Release Schedule Updates & Other Ideas

I’ve had several emails from readers asking about when books from the various series are going to be published, so I thought I’d sketch out a rough release schedule to kick off the brand new year, plus throw in a few other bits and pieces.

Next story up is Treasure of Babylon (Avalon Adventures #2). This will see the crew of the Avalon chasing down one of the most precious and holy objects of all time – the Ark of the Covenant. In their search for this they all get to know each other a little better and confront a new terrible enemy, but they soon realize things are not as they seem.

 

 

Treasure of Babylon (Avalon Adventures #2)

After that, Joe and the rest of the ECHO team return in The King’s Tomb (Joe Hawke #10). This has taken longer than I anticipated because it’s going to be a pivotal novel in the story of Hawke and his friends. With some high-profile deaths and some big shifts in the arc there’s a lot of story, but I also want it to read very fast, so it’s taking some time to put together. On the Hawke series in general it’s worth pointing out that I have a full arc planned out and know pretty much where it’s going, but I am able to veer off course for more standalone stories if a good one comes along.

I would like other novels of 2018 to include The Orpheus Legacy (Joe Hawke #11) and Day of the Dead (Joe Hawke #12). These are working titles that may or may not stick, as is (maybe but unlikely in 2018) Shadow of the Apocalypse (Joe Hawke #13). I’m also keen to release Raiders #2 which is already partially written. The second Harry Bane thriller – The Taranis Conspiracy – is sketched out but I doubt a 2018 release will be possible.

 

 

Typewriter: check. Booze: check. Peace and quiet: Forget about it.

Other “further out” ideas lurking in the basement include a British crime novel which is partially written, but it’s a very old idea of mine pre-dating Hawke. The main man is currently called DCI Jacob, and the story is more of an action-adventure novel in many respects as it’s very fast-paced with lots of chases, etc. Some readers might be disappointed that I have not yet been able to incorporate a helicopter into it… I strongly doubt this will be ready in 2018, and there’s a good chance poor old Jacob will never see the light of day at all.

I'm also trying to breathe life into a favourite character of mine from a few years back by the name of Blake. He is a former military officer who spends his time helping out ordinary folks, a sort of cross between the A-Team and Jack Reacher or thereabouts. I have worked with many senior military officers in the past, including SAS, and I wanted a new universe to use some of this experience, and Blake is that place, but again it's just a matter of finding the time. I have three stories for Blake (brace for more working titles): The Operator, The Brazilian Girl and Jericho Creek. These may or may not emerge over the next couple of years.

More concrete is a surprise for readers of the Hawke series which should be coming along with luck in 2018… ;)  Also, I got a nice Christmas present from my US Publishers this year in the shape of some lovely Audiobook CDs for The Vault of Poseidon. These are narrated by the outstanding Shaun Grindell and I’ll be giving one or two of them away in the near future so keep an eye out for this on my Facebook page if you want a chance to win one.

Follow me on Facebook for a chance to win one of these amazing Audiobook CDs!

Finally, I wanted to thank you, Dear Mystery Reader, for your continuing support and encouragement on this amazing journey we’re taking together. Having published 12 novels in a little over 2 years, it’s fair to say I spend a great deal of time buried in the worlds of my characters, so it’s always great to look up once in a while and see how supportive you are with your comments on social media and especially in your emails (you know who you are). From my heart, sincere thanks for this – it’s why writers write.

So, Dear Mystery Reader, wherever you are – here’s to wishing you a Happy New Year and a healthy and prosperous 2018!

R

2018 (Very Rough) Release Schedule

Treasure of Babylon (Avalon Adventures #2)

The King’s Tomb (Joe Hawke #10)

The Orpheus Legacy (Joe Hawke #11)

Raiders #2

Day of the Dead (Joe Hawke #12)

+ maybe but unlikely: Shadow of the Apocalypse (Joe Hawke #13)

I’m aiming for this but it might end up totally different, plus look out for a few surprises on the way as usual J

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Great Movies Revisited - James Bond #4: Thunderball (1965)

SPECTRE returns in grand style in this movie, with the dastardly plan of stealing a couple of nukes in a bid to hold the world to ransom. Less than 20 years after the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, such a premise would have held audiences deeply in its thrall.

Following from Goldfinger was a tall order, but as we’re whisked from English health spas to yachts cruising in the Bahamas we’re soon sucked into another Bond classic. As I mentioned in my review of Dr. No, Thunderball was originally going to be the first Bond movie, but producers had to deal with copyright issues so they changed their minds. Would James Bond history be different if Thunderball had been first in 1962?

Known for its lengthy underwater scenes, which many have criticised for being too long, Thunderball offers us plenty of lethal spearguns and underwater battles, not to mention the spectacle of Sean Connery flying a jet pack. This surely pushes the bounds of realism ever so slightly, but I’m all for that and think Daniel Craig in a jet pack might have helped both Skyfall and Spectre, but that’s another story for another day.

After attending a funeral in France, Bond ends up chasing Emilio Largo and his eye-patch around the Bahamas before getting kidnapped, escaping, and then working with US Navy SEALS to bring Largo down. But Largo is having none of it, and makes a break for it on his ship, the Disco Volante. Of course, Bond eventually gets on top and ends the plan to annihilate Miami... and all's well in the end.

Nice co-starring roles from a BSA motorbike and of course the Aston DB5 also add some class and excitement to what is still, even after all these years, a good fun film.

 

My rating: 8/10

 

 

 

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Great Movies Revisited - James Bond #3: Goldfinger (1964)

Now you’re talking. With Goldfinger we finally hit my favourite Connery Bond film – this movie is a lifelong favourite of mine so let’s get stuck in!

When Goldfinger hit the silver screen in 1964 it guaranteed the longevity of the Bond franchise and the success of the two earlier films bled through into the execution of what a serious number of fans regard as the best ever Bond film.

First thing I noticed when I rewatched this recently was how plush it looks on the screen, even after all these years. The 1964 setting brings a style to the picture that shows like Mad Men want to reproduce, but Goldfinger is the real thing, not nostalgia.

 

 

The setpieces are excellent too – the woman sprayed in gold (above), the chase between the Aston and the Mustang in the Swiss mountains’ Furka Pass and who could forget the laser-beam scene: “No, Mr Bond, I expect you to die!” In fact the film has many memorable lines including some great puns, innuendo and one liners – “positively shocking” and “I can’t - something big’s come up,” etc. which are so important to the series. The final act’s assault on Fort Knox is also some fantastic cinema.

The fight action is also good. Somehow fight scenes are more realistic when they just film the actors (or stuntmen) going for it mano a mano – the arrival of the super fast-cuts in movies like Jason Bourne are effective but somehow not real. Not surprising when you realise that people just can’t move that fast.

It’s a testament to the brilliant work of the set designers that much of these Bond films is shot in Pinewood, because the viewer would never really know it and is instead transported all over the world. Still an impressive feature of the Bond films today, back in 1964 before the era of cheap flights and the internet, these films gave people a fantasy-tour of exotic locales they would never normally see. This is especially true during the establishing shots where we see Miami but also later Fort Knox.

The simplicity of the plot (a gold-smuggling tale), the fantastic performances and two of the most memorable Bond villains – Auric Goldfinger and his loyal henchman Oddjob – all mesh together to make this an almost flawless thriller of pure escapism. Throw in a bowler hat with a hidden chakram in the rim that when thrown like a frisbee decapitates its victims and John Barry’s outstanding score and you have a solid-gold winner. Watch it right now and tell me if I’m wrong!

My rating: 9/10

 

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Great Detectives Revisited: #1 Columbo

A good part of any action-adventure thriller is mystery. There is always a mystery at the heart of the story, usually but not always centred on what the villain is up to, and mystery novels have always played a big part in my life, as have some of the many excellent TV adaptations. In fact, one of the first novels I ever wrote was a crime mystery novel, and I have several outlines for crime novels in the vault which I'm hoping to get to at some point, but... only time will tell.

So, on the subject of crime novels/TV shows – and inspired by my James Bond reviews – I thought it might be fun to dust off the magnifying glass and take a closer look at some of the great detectives and their finest cases. I’ll also be swinging by some of the TV adaptations as well.

This list isn’t in any particular order, so I’m not saying Columbo is the #1 greatest, but simply kicking off with him because I just finished watching Troubled Waters (1975) with Robert Vaughn and Dean Stockwell and then followed this up with Robert Culp’s excellent performance in The Most Crucial Game (1972).

And I’ll start with the point that unlike many other TV detectives, Columbo only ever existed on the small screen and never on the page, but he’s no weaker for that and in my mind ranks as one of the greatest TV detectives for many reasons – so let’s get to it.

First – the format. Columbo differs markedly from other TV crime shows in the way it shows the viewer not only who the killer is but also exactly how he or she dispatched the victim. This is a great spin on what was already a tired format by the late 60s and really makes for compulsive viewing as we watch how Columbo will work it all out and snare the villain. Later, crime writers would deal with the tired format problem simply by making their stories increasingly violent and bleak, but that’s another blog post I’m putting together and not for today.

Columbo was back when crimes could still be “cozy” and taken seriously at the same time, and many of his cases dealt with some serious issues. Same goes for Agatha Christie. While we all remember her stories as being about vicars using teapots to murder people on the croquet lawn, many of her books dealt with some pretty racy subjects, especially for back in the days when she was publishing, including drug addiction, smuggling and serial killers.

For me, the charm of Columbo is not just delivered by Peter Falk’s charisma, but by the direction of the episodes, the faded colours of the old film and the lower population of LA – check out the traffic! Last time I had to drive in LA it was seriously hectic, but things were a little different back in 68 when Columbo was pootling around in his delapidated Peugeot 403. This is part of the appeal of these great old films.

And the locations in these films are amazing – great shots of the city from the hills and some amazing modernist properties such as the Stahl House (below) used in the Columbo Pilot Prescription Murder and also the beautiful shots of the pool filmed in Bel Air for The Most Crucial Game when Dean Stockwell gets knocked off with a block of ice.

 

Another element that we have to talk about is the great cast these short films featured – Robert Culp, Patrick McGoohan, Donald Pleasence, Eddie Albert, Jackie Cooper, Ray Milland, Leonard Nimoy, Jack Cassidy, Janet Leigh, Dick Van Dyke, Martin Landau, Robert Vaughn, Johnny Cash... I mean, come on! What crime show today can pull names like these?

It must be said they did drop in quality a little when they returned in the late 80s but even here you can find some gems like Columbo Cries Wolf (1990) and Columbo Goes to the Guillotine (1989). However, if you want the real classics go early, to the first 7 series. You won’t be disappointed and if you like your crime somewhere just north of cozy with an original format and an outstanding cast, then grab some of these Columbos – boxed sets or even on Netflix in some regions.

My favourite episodes? Easy – Murder by the Book, Now You See Him, Negative Reaction, Double Exposure, Any Old Port in a Storm... the list goes on...

Oh – and just more thing... several actors have played Frank Columbo, including Bert Freed (Shane, Hang ‘Em High) and Thomas Mitchell (Gone with the Wind), but the TV series role was originally offered to Bing Crosby who turned it down so he could spend more time on the golf course...

 

 

 

 

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Great Movies Revisited - James Bond #2: From Russia With Love (1963)

As part of my James Bond review series I’m looking at Sean Connery’s second outing today, and From Russia With Love is rightly considered another of the untouchable classics of the franchise. It’s here that the Bond we all know and love really starts to take shape thanks firstly to a more confident Connery but also more action scenes.

From chess championships in Venice to SPECTRE Island to the Basilica Cistern beneath Istanbul (long before Robert Langdon got there) this film doesn’t disappoint and the plot is driven by expertly-drawn baddies Rosa Klebb and Kronsteen as they try and lay their hands on a decoding device while reporting to Blofeld and his famous cat. It is here that chess grandmaster Tov Kronsteen announces to Blofeld that his plan is foolproof and there will be no failure. Oh dear.         

One thing I always end up asking in these movies is – just who the hell would work for a man like Blofeld? This is someone whose idea of offering an employee early retirement is pulling a lever and dropping them into a shark tank/alligator pit, etc. Do staff members not talk in the SPECTRE canteen about all their missing colleagues?

The dialogue in the film is snappy and tight and this movie is in many respects the real springboard for the rest of the series. For this reason, many people rate this as the best Bond, and in some ways that’s hard to argue with, but it depends on what you’re measuring. For me this is at the top, but not the best. In fact I think my favourite Bond film(s) are going to be quite controversial choices...

Something of interest to me in this film is that the Baddies (with a capital B) are not motivated by the usual world-destroying megalomania, but instead desire a simple decoding device, as mentioned above. Giving a villain his motivation is an integral part of stories like this and cranking it down a notch from total world-domination is a brave decision – almost as brave as eating in the SPECTRE canteen.

A gripping fight scene on a moving train leaving Zagreb and Bond being hunted through the mountains by a Hiller UH-12 helicopter, not to mention more great gags and innuendo plus the inimitable Blofeld and his Siamese fighting fish – come on!! This is great stuff and a timeless classic that you should watch tonight!

My rating: 9/10

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Vault of Poseidon Anniversary and Word Cloud

I can hardly believe it, but The Vault of Poseidon was published a year ago this week! I made this word cloud to celebrate the anniversary, and if you like it you can do the same right here http://www.wordclouds.com/

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Great Movies Revisited - Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

While we’re on the subject of brilliant movies, let’s talk about one of the greatest of them all – Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and see if we can get to the end without asking why no one can make films like this anymore.

This was a formative movie for so many, and captivated people right from the outstanding opening sequence starring Harrison Ford, Alfred Molina and, of course, Paul Freeman and his truly great villain-archaeologist René Belloq. Who could forget the pacing and atmosphere as Indy takes the golden Inca idol but then must flee the Peruvian temple with the now legendary rolling boulder chasing after him? Or the moment the fantastic WACO biplane lifts off out of the water just in time to save the hero from the tribe’s poison darts? This was real adventure fiction – almost a kind of pulp fiction - presented in homage to the classic serial films of the pre-war era and it’s done with real style, much like the excellent original theatrical release poster by Richard Amsel (above).

 

This movie was made when screenwriters still had a sense of humour and knew how to use it. They felt that putting some real laughs into the film didn’t detract from the serious parts of it, and they were right. Slowing a film down and putting some gags in it makes the faster bits faster and the darker bits darker. This is something we see far too little of now, especially in thrillers.

I find it hard to criticise this film, and it’s weird how this movie was made with a nostalgic eye on the movie-making and entertainment of the 1930s, and yet now it’s possible to watch it with a nostalgic eye on the movie-making and entertainment of the 1980s. Raiders perfectly blends adventure, romance, humour, villainy, amazing locations, and even throws in a supernatural lightning storm that kills Nazis. I mean, come on.

And on that last bit, something else this film does really well is incorporate that supernatural storyline into what is other than that a standard adventure thriller, and this is not an easy thing to do. Where to draw the line is a hard thing to know, and this came up a bit when the ‘alien thing’ happened in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. In the 2008 revisit to Indy’s world, the film wraps up with the now notorious ‘alien thing’ which many people felt wasn’t coherent with the universe of Indiana Jones which had spent three previous (excellent) films and 27 years drawing the line at religious mysticism and the supernatural.

But Raiders was a deserved hit and box office smash, winning Spielberg the Saturn Award for Best Director, and scooping several Academy Awards as well. Not only that but it was followed up by two more great films – Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and the outstanding Indana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). I’ll go into these in more detail, and Crystal Skull, later.

I’m not rating this film – I’ll leave that for my reviews of the Bond films – but let’s just say it’s a masterpiece of adventure thriller pacing and makes great use of some amazing locations as well. The only question I have is why no one can make films like this anymore...

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