'1222'

Snowbound, with a wealth of personalities : http://wapo.st/rp5nBJ

Media Sexism, Overlooked in Media Inquiry

Leveson inquiry should address media sexism, women's groups demand http://gu.com/p/34cc2

RIP Steve Jobs 1955-2011

Steve Jobs, one of the last great showmen of American Business

Steve Jobs died today. I can't believe it. I feel so sad right now. What he gave to the world and consumers of technology in particular is truly immeasurable. I remember buying my first Mac, one of the first Titanium PowerBooks, nearly a decade ago. Right away, you were made to feel like you were part of something special. You were made to feel that you had joined a creative community of writers, artists, graphic designers and others whose work was made a lot easier by the fact we were using technology that just let us work without the usual distractions and frustrations associated with Windows at the turn of the millennium.

As a consumer, he always seemed to have our interests at heart with amazing innovations like the iTunes store. I mean who could imagine buying an album for $9.99 or a song for $.99 a pop before 2003? Certainly not me. I can remember gathering at the Apple Store in Albany, NY that year for the big announcement, where you could watch a video stream right there in the store. I can't remember doing anything like that at any other retail establishment, before or since.

No one brought the kind of excitement to the field of technology that he did. I know I'm rambling right now, so I'll stop here. We lost a huge force for good in the world of technology today, a world that will never be the same because of it.

Another 4 Star Review for The Abattoir (An Ellie Danson Mystery)

Lindsay Horne 

The Abattoir received another 4-star review this week from Lindsay Horne, whose blog, Everyday is an Adventure is one of the most thoughtful book blogs that I have seen so far. I hope that you will check it out for yourself and see all of the interesting reviews of books in a wide-range of genres that she has posted to the site. She reviews, young adult, fantasy, mystery and a host of others. I enjoy reading it often and I'm sure that you will too.

Rizzoli & Isles Episode 4, 'Brown-Eyed Girl'

The Girls Are Back for Season 2

The fourth episode of Rizzoli and Isles’ second season was by far its best IMO. It used the ticking clock device to add suspense to an episode taut with white-knuckle tension. A thirteen year old girl, Amanda Matteo, is kidnapped in a child abduction case that brings to mind the real-life cases of Jaycee Dugard and Elizabeth Smart. A welcome addition to the cast as a guest star was Max Martini (The Unit) as Dan, a former partner of Rizzoli’s who is the father of the missing Mandy. Another welcome sight was Anne Wersching of 24 fame as the mother of the missing girl.

The episode was the first truly serious show of the season in my opinion. Gone for the most part was the playful banter of opposites attract between Rizzoli and Isles that have marked most of the episodes this season and in its place was a thrilling story line that was a bit frightening for anyone with children. The abduction of Mandy was done very well, with the late reveal of her abductor rising from the back seat of the vehicle giving the teaser a terrifying kick that sucks the viewer in right from the start.

The investigation itself was also much more creative than anything we’ve seen in the first three episodes too. Angie Harmon was brilliant as an angry, disgusted Rizzoli wondering how a woman could be so heartless as to be part of an abduction of a young girl. Sasha Alexander was very good too as she explained how psychologically damaged women like this tend to be. The use of everything from a broken muffler, to a license plate and finally the water quality of surrounding counties and their effect on a child’s teeth as clues in the investigation really gave you the impression that here were investigators at work instead of the rather tired plot devices used to ‘solve’ cases in the first three episodes penned by series creator Janet Tamaro. I mean the way the last episode ended, with Frost and Korsak finally coming to the realization that the rapist/killer wasn’t a real Naval officer, seemed to take forever, especially when I came to that realization after the show’s first act.

Needless to say, this episode filled me with new hope that the show is finally back on track after last year’s brilliant finale. I definitely look forward to seeing it again next week.  Let’s hope that Julie Hebert has written more episodes this season like this one. She’s the cat’s meow when it comes to writing episodes of great police procedurals. She did a great job on other shows like ER and Numb3rs back in the day and she's clearly lost none of her touch with this week's effort. Janet Tamaro? Not so much. This episode’s grade: a solid A.

The Phone-Hacking Scandal at News of the World and its Impact on Crime and Corruption in Journalism

Murdoch the Merciless: Press Baron's management style ultimately led to paper's downfall

 

What is most shocking about the firestorm of criticism now surrounding Rupert Murdoch’s Sunday tabloid rag, News of the World, is not that its advertisers have all but abandoned it, or even the old codger’s decision to shutter the 168-year old paper under the weight of the scandal, but the degree of collusion that was exposed between police investigators selling scoops to jounalists. This calls into question not only the character of detectives sworn to protect the public but of writers and editors ruthless enough to hack into the voicemail of a British teenager, Milly Dowler, and erase messages which allowed them to gain an interview with her undoubtedly suffering family in 2002. It’s sickening, if you ask me, and the inevitable result of the ruthless style of the Murdochs, who run the paper.

Profiting from the disappearance of a teenager, and the deaths of soldiers

Milly Dowler: Missing teen's voicemail hacked by NoW

How the journalists of the NoW could be so unfeeling as to delete messages from the mobile phone of Milly Dowling and then conduct an interview with members of her family knowing full well that their unlawful acts were responsible for raising the hope that she might be alive is beyond me. The lack of ethics involved becomes less astonishing once one realizes that the take no prisoners style of the Murdochs, both father and son, likely motivated the ‘scoop at any cost mentality’ that drove the staff at NoW. It raises questions about whether this phone-hacking culture at the Sunday tabloid is limited to Murdoch’s UK publication or if it is a virus infecting his entire media empire on both sides of the Atlantic. If so, and knowing how zealously Americans like to guard their privacy rights, the implications could be explosive.

Just as bad is the revelation that the voicemails of family members of British soldiers who have fallen in Afghanistan and Iraq were hacked for the very same purposes. Call me crazy, but I’m pretty sure that I would find it difficult to invade the privacy of grieving families while listening in to their distraught phone messages informing or being informed that a son or daughter had been lost in combat. I mean, behavior like this rises to the level of psychopathy, when you’re willing to set aside any empathy for what a mother or father whose suffered such a permanent loss must be going through.

A culture of corruption starting with House Murdoch

Andy Coulson will be arrested Friday

Rupert Murdoch’s acquisition of News of the World in 1969 heralded a changing of the guard in news, even the tabloid-style journalism of the 1950s and 60s had nothing on the kind of rough and ready newsgathering that his management style introduced. It has led ultimately to this, with the revelations that payments (as much as $48,000) to detectives for scoops isn’t even the most outrageous of accusations being lobbed in a story dealing with the murder of a child and the cruelly-exploited grief of families. If we can’t trust detectives to keep the secrets of an investigation, to maintain basic duties like chain of evidence and information confidential in order to avoid compromising an investigation, then the whole system is at risk and murderers everywhere can rejoice. But publications like NoW couldn’t be concerned about that, they were too busy chasing the almighty pound to realize that they were (and are) putting people in danger by corrupting the system in pursuit of a story. This is Murdoch’s doing, and clearly his son James, who’s taken the reins in his wake. It is the inevitable result of chickens coming home to roost IMO, the result of eggs laid forty-two years ago with his purchase of the paper and his bare-knuckled style of journalism. The question now is whether he can contain the damage to his empire’s reputation (such as it is) and that remains to be seen.

Final Thoughts

The only good that come of this is that political interests on both sides of the Atlantic begin to wake up to the danger Murdoch’s style of journalism, both in the UK and in the US, poses to criminal investigations everywhere. A cop is only as good as his word, and when that word is compromised, you really don’t have much left. I wonder just how far his ‘journalists’ at the New York Post and elsewhere have penetrated into the ranks of the NYPD and other departments across the country if it's as widespread as it appears to be in the UK. I have a feeling that it is far worse than we suspect. At the very least, Rebekah Brooks, who was editor of News of the World at the time of the most egregious offenses of the phone-hacking scandal, should go from News International as its Chief Executive altogether.

Facebook Author Page

I've said this earlier, but I'm trying to establish a presence on Facebook. I have an author page there and would really appreciate it if some of my readers out there would give it a like to show your support. I think you need 25 likes to get your own custom URL so that would really be great. Thanks a lot for your help.

Ramona Rocks iTunes Festival in London

The Sexy, Sultry Karen Anne

As I've said before, I've been watching the iTunes Festival all this weekend. It's been great, the sound is really great, the music is great and it really is the next best thing to being there. Anyway, I was blown away Sunday night by this band called Ramona, and their lead singer, Karen Anne. It's funny how the supporting acts actually seem to be outshining the main acts so far. I thought it was that way with the Smoke Fairies when they played in front of Seasick Steve (who was still great himself btw) but wow, Ramona was a revelation. Their setlist included songs like "Tell That Girl," "Trophy Wife," and my personal favorites, "New York City," and "Steve McQueen." There was even a distraction of some kind at one point during their rendition of "Five Years," some kind of loud noise that would have halted the momentum of even the most seasoned band but they played through it like champs. I urge you to check their album when it drops later this year, I was a little disappointed that I couldn't buy it on iTunes right on the spot after their performance, they've only got a couple of songs (How Long, and Steve McQueen) available on an EP and even that's only available in the UK store. Bummer, but I look forward to seeing them in concert in America hopefully sometime soon.

Nimoy Rules in Transformers: Dark of the Moon (Caution *Spoilers Ahead*)

Starring Role: Leonard Nimoy voices Sentinel Prime

I saw Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon Wednesday and felt it was a decided improvement over its predecessor, Revenge of the Fallen. From the story line to the characters, Dark Side of the Moon had a lot more coherence than Revenge of the Fallen. Of course adding Leonard Nimoy to the cast as Sentinel Prime, mentor to Optimus, couldn’t hurt either, in fact it was the one element that actually gave the film a bit of gravitas, strange as that may seem coming from a film about giant space robots.

Sam and the New Girl
The first thing we notice in the film is that Sam Witwicky has a new main squeeze in Carly (Victoria’s Secret Model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley). Together they make as much of an unlikely couple as Shia LeBeouf and Megan Fox did, and I thought Michael Bay missed an opportunity to create the same tension of the dorky guy seeking the hot girl that existed in the first film. Instead, she’s already his, lounging around his apartment in Washington (which she pays for) in what I presume to be a Victoria’s Secret outfit under one of his white button-down shirts. We get that Sam is a different guy now from the dorky high schooler in the first film, but it would have been nice to see a better use of LeBeouf’s comedic talents.

At any rate, Sam is a newly minted college graduate who is seeking a job like millions of others. Of course unlike everyone else, he stumbles across a plot by the Decepticons to take control of what are known as pillars from The Ark, an Autobot spaceship that crash landed on the moon millennia ago, and whose discovery became the catalyst for the Space Race of the 1960s.

Soundwave is lethal underground

Optimus, Sentinel, Primes and the Leadership Matrix
Optimus discovers a piece of The Ark during a special ops mission at Chernobyl and confronts American intelligence about their withholding of this information from the Autobots during the time of the first film. He undertakes a mission to the moon and discovers Sentinel Prime (Nimoy) the former leader of the Autobots who was embarking on a mission to Earth when his ship was damaged in transit from the planet Cybertron, inside a hidden compartment of the ship. The relationship between Optimus and Sentinel, both Primes, one a pupil and the other a mentor, is the spine of the film and voiced with great dramatic power by both Peter Cullen and Leonard Nimoy. The scene in the desert, where Optimus offers Sentinel Prime the Leadership Matrix that would make him the leader of the Autobots once more, is a very touching one and Sentinel’s decline of it, saying that he has nothing more to teach Optimus, is equally affecting. Of course it only foreshadows a gut-wrenching betrayal that powers the film through to a climactic (and seemingly endless) battle over Chicago.

Carly and Epps at the Premiere

Final Battle, Final Thoughts
The final battle of the film was far more coherent than the franchise’s last outing at the Egyptian Pyramids. While you still couldn’t figure out where exactly the special ops soldiers were in relation to the Optimus and the Autobots, it didn’t really matter. One thing that was priceless was the way the writer Ehren Krugen had Sentinel Prime spouting lines that were a reversal of one of Spock’s most famous lines with “The needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many,” it was a nice touch that brought a little life to the final conflict in a tongue-in-cheek way that brought a smile to any fan of Star Trek.  If you’re wondering how Michael Bay convinced Nimoy to redo those lines with a twist, especially since they’re some of the most sacred words in the Star Trek franchise, it turns out that Nimoy is married to Susan Bay, Michael’s cousin, meaning he had a bit of family pull there in his favor. There was also Bumblebee’s use of Spock’s final words from The Wrath of Khan as he and the Autobots are being exiled from Earth, “I am and always shall be, your friend” that was also very nicely done.

All in all, the film was a good two and a half hours of fun. Even Carly was able to play a pivotal role in the film’s climax, playing upon the egos of the big boys as only a pretty girl can that turned out to be the one move that would turn the tide in favor of the good guys once and for all.  I give it a grade of A- since it was a lot better than I had any right to expect, especially with all of the Spock references.

iTunes Live Festival in July

The Foo Fighters are scheduled to play live on July 11th

The iTunes Live Festival can be seen streamed for free on an app on an iDevice every day this July. The festival showcases performances from 62 recording artists on 31 nights, that include Paul Simon, Coldplay, Duran Duran and a host of others. I've watched the first two days, and was able to see Paul Simon, Smoke Fairies and Seasick Steve and was very impressed, not only with the quality of the performances but of the seamless streaming through Wi-Fi as well. I guess that's another side benefit of all that iCloud goodness coming in the fall. Simon's rendition of 'Late in the Evening,' the Smoke Fairies performance of 'Storm Song,' and Seasick Steve's 'Back in the Doghouse' in particular were very good.

There are a few hiccups of course, one is that the set lists don't always seem to be in sync with the song being played, and you can't seem to set an iCal reminder for some bands more than one day in advance. It would be nice if we could set reminders for the entire month, but I guess you can't have everything. Despite these shortcomings, I urge you to take a look for yourself.

'The Killing,' Conflict and Controversy on AMC

Was Darren Richmond the Killer? Only Time will Tell

AMC’s The Killing is an extraordinary police procedural that had me riveted from beginning to end. The question of who killed Rosie Larsen became little more than a footnote to me in many ways as I found myself more intrigued by the characters investigating her murder, grieving over her loss as well as those suspected (wrongly or rightly) of being responsible. The A-list talent that AMC secured for the show’s cast was definitely the difference maker in its novel approach to the rather shopworn conventions of the TV police procedural that provided a much needed breath of fresh air for the genre and a little outrage too, especially in the much-discussed season finale.

The Investigators
Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnamon as Detectives Sarah Linden and Steven Holder were positively brilliant in their respective roles. Enos, with her shock of red hair pulled back in a ponytail and those thick fall sweaters that her character was prone to wearing in the bleak, damp Seattle weather, was a revelation in the show’s central role. Her lack of makeup allowed her natural beauty to show through in a way that I’ve rarely seen on network television. Moreover, as Linden she possesses a reserved manner that is rare in homicide detectives I’ve seen portrayed on television that makes her unique. The way she quietly discerns the fact that the Stanley Larsen who’s ATM card was found in Discover Park was not a suspect in a disappearance but rather the father of a victim was breathtaking. It was all done in a single glance at the pink bicycle in the Larsen garage and then of course that with that single, devastating question “Mrs. Larsen, do you have a daughter?” I couldn’t help but feel a lump in my throat as she asked it, even while knowing the answer.

Joel Kinnamon as the Wigger-esque, former junkie/narcotics Detective Steven Holder was just as good in his own way. At first he was a grating presence on the show for me, with his street patois and constant niggling of Linden’s decision to call it quits with Seattle Homicide in favor of a new life with her son and boyfriend in Sonoma, CA. Gradually however, Kinnamon was able to imbue his character with enough humanity that I began to see past the street smart exterior to a cop who seemed like a genuinely good guy underneath. It was great the way he deployed his ‘street persona’ honed during his work in buy bust operations to go places at Fort Washington High where Rosie was a student that the more reserved Detective Linden simply could not. He constantly surprised me with his every move which at first glance seemed to be in service to himself, but would invariably turn out to be in service to the investigation.

The Family
Michelle Forbes and Brent Sexton as Mitch and Stanley Larsen blow the doors of the place in conveying the grief that descends upon a family that loses a child to an act of violence. A lot of it was hard to watch, though not due to any lack of dramatic skill, if anything, it was because there was a surfeit of it. The way Forbes can speak in a voice cracking with fear for Rosie and then crackling in fury as she calls around looking for her (“I swear that girl is gonna get the ass-kicking of her life”) had a lot of depth to it and brought back memories of the same righteous anger that she could demonstrate in her roles as Ensign Ro in Star Trek: TNG and as Admiral Helena Cain in Battlestar Galatica (Re-imagined).

Brent Sexton was also amazing to watch. As the gruff but lovable Stan, he really made you feel the differing stages of grief he was undergoing, from the emotional support he provided to his wife in the aftermath of Rosie’s death, to the emotional breakdown he experienced after viewing Rosie in the dress they provided to the funeral director. The Jekyll and Hyde aspects of his character was fascinating to watch.

Jamie Ann Allman as Terri Marek, Rosie’s aunt and Mitch’s sister also turns in a great performance. She becomes the rock of the family in becoming more involved in raising the boys as Mitch and Stan go through this crisis. 

The Suspects
I found this aspect of the show to be the weakest since you knew that Rosie’s killer couldn’t have been the red herrings we viewed early on, like Jasper and his buddy Kris Echols. The teacher Bennett Ahmed (Brandon Jay McLaren in a brilliant role) was a more interesting suspect because of the racial angle and his connection to possible Islamic extremists. Billy Campbell as Darren Richmond was excellent as ever, even better than his role as Jordan Collier in the acclaimed sci-fi show 4400.

Thoughts on the Season Finale
I know that the finale was very controversial because of the doubt cast on the guilt of Darren Richmond in the final minutes of the episode. I was glad to see that he wasn’t really the killer. I thought it was too easy since the fact that Rosie’s body had been found in the campaign car clearly indicated that it was a setup from the start. One thing that I haven’t seen mentioned often is Terri’s obvious recognition of Jasper’s father, Michael Ames as a client in her guise as a Beau Soleil girl during the gathering after Rosie’s funeral. It was awkward and purposely pointed out to viewers in an obvious way.

The fact that Ames was a client of Beau Soleil does not necessarily make him the murderer but he is a real estate developer whose interests coincide with the Mayor’s in developing the Seattle waterfront, and what better way to eliminate Richmond than to frame him for murder? I don’t know, doesn’t really sound plausible to me, seems that all they would have to do is expose Richmond’s use of Beau Soleil to do that, though perhaps Jasper’s dad and the Mayor were loath to risk exposing their own involvement in the escort service as well. If I were wagering, I’d put my money on Senator Eaton, Gwen’s father. A murder like Rosie’s would have to have two motives in my opinion, that combine the personal with the political. It is only in Senator Eaton that we have both. He is already on record as having expressed his disapproval of Richmond both as a candidate and as his daughter’s lover from the start. His social position already marks him as an obvious candidate for using Beau Soleil’s services, thus he would have likely been acquainted with Rosie if he were indeed a client. Only in Senator Eaton does a personal interest and a political interest in Richmond’s destruction collide.

At any rate, The Killing was amazing, and I urge you to see it if you haven’t already done so. It is first-rate, and even if there was no definitive resolution at the end, what of it? Are we Americans so obsessed with closure that this show’s lack of it is enough to drive us mad with anger just because it chose to raise more questions than it answered? I think Veena Sud’s desire to defeat the conventions of this particular genre is to be commended; the acting, moody soundtrack and atmospheric cinematography all combined to provide one of the best viewing experiences of the year IMHO, as well as inspiration in accomplishing the same in my own work. I look forward to seeing more next season.

Long Island Massacre Driven by Addiction?

Killer in plain sight

Police pegged the motive for the heinous massacre at a Long Island Pharmacy this weekend over a presumed addiction to painkillers on the part of the suspect captured in surveillance footage. I agree that this is probably the motive, but we can't ignore the possibility that this man could have been involved in distribution as well. Either way, it's a horrendous crime that with any hope, will not go unpunished. I mean, just think of the lives this man destroyed in the desire to feed his habit. A high school senior days away from graduating from high school. He's definitely a sociopath, but whether it was his lack of empathy for his victims or the addiction talking, only time will tell. Let's hope they catch this guy quick before he can hurt anyone else. If you recognize this guy, please call the Homicide Squad at 631-852-6392. all calls will be kept confidential.

Stieg Larsson's girlfriend Eva's Viking Curse

Eva Gabrielsson reflects on her life with Stieg Larsson in a new book

Very interesting article in the New York Times on Eva Gabrielsson, Stieg Larson's girlfriend, who describes putting a Viking curse on his father and brother in her new book ‘There Are Things I Want You to Know’ About Stieg Larsson and Me.” I don't know what to think about this whole thing, except that the only thing that seems to be without blame in this affair is the magazine that he devoted a good portion of his life too, is Expo the anti-racist publication investigating Swedish far-right groups. Makes me think the royalties should have gone to Expo instead of the family.

In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night…Well, You Know What I Mean

Ryan Reynolds Shines as Hal Jordan

I saw Green Lantern yesterday, and while disappointed with it to some extent, I lay blame for any failures it may be guilty of with the Hollywood suits and the straitjacket they inevitably place on any origin story set in the world of comic books rather than the writers or Martin Campbell, the director. Ryan Reynolds did a good job as Hal Gordon, the daredevil (or devil may care, take your pick) test pilot who is pressed into service as a member of the Green Lantern Corps when his predecessor Abin Sur (Temuera Morrison) dies from an attack by Parallax.

Things That Could Have Been Better
Now, to anyone familiar with the Green Lantern comics, Parallax was actually Hal Jordan, but I’ll give it a pass on that because I always hated that story line since it was always a bit too grim for me. The film had several strong performances in my opinion, from Mark Strong as Sinestro, to the aforementioned Temuera Morrison as Abin Sur (however short) and Clancy Brown voicing Parallax. My primary problem with it was that too much of it was set on Earth for my liking. The parts of it on Earth, whether cheering up his nephew after crashing an F-35 in an incident eerily similar to the way his father was killed, or taking Carol Ferris on a joyride over Coast City a la Clark and Lois’s ride over Metropolis in the first Superman movie bored me to death and the latter scene in particular was presumptuous as all hell, since Campbell’s film doesn’t even begin to approach Donner’s classic from the late ‘70s. Another thing I didn’t like was that there was far too little of Kiliwog. His entrance and exit was far too brief for a story, even an origin story, about Green Lantern in my opinion. What there was of him was pretty good however, as he taught him about the importance of strength of will and forming constructs but it could have a been a lot better. I’m still not sure about Michael Clarke Duncan voicing Kiliwog either, though that probably had less to do with Duncan’s performance than the fact that I was able to recognize him instantly, which took a little away from the suspension of disbelief needed to enjoy it. The constructs that Kiliwog came up with to test Hal during this sequence were well done however, you could feel the effort expended by Jordan to keep up and sold me on the film's ability to render Oa and the Corps in future films.

Oa and the Guardians
The Guardians were done very well, and to be honest I actually preferred the filmmakers’ version of Parallax as a fallen one of their number more than the actual comics original version. Hal’s initial introduction to life in the Corps by Tomar-Re (voiced by Geoffrey Rush) was very well done, one of the best moments in the film. Peter Sarsgaard as Hector Hammond was also done very well and his relationship with his Senator father (Tim Robbins) was mildly interesting. The final battle at the end was more along the lines of what I expected for the entire film with Hal going all out against Parallax, though even here, the constructs he created to sling the fiend into the Sun weren't quite as good as I had hoped.

Final Grade
I give the film a B-, hopefully the sequel will be better, but for that to happen the filmmakers will have to be willing to leave the confines of Earth a lot more for the story to work. I mean he is after all in charge of an entire sector of space (2814) right? We need to see him do more than just hang out on Earth if you ask me.

Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides

Depp is better than ever in the 4th film

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides was a lot better than I expected. I felt it was far superior to the franchise’s prior installments that starred Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. While Johnny Depp’s performance as Jack Sparrow is without doubt meant to be the heart of the film franchise, it was Ian McShane’s performance as Blackbeard and Penelope Cruz’s turn as his romantic interest that really set this one apart from the others. I found the story line a lot more interesting as well, about the quest between Britain, Spain and Blackbeard for the mythical Fountain of Youth.

Better Chemistry
The humor and swordplay between Depp and Cruz felt a lot more genuine than that between Depp and Knightley, especially the first scene between them where Sparrow is facing off against an impostor who seems to know his every move, every parry and thrust that he’s been known to use against opponents. It’s simultaneously fraught with danger, mystery and a bit of sexiness that underlies a good deal of romantic chemistry between the two stars that I hadn’t expected.

Better Villain
That is topped only by Blackbeard’s introduction, on the Queen’s Head Revenge, where Sparrow has been kidnapped due to his presumed knowledge of the location of the Fountain of Youth. Having suborned mutiny among the crew, Sparrow stands on deck in  premature triumph, until the door of the Captain’s quarters opens behind and out emerges for the first time, an antagonist even darker than Davey Jones, Ian McShane’s Blackbeard. He possesses an ungodly power over the Queen’s Head Revenge, which enables to him squash Sparrow’s mutiny and set the ship back on course for the Fountain of Youth.

Return of Old Friends (Or Enemies)
Geoffrey Rush is back as Barbossa, who is on a single-minded pursuit of Blackbeard for  taking his ship, or Jack’s ship if you will, The Black Pearl. With an alluring (yet creepy) interlude with mermaids and a finale packing a confrontation of the nations that was very well executed (and historically accurate as well) if Spanish history is any indication, the movie's pace never flagged at all, which I've found to be quite rare for any movie nearly two and half hours in length. This is one installment you won’t want to miss.  I give it a grade of A, it allows you to lose yourself for two and a half hours which is more than I can say for the earlier three films in the franchise.

Green Lantern: Emerald Knights

Kiliwog's History Revealed

I watched Green Lantern: Emerald Knights this week prior to the premiere of the feature film and was amazed at how good it was. It was a series of stories that detailed the history of major characters in the Green Lantern Corps like Killiwog, Mogo and Laira. In a perfect world, stories like the ones told in this animated feature would be shot as a live action film, for it and its predecessor Green Lantern: First Flight far outshone the Ryan Reynolds vehicle that premiered on Friday.

Ancient Enemies
At the outset of the film, a Green Lantern on her way to Oa is killed while passing near the surface of Oa’s sun by vile beings known as shadow demons. Boy they pulled no punches in this scene either, when Green Lanterns fall, they die violently and Lauren Montgomery and her animation team didn’t hold back anything in demonstrating that in the opening scene. The shadow demons are beings of antimatter and have apparently come under the control of Krona an ancient enemy of the Guardians and who created the antimatter universe and serve as the precursors to his eventual arrival out of the star itself to destroy the Guardians, the Lantern Corps and Oa.

Avra and the First Construct

Unlikely Heroes
As the Green Lantern Corps prepare for battle and the Guardians begin spiriting away relics and other treasures like the Book of Oa in anticipation of the struggle to come, Hal Jordan (voiced by Nathan Fillion) tells a young, newly designated Green Lantern named Arisia Rrab the story of the first Lantern. Avra is a “mere scribe” who forged the first construct, a weapon that was to become the forte of the corps and the foundation of the power of the Green Lanterns. I really enjoyed this story the most of all, since its hero was such an unlikely one, and a skinny, nerdy writer at that!

Kiliwog’s Kiliwog
The next story about Kiliwog gave a great deal of insight into his character as well, even demonstrating that the term “poozer,” his signature line, was something handed down from one generation of Lanterns to another, just as the first construct was.

Laira and her Father do battle

Like Father Like Daughter
Laira’s (voiced by Kelly Hu) story was very powerful in an emotional sense and easily possessed some of the best action of the entire film. Her struggle against her family, particularly the scene of her battling her father as tender images of her childhood with him were activated across her bedchamber was like something out of Kurosawa. Extraordinary stuff.

Final Thoughts
Mogo’s story hails from an Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons comic written over a quarter century ago and was a great way to bring to life yet another classic narrative made by the immortal duo who created the graphic novel Watchmen. Abin Sur's (Arnold Vosloo) battle with Atrociticus was a nice way to round out things, particularly the philosophical conversation (or debate?) he has with his comrade Sinestro. The final struggle with Krona was excellent, far more rousing and satisfying than anything in the live action film and the reason why I have to give this film an A+, since it really captured the essence of the Green Lantern ethos in a way that few stories, animated or live action have in a long time. Go see it, you’ll have a splendid time.

‘The Protector’ While Familiar, Has a Family Dynamic That Ultimately, Works

Ally Walker’s new police procedural, “The Protector,” definitely got better as it went along for me. At first, I was pretty blase about the show since the premise felt a little too close to her last police procedural, ‘Profiler’ that premiered on NBC in 1996. The show’s saving grace for me wasn’t the rather standard plot about a mugging that eventually turns to murder, it was the way that Detective Gloria Sheppard (Walker) juggled her responsibilities as a mom of two boys with the grisly details that working homicide in a big city like LA entailed.

A Compelling Dichotomy
The show juxtaposed these two areas of her life with enough humor to keep me watching, since I’ve alway been a sucker for this kind of stuff. The Protector has a few other things in its favor as well however; the first is a good supporting cast, from Tisha Campbell-Martin (Martin, My Wife and Kids) as Sheppard’s partner Michelle Dulcet, to Chris Payne Gilbert (Dexter) as her brother Davey, with whom Sheppard and her sons have moved in with and her boss, Lt. Valdez, (Mel Ferrer) who runs interference for her with higher ups when her unorthodox crime solving techniques get her into hot water like any boss worth his salt should. I know I’ve tweeted this before but I just have to repeat it because it was such a great example of what the show is ultimately shooting for. I’m talking about the scene where Sheppard notices her older son Nick (Sage Ryan) about to thumb through her case folder while she’s fixing breakfast one morning. Rather than the harsh scolding one might expect in such a situation, she simply stops him with a warning that a photo of a corpse with its head split open is what awaited him if he opened that folder, and his fingers returned at light speed to where they belonged.

More moments like that is what I’m looking for from this show. It airs on Lifetime on Sunday nights at 10 p.m., so give it a shot, I think you’ll like what you find there.

Game of Thrones - Episode 8 "The Pointy End" The Dwarf, the Dothraki and Racism? Do Tell

 Khal Drogos gets ready to rumble

Out of a season of brilliant episodes, 'The Pointy End' stands head and shoulders above the rest. Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister is absolutely magnificent. The way he deploys his wit (and the Lannister fortune) to save his skin time and time again never fails to impress. The scene of him with Shaga, son of Dolf was a perfect example of how well he can think on his feet when his life is at stake (as it so often is, alas) and was even better than the scene last week of how the same quick thinking won him his freedom.

The storyline with the Dothraki is my next favorite element of GOTHR. I must confess that I never had much respect for Jason Momoa (due to his turn as the horribly-written Ronon in Stargate Atlantis, may its name live in infamy) but his performance here as the Dothraki warlord, Khal Drogos, makes it look like his upcoming role in the remake of Conan the Barbarian might work after all. I'm particularly taken with the metaphoric nature of the Dothraki language, where he refers to his Khaleesi as "Moon of my life" and she in turn refers to him as "my sun and stars." It's strangely tender and flowery for a people with such a violent way of life.

I've come across a line of thinking toward Game of Thrones while googling it that accuses the show of a racist depiction of the Dothraki as opposed to the people of the Seven Kingdoms who are clearly a stand-in for the people of Western Europe circa the thirteenth century. It has been said that especially during the wedding between Khal Drogos and Daenerys Targaryen, depictions of the near tribal, Asiatic-looking Dothraki bordered on the offensive, with their displays of public coupling (especially of the non-missionary kind) and consumptions of horses' hearts. I don't know that I agree with that.

While I would agree that the Dothraki are a combination of tribal African and Asian influences, I see the primary historical element of the Dothraki as Mongolian in nature. Of course even Khal Drogos' speech after an attempt on Daenerys' life was foiled is but another bastardized version of the most famous quote of Genghis Khan made even more famous by Arnold Schwarzenegger in his Conan. If you're comparing a group to the Mongols, then you're being anything but racist, since they proved themselves superior, militarily anyway, to the European mounted Knights and crossbowmen on the field of battle.

In my view, George R.R. Martin and the filmmakers adapting his vision to the small screen are simply using the the broad outlines of history to craft a compelling tale of great fiction, no more and no less.  Rather than leveling baseless charges of racism at the show, maybe those offended by certain aspects of it should simply turn the channel instead.

I also love the portrayal of Tywin Lannister by Charles Dance, that introduction of his character gutting a deer in his tent was quite nasty. When he expresses his disapproval in one way or another of both his sons Jaime and Tyrion, it has a really hard-edge to it. And what about Prince Joffrey? (has anybody ever looked more inbred than little Jack Gleeson at the moment?). Anyway, I really look forward to next week's episode. Only three more days to Sunday! With all the maneuvering going on in Game of Thrones to look forward to, it's starting to feel like an eternity.

Interview at The Freelance and Fiction Blog for The Abattoir

I'm happy to report that an interview conducted by Rachel V. DiMaggio at The Freelance and Fiction blog has been posted for you to read at your leisure. In it, you can find out about my motivations for writing the book, how I created the mood for the narrative and a few personal things about me. It was a great experience, and one that I hope to repeat with other book bloggers who might be looking for guest posts and interviews with indie writers in the near future. Thanks a lot Rachel! I had a great time.

iCloud and What It Means For the ebook Revolution

Steve Jobs giving the keynote at the WWDC 2011 Monday

I just finished watching the Apple Keynote at the WWDC 2011 that was streamed on Apple's website and I must say that I am very excited about iCloud and what its potential impact on the ebook revolution might mean. To put it as simply as possible, iCloud is a new way offered by Apple to scan and mirror the content (documents, photos, music, etc.,) of the company's 200 million iOS devices that have been sold around the world using a digital locker, or 'server in the sky.' Using the server farms at the company's massive new data center in Maiden, North Carolina, the company will begin rolling out this new service officially in the fall.

Now before all of you Windows trolls start going on about how Dropbox was first to the party, and that this isn't really anything new, hold your fire and just bear with me for a moment to consider the implications of this, especially for indie writers. iCloud uploads any document that you're working on to the 'cloud' and then pushes that document back to any other iOS devices you may have and updates the document on those other devices, whether iPads, iPhones or Macs as you update it. This means that if you're writing a book on a PC or Mac, and feel the need to do some edits on the go, then you can just pick up your iPhone or iPod Touch or what have you and complete your edit secure in the knowledge that it is identical to the document that you just put away when you left your computer. No more emailing a document to yourself and, for God's sake, renaming the document so that it doesn't get confused with any earlier versions of the same document. 

A solution like this would be a Godsend to indie writers like myself. When I was writing The Abattoir, on a Mac using Apple Pages, it was a pain to have to do exactly what I just described. I would have to export it to an epub document, then transfer it to iTunes, and sync that with my phone. Then whether I was on the subway or at a Starbucks or wherever, I could perform edits and send them to myself via email. It was an OK solution, but it also involved a lot of unnecessary hassles as well. Now, with iCloud, and the newly released Apple Pages for iOS, those problems will be over. Even now, I'm busy writing some of the sequel to The Abattoir on my phone using Pages, and it is a remarkably fluid experience. When iCloud arrives, the solution will be complete. I can write and edit both on the phone and on the Mac without having to worry about this or that version and all of the frustration that comes along with it. 

When you add free to the equation, as Apple is apparently doing, it's a solution that is only that much sweeter. I could kiss Steve Jobs for this. (Is it me, or did his voice sound a lot weaker than in previous events?) Note to self, say a prayer for the man, he did not look good today. As one who has admired him for a long time, it saddens me to see him in that condition. At any rate, I am really excited about what iCloud and products like Pages for iPhone has to offer to us indies out there struggling to produce quality work without pulling our hair out in the process. Apple made things just a little bit easier for those of us fortunate enough to use their products, and for that, I'm thankful.

Second Review!

I don't mean to toot my own horn (actually I do, since this is partially what the blog is for after all ;)) but I received a second review yesterday from a reader who wrote very passionately of just how impressed she was with The Abattoir.

X-Men: First Class, Mutant Pride and Power

I saw X-Men: First Class yesterday. While I enjoyed the sixties setting and the use of the Cuban Missile Crisis as a historical backdrop to the founding of the X-Men, there were some errors there that I thought marred what might otherwise have been a very good film. For instance, the film tried to adapt famous sayings from the sixties like “Black and Proud” with one of their own, “Mutant and Proud” but it just didn’t add up. Another was Professor Xavier’s use of the term “groovy” when trying to pick up young women. We have to remember that this film was taking place in October of 1962, not 1967 or ’68. These are terms more geared toward the sixties counterculture, which took place in the latter half of the decade, which was in part a response to events like the Kennedy assassination. While he was alive, they simply didn’t exist, there was no reason for them to exist because the events that made them imperative hadn’t happened yet. This is a huge error in my judgment and calls into question the writers and directors’ grasp of history. Enormous changes had to take place in America over the course of the ‘60s for the nation’s youth culture to reach the point where they could get to expressions of gay or black (or genus) pride. Instead the filmmakers seem to assume that as long as they placed it in the sixties, or any year in that turbulent yet pivotal decade, that it would be OK.

As far as the plot is concerned, I found the film to be on firmer footing, though even there it ran into serious problems. I thought the film’s version of Darwin was well-meaning but ultimately unsatisfying. Angel (Zoe Kravitz) had a nice action scene against Banshee at the end, though the character was a blond guy in the comic books. Banshee was done pretty well, especially the way they demonstrated how he could use the sound waves from his scream to fly. Nicholas Hoult’s Hank McCoy was the best of the bunch, the way he unintentionally brought out the Beast in himself was one of the film’s high points. The best implementation of the film characters in my opinion was James McAvoy’s Professor X and Michael Fassbender’s Magneto, who were great in their respective roles. Fassbender in particular captured Magneto’s rage and desire for vengeance with great skill.

In many ways the best part of the film was the James Bond-ish, Dr. No-feel of the film, with Sebastian Shaw’s (Kevin Bacon) nuclear-powered submarine and the elegant ascots that he wore. Of course any fan of the comic books knows that the filmmakers took liberties with this character but I still thought that it worked for the purposes of this movie. The production design however, was the real star here, and it showed in Raven’s miniskirts (even though they, like "Mutant and Proud" were historically inaccurate)  and the classic fin-tail cars of the era. January Jones as Emma Frost, the White Queen was great in the role, she brought just the right amount of sex appeal to the film, although I thought she was far too deferential to Sebastian Shaw. They were equal partners in the Hellfire Club as I recall, so they definitely dropped the ball in terms of showing her subservient to Shaw in the film.

Overall, I thought the film rated a B-, good, but not quite as good as it could have been.

Classic Crime Showcase: Stray Dog (1949) by Akira Kurosawa

I saw Akira Kurosawa’s Stray Dog over the weekend, and was extremely impressed with it. It’s a film noir, police procedural about a rookie Detective named Murakami, (Toshiro Mifune) whose department-issued Colt pistol is stolen while on an overcrowded bus. The theft leaves him shamefaced, though this embarrassment soon to turns to guilt and horror when the gun is used in a series of crimes that escalate in violence from armed robberies to murder. His relentless search for the Colt, aided by an older, more experienced Detective, becomes the spine of the film and takes you along on a ride through postwar Japan that was a revelation for me.

One thing that was remarkable about Kurosawa’s film was his presentation of real, full-blooded characters that are bereft of the stereotypes of the Japanese usually seen in America. Detective Sato, the precinct cop who becomes Murakami’s mentor is played brilliantly by Takashi Shimura. The easygoing, sly method of interrogation that Sato employs is meant both to teach the young greenhorn Murakami, and demonstrate just how effective a cop Sato is really put the hook in me. It’s a classic film that bears watching again and again. I highly recommend it if you like police procedurals as I do and how easily they can be transplanted from one culture to another. Give it a try if you’ve got the time.

NYPD Special Victims Division (The Real One)

Fascinating article on the NYPD sex crimes unit investigating the case of Dominique Strauss-Khan's alleged sexual assault on a hotel chambermaid. Not surprisingly, things aren't nearly as glamorous in their grimy, low-tech office as Eliot and Liv's on NBC's Law & Order SVU. One thing that is surprising however, is that the detectives are nearly all men. How do these guys question female victims about sexual assault without avoiding some awkward moments is what I'd like to know. One thing I found disturbing however, is when a Detective (a man of course) says that one thing that raises a red flag that a victim's accusations may be not true is if they ask for a female police officer to speak to. It's as if these guys can't empathize, or put themselves in the mind of a frightened, battered woman who may simply not want to be around a male investigator as she's relaying something as traumatic as a sexual assault. Don't quite understand that line of thinking. I don't think Ellie would either. ;)

DSK, the Maid and the High-class Sociopath

Dominique Strauss-Khan’s arrest a fortnight ago in the alleged rape of a Guinean-born maid at the Sofitel Hotel in New York laid bare the true nature of privilege and power as it has existed in both Europe and America for a long time.  The “Great Seducer” as he is known among many in his native France is alleged to have emerged naked in his hotel room when a Guinean-maid arrived to clean his room and sexually assaulted her.  Now I’m not looking to convict the man before he’s had a fair trial, however, his history of assaulting and coercing women does bear closer examination on why we as a society seem to tolerate it so much.

Sure, he’s wealthy, well-educated, has held some of the most powerful and prestigious posts in the world, but should it give him carte blanche to harass women whenever it suits him? His checkered history with women, the assault on the writer Tristane Banon, the coercion of a subordinate into a relationship during his time at the IMF, and his rumored attempts to proposition women on staff at the hotel really call into question his judgment and our willingness as a culture to reward this kind of behavior. Now apparently it has led to this, an outright assault on a struggling hotel maid where his DNA (I read semen) has been found on her uniform.

What is even more disturbing is the idea of how deluded a sixty-two year old, short, not very attractive man must be to think he can solicit and pressure women with impunity and not be seen as utterly pathetic says a lot about how much we appear to worship wealth and power both here and in Europe. What is even more disturbing is the idea that people on his behalf, after being unable to get to her through the justice system have actually been approaching her extended family back in Guinea, trying to buy her silence with promises of a big payout.

It’s obvious right away that this man is a sociopath, unable to empathize with the feelings of women who might regard his attempts to solicit women for sexual favors with anything other than disgust and that he has to be stopped. I’d like to know how his wife can stay with this monster knowing just how lecherous he has been known to behave.

The Abattoir (An Ellie Danson Mystery) Featured on Spalding's Racket

The Abattoir (An Ellie Danson Mystery) has been featured on Nick Spalding's highly-regarded blog Spalding's Racket today. Thanks a lot for the add Nick!

First Review!

The Abattoir (An Ellie Danson Mystery) has received its first review on the Amazon Store, and it's written by no less a figure than best-selling thriller writer Stephen Leather to boot! As you can tell by now, I'm just thrilled. As I've said earlier on my blog, I truly admire Stephen Leather's work, as the basement, along with Nightfall, are too of the best books I've read in a long while, so it's truly an honor and a huge surprise. :)

Criminal Profiling

Ran across a fascinating post by crime writer and criminologist Jennifer Chase today. She writes in detail about what a criminal profile looks like and the impact that it can have on a criminal investigation. She examines a form of criminal profiling called the 'threshold assessment' that weighs the evidence from crime scenes, behavior patterns and victimology to provide a fuller portrait of a serial killer. Be sure to take a peek at her blog, you won't be disappointed.

Thoughts on the Long Island Serial Killer

The profile of the Long Island Serial Killer is far too broad in my opinion. Not sure I agree with it entirely. A male white anywhere from 20s to 40s, with stable employment and who drives a nice car could be anyone and no one. The burlap bags he is alleged to have used is the only thing of interest in my opinion. This could be an indication of his profession, like a landscaper, or roofer like the Rochester serial killer Joel Rifkin is said to believe.

The emotional cruelty that he displays in calling the teen sister of one of the victims and taunting her with details of her life as a sex worker definitely shows someone with little empathy for those around him. It pegs him as a sexual sadist for sure. He could work in coffee distribution, a profession that burlap bags have always played a vital role in.

Imagine, a man trolling the the areas of Gilgo beach, or Jones Beach on Long Island in a van or truck of an established delivery company would not attract that much attention from the authorities. He could pull off to the side of the road in the middle of the night and dump his victims where ever he chose. He could literally hide in plain sight, since he's one of the few people who 'belong' on the road during that time of night. I may be wrong, I'm probably wrong, but it's just possible. Only time will tell.

the basement *spoilers included - A Review

I'll just start off by saying that I really enjoyed Stephen Leather's novella, "the basement." It is a fast-paced tale with an interesting twist at the end that was very effective. The story's protagonist, a deluded, aspiring screenwriter named Marvin Waller, finds himself as the main suspect in the investigation into a serial killer targeting secretaries in New York.

I do have a few caveats however. Despite being classified as a thriller, the parts narrated by the Waller character were difficult to get through at times. It was extremely boring as he droned on about the story lines to his inane spec scripts, (which hit a little too close to home as it reminded me of the looks friends have given me when I do the same:) or his complaints about the gatekeepers whom he was convinced were trying to prevent his work from being seen by the producers he sought to solicit. The sections narrated by the serial killer were better, though even then there were times when it didn't seem credible. It brings up a lot of issues about gender portrayal that are difficult to sort through. For instance, the character of the killer as written is conducted from a man's perspective it seems to me. The way in which the serial killer discusses desire feels wrong somehow. I'm not simply talking about gender stereotypes here, Women simply don't act that way. I'm not saying that they're incapable of serial murder, just not in the same way. What Mr. Leather is describing is a male serial killer here, in terms of motive, physical attraction, lust, violence and the need to dominate psychologically and then wrapping that description into a woman at the end. I just didn't buy it.

Moreover, the way in which the investigation was conducted is another gripe that I have with the novella. What I mean by that is that there was no investigation. Turner and Marcinko had one suspect that they visited repeatedly, without utilizing any of the methods that law enforcement traditionally uses to apply pressure to that suspect, from leaking his name to the press, to pulling their financials to pulling cell phone records to break down alibis. I'm not asking him to bore us to death with police procedure but that omission was a little too convenient for me, too neat. The one element that I was impressed by was the way that there was always something more to Leather's characters than the reader initially was led to suspect. It was done well in both the case of Waller and the serial killer.

Anyway, if I haven't spoiled things too much for those of you out there who refused to heed my warnings and read on anyway, I encourage you to spend the 99 cents/71p and read the basement. Despite the reservations I expressed earlier, it's more than worth your dollar and your time.

The Mechanic (1972) versus The Mechanic (2011) and the Flattening of our Popular Culture

The Mechanic (1972) is one of my all-time favorite thrillers. It has an enormous amount of depth to it that stays with you in a way that todays treatment of the thriller genre doesn’t.  I count it among those paragons of the seventies’ crime genre, like The Godfather films, The Conversation and The French Connection (1973) and of course Bronson’s other groundbreaking film of the early seventies, Deathwish (1974). All of those films, despite the violence that came to personify them, are literate in a way that their counterparts in this era simply are not.

That sad comparison becomes even more apparent when a remake appears that doesn’t really measure up. I’m talking of course about The Mechanic (2011) with Jason Statham. Take the central character of Arthur Bishop. In the remake, he’s a bit of a cipher. He lives alone in the Louisiana bayous in hidden splendor, where he listens to classical music on an immaculate, old school record player that no one is allowed to touch but him. For recreation, there’s a beautiful call girl that he pays well, and the renovation of a classic sports car that he’s been working on for two years. It’s the fantasy of every adolescent (and possibly middle-aged) male on earth. It’s alluring, this seeming luxury and privilege of a life without commitment but fails to demonstrate the costs that such an existence would exact on the man who’s chosen to live it. 

The Arthur Bishop of the original film however, Bronson’s Bishop, is all costs. The isolated splendor is there, but it comes with a huge emotional toll. He takes what appears to be antidepressants to help him cope with being unable to establish normal friendships with anyone. The loneliness that Bronson’s Mechanic feels is present even during moments when he should be trying to escape it. The prostitute (Bronson’s wife second wife at the time, Jill Ireland) in the original is more than a simple fleshpot, she is a literary hooker, who is valued just as much (perhaps even more so) for her ability to compose beautiful, overwrought love letters designed to make Bishop feel emotionally alive in a way he can’t afford to be when he’s on assignment, than her physical assets. Even his decision to take on the young Stephen McKenna (Jan-Michael Vincent) as a protege is driven by the need to bond with someone and break the closed emotional fishbowl that he’s been living in for so long.  

It is tempting to lay the blame on the filmmakers for the flattening out of Bishop’s character that takes place in the remake. After all, it has long been a conceit, whether true or not that the screenwriters, directors and producers of generations X and Millennial produce far less literate work than their predecessors since they were raised on a steady diet of pop-culture junk food from comic books to kung-fu films. It’s tempting but it would be wrong. The blame really lies with us as a people, as a culture. The sad truth of the matter is that Bronson’s Bishop could never make it to the silver screen in this day and age. There’s just too much detail, too much character development, in short, too much reality for the movie going public to face for it to survive commercially. We’ve become far more interested in adolescent fantasies than the price it asks of the person living it. Sad, but all too true.

The Abattoir (An Ellie Danson Mystery) Plot Summary

My new novella, The Abattoir, is a taut tale of psychological suspense set in Manhattan. A serial killer who calls himself 'The Ripper' is stalking the glamorous Meatpacking District, using it as his own personal hunting ground. Driven by psychological demons that even he doesn't fully understand, he is a ritualistic killer who follows a set pattern on some murders that he commits and is more unorganized on others. 

This poses a problem for Detective Ellie Danson, the novella's protagonist. While struggling to understand the case's victimology, Danson is also forced to fight against the bias of her colleagues in the department, who nearly succeed in throwing her off the case, when The Ripper suddenly becomes fascinated with her, sending her cryptic messages at crime scenes which pulls her back in. A dangerous cat and mouse game ensues as Ellie tries to draw him out before she herself becomes a target.

Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior

Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior
“Nighthawk”

The spin-off to the popular crime series Criminal Minds seems to be off to a fast start in the eight weeks since its debut. I haven’t had a chance to watch the show though I fully intend to catch up. Last night's episode, “Nighthawks” about a spree killer targeting young men in Tulsa, Oklahoma was definitely not quite as thrilling as I expected, but it was interesting nonetheless for the view it offered of just how devastating the crime of serial murder can be not only on the victims and their loved ones, but on the families of the perpetrators as well.

Sam Cooper (Forrest Whittaker) and his team arrive in town after a young man had been murdered coming out of a club. Frankly, I found the idea that a man well into his sixties could murder three young men in the manner depicted a little far-fetched. What’s more, he committed these spree killings with a baseball bat. Are you kidding me? I mean come on, with as many guns that are owned by residents in states south of the Mason-Dixon, you could bank on at least one of these young men to have a gun–legal or illegal–in the glove compartment or something, but no, Bernero and company are determined to have us believe that this frail, mild-mannered old man would be this successful a killer without a firearm. I didn’t buy it.

Like I said however, I did find the idea that a father of a serial killer, as Leonard Keene is supposed to be in this episode, would himself become a murderer over the guilt he experienced at having gave life to such a monster very intriguing. The interviews shown near the end of the show of Keene trying to understand where his son’s behavior might have come from were very moving and demonstrated a man trying to come to grips with his son’s crimes and his possible complicity in them by avoiding the prospect of engaging with his son while he lived in his own home.

I like Whittaker in the role of Sam Cooper but little else. Janeane Garofalo leaves me expecting stand up comedy every time I see her, not an FBI profiler for a show as dark as CM-Suspect Behavior is supposed to be. Still it was an interesting story-line and I will give the show another chance next week. I’d be interested in hearing any thoughts you all might have out there. Post them in the comments section below.

The Town (2010)

I was very impressed with Ben Affleck’s The Town (2010), a slick, hard-hitting crime thriller about a crew of bank robbers and armored car thieves from Boston’s infamous Charlestown neighborhood, of which we are solemnly informed at the film’s outset, “has produced more bank robbers and armored car thieves than any place in the world.”

Affleck plays Doug MacRay, the leader of the group, who’s responsible for planning and researching the robberies they commit. After robbing a bank in the film’s opening, Jim Coughlin (in a chilling performance by Jeremy Renner), the group’s hothead and best friend to Doug, is concerned about a witness who might be able to identify them. He wants to threaten and if necessary, eliminate her. Doug however, wary of Jim’s violent tendencies, volunteers to keep an eye on her. After meeting her at a laundromat, Doug finds himself falling for that same witness, an attractive assistant bank manager named Claire Keesey (played by Rebecca Hall) who strangely enough, develops an attraction to him as well. Thus one of the film’s central conflicts is set up, how does Doug maintain what is quickly growing into a budding romance with the one witness who can finger them, while keeping the sociopathic Jim from trying to kill her?

Any decent film about bank robbers wouldn’t be worth its salt without a decent antagonist from the FBI, and we get one in Special Agent Frawley, (Mad Men’s Jon Hamm) who engages in the usual tactics of the Bureau, targeting the weakest of the herd to drop the dime on the group’s latest and greatest caper before they can get away with it.  Veterans like the late Pete Postlethwaite and Chris Cooper give great performances, although it’s funny listening to Cooper try to mimic that Boston hard r with his Texas accent.

All in all, Affleck displays great chops in directing The Town and gives a great performance onscreen as well. I think I tend to prefer him in these more ethnic films, like Good Will Hunting (1997), or directing Gone Baby Gone (2007). I definitely look forward to seeing him do more.

Twitter feed is live!

I've started a twitter feed in support of The Abattoir as well. Please feel free to follow my tweets on the novella whenever you can.