Monthly Archives: June 2018

Man on the Run, by Charles Williams

Posted on June 29, 2018 by pete

I’ve been coming across several examples of the “man on the run from a murder scene” crime fiction trope lately: John Buchan’s The 39 Steps Ed McBain’s So Nude, So Dead Lawrence Block’s Sinner Man Lawrence Block’s After the First … Continue reading →

Posted in books, crime fiction | Tagged | 3 Comments

“The Purple Pileus” by H.G. Wells

Posted on June 22, 2018 by pete

A lot of good, even classic, science fiction stories are currently available for free as HTML, PDF or some e-reader format. I decided to feature some of these “freebee” pieces on a semi-regular basis this year.  Recently, I was trading … Continue reading →

Posted in science fiction, short fiction | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Plunder of the Sun, by David Dodge

Posted on June 14, 2018 by pete

As I’ve been reading through the titles of the Hard Case Crime series of paperbacks, I’ve found most of them entertaining at minimum, and frequently highly satisfactory. Last October, I was convinced I came across a true classic in Charles … Continue reading →

Posted in books, crime fiction | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

The Last Stand, by Mickey Spillane

Posted on June 2, 2018 by pete

I’ve noticed that many of the recent “rediscovery” publications from Hard Case Crime are older novels packaged with a extra short story or two. Whether I really liked (Robert Silverberg’s Blood on the Mink), disliked (Lawrence Block’s Borderline) or have … Continue reading →

Posted in books, crime fiction, short fiction | Tagged , | 2 Comments

So Nude, So Dead, by Ed McBain

Posted on June 1, 2018 by pete

Waking up hung over and next to a naked corpse is not a unique way to begin life as a crime novel protagonist — the premise that begins Ed McBain’s 1952 So Nude, So Dead also started off the Lawrence Block … Continue reading →

Posted in books, crime fiction | Tagged , , | 4 Comments