A week ago, we posted a new trailer for the upcoming novel Dark Prophecy by Anthony E. Zuiker. Today, the first "cyber-bridge" was released; you can watch it below. Titled "The Reading: Hanged Man," the 9½ minute video provides a sneak peek into the plot of the book, the second in the Steve Dark Level 26 series of thrillers. A new cyber-bridge will be released every day for the next 10 days.
Dark Prophecy publishes October 14th, the same day the villain from the series, Sqweegel, makes an appearance on CSI. (Anthony E. Zuiker created and executive produces the television series.)
Learn more about the series -- a multi-platform experience that moves the reader from passages in the books to videos and interactive content -- at InsideLevel26 or on the series website, Level26.com.
Monday, October 04, 2010
First Cyber-Bridge for Dark Prophecy by Anthony E. Zuiker Released
Fourth Bourne Film Moving Forward with New Director
Deadline|New York is reporting that Universal Pictures is finalizing a deal with Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton, Duplicity) to direct the fourth film in the Bourne film franchise. Gilroy wrote the screenplays for the first three Bourne films.
Tentatively titled The Bourne Legacy, the film will reportedly not be adapted from any of the existing Bourne thrillers, even though The Bourne Legacy is also the title of the fourth book in the series (and the first written by Eric Van Lustbader, following the death of Robert Ludlum, who created the character). Fans of the series are likely to be confused -- and rightfully so.
Left unsaid is whether Matt Damon will reprise his role as Jason Bourne, the international assassin of deadly repute he played in the first three films.
Today's Featured Free Kindle Mystery: Velocity by Alan Jacobson
Kindle Mysteries is pleased to feature a mystery title that is currently scheduled for release tomorrow, October 5th, in Kindle eBook format for free from Amazon.com. We don't know how long it will be offered at this special price (typically only until a certain number of downloads have been completed), so download it today!
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Velocity by Alan Jacobson
A Karen Vail Mystery (3rd in series)
Vanguard Press (Kindle eBook)
Download Link
About Velocity (from the publisher): Detective Robby Hernandez, FBI profiler Karen Vail’s boyfriend, has vanished into the dense air of a Napa Valley evening. There are no clues to his whereabouts, other than a blood stain and tenuous connections to a vicious serial killer operating in the wine country. As the task force struggles with Robby’s disappearance, the killer challenges Vail by boldly leaving his high profile victims in public places. Is this offender somehow responsible for Robby’s disappearance? Evidence suggests that he is—but just when Vail and the task force begin to make progress, the FBI orders Vail to return to Quantico to handle a case of vital importance.
Back in Washington, Vail engages covert government operative Hector DeSantos to determine what happened to Robby. It’s a move that backfires when DeSantos’s confidential informants lead them into unforeseen dangers, forcing Vail to face off against powerful foes unlike any she’s ever encountered, threatening her life, her career ... all that she holds dear.
In a frantic race against time that takes them from the monuments of Washington, D.C., to the wealthy beach enclaves of San Diego and the bright excesses of Las Vegas, shocking truths emerge—truths that will forever change Karen Vail.
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The first book in the series, The 7th Victim, is also currently available as a free download for the Amazon Kindle.
Bones and Monk, New This Week on DVD and Blu-ray
Telemystery, your source for one of the most comprehensive selections of detective, amateur sleuth, private investigator, and suspense television mystery series, mini-series and made-for-television movies, now available or coming soon to DVD or Blu-ray disc, is profiling two series being released this week.
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Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel) and Special Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) are back for more mystery, murder, and mayhem in the fifth season of Bones.
Relying on Brennan’s unparalleled scientific abilities and Booth’s street-wise instincts, the sexy, crime-solving duo and their team face everything from modern-day witches to murdered rock-n-rollers as they scramble for evidence to stop a gruesome serial killer.
This season also brings a wedding, the show’s landmark 100th episode, and decisions Bones and Booth must make that could change their lives forever.
Bones is based on characters created by forensic anthropologist and mystery author Kathy Reichs.
The Bones: Season Five DVD set of 6 discs contain the 22 episodes that aired on Fox from September 2009 through May 2010. Also available: Bones: Season Five (Blu-ray disc).
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For eight wonderful seasons, Tony Shalhoub starred as Adrian Monk, a San Francisco police detective on leave from the department following the unsolved murder of his wife in the crime comedy/drama Monk.
Consumed by peculiar obsessions and wracked with hundreds of phobias (including but certainly not limited to germs, heights, and even milk), Monk struggles with even the simplest everyday tasks. Still, the department needs him to do what he does best -- solve crimes -- and hires him as a private consultant to investigate cases in his most unconventional manner.
During its run, the series won 8 Emmy Awards, including three for Tony Shalhoub as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.
The Monk: The Complete Series (Limited Edition Box Set) DVD set of 32 discs contain every episode of the series that aired on USA Network from July 2002 through December 2009.
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Visit the Telemystery website to discover more television mystery series currently available on DVD and Blu-ray disc.
Mystery Godoku Puzzle for October 04, 2010
A new Mystery Godoku Puzzle 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!).
This week's letters and mystery clue:
A D E H I K N R T
The Cat was this in the title of the 4th Joe Grey mystery by Shirley Rousseau Murphy (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!
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Ms. Terri Reviews Women's Murder Club: Little Black Lies
Review of Women's Murder Club: Little Black Lies by Ms. Terri, game reviewer for the Omnimystery Family of Mystery Websites.
Women's Murder Club: Little Black Lies is the fourth adventure/hidden object game based on characters created by James Patterson, which are featured in his Women's Murder Club series of mysteries. Here, SFPD homicide detective Lindsay Boxer, medical examiner Claire Washburn, and reporter Cindy Thomas investigate the murder of bestselling author Regina Blacklock, who was using a cold case crime as the basis for her next book.
Murder mystery fans will be pleased to know that, while the whodunit plot is a little flimsy, it is well executed and, in no small way, helps propel the game forward and keep the player involved. The game's strengths far outweigh its few weaknesses, and will provide hours of entertainment for any amateur sleuth.
Read her complete review on Games of Mystery.
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Games of Mystery is your source for mystery-themed video, electronic and board games, parties for kids and adults, murder mystery weekends and mystery getaway vacations, and more mysterious fun!
The Milo & Jazz Mysteries for Kids Series to be Adapted for Television
In a press release, Creating4Kids announced it had secured the television production rights to The Milo & Jazz Mysteries, a series of books for children. Mystery author Rick Copp will adapt the series into 26 half-hour episodes.
"We had been searching for a mystery franchise to develop for the screen and this fits the bill perfectly," said Creating4Kids' president Christopher Keenan, adding that the books "possess a wonderful blend of mystery and comedy and showcase the adventures of two contemporary, likeable and wholly relatable protagonists."
The Milo & Jazz mysteries, written by Mara Rockliff under the pen name of Lewis B. Montgomery, feature two suburban kids who solve crimes in their neighbohood, using techniques they learn from studying the world-famous private eye and master detective Dash Marlowe. We've had the pleasure of reviewing all five books in the series to date, saying of the most recent, The Case of the July 4th Jinx, "There's a lot of humor coupled with a fair amount of misdirection here and the identity of the culprit may even come as a surprise to parents, who choose to read the book with their children." (All our reviews are linked from the First Clues: Milo & Jazz Mysteries page.)
The Double Cross by Clare O'Donohue (Book Review)
The Double Cross by Clare O'Donohue. A Nell Fitzgerald Mystery. Plume Trade Paperback, September 2010.
When one of the ladies of her Someday Quilts club is accused of murder, Nell Fitzgerald jumps in to search for clues to the identity of the real killer in The Double Cross, the third mystery in this series by Clare O'Donohue.
Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: The Double Cross by Clare O'Donohue.
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Mysterious Reviews is your source for the latest mystery, suspense, thriller, and crime novel reviews, edited by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.
Vampire Moon: Mystery of the Hidden Sun, New for Nintendo DS
On Tuesday, October 5th, the mysterious hidden object puzzle game Vampire Moon: Mystery of the Hidden Sun is released for the Nintendo DS.
Enter the dark mysteries of Transylvania as you take on the role of Emily Davis, a news reporter trying to find out what caused a sudden and inexplicable, long-lasting solar eclipse and the equally mysterious disappearance of the scientist researching it.
Find hundreds of ingeniously hidden clues that bring you closer to unraveling the mystery, amongst them, a compendium of lore about vampires and Count Dracula. Brace yourself for many hours of intriguing, secret-filled game play with an intense story and beautiful, atmospheric graphics.
Watch a trailer for the game below:
Saturday, October 02, 2010
Wallander in Faceless Killers, Sunday October 3rd on PBS
Tomorrow, Sunday October 3rd, the first of three new episodes of Series II of Wallander airs on PBS (check your local listings for air times).
In "Faceless Killers", adapted from the first novel in the Wallander series of crime thrillers by Henning Mankell, an elderly couple is brutally assaulted in their rural farmhouse. As Swedish Inspector Wallander (Kenneth Branagh) arrives at the horrific scene, he holds the old woman as she dies, shouting to her one final, urgent question — "Who did this?" She sounds out something that could be "farmer" or maybe "foreigner." But is Wallander reading into it? Is he swayed by his struggle to relate to his daughter's new boyfriend of Syrian descent? The press takes hold of the foreigner angle, inciting swift and deadly retribution against local migrant workers. But there is more to the case — a potential mistress, a lost son and a large sum of money. Wallander's inquiry takes him deep into his own damaged psyche, forcing him to examine and question his own motives before he can even begin to understand those of a killer.
The first series of Wallander is available on DVD from Telemystery: Wallander. This second series will be released on DVD and Blu-ray disc on October 19th, and may be pre-ordered.
