A salt free diet can be deadly, and sex is murder for a film critic involved with a deadly femme fatale. Two dark tales of revenge and murder. Available at Amazon for only .99 Cents.
Author: John Greco
Author/Photographer. My latest book is "The Late Show and Other Tales of Celluloid Malice." Available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
http://www.amazon.com/John-Greco/e/B00K0RCADI/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_6?qid=1452516005&sr=1-6
Member of The Florida Writers Association
Recent Read: The James Deans
With Moe Prager, author Reed Farrel Coleman has created one of the great modern day P.I.’s. Like many private dicks, Prager is a former cop. His career ended due to a freak accident that occurred during the days the city was in lock down and hunting for Son of Sam. Unlike most fictional P.I.’s we meet Moe is not walking the mean streets twenty-four seven. But he is smart and tenacious.
There are so many things to like in this book: characters are well developed, the writing is sharp and direct and the landscape descriptively detailed. Coleman knows New York City. You feel it in his writing. The narrative is smart, fast moving with plenty of twists.
The James Deans is a gritty and relentless tale, and though it’s only May, I know this book will be on my top ten list.
Cape Elizabeth – Maine 2016
Devil’s Tower – Wyoming
For those who have seen Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind, you will remember “Devil’s Tower” as one the film’s locations. Photographed it back in 2012.
Abel Ferrara’s New Film includes My Photograph
Back in the 1970s and living in New York City, I did a lot of street photography. Being a movie fanatic, I went thru a period of photographing the exteriors out many of the movie theaters around the city. Most are now long gone. One of those photographs was of the Baronet/Coronet theaters on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Those two theaters along with the Cinema One and Two were located on the same block, on 3rd Avenue between 59th and 60th street. Back then they most sort after theaters for filmmakers to showcase their films in the city. The Baronet/Coronet photo was taken in 1976. The film, playing in both theaters was Brian DePalma’s Obsession.
Since the age of the internet, I have posted the photograph online a few times. A couple of months back I received an email from a representative of film director Abel Ferrara (Bad Lieutenant, King of New York, Ms. 45, Body Snatchers) who was currently making a documentary called The Projectionist. The film follows the experience of longtime cinema owner Nicolas Nicolaou and records the changes in the city’s theatrical landscape over the years. My photograph came to the attention of Ferrara, and he was interested in using it in his film.
I recently was officially notified that the photograph is included in the film and I am getting a screen credit. I am also hoping to get a screener of the film to review. As you probably suspect this is a low budget film that will play the Film Festival and College circuit. It won’t be coming to a local AMC or Regal cineplex near you or me. Its world premiere is this week as part of the Tribeca Film Festival and on May 6th the film will having a showing at MOMA (Museum of Modern Art).
Birds of Brooker Creek
A few birds photographed a couple of weeks back at the Brooker Creek Preserve.
Pileated-Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Carolina Wren
Recent Read: Beyond the Truth
Bruce Coffin is a new author for me, but after reading he’s latest Detective John Byron novel, number three in the series, I look forward to reading more. Beyond the Truth is a detailed police procedural. A fast paced tale about a Portland, Maine police officer, a man with a long and stellar record, who finds himself involved in the shooting of a teenage robbery suspect. The kid, a local high school sports star, had a gun, but no gun is found at the scene. During the investigation, Byron has to deal the press, politicians, and his superiors all with their own agendas that could impede the truth. Meanwhile, Byron has his own personal demons to battle. Beyond the Truth is a complex tale with nicely drawn characters, and a super ending that won’t disappoint.
Recent Read: A Florida State of Mind
Florida! The land of sunshine, beaches, Mickey Mouse, and Disney World; it’s the happiest place on earth, or so it likes to bill itself. Florida is also the land of hanging chads, gator wrestling, 17-foot pythons, uncontrolled urban sprawl, low paying jobs, a history of violent colonization, and real estate con men; land swindles were so common, Hollywood satirized it in the Marx Brothers film, Coconuts. Florida is the land where the Outback Steak House is considered the best place to eat, and Fried Gator Tail is a delicacy.
Florida was weird from its early beginnings. Spain was the first to try and colonize Florida but found the unfriendly hot and humid weather as well as the hostile Native Americans overwhelming. The Spanish government gave way to the Government of the United States which after multiple wars and battles forced most of the Native American population to move west.
Florida does have its good side too; the winters are mild, if non-existent. Many beaches are pristine, that is if you don’t mind seasonal red tide, and you can thank Floridian born John Gorrie for air-conditioning. You can also thank Florida for Faye Dunaway, Tom Petty, Jim Morrison, Wesley Snipes, authors Carl Hiassen, Judy Blume, Lisa Unger, and many others.
While other states can try and claim the number one spot for strangeness (California?), Florida consistently ranks number one. The most recent stories about weird Florida alone since I read this book involves the Mayor of New Port Richey, and his immediate replacement both were arrested within a month of each other, and then there was the woman crossing I-95 naked, dodging cars as she attempted to retrieve her dog,
Author James D. Wright explains the good and the bad in his new book A Florida State of Mind. As Wright points out, Florida likes to bill itself as the happiest state in the country. In truth, depending on the survey you look at it ranks between twelfth and twenty-fourth. Wright lays out an entertaining history of the weirdest state from its earliest days right up until the 21st century. The book is nicely laid out in chapters dealing with its history, growth, politics, tourism, and the environment. An entertaining read on a subject that is never boring.
Note: I received an ARC from St. Martin Publishing.
My Interview with NFReads
Recent Read: Pray for the Girl
Within the first few pages of reading Joseph Souza’s latest thriller, Pray for the Girl, I knew I was in for a page-turner that would not stop churning. Having finished the book, I am happy to report I was right.
The story is set in the small town of Fawn Grove, Maine. It’s here we meet Lucy Abbott who has returned after 15 years, most of the time working as a sous chef in New York City. Before that, Lucy was stationed in Afghanistan as a medic where she lost both her legs after an IED went off. Lucy’s life has not been easy since. Physical and psychological problems have plagued her. Returning to her hometown of Fawn Grove she is living with her wheelchair-bound (MS) sister, Wendy, her husband Russ and their teenage daughter Brynn. Lucy suffers flashback nightmares due to an honor killing she did not attempt to stop during her time in Afghanistan. Now upon her return, a teenage high school age Afghan girl is buried up to her neck and stoned to death. The local town Detective in charge of the investigation is anti-immigrant, and Lucy soon becomes obsessed with the case. Soon after, a second kid, a non-Afghani, turns up dead near the same field the girl was killed. While the first killing seemed like a ritual within the immigrant community, the question now arises as to why was a local boy killed. The deeper Lucy investigates, the more questions come up as to who is responsible.
In Lucy Abbott, Joseph Souza has created a character like no other. Pray for the Girl is a twisty, disturbing suspense thriller taking on issues of PTSD, bigotry, nationalism, and the continuing struggle of small-town America when the one local industry supporting most residents is on its last legs. The comfort and facade of peaceful small-town life hides dark, cruel secrets that are about to be exposed.
Pray for the Girl will be published on April 30th.
John Greco Author/Photographer 