A cinematic memoir and critical exploration of nine classics of old Hollywood by a contemporary comic novelist. “North by Northwest isn’t about what happens to Cary Grant, it’s about what happens to his suit. The suit has the adventures, a gorgeous New York suit threading its way through America. The suit, Cary inside it, strides with confidence into the Plaza Hotel. Nothing bad happens to it until one of the greasy henchmen grasps Cary by the shoulder. We’re already in love with this suit and it feels like a real violation.” Todd McEwen grew up in Southern California, so his head was hopelessly messed with by the movies. As the son of relatively normal people, Todd had no in with Hollywood, a mere thirteen miles away, yearn and try as he might. This is a kid who loved the movies so much, he got up at 4:30 in the morning to watch Laurel and Hardy. A kid who insisted on his birthday that his father project 8mm cartoons onto the family’s dining room curtains so they could be slowly parted, just like at a real cinema. This is a kid who liked to leave the movie and trudge up hundreds of dangerous iron steps to visit the lugubrious and always surprised projectionist. This is a kid who, years later, watched Chinatown over 60 times. A love letter to old Hollywood, this is a book for anyone interested in film. Movies discussed include Blotto, The Wizard of Oz, The Three Stooges, To Catch a Thief, North by Northwest, The 39 Steps, The Trouble with Harry, and many, many more.
What do Daffy Duck and Jean Renoir have in common? Raised in Southern California in the ’50s and ’60s, Todd McEwen found that the movies were everywhere. When The Wizard of Oz was shown on television, every kid in the neighbourhood gathered in the street the next day and acted it out instead of playing Cowboys and Indians, or even baseball. Every Saturday morning there were two or three hours of Laurel and Hardy films on a local station, presented by ‘Commander Riptide’ (a host who pretended to be in a submarine for some reason) and these films changed the way McEwen thought about life. From then on he always wanted everything to be funny, to the consternation of his parents and teachers, and this reached its apotheosis when he persuaded his mother to buy him a small can of aerosol shaving cream and a packet of little paper plates. At last he was going to be able to get hit in the face with a pie. In this fond and exasperated look back at what movies were important to him – even crucial to his existence at differing ages – McEwen confronts some rather nauseating home truths about his love a number of key classic and cult films, including Blotto (1930), Duck Soup (1933), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) and Chinatown (1974).
We live with the idea of sin every day – from the greatest transgressions to the tiniest misdemeanours. But surely the concept was invented for an age where divine retribution and eternal punishment dominated the collective consciousness? In this lively collection of new writing, Nicola Barker, Dylan Evans, David Flusfeder, Todd McEwen, Martin Rowson, John Sutherland and Ali Smith go head to head with the capital vices to explore what we really mean when we talk about sin. The resulting mixture of erudite and playful essays and startling new fiction might not make you a better person, but it will certainly give you pause for thought when you’ re next laying the law down or – heaven forfend – about to do something beyond the pale yourself.
All Joe Lake has to do, according to his Dad, is go to school. But evil spirits have driven his parents from their dream home, and Joe is pursued by demons including his Dad, who becomes a mathematical tyrant. So Joe attempts to flee to the pure America, the country of cartoons.
The long-awaited second novel in Todd Robinson's Anthony Award-nominated Boo and Junior series The long-awaited second novel in Todd Robinson's Anthony Award-nominated Boo and Junior series The long-awaited second novel in Todd Robinson’s Anthony Award-nominated Boo and Junior series When a waitress at The Cellar asks Boo and Junior to scare her roommate Dana’s harassing ex-boyfriend, Byron, Boo’s white knight impulses kick in and they perform the job with gusto, leaving Byron bloodied but very much alive. So when Byron is found dead, they’re shocked. They’re even more shocked when they learn that nothing is what they originally thought, and they’re being held accountable in the man's death. With Junior called in for questioning, Boo is determined to clear their names by finding Byron’s true killer. It’s a quest in which Boo will have to face down crooked cops, crazed guard dogs, a rival security crew, the Irish mob and—worst of all—his own ingrained prejudices. Action-packed, outrageously funny, and brutally honest, Rough Trade brings back crime fiction’s favorite bouncers and takes them well out of their comfort zone in a novel that’s whip-smart, hilarious, gritty and above all human, proving that Todd Robinson is one of the most important voices in crime fiction.
The Castro Gene is seamless, suspenseful and shocking. After killing a man in the ring, Luke Braden quits boxing. While toiling as a security guard and yearning to reinvent himself, Luke is swept up into the high-flying domain of Paul Tremont. Tremont, the hottest hedge fund hand around, has a penchant for the dramatic and a disquieting need to control. Being Tremont's protege has its perks-Luke trades in his ratty basement apartment for a penthouse view, his gym clothes for designer suits. But there are strings attached, and Tremont is pulling those strings. Why does Tremont need a washed-up boxer? The answer lies not in what Luke is, but who he is. Luke Braden is the only man who can execute Tremont's diabolical scheme. Fidel Castro risks one last trip to the U.S., and one man will be forced to stand in his way. Luke Braden is in for the fight of his life - or the fight for his life. Intricately plotted with unexpected twists and breathtaking turns, The Castro Gene is a knockout.
“Delightfully amusing . . . One part mystery, one part soap opera, one part identity crises . . . one fun read” from the author of Secret Lives of Second Wives (Publishers Weekly). Art consultant Ellen Santiago Laws thinks the spark has gone out of her life. Five years a widow, she has a grown daughter, a senile mother and very few prospects for adventure. But after she serves on a jury that convicts a man for murdering the flashy head of an exclusive Southern California matchmaking service, she discovers that not all the evidence came out in the courtroom—and the victim might not have been quite as virtuous as the prosecution made her out to be. With the help of an unlikely group of friends (including a weight-obsessed cardiologist with a penchant for beach bimbos, a high school frenemy, and a decorator with an uncanny resemblance to Vlad the Impaler), Ellen begins her investigation into the chic world of California matchmaking, where she enrolls as a love-starved client. What she discovers is enough to make anyone scared single, but when she is matched with a not-so-unattractive lawyer, life starts to get a lot more interesting. Just as it seems things are looking up, though, the real killer catches on and Ellen has to stay cool—to stay alive. “Catherine Todd has a wicked sense of humor.” —Carla Neggers, New York Times–bestselling author “A stylish, provocative story no mystery fan should be without.” —Rendezvous
The debut novel from the creator of Thuglit. Boo Malone lost everything when he was sent to St. Gabriel's Home for Boys. There, he picked up a few key survival skills; a wee bit of an anger management problem; and his best friend for life, Junior. Now adults, Boo and Junior have a combined weight of 470 pounds (mostly Boo's), about ten grand in tattoos (mostly Junior's), and a talent for wisecracking banter. Together, they provide security for The Cellar, a Boston nightclub where the bartender Audrey doles out hugs and scoldings for her favorite misfits, and the night porter, Luke, expects them to watch their language. At last Boo has found a family. But when Boo and Junior are hired to find Cassandra, a well-to-do runaway slumming among the authority-shy street kids, Boo sees in the girl his own long-lost younger sister. And as the case deepens with evidence that Cassie is being sexually exploited, Boo's blind desire for justice begins to push his surrogate family's loyalty to the breaking point. Cassie's life depends on Boo's determination to see the case through, but that same determination just might finally drive him and Junior apart. What's looking like an easy payday is turning into a hard bounce--for everyone.
When the U.S. Government admits to the genocide of the minority population it results in a complete restructuring of America. Minorities form their own government and once again, America is torn along racial lines. Fifty years later, a prosperous minority population is again faced with the deaths of thousands of innocent people, the result of biological warfare. Representatives from each government, Robin Patrick and Brevin Harper, are assigned the responsibility of investigating the mysterious deaths. As they begin their investigation their racial distrust of one another quickly surfaces. When a complex plot to infest the water supply of the minority government is discovered, it is up to Robin and Brevin to put aside their differences and stop the plan before millions more are killed.
Walton tracks the fate of Lily and Charlie, two down–and–out musicians on the run from an army of "very well–connected" thugs out not just for blood but for spirit. Fleeing by car, foot, air, bicycle, train, covered wagon and dirigible, the two make their way with Lily's baby from Sunset Boulevard to a mountain retreat in Oregon. Eluding all manner of physical and mental danger, Lily and Charlie take their final stand with a commune of utopian artists. Their odyssey is seedily realistic, wildly surrealistic, often erotic and only occasionally a bit precious. What seemed like a simple pursuit story has become an engaging parable of the responsibilities of creativity, the nature of self–worth, the redemptive power of love—perhaps the Meaning of Life itself. Night Train evokes a paranoid romanticism reminiscent of Craig Nova, Don DeLillo and Thomas Pynchon. – Tom Nolan, Los Angeles Times
All it takes is one second. One stupid move. One click of a cell phone. When Callie discovers Katherine sprawled on the ground, she bends down to help her. It's only natural—the party's been a bit wild. And it's only natural for her to pull out the fake knife, irritated at one more example of Katherine's callous disregard of other people's feelings. But the knife is real . . . and bloody. And then Callie hears the click of one cell phone, followed by another, and another. In minutes, images of her holding the bloody knife have gone viral. Now wanted for murder, Callie is on the run from the police. All the evidence points to her guilt, but she's determined to prove her innocence, which means . . . the real killer is still out there.
Tyler Fox, from Goessel, Kansas, is a sophomore at St. Alfanus, a private Catholic college near Hooks in Bowie County, Texas. Tyler is an up-and-coming golfer who will hopefully lead the St. Alfanus team to a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics championship. One day as he is practicing prior to the start of fall semester, the editor of the St. Alfanus Clarion, Charlie Harrison, shows up to do a story about Tyler's golfing prowess. Charlie convinces Tyler, who is an English major, to come work for The Clarion. Days before the fall semester is to begin, Tyler takes an evening jog through the golf course. He comes across the 14th green, where a man is wailing as he holds a bloody woman in his arms. Before Tyler knows it, he, Charlie and the rest of the Clarion's small newspaper staff are caught up in a murder investigation. The woman who was murdered, Alison Alcott, was the daughter of the college president. Four college journalists spend the entire semester trying to dig up information about the murder, mainly because the local sheriff's department isn't making much progress. The sheriff is concerned about the upcoming election, and simply wants to pin the murder on someone, such as Alison's boyfriend, Robert Ray Turner, the man holding Alison's dead body on the 14th green. Will the students discover "whodunit?
Her street name is Maybe She lives with a tribe of homeless teens -- runaways and throwaways, kids who have no place to go other than the cold city streets, and no family except for one another. Abused, abandoned, and forgotten, they struggle against the cold, hunger, and constant danger. With the frigid winds of January comes a new girl: Tears, a twelve-year-old whose mother doesn't believe her stepfather abuses her. As the other kids start to disappear -- victims of violence, addiction, and exposure -- Maybe tries to help Tears get off the streets...if it's not already too late. Todd Strasser, author of the powerful and disturbing Give a Boy a Gun, again focuses on an important social issue as he tells a thought-provoking, heart-wrenching story of young lives lost to the streets, and of a society that has forgotten how to care.
Officer Mike "Maddog" Tidwell thought he had seen it all in his 25 years of police service. Tidwell and his crew of small town police officers stumble across a plot to destroy an entire nation, and it is up to them to stop this demonically influenced evil before it is to late, and millions die. This work takes you into the heart of a policeman's life, and is exciting, violent, and heart wrenching. Extreme violence, and street language.
THE NATIONAL BESTSELLER A remarkable thriller debut of twenty-first-century espionage, by a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State who “knows where all the bodies are buried—literally" (W. E. B. Griffin). The Golden Hour: In international politics, the hundred hours following a coup, when there is still a chance that diplomacy, a secret back channel, military action—something—may reverse the chain of events. As the director of the new State Department Crisis Reaction Unit, Judd Ryker gets a chance to prove that his theory of the Golden Hour actually works, when there’s a coup in Mali. But in the real world, those hours include things he’s never even imagined. As Ryker races from Washington to Europe and across the Sahara Desert, he finds that personalities, loyalties—everything he thought he knew—begin to shift beneath his feet, and that friends and enemies come in many forms.
Act I. Losing his family, a tiny Dog is captured by a sinister Doctor. After escaping, the Dog becomes ‘The Little Man’ and embarks upon saving NYC from ‘The Euthanizer’. Act II. A Chiropractor, Doctor Alexander Vegas, who is addicted to fighting, relieves his addiction in an underground ‘Fight-Club’ in the city he’s named after. Act III. A drunkard Detective, Martin Malice, follows a series of bread-crumbs after having lucid nightmares. He goes down a trail from which there is no returning from.
In February 1992 Todd and Coby Gent went to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, so Coby could be evaluated for, and hopefully have, a double-lung transplant. Transplants were a new way to prolong the lives of cystic fibrosis patients, and this major surgery was Coby’s only hope for living beyond his twelve years. Todd, Coby’s dad, kept a journal from day one of the Gent family’s journey from borrowed lungs to new life. The journals include other patients from all over the country awaiting transplants. Coby, at twelve, was the youngest among others in their twenties, thirties, and forties. Tricia and Casey, Todd’s wife and daughter, respectively, remained in their hometown of Wylie, Texas, and traveled back and forth to North Carolina during the transplant process. Todd Gent had not read these journals since he wrote them in 1992, but his daughter brought them out in order to publish them by the thirtieth anniversary of Coby’s double-lung transplant. The journals prove that Coby made it count.
A cinematic memoir and critical exploration of nine classics of old Hollywood by a contemporary comic novelist. “North by Northwest isn’t about what happens to Cary Grant, it’s about what happens to his suit. The suit has the adventures, a gorgeous New York suit threading its way through America. The suit, Cary inside it, strides with confidence into the Plaza Hotel. Nothing bad happens to it until one of the greasy henchmen grasps Cary by the shoulder. We’re already in love with this suit and it feels like a real violation.” Todd McEwen grew up in Southern California, so his head was hopelessly messed with by the movies. As the son of relatively normal people, Todd had no in with Hollywood, a mere thirteen miles away, yearn and try as he might. This is a kid who loved the movies so much, he got up at 4:30 in the morning to watch Laurel and Hardy. A kid who insisted on his birthday that his father project 8mm cartoons onto the family’s dining room curtains so they could be slowly parted, just like at a real cinema. This is a kid who liked to leave the movie and trudge up hundreds of dangerous iron steps to visit the lugubrious and always surprised projectionist. This is a kid who, years later, watched Chinatown over 60 times. A love letter to old Hollywood, this is a book for anyone interested in film. Movies discussed include Blotto, The Wizard of Oz, The Three Stooges, To Catch a Thief, North by Northwest, The 39 Steps, The Trouble with Harry, and many, many more.
We live with the idea of sin every day – from the greatest transgressions to the tiniest misdemeanours. But surely the concept was invented for an age where divine retribution and eternal punishment dominated the collective consciousness? In this lively collection of new writing, Nicola Barker, Dylan Evans, David Flusfeder, Todd McEwen, Martin Rowson, John Sutherland and Ali Smith go head to head with the capital vices to explore what we really mean when we talk about sin. The resulting mixture of erudite and playful essays and startling new fiction might not make you a better person, but it will certainly give you pause for thought when you’ re next laying the law down or – heaven forfend – about to do something beyond the pale yourself.
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