Two Envelopes And A Phone > Recent Status Updates

Written in a spiky, maybe even prickly, style - but I’m getting used to it, as I digest the opening murder, and rough stuff done by Miro to get some info out of someone who seems to know too much, too early. I spotted this at a Used bookstore, and remembered it was a book mentioned in a Crime & Mystery reading guide - just some section that listed award winners and nominees. This was an MWA nominee, now forgotten.

I am enjoying the stories - but I am perhaps a little disheartened by the reliance on tales to do with either cannibalism, or creatures that eat people. I guess I was hoping there were tons of Weird/Horror tales out there that featured vivid descriptions of big meals at the dinner table, with lots of food endlessly, lovingly, on display. Some of that here - not much lately. Still - a lively anthology.

Right, so the two reckless science guys have put the germ in the water supply, meaning what it is to be human is about to change radically - plot under way - but I like the character work here, too. How is Lord Alberan going to affect things, later on, if he does? What’s Leonora’s role in all of this? This is British proto-SF from 1918, and so far, it’s intriguing.

A lively start - though by this time, the amnesia trope is not all that attractive. But this is Woolrich territory; he wrote my favourite book of short stories - Nightmare - that doesn’t have the name Fredric Brown on it. I have faith in his tricks.

I like it. It’s got a boxing angle, which is coming to me not long after I just did a boxing themed Mystery called Dead Ringer, by Arthur Lyons. In fact, readers who like the Jacob Asch series, in general, would probably like this. But - I’m finding Frank Kane’s shamus - Liddell - a little too violent, too fast, for him to be a favourite of mine. I mean, he’s punching guys just cuz they won’t answer questions…

It's moving fast, and grounded in a tricky murder case. Also very 1957.

So, I thought maybe I read a book or two by this author already - but that was Henry Kane. So, a new a writer for me. I tend to dislike puns or cutesy word-play in titles - and Trigger Mortis strikes an especially sour note with me - but, getting past that, I’m in the mood for any hard-boiled Crime novel no matter what it’s called.

I love this book. This could end up a HUGE favourite. I can barely believe that this comes from 1911; I know H. G. Wells had shown the way…but Wells never wrote this. Maybe he could have; I mean, I am having the profound reaction that I had when I read The Food of the Gods, not long ago. The only thing that would make this more impressive would be if it came from the Victorian era, but it’s too radical for that.

Well, I'm well past the highlights (and lowlights) of the father's Cricket career, and into the main story. Victor's birth has been described, and he came into the world as a "freak", not expected to survive. I'm curious about this big brain of his; he's quiet, so far. Anyway, I did like Goslings, even with its problems, and this one seems like it might be better.

Visiting the Radium Age of SF again, and a super-intelligent kid.