The Sun Down Motel (2020) – Simone St. James

The Sun Down Motel is a fantastically creepy and thrilling novel from Simone St. James. The novel follows two storylines concurrently bouncing back and forth between the years 1982 and 2017, culminating in a white-knuckle climax that is satisfying, engaging, and sneaks quite comfortably into Stephen King territory. In November 1982 Vivian arrived in Fell,…

Hill Street Blues (1982/1983) – Santaclaustrophobia, and Gung Ho

It’s the holiday season on the hill, and lots of things are going on at the precinct. Santaclaustrophobia, written by Steven Bochco, Anthony Yerkovich, and Jeffrey Lewis, first aired on 16 December, 1982. Belker (Bruce Weitz) is undercover as a bell-ringing Santa, but a young kid keeps spoiling things by revealing he’s a cop. Hill’s…

Hill Street Blues (1982) – Stan the Man, and Little Boil Blue

David Milch penned Stan the Man, which had an original airdate of 4 November, 1982. Joyce (Veronica Hamel) is assaulted at the precinct by a perp who gets away from his arresting officer, landing her in the hospital after Furillo (Daniel J. Travanti) takes the suspect down. And that is just the tip of the…

Hill Street Blues (1982) – Rain of Terror, and Officer of the Year

It’s Renko’s (Charles Haid) birthday, and his friends at the precinct go all out to make sure he has a good time though it partly backfires, in Rain of Terror. The present is a call girl, something Renko doesn’t realize at first and then is angry about before reaching a slightly amicable ending. Written by…

Hill Street Blues (1982) – Domestic Beef, and Heat Rash

Frank Furillo (Daniel J. Travanti) has his hands full this week in Domestic Beef. Written by Anthony Yerkovich, Jeffrey Lewis and Michael Wagner, it first debuted on 7 October, 1982. Furillo is involved in a review board for Captain Lou Hogan (Robert Hogan), whose precinct has been accused of a number of dirty cops. Furillo…

Hill Street Blues (1982) – Personal Foul, and The Shooter

The Hill Street Precinct deals with a lot of personal things this week in Personal Foul. First airing on 25 March, 1982, Personal Foul was written by Steven Bochco, Anthony Yerkovich, Jeffrey Lewis and Michael Wagner. With a basketball game with the local community (and its gangs) waiting in the wings, Renko (Charles Haid) deals…