Every month it gets significantly better.
For SOME very short clips, Runway Gen-3 Alpha is indistinguishable from real.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Odd Hours by Dean Koontz
Odd Hours (2008) is the fourth novel in the Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz.
I liked the first 3 books in the series, but can’t recommend this one.
I can barely recall the plot, it seemed so random and disjointed. Coyotes, nuclear weapons, murders in a church, an angry ghost of Frank Sinatra.
Odd Thomas is a fictional character who first appeared in Dean Koontz‘s 2003 novel of the same name, Odd Thomas. He is a twenty-year-old man who lives in the fictional desert town of Pico Mundo, California, and is able to see the spirits of the dead. He is able to make himself heard to them but they cannot speak to him, although they may make signs or mouth words. This fact complicates much of the books. …
Cross – season 1
I’m somewhat disappointed.
Excellent source books, the Alex Cross series. Excellent cast. …
I’d fire the writers. This TV drama should have been much better.
In the books, Alex Cross is a savant, using forensic psychology to analyze killers’ minds, delving into victims’ psyches to identify murderers and bring them to justice.
In season 1 he’s no Sherlock. Too angry. Too distracted. His overwhelming grief does not work for me.
He hardly does anything right.
Disappointing.
Isaiah Mustafa as Detective John Sampson, Alex’s Washington, D.C. Metro Police Department partner is very good, however. Much like in the books.
The bad guy — the “fanboy killer” is very well portrayed by Ryan Eggold. That performance cannot be faulted either.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
My GUESS is that the writers will learn from their mistakes. I expect season 2 to be much better.
Gone for Good by Harlan Coben
This 2002 book is excellent.
Gone for Good has a complicated and surprising plot.
As a boy, Will Klein had a hero: his older brother, Ken.
Then, on a warm suburban night in the Kleins’ affluent New Jersey neighborhood, a young woman—a girl Will had once loved—was found raped and murdered in her family’s basement.
The prime suspect: Ken Klein.
With the evidence against him overwhelming, Ken simply vanished …
10 years later Will’s girlfriend simply vanishes. Or was she murdered?
Netflix adapted the book into a TV series set in France.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Man on the Inside – season 1
Ted Danson really has had an impressive comedy career.
He’s good again in A Man on the Inside.
He plays Charles Nieuwendyk, a bored widower and retired engineering college professor who reluctantly takes a job as an investigative assistant for a private detective to go undercover at Pacific View Retirement Community in San Francisco, in order to find a missing ruby necklace.
Senior citizens naturally make for comedy. Think of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. The Bucket List.
It’s fun to see veteran actors like Sally Struthers still motivated to stay on screen.
Two thumbs up.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
Excellent.
Ashley Elston was a YA author before this HIT adult novel in 2024.
I assumed First Lie Wins would be just another in the predictable series of psychological thrillers.
It’s much more than that.
“This fast-paced read has everything you could want in a thriller: secret identities, a mysterious boss and a cat & mouse game that kept me guessing the whole way through.”
—Reese Witherspoon
“Prepare to trust no one on this high-speed thrill ride through timelines, identities, and motives as you work to piece together Elston’s expertly crafted puzzle. First Lie Wins is a fun, clever spin on the con artist novel …
—Ashley Winstead, author of Midnight is the Darkest Hour
For me, it started to drag before the end. Many of the twists and turns needed explaining.
She also wanted to set-up for an inevitable sequel.
It’s already being adapted for TV.
Tracker – season 1
Tracker is … based on the 2019 novel The Never Game by Jeffery Deaver, one of my favourite authors.
The series stars Justin Hartley as Colter Shaw, a skilled survivalist and tracker who earns his living by assisting law enforcement and private citizens in exchange for reward money.
Justin Hartley is that super charismatic guy from This Is Us.
He’s a credible action hero.
This is a cable TV drama on CBS, not streaming.
Therefore it’s written in scenes between commercial breaks. (I don’t watch ads. It now streams on Disney+.)
Simple stories that have to wrap-up in hurry. Easy to watch.
All that said — it’s very popular.
It’s set all over North America, while being filmed in British Columbia.
I quite like Eric Graise as Bobby Exley, Tracker’s hacker.
Tracker is one of the few current cable scripted TV show’s I can recommend.
Kill Joy: A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder Novella
Kill Joy (2021) is a novella, prequel to the series.
I’ve never attended a murder mystery party — but this one sounds interesting.
Six suspects. Three hours. One murder…
Pip is not in the mood for her friend’s murder mystery party. Especially one that involves 1920’s fancy dress and pretending that their town is an island called Joy. But when the game begins, Pip finds herself drawn into the make-believe world of intrigue, deception and murder.
But as Pip plays detective, teasing out the identity of the killer clue-by-clue, the murder of the fictional Reginald Remy isn’t the only case on her mind …
The Faithful Spy by Alex Berenson
If you liked the TV series Homeland — you’d likely enjoy this novel.
A CIA asset may or may not have been turned by al-Qaeda.
The Faithful Spy (2006) is a novel by The New York Times reporter Alex Berenson. …
… tells the story of a CIA agent who has infiltrated Al Qaeda and, years after 9-11, struggles to stop a terrorist attack in the United States. …
Al Qaeda detonates two truck bombs in LA, killing hundreds of people. John Wells is returned to the USA on a mission from Al Qaeda where he reconnects with the CIA. However, due to the length of his absence he is accused of being “un-faithful” because he did not warn the US about Al Qaeda attacks. …
High Stakes by Dick Francis
Dick Francis (1920 – 2010) was a British steeplechase jockey and crime writer whose novels centre on horse racing in England.
This is the first of his very popular books I’ve read. Francis wrote more than 40 international best-sellers.
He is a skillful and entertaining writer — but I’m no fan of horse racing. And these books are REALLY focused on horse racing.
His wife Mary was very involved. He called her his researcher.
His son became a co-author and author on his own.
High Stakes (1975) has a terrific romance. And a complicated heist plot.
I did like the story.
The hero is a toy designer / engineer — who begins dabbling in owning race horses.
His trainer takes advantage of his naiveté — and enters into a conspiracy to defraud the owner.
Rick McCharles 