a student who was fleeing the campus. Ike's father is Able Terrell, a survivalist who has withdrawn from society and lives in a gated compound. He’s not happy that his son has chosen to attend the college, and he's even less happy with the arrest.
Rhodes discovers that Wellington and Ike had had a confrontation over a paper that Wellington insisted Ike plagiarized. Wellington also had had a confrontation with the dean and was generally disliked by the students. As the number of suspects increases, it’s up to Rhodes to solve the murder while also dealing with an amusing but frustrating staff, a professor who wants to be a cop, and all the other normal occurrences that can wreak havoc in a small town.
August 12, 2013
THE ART OF PEREGRINE HEATHCOAT!
THE ART OF PEREGRINE HEATHCOAT!Born in London in 1973, Peregrine Heathcote was raised in both Britain and Dubai. Peregrine graduated from the Florence Academy of Art in 1995. His images of beautiful women stepping off bullet trains and Gatsby-esque characters embarking on vintage aircraft and cruise ships conjure a world of intoxicating glamour and intrigue.
The paintings blend a cinematic sense of nostalgia with the contemporary world, and create evocative narratives, in which the viewer fabricates stories for the paintings’ characters. 
The merging of 1930’s Hollywood, retro-moderne vehicles and neo-nostalgic fashion poses and costumes all make for a mid-20th century version of the Victorian ‘Steam-punk’ style…updated a few decades for Pre-WWII aesthetics.
PULP NOW: BROTHER BONES!
PULP NOW: BROTHER BONES!Airship 27 Productions in now producing the first ever full length Brother Bones novel, Six Days of the Dragon, written by Roman Leary based on characters created by Ron Fortier.
Doing the nine black and white illustrations for this eagerly anticipated title is the Pulp Factory Award Winner, artist Rob Moran of Scotland.
Airship 27 is a leading publisher of the New Pulp Movement, keeping alive the classic pulp literature of the 30s and 40s while producing newer pulp themed books by today’s brightest writers and artists.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT AIRSHIP 27 CLICK HERE
HARD CASE CRIME: MICHAEL CRICHTON/JOHN LANG!
HARD CASE CRIME: MICHAEL CRICHTON/JOHN LANG!THE LATEST WORD FROM HARD CASE CRIME EDITOR CHARLES ARDAI ...
Eight years ago, I reached out to Michael Crichton – author of JURASSIC PARK and THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, scripter of WESTWORLD and TWISTER, creator of the TV show ER -- to see whether he might let us reprint some of the wonderful paperback thrillers he wrote under the top-secret pen name “John Lange” back when he was a student at Harvard Medical School.
I knew the odds weren’t good, since he hadn’t acknowledged those books publicly or let anyone reprint them (at least in this country – I think he may have given the nod to a foreign edition or two). But…nothing ventured, nothing gained, so I wrote to him. And to my delight and surprise he said yes – provided that we keep his secret. That is, he wanted our John Lange books to be published as by John Lange, sort of the way J.K. Rowling recently published her new crime novel as by “Robert Galbraith.” We weren’t to breathe a word of his real identity. Well, of course we said yes, and he and we had a lot of fun working together, first on a reissue of the Edgar Award-nominated GRAVE DESCEND and then on one of ZERO COOL (for which Michael even penned two new chapters set in the present day to open and close the book…the first new writing he’d done as John Lange in more than 30 years!). He enjoyed the new covers Greg Manchess painted for the books and the old-fashioned paperback feel, and we were talking with him about which Lange book to reissue next – ODDS ON or DRUG OF CHOICE? – when he was suddenly taken from us by cancer at the age of 66.
Working with Michael (even if we had to keep it secret) was one of the great pleasures and privileges of my career, and ever since, I’ve wished we could have completed what we began. I’ve also wondered whether Michael might eventually have given in to temptation and written a whole new Lange novel for us -- no less persuasive a figure than Stephen King was encouraging him to do so! Alas, a new Lange novel will never be…but we’re very pleased to announce that five years later we finally will get to finish what we started. We’re going to be bringing all eight John Lange novels back to bookstores for the first time in more than four decades – and with the blessing of Michael’s family, the first time ever under the his real name.
The books are terrific reads, really delicious examples of Michael experimenting with the genres he would become famous for in later life – you’ll find sinister consequences of bioengineering (on a secret island vacation resort, no less!), you’ll find a race-against-the-clock political thriller penned long before the TV series “24,” you’ll find an archaeology professor hunting for a lost tomb in the Egyptian desert decades before Harrison Ford ever donned a fedora…plus a heist of a luxury hotel planned with the aid of a computer, a case of mistaken identity that pits an innocent man against a league of assassins, and more, all presented behind the gorgeous painted cover art of Greg Manchess and Glen Orbik.
HARD CASE CRIME’S MICHAEL CRICHTON/JOHN LANG COLLECTION
ODDS ON (1966): The perfect heist, planned by computer, in a luxury hotel off the coast of Spain.
SCRATCH ONE (1967): On the French Riviera, a case of mistaken identity could cost an American lawyer his life when a group of international assassins confuse him for the secret agent sent to take them down. 
EASY GO (1968): Can an Egyptologist and his band of thieves find a lost tomb buried for centuries in the desert – and get away with its treasure?
ZERO COOL (1969): An American doctor vacationing in Europe gets caught between rival criminal gangs who both demand his help to find a legendary gem.
THE VENOM BUSINESS (1970): An expert on venomous snakes and smuggler of rare artifacts accepts an assignment working as a bodyguard to a man everyone wants dead.
DRUG OF CHOICE (1970): Bioengineers at a secret island resort promise pleasures beyond imagination – but what’s the secret behind the strange drug they’ve created?
GRAVE DESCEND (1970): A diver in Jamaica, hired to search the wreck of a sunken yacht, uncovers secrets deeper and darker than the waters in which the ship rests.
BINARY (1972): A terrorist mastermind and a federal agent wage a battle of wits and of nerve when the villain plots to unleash poison gas on San Diego, killing one million people…including the President of the United States.MYSTERY CORNER: REFUSED!
MYSTERY CORNER: REFUSED!FELIX FRANCIS HAS BEEN AT THE REINS OF HIS FATHER’S HORSERACING MYSTERIES FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS. WHILE THE FIRST FEW ATTEMPTS FROM FELIX BARELY MADE IT ROUND THE COURSE, HIS PAST SEVERAL EFFORTS HAVE BEEN NOTICABLY BETTER. AS A RESULT, I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS LATEST OUTING ...
REFUSED
Dick Francis’s beloved investigator Sid Halley returns in the riveting new mystery by New York Times bestselling author Felix Francis.
Six years ago, investigator Sid Halley retired for good. He’d been harassed, beaten, shot, even lost a hand to his investigating business, and enough was enough. For the sake of his wife and new daughter he gave up that life of danger and uncertainty, and he thought nothing would ever lure him back into the game.
He thought wrong. Sir Richard Stewart, chairman of the racing authority, begs Sid to investigate a series of dodgy races. Sid adamantly refuses, but the following day, Sir Richard is found dead under suspicious circumstances. And then a man with an Irish accent contacts Sid, telling him to deliver a whitewashed report about the suspected race-fixing . . . or else.
At first Sid ignores these warnings, knowing that once he submits to this criminal bully, he will forever be under his control. But as the intimidation tactics escalate—and Sid’s own family comes under threat—Sid realizes he must meet his enemy head-on . . . or he might pay the ultimate price for his refusal.
MYSTERY CORNER: THE KATE O'DONNELL SERIES!
MYSTERY CORNER: THE KATE O'DONNELL SERIES!Patricia Hall has written a number of well received mysteries set in Yorkshire and featuring reporter Laura Ackroyd and DCI Michael Thackeray. In 2011, Hall turned her attentions to a new series set in the London of the Swinging Sixties ...
DEAD BEATA tense and gripping mystery set in 1960s London and Liverpool - When photographer Kate O'Donnell takes off for London from swinging Liverpool she has two things in mind: to make a career and to track down her missing older brother. But when she does find a trace of Tom, he's still missing - leaving behind a dead flatmate and some very suspicious cops, including Harry Barnard of the vice squad. Kate determines to clear her brother's name, but her investigations take her on a terrifying journey, and soon she isn't sure if even the charming Barnard can be trusted . . .
DEATH TRAPHall’s second mystery featuring young photographer Kate O’Donnell continues the delightful mixing of straight-up procedural with a dose of local color ... Beatlemania has reached Swinging Sixties London, but when a prostitute is found murdered off the Portobello Road, Kate O’Donnell soon discovers a darker side of the city. A West Indian immigrant, Nelson Mackintosh, is arrested for the murder causing simmering racial tensions to near boiling point.
Convinced of Nelson’s innocence, Kate determines to track down the real killer. But when her activities attract the attention of notorious gangster King Devine, not even Kate’s old sparring partner, DS Harry Barnard, can ensure her safety. "Colorful characters, social commentary, and sixties ambience all add to the appeal of this engaging British mystery"
DRESSED TO KILLIt’s 1963. A new band called the Rolling Stones is beginning to make its mark and the mini-skirt is coming into fashion. For young Liverpudlian photographer Kate O’Donnell, it’s an exciting time to be in the capital – especially as she’s on secondment to an up-and-coming fashion photographer’s studio. But Kate discovers a darker side to 1960s’ London when the naked, battered body of a teenage prostitute is found amongst the rubbish bins behind a Soho jazz club – and it turns out, the victim was a former model at the studio where Kate’s working.
When a second young model disappears, Kate enlists her friend DS Harry Barnard’s help to find out exactly what’s going on. Together, they uncover the first of several dark secrets surrounding Andrei Lubin’s fashion studio and the notorious Jazz Cellar.
August 9, 2013
August 6, 2013
SABER: THE KICKSTARTER PROJECT!
SABER: THE KICKSTARTER PROJECT!
I’M NOT ONE TO JUMP ON THE KICKSTARTER BANDWAGON VERY OFTEN, BUT THIS TIME OUT I’M ON FULL FORCE ... MY BUDDY (AND ALL-ROUND STORYTELLING GENIUS) DON MCGREGOR IS KICKSTARTING A PREQUEL PROJECT FOR ONE OF HIS MOST ICONIC CHARACTERS ... SABRE!
SABRE, THE MOST EXPLOSIVE HERO IN COMICS, RETURNS IN A THRILLING SCIENCE FANTASY ADVENTURE BY DON MCGREGOR AND TREVOR VON EEDEN
SABRE – IN OUR TIME AND OUR PLACE… HE’S NEEDED MORE THAN EVER!
PER THE KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN:
Writer Don McGregor (legendary writer of Black Panther, Killraven, Nathaniel Dusk, Lady Rawhide, Ragamuffins, Detectives, Inc., the original Sabre and many more series) joins with the equally legendary Trevor Von Eeden (Green Arrow, Batman, Thriller, The Original Johnson) to deliver the return of the "Most Explosive Hero in Comics", Sabre.
It’s swordplay! Flintlock lasers! Robot stallions! Nocturnal Trackers!
It’s honor! It’s passion! It’s love!
It’s lust! It’s corruption. It’s ideals!
It’s all in one disturbingly entertaining epic!
PAGES 2 AND 3 FROM SABRE: THE EARLY FUTURE YEARS, WITH ART BY TREVOR VON EEDEN AND COLORING BY GEORGE FREEMANDon McGregor created Sabre and, with Paul Gulacy, produced one of the first American graphic novels in August 1978 with Sabre: Slow Fade of an Endangered Species. When Sabre and his unique future world were conceived, Don and Paul were doing popular work for Marvel Comics. But Sabre would not fit in the Marvel Universe. The world of Sabre was very different from the world that Don was exploring in "War of the Worlds" and Paul on Master of Kung Fu.
When Jim Salicrup was at Mad Genius Associates, he was working on the idea of producing a weekly newspaper on comics. When Don told him about Sabre they discussed doing the series in weekly installments. However, both Don and Jim decided the project was too ambitious to be told in that format, and Don began thinking of doing Sabre as a "graphic album" ( the term "graphic novel" was not yet in popular usage in 1976) in an 8½" by 11" size on heavy paper stock.Slow Fade of an Endangered Species was published to critical acclaim and received several reprintings - including as the first two parts of what would turn out to be a 14-issues series published by Eclipse Comics between 1982 and 1985, with art by Billy Graham and Jose Ortiz. Unfortunately, the 1980s Sabre ended before McGregor's ambitious 600+ page graphic novel "The Decadence Indoctrination" could be concluded.
Though that series was cancelled, McGregor could not let go of Sabre or his fictional world. In 2006, he wrote a new 190 page Sabre graphic novel, "The Early Future Years", which told the origin story of Sabre, his great love Melissa Siren, and many of the supporting characters from the original series. Don wrote the series to be new reader friendly and packed the comic with action and adventure aplenty, along with romance (in every sense of the word), bizarre menaces and delightful action.
At the 2012 San Diego Comic-con, project producer Jason Sacks approached Trevor Von Eeden about producing the art for Sabre: the Early Future Years. When Jason explained the project to Trevor, the artist was excited to take it on; subsequently, he's described Sabre as "one of the most exciting books that I've ever been involved with", and we think you can see his excitement from the quality of art that he has delivered for this project so far. Frankly, everybody who's seen Trevor's art for this book has been blown away by the quality of material that he's producing for this book.
Lettering for this book will be done by industry veteran Jon Babcock, and if our stretch goals are reached, the book will be colored by another industry legend, George Freeman. You can see George's colors accompanying this page. Trevor recommended George because the two creators have been completely in sync on many projects in the past.
SABRE: THE EARLY FUTURE YEARS PAGES 4 AND 5
We're looking to raise $17,000 to help produce the first 40-page chapter of Sabre: the Early Future Years. If we reach our goal, we have ambitious stretch goals for the project, including color for the book and production of additional chapters in the book. We have plans to complete the 190-page book if we raise enough money.
SABRE: THE EARLY FUTURE YEARS PAGE 35
As you can see, we have a bunch of great premiums to offer, including digital graphic novels, physical copies of the graphic novels, sketches, original art and much more! Best of all, if we meet our stretch goals and are able to offer more pages in the book, you'll get the full Sabre: the Early Future Years - whether it's 40 pages or 190 pages!
SABRE: THE EARLY FUTURE YEARS PAGE 42, WITH
ART BY TREVOR VON EEDEN AND COLORING BY GEORGE FREEMAN
On behalf of Don, Trevor, George and everyone else involved with this project, thanks for looking at our Kickstarter. We would really appreciate your support for this project ...
FOR MORE CLICK HERE
THE TROUBLE WITH BLONDES!
BLONDE BAIT FOR THE KILLER LIZARDS!TWO MEN ... ONE WOMAN ... AND 1,000 MAN-EATING REPTILES!
