The Woman in the Window is a thriller written by A.J. Finn about a woman suffering from agoraphobia after a major trauma. The story is told from the perspective from a woman named Anna Fox. Anna Fox has the rather troubling habit of viewing her neighbors through a high powered camera lens. She gets to know of new neighbors across a park in a New York neighborhood. Of course, Finn adds to the irony by having his main protagonist a psychologist. Anna Fox spends her days and nights in her house, watching old movies, drinking too much, and mixing the alcohol with her medication. She also tries to help others with her affliction through an online support group. Oh, and she plays chess online as well.

She has an encounter with someone she identifies as Jane Russell, who she believes is the wife in the new family across the street. Then she sees the woman get stabbed some time later. The belligerent husband shows up after the police are called with a wife who Anna doesn’t recognize as the woman with whom she spent an evening. She begins to doubt her sanity further as the ploy moves along. The police don’t believe her. Anna’s grip on reality slips more and more.

There is also a mysterious good-looking tenant in the house who has his own secrets.

Poor Anna has a lot going on for someone too afraid to leave the house.

My impression of this novel was a bit mixed. Fortunately I was quite interested to see how Finn would have this little caper resolved. Unfortunately, Finn relies on a lot of familiar tropes from the films or other books of this genre. The critics apparently hail this as some kind of modern masterpiece, which is I think is overstating things a bit when it comes to this particular novel. Fortunately, the very end of the novel actually does offer a payoff that is worth the time spent in its pages. I could predict some of the answers Anna was going to find, but Finn does offer a couple of curveballs in the story.

I may not entirely agree with the effusiveness others have expressed about this novel, but I would still recommend giving this one a read and perhaps keeping an eye out for whatever A.J. Finn comes up with next.

The next book to go under the reading lamp will be Max Seeck’s The Witch Hunter.

The Adventure of the Perfidious Mariner is a Sherlock Holmes audio drama from Big Finish Productions and is written by Jonathan Barnes. Nicholas Briggs returns to play the now retired consulting detective and shares directing duties with Martin Montague. Richard Earl reprises his role as the universally recognized sidekick and chronicler, Dr. John Watson. The guest cast is small but mighty, being comprised of Michael Maloney, Tracey Childs, and Toby Longworth.

The story takes place in 1912 not long after the sinking of the RMS Titanic, and Dr. Watson decides to look in on his old friend, Sherlock Holmes, who has retired from his criminal investigation practice in London and is now studying bees. That all fits into the canon of Arthur Conan Doyle. The surprising development is that Dr. Watson’s wife was lost aboard the Titanic, and his relationship with Holmes is rather strained. It seems that Holmes retired suddenly from his practice due to some mistake that was never revealed on this episode. Watson is followed by J. Bruce Ismay, who had taken a lot of criticism for surviving the Titanic disaster when he was involved in the construction of the ship as managing director of White Star Line. Ismay is rather panicked after being followed by a ghostly woman and people who have shown any sort of compassion for his plight dying mysteriously. By the way, Ismay was actually a real guy so this is a story which blends the fictional works of Conan Doyle with a profound historical incident.

This is a fairly interesting episode. I am getting more used to Briggs’ interpretation of Holmes, but the scene stealer is Richard Earl as Watson. The dialogue seems well suited for the era this is supposed to represent. Barnes shows some cleverness in leaving a couple of avenues open for Holmes to continue some investigation beyond this case. Briggs and Earl seem to have settled in quite nicely into their roles. It was quite interesting to see Watson not quite enamored with Holmes’ talents as usual. These two men had a serious rift when this whole thing begins. Earl does a great job of presenting the hurt Watson must have felt when he did not hear from Holmes after Mr. Watson’s tragic demise. There is not quite as much narration as there usually is in this series, and I found myself kind of missing that. Earl has such a great voice and manner of performing the narration that I was kind waiting for it. I know many listeners find narration a bit off-putting, but I got rather used to Earl’s style.

I like Nicholas Briggs because he is always so open about his passion for Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes during the cast interviews contained in these releases. He also isn’t bad as an actor. I would call his version of Holmes more competent and pretty faithful to how Doyle seemed to have described him. Sometimes, the more acerbic moods seem to be a little forced. I don’t know if I would ever consider his interpretation a favorite, but Briggs really doesn’t ruin it for me with his performance, and that will work.

This particular episode doesn’t quite make the standout mark in my mind, but it’s enjoyable enough for me to not regret purchasing it.

The Sixth Doctor and Peri: Volume One is a Doctor Who audio boxset from Big Finish Productions and stars Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant, The title is pretty self-explanatory. This a collection of four new adventures with Doctor in his sixth incarnation and of course, Perpugilliam Brown, known as Peri. The set was directed by Scott Handcock. Guest actors include Hugh Skinner, Rachel Atkins, Sarah Douglas, David Sibley, and all kinds of other performers you can enjoy if you buy this collection. Needless to say, a lot went into this.

And so this set begins with The Headless Ones by James Parsons and Andrew Stirling-Brown in which the TARDIS brings the Doctor and Peri to nineteenth century Africa where a British expedition is searching for a legendary tribe known as the Headless Ones. It turns out to be a pretty good start. Not much new in the Doctor popping in an some expedition, but it turned out to be a fun adventure. It probably isn’t one of the more memorable ones though, which seems to be case in most of episodes with more than one writer. Anyway, it’s a good enough start with Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant finding their banter and chemistry with ease.

Like is the second episode and is written by Jacqueline Raynor, who has a lot of Doctor Who contributions under her belt. The Doctor and Peri comes across an Earth colony world where popularity is essential to continued survival. This episode could be described as rather quirky. It takes on the obsession of wanting to be noticed, and considering the Doctor’s multi-colored wardrobe, he has little problem with catching the eye. It’s a pretty interesting episode with some effective humor mixed into the message. Once again, Colin Baker gets to ham things a bit, but that seems to work with this particular story. It’s one of those episodes where the humor does blend in with the sinister here. Basically, Raynor doesn’t disappoint with her contribution.

Probably my favorite out of this collection is Stuart Manning’s The Vanity Trap. Hollywood film legend Myrna Kendal has a story to tell about an uncompleted picture and her meeting the Doctor and his companion. The desire to avoid the ravages of Time is at the heart of this. It’s kind of a complicated tale in that there is time distortion and characters misplaced in time. It’s not that easy to follow on audio, but somehow I managed to enjoy it a little more than the other stories. It probably just appeals to my taste for the retro. Anyway, I wasn’t completely thrown and I got the gist of it toward the end, but I could probably stand to pay a little closer attention the next time I fire this one up.

Finally, Nev Fountain wraps up this set with Conflict Theory. The Doctor and Peri are apparently not on the same page in their travels these days and need a little help. Dr. Sigmund Freud is no longer alive, but his wisdom lives on in a colony of robots fashioned after him. A little psychoanalysis gets interrupted by another invasion. This may be my second favorite because there is kind of a neat twist, but the story also examines the Doctor’s relationships and motivations when it comes to his companions. Some of the very early companions are referenced here, which I appreciated. It kind of opens up some new avenues of thought for the fans when it comes to reflecting on the Doctor’s pattern of associations. This story went a little deeper than what was done on the television series during the Sixth Doctor’s era, and I almost always appreciate that.

Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant themselves make this whole collection a treat. As much as I enjoy the original companions provided by Big Finish, it’s fun to revisit this Doctor and his relationship with Peri. Big Finish has also done a great job of evolving Peri beyond what was seen onscreen. Although the Doctor and Peri can still bicker with the best of them, there is now more affection displayed in the audio plays. Even if a couple of the stories were not as notable here, I still enjoyed the whole collection and hope that a second volume is to come quite soon.

Rebecca is a thriller recently released on Netflix. Ben Wheatley serves with director of this latest adaptation of the novel written by Daphne de Maurier in 1938. The screenplay was written by Jane Goldman, Joe Shrapnel, and Anna Waterhouse. The cast includes Lily James, Armie Hammer, and Kristin Scott Thomas.

It didn’t occur to me at the time, but the name of the second Mrs. de Winter is never revealed. So, a flirtation begins between the paid companion of some rich American woman vacationing in Monte Carlo and a very wealthy British widower with the rather cool name of Maxim de Winter develops into something considerably more. The two lovebirds suddenly get married and the new Mrs. de Winter is brought to a lavish estate known as Manderley. Mrs. de Winter is introduced to the staff of servants and runs into some hostility from the head housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers. The second Mrs. De Winter learns of the tragic demise of her predecessor and senses her presence throughout the estate. Mrs. Danvers certainly seems to have a rather strong preference for the original Mrs. de Winter. Anyway, more secrets are revealed as the story plods along, and it seems that the first Mrs. de Winter left a very unsettling legacy for her successor to figure out.

I have not read the book and have meant to view the 1940 version directed by the great Alfred Hitchcock, so strangely enough, this version was my first full exposure to the story of the de Winter estate. I will just say on the outset that I was rather disappointed. It’s not that this is a terrible movie. but I had hoped it was much better. My major complaint is the slowness of the unveiling of secrets at times. The cast seemed to have been well chosen. I have no real issue with performances. The actual set design and location are amazing. It isn’t like nothing in this movie works, yet it seems to still fall flat for me somehow. I just got that sense that I was not missing much if I had not seem this film. I think the initial courtship between the two main characters did not seem all that realistic and interesting. The story itself was somewhat intriguing, but that just made me interested in the original novel. I guess some purposes of the film were served if it grabbed my attention that much, however this particular adaptation was still seemed to be a pretty average effort overall. It’s not a film that needs to be avoided at all costs, but I certainly would have been more disappointed had I gone to the big screen for this.

When the Sacred Ginmill Closes is a crime novel by one of the acclaimed masters of the genre, Lawrence Block. It was first published in 1986 and features unlicensed private eye Matthew Scudder. This is not the first one in there series, but it was the first one I have read. Yeah, I read stuff out of order sometimes.

Scudder is a former NYPD cop who makes his living kind of doing favors or off the books investigations. He lives in a motel and spends a lot of time in bars because he is an alcoholic, in case I need to spell it out. I found Scudder a bit more compelling than I expected. He does have morals than are respectable and somewhat honorable. The man has his demons and sometimes doesn’t play well with others, but he is not hard to root for.

In this particular story, Scudder finds himself in the middle of a bar stick-up that has something more than it first seems. He also is asked by one of his bar buddies to look into his wife’s murder to help make sure that he is not left on the hook for the crime. There’s a good deal of extortion and betrayal peppered throughout the journey to complicate Scudder’s life further. There is also lots and lots of boozing to help get through these challenging times.

I am not sure why it has taken me this long to read a Lawrence Block novel, and I am a ,little too cynical to immediately say that am now an avid fan after just one book. I will say that I am intrigued enough to try other works by Mr. Block though. There is no question that he is a talented writer. Sometimes, the bar scenes could feel a little stifling because Scudder frequents them so much, which is understandable considering his compulsion. When he is actually focused on his investigations and his instincts seem to be firing correctly, Scudder actually has a certain style I like. The story is written in first person, so the reader gets a pretty intimate look at his thought process.

I have known the name Lawrence Block for some time, and he is very highly regarded within the genre of crime fiction. Now that I have read one of his books, I suspect that regard is actually very well-earned. I have another Block novel in my growing collection of things to read, but I will save that for later.

I will read a debut novel from a newer denizen into the world of published authors. A major movie has been released or about to be released based on my next reading selection. It’s hard to keep track with COVID 19 interfering with my cinematic expectations. Anyway, I will next be learning what was seen by The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn.

Spotlight is a drama film released in 2015 and chronicles the events surrounding a group of investigative reporters for The Boston Globe who wrote a series articles exposing the Catholic Church’s propensity for covering up the sexual abuse of children perpetuated by priests. The Globe was awarded the Pulitzer in 2003, and the film won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Tom McCarthy directed the film and was also a co-writer alongside Josh Singer. The powerhouse cast includes Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, and Stanley Tucci.

“Spotlight” is apparently this special branch of investigative reporters who take on the more complex stories in Boston, Massachusetts. They get wind of a number of priests in the area being accused of molesting children and then having their misdeeds hushed up by the senior authorities of the Catholic Church.

This is actually a very compelling film, but it sometimes drags a bit. There are a lot of meetings which take place, which sometimes seems to slow the story down, however I guess lengthy intense discussions would indeed be commonplace at a newspaper. I have no complaints about the cast. The roster is an impressive collection of proven talent. Some of the attempts at the Boston accent seemed a little dodgy but not enough to dampen my interest in the film.

I am sure there was some creative liberties taken with the interpretation of this story, but the blowback and chaos that would follow such exposure of a vile betrayal such as sexual abuse of a child by those in the clergy did seem to be authentically portrayed. The excuses and minimizations these offenders express certainly were accurately presented. In the interest of full disclosure, I will say that I worked as a probation officer for many years and much of that time was supervising a caseload of sex offenders. The powers that be behind this film really seemed to have researched the subject quite thoroughly.

The film has a pretty grim subject matter, but I find it to be an important example of how complex and heartbreaking these cases can get. It also offers some insight on the work many journalists put in when it comes to bringing such troubling secrets to light.

It would seem odd to call this an enjoyable film, so I will say that it is an important and well-made one. The pace of it sometimes tested my patience, but the patience I had to muster did make the experience worthwhile.

The Beginning is a Doctor Who audio play from Big Finish Productions and is an episode from the range known as The Companion Chronicles. Carole Ann Ford reprises her role as Susan, granddaughter of the space/time traveler known as the Doctor. She is joined by guest actor, Terry Molloy as a mysterious character named Quadrigger Stoyn. Marc Platt has written the script with Lisa Bowerman once again serving as director.

Well, it had to happen. Big Finish has decided to tackle the circumstances of the Doctor’s departure from his home planet. Susan relates the tale of their escape from their planet and their subsequent encounter with Quadrigger Stoyn who was aboard the purloined TARDIS. The Doctor, Stoyn, and Susan are also confronted by other alien beings.

I had a little trouble following this story for a bit, but I do appreciate the performances and the effort to tap into this era of the Doctor’s journey. Terry Molloy was one of the actors who had portrayed Davros, the creator of the Daleks, in the television series and has continued that performance for Big Finish. He has a new adversary to play now and does not need a voice modulator this time. He is quite good although there is yet much to understand about Quadrigger Stoyn.

Carol Ann Ford remains in good voice despite her age. The story presented by Platt may need another listen in order for me to understand and appreciate, but he tends to like a few extra layers in his plots.

The episode was actually released in 2013 and was part of Big Finish’s efforts to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Doctor Who.

In spite of this coming across as a bit convoluted, the episode works, and I will likely clear up some of the questions I have by listening to it again. The performances are strong from both actors. The sound effects were as convincing as I would expect. It was still exciting to experience what the Doctor’s escape into the cosmos on some level. Platt did take good care to respect the show’s canon, such as it is. Quadrigger Stoyn is an interesting adversary and is likely to reappear to bedevil the Doctor further.

The Queen’s Gambit is a limited series released on Netflix a few weeks ago. It is comprised of seven episodes and was created by Scott Frank and Alan Grant. It is based on a novel by Walter Tevis. Anya Taylor-Joy plays the lead role of chess prodigy Beth Harmon. The cast includes Bill Camp, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Marielle Heller, and Rebecca Root.

Beth Harmon is an orphan who discovers an interest in the game of chess with the help of a janitor at the orphanage. Her passion and talent for the game stays with her after she is adopted and into school. Unfortunately, her taste for narcotics and alcohol also keeps its grip on her. That’s the simplest way to summarize this series. There is a lot that goes on in Beth’s journey into adulthood and notoriety in the global chess community. She also is not the most socially well-adjusted of young ladies, which also makes her a tragic and admirable character.

This is probably one of the most impressive programs I have seen in a while. Just about everything works. There is a very compelling and unusual protagonist who takes a viewer on a journey that is both tragic and triumphant. Who would have thought chess could be so exciting? I actually rather like the game but not very good at it. All of the cast appeared to be well selected. Bill Camp as Beth’s first chess mentor was quite intriguing. Mr. Shaibel is the janitor at the orphanage who first sparks Beth’s interest in the game. Brodie-Sangster at first seems to be somewhat of a questionable casting choice, but his Benny Watts really grew on me. He has the swagger of a rock star among the chess players, but there is a strong sense of decency that belies the apparent arrogance. He just gets a lot more likeable the more he is onscreen.

The high praise from the professional critics is actually well deserved. Even the moments that seemed the most predictable really did not detract much from the overall production. The series takes place mostly in 1960’s, and the era was convincingly recreated. The soundtrack was great. Anya Taylor-Joy was really the perfect choice in the lead role.

I don’t usually heap this much praise on a film or series, but there really was not much I could criticize all that harshly. Even if this was supposed to be some effort to champion an overly feminist ideology, it was done quite skillfully. I think there were enough male characters who behaved rather nobly and genuinely cared for the troubled prodigy that I didn’t mind it so much. It could also be there was a real effort to stay faithful to the novel, but I have yet to read that one, so I couldn’t say for sure one way or the other.

I would say this one was worth the time, but not necessarily for the youngsters. I may also look for the novel and see how that goes.

Let Him Go is described as a neo-western drama. The script was written by Thomas Bezucha, who also decided to direct the thing. It is also based on a novel by Larry Watson. The cast is led by Diane Lane and Kevin Costner and includes the talents of Jeffery Donovan, Lesly Mansfield, Kayli Carter, and Will Brittain.

Lane and Costner play Margaret and George Blackledge, who lost their only son in a tragic horse riding accident. The son’s widow later meets and marries Donnie Weboy. Margaret becomes concerned for the safety of her grandson when she witnesses the new husband being quite aggressive with his wife and the child. Things get even more troubling when Donnie whisks the wife and kid off to parts unknown to be closer to his family. When the Blackledges finally track them down. it seems that Donnie comes by his violent tendencies quite honestly. Mansfield is quite convincing as the dastardly matriarch. It was also great to see Donovan onscreen, even if his character was rather slimy.

Anyway, the film could get a little slow at times, but the performances of Lane and Costner helped to offset my impatience a bit. The scenery of Montana and North Dakota was beautifully shot. The story took place in the 1960’s and that era seems to be convincingly recreated as well.

There are some explanations I would have liked to have gotten. For example, the Weboys seemed to have some sort of influence on the town of Gladstone, North Dakota but it was not clear as to why other than them just being rather nasty. It was clear after a rather brutal assault on the intrepid grandparents that they had some pull with the local law enforcement but there was no real explanation as to how that came about. The Weboy family did not seem to be particularly wealthy and lived way out in the hills.

So the ending was a little far-fetched and not quite what I wanted to happen, but the film isn’t bad overall. It does a great job of showing both some of the challenges and the joys of a long marriage. Costner and Lane are just great together. Not all of the story elements made sense, but it did manage to remain quite suspenseful. The performances were all solid. The film has a few weak points, but not enough for me to regret seeing it.

Lethal Agent is a recent novel by Kyle Mills which continues the black ops thriller series created by the late Vince Flynn. Mitch Rapp is back at his never ending crusade to take as many terrorists off the board as he can. In this novel, he has to head off an effort by a ISIS leader to introduce a dangerous strain of engineered anthrax. Rapp has figured out that an adversary has a Mexican drug cartel on hand to help smuggle the virus into the United States. He decides to make it apparent that he has betrayed his country so he can infiltrate the cartel. If Rapp can get both an ISIS leader and a head of a drug cartel, so much the better. He also has to contend with a very ambitious female senator with her eyes on the Oval Office who is less than approving of Rapp’s attitude and methods. It’s a powder keg ready to explode with Rapp in the blast zone, right where he works best.

Vince Flynn died way too young, but Kyle Mills does well enough to keep Rapp in the fight. The body count at the hands of Rapp is quite high in this one. He just seems to get deadlier with age. There is nothing all that extraordinary in the novel other than Rapp getting mixed up with a drug cartel. It does seem that Mills likes to imagine what Rapp would do in the midst of all of the unsavory characters that the US seems to hesitate on in real life. The last Red War pitted Rapp against the Russians. It is kind of fun to see Rapp tangle with some of country’s enemies other than Islamic terrorists. Yes, it all gets rather far-fetched and a little formulaic at times.

Of course, Rapp meets the senator with the major beef, and that does not disappoint when it finally happens. The novel was written well before the global COVID 19 situation, but there were some striking similarities peppered throughout the story. It’s an enjoyable enough entry into the series, but I still miss Vince Flynn.

Next up, I will be getting to an author of whom I have been aware for some time but whose works I have yet to explore. Time to get introduced to Matthew Scudder in Lawrence Block’s When the Sacred Ginmill Closes.