Mr. E. Reviews Contraband

Purchase/Rental Option(s)

This action film, a remake of the Icelandic crime thriller Reykjavik-Rotterdam, has a familiar storyline with plenty of close calls and near misses to keep the excitement level elevated. Even so, it is entertaining for what it is, with the bonus of an added twist or two to keep things interesting.

Read the full text of our review at Mr. E. Reviews Contraband.

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Mr. E. Reviews is your source for mystery, suspense, thriller, and crime drama reviews of television and film.

Review: The Cop with the Pink Pistol by Gray Basnight

We've just published our Review of The Cop with the Pink Pistol by Gray Basnight. A Donna Prima Mystery. Ransom Note Press Trade Paperback, March 2012.

Our rating:

Available to purchase from …

Today's Bestselling Free Kindle MystereBooks (120602)

Here is today's list of the top bestselling free Kindle mysteries, suspense novels and thrillers.

We're using a script to embed an RSS feed from Amazon.com, which is updated hourly, but if you cannot see the box below — or have scripts blocked — you can use this link to see the relevant page on Amazon.com.

The Mystery Bookshelf: An African Affair by Nina Darnton

The Mystery Bookshelf, where you can discover a world of mystery and suspense, is pleased to feature a new crime novel we recently received from the publisher.

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An African Affair by Nina Darnton
Non-series
Plume (Trade Paperback)
Publication Date: May 2012
ISBN-13: 978-0-452-29802-6

About An African Affair (from the publisher): Corruption, drug smuggling, rampant human rights abuses — New York journalist Lindsay Cameron finds plenty to report, covering the regime of Nigeria’s President Michael Olumide. But in the aftermath of two probable assassinations, her inquiries attract unwanted government attention. As rebel factions call for free elections, Lindsay races to penetrate the intricate network of corrupt government officials, oil interests, and CIA agents who really run the Nigerian show. Meanwhile, her entanglement with a rare art dealer leads her still deeper into terrain that’s confounding in every respect — from matters of the heart to those of politics and trade.

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About the author: Nina Darnton lived in Africa for five years, two of them in Lagos. She has been a frequent contributor to The New York Times and NPR and a staff writer for Newsweek. She lives with her husband, crime novelist John Darnton, in New York.

Purchase Options for An African Affair:

MystereBooks: This Week's Update of Kindle Books Priced $2.99 or Less (120602)

Every month Amazon publishes a list of 100 Kindle books priced $3.99 or less. We thought we'd take that idea and improve on it, publishing a list of 100 Kindle mystery books priced $2.99 or less and updating it every week!

Here is our general criteria for selecting titles to include: books from major or specialty publishers of crime fiction and those written by authors familiar to us. There are far more than 100 to choose from, so we use our best judgment to narrow it down.

A few notes about today's update.

• You won't want to miss the first Bernie "Burglar" Rhodenbarr mystery by Lawrence Block, now just 99 cents for a limited time only!

• There are no new Poisoned Pen Press titles this week, but it's always good to check out their list of 99 cent ebooks as it changes frequently.

• StoneHouse Ink always has an interesting mix of ebooks. We didn't add any to our list this week but we'll take a closer look at these titles for inclusion next week.

Shown below are some of the new titles we added today; click on the cover or title to purchase the Kindle edition.

Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice! We strongly urge you to confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase is the price of the book.

Burglars Can't Be Choosers by Lawrence Block.
A Bernie Rhodenbarr Mystery (1st).

A Small Fortune by Audrey Braun.

A Despicable Mission by Judith Campbell.

Nathan's Run by John Gilstrap.

Burn Out by Traci Hohenstein.

Punctured by Rex Kusler.
Alice James and Jim Snow (1st).

The Basement by Stephen Leather.

Legacy of the Dragon by J. Gregory Smith.
Paul Chang (2nd).

Deadfolk by Charlie Williams.
Royston Blake (1st).

King of the Road by Charlie Williams.
Royston Blake (3rd).

The Deal by Adam Gittlin is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Deal by Adam Gittlin 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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The Deal by Adam Gittlin
Publisher: Oceanview Publishing

We called this stand-alone "a fast paced financial thriller with a perplexing plot that is riddled with schemes and conspiracies."

About The Deal (from the publisher): Everything about Jonah Gray screams success—expensive clothes, a Park Avenue penthouse, and a seven-figure income. A cutthroat, rainmaking New York City commercial real estate broker, Jonah craves opulence and power. He beds models, romps the globe on weekends, and sees the world as his for the taking. Jonah Gray has it all. Or at least, he had it all.

When Andreu Zhamovsky, a close family friend, presents Jonah with the deal of a lifetime, Jonah jumps at the chance. All Jonah has to do is act quickly, invest half a billion dollars in prime NYC office buildings, and collect a huge payoff.

But there is much more to this deal than Jonah had ever contemplated, and this golden opportunity turns out to be anything but.

Along with this deal comes one of the world's rarest and most valuable antiques planted in Jonah's briefcase, and within days of signing on, Jonah is mysteriously thrust into the epicenter of an international and personal scandal.

Forced to explore a whole new territory where he can trust no one, and where danger, death, and deception lurk at every corner, Jonah will learn some painfully hard lessons about the quest for true wealth.

Taking risks has been the hallmark of Jonah's career. But this time, the stakes are much, much higher and Jonah will put everything—and everyone—he loves at risk.

Closing this deal could mean losing it all.

Read our review of The Deal by Adam Gittlin.

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):

Amazon Kindle Edition Download Link.

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.

Savage Nights by W. D. Gagliani is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Savage Nights by W. D. Gagliani 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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Savage Nights by W. D. Gagliani
A Rich Brant Mystery
Publisher: Tarkus Press

About Savage Nights (from the publisher): The call came in the middle of the night. Rich Brant was just sweating through another Vietnam nightmare when the phone rang.

“It’s Kit,” his brother moaned. “They’ve taken her.”

They don’t know what they’ve done …

Kidnapped from a busy mall, Brant’s beloved 19-year old niece is in a world of trouble. Hard-nosed inquiries suggest that she has been snatched for auction by the international sexual slavery ring run by the ruthless Goran, also known as The Serb. Kit’s final destination: a modern harem, a brothel, a dungeon, or one of the Serb's kinky slavery clubs.

Or worse.

Now Brant will need his inconsistent and sometimes unreliable psychic ability more than he ever did in Vietnam and what came after …

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):

Amazon Kindle Edition Download Link.

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.

Henning Mankell's Wallander The Revenge Episode, Free on Amazon Instant

We were poking around Amazon.com, something we are wont to do on occasion, looking for something new to watch this evening and stumbled upon the Swedish television version of Henning Mankell's Wallander.

It probably isn't fair to say we merely "stumbled upon" it, as we did feature the second season of the series earlier this week, now available on DVD.

But what we did "stumble upon" was that the first episode of this second season, "The Revenge", is available for free to download from Amazon Instant. (We've since "purchased" it ourselves and will watch it on our Kindle Fire later tonight. However, we need to point out that prices can and do change without notice. Please confirm the price of this and any episode of the series before completing your purchase.)

Here's a brief synopsis of the 90-minute episode: Kurt Wallander has made the dream of his life come true. He has bought a house by the sea. He takes long walks with his faithful companion, the Labrador Jussi. Kurt feels more content and in harmony with his life than ever. All of a sudden the calm in idyllic Ystad is broken by a powerful explosion which makes the entire town go black. What has been blown up is the only transformer station in Ystad.

The explosion is followed by several other deeds. Military is called in and a state of emergency is proclaimed. Ystad starts to look like a war zone. But is it sabotage or an act of terrorism? There is chaos and chased by media, Wallander fumbles in the dark, looking for terrorists or perpetrators.

This episode is in Swedish with English subtitles.

Here's a trailer for the season as a whole, from the producers:

Review: Oscar Wilde and the Vatican Murders by Gyles Brandreth

We've just published our Review of Oscar Wilde and the Vatican Murders by Gyles Brandreth. An Oscar Wilde Mystery. Touchstone Hardcover, May 2012.

Our rating:

Available to purchase from …

New Trailer for Premium Rush

A new trailer for the chase thriller Premium Rush has been released by the studio; we've embedded it below.

Dodging speeding cars, crazed cabbies and eight million cranky pedestrians is all in a day's work for Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the best of New York's agile and aggressive bicycle messengers. It takes a special breed to ride the fixie — super lightweight, single-gear bikes with no brakes and riders who are equal part skilled cyclists and nutcases who risk becoming a smear on the pavement every time they head into traffic. But a guy who's used to putting his life on the line is about to get more than even he is used to when his last envelope of the day — a routine "premium rush" run — turns into a life or death chase through the streets of Manhattan.

Directed by David Koepp from an original screenplay co-written with John Kamps, Premium Rush opens in theaters August 24th, 2012.

Today's Bestselling Free Kindle MystereBooks (120601)

Here is today's list of the top bestselling free Kindle mysteries, suspense novels and thrillers.

We're using a script to embed an RSS feed from Amazon.com, which is updated hourly, but if you cannot see the box below — or have scripts blocked — you can use this link to see the relevant page on Amazon.com.

New UK Quad Poster for Looper

A new UK quad poster for the time travel crime thriller Looper has been released by the studio (right; click for larger version). The poster's tagline: "Face your future. Fight your past."

The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Joe, a hired gun who mops of messes sent to him from the future. But he becomes a target himself when his older self (Bruce Willis) is sent back to "close the loop".

Written and directed by Rian Johnson, Looper is scheduled to open in theaters September 28th, 2012.

New Trailer for The Bourne Legacy

Universal Pictures has released a new trailer for The Bourne Legacy, the "next chapter" in the series that does not feature Jason Bourne as a character. (And is not based on any book in the series, despite the fact that there is one titled The Bourne Legacy, the first written by Eric Van Lustbader following creator Robert Ludlum's death.)

Jeremy Renner is introduced as Aaron Cross, whose life-or-death stakes have been triggered by the events of the first three films.

Directed by Tony Gilroy from an original screenplay by Gilroy and his brother Dan Gilry, The Bourne Legacy opens in theaters August 3rd, 2012.

The Glades Season Premiere, Longmire Series Premiere, June 3rd on A&E

This Sunday, June 3rd, the third season of The Glades premieres on A&E followed by the premiere of the new western crime drama Longmire, based on a character created by Craig Johnson.

First up: The Glades "Close Encounters" at 9 PM (ET/PT). When Florida Department of Law Enforcement detective Jim Longworth (Matt Passmore) and forensic medical examiner Carlos Sanchez (Carlos Gomez) investigate the death of a millionaire who bequeathed all his wealth to an organization of UFO enthusiasts, the organization's leader accuses the FDLE of covering up the true cause of death: an alien abduction. Meanwhile, Jim's relationship with Callie Cargill (Kiele Sanchez) heats up, but Callie's job search to keep her in Palm Glade falters.

Next: The pilot episode of Longmire at 10 PM (ET/PT). Widowed only a year, Walt Longmire (Robert Taylor) is a man in psychic repair that buries his pain behind a brave face and dry wit. Struggling since his wife's death and at the urging of his daughter, Cady (Cassidy Freeman), Longmire knows that the time has come to turn his life around. With the help of Victoria "Vic" Moretti (Katee Sackhoff), a female deputy new to the department, he becomes reinvigorated about his job and committed to running for re-election. When Branch Connally (Bailey Chase), an ambitious, young deputy decides to run against him for sheriff, Longmire feels betrayed but remains steadfast in his dedication to the community. Longmire often turns to close friend and confidant Henry Standing Bear (Lou Diamond Phillips) for support as he sets out to rebuild both his personal and professional life, one step at a time.

Michael Koryta's The Prophet Optioned for Film

Expect to see quite a bit of crime novelist Michael Koryta's work in theaters soon!

The author of the "Lincoln Perry" mysteries has three of his stand-alones in various stages of film adaptations.

Koryta is adapting his own 2010 thriller So Cold The River for New Regency films. Chris Columbus will be directing his own adaptation of Koryta's third stand-alone, Cypress House.

And now we're learning that a project is underway to adapt Koryta's yet-to-be-published fifth stand-alone, The Prophet (Little, Brown; August 2012 hardcover and ebook editions).

In The Prophet, Koryta returns to the traditional crime novel with a story of two brothers, Adam and Kent Austin. When the brothers were teens, their sister was kidnapped and murdered. Time drove the brothers their separate ways, but the murder of another teenage girl brings the past violently back to Adam and Kent.