Anime Review: The Kindaichi Case Files Return

Anime Review: The Kindaichi Case Files Return Hajime Kindaichi is a high school junior who has a reputation for laziness and poor grades.  His childhood friend Miyuki Nanase alternates between being sweet on him and irritated by his antics.  What makes Kindaichi different from most teenage underachievers is that he’s the grandson of famous detective… Continue reading Anime Review: The Kindaichi Case Files Return

Book Review: The Wall

Book Review: The Wall by Mary Roberts Rinehart Marcia Lloyd is an upper-crust socialite who is not as wealthy as she used to be.  Not by any means broke, but when she comes to her summer home, Sunset, in New England, she can only afford to employ a handful of servants for a house that… Continue reading Book Review: The Wall

Manga Review: Case Closed Volume 56

Manga Review: Case Closed Volume 56 by Gosho Aoyama Quick recap for newer readers:  Shinichi Kudou (“Jimmy” in the US version) is a teen genius detective.  He runs afoul of a mysterious criminal organization, but their assassination attempt instead causes him to shrink to a childlike appearance.  To conceal his survival from the organization, Shinichi… Continue reading Manga Review: Case Closed Volume 56

Manga Review: Black Blizzard

Manga Review: Black Blizzard by Yoshihiro Tatsumi The year is 1956.  Shinpei Konta, a card shark with five convictions (two for murder) and Susumu Yamaji, a pianist just convicted for murder, are handcuffed together on a train headed for prison.  The weather has turned to a blizzard, and a landslide across the tracks derails the… Continue reading Manga Review: Black Blizzard

Magazine Review: The Blueroad Reader: Stardust and Fate

Magazine Review: The Blueroad Reader: Stardust and Fate edited by John Gaterud Yes, this is yet another literary magazine; I picked up a bunch inexpensively at the book fair.  This one seems to take its title from Jack Kerouac’s writing; this first issue was published in 2007. The index is unusual for this kind of… Continue reading Magazine Review: The Blueroad Reader: Stardust and Fate

Book Review: The Land of Dreams

Book Review: The Land of Dreams by Vidar Sundstøl Lance Hansen has not dreamed in seven years.   A divorced Forest Service police officer on the North Shore of Lake Superior, most of his days are spent chasing illegal fishing and people camping in the wrong places.  He thinks that the latter will be his… Continue reading Book Review: The Land of Dreams

Book Review: Justicariat

Book Review: Justicariat by Nathan Bolduc In an alternate history, the newly-formed United Nations created an extra-national force called the Justicariat.  Its members, the Justicars, hunt down and kill those they believe to be criminals, not bound by any authority or law higher than themselves.  They have absolute immunity from local laws or regulations, though… Continue reading Book Review: Justicariat

Book Review: Headaches Can Be Murder

Book Review: Headaches Can Be Murder by Marilyn Rausch & Mary Donlon Charles “Chip” E. Collingsworth III was supposed to become a neurosurgeon like his father and grandfather before him, but wasn’t suited to being a doctor, so dropped out of medical school.  Three failed marriages later and with his trust fund depleted, Chip wrote… Continue reading Book Review: Headaches Can Be Murder

Manga Review: Batman: The Jiro Kuwata Batmanga Volume 2

Manga Review: Batman: The Jiro Kuwata Batmanga Volume 2 by Jiro Kuwata To briefly recap:  When the Batman television series was brought to Japan in the 1960s, it was decided to do a manga tie-in using the talents of Jiro Kuwata (creator of 8-Man).  Rather than being based on the TV show directly, Mr. Kuwata was given… Continue reading Manga Review: Batman: The Jiro Kuwata Batmanga Volume 2

Book Review: Jewish Noir

Book Review: Jewish Noir edited by Kenneth Wishnia Many of the themes of noir fiction, alienation, hostile society, darkness and bitter endings, resonate with the experience of Jewish people.  So it’s not surprising that it was easy to find submissions for an anthology of thirty-plus noir stories with Jewish themes.  (Not all of the authors are… Continue reading Book Review: Jewish Noir