My Sister's Hand in Mine
Book
Though she wrote only one novella, one short play, and fewer than a dozen short stories over a...
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated A Kill for the Poet (Chaser on the Rocks #2) in Books
Nov 18, 2019
Yet that is what happens when a mysterious surveillance job turns into something far more sinister and despite himself Caskey can't help but try to unravel the mystery. Like picking at a scab this is something he feels compelled to do but it's really only going to make things worse. The main story is woven through with Caskey composing his latest novel featuring his 1940s detective Billy Chapman investigating a murder.
Despite the complexities Maltman creates for himself in both his main character and the book within a book, both plots work well together. The Billy Chapman sections serve to break up the main story, like sorbet between a twelve course meal. Caskey, despite his problems, is an engaging character and very believable even when the plot he gets caught up in veers towards being wilfully obscure. There is an obvious comparison to Bateman's Mystery Man, another Nothern Irish detective with mental issues. But where Mystery Man is often a tragic and self-defeating character, Caskey is nothing like that and embraces his flaws.
Above all this stands up as a good solid detective story (indeed two of them). Maltman has a flair for producing interesting and very readable books and this is no exception
The Life, Music and Thought of Woody Guthrie: A Critical Appraisal
Book
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (1912-67) has had an immense impact on popular culture throughout the world....
John Mcdonnell: The Most Successful Coach in Ncaa History
Book
When John McDonnell began his coaching career at the University of Arkansas at...
Railway Renaissance: Britain's Railways After Beeching
Book
When a 35 mile stretch of the former Waverley route from Edinburgh to Carlisle reopened on 6...
Singapore Chess: A History, 1945-1990
Book
This book is the definitive volume on the history of chess in Singapore. Covering the period...
Allen Ginsberg
Book
In this new critical biography of Allen Ginsberg, Steve Finbow re-examines the life, poetry and...
Category Theory for the Sciences
Book
Category theory was invented in the 1940s to unify and synthesize different areas in mathematics,...
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) in Movies
Nov 5, 2020
The plot: Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) is a brilliant scientist willing to stop at nothing in his quest to reanimate a deceased body. After alienating his longtime friend and partner, Paul Krempe (Robert Urquhart), with his extreme methods, Frankenstein assembles a hideous creature (Christopher Lee) out of dead body parts and succeeds in bringing it to life. But the monster is not as obedient or docile as Frankenstein expected, and it runs amok, resulting in murder and mayhem.
It was Hammer's first colour horror film, and the first of their Frankenstein series.
Professor Patricia MacCormack called it the "first really gory horror film, showing blood and guts in colour".
Peter Cushing, who was then best known for his many high-profile roles in British television, had his first lead part in a movie with this film. Meanwhile, Christopher Lee's casting resulted largely from his height (6' 5"), though Hammer had earlier considered the even taller (6 '7") Bernard Bresslaw for the role.
Unlike the Universal Frankenstein series of the 1930s and 1940s, in which the character of the Monster was the recurring figure while the doctors frequently changed, it is Baron Frankenstein that is the connective character throughout the Hammer series, while the monsters change.
Its a excellent film.
Why Not Say What Happened?
Book
Beautiful, intelligent and wealthy, Ivana Lowell seemed to have it all. Part of the Guinness...