The Letter, the Witch and the Ring by John Bellairs

(pb; 1976: third book in the Lewis Barnavelt mysteries. Drawings by Richard Egielski.)

From the back cover

“Rose Rita [Pottinger] wishes she could go to camp like her best friend, Lewis. She’s sure that boys get to have all the fun─until Mrs. Zimmerman offers her an adventure of her own. Mrs. Zimmerman’s cousin Oley has left her his farm, as well as a ring that he thinks is magic. But when the two arrive at the deserted farm, the ring has mysteriously vanished What power does it have? And will the person who took it use the ring to do evil?”

Review

Letter is my favorite entry in the Lewis Barnavelt mystery series thus far. Letter shakes up  Bellairs’s usual character/story set-up by making Rose Rita Pottinger the main character, and changing the setting of the story. Like the two previous Lewis Barnavelt books, it is fast-paced, scary and thrilling in parts, with characters who are either warm and familial or effectively villainous, and great for kids who like that sort of thing. This is excellent, worth owning. Followed by The Ghost in the Mirror.

Pretty Things by Virginie Despentes

(pb; 1998, 2018. Translated the French by Emma Ramadan.)

From the back cover

“Stunning Claudine and gloomy Pauline pretend to be one person so that Claudine can be famous, but just as thing take off, Claudine commits suicide. Pauline hatches a new scheme, taking on her dead sister’s identity, inhabiting her apartment, and reading her emails─slowly realizing the costs of femininity is to dazzle on the outside while rotting on the inside.”

Review

Pretty is my favorite book by Despentes thus far. It is a blunt, character-true and entertaining takedown of how society defines (and suppresses) femininity, identity, sexuality, pop culture and other notions of (un)acceptable behavior─nothing is sacred here, even the truest, kindest and ultimately healing aspects of human nature undergo rigorous and often clever examinations. This fast-moving, trance-inducing novel is excellent, memorable and worth owning, perhaps even worth re-reading a few years from now.

The Poet by Michael Connelly

(pb; 1996: first book in the Jack McEvoy series)

From the back cover

“Death is reporter Jack McEvoy’s beat: his calling, his obsession. But this time, death brings McEvoy the story he never wanted to write─and the mystery he desperately needs to solve. A serial killer of unprecedented savagery and cunning is at large. His targets: homicide cops, each haunted by a murder case he couldn’t crack. The killer’s calling card: a quotation from the works of Edgar Allan Poe. His latest victim is McEvoy’s own brother. And his last. . .maybe McEvoy himself.”

Review

Poet is an excellent, fast-paced and often hard-to-set-down thriller with a relatable protagonist. Its finish is a flourish of mostly-effective twists. While Poet works as a standalone work, it also sports a set-up for possible sequels─and one later appeared, its title The Scarecrow.

Adventures in the Screen Trade: A Personal View of Hollywood and Screenwriting by William Goldman

(pb; 1983: nonfiction)

From the back cover

“No one knows the writer’s Hollywood more intimately than William Goldman. Two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter and the bestselling author of Marathon Man, Tinsel, Boys and Girls Together, and other novels, Goldman now takes you into Hollywood’s inner sanctums. . .on and behind the scenes for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President’s Men, and other films. . .into the plush offices of Hollywood producers. . .into the working lives of acting greats such as [Robert] Redford, [Laurence] Olivier, [Paul] Newman, and [Dustin] Hoffman. . . and into his own professional experiences and creative thought processes in the crafting of screenplays. You get a firshand look at why and how films get made and what elements makes a good screenplay.”

Review

Adventures is a fun, informative, blunt and sometimes sad/frustrating (about the Hollywood writing-filming process) book. If you are interested in the aforementioned subject matter this may be an excellent read for you, like it was for me. It never lagged, was consistently interesting─in a way that I may re-read it in the future, re-reading something I rarely do: worth owning, this.

The Money Trap by Lionel White

(hb; 1963)

From the inside flap

“Take an honest police detective─devoted both to his job and his wife.

“Take the fact that his wife has money, likes to living up to it─and doesn’t like living on a policeman’s salary.

“Add to the fact that our honest detective, Joe Baron, has a partner with a much more cynical view of life─and the stage is set for trouble.

“Especially when to that setting is added seemingly the best of opportunities─the chance to get a million dollars from a  man who could not admit to its existence.

“Here, then, in Joe Baron’s own words. . . is the suspenseful  tale of how the lure of money became the trap for an honorable man.”

Review

Money is an excellent, waste-no-words pulp novel, with quick-effectively-sketched characters, heart-pounding intensity and equally masterful pacing. If you enjoy pulp stories, chances are you will deem this worthwhile entertainment─worth owning, this.

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The film version was released on February 2, 1966. Burt Kennedy directed the film. Walter Bernstein wrote the screenplay.

Glenn Ford played Joe Baron. Elke Sommer played Lisa Baron. Rita Hayworth played Rosalie Kenny. Joseph Cotten played Dr. Horace Van Tilden. Ricardo Montalban played Pete Delanos.

Tom Reese played Matthews. James Mitchum played Detectice Wolski. 

Fade to Black by Ron Renauld

(pb; 1980: movie tie-in novel)

From the back cover

“Sensitive Eric Binford strikes back a lie the only way he knows how─he reenacts in character his favorite and most terrifying movie murders.”

Review

Fade is a lean, engaging and swift-paced thriller, with quick-sketch characters and a deep love for 1940s—1960s cinema. This is a fun, based-on-a-B-movie book, one worth owning.

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Its cinematic counterpart of the same name was released stateside on October 14, 1980. Vernon Zimmerman scripted and directed the film.

Dennis Christopher played Eric Binford. Tim Thomerson played Dr. Jerry Moriarty. Eve Brent, billed as Eve Brent Ashe, played Stella Binford. Linda Kerridge played Marilyn O’Connor. Marcy Barkin played Stacy. 

Mickey Rourke played Richie.  Peter Horton played Joey. Norman Burton, billed as Normann Burton, played Marty Berger. John Steadman played Sam.

Morgan Paull played Gary Bially. James Luisi played Capt. M.L. Gallagher. 

Starr Creek by Nathan Carson

(pb; 2016: novella)

From the back cover

“. . .Set in 1986 rural Oregon, Starr Creek features heavy metal teens, Christian biker gangs, and hopped-up kids on three-wheeled ATVs. They all collide when strange occurrences unveil an alien world inhabiting the Oregon woods.”

Review

Starr Creek is a fun, fast and solid read. It is a heady mix of sketched-out characters, Satanism, biker violence, strange aliens, heavy metal, street drugs and Oregon-style weirdness. Other reviewers have mentioned how the writing─especially the climactic ending─feels a bit rushed. I can see why they might feel that way, but I was okay with it. Given the swiftness of the events, the ending still works, as does this novella. Above-average and worth owning, this.