Author: Peter Kanelis

I was born in Portland, Oregon and currently reside in Texas. I am an avid reader and movie watcher. I also am a long-time Doctor Who fan and collect the audio dramas as well as watch the television series. I have been writing reviews of this nature on social media for a few years now and want to expand on that practice.

Book Review: Merging With Murder

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Robert B. Parker’s Broken Trust is a pretty solid continuation of the Senser series by Mike Lupica, who recently took over the range after Ace Atkins has moved on from his contribution to the series.

It’s hard to believe that Parker has been gone for about fifteen years, but his most popular series has endured with the talents of Atkins, and now Lupica brings Boston private eye Spenser further into the 21st century with his usual posse of allies and long-time girlfriend, Susan Silverman. Spenser’s sense of justice, accompanied with his wry witticisms, is a reassuring anchor in an ever-changing, complex world, even in the realm of crime fiction.

Spenser is initially hired to discover why a very wealthy tech mogul has started behaving erratically. His wife insists that Andrew Crain is a loving husband, however he has become prone to sudden outbursts of temper and becoming sullen and withdrawn. Crain controls a large tech company on the verge of what could be a lucrative business merger. The wife is a friend of Susan’s so Spenser decides to take the case. Spenser gets even more determined to find answers when his client is murdered. The matter turns even stranger when an employee of Crain’s company apparently commits an inexplicable suicide. Spenser rubs elbows and trades punches with people who operate in a world of high stakes and global fame. Fortunately, he has some help from long-time ally, Hawk, who is always willing to bring his wit and plenty of firepower to back him up.

The main plot is suitably engaging and has a fair bit of twists. I am not sure if previous novels had Spenser probe the murder of his own client. Some of it was pretty predictable with the presence of menacing henchmen and gangsters lurking around the corner. Spenser also has to fend off a couple of direct attacks with his quick fists and pointed wisecracks. Some of the motivations behind these dark deeds turn out tom be rather surprising.

Whatever Lupica’s deviations from how the original author would have presented this tale seem to be subtle enough where I can still consider this part of the canon. Although in real life, Spenser would have been nearing ninety or something is he wasn’t a fictional character.

Parker’s style of writing is pretty straightforward and is likely easy to emulate. Sometimes, Spenser’s observations and verbal jabs seem rather repetitive, but the types of cases that land on his doorstep still provide some variety and amusement. Spenser isn’t a guy who is easily rattled and still comes across as someone you would want in your corner should trouble arise, if only for the small matter that he is a fictional hero.

Lupica has been writing in various fields for a long time and seems to be an excellent choice by the Parker estate to bring new conundrums to Spenser’s office. Even if the original creator is no longer able to carry Spenser forward himself, it is nice to know that the Boston gumshoe still has some adventures to share.

James Patterson’s popularity in crime fiction has continued to remain steadfast, yet I have read very little of his works. I decided to give him another go with Holmes, Marple, & Poe, which is co-written by Brian Sitts.

Film Review: A Little Love And War Come For Marvin

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Love Hurts is an action-comedy film with a talented cast but a very dubious plot. It took three screenwriters in the shape of Matthew Murray, David Leitch, and Luke Passmore to disappoint this movie watcher. Jonathan Eusebio is a director I have not heard of, and this film isn’t likely to help him much. Ke Huy Quan is in the lead as a successful realtor with a killer past. Other cast members include Ariana DeBose, Daniel Wu, Lio Tipton, and Sean Astin.

Marvin Gable is a very successful real estate agent who has embraced his new life after leaving behind his former criminal associations. He used to work for his brother, a crime lord, who has decided to send some heavy hitters to see if Marvin has heard from a former love, Rose, who he was supposed to kill. There is some missing money being sought. Rose does turn up and needs Marvin to dust off his lethal skills that he has shelved for a while. All sorts of strange assassins converge on the reunited couple, and Marvin is faced with having to lose his new life that he has grown to love.

The basic plot is not that bad. I sort of liked the casting of Quan in this role, however he does not quite pull off the menace when Marvin revers to his former persona. Marvin is described as a “beautiful monster” by his brother. Although the fight scenes are kind of fun, and Quan is able to sell it adequately, I am not sure I could buy that the implied ferocity described by the brother.

Ariana DeBose is quite a find. She is beautiful and seems to have a pretty good sense of comic timing when needed. She really sells the mischievous streak in Rose quite convincingly.

The problem with the film is an incoherent plot. The villains just become a bit too cartoonish. I understand that this was supposed to be a comedic venture, but the jokes just don’t land.

I do think that Ke Huy Quan deserves another chance in a lead role. He is kind of the best thing about this film, but the script didn’t help him shine that much.

The story had some loose threads, and it isn’t clear as to what decisions Marvin made about his future at the end of the chaotic chase.

There are a few bright spots in the film, but the experience as a whole was a bit more of a letdown than even I was expecting.

Book Review: Murder Of The Coldest Kind

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Snow is an unfortunately predictable murder mystery written by John Banville. The story takes place in Ireland during the year of 1957. A young detective named St. John Strafford is the protagonist investigating a gruesome murder of a Catholic priest.

Detective Inspector Strafford is understandably perturbed by the murder and mutilation of a priest in a manor owned by the influential Osborne family. The case takes an even stranger turn when his deputy disappears. Strafford is told that the priest was popular in the community, but some very dark secrets are unearthed, and the victim may not be as virtuous as one would hope.

It’s an interesting setting. I have an automatic affection for stories that take place in Ireland. I just had a hard time staying interested in the plot, and Strafford doesn’t really draw me in. He seems kind of boring, honestly.

The motive for the murder is something would easily expect considering that it’s a Catholic priest who is the target. He was castrated, so it’s not hard to guess why the killer took that extra step.

Banville does have a nice prose style. He isn’t a terrible writer, but this particular novel may have just been the wrong one to introduce me to him.

My efforts to read new authors sometimes misfires, and Banville just didn’t do it for me.

Time to move to an old favorite of mine in the world of fictional detectives with Robert B. Parker’s Broken Trust, which is actually written by Mike Lupica, who has continued the Spenser series since Mr. Parker has been deceased for some time now.

Doctor Who Audio Review: The Doctor And Stephen Taylor Reunite For One More Escape

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The Living Darkness is a new Doctor Who audio play from Big Finish Productions and has a really moving reunion between the First Doctor and Steven Taylor. This play was written by Jacqueline Rayner and directed by Helen Goldwyn. Stephen Noonan reprises his efforts to emulate William Hartnell’s portrayal of the First Doctor and is really getting better at it. Peter Purves returns as former companion and ruler of another world, Steven Taylor. He is quite a bit older than when he traveled with the Doctor, and Purves puts in an awesome performance.’ Lauren Cornelius turns up later in the play as Dodo Chaplet, originally portrayed by Jackie Lane in the television series back in the 1960’s/

Other guest actors include Jack Ayres, Trevor Littledale, Dido Miles, and Helen Phillips. As usual, everyone does a stellar job with their roles.

Steven Taylor was once the ruler of a planet where he had been left by the TARDIS. He had a family and is still grieving the death of one of his daughters. He is around the century mark in terms of his age, but he has remained relatively fit and is as sharp-witted as ever. He had thought that his adventures had ended when he parted company with the Doctor and Dodo, however he has regained conscious aboard the spaceship that seems to be some type of prison transport. He has met other unwilling passengers and is investigating whatever terrors lie within the dark corridors when a familiar old man arrives introducing himself as the Doctor. The ship crashes on a planet where the most violent criminals are also sent. Someone or something has taken Steven and the Doctor out of time and placed them in a grueling fight for survival.

I had a little trouble following this story, but the presence and performance of Peter Purves was too compelling for me to mind that much. It’s not a bad story, and Rayner is a long-time writer for the franchise with some real talent and love for the series. It’s actually not a bad epic, and I will enjoy listening to it again in the not-too-distant future. Stephen Noonan continues to improve his portrayal of the First Doctor. He is getting closer to imitating Hartnell’s particular verbal inflections. Of course, the best William Hartnell is always going to be William Hartnell, but I appreciate Noonan’s efforts. Noonan actually sounds very different when using his normal voice, so his impersonation of Hartnell is quite impressive. I am always open to more First Doctor stories.

I can respect that Purves has really changed very little vocally even though he is well into his eighties. I also liked that just because Steven is even older than that, he sounded anything but frail and soft. Steven still retained that tenacious, bulldog tendency that was so prevalent when he was introduced into the series over fifty years.

This is one of those times when the performances really help when the plot is a little soft. The plot is actually pretty good here, and there is some interesting character development occurring throughout the story.

When Steven and the Doctor really recognize each other as genuine, it is actually rather moving. Purves still sounds great in these releases, and I hope he has several more left to do.

I was not sure about Noonan when he first started out in this role, but his interpretation of the First Doctor has grown on me. It is noted in the cast interviews how much work and research he puts in, and it really shows here.

2025 seems to be off to a great start with this release, and I hope more First Doctor stories are in the can.

Film Review: AIA Just Wants To Help

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Afraid is a science fiction horror film that almost is the epitome of mediocre filmmaking. Chris Weitz wrote and directed this movie which stars John Cho, Katherine Waterston, Havana Rose Liu, and Keith Carradine among others.

The story centers on a perfectly respectable, charming family who are talked into testing a new artificial intelligence device designed to help households run more efficiently. AIA is the name of this computer on the verge of something resembling a psychotic break or something. It starts off, predictably, as being a blessing, but something more manipulative and dangerous starts to emerge. The patriarch, played by Cho, works for the computer engineering company testing the program. Also, two people wearing unusual masks start stalking the family as well. AIA may be of some help, but the family may have to pay a steep price to keep it on their side.

Cho and Waterston are pretty good as the well-meaning couple. The performances are almost enough to forgive the predictable plot. Havana Rose Liu, who voices the computer, alternates between soothing and chilling quite effectively. The cast was well selected. The problem is that the script just wasn’t that interesting. The family characterizations weren’t all that creative. We have seen these parents and kids before. I just had a hard time caring what happened to them.

The movie just felt like a place holder on the movie schedule. Crazy computers have just been a little overused in the past several decades, and this one just doesn’t stand out.

It’s just another forgettable movie that doesn’t quite the reach the level of being flat-out terrible, but it hovers pretty close to that black hole.

Book Review: No One Swings The Hammer Like Spillane

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Vengeance is Mine by Mickey Spillane has Mike Hammer in a dangerous predicament from the first line of this classic crime novel from one of the acclaimed masters of the genre.

New York gumshoe Mike Hammer starts off the story with a nasty hangover and a corpse in a hotel room with police already scrutinizing him. The victim is a friend of Hammer’s named Chester Wheeler. The police determine that Wheeler committed suicide with Hammer’s gun after the two of them went out drinking. The district attorney does use the mess to pull Hammer’s private investigation license and gun permit. Hammer has reason to believe that his friend was actually murdered and is motivated to start his own investigation that takes him to a suspicious modeling agency and a blackmail scheme. Wheeler is not the only one to lose his life, and the subsequent murders seem to confirm that Hammer’s instincts are dead right.

The novel was first published in 1950, so there is a bit of adjustment to the writing style of the time. Of course, Spillane’s works was seen as quite raw for that time. This period was the height of noir crime fiction, and Spillane has earned his crown quite legitimately here.

Hammer is one of the more brutal protagonists in the genre. He is also a bit conflicted when it comes to matters of love. He has women who want something more from him than he feels he has. There are some fictional detectives that are a bit more compelling, but Spillane does a pretty good job. I can see why he is so popular among the crime fiction enthusiasts.

This novel was an enjoyable literary diversion, but I don’t know if this is one of the masterpieces in Spillane’s bibliography. It’s a fun read but not for the squeamish.

Next up, murder has struck Ireland in the 1950’s, and the matter falls on Detective Inspector St. John Strafford to resolve in John Banville’s Snow.

Big Finish Audio Review: Jago And Litefoot Get A Little Help

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Jago & Litefoot Series Three is a pretty decent addition to the audio series reuniting the two Victorian investigators of infernal incidents with an old friend in the shape of Leela, portrayed by Louise Jameson. Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter reprise their celebrated roles of Henry Gordon Jago and Professor George Litefoot in this new collection of episodes released by Big Finish Productions. Lisa Bowerman returns as Ellie, their favorite barmaid. Conrad Asquith reprises his role as Sergeant Quick. There are four episodes to discuss briefly here.

Just to review, the Jago & Litefoot series is a spinoff of Doctor Who. They met during the television serial entitled The Talons of Weng-Chiang during Tom Baker’s era in the role of the Doctor. Louise Jameson returns to lend a hand in this series as Leela. Leela has been sent from Gallifrey to help close some time breaches which have been plaguing Victorian London. It’s fun to hear them banter back and forth once again.

The first story to discuss is Dead Men’s Tales by Justin Richards. Beings known as Wet Men have been lurking around the streets and alleys of London. They have risen from the Thames looking for a lost member of their crew. The idea of ghosts from the future are first explored here.’

Leela gets to go undercover as a barmaid under the tutelage of Ellie Higson, portrayed by Lisa Bowerman, and the moments is hilarious. Jameson is quite an experienced actress and handles the moment quite deftly.

Anyway, it’s a fairly interesting story, but Richards has done better in the past.

The Man at the End of the Garden by Matthew Sweet explores the idea of a fairy tale coming alive. It was an okay script, but it was not that memorable. I did like that Big Finish actually cast a child for the role of a little girl at the center of the problem. They do not always do that. Eden Monteath is the name of the young actress, and she did a good job. The cast interviews at the end revealed that she took the part seriously but likely had fun as everyone attests to happening when recording at the studio.

Jago and Litefoot get a taste of the future in John Dorney’s Swan Song. More ghosts from the future haunt the New Regency Theater, which was recently bequeathed to Henry Gordon Jago. In the future, a lab will be built where time experiments are being conducted. This was a much more engaging story than its predecessors, but that’s not surprising considering it’s from Dorney.

Finally, another long time Doctor Who contributor, Andy Lane wraps up this set with Chronoclasm where the mastermind behind the disturbances is revealed. Philip Bretherton steps from the shadows as Elliot Payne. Jago, Litefoot, and Leela get some unexpected help from another Henry Gordon Jago.

It’s another competent script from a talented writer, but Lane has also done better in previous works.

Overall, it was an enjoyable listening experience, but the inclusion of Leela just seems like such an obvious move. Still, Louise Jameson does that part so well, so it was still nice to have her join in the hijinks.

The set serves the purpose of being enjoyment accompaniment in the car, but there is not much that I found to stand out other than the guest appearances.

Book Review: A Wounded Sheriff In Hiding Catches A Case

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Copper River is my first sampling of William Kent Krueger’s writing and is unlikely to be my last since I enjoyed this novel quite a bit.

Krueger has a protagonist named Cork O’Conner, a sheriff in Minnesota. O’Conner has apparently had quite a difficult time in the previous novels that I have yet to read. He starts off this story with a bullet in his leg and in hiding from a crime family who believe that he had killed one of their members. He ends up in Bodine, Michigan where he has a cousin that is able to meet some of his medical needs. The cousin, Jewell, is a widow with a young son, who is able to help with the bullet wound.

Cork’s investigative instincts awaken when a body is discovered in the river. A young girl has been murdered, and Cork needs some help when it appears that there is a conspiracy involving runaway teens. The killing doesn’t stop with one girl in the river. Cork has his own troubles and needs to get back to his wife and children, however he is not going to leave his cousin and her to face their threats without him.

Krueger is a pretty good writer and is not afraid to put his main character through the wringer. O’Conner is a typically pragmatic and likeable law enforcement officer. Of course, I am meeting this character in the middle of the series, but Krueger does a decent job of catching up the reader on events in the more recent novels without it seeming too clunky.

Apparently, Krueger also has some interest in Native American culture and history which he peppers in quite effectively.

Anyway, Krueger is a writer I am going to revisit in the not-too-distant future.

Next up, I haven’t read a Mickey Spillane novel in a while, but I do happen to have “Vengeance is Mine” in my stack of books on the dresser.

Film Review: Some Flights Should Be Missed

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Flight Risk is an adequately entertaining action film directed by Mel Gibson. The script came from the computer of Jared Rosenberg. Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Dockery and Topher Grace are the main stars of this film.

Michelle Dockery plays a US Marshal taking an important witness to New York from Anchorage on a small plane. Wahlberg plays the pilot who turns out to be on a crime family’s payroll and is hired to make sure that Topher Grace’s Winston doesn’t spill the tea in court. Most of the story takes place on the plane where Wahlberg gets to unleash his inner psycho.

The story is a bit implausible, but the performances are just strong enough to make that somewhat forgivable. Wahlberg actually does a decent job of behaving with terrifying and convincing savagery at times. Grace actually does well as the nervous, sometimes witty, accountant to a mob family who has decided to switch sides. Dockery’s performance as Deputy Madolyn Harris is fine as well.

Really, the writing is a bit of a letdown in this one. The cast members do the best they can, but the film ends not being one of Gibson’s best directorial efforts. There is still some evidence that Gibson retains some of his skills because the movie could have been a lot worse.

It’s a pretty forgettable popcorn flick, but at least it’s not going to be remembered for belonging on a cinematic trash heap.

Book Review: Christmas Cheer And Trouble On Baker Street

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What Child is This? is an adequate Sherlock Holmes novel written by Bonnie MacBird. It takes place during the Christmas season of 1890.

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson foil an attempted kidnapping on the streets of London and are engaged by the mother to identify the would-be adductor. The father of the child has made his own arrangements for an investigation. Also, another case of a wayward son presents itself when an aristocrat shows up at Baker Street to enlist the assistance of the consulting detective. Holmes is engaged to ensure some peace for two families in time for Christmas, but he and Watson have to navigate some dangerous waters so they can find some contentment in the holiday as well.

Bonnie MacBird is one of the better writers to carry on the legacy created by the late Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but this is not one of the better ones in her series of Holmes novels. Holmes does display a certain compassion that can be overlooked in other pastiche works at times, so that is kind of a nice touch.

I just found myself less than enthralled by the cases Holmes was investigating. My interest was only mildly piqued from time to time.

There were some illustrations peppered throughout the book that were done by Frank Cho. I didn’t hate this entry into the series, but I was sort of just going through the motions in reading this.

I am still interested to see what MacBird’s next Holmes venture will contain. She is a talented writer, but she rather missed the mark with this particular release.

Now that is done, the next reading indulgence is going to be a visit to Copper River, where Sheriff Cork O’Conner, recovering from a gunshot wound, has involved himself in a very disturbing murder investigation that also involves abducted children. I have yet to read one of the thrillers by William Kent Krueger, but Copper River seems to be a promising introduction.