The political and literary thriller Anonymous opens in limited release this Friday, October 28th, 2011. It is expected to be released more widely sometime in November.
Set in the political snake-pit of Elizabethan England, the film speculates on an issue that has for centuries intrigued academics and brilliant minds ranging from Mark Twain and Charles Dickens to Henry James and Sigmund Freud, namely: who was the author of the plays credited to William Shakespeare? Experts have debated, books have been written, and scholars have devoted their lives to protecting or debunking theories surrounding the authorship of the most renowned works in English literature. Anonymous poses one possible answer, focusing on a time when cloak-and-dagger political intrigue, illicit romances in the Royal Court, and the schemes of greedy nobles hungry for the power of the throne were exposed in the most unlikely of places: the London stage.
Anonymous stars Rafe Spall as William Shakespear, Vanessa Redgrave as Queen Elizabeth I, and Rhys Ifans as Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford. Watch a trailer for the film below.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Anonymous Opens in Limited Release this Friday, October 28th, 2011
The Lord is My Shepherd by Debbie Viguié is Today's Featured Free MystereBook
MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Lord is My Shepherd by Debbie Viguié as today's free mystery ebook. 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 we urge you to download it while it is still available for free.
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The Lord is My Shepherd by Debbie Viguié
A Psalm 23 Mystery
Abingdon Press
A few weeks ago the second in this series, I Shall Not Want, was available for free. Now you can get the first, which introduces church secretary Cindy Preston and Rabbi Jeremiah Silverman. A third book in the series, Lie Down in Green Pastures, was published earlier this year.
About The Lord is My Shepherd (from the publisher): Cindy’s church is getting ready to celebrate Easter, and Jeremiah’s Temple is preparing for Passover when Cindy literally stumbles over the body of an unknown man lying dead in the sanctuary. The church was locked, and a bloody cross necklace on the floor seems to be the only clue. The killer is likely a member of the congregation, but there are hints that similar deaths have happened in the past. Are Cindy and Jeremiah dealing with a serial killer? They have to unravel the clues before Easter Sunday arrives and more people die.
Cindy and Jeremiah come from two different worlds, even though they work right next door to each other. Cindy is a strong Christian who lives a normal but somewhat dull life, working as a church secretary. Jeremiah is a Reformed rabbi with a mysterious past full of danger and excitement. But one eventful Easter/Passover week, the two find themselves working together to solve a murder and stop a serial killer from striking again. Solving the mystery should put an end to their alliance, but the church secretary and the rabbi quickly find themselves enmeshed in another mystery. Soon the two form a friendly alliance and friendship, exploring personal history and faith and growing closer with each passing adventure. Despite their differences Cindy and Jeremiah find a lot of common ground.
Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.
Download Link(s):
For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Universal to Adapt Robert Ludlum's The Janson Directive
Universal is moving forward with a film adaptation of Robert Ludlum's The Janson Directive with the expectation (hope?) that it could become another Bourne-type franchise for the studio. John Hlavin is writing the screenplay.
In the book, it's up to Paul Janson — a legend in the notorious US covert agency Consular Operations — to save billionaire philanthropist Peter Novak when he is kidnapped by a terrorist known as The Caliph. But Janson's rescue operation goes horribly wrong … and soon Janson is marked for death, the target of a "beyond salvage" order issued from the highest level of the government. Now Janson is running for his life, pursued by Jessica Kincaid, a young agent of astonishing ability who can anticipate and counter his every move. To survive, Janson must outrace a conspiracy that has gone beyond the control of its originators. To win, he must counter it with a conspiracy of his own …
The Janson Directive, published posthumously a year after the author's death in 2001, will be followed by a sequel, The Janson Command by Paul Garrison, to be published early next year.
(Source: Deadline.)
Ed Brubaker's Noir Graphic Novel Coward to be Adapted for Film
Ed Brubaker is adapting his own noir graphic novel Coward — which collects the first five issues of the "Criminal" series of comics, originally published in 2006 — for film. David Slade (The Twilight Saga: Eclipse) is on board to direct.
Coward is the story of Leo, a professional pickpocket who is also a legendary heist-planner and thief. But there's a catch with Leo: he won't work any job that he doesn't call all the shots on, he won't allow guns, and the minute things turn south, he's looking for any exit that won't land him in prison. But when he's lured into a risky heist, all his rules go out the window, and he ends up on the run from the cops and the bad men who double-crossed him. Now Leo must come face-to-face with the violence he's kept bottled up inside for 20 years, and nothing will ever be the same for him again.
"Coward was just a great modern story," Slade said. "It harkens back to an era of crime stories where there's really a gritty reality to it, but there's a kind of underworld haze of noir. It's not like we have to reinvent the material, to figure it out, because it already works."
(Source: Variety.)
Telemystery: CBS Orders Full Seasons of Unforgettable and Person of Interest
CBS has given full season orders to two of its new crime dramas: Unforgettable and Person of Interest.
Unforgettable stars Poppy Montgomery as former police detective Carrie Wells, who has a rare condition that allows her to remember every place, every conversation, every moment of her life … except the details that would help solve her sister's murder.
Person of Interest stars Jim Caviezel as former — and presumed by his employer, dead — CIA agent Reese, who teams up with mysterious billionaire Finch (played by Michael Emerson) to prevent crimes before they happen.
Telemystery: AMC Orders Third Season of The Walking Dead
With its second season just underway, AMC has renewed The Walking Dead for a third season.
"Today we are pleased to announce that the dead shall live as we proudly renew The Walking Dead for a third season on AMC and, globally, with our terrific partners at Fox International Channels," said AMC president Charlie Collier.
Based on Robert Kirkman's graphic novels, the series stars Andrew Lincoln as County Sheriff Rick Grimes, who wakes from a coma to discover the world as he knows it is gone, ravaged by a zombie epidemic.
MysteriousPress.com Launches Today
MysteriousPress.com, the digital version of Otto Penzler's original Mysterious Press, officially launches today.
Founded in 1975, Mysterious Press was devoted to printing the best mystery, crime and suspense books, as well as offering many limited, signed editions.
Now, the Mysterious Press is back and it's going digital, putting out books through MysteriousPress.com.
Working in conjunction with Open Road Integrated Media, this 21st-century publishing house will take books from some of the most distinguished crime, mystery and suspense writers in the world, and offer them in digital reading formats. And they're maintaining their commitment to quality: books will be carefully formatted, expertly proofread, and will be accompanied by professionally-designed covers.
The books offered by MysteriousPress.com are currently out of print but protected by copyright, and will take advantage of digital reading formats to bring classic fiction to new audiences. Currently, they're in the process of digitizing books by some of the most distinguished and best-selling crime writers in the world. In the not-too-distant future, they plan to publish original novels by previously published authors, as well as by talented newcomers.
To celebrate the launch of MysteriousPress.com, they're running a contest: Follow their Twitter account, @eMysteries, between now and November 2nd and you'll be eligible to receive three free ebooks:
• The City When It Rains by Thomas H. Cook;
• Rilke on Black by Ken Bruen;
• The Mordida Man by Ross Thomas.
One winner will be picked at random on November 2nd and receive these books in the format of their choice (for iPad, Kindle, etc.).
Review: Death of a Wannabe by Lawrence Friedman
Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Death of a Wannabe by Lawrence Friedman.
New Hardcover Mysteries for November 2011
The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books has updated its list of new hardcover mysteries with books scheduled for publication in November 2011. Please note that some titles may publish early, and may already be available, and some may be delayed, published at a later date.
Below we're listing those authors with returning series characters, new series characters, and non-series or stand-alone mysteries in separate sections. All titles are available on our November new mystery books page, which will become the default home page for the site on November 1st.
• Authors with mysteries featuring returning series characters (in italics) this month:
Mignon F. Ballard(Dimple Kilpatrick, 2nd) — Maggie Barbieri(Alison Bergeron, Murder 101, 6th) — Alan Bradley(Flavia de Luce, 4th) — Simon Brett(Fethering, 12th) — Emily Brightwell(Mrs. Jeffries, 29th) — Erin Brockovich and C. J. Lyons(A. J. Palladino, 2nd) — Charles Brokaw(Thomas Lourds, 3rd) — Michael Connelly(Harry Bosch, 17th) — Gary Corby(Nicolaos, 2nd) — Mary Daheim(Emma Lord, 23rd) — Elizabeth Darrell(Max Rydal, 7th) — Phillip DePoy(Fever Devilin, 6th) — Laura DiSilverio(Charlotte "Charlie" Swift, 2nd) — Paul Doherty (Templars, 2nd) — James D. Doss(Charlie Moon, 16th) — Kaitlyn Dunnett(Liss MacCrimmon, 5th) — Janet Evanovich(Stephanie Plum, 18th numbered) — Charles Finch(Charles Lennox, 5th) — Diana Gabaldon(Lord John Grey, 4th) — Sue Grafton(Kinsey Millhone, 22nd) — Susanna Gregory (Matthew Bartholomew, 17th) — J. M. Gregson(Lambert and Hook, 24th) — James W. Hall(Thorn, 12th) — Cora Harrison (Burren Mysteries, 7th) — Dana Haynes(Crashers, 2nd) — Betty Hechtman(Molly Pink, Crochet, 5th) — David Heinzmann(Augustine Flood, 2nd) — Peg Herring(Simon Maldon, 2nd) — Susan Hill(Simon Serrailler, 6th) — Anthony Horowitz(Sherlock Holmes) — Bill James (Harpur and Iles, 28th) — Peter James(Roy Grace, 7th) — Asa Larsson(Rebecka Martinsson, 4th) — Margaret Maron(Deborah Knott, 17th) — Shirley Rousseau Murphy(Joe Grey, 16th) — Hilary Norman(Sam Becket, 5th) — Ann Parker(Inez Stannert, Silver Rush, 4th) — James Patterson(Alex Cross, 18th) — Caro Peacock(Liberty Lane, 4th) — Junius Podrug("Harold Robbins", 9th) — Linda Regan(Paul Banham, 4th) — Cynthia Robinson(Max Bravo, 2nd)
• Authors with mysteries introducing characters (in italics) in a new series this month:
In what we think is a first, there are no new series characters being introduced in this month's hardcover selection of titles.
• Authors with non-series or stand-alone mysteries this month:
David Baldacci — Roberto Bolaño — William S. Cohen — Michael Crichton and Richard Preston — John Curran — Carol Anne Davis — Marjorie Eccles — Rashad Harrison — R. J. Jagger — Bernhard Jaumann — Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis — Ward Larsen — Jon Mills — Jack O'Halloran — Ian Rankin — Piero Rivolta — Stephen Solomita
For more information on any of these titles, please visit the November new mysteries page on our website. If you're interested in new paperbacks, visit The Mystery Bookshelf where you can discover a library of new mystery, suspense and thriller books, also updated with November 2011 releases.
Please visit the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books where we are committed to providing readers and collectors of mystery books with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.
Mr. E. Reviews Unknown
Purchase/Rental Option(s)
It's always disappointing when a good idea for a thriller is mishandled. It's not a total loss here but probably only worthy of a rental for most of us, with only die-hard Liam Neeson fans opting to purchase a copy, just so they can say their collection is complete.
Read the full text of our review at Mr. E. Reviews Unknown.
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Mr. E. Reviews is your source for mystery, suspense, thriller, and crime drama reviews of television and film.
New Poster for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
A new — and possibly final, given the date — poster for the English-language adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson has surfaced (right; click for larger version). This is clearly our favorite, with terrific imagery that meshes well with the book's storyline and the film's relatively new tagline, "What is hidden in snow comes forth in the thaw," a vast improvement over the previous "Evil shall with evil be expelled."
Directed by David Fincher, the film stars Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara with Christopher Plummer. It opens in US theaters December 21st, 2011.
A Wee Christmas Homicide by Kaitlyn Dunnett is Today's Featured Free MystereBook
MystereBooks is pleased to feature A Wee Christmas Homicide by Kaitlyn Dunnett as today's free mystery ebook. 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 we urge you to download it while it is still available for free.
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A Wee Christmas Homicide by Kaitlyn Dunnett
A Liss MacCrimmon Mystery
Kensington
This is the third mystery in this series featuring the former professional Scottish dancer, who now runs a shop in Maine. The fifth, Scotched, will be published next month.
About A Wee Christmas Homicide (from the publisher): Tis the season to be jolly, but in Moosetookalook, Maine, Christmas cheer is in short supply due to a snowless winter that's keeping skiers and shoppers at a distance. Fortunately, Liss MacCrimmon of the Scottish Emporium has a plan …
Liss's brainstorm focuses on Tiny Teddies, the new "hot" toy of the season. Every store across the country is out of stock — except a few wee establishments in good ol' Moosetookalook. It's easy enough to drum up approval for the idea of luring consumers to town and keeping them there with a stockingful of New England holiday charm. Liss's real challenge lies in contending with bickering businesspeople and--once America learns of Moosetookalook's Tiny Teddy cache--doggedly determined shopaholics.
The first sign of something amiss occurs when the last Tiny Teddy is summarily executed: shot through the heart in the display window of greedy toy store owner Gavin Thorne. But the Teddy's demise is just a precursor to the eerily similar murder of Gavin himself …
The two men in Liss's life want her far from the case, but she can't help feeling guilty for starting the fur frenzy that seems to have led to Gavin's death. Besides, how can she ignore the lengthy list of suspects, not the least of whom include Gavin's vindictive ex-wife, an unscrupulous selectman, a ski shop owner with an axe to grind, and a rabid toy collector packing heat in her purse?
Now, with the Twelve (or, in Scots terms, the Daft) Days of Christmas rapidly approaching, Liss has a plate full of things worse than haggis to contend with, starting with a stockroom packed with poultry (don't ask), and ending with a killer who'd like to see Liss's goose well and fully cooked …
Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.
Download Link(s):
For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Mystery and Suspense Films, New This Week on DVD (111025)
Checking through our list of films currently scheduled for release this week on DVD and/or Blu-ray disc, shown below are those that fall into the mystery, suspense, thriller and adventure categories.
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Purchase/Rental Options
Faces in the Crowd (2011)
Film Synopsis (from the studio): Milla Jovovich stars as Anna, a young woman, who barely survives a brutal attack by a deranged serial killer known as Tearjerk Jack and wakes in hospital only to discover her head injury has left her "face-blind": she can no longer recognize anyone's faces. Not even her own in the mirror. Now she has to navigate a world where everyone's face changes the second she loses sight of it … and the killer is closing in. With only a loyal detective's (Julian McMahon) face familiar to her, she cannot trust anyone as she struggles to resume her normal life, and, plagued by fear and a vindictive Jack, struggles to survive.
Rated R. 102 minutes. This is a direct to DVD film release.
Watch a trailer for the film below:
Telemystery: Barney Miller and Luther, New this Week on DVD
Telemystery, your source for one of the most comprehensive listings of crime drama, amateur sleuth, private investigator, mystery and suspense television series, mini-series and made-for-television movies, now available on or coming soon to DVD or Blu-ray disc, is profiling two series being released this week.
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Airing for eight seasons on ABC, Barney Miller is a situation comedy television series set in a NYC police station in Greenwich Village.
Captain Barney Miller (Hal Linden) is the kind of cop we'd all like to meet. He somehow manages to maintain order over a group of inner-city detectives who gamble for a hobby, get hit on by anything in skirts, go to renaissance philosophy conventions for fun, and would really prefer to be writing. These colorful characters worked together to make one of the funniest sitcoms ever and is cemented in classic TV status.
Barney Miller: The Complete Series is available on DVD and consists of 170 episodes that originally aired from January 1975 through May 1982. (The first three seasons were released as separate DVD sets.)
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Idris Elba stars as Detective Chief Inspector John Luther, a self-destructive near-genius, who might just be as dangerous as the depraved criminals he hunts in the BBC series Luther.
Devastated by the brutal murder of his wife, Luther has to continue policing in a very different world, fighting for his job and his freedom. With his old unit gone, he's working in the newly created Serious and Serial unit.
Luther: Series Two is available on DVD, Amazon Instant, and iTunes and consists of two storylines (4 episodes in total) that originally aired on BBC America from late-September through mid-October 2011.
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Visit the Telemystery website to discover more television mystery series currently available on and coming soon to DVD, Blu-ray disc, or video on demand.
BoneMan's Daughters by Ted Dekker is Today's Amazon Kindle Daily Deal
MystereBooks is pleased to feature BoneMan's Daughters by Ted Dekker as today's Amazon Kindle Daily Deal. The deal price of $1.99 is valid only for today, Monday, October 24, 2011.
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BoneMan's Daughters by Ted Dekker
Non-Series
Center Street
About BoneMan's Daughters (from the publisher): They call him BoneMan, a serial killer who's abducted six young women. He's the perfect father looking for the perfect daughter, and when his victims fail to meet his lofty expectations, he kills them by breaking their bones and leaving them to die.
Intelligence officer Ryan Evans, on the other hand, has lost all hope of ever being the perfect father. His daughter and wife have written him out of their lives.
Everything changes when BoneMan takes Ryan's estranged daughter, Bethany, as his seventh victim. Ryan goes after BoneMan on his own.
But the FBI sees it differently. New evidence points to the suspicion that Ryan is BoneMan. Now the hunter is the hunted, and in the end, only one father will stand.
Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.
Download Link(s):
