As Subtle as a Sledgehammer to the Toe but Far More Enjoyable: Tales from the Hood 2

Synopsis: Industrialist Dumass Beach (Bill Martin Williams) has assembled a team to put together the ultimate Robocop … err, American Patriot, to keep American families safe from crime. It will serve as lawman, judge, jury, and possibly executioner, but it has no real experience. Enter Portifoy Simms (Keith David), a veritable fount of cautionary tales. […]

A Storm in the Air: P. Djèlí Clark’s The Black God’s Drums

Her name is Creeper. She’s a pick pocket, a gutter child in the free port of New Orleans. While sacking out in a good little niche, she comes into something really valuable: information. The CSA are looking to exchange a jewel for some information from a smuggled in scientist from Haiti. That can only mean […]

Waiting a Lifetime to Make Contact: Dark Tower (1989)

Synopsis: A brand new skyscraper stands in Barcelona, Spain. Its black glass walls are a bit of an eyesore compared to the historic buildings in the rest of the city, but the owners of that building have some big, big plans. Unfortunately for them, there have been a bunch of accidents there lately. A window […]

We Are Good People: His House

Synopsis: Bol (Sope Dirisu) and Rial Majur (Wunmi Mosaku) made it! Out of Sudan where men toting assault rifles stalked the countryside, the cities, and villages with murder on their mind. Across the storm-tossed ocean on a boat carrying way, way, way too many people to be safe. They have lost their child Nyagak (Malaika […]

Gotta Get Out of Here: Summer of Sam

Synopsis: In the summer of 1977, a mystery murderer dubbed the .44 killer (for his preferred method, firing a .44 revolver at close range) stalked and killed a number of women with shoulder length brunette hair (and their beaus if any) and held the city of New York hostage to growing anxiety and dread. Later, […]

A West That’s Not Only Wild but Wicked: Nicole Givens Kurtz’s Sisters of the Wild Sage

I have a terrific love of weird western fiction. The mashups of westerns, action, folklore, fantasy, and science fiction in a variety of forms fascinates me, particularly when done well. Some see the subgenre as the more rough-and-tumble side of steampunk; I prefer to think of the subgenre as one tackling all manner of frontiers. […]

Dead and Dreaming: Cthulhu Mansion

Synopsis: Chandu (Frank Finlay) is a magician extraordinaire with a secret. While performing a feat with his wife Lenore (Marcia Layton) he employed ye old grimoire, Cthulhu, and the performance ended in tragedy. He resigned from the big stages and the expectation of big tricks thereafter. Cut to the present day, and we find Chandu […]

All You Have To Do Is Let Me In: Tales From The Crypt: Demon Knight

Synopsis: Two men behind the wheels of two speeding cars. Brayker is the man in the lead (William Sadler); he wears black leather, fingerless gloves, and has the sweaty disposition we associate with crooks on the run. The fellow on his tail (Billy Zane) wears a cowboy hat and long coat, sure, but he radiates […]

That Girl Is Poison: Def By Temptation

Synopsis: Everyone knows a woman like Temptress (Cynthia Bond), or at least recognizes her. She’s the hot little number down at the end of the bar with the smoky eyes, the gorgeous style, and that unattainable quality. She sits and watches the room, finding someone worth her time and then she makes her availability known […]

But the Devil Lived in Him Too: Walter Mosley’s Fearless Jones

Although he made his mark in the literary landscape with the first entry in the long running Easy Rawlins historical mystery series, Devil in A Blue Dress in 1990, author Walter Mosley has tried his hand at a few standalones and titles with nothing to do with detective Easy or his crazy pal man Mouse. […]

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Month: February 2021