Book Review: Head of a Traveler

Book Review: Head of a Traveler by Nicholas Blake (pen name of Cecil Day-Lewis) Nigel Strangeways, a writer and literary scholar when he isn’t being distracted by his private investigation work, is thrilled to have a chance to meet Robert Seaton, one of Britain’s greatest living poets. Plash Meadow, Seaton’s house, is in Oxfordshire near… Continue reading Book Review: Head of a Traveler

Book Review: The Groom Lay Dead

Cover by Robert Stanley. This scene actually happens in the book!

Book Review: The Groom Lay Dead by George Harmon Coxe September 9, 1943: In Europe, the Armistice of Cassibile has been announced, the Italian government having withdrawn from the Axis alliance. (Not that it helped them much because Germany promptly took over much of Italy to fight on.) But in the Finger Lakes region of… Continue reading Book Review: The Groom Lay Dead

Manga Review: Orochi the Perfect Edition Vol. 3

Manga Review: Orochi the Perfect Edition Vol. 3 by Kazuo Umezz Quick recap: Orochi is a mysterious, seemingly unageing woman with vaguely-defined supernatural abilities. She wanders around Japan observing bizarre occurrences in humans’ lives, and sometimes interfering in them. As of yet, we know nothing of her own past or why she does what she… Continue reading Manga Review: Orochi the Perfect Edition Vol. 3

Book Review: The Hills of Homicide

Book Review: The Hills of Homicide by Louis L’Amour Before he landed the contracts that were to make him America’s most beloved Western writer, Louis L’Amour tried his hand at various other genres of pulp fiction. But the pulp magazine market was drying up, so it was generally a good thing he found other work.… Continue reading Book Review: The Hills of Homicide

Movie Review: Bangkok Haunted

Paga is a skilled dancer.

Movie Review: Bangkok Haunted (2001) directed by Pisuth Praesang-Iam & Oxide Chun Pang We open on a moving truck in the Thai countryside, heading for Bangkok. The man sitting in the back taking care of the packages gets scratched by…something. The moment he realizes he’s in a horror story, he jumps out the back of the… Continue reading Movie Review: Bangkok Haunted

Movie Review: Universal Squadrons

Deakin confronts Peacemaker.

Movie Review: Universal Squadrons (2011) directed by Mark Millhone (also released as “Minuteman.”) Captain Lance Deakin (Riley Smith) has returned to his Texas ranch after a second hitch in Iraq as a quartermaster at an isolated supply depot. During his absence, his lover Becca (Willa Ford) and hired hand Corky (David Born) have been trying to… Continue reading Movie Review: Universal Squadrons

Book Review: Give Unto Others

Book Review: Give Unto Others by Donna Leon Disclaimer: I received an uncorrected proof of this book for the purpose of writing this review. No other compensation was offered or received. As an uncorrected proof, some details may be different in the final edition, such as removal of typos. Thanks to the folks at Once… Continue reading Book Review: Give Unto Others

Movie Review: The Egg and I

Betty and Bob have very different reactions to their new home.

Movie Review: The Egg and I (1947) directed by Chester Erskine The newlywed Mrs. Betty MacDonald (Claudette Corbert) is shocked to learn on her wedding night that her husband Bob (Fred MacMurray) has bought a chicken farm and they’re moving there tomorrow! But she was brought up to believe that a wife supports her husband, no… Continue reading Movie Review: The Egg and I

Movie Review: The Searchers (1956)

The posse considers their options.

Movie Review: The Searchers (1956) directed by John Ford Texas, 1868: Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) finally returns to his childhood home, three years after the end of the American Civil War. He evades questions about where he’s been, though he was emphatically not in California. Ethan gets reacquainted with his brother Aaron’s family: wife Martha, eldest… Continue reading Movie Review: The Searchers (1956)

Manga Review: The Crater

Manga Review: The Crater by Osamu Tezuka In the late 1960s, Osamu Tezuka’s career was facing a crisis. He was still popular, with publishers quite willing to buy more of the kid-friendly material he’d become famous for. But he wasn’t a trend-setter anymore. The new generation of manga creators was into gekiga, more serious and… Continue reading Manga Review: The Crater