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.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
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.
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.
Friday, April 22, 2011
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.
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.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
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.
“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.
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.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
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.
Facebook Fan Pages
I have put a couple of fan pages on Facebook for The Abattoir. The first is for the book itself. The second is for my protagonist, Detective Ellie Danson. I will be posting status updates on a regular basis for both pages each week so be sure to like each one to get the latest on what's happening.
Launch Day!
I am officially launching my blog today in support of my new novella, The Abattoir. I welcome all those who are interested in crime fiction in general to stop by for a visit, and encourage you to check out the book at the Kindle and Nook Stores. I intend to discuss far more than crime fiction here however, I'll be offering my take on different TV shows, films and books dealing with the crime genre, as well as high-profile cases being discussed in the media, as well as what's going on in my daily life. So let's get started!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)