Monday, March 22, 2010

Warner Bros. To Film Live Action Adaptation of Bleach Manga

Bleach (Manga) by Tite Kubo
More information about the book

The Hollywood Reporter blog Heat Vision is reporting that Warner Bros. is planning a live-action film adaptation of the Bleach (γƒ–γƒͺーチ) manga by Tite Kubo. Since first appearing in August 2001, Bleach has been continuously serialized, and the source for an animated television series, several feature films, even video games.

The manga have been collected as graphic novels in English, the most recent of which, Bleach Volume 30, was published earlier this month.

About Bleach (from the publisher): Hot-tempered 15-year-old Ichigo Kurosaki has the unsettling ability to see spirits who are unable to rest in peace. His sixth sense leads him to Rukia, a Soul Reaper who destroys Hollows (soul-devouring monsters) and ensures the deceased find repose with the Soul Society. When she's injured in battle, Rukia transfers her sword and much of her power to Ichigo, whose spiritual energy makes him a formidable substitute Soul Reaper. But the orange-haired teenager isn't sure he wants the job: too many risks and moral dilemmas.

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Mystery Godoku Puzzle for March 22, 2010

A new has been created by the editors of the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books and is now available on our website.

Godoku is similar to Sudoku, but uses letters instead of numbers. To give you a headstart, we provide you a mystery clue to fill in a complete row or column (if you choose to use it!).

Mystery Godoku Puzzle for March 22, 2010

This week's letters and mystery clue:

D E F H I N O T W

La sombra del viento by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, a Spanish language thriller, is translated as The Shadow … (9 letters).

We now have two weeks of our puzzles on one page in PDF format for easier printing. Print this week's puzzle here.

Previous puzzles are stored in the Mystery Godoku Archives.

Enjoy the weekly Mystery Godoku Puzzle from the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, and Thanks for visiting our website!

   

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Sunday, March 21, 2010

Mystery Book Review: Freeze Frame by Peter May

Mysterious Reviews

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of Freeze Frame by Peter May. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

Freeze Frame by Peter May

by
An Enzo Macleod Mystery

Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-694-8 (1590586948)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-694-5 (9781590586945)
Publication Date: March 2010
List Price: $24.95

Review: Forensic scientist Enzo Macleod tackles the fourth of seven unsolved, cold case crimes when he travels to the Ile de Groix off the coast of Brittany, France, in Freeze Frame, the 4th mystery in this series by Peter May.

Adam Killian was murdered twenty years ago at his home on the island. Stricken with lung cancer, he only had a few weeks to live anyway. But before his death he called his daughter-in-law on the mainland, pleading with her that if he should die before his son, her husband, returned from a trip to Africa, that she preserve his study exactly as it was at the time of his death, that he would know what to do. In an a cruel twist of fate, Killian's son was killed in an accident returning to France. His wife, Jane, honored her father-in-law's wishes and sealed the room. At the time, the police investigating his murder botched the case against their prime suspect, the jury ultimately delivering a not guilty verdict ... though everyone on the island seems to think he was guilty. Jane wants to sell the house but allows Enzo the opportunity one last chance to do what no one else has been able: to solve the murder of Adam Killian.

Freeze Frame is, to put it simply, an outstanding mystery, coupling the best aspects of a whodunit with those of a investigative procedural, a "little island mystery" as one of the residents puts it. The first few chapters serve as a historical amuse bouche, whetting the reader's appetite for the remarkable tale that follows. Here's a passage when Enzo first enters the room where Killian was killed:

He felt a strange thrill of anticipation, all his instincts on suddenly heightened alert. Here was the room where Killian had died. The room in which he had somehow created a message for his son, a message that the young man had never seen, and which had never been deciphered by anyone since. He laid his overnight bag down in the hall, and took three steps back in time to an early fall night in September, 1990.

The puzzle is intricate, the investigation and observational deductive reasoning by Enzo flawless.

The only minor drawback to the book is a subplot involving Enzo and his on-again / off-again relationship with Charlotte, who unexpectedly shows up on the island with "news". Though it weighs the story down, it fortunately doesn't consume too many pages, allowing Enzo (and the reader) to get back to solving this cold case, possibly the best of the series to date.

Special thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for providing an ARC of Freeze Frame for this review.

Review Copyright © 2010 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved

Buy from Amazon.com

If you are interested in purchasing Freeze Frame from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.

Synopsis (from the publisher): A promise made to a dying man leads forensics ace Enzo Macleod, a Scot who's been teaching in France for many years, to the study which the man's heir has preserved for nearly twenty years. The dead man left several clues there designed to reveal the killer's identity to the man's son, but ironically the son died soon after the father. So begins the fourth of seven cold cases written up in a bestselling book by Parisian journalist Roger Raffin that Enzo rashly boasted he could solve (he's been successful with the first three). It takes Enzo to a tiny island off the coast of Brittany in France, where he must confront the hostility of locals who have no desire to see the infamous murder back in the headlines. An attractive widow, a man charged but acquitted of the murder -- but still the viable suspect, a crime scene frozen in time, a dangerous hell hole by the cliffs, and a collection of impenetrable messages, make this one of Enzo's most difficult cases.

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Mystery Book Review: Vienna Secrets by Frank Tallis

Mysterious Reviews

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of Vienna Secrets by Frank Tallis. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

Vienna Secrets by Frank Tallis

by
A Max Liebermann Mystery

Random House (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-8129-8099-9 (0812980999)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8129-8099-8 (9780812980998)
Publication Date: February 2010
List Price: $15.00

Review: Psychologist Max Liebermann is called upon to assist in the investigation of the brutal murder of a monk in Vienna Secrets, the fourth mystery in this series by Frank Tallis.

Brother Stanislav of the Piarist Order is found decapitated, his head seemingly twisted from his body. Detective Oskar Rheinhardt can hardly believe a single man could have had the strength to do such a thing. Even two men. But soon thereafter another body is found, a Catholic priest, killed in the same manner. Both men had been outspoken critics of Jews, likening them to a plague in the city. With their bodies found adjacent to a Plague Column, erected throughout the city to celebrate the end of the epidemic plague in the 17th century, the symbolism couldn't be more obvious. Are their murders the work of a Jewish sect out for revenge?

This supposition is quickly proved invalid, or at least unlikely, when the body of a rabbi is found, his head also placed near a plague column. Maybe someone is trying to start a religious war in Vienna, striving to get each side to blame the other -- but to what end? Some, however, think it is the work of the devil himself. Liebermann and Rheinhardt follow leads from one end of Vienna to the other in an attempt to solve these gruesome crimes.

Vienna Secrets takes place in 1903 at a time when dissention between Christians and Jews was very real in Vienna. The historical aspect to the story together with detailed descriptions of the cultural life in the city at that time lend a credible backdrop to the murder mystery, so much so that it's hard to separate fact from fiction. Max Liebermann is an interesting, conflicted character: a non-practicing Jew but also a physician, trained to heal the physically ailing, but now practicing the study of the mind. This solidly plotted historical mystery is a strong entry in this series.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Vienna Secrets and to Random House for providing a copy of the book for this review.

Review Copyright © 2010 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved

Buy from Amazon.com

If you are interested in purchasing Vienna Secrets from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right. Vienna Secrets (Kindle edition) is also available. Learn more about the Kindle, Amazon's Wireless Reading Device.

Synopsis (from the publisher): In Freud’s dangerous, dazzling Vienna of 1903, an ingenious doctor and an intrepid detective again challenge psychotic criminals across a landscape teetering between the sophisticated and the savage, the thrilling future and the primitive past.

On opposite sides of the city, two men are found beheaded on church grounds. Detective Inspector Oskar Reinhardt is baffled. Could the killer be mentally ill, someone the victims came into contact with? Some are even blaming the murders on the devil. But when psychoanalyst Dr. Max Liebermann learns that both victims were vocal members of a shadowy anti-Semitic group, he turns his gaze to the city’s close-knit Hasidic community. The doctor is drawn into an urban underworld that hosts and hides virulent racists on one side and followers of kabbalah on the other. And as the evidence—and bodies—pile up, Liebermann must reconsider his own path, the one that led him away from the miraculous and toward a life of the mind.

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Games of Mystery: Millennium Secrets Emerald Curse, New from Big Fish Games

Games of Mystery

, your source for mystery-themed board, electronic and video games, parties for kids and adults, and murder mystery weekends and mystery getaway vacations, is pleased to announce the availability of a new mystery casual game from Big Fish Games released today. You can find out more about these games by visiting our page or by clicking on the links provided below.

Millennium Secrets: Emerald Curse
Millennium Secrets: Emerald Curse

Kate McCormick receives a call from her old friend Archibald Jones, a professor who’s an expert in ancient civilizations. He asks her to retrieve a very important briefcase from a secret location in New York City and deliver it to the authorities, but before he can explain further, Kate hears voices and then the call ends abruptly.

Confused by this strange call, Kate begins her investigation that will take her to New York, Barcelona, the Bahamas and Mexico, with transfers to the ancient Aztec capital city of Tenochtitlan. Kate’s adventure will be difficult and dangerous. She will face a mysterious organization, and during her quest she will uncover one of the ancient secrets of the Aztec Empire.

Millennium Secrets: Emerald Curse is the first in what is expected to be a series of detective games in this franchise.

Also available: Millennium Secrets: Emerald Curse Strategy Guide and a Millennium Secrets: Emerald Curse Game Walkthrough.

Millennium Secrets: Emerald Curse may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (133.50 MB) may be downloaded and played for free for one hour.

Watch a preview video below:

Get any standard game for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. Other benefits include the $2.99 Daily Deal, Tomorrow's Game Today, and special member rewards. And if you purchase any 6 games within a single month, you earn a free game with the Big Fish Game Club Monthly Punch Card! (Collector's Editions earn 3 punches each, half-way towards your free game!)

Read our new game reviews by Ms. Terri: , , , , and .

Big Fish Games: Bestsellers

Big Fish Games: New releases

And don't forget to visit for all kinds of mysterious fun!

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Saturday, March 20, 2010

Reviews of Mystery and Suspense Books for Kids, New This Week on Book Trends

Book Trends: Reviews of Young Adult and Children Books

Book Trends, a review site for young adult and children books, published several new book reviews this past week. We're presenting here a summary of those in the mystery / suspense category.

Dream Life by Lauren Mechling. The 2nd mystery in the Claire Voyante series. Recommended for readers aged 12 and older. Lexile measure: N/A. Reviewed by a 6th grade student who wrote, "... extraordinary [with] some mystery and suspense weaved into it," adding, "I do think everybody should have a chance to read this book because it is just that good."

For more reviews of children and young adult books, visit Book Trends; their reviews will amaze you!

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Games of Mystery: Culpa Innata, Exodus from the Earth, and 7 Nancy Drew Mysteries, New from Amazon Video Games

Games of Mystery

, your source for mystery-themed board, electronic and video games, parties for kids and adults, murder mystery weekends and mystery getaway vacations, and more mysterious fun, is pleased to announce this week's new mystery and suspense games available for immediate download from Amazon Video Games.

— ◊ —

Culpa Innata
Download and Buy Culpa Innata

Culpa Innata

The year is 2047. Countries with significant resources have united under one World Union to create a utopian society. But beneath the perfect world lies an unspeakable truth. Peace Officer Phoenix Wallis is assigned to investigate a brutal murder. Still young and inexperienced, she will soon make discoveries beyond her wildest imagination. Her investigation reveals clues that lead her deeper and deeper into a mystery that challenges not only her case, but her very beliefs in the worldview she has sworn to protect.

Windows Vista / XP (1615 MB download). ESRB Rating: Mature.

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Exodus from the Earth
Download and Buy Exodus from the Earth

Exodus from the Earth

The earth is living its last twenty years and the population is now faced with struggling to ensure its survival. The A. X. Corporation could produce a vaccine that would allow human beings to live in any environment. The Intelligence Agency has commissioned you, Francis Rixon, to find out what is happening inside the Corporation's confines and to retrieve information about a secret mineral upon which the very existence of the human race may depend.

Windows Vista / XP (2341 MB download). ESRB Rating: Mature.

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And for the first time, available for download from Amazon Video Games, are seven games in the original Nancy Drew series!

For a complete list of games featuring the teenage sleuth, visit Games of Mystery: Nancy Drew.

Nancy Drew: Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake (7th in series)
Download and Buy Nancy Drew: Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake (7th in series)

Nancy Drew: Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake (7th in series)

A friend's frantic note sends you, as Nancy Drew, on the trail of a mysterious pack of dogs. Local residents say that the dogs have come back from the grave to protect their master's secrets. Are the ghostly legends true, or is there a flesh-and-blood explanation for the haunting howls? You must solve the mystery before the hounds catch your scent!

Windows Vista / XP (484 MB download). ESRB Rating: Everyone.

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Nancy Drew: Danger on Deception Island (9th in series)
Download and Buy Nancy Drew: Danger on Deception Island (9th in series)

Nancy Drew: Danger on Deception Island (9th in series)

When unexplained accidents start occurring on a remote island in the Pacific Northwest, it's up to you, as Nancy Drew, to discover the secret behind the events.

With vandalism, loose orcas, and an oddly approaching fog, is Nancy diving headlong into dangerous water?

Windows Vista / XP (536 MB download). ESRB Rating: Everyone.

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Nancy Drew: Curse of Blackmoor Manor (11th in series)
Download and Buy Nancy Drew: Curse of Blackmoor Manor (11th in series)

Nancy Drew: Curse of Blackmoor Manor (11th in series)

All is not well in Blackmoor Manor, a Fourteenth Century English mansion haunted by a tragic past. You, as Nancy Drew, embark on an adventure to visit Linda Penvellyn, your neighbor's daughter and newlywed wife of a British diplomat. A mysterious malady keeps Linda hidden behind thick bed curtains. Is she hiding from something or someone, or is a more menacing threat stalking her? Face your fears to find the truth!

Windows Vista / XP (478 MB download). ESRB Rating: Everyone.

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Nancy Drew: Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon (13th in series)
Download and Buy Nancy Drew: Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon (13th in series)

Nancy Drew: Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon (13th in series)

The Hardy Boys have invited you, as Nancy Drew, on a train ride out West to solve a century-old secret. This mysterious train was found in Blue Moon Canyon, and its owner, Jake Hurley, seems to have disappeared, along with the location of his legendary mine. Climb aboard as Nancy Drew and see if you can uncover the truth at the end of the line!

Windows Vista / XP (756 MB download). ESRB Rating: Everyone.

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Nancy Drew: Danger by Design (14th in series)
Download and Buy Nancy Drew: Danger by Design (14th in series)

Nancy Drew: Danger by Design (14th in series)

Fashion designer Minette might be at the height of her career, but rumors have been flying about her bizarre behavior. Is this designer diva coming apart at the seams, or is someone keeping her spring collection unfashionably behind schedule? It's up to you, as Nancy Drew, to travel to Paris for an internship and sew up this case in style!

Windows Vista / XP (839 MB download). ESRB Rating: Everyone.

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Nancy Drew: Legend of the Crystal Skill (17th in series)
Download and Buy Nancy Drew: Legend of the Crystal Skill (17th in series)

Nancy Drew: Legend of the Crystal Skill (17th in series)

Bruno Bolet was the owner of the "Whisperer," a crystal skull rumored to protect its holder from any cause of death - except murder. When Bruno passed away, the skull went missing among the clutter of the creepy Bolet manor. You'll need to team up with Nancy's best friend Bess to find this mystical artifact before it falls into the wrong hands!

Windows Vista / XP (894 MB download). ESRB Rating: Everyone.

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Nancy Drew: Ransom of the Seven Ships (20th in series)
Download and Buy Nancy Drew: Ransom of the Seven Ships (20th in series)

Nancy Drew: Ransom of the Seven Ships (20th in series)

Your friend Bess Marvin has been kidnapped and the only chance you have to save her is by solving a 300-year-old Bahamian mystery! Dangerous waters keep treasure hunters from exploring the reefs around Dread Isle, but this remote island might hide the riches of El Toro's lost fleet! Can you, as Nancy Drew, track down the treasure before time runs out?

Windows Vista / XP (971 MB download). ESRB Rating: Everyone.

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A complete list of downloadable mystery games is available on our Games of Mystery: Amazon.com Game Download page.

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Friday, March 19, 2010

Mystery Bestsellers for March 19, 2010

Mystery Bestsellers

A list of the top 15 for the week ending March 19, 2010 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.

Although there's little change at the top of the list this week, Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol is still number one, we're starting to see more new titles enter the list.

— ◊ —

Deep Shadow by Randy Wayne White
More information about the book

Debuting just off the list last week and moving up to 7th position this week is Deep Shadow, the 17th Doc Ford mystery by Randy Wayne White.

Many dangers lurk in the deep -- the worst of them are human.

Thirty minutes into what should have been an easy, beginner-level dive in a remote Florida lake, the rim of a cave collapses, trapping two of Doc Ford's friends. Ford himself manages to escape and quickly surfaces to find help-but that's when his troubles only begin.

Two men are waiting for him on the shore, and they are not the kind of men you want to meet at any time. Murderers and ex-cons, they're intent on diving to the bottom of the very deep lake and uncovering the remains of a legendary plane wreck there, supposedly loaded with Cuban treasury gold. Ford's ex­pertise is just what they need. And if he doesn't want to help? He can die. His friends? They can die, too. In fact, they can die right now ...

As the hours tick away, two mortal struggles unfold simulta­neously, one above and one below. Neither outcome is certain, no man is safe ... and in the deep shadow, only death awaits.

— ◊ —

Think Twice by Lisa Scottoline
More information about the book

New at number 10 is Think Twice, the 13th thriller set at the Philadelphia law firm of Rosato and Associates by Lisa Scottoline.

Bennie Rosato looks exactly like her identical twin, Alice Connolly, but the darkness in Alice’s soul makes them two very different women. Or at least that’s what Bennie believes, until she finds herself buried alive at the hands of her twin.

Meanwhile, Alice takes over Bennie’s life, impersonating her at work and even seducing her boyfriend in order to escape the deadly mess she has made of her own life. But Alice underestimates Bennie and the evil she has unleashed in her twin’s psyche, as well as Bennie’s determination to stay alive long enough to exact revenge.

Bennie must face the twisted truth that she is more like her sister Alice than she could have ever imagined, and by the novel’s shocking conclusion, Bennie finds herself engaged in a war she cannot win -- with herself.

— ◊ —

The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley
More information about the book

And just making the list at nubmer 15 is the second Flavia de Luce mystery, The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley.

Flavia thinks that her days of crime-solving in the bucolic English hamlet of Bishop’s Lacy are over -- and then Rupert Porson has an unfortunate rendezvous with electricity. The beloved puppeteer has had his own strings sizzled, but who’d do such a thing and why? For Flavia, the questions are intriguing enough to make her put aside her chemistry experiments and schemes of vengeance against her insufferable big sisters. Astride Gladys, her trusty bicycle, Flavia sets out from the de Luces’ crumbling family mansion in search of Bishop’s Lacey’s deadliest secrets.

Does the madwoman who lives in Gibbet Wood know more than she’s letting on? What of the vicar’s odd ministrations to the catatonic woman in the dovecote? Then there’s a German pilot obsessed with the Brontë sisters, a reproachful spinster aunt, and even a box of poisoned chocolates. Most troubling of all is Porson’s assistant, the charming but erratic Nialla. All clues point toward a suspicious death years earlier and a case the local constables can’t solve -- without Flavia’s help. But in getting so close to who’s secretly pulling the strings of this dance of death, has our precocious heroine finally gotten in way over her head?

— ◊ —

The top four mystery bestsellers this week are shown below:

The Lost Symbol by Dan BrownSplit Image by Robert B. ParkerWorst Case by James PattersonThe Man from Beijing by Henning Mankell

Please visit the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books where we are committed to providing readers and collectors of with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.

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Thursday, March 18, 2010

Summit Options Andrew Klavan's Homelanders Young Adult Thriller Series

The Last Thing I Remember by Andrew Klavan
More information about the book

In a press release today, Summit Entertainment announced the studio has optioned the Homelanders series of thrillers for young adults, written by Andrew Klavan. There are currently two books in the series, The Last Thing I Remember and The Long Way Home, which feature high school student Charlie West, who wakes up one morning a hunted man.

Two of Klavan's books have previously been adapted for film: True Crime, starring Clint Eastwood, and Don't Say a Word, starring Michael Douglas.

"I'm really excited about this," said Klavan. "These are top-notch filmmakers who can make movies as action-packed as the books are."

About The Last Thing I Remember (from the publisher): Charlie West just woke up in someone else's nightmare.

He's strapped to a chair. He's covered in blood and bruises. He hurts all over. And a strange voice outside the door just ordered his death.

The last thing he can remember, he was a normal high-school kid doing normal things -- working on his homework, practicing karate, daydreaming of becoming an air force pilot, writing a pretty girl's number on his hand. How long ago was that? Where is he now? Who is he really?

And more to the point ... how is he going to get out of this room alive?

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Mystery Book Review: One Too Many Blows To the Head by J. B. Kohl and Eric Beetner

Mysterious Reviews

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of One Too Many Blows To the Head by J. B. Kohl and Eric Beetner. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

One Too Many Blows To the Head by J. B. Kohl and Eric Beetner

One Too Many Blows To the Head by J. B. Kohl and Eric Beetner
Non-series

Second Wind Publishing (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 1-935171-32-1 (1935171321)
ISBN-13: 978-1-935171-32-4 (9781935171324)
Publication Date: October 2009
List Price: $13.95

Review: Set in 1939, boxing manager Ray Ward pursues those who fixed a fight in which his brother was killed in One Too Many Blows To the Head, a noir-ish thriller by J. B. Kohl and Eric Beetner.

Rex Ward is an up-and-comer in the sport of boxing. Managed by his brother Ray, he's not quite ready for the big time -- Chicago -- but a few key wins in their home town of Kansas City will set him up well. It's during one of these fights that Rex is killed, his face pummeled so hard it's virtually unrecognizable. Ray isn't naive, he knows fights can be and often are fixed, but suspects this was more than just an illegal take-down, and learns his brother's opponent was using weighted gloves. Determined to seek revenge -- if not justice -- Ray doesn't let anyone get in his way as he hunts down whoever ordered his brother permanently knocked out.

One Too Many Blows To the Head is told from alternating first-person points of view: that of Ray Ward and that of Detective Dean Fokoli, who is initially investigating the death of Rex Ward, but later the trail of bodies that Ray leaves in his wake. The writing is crisp, the characters finely drawn. Ray's motivation to avenge his brother's death, murder really, may seem to be simple, but in actuality is deeply complex; a former boxer himself, both brothers taught by their abusive father, he sums it up himself in this passage:

[T]his was my fight. I'd been sending Rex into the ring for years to fight bouts I didn't have the skill for and I was tired of winning by proxy. I was tired of not feeling the deep satisfaction of a fist connecting with another man's flesh. I was tired of not being close enough to hear a rib bone break or get the warm splatter of an opponent's blood on my face. I had been ringside too long.

As much as the story may seem to be about Ray Ward, it's also about Dean Fokoli, who has his own demons chasing him. They meet in the end, but it's a meeting of equals, men more alike than not. One Too Many Blows To the Head is quite remarkable in how it takes a relatively simple story and develops an intricate, compelling tale of two men on a mission to identify who killed Rex Ward ... but also on a search for their own identities.

Special thanks to Eric Beetner for providing a copy of One Too Many Blows To the Head for this review.

Review Copyright © 2010 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved

Buy from Amazon.com

If you are interested in purchasing One Too Many Blows To the Head from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.

Synopsis (from the publisher): Kansas City, 1939. One story from two points of view: the hunter and the hunted. Ray Ward -- seeking revenge for his brother's death in the boxing ring. Detective Dean Fokoli -- hot on a killer's trail.

Ray's hunt takes him underground into Kansas City's criminal nightlife. Dean Fokoli lives there full time but he's on the run from his own troubles. Two men racing forward to collide like a knockout punch.

A razor-edged story of revenge, redemption and what happens when you confront the ghosts of the past.

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Hyde Park To Film Adaptation of Spy Thriller Firewall by Andy McNab

Firewall by Andy McNab
More information about the book

Variety is reporting that Hyde Park Entertainment has acquired the film rights to the Andy McNab espionage novels featuring British SAS agent Nick Stone. The first book to be adapted, Firewall, is actually the third in the series, and will be filmed as Echelon. McNab, a former member of the SAS himself, co-wrote the screenplay and will executive produce.

"I've been a fan of the Nick Stone stories for years, as they are a rich and unique source for a contemporary action-thriller," said Hyde Park Chairman and CEO Ashok Amritraj, who likened the series to Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne novels.

About Firewall (from the publisher): If he hadn't needed the cash so badly, Nick Stone would never have messed with the Russian mafia. But the lucrative offer was one he couldn't refuse. The job seemed simple enough for a man of his particular talents: kidnap a ruthless, money-laundering mob boss from his fortified Helsinki hotel room and deliver him to St. Petersburg. But as the plan begins to unfold, Stone soon realizes that by no means has he been told the full story.

Catapulted into the bleak underworld of the former Soviet republic of Estonia, where unknown aggressors stalk the arctic landscape, Stone finds that the mob may now turn out to be the least of his problems. Russia has embarked on a new Cold War offensive -- hacking into the West's computer systems and stealing their most coveted military secrets. As one bloody double cross leads to another, Stone finds himself caught between the suicidal schemes of the British and American intelligence agencies and the ruthless Russians who want to silence him.

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