Continuing the trend of adding punctuation to the titles of books, Donald E. Westlake followed up Dortmunder’s encounter with gangsters and rich pricks in Watch Your Back! with Dortmunder’s attempts to steal a chess set from a family of rich pricks for a non-related rich prick in What’s So Funny? Needless to say, the rich […]
Read more "Considering Westlake: What’s So Funny?"Synopsis: The near future is a dark place, indeed. After the new drug “Hype” hits the streets, the streets of the city turn into a war zone. However, Fred (Stephen Lang) still has a VWF hall to run, a bar to tend, and pals to chat with. He’s a grizzled soldier who served during The […]
Read more "Movie Mondays: VFW"One of the more recent releases from author Jeff Strand, Allison hit eBook and paperback stands not quite a month ago. The novel tells the story of a woman possessed of a terrifying, paranormal power. Since she was a little girl, Allison Teal has had the ability to manipulate people’s bodies during “during what Mom […]
Read more "They’re All Gonna Laugh at You: Jeff Strand’s Allison"The penultimate adventure for series heister Parker probably has the title that, at first brush and taken completely without context, may be one of the stupidest titles in Westlake’s oeuvre. Certainly one of the worst titles in the Richard Stark catalog. Ask the Parrot? What the hell is that supposed to connote. The book has […]
Read more "Considering Westlake: Ask the Parrot"Synopsis: Grace (Samara Weaving) is living the dream, marrying her love Alex (Mark O’Brien) who also happens to have an incredibly wealthy family. It’s a fortune made on games, of all things—games of the board and card variety, not necessarily poker (though that played a role in their fortunes, as well). The patriarch Tony (Henry […]
Read more "Movie Mondays: Ready or Not"Although he is best known for his humorous horrors and his dark thrillers, one of the best novels Jeff Strand has yet released may well be the comic road story, Kumquat. Has it received any award nominations? Sadly, no. Did it get a big push upon release? Also, sadly no. But it is a horror […]
Read more "Cha Cha Cha Cha Cha! Satan Satan Satan!: Jeff Strand’s Kumquat"The twelfth book in the Dortmunder series of comic caper stories finds its down on his luck protagonist in the midst of two scores, one of his own choosing and one that’s working against his best interests. It’s a setup that has not quite occurred before, at least not in this manner. Sure, the previous […]
Read more "Considering Westlake: Watch Your Back!"Synopsis: May (Angela Bettis) is one of those women who started out life with a lot of things lined up against her. Sure, she was born with a lazy eye, but that’s not a terrible thing. Unless her Mama (Merle Kennedy) decides that perfection is appearing pristine and hiding your flaws. Poor May had to […]
Read more "Movie Mondays: May"This week, we continue our mini-reading series exploring some of the works of writer Jeff Strand, who brings dollops of humor to his suspenseful explorations of horror and suspense subject matter. The novel up for discussion today is one that combines two forms of nightmare fuel for folks, playing on the varying levels of arachnophobia […]
Read more "Rewriting the Nightmare Fuel Narrative: Jeff Strand’s Clowns Vs. Spiders"After giving Dortmunder a run for his money along The Road to Ruin, Westlake once more turned his attention to Parker. The title breaks with the “tradition” Westlake applied to the previous six volumes, where each subsequent volume used the previous book’s last syllable as the first one in the subsequent volume, and perhaps that’s […]
Read more "Considering Westlake: Nobody Runs Forever"
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