My Two-Cents is Invaluable, Right?

I've been busy book reviewing again, here's three posts you may have missed in the last week:
Stealing Ghosts by Lance Charnes, Trading Down by Stephen Norman, and Blood Run by Jamie Freveletti. My opening thoughts on Blood:

If Jamie Freveletti had arrived on the literary scene ahead of Raymond Chandler, the famous quote instead may have read, “When in doubt, come through the door with a grenade launcher.” In her latest novel, Blood Run, her biochemist protagonist, Emma Caldridge, is three hundred miles east of Dakar, Senegal, when the armored vehicle she and three others are riding in is ambushed.

The heavy car shuddered when a second grenade exploded near the roof, and another rain of bullets hit the driver's side window. It failed in a shower of tiny glass slivers and shrapnel. Emma watched in horror as a splash of red washed over the clear divider between the driver and the passenger area.
“The driver's been hit,” Emma said to the two others.
She pressed the button to lower the glass divider, like those found in limousines, to access the front seat. She was glad that it still moved. That meant that the car hadn't yet lost power. She knew that a car taking fire, even an armored car, had seconds to escape the first hit. A vehicle that didn't move while under attack would eventually be breached, no matter how extensive the armoring.

In the days ahead I will be reviewing The Best American Mystery Stories 2017 edited by John Sandford.

Link 2 Links

I'm talking The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, chapter 4 and Longmire 5:02: "One Good Memory" at Criminal Element. Love to have you join me for one or both discussions and tomorrow I hope to get around to your individual blogs. Crazy week of publishing, reviews, and finishing my latest manuscript. But, I'm not complaining, love these jobs.

Bells and Neighbors

What a sizzler few days it has been outside with today's temp around 93 degrees. So indoors I stay, typing away, and here's two of the results: The Night Bell and Rob Thy Neighbor reviews for Criminal Element.

Treasure Reviews

New 5-star reviews for Treasure of Ice and Fire (Veridical Dreams Book 2) ht..

When Cowboys and Sci-Fi Collide

The Phantom Empire starring Gene Autry is widely regarded as the first mash-up between Western and science fiction on the big screen. From the singing cowboy to recent films like Cowboys and Aliens, here are seven titles offering up androids and spaceships mixed with six-shooters and stagecoaches.

From the Western Frontier to the Final Frontier: When Cowboys and Sci-Fi Collide at Criminal Element.

A Wild West Primer

I'm at Criminal Element (writing as Edward A. Grainger) with an article titled From Henry Fonda to Jeff Bridges: A Wild West Primer. I've come up with a list that represents something better than the preconceived notion of the dusty, old genre. You know, a primer of sorts for beginners, or hardened vets. Of course, I'd like you to drop a few of your favorite titles in the comments section.

From the Amazon Peanut Gallery

Sometimes a spiteful or half-baked criticism comes along that really makes me chuckle. This is far from the worst that I've been blessed with as it's kinda sorta a good review with the three stars.

Here's the nugget: “I don't like short stories and this is a collection of them.”

Gotta wonder why he picked it up at all since that's laid out in the first ten words of the book description but, I know, I know ... it was a freebie. Then he doubles down at the end with, “I don't like short stories at all, so that is why the 3 stars not because it is bad in any way”

Not bad, though! It's now taped to the right of my computer.

Hearts, Hooks and Complicated Tales

Cathi locates the heart of the matter, Tony longs for powerful hooks, and Kevin follows a complicated tale.  Me? I'm just happy to have such generous friends that take the time.

Two

Dan Malmon, Crimespree Magazine, reviews The Year I Died Seven Times by Eric Beetner and released through BEAT to a PULP. And Gerald So attends Robb White's Class Reunion.