JULY 2021 - FILMS (CINEMA)

Four outings in the month and some fun was had, though I won't be rushing to catch any of them again. Well, maybe just one.

Fast & Furious 9 (2021)

Well if you're a fan of escapist nonsense this is the one for you. I've seen a few of these before, though I can't remember which ones. Not really a follower of the franchise. It was a night out. There were some thrills and it is exciting in bits, but I can't say that I vibed the storyline and the effects were a bit heavy-handed. I think my eyebrows disappeared over the top of my head, never to be seen again. I'm not a big fan of any of the actors who featured. Don't dislike them, but don't have posters of them of my wall either.

From Google ....

Dom Toretto is living the quiet life off the grid with Letty and his son, but they know that danger always lurks just over the peaceful horizon. This time, that threat forces Dom to confront the sins of his past to save those he loves most. His crew soon comes together to stop a world-shattering plot by the most skilled assassin and high-performance driver they've ever encountered -- Dom's forsaken brother.

Local Hero (1983)

Well this one was strange. A film from 40-odd years ago that was showing for a few days. I can't remember catching it before and there was probably a good reason for that. It's tagged as a comedy romance, but there isn't really any romance on display. Maybe the negotiator falling for the countryside and area? 

There are some funny bits, mainly Burt Lancaster and his employeee who thinks he's his therapist. It was interesting seeing a raft of mainly young British actors - Peter Capaldi, Jenny Seagrove, Dennis Lawson and Fulton Mackay - and trying to remember what they went on to feature in. I thought it was alright. My wife and daughter thought it shockingly awful. It was a film better suited to a Sunday afternoon in front of the telly, as opposed to dragging yourself out for an evening.

From Google ....

Up-and-coming Houston oil executive "Mac" MacIntyre (Peter Riegert) gets more than he bargained for when a seemingly simple business trip to Scotland changes his outlook on life. Sent by his colorful boss (Burt Lancaster) to the small village of Ferness, Mac is looking to quickly buy out the townspeople so his company can build a new refinery. But after a taste of country life Mac begins to question whether he is on the right side of this transaction.

Black Widow (2021)

I'm not the world's biggest fan of the SuperHero movie, but I quite enjoyed this one. I don't mind watching Scarlett Johansson though I would struggle to name five of her films off the top of my head. Co-stars are Florence Pugh, Rachel Weisz and David Harbour. I liked seeing David Harbour play it for laughs. I loved him in Stranger Things. Ray Winstone also features. I do like him, as well as O-T Fagbenle. I've enjoyed seeing him in The Handmaid's Tale.

From Google ....

Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy, and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.

Old (2021)

My favourite film of the four. John Barrowman thought it was shit. I think John Barrowman is a bit of a bellend TBH. (Put your cock away, John. It's not funny.)

I liked the story. I was gripped throughout and it was an interesting premise. Tense, exciting, fast-moving. Fun was had.

From Google ....

A thriller about a family on a tropical holiday who discover that the secluded beach where they are relaxing for a few hours is somehow causing them to age rapidly reducing their entire lives into a single day.

Ranking

1. Old

2. Black Widow

3. Local Hero

4. Fast & Furious 9

2 BY A.J. DEVLIN

A couple of Canadian crime novels from A.J. Devlin.

Vancouver, wrestling, bouncing, humour, grit, a PI, the underworld, comparisons to Carl Hiaasen, hat-tipped by Sam Wiebe ......... my kind of books I reckon. 

A.J. Devlin's website is here

From his author bio....

A.J. Devlin grew up in Greater Vancouver before moving to Southern California for six years where he earned a B.F.A. in Screenwriting from Chapman University and a M.F.A. in Screenwriting from The American Film Institute. COBRA CLUTCH, the first entry in the “Hammerhead” Jed ex-pro wrestler turned PI mystery-comedy series, was nominated for a 2019 Lefty Award for Best Debut Mystery and won the 2019 Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Crime Novel. Book two in the series — ROLLING THUNDER — was published May 15th, 2020 by NeWest Press.

Cobra Clutch (2018)

"Hammerhead" Jed Ounstead thought he'd traded the pro-wrestling world for the slightly less dangerous one of a bar bouncer and errand boy for his father's detective agency, but the squared circle wasn't quite done with him yet. When his former tag-team partner draws upon their old friendship for help in finding his kidnapped pet snake, Jed finds himself dragged back into the fold of sleazy promoters, gimmicky performers, and violence inside and outside the ring. As the venom of Vancouver's criminal underworld begins to seep into Jed's life, a steel chair to the back of the head is the least of his problems.

Cobra Clutch is a fast-paced, hard-hitting debut novel by A.J. Devlin that has an unstoppable combo: a signature move of raucous humour with a super finisher of gritty realism.

Praise for Cobra Clutch

"Cobra Clutch masterfully blends humor, mystery, thrills, action, romance, and heart into a hell of a story featuring a lively wrestler-turned-PI hero. The action scenes are intense, the quiet times heartwarming and engaging, and the humor expertly interjected to accentuate characters and breathe realism into the story."

~ John M. Murray, Foreword Reviews

Rolling Thunder (2020)

Former pro wrestler "Hammerhead" Jed Ounstead, now a fully-fledged private investigator, is riding high after his first successful case. In this second episode, Jed leaves the wrestling realm to enter a new arena: women's flat-track roller derby. When old acquaintance Stormy Daze seeks his help finding her team's missing coach, Jed discovers that the turnbuckle-and-metal-chair mayhem of the wrestling ring pales in comparison to roller derby's four-wheeled ferocity.

As his search intensifies, Jed is drawn into the criminal orbit of a shady entrepreneur who doubles as a late-night TV personality, a high-class bookmaker with a yen for racing dachshunds, and a kinky painter with a special technique for producing art. When the thunder rolls, Jed finds he needs more than a few of his beloved banana milkshakes to solve this case.

Rolling Thunder continues A.J. Devlin's hard-hitting, award-winning mystery series with its unbeatable one-two punch of over-the-top-rope humour and elbow-to-the-face adventure.

STEPHEN D. ROGERS - SHOT TO DEATH: 31 CRIME STORIES (2021)

 

Synopsis/blurb ....

Thirty-one bullets that will leave you gasping for breath…

From hardboiled to noir to just plain human, these stories allow you to experience lives you escaped, and to do so with dignity, humor, and an eye toward tomorrow.

“What sets those particular stories apart is their ability to catch the browns and grays of the characters quickly, subtly and persuasively.” —Barnstable Patriot

“The sometime EQMM poet is so smoothly readable, explores such a variety of inventive situations, and is so ambitious in structure and theme, even the stories that don’t quite hit the mark make enjoyable reading.” —Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

“Each story is fresh and original, set against a New England backdrop, and includes colorful characters from diverse walks of life. Each plot twists and turns to its totally surprising and unpredictable ending.” —Examiner

I always get a good feeling when I'm about to crack the spine (ok swipe the Kindle in this case) on a new book from publisher All Due Respect. Maybe a little bit more if it's an author I'm unfamiliar with. Stephen D. Rogers, short story specialist is a new name to me.

My OCD completist self dictates that I list all 31 shorts in the collection. 

They are ....

Introduction

The Big Score

BOGO in Aisle Three

Bourne Again

Breakdown

C.O.D.

Custody Battle at Red Creek

Death Buys a Burger

Discharged

Disturbed

Dog Named Mule

Fill it With the Cheapest

A Friendly Game

Have a Nice Day

High Noon

Inn

Itching for Scratch

Jumping the Fence

Last Call

Officer Down

One-Eyed Jacks

Packy Run

Pipe Dreams

Puzzling

Raising the Bar

Rousted

Sidework

Smoking Gun

Tenant at Will

Unweaving the Rainbow

Whacking for Gomez

Where's the Beef

Supermarkets, bars, cons, hits, domestic strife, juvenile delinquency or a police shakedown?, lawyers, competition, child custody, a fast food revolution and an ex-con catching up with an old acquaintance, a consultancy gig, room service, drugs and dogs, a road trip with a difference, community softball, a convenience store stick-up, a bank job and a double cross, diner chats - dodgy business negotiations, bartenders and plans, crooked cops, straight cops and PI patsys, card games, drinking games - truth or dare, college roommates and excitement, a locked room mystery, a mother's guilt, working girl's and rent due, salacious photographs, a mother's love, tenement rats, a slow-witted son, mother-daughter tensions, job rivalries, hamburger theft.

All the stories feature criminality, poor decisions, people down on their luck, love, infidelity, anger, jealousy, not necessarily greed per se but sometimes an involvement in crime due to economic necessity and circumstances as opposed to career choices.

Great stories, most of which hit the spot. Only a couple slid by me.

A few of them I may have encountered in an earlier reading life having first seen the light of day at the likes of Plots With Guns, Hardluck Stories, Thrilling Detective (to mention three) in the first decade of the century.

Favourite line .... 

He claimed to have received Jesus but his wife suspected that any ecstasy he might be experiencing had less to do with conversion to Christ than with an ex-girlfriend in Wareham.

4 from 5

Read - July, 2021

Published - 2021

Page count - 230

Source - purchased copy

Format - Kindle

IAIN MAITLAND - MR TODD'S RECKONING (2019)

 

Synopsis/blurb .....

Behind the normal door of a normal house, in a normal street, two men are slowly driving each other insane. One of them is a psychopath. 

The father: Mr Todd is at his wits' end. He's been robbed of his job as a tax inspector and is now stuck at home...with him. Frustrated. Lonely. Angry. Really angry. 

The son: Adrian has no job, no friends. He is at home all day, obsessively chopping vegetables and tap-tap-tapping on his computer. And he's getting worse, disappearing for hours at a time, sneaking off to who-knows-where. 

The unholy spirit: In the safety of suburbia, one man has developed a taste for killing. And he'll kill again.

An absolute cracker. Tremendous storyline, featuring a seemingly ordinary ex-tax inspector relating his current and past difficulties in respect of his career, his son, his marriage, his neighbours and community.

Malcolm Todd is a reasonable man. It's the rest of his world that is troublesome, difficult, inconsiderate and imperfect. They're the problem, not him.

With a superb narration by Michael Simkins we come to understand Mr Todd's world and those that orbit around him .... 

the son, Adrian who irritates him beyond belief with his shameful history, bringing disgrace on the family and his oh so annoying mannerisms. OCD tendencies, secrecy, lack of communication. What a crushing disappointment he is. Adrian doesn't seem to be too fond of his father either.

the ungrateful, uncaring wife with her denial of his conjugal rights and her inappropriate friendship with that teaching assistant from school.

the bullies at the tax office, the ones he had to deal with 

the stupid young girl from work who led him up the garden path, with her silly texts

his boss with her inability to see what he just had to put up with

the gross neighbours, those big fat lardy arses, with their disgusting habits and raucous singing.

the wife's 'friend' coming around and bothering him and parking opposite his house

Adrian's girlfriend with her unruly brat of a daughter, doesn't she know how to raise a child properly. Hmm, though there is something rather appealing about her.

Monologue, diary entries, reflections, letters to the paper, Ipswich, work, domesticity, interactions, decisions, impulses, desires, anger, actions and consequences. 

They were all out of step but Malcolm.

Menacing, broody, disturbing, tense, darkly funny, relatable (upto a point), absorbing and totally satisfying.

4.5 from 5

Read - (listened to) July, 2021

Published - 2019

Page count - 231 (9 hrs 7 mins)

Source - review copy from Isis Audio

Format - Audible

E. C. SCULLION - INTRUDERS (2020)

Synopsis/blurb ....

"There is a safe, in a house, inside a secure compound in South America.

Your job is to bring me the contents of that safe."

Disgraced security consultant Tom Holt accepts a job from a mysterious lawyer, on behalf of a client named Capricorn.

Holt's team comprises Anil, a safe-cracking ex-con; Ray, a disgruntled logistics man, and Becca, a fiery red-headed thief with as much attitude as she has talent for picking pockets.

On arrival in the alluring Argentine city of Buenos Aires, Holt's past swiftly catches up with him. As he begins to question the client's motives, he finds there are darker, more sinister characters who show loyalty to his employer.

Who is Capricorn?

What's inside the safe?

Tom Holt is about to discover how far he will go to expose the truth, even if it means risking everything, including his own life...

An enjoyable fast-moving thriller set mainly in South America after kicking off in London. Tom Holt has just been sacked after the discovery of his pilfering company funds to fuel his gambling addiction. A visitor makes him an offer he can't refuse. Help recover the contents of a safe and he might just get some semblance of his old life back.

In Buenos Aires he meets the fellow members of his team ... a bent ex-copper, a safecracker and an alluring thief and pickpocket. Some team bonding, team tensions, and past indiscretions come back to endanger Tom and jeopardise the mission. Ergo - a hasty exit.

Montevideo, the job, surveillance, planning, mistrust, obstacles, local help, interference, pressure, more questions than answers, an insider with a different agenda, the job, an outcome, a schism, betrayal, repurcussions, and a few more twists and turns before our conclusion.

I enjoyed the book. I've not visited Uruguay in my reading before, nor spent too much time in Argentina, so it was good to travel somewhere differently. I liked how Tom's past came back to haunt him and intersect with his present. I liked Tom as the main character and I enjoyed the interactions between the other members of the team. Three of the four had secrets and hidden agendas. Two of the four you never quite trusted. The most likeable of the bunch, was also the most straightforward and also the unluckiest.

There is a decent conclusion to the book, one that left me satified, but which also leaves issues unresolved in respect of Tom and Becca's situation with their powerful employer.

E. C. Scullion has followed up Intruders with Evaders, a novel which drops later this month. One to look out for I think. 

4 from 5

Read - August, 2021

Published - 2020

Page count - 244

Source - review copy via Net Galley

Format - ePUB read on laptop, and a bit on Kindle

ROBERT G. BARRETT - YOU WOULDN'T BE DEAD FOR QUIDS (1985)

 

Synopsis/blurb ....

Les Norton has just hit town!

You Wouldn't Be Dead For Quids is an hilarious series of adventures involving Les Norton, a big, red-headed Queensland country boy who was forced to leave his beloved Queensland to settle in Sydney. And that's when the fun starts!

In one of the funniest Australian books of the decade Les is going to introduce you to some of the nice and not so nice people who make up the seamier side of one of the most exciting cities in the world.

He will take you from the golden sands of Bondi to the tainted gutters of Kings Cross where you will meet gamblers, bookies, bouncers, hookers and hit-men and perhaps see a side of Sydney you didn't know about.

With You Wouldn't Be Dead For Quids Robert G. Barrett's anti-hero, Les Norton, is undoubtedly Australia's latest cult figure.

An enjoyable collection of six long short stories featuring nightclub doorman, Les Norton. A little bit dated now and definitely less than PC in some of the attitudes expressed thoughout the book regarding homosexuality and race. Lazy, casual, derogatory insults are hurled usually at friends, as opposed to Norton roaming the streets gay-bashing. Is it a reflection of the author's attitudes at the time, or is he reflecting how blokes bonded and insulted each other back in less enlightened times? I dunno. It's definitely noticeable and a bit jarring, but not enough to send me fleeing from the book.

Most of the adventures involve Les and best mate from the doors, Billy Dunne getting into scrapes. There's a fair bit of repetition throughout the stories, with each punch up displaying Les's awesome fighting abilities ie iron fists and granite chin. No one ever bests him.

Along the way we encounter ... punch-ups, drinking, night club security work, a rescue of a newly married couple from some muggers, a visit from a family member, some over the top descriptions of a dog fight and it's aftermath, a fishing trip, a thwarted hit, a package of drugs, the filming of a TV commercial which descends into a saloon brawl of epic proportions and some sexual gymnastics, with Les somewhat inevitably turning in Olympic gold medal performances.

Despite repetition, dated attitudes and some over exaggeration, I enjoyed this one. Les was good company for the couple of days it took me to read this one. I kind of thought I'll read one story then go to another book, but I found it hard to put down and there was something appealing about the tales.

The collection comprises....

You Wouldn't Be Dead For Quids

A Fortnight in Beirut

Grungle

Bowen Lager

Definitely Not a Drop Kick

Fishin' for Red Bream

4 from 5

I have more Norton adventures on the pile from author Robert G. Barrett. I'm not rushing headlong towards them, but I think I'll probably enjoy one or two more at some point.

Read - July, 2021

Published - 1985

Page count - 240

Source - purchased copy

Format - paperback

COLSON WHITEHEAD - HARLEM SHUFFLE (2021)

 

Synopsis/blurb ....

'Ray Carney was only slightly bent when it came to being crooked....'

To his customers and neighbours on 125th street, Carney is an upstanding salesman of reasonably priced furniture, making a life for himself and his family. He and his wife, Elizabeth, are expecting their second child, and if her parents on Striver's Row don't approve of him or their cramped apartment across from the subway tracks, it's still home. 

Few people know he descends from a line of uptown hoods and crooks and that his façade of normalcy has more than a few cracks in it. Cracks that are getting bigger and bigger all the time.

See, cash is tight, especially with all those instalment-plan sofas, so if his cousin Freddie occasionally drops off the odd ring or necklace at the furniture store, Ray doesn't see the need to ask where it comes from. He knows a discreet jeweller downtown who also doesn't ask questions. 

Then Freddie falls in with a crew who plan to rob the Hotel Theresa - the 'Waldorf of Harlem' - and volunteers Ray's services as the fence. The heist doesn't go as planned; they rarely do, after all. Now Ray has to cater to a new clientele, one made up of shady cops on the take, vicious minions of the local crime lord and numerous other Harlem lowlifes.

Thus begins the internal tussle between Ray the striver and Ray the crook. As Ray navigates this double life, he starts to see the truth about who actually pulls the strings in Harlem. Can Ray avoid getting killed, save his cousin and grab his share of the big score, all while maintaining his reputation as the go-to source for all your quality home furniture needs?

Harlem Shuffle is driven by an ingeniously intricate plot that plays out in a beautifully recreated Harlem of the early 1960s. It's a family saga masquerading as a crime novel, a hilarious morality play, a social novel about race and power, and ultimately a love letter to Harlem.

My first time reading Pulitzer Prize Winning author, Colson Whitehead with Harlem Shuffle, a 60s set novel.

The novel follows the fortunes of Ray Carney. Carney outwardly is a respectable businessman, trying to improve his family's fortunes in order to move to a nicer part of the neighbourhood. While he's long given up on trying to secure the approval of his in-laws who look down on him, he'll do it for himself, fulfilling a promise to his wife and child. He's a man with a plan. 

There's another side to him as well. Ray's not a stranger to the shady side of the street, moving on a piece of dodgy merchandise for his own cut. Son of a Harlem criminal, Ray keeps it all on the down low and under the radar; for a while at least. 

Through the indiscretions of his cousin Freddie he gets sucked ever more into danger and the world of hoods and criminality. He's his father's son, even as he tries not to be. Through the course of the novel, we see just how accomplished a tightrope walker Ray is keeping his two sides upright.

Race, upward mobility, snobbery, class, Harlem, civil rights, riots, social change, crime, furniture, business, plans, expansion, children, fences, thieves, family, disrespect, opportunity, murder, naivety and getting ripped off, injustice, a long game for revenge, bent cops, diamonds, mistakes, danger, repurcussions, and a lot more.

It's a tough novel to do justice in a review. While crimes and criminality form a large portion of the narrative, I don't think you could label it as an out and out crime novel. It's also a novel about family - love, loyalty, history, loss, anger, regrets and forgiveness. Again it's small vignettes and incidents occuring over time as opposed to huge isolated dramas that advance the story.

The setting of 60s Harlem is lovingly rendered. There's a great sense of time and place which draws you into Carney's tale. Society is changing and Whitehead documents the advances during the early 60s. It's depicted through one man's tale. His ambitions for something better for him and his kin, his confidence over-coming his self doubts and pre-ordained place in society.

Really enjoyable and definitely an author I want to read again in the future. 

4 from 5

Read - July, 2021

Published - 2021

Page count - 336

Source - Net Galley

Format - Kindle