Organizing Crime: The Mystery Company's Guide to Series

Oh yeah. I have a new book out. (Aren't I the best promoter?) Just in time for this holiday season, Jim Huang and I created Organizing Crime: The Mystery Company's Guide to Crime. It's a guide to every active mystery series on the market right now. We put all of those books in the right canonical order, included a simple little description, and put little boxes next to the titles so you can check off if you read it or not. Also there's a comical introduction and 42 Top Five Lists for recommendations to new series. (Why 42? For Jim likes Douglas Adams and I like LOST.) Also there is a great original cover from Wanni Zhou.

Basically it's awesome.

But who is in this spiffy book? Well let me tell you. You can find series from Catherine Aird, Boris Akunin, Susan Wittig Albert, Madelyn Alt, Donna Andrews, Suzanne Arruda, Nancy Atherton, Sandi Ault, Deb Baker, David Baldacci, Sandra Balzo, Linda Barnes, Nevada Barr, Lorna Barrett, Stephanie Barron, Brett Battles, M.C. Beaton, Carrie A. Bebris, James R. Benn, William Bernhardt, John Billheimer, Cara Black, Michael A. Black, Miranda Bliss, Lawrence Block, Giles Blunt, Stephen Booth, Michael Bowen, Rhys Bowen, C.J. Box, Gyles Brandreth, Lilian Jackson Braun, Jan Brogan, Dan Brown, Rita Mae Brown, Ken Bruen, Don Bruns, Fiona Buckley, James Lee Burke, Jan Burke, Jim Butcher, Dana Cameron, Dorothy Cannell, JoAnna Carl, Sammi Carter, Sean Chercover, Lee Child, Laura Childs, Alys Clare, Carol Higgins Clark, Jane K. Cleland, Judy Clemens, Blaize Clement, Barbara Cleverly, Harlan Coben, Margaret Coel, Mark Coggins, Jeffrey Cohen, Curt Colbert, Reed Farrel Coleman, Kate Collins, Max Allan Collins, Michael Connelly, Patricia Cornwell, Colin Cotterill, Cleo Coyle, Robert Crais, Deborah Crombie, Mary Daheim, Barbara D'Amato, Jeanne M. Dams, Shirley Damsgaard, Casey Daniels, Diane Mott Davidson, Kyra Davis, Lindsey Davis, Jeffrey Deaver, Jo Dereske, David Dickinson, Garry Disher, Brandt Dodson, Tim Dorsey, James D. Doss, Carole Nelson Douglas, Ruth Downie, Lee Driver, Phil Dunlap, Carola Dunn, John Dunning, Ruth Dudley Edwards, Kit Ehrman, Barry Eisler, Aaron Elkins, Kate Ellis, Kathy Lynn Emerson, Loren D. Estleman, Janet Evanovich, Mary Anna Evans, Terence Faherty, Monica Ferris, Jasper Fforde, Sharon Fiffer, Kate Flora, Joanne Fluke, Vince Flynn, Karin Fossum, Christopher Fowler, Earlene Fowler, Ariana Franklin, Margaret Frazer, Brian Freeman, Sara Hoskinson Frommer, David Fulmer, Leighton Gage, Roberta Gellis, Elizabeth George, Tess Gerritsen, Brent Ghelfi, Alan Gordon, Nadia Gordon, Chris Grabenstein, Sue Grafton, Caroline Graham, Kerry Greenwood, Susanna Gregory, Martha Grimes, Elizabeth Gunn, Jane Haddam, J.P. Hailey, Carolyn Haines, Parnell Hall, Timothy Hillinan, Steve Hamilton, C.S. Harris, Charlaine Harris, Rosemary Harris, Cora Harrison, Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, Carolyn G. Hart, Ellen Hart, Betty Hechtman, Libby Fischer Hellmann, Joan Hess, David Hewson, Reginald Hill, Naomi Hirahara, Steve Hockensmith, Hazel Holt, David Housewright, Julie Hyzy, Arnaldur Indridason, Roberta Isleib, Sue Ann Jaffarian, P.D. James, J.A. Jance, Michael Jecks, Maureen Jennings, Iris Johansen, Craig Johnson, Stuart M. Kaminsky, Susan Kandel, Alex Kava, Faye Kellerman, Jonathan Kellerman, Alice Kimberly, Jonathon King, Laurie R. King, Bernard Knight, Chris Knopf, J.A. Konrath, Michael Koryta, Harley Jane Kozak, Julie Kramer, William Kent Krueger, John J. Lamb, Vicki Lane, Victoria Laurie, Joyce & Jim Lavene, Mike Lawson, Dennis Lehand, Donna Leon, John Lescroart, Laura Levine, Paul Levine, Michael Z. Lewin, Martin Limón, Jeff Lindsay, Laura Lippman, David Liss, Jess Lourey, Peter Lovesey, Lisa Lutz, Stuart MacBride, Karen MacInerney, Michael McGarrity, Barry Maitland, Henning Mankell, Margaret Maron, Andrew Martin, Nancy Martin, Peter May, Archer Mayor, Susan McBride, Val McDermid, Pat McIntosh, Leslie Meier, John Ramsey Miller, Susan Cummins Miller, Walter Mosley, Marcia Muller, Shirley Rousseau Murphy, Beverle Graves Myers, Tamar Myers, Barbara Nadel, Sharan Newman, Carol O'Connell, Katherine Hall Page, Sara Paretsky, Robert B. Parker, P.J. Parrish, James Patterson, Eliot Pattison, Louise Penny, Tony Perona, Thomas Perry, Elizabeth Peters, Twist Phelan, Nancy Pickard, Cathy Pickens, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, Bill Pronzini, Ann Purser, Ian Rankin, Deanna Raymourn, Mary Reed and Eric Mayer, Matt Beynon Rees, Kathy Reichs, Ruth Rendell, Emilie Richards, Candance Robb, J.D. Robb, Natalie M. Roberts, Peter Robinson, David Rosenfelt, Rosemary Rowe, Laura Joh Rowland, Priscilla Royal, S.J. Rozan, Greg Rucka, Hank Phillippi Ryan, John Sandford, C.J. Sansom, Ian Sansom, Jonathan Santlofer, Mary Saums, Steven Saylor, Tom Schreck, Mark Schweizer, Kate Sedley, Maggie Sefton, John Shannon, Zoe Sharp, Sharon Short, Daniel Silva, Joanna Campbell Slan, Karin Slaughter, Alexander McCall Smith, Julia Spencer-Fleming, Peter Spiegelman, Patricia Sprinkle, Dana Stabenow, J.B. Stanley, John Straley, Denise Swanson, Pari Noskin Taichert, Marcia Talley, William G. Tapply, Sarah Stewart Taylor, Terri Thayer, Will Thomas, Victoria Thompson, Aimée & David Thurlo, Ronald Tierney, Charles Todd, S.D. Tooley, P.J. Tracy, Peter Tremayne, Elaine Viets, Kathryn R. Wall, Heather Webber, Randy Wayne White, Robert Wilson, Jacqueline Winspear, David Wishart, Stuart Woods, Edward Wright, Sally Wright, Qiu Xiaolong, and Mark Richard Zubro.

You can buy this book in a bunch of locations. Sure you can go the predicatable route of Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or any place like that. OR you could be super cool and buy it at www.themysterycompany.com (I'd vote for the latter, but I'm bias.)

Film Snob Episode #7 - New Moon Screening

I apologize, I actually forgot to post this a few weeks ago when it went live. Never-the-less, Film Snob is back! There have been some delays, but her'es the latest episode wehre I continue my mockery of the innocent. This time the innocents are the ones attending the midnight screening of New Moon. Like Episode #2, none of this is script aside from the introduction. Major thanks to Kenny Jones and Keith Jackson for their help in this.

If you enjoyed that, there are six more episodes of me being snobby on my YouTube page. We are currently planning on four more episodes next semester. Get excited...

Ticket Stubs: Invictus

In today’s cynical society “inspiration” has become a curse word. Too many movies try so desperately to lay on the schmaltz, that the viewer becomes annoyed instead of inspired. So how do you do it right? That is the premise at the heart of Invictus. During the early 1990s, Nelson Mandela was elected president of South Africa shortly after the end of apartheid. Needless to say, the country was very divided. In an unconventional technique, Mandela turned to the country’s rugby team.

Casting Morgan Freeman as Mandela may be the most obvious casting in the history of time, but that is primarily because brilliance seemed guaranteed. That assumption turned out to be more than accurate. One of the major reasons why the inspiration is successful is because Mandela is perceived as a human being, not a saint. His actions towards rugby are always in question by his confidants and there are constant glimpses at his imperfect personal life, which includes his poor physical health and depressing family situation. Pure inspiration comes from those who are relatable and genuine. When Mandela gives a speech in Invictus, it is powerful because Freeman shows how much Mandela wants and needs these things to happen.

In order to create unity, Mandela befriends Francois Pienaar, the captain of the South African Springbok rugby team. They look to each other for ways to lead their people and in turn they inspire themselves to become greater leaders and men. Matt Damon plays Pienaar and once again gives a fantastically subtle and heartfelt performance. I doubt it will receive its proper praise, but Damon constantly turns in these excellent feats that should label him as one of our greatest actors working today. (Freeman you would be up there, but you did take part in Wanted. Yikes.)

Now I feel I should devote a paragraph to the third man associated with this film: Mr. Clint Eastwood. Now people often associate him as the epitome of the gender and a solid actor, but I think his real skills have been shown this decade as a director. He’s been directing forgettable spaghetti westerns since the seventies, but lately he crafted such great movies such as Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, and Letters from Iwo Jima. With Invictus, he shows his patience by taking the time to subtly generate necessary tension. Also his powerful use of the camera is in full display during the rugby scenes. No, I don’t fully understand the game of rugby, but Eastwood creates an environment that is exciting and terrifying. There is no need to explain the minute rules because in every frame the stakes and motivations are clearly defined.

These scenes and the rest of the movie completely work because this movie achieves its goal. Yes, I admit it! I was inspired. I haven’t seen a movie that completely earns moments of triumph since last year’s Slumdog Millionaire. Nothing is hokey or corny, only powerful.

http://blog.movieset.com/movie-reviews/invictus-ticket-stubs-review-of-south-african-rugby-movie-with-matt-damon-and-morgan-freeman