With his directorial debut, Jordan Peele became a horror writer/director to watch, and cemented me as a fan. Crafting an unnerving and terrifying story layered in social commentary, Peele used the genre to deliver a powerful story about race, one that is executed with precision and perfection. Balancing mystery, truly horrific moments, and a sense…
Tag: mystery
Map of Bones (2005) – James Rollins
James Rollins second novel in his Sigma Force series continues the highly enjoyable combination of science, mythology, history and high adventure. This time, Sigma Force’s Grey Pierce is assigned with his team to investigate a massacre at a church in Germany, and the subsequent theft of ancient Catholic relics. Relics that have some strange properties,…
Millennium (1998/1999) – Omerta, and Borrowed Time
The series gives us a bit of an odd Christmas episode with Omerta. Written by Michael R. Perry, this episode first debuted on 18 December, 1998. Frank (Lance Henriksen) and Jordan (Brittany Tiplady) decide to get away from the holiday hassle, and the memories of Catherine (Megan Gallagher). They end up in Vermont, and Frank…
Fletch (1974) – Gregory McDonald
I first read Fletch back in the 80s when the Chevy Chase movie was coming along, and for some reason I had problems keeping the story threads straight, as most of the text in the novel is dialogue, not action, so I would lose who said what and would have to go back, and back…
The Hard Boys: The Tower Treasure (1927/1959) – Franklin W. Dixon
When I was a young boy in the late 70s, early 80s, I was devouring books at a variety of reading levels, and was delighted with the blue border hard cover editions of The Hardy Boys, I didn’t have them all, but I had a collection that would grow whenever I lacked anything else to…
Sandstorm (2004) – James Rollins
Craving a bit of arm chair adventure and travel I figured I would dig into the Sigma Force series by James Rollins and see what happens. I dug into the first big adventure, Sandstorm, and uses science fact, archaeology, and the action film template to deliver a rip-roaring adventure that takes us from North America…
Project: Hail Mary (2021) – Andy Weir
I loved Andy Weir’s The Martian, and happily dug into Project: Hail Mary (I still need to read Artemis), and was completely wowed by it. I haven’t had this sense of wonder and sense of discovery and exploration since I read Clarke’s Odyssey and Rama series. Ryland Grace, former biologist turned teacher wakes up and…
The Mysterious Mr. Quin (1930) – Agatha Christie
Long before DC introduced us to Harley Quinn, a variation of the traditional harlequin character, Agatha Christie created her own Harley Quin, and introduced him to the world in a collection of short stories first published in 1930. This Harley Quinn is a tall mysterious man who appears at prime opportunities in the story, and…
The X-Files (1997) – Christmas Carol, and Emily
Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) gets some solo time in this episode written by Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, and Frank Spotnitz. Mulder (David Duchovny) makes a small appearance (he was promoting Playing God at the time, and needed some time off)in this episode that first aired on 7 December, 1997. Dana and her mother, Margaret (Sheila…
Partners in Crime (1929) – Agatha Christie
Tommy and Tuppence, who quickly became one of my favourite creations of Agatha Christie, first introduced in The Secret Adversary, are back in this collection of short stories, that are interconnected, as the married couple take on a number of cases. A Fairy in the Flat opens the book and reveals that Tommy is working…
The Mind Reels 