Fiction Review: Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan, 2002
Altered Carbon is a science fiction mystery thriller published almost fifty years after Asimov’s science fiction mystery, the Caves of Steel. Asimov envisaged a future humanity afraid and suspicious of robot intelligence. Morgan’s Altered Carbon future is the polar opposite. Humanity has embraced digital technology to such an extent that even the human mind is […]
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Fiction Review: Isaac Asimov’s 1954 Classic, “The Caves of Steel”
The Master of Science Fiction, Isaac Asimov, is known by most as just that, a Sci-Fi writer. However, this first novel in Asimov’s groundbreaking Robot series also defined the crossover sub-genre of Mystery Science Fiction. “The Caves of Steel” has the proper mix of villains, chases, clue-dropping, and misdirection, along with a hardened detective trying […]
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Fiction Review: The Maid, by Nita Prose
The Maid, by Nita Prose, published January 4, 2022, is an absorbing mystery that will engage its readers from the start with its elements of the movie Clue, Agatha Christie-esque puzzle, and satisfying twists. Main character Molly Gray (or, Molly Maid as she is known among acquaintances) narrates the story, letting readers into her […]
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The Truman Show: A Sci-Fi “Detective” Story?
“You never had a camera in my head.” The Truman Show (1998), directed by Peter Weir, is a sci-fi-drama film that (quite literally) follows the life of Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey). Since he was in utero, Truman has unknowingly been filmed by hidden cameras, 24 hours a day, for the whole world to see. Over […]
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Dashiell Hammett’s “The Thin Man” is so thin you won’t see him.
Dashiell Hammett’s The Thin Man, published in 1933, four years after The Maltese Falcon, demonstrated Hammett’s expansion of and impact on the detective mystery genre. The author’s real-life experience as a Pinkerton Agency investigator provided him with a unique set of skills and experiences that provide gritty and true-to-life experiences of his characters. It’s not […]
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A Few Onions Short of French Soup: Rian Johnson Cooks up a New Batch of Characters for a Murder Mystery Dinner
Got Covid? The flu? RSV? Pharmacy all out of cough syrup? If you need to park on the couch with a funny movie, look no further than Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery! This sequel to writer and director Rian Johnson’s 2019 smash hit Knives Out is now streaming on Netflix after completing its one-week […]
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ANNIKA: Light and engaging British TV police procedural
Annika is a modern police procedural, written by Nick Walker in 2021. This lighthearted and funny series is well written and superbly performed in the best tradition of British mystery drama. DI Annika Strandhed and her Marine Homicide Unit investigate murders along the gorgeous Scottish shoreline. The private lives of Annika and her team are […]
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Book Review (SPOILERS): Tana French’s The Likeness
Tana French’s hard-to-believe murder mystery follows detective Cassie Maddox as she operates in an undercover capacity, slipping into the life of Lexie Madison, a murdered woman who was fraudulently living as detective Maddox’s undercover persona. Taking place in Glenskehy, a small town outside of Dublin, Ireland, the murder occurs near an abandoned, dilapidated cottage near […]
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The Batman, Movie Review
Opening statement: The Batman, 2022. Featuring Robert Pattinson as The Batman, director Matt Reeves. Also featuring Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Andy Serkis, and Colin Farrell. Brief Synopsis: The Batman is a reboot of the popular Batman series; a superhero movie based off of the DC comics Batman character. This […]
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Berkeley Mystery Fiction 