DOCTOR WHO fans, feast your eyes on one of the best Jon Pertwee stories that never was! If HARVEST OF TIME actually were broadcast, it would be listed in the top tier of Pertwee episodes, right up there with “Inferno” and “The Daemons.”
Alastair Reynolds, better known for his hard science-fiction novels, gets to write for the Doctor he grew up watching. Being such a fan, he easily could have fallen into a trap of fan service, but that is not the case. Reynolds goes above and beyond with this tale, which doesn’t feel like a greatest-hits parade, but more like writing his dream script with no budget worries.
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THE HEIST is a new series and the start of a writing partnership between Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg. I’ll cut to the chase: Get in on the ground floor, folks. This is a fun ride with two characters who, as much as they battle one another, are going to make a great team.
FBI Agent Kate O’Hare has been on the hunt of an elusive con man. To say he has gotten the best of her over the years is to put it mildly. He is so ahead of the game he actually uses photos of Kate as part of his schemes. He’s Nicolas Fox, an expert at pulling off crimes he gets away with, scot-free, no matter how hard O’Hare works to stop him.
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All good things must come to an end. That’s how I’m going to look at THE GILA WARS, Larry D. Sweazy’s final entry in the Josiah Wolfe series. What has been some of the most solid Western writing to come down the pike these past few years goes out on top.
For those who have been reading this series from the start, yes, Sweazy ties up the loose ends. While that is great and all, things just don’t end the way you’d might like. Here’s a spoiler: Wolfe lives. But he does have to deal with some unexpected turns.
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A novella from the prolific Tom Piccirilli, WHAT MAKES YOU DIE has a small connection to a previous work, 2011′s EVERY SHALLOW CUT, in the sense that main character Tommy Pic was the author of that book. This short work opens with Tommy waking to find himself once again strapped to his bed in a mental hospital, all while his loving family looks on: his sister, mother and aunt … or his dead father and brother.
And that’s about the most normal thing about this story of coming to terms. Tommy Pic was once a screenwriter out in L.A., where his more personal scripts were made into movies most people have never heard of, while the crap he churned out about an alien has been seen by all and led to countless sequels.
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I think most people who have been reading this site for a while know the score: When you see another book from Stark House Press, you know you are going to get your money’s worth. Stark House releases are packed with two reissues and an accompanying essay or two.
KILL THE BOSS GOOD-BY / MISSION FOR VENGEANCE from Peter Rabe is no different. These two novels share the theme of men losing something and wanting it back. The requisite bibliography kicks things off, followed by Rick Ollerman’s fascinating essay about Rabe’s work and style. It’s quite informative and I loved the Charles Willeford comparisons. My suggestion is to not read it until afterwards, because it contains minor spoilers for these two (and other) Rabe classics.
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