James Bond is back in this week’s book shelf, as I continue my adventures with 007, and John Gardner’s sixth novel chronicling the missions of the British secret agent. This time, Bond’s adventure takes him from England into Ireland and then to the Far East with a tension-filled ending set in China. M assigns 007…
The X-Files (1996) – Apocrypha, and Pusher
Series creator Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz continue the mythology arc story they began in Piper Maru with Apocrypha, which first aired on 16 February, 1996. While Scully (Gillian Anderson) runs down leads on the man who killed her sister, something that has caused AD Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) to end up in the hospital with…
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) – Jay Roach
It’s odd that this one ends up in DK Books’ Monsters in the Movies, but it comes in under the mechanical menaces section of the book because of the dangerous fembots that menace the titular hero. Mike Myers not only stars in this send up of spy films, but he also wrote it, paying homage…
Tobor the Great (1954) – Lee Sholem
DK Publishing brings me another mechanical menace from its highly enjoyable Monsters in the Movies book. This time around, he’s not so much a menace as he is menace. Very much a product of its time, the 50s, this film, dramatically set in the future of the day after tomorrow, it’s a charming, if not…
M*A*S*H (1972) – I Hate a Mystery, Germ Warfare, Dear Dad
Hawkeye (Alan Alda) plays detective after he’s apparently framed for a rash of thefts across the camp in I Hate a Mystery. Written by Hal Dresner, and first airing on 26 November, 1972, the story is rather light-hearted, though there is a real issue at heart behind the crimes. Knick knacks from all over the…
The Conjuring (2013) – James Wan
I’m going to be honest, the first time I saw The Conjuring, I was disappointed, I didn’t really get into it, and felt that it relied a little too heavily on it’s jump scares (always seemingly accompanied by a musical sting). Still, a while ago I gave it a rewatch, and really enjoyed it the…
The X-Files (1996) – Grotesque, and Piper Maru
Howard Gordon delivers a script for Grotesque, a monster of the week episode, that won the series an Emmy for cinematography, and gives us a moody piece that first aired on 2 February, 1996. Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) are requested by Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) to help the head of the Behavioural Unit,…
Chuck (2011) – Versus the Last Details, and Versus the Cliffhanger
With the penultimate episode of the season, the stakes get raised, and the arc for the season starts to wrap up, which means not only are Chuck (Zachary Levi) and Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) dealing with their rehearsal dinner, but the return of Vivian Volkoff (Lauren Cohan) with a terrifying new weapon, and finding Chuck and…
Star Trek: Sarek (1994) – A.C. Crispin
A.C. Crispin, who delivered the wonderful Yesterday’s Son saga early in the Pocket Books series cranked out a giant Trek novel for 1994 that gave us insight into Spock’s father, Sarek. While also continuing the story of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701A. This adventure takes place shortly after the events of The Undiscovered Country, so despite…
The Murder on the Links (1923) – Agatha Christie
My third foray into Agatha Christie territory brings me another tale featuring Hercule Poirot, and this time as it unspooled, I found myself paying more attention to the things that were said, the clues that were laid out, and much like his friend, Captain Hastings, who tells the tale, I had a portion of it…
