The best crime dramas on TV are returning for new seasons in 2012. All are serial dramas with continuing plot lines, so catch up with them early:
"Justified" - (FX Cable, Tuesday) Gritty backwoods crime saga set in Kentucky coal country. Based on the character of laconic, fast draw U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, created by crime novelist Elmore Leonard. Violent menace lurks down every overgrown country road. With sharply written, deadpan dialogue, this show is the real deal.
"Southland" - (TNT Cable, Tuesday) Intense, graphic portrayal of the pressure-filled daily duty tours of Los Angeles patrol officers. Each sweaty-palmed vehicle stop by the cops is only a step away from abrupt violence. There is no glamour here, only troubled people and harsh realities, with few good outcomes. A hard ride on gritty L.A. streets, but a ride worth taking.
"The Killing" - (AMC Cable) Returning Spring 2012. Moody, addictive Northwest Noir series set in Seattle as police probe the mystery of a teenage girl's murder. Sinister undercurrents swirl everywhere, waiting to be uncovered. But last season's finale kept viewers frustrated as the murderer's identity was left unresolved. A head-twisting last scene even called into question the hidden involvement of one of the lead detectives. Now where does this thing go? Only way to find out is to tune in.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Most Disturbing Movies of 2011
Last year served up a number of movies that were each profoundly disturbing in their own ways. Here are the creepiest ones:
"Contagion" - Starkly realistic depiction of the rapid, unstoppable spread of a deadly epidemic vector. A simple handshake or a stranger's cough can mean potential infection and death. An absolutely frightening film about our possible future.
"Margin Call" - Cynical drama about another kind of epidemic --- a financial crash that wipes out people's savings, jobs, and homes. The frank amorality of Wall Street types trying to save themselves by dumping bankrupt securities on others is perfectly chilling.
"Insidious" - A horror movie with scary happenings to a family that suggest an unseen world of malevolent forces exists around human lives. The monstrous twist ending shocker warns that the demonic forces are winning.
"The Skin I Live In" - Bizarre story of a mad doctor holding a woman captive in order to create a new artificial human skin. Freakish portrayal of obsession and hideous exploitation. (In Spanish with English subtitles)
"Contagion" - Starkly realistic depiction of the rapid, unstoppable spread of a deadly epidemic vector. A simple handshake or a stranger's cough can mean potential infection and death. An absolutely frightening film about our possible future.
"Margin Call" - Cynical drama about another kind of epidemic --- a financial crash that wipes out people's savings, jobs, and homes. The frank amorality of Wall Street types trying to save themselves by dumping bankrupt securities on others is perfectly chilling.
"Insidious" - A horror movie with scary happenings to a family that suggest an unseen world of malevolent forces exists around human lives. The monstrous twist ending shocker warns that the demonic forces are winning.
"The Skin I Live In" - Bizarre story of a mad doctor holding a woman captive in order to create a new artificial human skin. Freakish portrayal of obsession and hideous exploitation. (In Spanish with English subtitles)
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Best Mystery Novels of 2011
The last year was a good one for new mystery novels. Here are the ones that MURDER BEACH liked best:
"The Snowman" by Jo Nesbo - Oslo, Norway police detective Harry Hole tracks a sadistic serial killer, dubbed The Snowman, because he leaves a snowman in the yard of each new victim. The killer somehow has inside personal information that he uses to manipulate Hole, leading up to a horrific crisis situation involving someone close to Harry.
Readers should be warned that this novel deals with violent sexual aberration and contains much adult material and language.
For fans of the late Stieg Larsson's "Dragon Tattoo" series, Jo Nesbo's chilling Nordic crime novels are a worthy successor.
An outstanding mystery read.
"The Drop" by Michael Connelly - LAPD detective Harry Bosch investigates an apparent suicide jump, but "the drop" begins to look more like murder. The case pulls Bosch into a minefield of high level city political corruption. Meanwhile, he's digging into an old unsolved murder case that points to a long term serial predator still at work.
Bosch is his usual cynical self, but with his hard nosed ethical code still intact. Without that, he couldn't be a cop anymore.
Crisply written, with a hard-driving plot. A first rate police procedural.
"The Troubled Man" by Henning Mankell - The last of the Kurt Wallander novels. As Wallander nears retirement, he looks into the disappearance of a former Swedish naval officer that may be linked to Cold War espionage.
But the real center of the novel is Wallander's bleak struggle with his own health and personal problems that leads him toward a frightening answer that he fears to find.
A melancholy, introspective goodbye for Wallander.
"The Complaints" by Ian Rankin - Internal Affairs is called The Complaints in the Edinburgh, Scotland police department. That's where Inspector Malcolm Fox investigates other cops for misconduct.
A new case has Fox quietly probing whether a young detective is part of a secret Internet porno ring. But Fox is distracted when his sister's abusive partner is found beaten to death. Fox makes the mistake of getting improperly involved in the murder case. That leads to Fox himself becoming a target of investigation as his enemies on the force get their revenge back on the hated Complaints officer.
An unusual, steadily building plot and a thoroughly enjoyable police mystery.
"The Snowman" by Jo Nesbo - Oslo, Norway police detective Harry Hole tracks a sadistic serial killer, dubbed The Snowman, because he leaves a snowman in the yard of each new victim. The killer somehow has inside personal information that he uses to manipulate Hole, leading up to a horrific crisis situation involving someone close to Harry.
Readers should be warned that this novel deals with violent sexual aberration and contains much adult material and language.
For fans of the late Stieg Larsson's "Dragon Tattoo" series, Jo Nesbo's chilling Nordic crime novels are a worthy successor.
An outstanding mystery read.
"The Drop" by Michael Connelly - LAPD detective Harry Bosch investigates an apparent suicide jump, but "the drop" begins to look more like murder. The case pulls Bosch into a minefield of high level city political corruption. Meanwhile, he's digging into an old unsolved murder case that points to a long term serial predator still at work.
Bosch is his usual cynical self, but with his hard nosed ethical code still intact. Without that, he couldn't be a cop anymore.
Crisply written, with a hard-driving plot. A first rate police procedural.
"The Troubled Man" by Henning Mankell - The last of the Kurt Wallander novels. As Wallander nears retirement, he looks into the disappearance of a former Swedish naval officer that may be linked to Cold War espionage.
But the real center of the novel is Wallander's bleak struggle with his own health and personal problems that leads him toward a frightening answer that he fears to find.
A melancholy, introspective goodbye for Wallander.
"The Complaints" by Ian Rankin - Internal Affairs is called The Complaints in the Edinburgh, Scotland police department. That's where Inspector Malcolm Fox investigates other cops for misconduct.
A new case has Fox quietly probing whether a young detective is part of a secret Internet porno ring. But Fox is distracted when his sister's abusive partner is found beaten to death. Fox makes the mistake of getting improperly involved in the murder case. That leads to Fox himself becoming a target of investigation as his enemies on the force get their revenge back on the hated Complaints officer.
An unusual, steadily building plot and a thoroughly enjoyable police mystery.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
William Wilde Ebook Titles - Now On Sale Only $1.99!
Great sale prices now on William Wilde Ebook titles! Only $1.99 at Fictionwise.com
SHOW ME - Suspense Novel. A realty agent becomes the target of a disturbed voyeur watching everything she does.
THE REP - Horror Novel. A freeway crash survivor is hounded afterwards on a hellish road trip by a malevolent traveling sales rep.
Click on book cover Links in right sidebar to Read Excerpts from the novels and buy at Fictionwise.com
THE TRIAL OF RACHEL WILLIAMS - Suspense/Horror Novel. The leader of a radical witchcraft cult is tried for murder in the gruesome death of a business executive in what becomes a modern day witchcraft trial.
Click on book cover link at right to buy at Synergebooks.com. Only $2.99!
All titles also available at Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Noble Nook.
SHOW ME - Suspense Novel. A realty agent becomes the target of a disturbed voyeur watching everything she does.
THE REP - Horror Novel. A freeway crash survivor is hounded afterwards on a hellish road trip by a malevolent traveling sales rep.
Click on book cover Links in right sidebar to Read Excerpts from the novels and buy at Fictionwise.com
THE TRIAL OF RACHEL WILLIAMS - Suspense/Horror Novel. The leader of a radical witchcraft cult is tried for murder in the gruesome death of a business executive in what becomes a modern day witchcraft trial.
Click on book cover link at right to buy at Synergebooks.com. Only $2.99!
All titles also available at Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Noble Nook.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Stephen King Battles Time in 11/22/63
Stephen King's new novel 11/22/63 isn't a horror novel, but there's still a monster in it.
The monster is past history and the past doesn't want to be changed. The past is capable of many vicious tricks to keep anyone from ever altering it.
The book's main character, Jake Epping, tries to do just that when he uses a freak time portal anomaly to go back into the past to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy. But the huge, implacable machine that is Time itself repeatedly throws up roadblocks to stop Jake. The constant fatalistic theme of the story is that Time is a relentless and often cruel thing that humans have futile power to affect.
Although it's not a horror novel, the usual eerie King touches are still there. A clown-faced killer in the town of Derry, Maine that echoes King's earlier novel It. A sinister two-tone Plymouth Fury in Dallas that recalls the malevolent auto in Christine. Then there's something that guards the time portal that's called the Yellow Card Man.
11/22/63 is an enormous, disturbing novel that deals with the unpredictable and dangerous consequences of trying to alter history. Each small change in the past can have unforeseen results in the future. We've all had the desire to be able to go back and change something in the past that we wish had never happened.
Just don't ever try to go back to do it. Because the past will get you for it.
BEACH RATING : 3 and 1/2 Palm Trees
The monster is past history and the past doesn't want to be changed. The past is capable of many vicious tricks to keep anyone from ever altering it.
The book's main character, Jake Epping, tries to do just that when he uses a freak time portal anomaly to go back into the past to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy. But the huge, implacable machine that is Time itself repeatedly throws up roadblocks to stop Jake. The constant fatalistic theme of the story is that Time is a relentless and often cruel thing that humans have futile power to affect.
Although it's not a horror novel, the usual eerie King touches are still there. A clown-faced killer in the town of Derry, Maine that echoes King's earlier novel It. A sinister two-tone Plymouth Fury in Dallas that recalls the malevolent auto in Christine. Then there's something that guards the time portal that's called the Yellow Card Man.
11/22/63 is an enormous, disturbing novel that deals with the unpredictable and dangerous consequences of trying to alter history. Each small change in the past can have unforeseen results in the future. We've all had the desire to be able to go back and change something in the past that we wish had never happened.
Just don't ever try to go back to do it. Because the past will get you for it.
BEACH RATING : 3 and 1/2 Palm Trees
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
WHITECHAPEL Hunts Modern Day Jack the Ripper
The British TV mini-series "Whitechapel" (BBC America cable and Comcast On Demand) deals with the hunt for a serial killer who is copying the savage murders committed by the infamous Jack the Ripper in London in 1888.
The new Ripper is mimicking the grisly details of the string of murders in the same locations on the modern streets of the district of Whitechapel.
The police team trying to stop the murders is led by an inexperienced young inspector who is in over his head. The team doesn't recognize the Ripper pattern until after the second murder.
When the police do try to stop the Ripper based on the historical location details, the attempt goes horrifyingly wrong.
The case grows even darker when an organ removed from one victim is mailed back to the police, taunting them just as the original Ripper did.
"Whitechapel" is a gripping, graphic crime series that does an effective job of transferring the hysteria of the original Ripper murders into the modern day world.
This series is a can't miss for those interested in the Jack the Ripper case, a hellish fiend who was never caught.
BEACH RATING: 4 Palm Trees
The new Ripper is mimicking the grisly details of the string of murders in the same locations on the modern streets of the district of Whitechapel.
The police team trying to stop the murders is led by an inexperienced young inspector who is in over his head. The team doesn't recognize the Ripper pattern until after the second murder.
When the police do try to stop the Ripper based on the historical location details, the attempt goes horrifyingly wrong.
The case grows even darker when an organ removed from one victim is mailed back to the police, taunting them just as the original Ripper did.
"Whitechapel" is a gripping, graphic crime series that does an effective job of transferring the hysteria of the original Ripper murders into the modern day world.
This series is a can't miss for those interested in the Jack the Ripper case, a hellish fiend who was never caught.
BEACH RATING: 4 Palm Trees
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
ATTACK THE BLOCK Romanticizes Street Thugs
The premise of the movie Attack the Block (now on DVD) is bizarre: space aliens invade a London working class housing project called the Block.
The vicious aliens are then battled by teen street thugs from the Block. These are the same punks who routinely harass and mug other neighboring residents. The movie tries to humanize the thugs, even making them look heroic fighting the aliens.
The image conversion is too convenient and almost saccharine by the movie end. By contrast, the police are likened to the aliens as monsters and the enemy in their own right.
The problem of violent street thugs was evident in the recent London riots. A more realistic portrayal of this threat was depicted in the movie Harry Brown.
With its too-easy romanticizing of the teen punks, Attack the Block undercuts the biting social satire the movie otherwise offers at times.
BEACH RATING: 3 Palm trees
The vicious aliens are then battled by teen street thugs from the Block. These are the same punks who routinely harass and mug other neighboring residents. The movie tries to humanize the thugs, even making them look heroic fighting the aliens.
The image conversion is too convenient and almost saccharine by the movie end. By contrast, the police are likened to the aliens as monsters and the enemy in their own right.
The problem of violent street thugs was evident in the recent London riots. A more realistic portrayal of this threat was depicted in the movie Harry Brown.
With its too-easy romanticizing of the teen punks, Attack the Block undercuts the biting social satire the movie otherwise offers at times.
BEACH RATING: 3 Palm trees
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