Two Envelopes And A Phone > Recent Status Updates

It’s a delightful re-read. It’s weird - near the beginning, once Havershot has accidentally swapped bodies with Joey, he muses on the fact that in stories where this has happened to others they are never believed when they try to explain; I wasn’t aware this Fantasy trope had been done all that much, before this novel. There must have been films - Thorne Smith’s novel Turnabout predates this…must be others….

I’ve enjoyed it more as it has gone along - this was bought by me on a whim, at a bookstore that sells Crime & Mystery stuff, and even they couldn’t account for why they had it tucked on a shelf among all the whodunits. Possibly a special order, never claimed. Anyway, it wasn’t so out of place; a mystery is brewing. Gaming culture spawned some genre novels; hope it’s better than Bimbos of the Death Sun.

'The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle' by Arthur Conan Doyle was a re-read for me, but fresh again as I had forgotten all of it. It was fun to read this tale so soon after a bunch of rather madcap Fredric Brown stories, because a jewel found in a Christmas goose would fit right in with some of Brown's plot hooks. If Brown gets a bit "far-fetched", it seems all the greats like wild scenarios. An HRF Keating story next.

I guess this means I'm skipping one of the Dream Park novels...

A re-read. Fredric Brown - re-reads included - has been a highlight of my year, and I’m not quite through with him yet, in the days before January. I remember this as a solid, entertaining group of stories, as usual - the bonus being I’ve forgotten the details, except for a spoiler stuck in my head from the tale providing the tome’s title too.

Still going strong. I don't need a lot of Historical fiction in my life - even genre fiction, and especially ancient times settings - but this is a unique take on espionage with the flavour of the Gladiator movie (though this does not feature the arena, thus far), so I'm happy. Since the Roman spies, we know, will not discredit and destroy the pesky Christian "cult" that is rising, I'm curious how this ends...

I really thought this might be a flop with me…but I’m very happy with this. It’s weird; I’m loving a book with Pontius Pilate, Judas Iscariot’s daughter, Saul on the road to Damascus…who would have thought! Anyway, I’m taking it as great Spy novel with a terrifically fresh setting and era…plus, Caligula just took power, so that should spice things up even more, dial at eleven.

Probably the closest thing to this I have read already is Caravan for China by Frank S. Stuart, though The Flame and the Wind is going to be more of a Historical Spy novel. The first sections are promising; Pontius Pilate as a character is certainly a great hook. I’ll never want a lot of books like this - I picked it up without really knowing what it is - but now I’m curious.

This will be different from the other Blackburn novels I’ve read. It seems that I’m in for a spy novel - one set in ancient Roman times - and that’s just fine with me.

It’s still a tricky one. I think it’s gonna live and die a tricky one. I mean, we don’t even know in what order…never mind.

This is a tricky one.

It's an action romp - more Punisher, or even John Wick, than Batman. '"Where have you been all my life, sonny boy?" breathed the Saint's caressing undertone. "Why haven't you come down before--so that I could knock your miscarriage of a face through the back of your monstrosity of a neck?"' (pg. 194, 1982 Charter Edition). Okay...a chatty John Wick, with weird dialogue...

Great fun.

I've read only one Saint book previously; that was because a reading guide called 100 Greatest Detectives listed, as one of its entries, the Saint. I picked The Saint and Mr. Teal, and enjoyed it. It did get a little SF-oriented, which surprised me - meanwhile, I'm going to this one because it is specifically mentioned on a list of 100 Best Radium Age SF Books. Not surprised, this time.

Just read 'A Happy Solution' by Raymund Allen - an interesting old tale in its way, but tied up in the intricacies of chess that go beyond my brain, and realm of interest; I know how to play, but not how to anticipate and win a lot. I learned early to dislike chess and most chess-players I met, as invariably their invite to play ended up with them slaughtering me, or mansplaining the game to me, condescendingly.

I’m going to try and finish this tonight. But, it may not happen, and I may have a bit left for tomorrow morning. It is fun to read, and I just process the science stuff as best I can, so I can certainly get a lot more done before I get tired,