NBC has ordered to pilot Chicago Fire, an action drama co-written by crime novelists Derek Haas (the "Silver Bear" thrillers) and Michael Brandt, who have together written a number film and television screenplays including 3:10 to Yuma, Wanted, and The Double.
There's not much known about the storyline other than it revolves around the men and women of the Chicago Fire Department.
In other recent prime time crime pilot news, CBS has ordered Golden Boy, about one cop's rise from officer to detective to Police Commissioner. The pilot will be written and produced by Nicholas Wootton (NYPD Blue, Law & Order, Prison Break).
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Telemystery Pilots: NBC Orders Chicago Fire; CBS Orders Golden Boy
Academy Award Nominations for Mystery, Suspense and Thriller Films
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced this morning the nominations for the 84th Annual Academy Awards.
Naturally, we first scanned the list to see what mystery, suspense and thriller films made the list. There weren't all that many. We've listed below what we found; your list may differ depending on what films you consider to be mystery, suspense and thriller.
Alphabetically by Category:
• Actor in a Leading Role: Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
• Actress in a Leading Role: Rooney Mara in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Art Direction: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
• Cinematography: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Costume Design: Anonymous
• Film Editing: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Makeup: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
• Sound Editing: Drive
• Sound Editing: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Visual Effects: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
• Writing (Adapted Screenplay): Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan
• Writing (Original Screenplay): Margin Call by J. C. Chandor
Alphabetically by Film:
• Anonymous: Costume Design
• Drive: Sound Edition
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Actress in a Leading Role (Rooney Mara); Cinematography; Film Editing; Sound Editing
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2: Art Direction; Makeup; Visual Effects
• Margin Call: Writing (Original Screenplay)
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: Actor in a Leading Role (Gary Oldman); Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
The winners will be announced in a televised ceremony on Sunday, February 26th.
Review: Stealing Magic by Marianne Malone
Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Stealing Magic by Marianne Malone.
New Poster, Trailer for Indie Thriller Brake
A new poster (right; click for larger version) and trailer (below) for the indie thriller Brake has been released by IFC Films.
Stephen Dorff stars as Secret Service Agent Jeremy Reins, who is held captive in the trunk of a car by a terrorist group and is used as a pawn in their plot while a clock ticks down to an unknown catastrophic event.
The film, directed by Gabe Torres (Hardcover Mysteries, Murder by the Book) from a screenplay by Timothy Mannnion, also stars Tom Berenger, Chyler Leigh, and J. R. Bourne.
Brake opens in limited release on March 23rd, 2012.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Production Update on Total Recall from its Director
A week or so ago Sony Pictures released a synopsis of its remake of Total Recall, offering little in the way of saying what might be new or different about this new film (as compared to, say, the original).
Over the weekend the film's director, Len Wiseman, had a bit more to say about it, suggesting it may be less of a remake of the 1990 sci-fi thriller and more of a new interpretation of the original source material, the short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale".
"[G]oing back into the Philip K. Dick story, you realize there is so much to be discussed about the dual stories," Wiseman said. "There's the reality story and there's the fantasy element. They're running parallel together, so you always have to keep those two alive. That's the inherent nature of the concept and what makes the concept so cool. … [T]he dual nature of the story was the best thing about this."
He had this to say about where he is in the production: "I'm very close to handing over my cut. It's going really well. The combination of mystery and emotion and action, it's coming together. Colin [Farrell] is a large part of that and I'm really happy with him."
Total Recall — which stars Colin Farrell as factory worker Douglas Quaid, who finds himself on the run from police when a mind-trip goes wrong — opens in theaters August 3rd, 2012.
(Related article: SuperHeroHype.com.)
Telemystery: Guido Brunetti and Maria Wern, New This Week on DVD
Telemystery is 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.
Earlier today we profiled two US television series being released this week. In this post, we're taking a look at two European series also coming out on DVD this week.
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Uwe Kockisch stars as Venetian police detective Guido Brunetti in The Commissario Guido Brunetti Mysteries, adapted from the crime novels by Donna Leon.
Two DVD sets are being released this week.
The Commissario Guido Brunetti Mysteries: Episodes 9 and 10 (available on DVD) includes "Doctored Evidence" and "Uniform Justice". We haven't seen these episodes, but have read the 2004 book Doctored Evidence, one of the superb entries in this long running mystery series.
The Commissario Guido Brunetti Mysteries: Episodes 11 and 12 (available on DVD) includes "Death in a Strange Country" and "A Sea of Troubles".
The episodes on these DVDs are in German with English subtitles.
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Eva Röse stars as Detective Inspector Maria Wern in Maria Wern, a series of Swedish-language adaptations of the series crime novels by Anna Jansson. (To our knowledge, none of this author's books have been translated into English.)
Two DVD sets are being released this week.
Maria Wern: Episodes 1-3 (available on DVD) includes "The Speechless God", "All the Tranquil Dead", and "Dreams from Snow", which we believe actually aired as the second season of the series in Sweden in 2010. (The first season was a 4-part adaptation of Främmande fågel, "Strange Bird".)
Maria Wern: Episodes 4-7 (available on DVD) includes "May Death Sleep", "Black Butterfly", "Boy Missing", and "Not Even the Past", which we believe were released as theatrical films in 2011.
The episodes on these DVDs are in Swedish with English subtitles.
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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.
Review: Behind the Redwood Door by John M. Daniel
Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Behind the Redwood Door by John M. Daniel.
2012 Newbery Medal Awarded to Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
The 2012 Newbery Medal, awarded annually by the American Library Association for the most distinguished American children's book published the previous year, has been given to Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos.
Described as being "entirely true and wildly fictional", this book isn't a young adult suspense novel per se … but there is clearly an element of mystery in the narrative. The publisher offers this by way of introduction: "Endlessly surprising, this sly, sharp-edged narrative is the author at his very best, making readers laugh out loud at the most unexpected things in a dead-funny depiction of growing up in a slightly off-kilter place where the past is present, the present is confusing, and the future is completely up in the air."
Set during the summer of 1962, a kid named Jack Gantos has his plans for vacation excitement shot down when he is "grounded for life" by his feuding parents. But plenty of excitement (and shocks) are coming Jack's way once his mom loans him out to help a fiesty old neighbor with a most unusual chore — typewriting obituaries filled with stories about the people who founded his utopian town. As one obituary leads to another, Jack is launced on a strange adventure involving molten wax, Eleanor Roosevelt, twisted promises, a homemade airplane, Girl Scout cookies, a man on a trike, a dancing plague, voices from the past, Hells Angels … and possibly murder.
Telemystery: Kojak and Mannix, 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 one series season and one made-for-television movie collection being released this week.
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Telly Savalas stars as the tough, lollipop-toting NYPD homicide detective Theo "Who loves ya, baby?" Kojak in Kojak, a series that aired for five seasons on CBS between 1973 and 1978.
Seven made-for-television movies — 1985, 1987, two in 1989, and three in 1990 — featuring the character were made after the crime drama ended its series television run. Kojak: The Complete Movie Collection includes all seven of these movies plus the previously unreleased pilot — "The Marcus-Nelson Murders" that originally aired in 1973 and earned series creator Abby Mann an Emmy for Outstanding Writing — on a 4-disc DVD set.
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Mike Connors stars as a hard-boiled Los Angeles private investigator Joe Mannix in Mannix, a crime drama that aired on CBS for eight seasons, from 1967 through 1975.
Widely recognized at the time for being the most violent weekly series on network television — cable television, as we know it today, didn't exist yet — Mannix constantly defied rules and regulations and was able to take a flurry of fist fights, high-speed car chases and bullet wounds in stride.
Mannix: Season Six is available on DVD and consists of episodes that originally aired from September 1972 through March 1973.
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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.
Secrets to Die For by L. J. Sellers is Today's Fourth Featured Free MystereBook
MystereBooks is pleased to feature Secrets to Die For by L. J. Sellers as today's fourth free mystery ebook.
This title was listed as free as of the date and time of this post. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.
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Secrets to Die For by L. J. Sellers
A Wade Jackson Mystery
Publisher: Spellbinder Press
This is the first mystery in this series featuring the Eugene (Oregon) homicide detective.
About Secrets to Die For (from the publisher): When social worker Raina Hughes visits the home of a young boy she’s been assigned to monitor, things quickly turn ugly. Later, when she’s found brutally murdered, Jackson thinks it's an open-and-shut case against the boy's ex-con father. Complications develop when new evidence points to a serial rapist who’s becoming more violent with each attack. Raina’s lover, Jamie, knows what the rape victims have in common, but won’t tell for fear of revealing her own secrets. When Jamie disappears, Jackson must uncover the truth in time to save her.
Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.
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For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.
Toros & Torsos by Craig McDonald is Today's Third Featured Free MystereBook
MystereBooks is pleased to feature Toros & Torsos by Craig McDonald as today's third free mystery ebook.
This title was listed as free as of the date and time of this post. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.
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Toros & Torsos by Craig McDonald
A Hector Lassiter Mystery
Publisher: Bleak House/Craig McDonald
This is the second mystery (of four to date) to feature pulp fiction crime writer Hector Lassiter.
About Toros & Torsos (from the publisher): Against the vivid backdrops of a killer hurricane that nearly destroyed the Florida Keys in 1935, the Spanish Civil War, post-war Hollywood and the first days of the Castro regime in Cuba, Hector Lassiter engages in a decades-long duel against a cabal of killer artists …
A legendary crime novelist, who writes what he lives and lives what he writes, Hector frequently goes a step beyond, drawing friends and lovers into the tawdry and turbulent territory of his fiction. Now, the large-living pulp author has at last met his match in the ultimate performance artist: a phantom killer committed to the art of murder … a blood-thirsty provocateur who leaves a string of macabre tableaus modeled on famous works of surrealist painting and photography …
In a blood-lined haze of love, deception, murderous metaphor and devastating betrayal, nothing is what it seems and obsession and creativity collide in a wicked and unexpected climax that will shake the art world to its foundations …
Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.
Download Link(s):
For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.
Diagnosis Death by Richard L. Mabry is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook
MystereBooks is pleased to feature Diagnosis Death by Richard L. Mabry as today's second free mystery ebook.
This title was listed as free as of the date and time of this post. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.
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Diagnosis Death by Richard L. Mabry
A Prescription for Trouble Medical Thriller
Publisher: Abingdon Press
This third book in a series of four is a repeat freebie, last offered in October 2011.
About Diagnosis Death (from the publisher): The threatening midnight calls followed Dr. Elena Gardner from one city to another, prolonging her grief. Even worse, they are echoed by the whispers of her own colleagues. Whispers that started after her comatose husband died in the ICU … then another mysterious death during her training. When a third happens at her new hospital, the whispers turn into a shout: “Mercy killer!”
Why doesn’t she defend herself? What is the dark secret that keeps Elena’s lips sealed?
Two physicians, widowers themselves, offer support, telling Elena they know what she is going through after the death of her husband. But do they? And is it safe to trust either of them with her secret? Soon Elena will find that even when the world seems to be against her, God is for her, if she'll only trust him.
Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.
Download Link(s):
For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.
Schooled in Lies by Angela Henry is Today's Featured Free MystereBook
MystereBooks is pleased to feature Schooled in Lies by Angela Henry as today's free mystery ebook.
This title was listed as free as of the date and time of this post. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.
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Schooled in Lies by Angela Henry
A Kendra Clayton Mystery
Publisher: Boulevard West
This is the fourth mystery in this series featuring part-time GED instructor and amateur sleuth Kendra Clayton.
About Schooled in Lies (from the publisher): Kendra's high school days were nothing to brag about. So she's not too thrilled when on top of having to take a class to renew her teaching certificate or be fired, she gets roped into serving on her high school's reunion committee. Spending time with her former classmates is even less fun than having a root canal. Then to make matters worse, Kendra and the other committee members start receiving strange messages and having freak accidents. When one of the accidents results in a death, Kendra is convinced it's murder. Unfortunately, neither the reunion committee nor the police take her seriously.
To try and prevent another death — and to keep from worrying about all the time her sweetie, Carl, has been spending with his scheming ex-wife — Kendra digs into the lives of her fellow committee members and uncovers enough secrets, lies, and betrayal to make her head spin. When a second murder occurs, Kendra realizes she needs to watch her back in her search for the truth before a killer turns her into another buried secret.
Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.
Download Link(s):
For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.
Waking Hours by Lis Wiehl is Today's Barnes&Noble Nook Daily Find
MystereBooks is pleased to feature Waking Hours by Lis Wiehl as today's Barnes&Noble Daily Find. The deal price of $2.99 is valid only for today, Monday, January 23, 2012.
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Waking Hours by Lis Wiehl with Pete Nelson
The East Salem Trilogy
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
All towns have secrets. Some have demons …"
This is the first title in a trilogy of thrillers by Lis Wiehl, who is also the author of the "Triple Threat" series of mysteries.
About Waking Hours (from the publisher): Welcome to East Salem. A deceptively sleepy town where ancient supernatural forces are being awakened.
A local high-school girl is found murdered in a park amid horse farms and wealthy homes of northern Westchester County, New York. The shocking manner of her death confounds the town and intrigues forensic psychiatrist Dani Harris, who is determined to unravel the mystery. All the suspects are teenagers who were at a party with the girl-yet none remembers what happened. Could one of them be a vicious killer? Or is something more sinister afoot-something tied to an ancient evil?
But it's not just her waking hours that challenge Dani. Each night, her eyes open at 2:13 due to troubling dreams. Dreams filled with blood, water, and destruction. Is it a clue-or a supernatural sign?
Across town, former NFL linebacker Tommy Gunderson finds his state-of-the-art security system has been breached by an elderly woman. Mumbling threats in Latin, she attacks him with an uncanny, preternatural strength. Before he has time to process the attack, someone close to him is implicated in the girl's murder at the park. He agrees to help — and finds himself working with Dani, the only girl who could resist his charms years ago when they were in high school.
Important Note: Barnes&Noble updates its Nook Daily Find every day at approximately midnight PT. The title referenced above is available at a discounted price for Monday, January 23, 2012 only.
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Rebels of Mindanao by Tom Anthony is Today's Amazon Kindle Daily Deal
MystereBooks is pleased to feature Rebels of Mindanao by Tom Anthony as today's Amazon Kindle Daily Deal. The deal price of $0.99 is valid only for today, Monday, January 23, 2012.
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Rebels of Mindanao by Tom Anthony
Publisher: Beaufort Books
This is the author's debut thriller. A West Point graduate and combat veteran, he lived in Mindanao for three years.
About Rebels of Mindanao (from the publisher): Al Qaeda terrorists are spreading silently throughout the globe wreaking violence on all who oppose them. Their newest target: the small Philippine island of Mindanao. On the brink of civil war, success in Mindanao would trigger a chain reaction across the pacific threatening democracy and peace around the globe.
Haunted by the failure of his last mission and the lost lives of his team, Thomas Thornton had hoped to escape his former life as a military operative, seeking the calm beauty of tropical Mindanao. When two West Point friends, now high ranking officials in the government and military, ask him to run one last op, he finds himself in the fray once more. Thornton recruits a hunter-killer team of Manobo tribesmen to begin covert actions against the insurgency.
The mission: eliminate a Turkish warrior carrying millions in cash into Mindanao to finance an Islamic revolution.
The deal: make the Turk and the cash disappear, no questions asked.
Important Note: Amazon.com updates its Kindle book deal every day at approximately midnight PT. The title referenced above is available at a discounted price for Monday, January 23, 2012 only.
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