Chasing Clay in Beta
Yes, I know. I never call, I never write. Beta readers are the folks who get to read the book after the worst problems have been worked out but before it’s ready for publication. Don’t envy them too much — … Continue reading →
Lance C.
Criminal Element: Two (two!) reviews of British crime shows
Continuing my entanglement with the Criminal Element, I parse two very different British TV crime miniseries: Ordeal by Innocence and Bodyguard. The cast of Ordeal by Innocence “A country house, a dead body, a pack of suspects—sounds like Agatha Christie, no? … Continue reading →
Criminal Element: The Fallen Architect
More consorting with the Criminal Element led me to read someone else’s book about a disgraced architect: The Fallen Architect is an atmospheric novel featuring an intriguing mystery, a sympathetic lead (who can also draw and paint), and a (literally) … Continue reading →
Criminal Element: Ghost: My Thirty Years as an FBI Undercover Agent
My other recent run-in with the Criminal Element lands me on the right side of the law, with a review of FBI memoir Ghost: The career-end autobiography seems to come in two flavors. The vanilla version is from the person … Continue reading →
Criminal Element: Babylon Berlin
The Burrow goes to Weimar for my latest scrape with the Criminal Element, a review of the hit German TV series Babylon Berlin: Despite its utter failure to provide stability for the German people between the wars, the late Weimar … Continue reading →
South Coming True: “Paid Off”
I haven’t been posting “South Tech Today” and “News from the Future” for a while because that’s now called “the front page of the newspaper.” However, this article in the Washington Post is (a) too absurd for even me to … Continue reading →
Criminal Element: Fauda
The Criminal Element meets Doha 12 in my latest review: Fauda is a vivid, fast-paced Israeli political thriller that features kinetic storytelling, expertly played tension, and highly authentic action sequences. It also finds time to present the human side of … Continue reading →
Criminal Element: Four Seasons in Havana
My latest entanglement with the Criminal Element takes me across the Florida Strait to the land of mojitos: The Las cuatro estaciones (Four Seasons in Havana) detective novels have brought Leonardo Padura fame, a certain amount of financial and political … Continue reading →
Criminal Element: Riphagen
My latest run-in with the Criminal Element has me watching a TV show about a bad, bad man: The spectrum of “bad behavior” stretches all the way from kicking puppies to genocide. How despicable can the central character of a … Continue reading →
Appearance: Book Carnival, 10 February 2018
I’ll be appearing at Book Carnival in Orange, CA (348 S. Tustin Street) on Saturday, 10 February at 2:00 p.m. to talk about Stealing Ghosts, read an excerpt, and sign books. With me will be David Putnam, author of the … Continue reading →