Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays

MacGyver (1985-1992)

MacGyver was an American action-adventure television series created by Lee David Zlotoff.  The show ran for seven seasons from 1985 to 1992. The show follows the exploits of secret agent Angus MacGyver, played by Richard Dean Anderson, who works as a troubleshooter for the fictional Phoenix Foundation in Los Angeles and as an agent for a fictional United States government agency, the Department of External Services. MacGyver solves complex problems by making things out of ordinary objects, along with his ever-present Swiss Army knife. He favors non-violent resolutions and prefers not to handle a gun. The clever solutions MacGyver implemented to seemingly unsolvable problems‍, often in life-or-death situations, requiring him to improvise complex devices in a matter of minutes‍.

 

Cast 

Richard Dean Anderson as Angus MacGyver, secret agent

Dana Elcar as Pete Thornton, MacGyver's boss and best friend

Bruce McGill as Jack Dalton, MacGyver's comical best friend

Michael Des Barres as Murdoc, MacGyver's most frequent opponent

Season 1: September 29, 1985 to May 7, 1986

Season 2: September 22, 1986 to May 4, 1987

Season 3: September 21, 1987 to May 9, 1988

Season 4: October 31, 1988 to May 15, 1989

Season 5: September 18, 1989 to April 30, 1990

Season 6: September 17, 1990 to May 6, 1991

Season 7: September 16, 1991 to May 21, 1992

Death Of A Citizen by Donald Hamilton

 My contribution for the month of December for the Crimes Of The Century over at Past Offences will the first Matt Helm adventure, Death Of A Citizen. Rich hosts this monthly event  that features a different year in which us bloggers contributes a post about crime fiction book, film, TV, comics, or a short story. This month we are in 1960.

Death Of A Citizen

by Donald Hamilton

When danger strikes, who is the man to take control? 

Matt Helm!

 

Name: Matthew Helm

Code Name: Eric

A citizen dies and a wartime special agent is reborn, as the girl with the code name of Tina walks into a cocktail party and 15 years of Matt Helm's complacent post-war life slips away. Suddenly the old automatics reactions take over and Matt is thrust back to the time when he had been a lethal young animal trained to kill. And she had been his partner.

After the war. After the carnage. After being labeled a lethal weapon. It was time for a little peace and quiet. Married life agrees with him.

Cover by John McDermott

  Printing History

written by Donald Hamilton (1916-2006)

Fawcett Gold Medal World Library

February 1960

Ballantine Books

November 1984

March 1988

The Jerusalem File by Linda Stewart

I am back for another contribution to the Crimes of the Century meme, hosted by Rich at Past Offences. Every month he designates a year and bloggers contribute a post on a crime fiction book (or film, TV, comics, or short story) published in that year. This time around we are in the year 1975.
My contribution will be...........

The Jerusalem File
By Linda Stewart

Arab terrorists have kidnapped the world's ten wealthiest men and it is up to Nick Carter, "Killmaster", to find them.

Four Savage Men

Leonard Foxx: American millionaire, kidnapped in a bloody shootout.

Jackson Robey: AXE's man in Tel Aviv, found dead in an alley, knifed in the back.

Al Shaitan: Leader of a ruthless terror gang, missing along with a billion dollars in untraceable cash.

Nick Carter: Killmaster, N3, on a lethal mission to rescue the world's ten most important men.

Al Shaitan

Its name is "The Devil"

Its work is terror.

Its aim is....

No one knows its aim for sure

Not the CIA

Not AXE 

Not Nick Carter

It was Nick Carter's job to find out what Al Shaitan is after and just what kind of terror they think their ransom will buy.  But first Nick had to find Al Shaitan. For Nick there is only one sure fire way to find the enemy, walk into an alley and see who tries to kill you. Then make sure you kill them first.

Printing History

Written by Linda Stewart

Award AQ1400 1975

Charter  38951 1978 ($1.50)

Universal 426 18470 1978

Star 352 30666 1980

Licence Renewed by John Gardner

Relaunching the James Bond literary franchise

In 1979, Glidrose Publications approached John Gardner and asked him to revive Ian Fleming's James Bond series of novels. Gardner was tasked with updating James Bond and his allies and transporting them into the 1980s. Updating the time frame to the 1980s, Gardner's series picks up the career of James Bond some years after the Fleming novels ended.

 

When Licence Renewed begins, M reminds James Bond that the 00 section has in fact been abolished. But M retains Bond as a troubleshooter, telling him "You'll always be 007 to me". Bond is assigned to investigate one Dr. Anton Murik, a brilliant nuclear physicist who is thought to have been having meetings with a terrorist named Franco. Franco is identified and tracked by MI5 to a village in Scotland called Murcaldy. Since Murcaldy is outside of MI6's jurisdiction, the Director-General of MI5, Richard Duggan requests that M send Bond to survey Murik. Relying on information that MI5 did not have, M changes Bond's assignment to instead infiltrate Murik's Scottish castle and gain Murik's confidence. James Bond makes contact with Murik at Ascot Racecourse where he feigns a coincidental meeting, mentioning to Murik that he is a mercenary looking for work. Later, Bond joins Murik in Scotland at Murik's behest and is hired to kill Franco, for reasoning at the time unknown. Franco in turn has been tasked by Murik to kill his young ward, Lavender Peacock because she was the true heir to the Murik fortune, which could only be proved by secret documents kept in a hidden safe within the castle. Murik's plan is revealed to hijack six nuclear power plants around the world simultaneously with the aid of bands of terrorists supplied by Franco. To ensure that Murik can never be associated to this deal, he attempts to use Bond to assassinate Franco. Ultimately terrorists do take over six nuclear power plants, but are prevented from starting a meltdown when they are given an abort code by Bond, believing him to be Murik. Murik is eventually defeated by Bond and Lavender before his demands are met.

Printing History

Written by John Edmund Gardner (1926-2007)

UK first hardback edition: May 1981 by Jonathan Cape
US first hardback edition: April 1981 by G. P. Putnam's Sons
UK first paperback edition: 1982 by Coronet Books
US first paperback edition: May 1982 by Berkley Books

 

Trivia

The U.S. hardcover edition sold more than 130,000 copies.

Bonus Cover

 

Point Of No Return (1993)

Point of No Return (1993)

A violent and unstable female drug addict is found guilty of murdering a police officer, and is sentenced to death by lethal injection. Her death is faked, and a secret government agency informs her that she is to become an assassin. She is given a makeover and training that transform her into a beautiful woman, and she is also trained as a killer. Her career as an assassin goes well at first. Then, after a mission goes awry, the agency sends out a "cleaner" to kill everyone and destroy the bodies.

  Cast

Bridget Fonda as Maggie Hayward/Claudia Anne Doran/Nina
Gabriel Byrne as Bob
Dermot Mulroney as J.P.
Anne Bancroft as Amanda
Harvey Keitel as Victor
Miguel Ferrer as Kaufman
Olivia d'Abo as Angela
Richard Romanus as Fahd Bakhtiar
Lorraine Toussaint as Beth

 

Note

Remake of the 1990 film Nikita.

Murder Is My Mistress by Carter Brown

This book is my selection for a 1954 book for the Crimes of the Century meme, hosted by Rich at Past Offences. Every month he designates a year and bloggers contribute a post on a crime fiction book (or film, TV, comics, or short story) published in that year.

Murder Is My Mistress

Julian Cross is hired to find out the death of a dog. He would not have done it except for the money. He meets the suspects at a party that produced something new out of a box, called a murder. A screwball murder, as he told his employer. A bunch of screwballs they were. Sylvia Stamford, a silver blonde who never stopped acting when she left the stage. Johnny Zoan, an ex-racketeer. Theresa Boon, a sultry blonde with the beat of tom-toms in her voice. Juliet, a tall redhead and every inch of her a women. Jeff Peters, the guy people flattered when they call him a moron. Helen Mills, the girl with the horn-rimmed glasses with a burning need for a psychiatrist. And D'Aguerri, who was even more irritating as a memory than he had every been when he was alive. But Cross is not undaunted as no blonde can side track him for more than a couple days at a time. No gun at his ribs can give him hysterics as he gets them as soon as he sights the gunman. When he finally tracks down the murderer, he stands his ground as there is no place else to run.

 Murder Is My Mistress (Julian Cross)

December 1954 by Associated General Publications (Hard Cover)

1955 by Horwitz Publications Numbered Series #8

1960 by Horwitz Publications Reprint By Demand Series #19

 Bonus Cover

Note

This title was originally posted on January 9th 2011, in a sightly different format

Murder Is My Mistress by Carter Brown

 

Out and About

Out and about on a very nice sunny Sunday morning bike ride ride.

Memorial Day 2016

Happy Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States for remembering those people who died while serving in the United States' armed forces.  It typically marks the start of the summer vacation season.

Some Quotes

"Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth." by George Washington.

"For love of country they accepted death." by James A. Garfield.

"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." by John F. Kennedy.

 

"I only regret that i have but one life to lose for my country." by Nathan Hale.

 

Honey West (1965-1966)

Starred Anne Francis as female private detective Honey West and John Ericson as her partner, Sam Bolt. The series was based on a series of noels created by Gloria and Forrest E.Fickling under the pseudonym “G.G. Fickling” in the late 1950s. Honey West was one of the first female private eyes to ever appear on television.was intended to be the American equivalent of the popular characters Emma Peel and Cathy Gale in the British series The Avengers. Anne Francis first played West in the second season episode of Burke’s Law, entitled “Who Killed the Jackpot?”, broadcast on April 21, 1965, this led to this series being commissioned as a spin-off. 

 Cast

Anne Francis (1930-2011) as Honey West
John Ericson (1926- ) as Sam Bolt
Irene Hervey (1909-1998) as Aunt Meg

The Flesh Of The Orchid by James Hadley Chase

Sequel to No Orchids For Miss Blandish

Carol Blandish was the daughter of Miss Blandish and a maniac killer. She was beautiful and was the heir to six million dollar. And she was a prisoner in a mental home. All she had to do to inherit the money was to escape, and stay out for fourteen days.... But a whole lot other people were after the Blandish fortune and that meant after Carol. Once outside the mental home, she found herself mixed up in a deadly hide and seek of violence and sudden death...... There was Roy Larson, who couldn't keep his hands off that beautiful body. And there were the Sullivans, professional killers who'd rather have their hands on the money.....

Printing History

Written by René Lodge Brabazon Raymond (1906-1985)

Jarrolds Publishers Ltd.
1948

Transworld Publishers Limited
Corgi Books
ISBN 552 10858
Reprinted 1976, 1978, 1980, 1982

Nerve by Dick Francis

Nerve

by Dick Francis

Rob Finn was a bit of a misfit, a struggling young jockey in a family of accomplished musicians and a man in love with a beautiful woman who wouldn't have him. He suddenly looked like a rider who had lost his nerve. Could it be that the horses were unusually sluggish, and that there was something more sinister attempting to sabotage him...?

Robert Finn watches a fellow steeplechase jockey blow his brains out in the parade ring at Dunstable races, just before a race. As Finn and the other jockeys cope with the stress of their jobs, other incidents lead him to conclude that someone is trying to destroy the lives of jockeys all over England. Finn is not the average jockey. He is the only child of famous virtuoso musicians, and the single family member to not be gifted musically, he followed a different path than that of his family's vocation. He has inherited other skills that will help him as he unravels a sad and warped trail. And he has been remarkably successful jockey for a man with only 2 years experience. Soon, he is the next target. A losing streak that lasts weeks threatens his job until he takes it upon himself to do a little sleuthing and uncovering the identity of the culprit. Now, Finn wants his revenge, and he takes his time setting it up.

Printing History

Written by Richard Stanley Francis (1920-2010)

Michael Joseph Ltd

1964

Miss Called Murder by Carter Brown

Miss Called Murder

Joe Stanton is the sort of refined private eye, all four eyes are, including his hornrims. If he had only stayed sober he would never been mixed up in this thing in the first place. Sober, Joe wouldn't have found the corpse, he wouldn't have had to listen to all that modern poetry that does not rhyme. He wouldn't even have had that Lieutenant not trusting Joe and that racketeer not trusting him either.  Joe would not have had that Bugsy Jones breathing down his back while he rammed his gun into Joe's spine. Joe wouldn't have even met that lush brunette with the figure 8. Has one ever tried to get rid of a corpse? One might be embarrassed a little because it's the second corpse in ones apartment inside of two days? Then, maybe one would like to stand in for Joe......

Printing History

Written by Alan G Yates (1922-1985)

Horwitz Publications Inc

Novel Series

 #4

1955

Second Collectors' Series 

Volume 1 #13

1958

 

Reprint by Demand Series

#24

1960

Dr Phibes Rises Again (1972)

Dr Phibes Rises Again!

Long believed dead, Anton Phibes arises from a state of suspended animation, in search of the means to bring his deceased wife back to the land of the living. With the aid of the enigmatic, never-speaking Vulnavia, Phibes follows an Egyptian expedition, seeking out an ancient elixir of life and killing everyone who gets in his way. In the original film, all of the doctor's grisly but ingenious murders were motivated, and all were linked by a Seven Deadly Plagues throughline. In the sequel, Phibes kills whenever he feels like it, and utilizes an impressive array of death-dealing contraptions. This marks one of the only films ever made to wrap with Vincent Price singing "Somewhere, Over the Rainbow".

Cast 

Vincent Price as Dr. Anton Phibes
Robert Quarry as Darius Biederbeck
Valli Kemp as Vulnavia
Peter Jeffrey as Inspecter Trout
Fiona Lewis as Diana Trowbridge
Hugh Griffith as Harry Ambrose
Peter Cushing as Captain
Beryl Reid as Miss Ambrose
Terry-Thomas as Lombardo

A Job Of Murder by Frank Gruber

Blonde Bait Traps A Killer

 

The body behind the barrel

The corpse of a man lay in a corner of the fifth floor of the giant Towner Leather Company factory. Certainly enough to upset the routine in any factory, much less one just invaded by two zany operatives, Johnny Fletcher and Sam Gragg. They signed up for manual labor and were handed murder instead. Fletcher takes command and gives all the suspicious characters the once over, from Boss Harry Towner on down to a particularly tempting phone operator. Then he sets a trap that was sure to catch the killer.

Printing History

Written by Frank Gruber (1904-1969)

Signet Books

#827

1950

Original Title

The Leather Duke

1949 

The November Man (2014)

Based on the novel There Are No Spies by Bill Granger

An ex-CIA operative is brought back in on a very personal mission and finds himself pitted against his former pupil in a deadly game involving high level CIA officials and the Russian president-elect. 

 In Lausanne, Switzerland, retired CIA agent Peter Devereaux is visited by his former chief John Hanley who convinces him to extract the agent Natalia Ulanova from Russia. Natalia is the assistant of the Russian candidate for President Arkady Federov and has been collecting evidences of war crimes committed by the candidate during the Chechen War and requested Peter to help her. However, during the operation, CIA chief Perry Weinstein believes that Natalie has been captured by the Russians and orders agent David Mason to kill her. Natalie gives photos and the name Mira Filipova to Peter before dying and the agent informs Hanley. Peter kills the CIA agents, but when he sees Mason, he spares the agent that was trained by him. When Mason meets Weinstein, he learns that Peter and Natalie had a love affair in the past and the agent is assigned to kill him. Peter heads to Belgrade where he saves the social worker Alice Fournier that might know where Mira is from Federov's assassin Alexa and from Mason. Soon Peter learns dirty secrets about Arkady Federov and the CIA and has to flee with Alice to save their lives and expose the crimes to the world. 

Cast

Pierce Brosnan as Peter H. Devereaux ("The November Man")
Luke Bracey as David Mason
Olga Kurylenko as Alice Fournier/Mira Filipova
Eliza Taylor as Sarah
Caterina Scorsone as Celia
Bill Smitrovich as John Hanley
Will Patton as Perry Weinstein

 

The Novel

 

 

Devereaux, the November man, is promoted by the operations chief of R section to an investigation that frightens and activates a KGB sleeper agent within R section itself.

 

Printing History

Written by Bill Granger 

 

Warner Books

ISBN 446 38049

October 1986 

Moonshine Momma by Carter Brown

A Genuine "Lovely" Mystery

Queen of the hooch and honky tonks, she stacked a frame that 

pinned Police Lieutenant Al Wheeler to a chair even though it was under proof

Cover by Virgil Riley

Printing History

Written by Alan G Yates (1922-1985)

Novelette Series

1953

First Collectors' Series

#14

w/Slaughter In Satin and Pagan Perilous 

1955

Second Collectors' Series

Volume 1 #9

w/Fraulein Is Feline and Slaughter In Satin

December 1957

Volume 2 #6

w/A Siren Sounds Off

February 1960