The Beat On The Street

Nobody played the "rich kid A-hole" in the 80's like James Spader. In this particular pivotal scene from "Less Than Zero", he's being a real pal to Robert Downey Jr, as well as life coach and occupational, er, counselor (if you know what comes next. Yikes!). Things were a little bit different for me and the high school crew I rolled with, compared to LTZ crowd. It was more like "Dazed and Confused" (one of Matt McConaughey finest performances)

Anyway...plenty happening over the last week:

- Detectives Beyond Borders host, Peter Rozovsky, has a very good entry on display for Patti Abbott's Reginald Marsh Flash-Fiction Challange. Check out "Smithers Should Have Listened" HERE, and then check out the links to all the other entries at Patti's site HERE

-BSTSLLR.com is an exciting new digital publisher, who from what I can see, are on the right track, with a goal of publishing "established authors and promising new authors in eBook format across various plaforms". If their first debut, pictured below, is any indication, I'm already digging them. I just purchased WCCW and can't wait to get into it. You can check out their web site HERE

- Tony Black's site, Pulp Pusher has a nice interview with Declan Burke HERE

-Speaking of Mr. Burke, he's talking about Gerard Brennan's new novelette, "The Point", which has a great cover  HERE.

- Adrian McKinty has a nice little rant about NYC publishers HERE, the title of which might have fit in nicely with The Stones' "Shattered', at least that's what popped into my head.

-Charles Gramlich, writer and host of the Razored Zen blog, keeps meticulous track of what he reads. He shared some very interesting stats HERE

- Joe Konrath is on sabbatical, but his eBook designer, Rob Siders, has the floor as guest blogger and shared some very usefull insight HERE

- Over at Blackwatertown, there is another entertaining segment of "The Day I met..." series. This time it is actor James Nesbitt, who was in among other things, "Waking Ned Divine, "Bloody Sunday", and "Resurrection Man". Enjoy HERE

- Over at Do Some Damage, Steve Weddle shared some pics and a recap of his time at the "Whodunnit: A Day of Mystery Madness for Mystery Fans" HERE

Finally, I posted the following reviews at Smashwords, B&N, and Amazon.

HEARTBREAKER: Julie Morrigan

5 Stars: A Great Trip for Rock Music and Mystery Fans 

I'm all about Rock-n-Roll and this novel more than met the high expectations I had going in. Although Heartbreaker is a fictional band, it didn't take long for the author to have me thinking they were real. And when I finished, I was wishing I could go out an buy their CD's. The transitions from the interview style passages to flashback scenes were handled superbly. Along with being an excellent chronology of blues based RnR, there are a few nice subplots, as well as a damn good mystery that runs throughout and kept me guessing until the end. This was an excellent introspection into the behind the scenes world of all that is real rock n roll...the good, the bad, and the ugly. I Could easily see this novel being used in the classroom for courses related to post 1960's rock music history. Just like getting a bonus track on a CD, there is an excellent short included at the end titled "Shadow Man" which in itself, would have been worth the price of admission. The overall presentation and editing were flawless. Highly recommend this to both music and mystery fans.

THE BIG WINK: Steve Brewer

5 Stars: Brewer Delivers Again

As soon as I finished the author's latest novel, LOST VEGAS, it was so good, I jumped right into THE BIG WINK and was not disappointed. A great, fast moving caper tale for sure, with a terrific cast, lots of plot twists, and many riotous laughs. The way the story is told and the characters are top notch. Uncle Graybeard and Detective Holland's boss were just a few of the supporting characters who really added to the enjoyment of the read. I'm finding that a Steve Brewer story not only provides great entertainment, but can actually make a bad day, a good one. As mentioned by another reviewer, this story begs for a screen adaptation, ala, "The Big Lebowski".

 

IMPERIAL BEDROOMS: Bret Easton Ellis

I have been a fan of Mr. Ellis since I read "Less Than Zero", which he wrote and was published while he was in college. Quite an accomplishment. The movie adaption came out a few years later, with Robert Downey Jr, Andrew McCarthy, and one of my favorite "bad guy" actors of the 80's James Spader. If I think back in time, three movies that tried to capture teen / high school life in the early 80's were: "Fast Times at Ridgemont High", "Valley Girl", and "Less Than Zero". The thing is that all of these were based in California, and this was nothing like how it was growing up in the northeast US. "Dazed and Confused" was a much more realistic portrayal of how it "really was".

When I read that a follow-up to LTZ was in the works, I was intrigued. I wanted to know what happened to Julian, Blair, Clay, and especially Rip. So when it came out, I ended up buying it for my Nook $9.99, saving $15.00 of the $25.00 hardcover. As it turned out, this was a wise decision.

The novel starts off by slamming the film version of LTZ, setting the reader straight on the facts, and gives some nice harbingers of what's in store for this installment. I was intrigued and ready for the show to start. I'm not going to give spoilers of details about the plot, but I will say that BEE has a big problem with finishing, and I noticed this with "Glamorama"( 4 out of 5 stars) and Lunar Park (3 out of 5 stars). I'm giving "Imperial Bedrooms" (2 out 5 stars). Each of these three BEE offerings would have earned another star, if they didn't completely go off the deep-end in the final chapters.

The 2 star rating is a shame in my opinion because for about 3/4 of the novel it was at about a 4, but I have to call it like I see it. I never read Amazon / B&N reviews before I read a novel, but I do after I'm done. It is good to know I am not alone in my opinion. I would be glad to elaborate on this in the comment section, if anyone so chooses

Sean and the Beanstock

So, on vacation this week, and instead of riding tasty waves at the beach all week like we planned, the foul weather here in Mass has turned the vaca into a game of how much me and the kids can drive the wife shytehouse. It is like being stuck in the friggin' Gulag. I decide to go to Barnes and Noble with my son to buy IMPERIAL BEDROOMS, the follow-up to LESS THAN ZERO by Bret Easton Ellis, which lists at $24.99 for a scant 200 pages (ouch, the price of blow & Cristal must have gone up).

To make a long story short, I sneak a peek at the NOOK just to see if my novel shows up on it. It did, so that was pretty cool. I end up talking to the saleslady, and you guessed it, bought one. I don't know squat about e-readers, but I ended up figuring how to use it, and downloaded the Ellis novel for $9.99

It is a pretty cool device and I can browse the web, listen to tunes, and it has 3G, which my son (10 years old) and the saleslady were nice enough to tell me what that means (it's a good thing).

So, needless to say I had some explaining to do when I got home. I did save $15.00 on the novel, so I'm only down $310.00 (Nook 3G= 199.00, protection case= 35.00, screen protector= 15.00, and warranty= 70.00)

Anyway, looking forward to reading what happened to the LESS THAN ZERO characters and I'll report back on that and my experience with the Nook.

* All was not lost as the saleslady purchased & downloaded a copy of MINDJACKER to her Nook and told me she'll pump it up the rest of the day on the demo Nook with customers, which was pretty cool of her.