Tag: Book Review

My First Review on STRANGE DAYS!

FIVE STARS! (Highest Rating) *****

by Sammy Juliano author of Mikey’s Absolution

Almost a year to the day after he released “Transgressions,” prolific short story specialist John Greco, a Floridian from Brooklyn roots, has published another collection titled “Strange Days.” The 29-story collection again explores dark and seedy themes that encompass marital infidelity, suicides, car crash fatalities, and unexpected appearances from the Grim Reaper and satisfying comeuppance, which more often than not metes out punishment to those who flagrantly violate the moral code.

While the vast majority of the stories run just a few pages in the handsomely crafted monochrome paperback edition, there are a few that probe deeply into character and theme. Right out of the playbook of the British studio Amicus, but uniquely Grecoan, “An Almost Perfect Woman” brings a grieving widower the security he was certain he would never be graced with after tragedy; the brilliantly-plotted “Call Waiting,” where a man is constantly phoned by a mistress who died from an overdose of sleeping pills.

Recalling The Twilight Zone’s “Night Call,” a spooky episode starring Gladys Cooper, Ben joins Carol in permanent slumber in a devilish story of retribution. Greco’s longest is the 22-page finale, “This Gun For Rent,” which brings Greco to his expertise – film noir. One envisions “The Maltese Falcon” in this story of Phillip Spade, a private eye working out of 42nd Street who is approached by a woman who lost her husband. Spade is a Brooklyn Dodgers fan who hates the Yankees for winning too much, dislikes Joe DiMaggio for being a prude, and for being possessive of Marilyn Monroe. Spade is confident the Dodgers will prevail in 1955, a sentiment that comes to pass. The story presents a shocking array of relationships, a real page-turner!

There is always a wistful story in every Greco collection, and in “Strange Days” it is undoubtedly “The Sandwich Shop,” a Mystic, New York, eatery that is forced to close after COVID brings economic fallout. Charlie Bowman, a violinist who passed away, returns for musical bliss, enchanting those who walk past the empty lot. But my favorite of the exceedingly short stories in the collection is “Tommy,” an achingly beautiful remembrance of a man who created a false mise en scene of a brother he never had. The “only child” connotation may have autobiographical implications here, but it’s deeply felt.

One of the best stories in “Strange Days” is “The House Down the Road,” featuring a sexual predator English teacher named Richard Crawford, and the two stories Greco starts with, “No Questions Asked,” about a cheating wife who receives a violent punishment, and “Guilt” a story set over 50 years where a young killer meets his end in the same fashion and setting where he committed the dastardly act. I love many more, but I’ll just add “The Scent of Death,” a TZ “The Purple Testament”-like story about a man’s supernatural power to bring death to many people he encountered. The theme? What goes around comes around.

“Fat Tony’s Brother, (always remember that blood is thicker than water!)” “Poor George,” “Frank’s Bar,” Call Waiting,” An Almost Perfect Woman,” “Alone Time,” the cemetery-set fatalist “Gone Too Soon,” and the perversely disturbing “A Shocking Tale” where a bolt of lightning and an open fly zipper paint the unforgettable climax.

Order your copy of “Strange Days” pronto!

Click here!!!

Book Review: Dirty Old Town

Set in the mid-1970s, author Gabriel Valjan’s P.I. Shane Cleary follows down those dark mean streets traveled by Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe, only in Boston. I thoroughly enjoyed this hard-boiled tale. If you like noir dark with wise-cracking dialogue this book, the first in a series is for you. Available at Amazon.

Book Review: Caper (Lawrence Sanders)

Lawrence Sanders was a prolific author of over thirty-five crime novels including “The Anderson Tapes” and “The First Deadly Sin,” both made into films. Published in 1981, “Caper” is a fascinating study on how far one would go to save a career. Jannie Sheen is a bestselling mystery writer who has written bestsellers under various pseudonyms. Her work has become stale and unrealistic. Jannie’s publisher rejects her latest submission, telling her she needs to add realism to her storyline. She decides, along with her best friend, Dick Fleming, to plan a real robbery, enlisting a gang and coming up with a full proof plan, and then calling the entire event off just before the robbery is to take place.

Only one problem.

The men she enlists like the plan too much, and even after they discover who she really is they force her and her buddy Dick to go along with the robbery. The heist does not go as planned, and the gang is soon on the run.

The story is sharply told and only improves as it goes on. From the streets of New York City to the backwoods of Georgia and down to Florida you’re on the road with an exciting and fun read.

Book Review: Heaven’s a Lie

Wallace Stroby knows his way around writing tough and tight crime thrillers. His latest, Heaven’s a Lie speeds along at full tilt. The storyline is old, a young woman, Joette Harper, finds a bag of money after attempting to save a man from a burning car. She knows she should leave it in the car and either let it burn or wait until the cops arrive and confiscate it. But Joette has money problems and three hundred thousand dollars can be a big leap in helping out. She knows the money has to be dirty (the cash belongs to a brutal and violent drug dealer), but Joette is desperate. What follows is a high-speed chase and who knows where or how it will end. Stroby likes powerful women characters (check out his excellent Chrissa Stone series) and writes them well. Joette Harper fits the role. The author does not waste words and what he uses is sharp and pointed. Heaven’s a Lie is a book you won’t be able to put down.

Book Review: Tampa Bay Noir

There is something comfortable or maybe not so comfortable reading dark tales about where you live. So I was excited to discover “Tampa Bay Noir.”  I was equally disappointed by the book. Not because the stories are bad, they are not, but if you looking for noir, well, at best there are a few noir lite tales. With the title, and the long running series that it is part of, I was expecting darker tales. The stories give us a view of modern Tampa Bay filled with subdivisions, malls and homes by the water. Edited by Collette Bennett, book reviewer for the Tampa Bay Times, who contributes a story,  the collection gets off with a good start with Michael Connelly who brings the iconic Harry Bosch to Tampa Bay to help an old friend. Lori Roy follows with another interesting tale, one of the darker ones. Other highlights include stories by Tim Dorsey, Lisa Unger, Ace Atkins, Gale Massey, Danny Lopez, and the previously mentioned Collette Bennett. There is not a bad story, but the dark noir streets are missing.

Latest Review on THE LATE SHOW

Below is the latest rave review on THE LATE SHOW AND OTHER TALES OF CELLULOID MALICE

Available at Amazon  and Smashwords 

The Late Show Kindlw Cover-004

Interplanetary Funksmanship
5.0 out of 5 stars Murders of Passion and Profit

Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2020

Verified Purchase

Author John Greco’s book of short stories, “The Late Show,” ties together the writer’s passion of old movies (mostly Films Noir, peopled by the likes of Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, and Edward G. Robinson) and tales which end in some twist of fate for their protagonist, anti-hero, or villain.

I don’t want to go into too many details, because reviewers who give spoiler alerts are missing the forest for the trees. But, there are husbands and wives whose marriages have soured; spoiled rich kid heirs and random innocent bystanders; a beloved fixture of the community who finds his purpose in life suddenly and sadly obsolescent; a vegetarian hitman who got into his line of work by turning some tables; a hippie-dippy chick whose crystal ball needs some new batteries; someone who lost his temper, and leaked a little blood on his way into the Bijou; and, to borrow a line from Johnny Cash, some of Hollywood’s has-beens, would be’s and never weres.

Greco expertly taps out some dark tales on his typewriter, but even the darkest have a light touch — he doesn’t bog the reader down in excessive gore and depravity. Drawing upon the experiences of his youth and early adulthood, many of his tales are set in New York City and Upstate. He has an uncanny knack for conveying these locales not unlike crime thriller writer Mickey Spillane.

This is the first book of Greco’s I’ve read, and his stories are quite entertaining, written in the style of the golden age magazine fiction of midcentury. Definitely recommended

 

 

Book Review: The Big Goodbye

Goodbye

Chinatown is one of the golden apples of 70s cinema. Sam Wasson has written an interesting, if sometimes overly detailed history on the making of the movie. Wasson brings you into the minds of the creators and participants: Robert Towne, Robert Evans, Roman Polanski, John Alonzo, Jack Nicholson, and Faye Dunaway. It’s also an intimate portrayal of Los Angeles and the Hollywood of the 1970s. Like the movie,  it’s convoluted at times. But the story is fascinating. It took Towne years to write the screenplay and he didn’t want to give up control. But filmmaking is a collaborative art, and the director, especially a director of Polanski’s caliber, has the final say. Wasson writes that the film’s ending is more Polanski’s doing than Towne.

The Big Goodbye is more than about Chinatown. It’s about the end of a golden era in films. Soon movies like Chinatown, The Conversation,   Marathon Man, The Godfather, and Network would give way to mindless blockbusters. There was more money to be made with trashy, splashy lightweight entertainment, lots more money, and after all, that’s what the business is about. Making money and box office trends, not art.

 

 

Latest Review on The Late Show

The Late Show Kindlw Cover-004

Interplanetary Funksmanship
5.0 out of 5 stars Murders of Passion and Profit

Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2020

Verified Purchase

Author John Greco’s book of short stories, “The Late Show,” ties together the writer’s passion of old movies (mostly Films Noir, peopled by the likes of Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, and Edward G. Robinson) and tales which end in some twist of fate for their protagonist, anti-hero, or villain.

I don’t want to go into too many details, because reviewers who give spoiler alerts are missing the forest for the trees. But, there are husbands and wives whose marriages have soured; spoiled rich kid heirs and random innocent bystanders; a beloved fixture of the community who finds his purpose in life suddenly and sadly obsolescent; a vegetarian hitman who got into his line of work by turning some tables; a hippie-dippy chick whose crystal ball needs some new batteries; someone who lost his temper, and leaked a little blood on his way into the Bijou; and, to borrow a line from Johnny Cash, some of Hollywood’s has-beens, would be’s and never weres.

Greco expertly taps out some dark tales on his typewriter, but even the darkest have a light touch — he doesn’t bog the reader down in excessive gore and depravity. Drawing upon the experiences of his youth and early adulthood, many of his tales are set in New York City and Upstate. He has an uncanny knack for conveying these locales not unlike crime thriller writer Mickey Spillane.

This is the first book of Greco’s I’ve read, and his stories are quite entertaining, written in the style of the golden age magazine fiction of midcentury. Definitely recommended.

Available at Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes & Noble

Book Review: Love it or Hate it – it’s Brian DePalma

snakes

Published by Hard Case Crime, Are Snakes Necessary? is Brian DePalma’s first novel. It was co-written with journalist Susan Lehman. Like DePalma’s films, I think people are either going to love this book or hate it.

Okay, first things first. I am a big Brian DePalma fan. Ever since I first saw Sisters way back when. Accusations of Hitchcock imitating have haunted him throughout his career. Well, artists have always borrowed styles from other artists and in film, few are better to steal from than Alfred Hitchcock. Are Snakes Necessary? is a quick thrill ride: a political thriller wrapped in a noir like piece of pulp fiction that much like his films is stylized and at times disjointed. Not surprisingly, there is a cinematic flow and much of the book is dialogue driven. In the words of Elmore Leonard, they left out the boring stuff.

Book Review: The Perfect Daughter

per

I have never lived in Maine, but if you follow and read my blog posts, you know that it’s one of my favorite destinations. It’s scenic, for my photographic endeavors, and it has the inner aura of a place I’d like to live. Shepard’s Bay, a fictional coastal town in Maine, is divided. There are lifelong locals, mostly lobster fishermen and there are the wealthy newbies who are getting prime real estate to build their large new home. It’s also driving up real estate values, forcing many long-time local folks to worry about their future. It’s the type of situation where resentment can easily build up. When a wealthy teenager, Dakota James, goes missing followed by two teenage girls, life in town soon changes.

The Perfect Daughter is a twisty story of a town divided by financial status and secrets, plenty of secrets: love affairs, drugs, wild parties, jealousy, gossip, regrets, and more.

The two teen girls, Katie, from the poor side of town, and Willow, from the wealthy side, have become best friends. After Katie’s disappearance, Ilsa, Katie’s mother is in a panic. A search party is formed and two days later Katie’s found, though bruised, bloodied and with a loss of memory. But where is Willow? The local police, led by Karl, Ilsa’s high school sweetheart, is overwhelmed by this type of situation. He toughest job ususally is handing out parking tickets. Ilsa’s husband, Ray, is a drunk and rarely ever around.

As one secret is revealed, a new layer of secrecy pops up. The secrets, the twists, and turns continue throughout this multifaceted and riveting tale of small-town life on the brink. Author Joseph Souza knows how to keep you on the edge, and just when you think you have it figured out, he smacks you with another twist that leaves you misdirected and wanting for the answers.