Bye Bye, Baby

This is the book I was waiting all summer for. I even put down my other reading that more than likely has a long waitlist at the library so I could power through this one. Max Allan Collins is one of my four most favorite authors on the planet and the one from whom I have the most autographs despite having never met. Mr. Collins regularly stops at a mystery bookseller near my parents and if I ask nicely they will get an autographed copy for me. Aren't my parents great?

BYE BYE, BABY is the latest in Collins' Nathan Heller historical mystery series. I think this is the third longest series I've stuck with. (I've been reading Wild Cards and Kinsey Milhone longer) Heller is a private detective who seems to be in the wrong place at the right time. He saw Chicago Mayor Cermak assassinated, worked the Lindbergh kidnapping, and solved the Black Dahlia murder. He rubbed shoulders with mobsters and movie stars and could have made a living as a plumber with all the pipe he's laid. The novels have moved steadily through history from the 30s to the 60s. The last novel CHICAGO CONFIDENTIAL is the only 50s installment and this one brings us into 1962 and the death of Marylin Monroe.

Heller is hired to do another job for Monroe (the first documented in the short Kisses of Death). As a result he gets entwined into her final days and decides to figure out who killed her. Collins' grasp of history and his effortless style make for great reading. For those who need to catch up with Heller's history, all of the books will be back in print this autumn. I may have to get a couple to make up for the holes I haven't been able to fill. Also this fall another in the revitalized Quarry series will be published by the similarly revitalized Hard Case Crimes books and the graphic novel sequel to the truly awesome ROAD TO PERDITION will be released. I cannot wait.

Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood

This audio book took me forever. Not because it wasn't interesting, nor because the writing was stilted, nor because the narration was lacking. No, it took forever for three reasons: 1. It is long, more than 20 hours if I remember correctly; 2. My commute time shrank to about 20 minutes and that is where I did the bulk of my audiobook listening; and 3. I had a lot of other things to listen to as well. Still it was interesting stuff.

PICTURES AT A REVOLUTION focuses on the creation of the five movies that would be nominated for best picture at the 1968 Academy Awards. Those five were: Bonnie and Clyde, Dr. Doolittle, The Graduate, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?, and In the Heat of the Night. All were products of the Hollywood Studios except for The Graduate, but almost all of them represented a shift in politics, star-power, and style that would influence moviemaking for years to come. Some are considered classics of film while others were box office successes in their day. One was a flop in almost every respect. And while almost everything about their making is inside baseball, it is fascinating to see the figures who shaped these movies into what they would become.

One of these days, I'm going to have to get these films and watch them again. Some I watched relatively recently and some I have not seen in 30 years. It should be interesting now that I know what went into them.

Kitty's Big Trouble

I don't know what it is about Carrie Vaughn. She is very prolific and I like all of her books, but it just takes me more time to read the stand-alones than the Kitty books. I don't mean they read any slower, but I just can't get as invested in them right away. I chomped at the bit for STEEL and AFTER THE GOLDEN AGE and have not gotten more than a couple of pages read. And I haven't even cracked DISCORD'S APPLE. But When KITTY'S BIG TROUBLE came out, I dropped everything to read it.

And for those who don't get the joke, Kitty helps an old acquaintance with a problem in Chinatown - kind of like an old Kurt Douglas action movie - get it?

In-jokes aside, the story is steeped in the Kitty mythology. We get a little more on the background of Roman, Anastasia, Rick and the Long Game. We also get some nice historical nods without all the hype of ABRAHAM LINCOLN, VAMPIRE SLAYER. It's part of the story, not the driver, and that is so refreshing in this era of horror-historical mashups.

The plot moves along crisply and the action is fun. As usual Ms. Vaughn entertains. Now I just need to get started on those other books.