Friday's "Forgotten" Books and More: the links to the reviews 1 March 2019

 May 1979, and the penultimate logo (so far)

This week's books, unfairly (or sometimes fairly) neglected, or simply those the reviewers below think you might find of some interest (or, infrequently, you should be warned away from); certainly, most weeks we have a few not at all forgotten titles. ...if I've missed your review or someone else's, please let me know in comments...


Patricia Abbott: The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing

Walter Albert: The Way We Die Now by Charles Willeford; When the Sacred Ginmill Closes by Lawrence Block


Les Blatt: Murder by Matchlight by "E. C. R. Lorac" (Edith Caroline Rivett) 


John Boston: Amazing: Fact and Science Fiction Stories, January 1964, edited by Cele Goldsmith Lalli 


Ben Boulden: The Lawbringers by Brian Garfield


Martin Edwards: Purloining Tiny by John Franklin Bardin

Barry Ergang: Unfaithful Servant by Timothy Harris (hosted by Kevin Tipple)


Will Errickson: 8 Favorite Vintage Books Read in 2018

Paul Fraser: New Writings in SF: 4 edited by John Carnell

Barry Gardner: Leave the Grave Green by Deborah Crombie

John Grant: Bunny Lake is Missing by Evelyn Piper;
Woman with a Blue Pencil by Gordon McAlpine

Aubrey Hamilton: In the Shadow of King's by Nora Kelly

Rich Horton: Snowdrift and Other Stories by Georgette Heyer; The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak by Brian Katcher; A Princess of the Aerie and short stories by John Barnes

Jerry House: The Breaking Point by Basil Copper

Kate Jackson: Who Killed Dick Whittington? by E. and M. A. Radford; The Black Gloves by Constance and Gwyneth Little

Nick Jones: Detective Comics, May 1983, written by Gerry F. Conway and illustrated by Alfred Alcala and Don Newton

Tracy K: Outrage at Blanco by Bill Crider

Colman Keane: Bad Seed and Marlborough Man by Alan Carter

George Kelley: The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction edited by Gardner Dozois

Joe Kenney: The Golden Groove by "Dale Greggson"

Margot Kinberg: The Dark Lake by Sarah Bailey

B.V. Lawson: A Private Inquiry by Jessica Mann

Evan Lewis: Hank and Muddy by Stephen Mertz; Mertz interview

Steve Lewis: "Murder Picture" by George Harmon Coxe, Black Mask, January 1935, edited by Joseph T. Shaw; Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year: Second Annual Edition edited by Lester Del Rey: "The Meeting" by Frederik Pohl and Cyril Kornbluth 


Mike Lind: The Case of the Gilded Fly by Edmund Crispin

Todd Mason: Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine Presents Readers' Choice edited by Janet Hutchings

John F. Norris: The Doctor's First Murder by Robert Hare [Hutchinson]


Matt Paust: Lay On, Mac Duff! by Charlotte Armstrong

James Reasoner: The Corpse in the Corner Saloon by "Hampton Stone" (Aaron Marc Stein) 

Richard Robinson: Purgatory Ridge by William Kent Krueger

Gerard Saylor: Perish the Day by John Farrow 

Jack Seabrook: "The End of Indian Summer" by Maurice Baudin, Jr., Esquire, April 1945, edited by Arnold Gingrich

with the last of the previous
two decades' logo

Jack Seabrook and Peter Enfantino: Creepy comics magazine 1965 

Steven Silver: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction: 1979, edited by Edward Ferman


Victoria Silverwolf: 
Fantastic: Stories of Imagination, March 1964, edited by Cele Goldsmith Lalli

"TomCat": The Pleasant Assassin and Other Cases of  Dr. Basil Willing by Helen McCloy

Prashant Trikannad: Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Underappreciated Music January/February 2019

The (theoretically) monthly assembly of undervalued and often nearly "lost" music, or simply music the blogger in question wants to remind you reader/listeners of... 



Among those we might remember, Ken Nordine, 
Izzy Young (and this), Guy Webster, Peter Tork and André Previn...




Brian Arnold: Peter Tork (1942-2019); The Muppet Valentine Show; Carole King and Gerry Goffin demos of songs for the Monkees; Dick Van Dyke sings, and dances with Peanuts characters: CBS On The Air (1978)

Jayme Lynn Blaschke: Friday Night Videos

Paul Brazill: Be Bop Deluxe: "Modern Music Suite" and...

The Only Ones: "Why Don't You Kill Yourself?"


Jim Cameron: Bobby Forrester: Bobby's Blues; The Flirtations: Sounds Like the Flirtations

Sean Coleman: Thunderclap Newman: Hollywood Dream; Dire Straits: Making Movies

Richard Fidczuk: André Previn on The Morecambe & Wise Christmas Show, 1971

Jeff Gemmill: The Bangles, The Three O'Clock, The Dream Syndicate, Rain Parade: 3x4; Linda Ronstadt: Live in Hollywood; Juliana Hatfield: Weird; Top 5s

Ted Gioia: André Previn Trio: "Just in Time"


Keiko Hassler: Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach: "God Give Me Strength"


Jerry House: Music from the Past; Hymn Time 

Jackie Kashian: Erin Tracy on dance, choreography and the science of dance (and, cookies); Ruthie Fudge on the band Ween

George Kelley: Pure Disco 1 & 2; Body + Soul: Sweet Seduction; Surviving R. Kelly

Tom Kraemer: Hop Along: "How Simple" and

The Old 97s: "Valentine" and

Dracula's Miniskirt: "Tongue"


Gunter Lackmann: The Pussycats: "Gonna Send You Back to Georgia"


Kate Laity: Song for a Saturday: The Liverbirds: "Peanut Butter";"Why Do You Hang Around Me?"; "Diddley Daddy";  and The Dust Bowl Faeries: "Zebra"


Lisa Lapp: Courtney Hartman: "January 1st" and

Colorado All State Treble Choir: "Down in the River to Pray"


Steve and Jonathan Lewis and Michael Shonk: Music I'm Listening To

Barry Malzberg: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra; composer: Anton Bruckner: 2nd Symphony "Pausensinfonie": 3rd Movement: Scherzo-Trio and

Elaine Stritch and the New York Philharmonic: "I'm Still Here"


Todd Mason: Some Women with Ukuleles

Joe Megalos: Magic Sam: "Magic Sam's Boogie"


Lynn Minafri: Eric Clapton and Joe Bonamassa: "Further On Up the Road"


Laura Nakatsuka: Basiani Ensemble: "Chakrulo" and

Guy Fishman; composer Domenico Gabrielli; "Ricercar 7 in D Minor"


Patricia Nolan-Hall: Irving Berlin's songs for film

Andrew Orley: Salena Jones and the Keith Mansfield Orchestra (remixed by Massandri Ikeda): "Right Now" and

The Shirelles: "Sunday Dreaming" and

Adele and Fred Astaire and George Gershwin: "Hang on to Me"


Natasha Padilla: Ex Hex: "Rainbow Shiner"


Heather Paich: Rosalía Vila Tobella and Raul Refree: "De plata" and
Ulali: "Mother"


Charlie Ricci: Loretta Lynn: "The Pill"; Santana: "Samba Pa Ti"; Jimmy Lafave: Peace Town; Chicago: VI Decades Live (This is What We Do); odds and ends

Jeff Segal: BlackPink: "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du"


Benito Vila: Peter Stampfel of the Holy Modal Rounders, the Fugs, et al.

A. J. Wright: My Father-in-Law's LPs

Anne-Sophie Mutter and André Previn: Tango, Song and Dance
1. Tango, Passionately

2. Song, Simply
3. Dance, Jazz Feeling

Dinah Shore and André Previn : "Begin the Beguine/April in Paris"


Dionne Warwick: "Just Walk On By"


Booker Ervin Quintet: Setting the Pace

FRIDAY'S "FORGOTTEN" BOOKS and more: the links to the reviews: 22 February 2019

This week's books, unfairly (or sometimes fairly) neglected, or simply those the reviewers below think you might find of some interest (or, infrequently, you should be warned away from); certainly, most weeks we have a few not at all forgotten titles. Founder Patti Abbott is attending to other business, and I will be taking up the list regularly for at least a while (very glad to see an FFB entry from her this week)...if I've missed your review or someone else's, please let me know in comments...

Patti Abbott: Rogue Males: Conversations and Confrontations About the Writing Life interviews by Craig McDonald


Elizabeth Bear: Eight classic fantasy and sf novels of the 1970s: by Phyllis Eisenstein, Diane Duane, Phyllis Ann Karr, Jo Clayton, Joy Chant, Jessica Amanda Salmonson, Suzy McKee Charnas, Vonda McIntyre

Paul Bishop: the Webb Carrick series by Bill Knox

Les Blatt: Frequent Hearses (aka Sudden Vengeance) by Edmund Crispin

Elgin Bleecker: They Don't Dance Much by James Ross

John Boston: Amazing: Fact and Science Fiction Stories, February 1964, edited by Cele Goldsmith Lalli

Ben Boulden: "A Real Nice Guy" by William F. Nolan, Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine, April 1980, edited by Charles Fritch

Brian Busby: 10 Years of the Dusty Bookcase blog

Martin Edwards: The Strange Case of Harriet Hall by "Moray Dalton" (Katherine Dalton Renoir)

Peter Enfantino: Atlas (pre-Marvel) Horror Comics January 1952

Peter Enfantino and Jack Seabrook: DC War Comics, June 1974

Barry Ergang: God Save the Mark by Donald Westlake (hosted by Kevin Tipple)

Will Errickson: Shadows 4, edited by Charles Grant; Richard Matheson, interviewed by Douglas Winter, Faces of Fear

Curtis Evans: The Capital Murder by "James Z. Alner" (James Alner Tobey)

Paul Fraser: Astounding Science-Fiction, June 1943, edited by John W. Campbell, Jr.; Future Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1943, edited by Robert W. Lowndes (the W squad)

John Grant: Blue Night by Simone Buchholz (translated by Rachel Ward); Tequila Blue by Rolo Diez (translated by Nick Caistor)

Aubrey Hamilton: The Red Castle Women by Margaret Widdemer

Rich Horton: Gun, with Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem; Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks; stories of David D. Levine; Move Under Ground and stories of Nick Mamatas; The Best of Xero edited by Pat and Dick Lupoff

Jerry House: The Barker, #8, Summer 1948

Kate Jackson: Cat and Mouse by Christianna Brand; There's Trouble Brewing by "Nicholas Blake" (Cecil Day-Lewis)

Nick Jones: Six from Sirius by Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy

Tracy K: The Unsuspected by Charlotte Armstrong

Colman Keane: Dispatches from the Cold and Fade to Clear by Leonard Chang

George Kelley: The Great SF Stories #6 (1944) edited by Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg

Joe Kenney: The Scene by "Mike Jahn" (Joseph Michael Jahn)

Margot Kinberg: The Blue Hour by Alonso Cueto (translated by Frank Wynne)

Rob Kitchin: Loitering with Intent by Muriel Spark

B. V. Lawson: Death Watch by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

Evan Lewis: Los Tejanos by Jack Jackson; Frank Frazetta Happy Comics art

Steve Lewis: Stamped for Death by Emmett McDowell; Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year: Second Annual Edition edited by Lester Del Rey; Winner Take All by James McKimmey; "The Giving Plague" by David Brin, Interzone, Spring 1988, edited by David Pringle and Simon Oursley

Jess Nevins: 20th Century African-American Horror Fiction

John F. Norris: The Silent Murders by "Neil Gordon" (Archibald Gordon Macdonnell)

Juri Nummelin: Missing by Sam Hawken

John O'Neill: The Passing of the Dragons by Keith Roberts

Matt Paust: Miami Blues by Charles Willeford

James Reasoner: The Galaxy Raiders by William P. McGivern

Richard Robinson: The Kelloggs, The Battling Brothers of Battle Creek by Howard Markel 

Gerard Saylor: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Scott: A Step Out of Time by Betty Askwith

Victoria Silverwolf: Worlds of Tomorrow, April 1964, edited by Frederik Pohl; Fantastic: Stories of Imagination, January 1964, edited by Cele Goldsmith Lalli



Kerrie Smith: As the Crow Flies by Damien Boyd

Kevin Tipple: A Time to Scatter Stones by Lawrence Block

"TomCat": The Kindaichi Case Files: The Legendary Vampire Murders by Saimura Amagi et al.

Danielle Torres: Stillmeadow Calendar by Gladys Tabor

David Vineyard: Levkas Man by Hammond Innes; "The Blue Sweetheart" by David Goodis, Manhunt, April 1953, edited by Scott Meredith

Lisa Yaszek: "The Jest" by Dorothy Parker

FRIDAY'S "FORGOTTEN" BOOKS (AND MORE): The Links to the Reviews: 15 February 2019

This week's books, unfairly (or sometimes fairly) neglected, or simply those the reviewers below think you might find of some interest (or, infrequently, you should be warned away from); certainly, most weeks we have a few not at all forgotten titles. Founder Patti Abbott is attending to other business this week, and I will likely take up the list again next Friday...if I've missed your review or someone else's, please let me know in comments...

Paul Bishop: the Gunships men's adventure novels series by "Jack Hamilton Teed" (Christopher Lowder aka "Jack Adrian")

Les Blatt:  Murder Fantastical by Patricia Moyes

John Boston: Amazing: Fact and Science Fiction Stories, March 1964, edited by Cele Goldmith Lalli

Ben Boulden: At First Sight by Stephen J. Cannell

Brian Busby: Harlequin Books from the beginning

Martin Edwards: The Client by Martin Russell

Peter Enfantino: Atlas (pre-Marvel) Horror Comics December 1951/the Best-Of, 1949-51

Will Errickson: Eat Them Alive! by (Ms. Evelyn) Pierce Nace

Curtis Evans: The Mysteries of "Moray Dalton" (Katherine Mary Deville Dalton Renoir)

Paul Fraser: Weird Tales, July 1943, edited by Dorothy McIlwraith; Astounding Science Fiction, May 1943, edited by John W. Campbell, Jr.; Astonishing Stories, February 1943, edited by Alden H. Norton and Frederik Pohl

John Grant: The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

Aubrey Hamilton: Foggy, Foggy Death by Frances and Richard Lockridge

Rich Horton: A Window in Thrums by J. M. Barrie; some short fiction of Carol Emshwiller; The Jane Austen Book Club and some short fiction by Karen Joy Fowler

Jerry House: Bill Boyd Western, July 1950

Kate Jackson: Pick Your Victim by Patricia McGerr; The Clock in the Hat Box by "Anthony Gilbert" (Lucy Malleson)

Tracy K: A Chill Rain in January by L. R. Wright

Colman Keane: Stoneburner and Little Sister Death by William Gay

George Kelley: Frantic by Noël Calef (translated by R. F. Tannenbaum)

Joe Kenney: The Inquisitor #6: Last Rites for the Vulture by "Simon Quinn" (Martin Cruz Smith) *small  pb cover reproduction a bit NSFW; Hitman #7: You're Hired, You're Dead! by "Kirby Carr" (Kin Platt)

Margot Kinberg: Only the Innocent by Rachel Abbott

Rob Kitchin: The Attention Merchants by Timothy Wu

B. V. Lawson: The Spoilt Kill by Mary Kelly

Evan Lewis: Fast Fiction #2 (1949)/Stories by Famous Authors Illustrated #2 (1950): "Captain Blood" from the Rafael Sabatini novel, illustrated by Henry Kiefer

Steve Lewis: Amends for Murder by M. D. Lake; Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year: Second Annual Edition edited by Lester Del Rey; "Lost, Strayed and Stolen" by Erle Stanley Gardner (Detective Fiction Weekly, 24 February 1934) 

Mike Lind: The Golden Spiders by Rex Stout

Todd Mason: 14 Vicious Valentines edited by Rosalind M. Greenberg, Martin H. Greenberg and Charles G. Waugh

John F. Norris: Death Sends a Cable by Margaret Taylor Yates

Juri Nummelin: She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper

John O'Neill: Doomsday Morning by Catherine L. Moore; Classic Science Fiction: The First Golden Age edited by Terry Carr

Matt Paust: In Search of Murder by Roderic Jeffries

James Reasoner: Blonde Verdict by "Carter Brown" (Alan G. Yates)

Richard Robinson: Death in the Old Country by Eric Wright

Gerard Saylor: The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Jack Seabrook: "The Fog Closing In" by Ms. "Martin Brooke" (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, April 1956)

Steven H. Silver: Fantasy Newsletter/Review, edited by Paul C. Allen and then by Robert A. Collins

Victoria Silverwolf: Fantastic: Stories of Imagination, February 1964, edited by Cele Goldsmith Lalli

Kerrie Smith: Quota by Jock Serong

Dan Stumpf: The Fallen Sparrow by Dorothy B. Hughes

Kevin Tipple: Still River by Harry Hunsicker

"TomCat": The Glass Spear by Sydney Hobson Courtier

Danielle Torres: An Experiment in Love by Hilary Mantel

Prashant Trikannad: On the Run with Fotikchand by Satyajit Ray (translated into English in editions by Lila Ray and by Gopa Majoomdar)

Jeff Vorzimmer: Manhunt magazine, edited by Scott Meredith et al.

Lisa Yaszek: Carol Emshwiller, and "Pelt" (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November 1958, edited by Robert P. Mills)

FFB: 14 VICIOUS VALENTINES edited by Rosalind M. Greenberg, Martin H. Greenberg and Charles G. Waugh (Avon 1988): Susan Casper, Bill Crider, Ed Gorman, Edward Hoch, Barry Malzberg, William F. Nolan et al.

14 Vicious Valentines ed. Rosalind M. & Martin H. Greenberg & Charles G. Waugh (Avon 0-380-75353-7, Feb ’88 [Jan ’88], $3.50, 192pp, pb) Original anthology of horror, fantasy, and mystery stories.

• 1 · Introduction: Valentine’s Day · Isaac Asimov · in
• 4 · The Jabberwock Valentine · Talmage Powell · nv *
• 31 · Valentine from a Vampire · "Daniel Ransom" (Ed Gorman)  · nv *
• 60 · True · John Maclay · vi *
• 64 · Two Floor Generals and the Sweetheart Dance · J. N. Williamson · ss *
• 71 · Be Mine · Steve Rasnic Tem · ss *
• 75 · Die, Clown, Die! · William F. Nolan · ss *
• 89 · From Parts Unknown · Edward Wellen · nv *
• 118 · Recipe for a Happy Marriage · Nedra Tyre · ss EQMM Mar ’71
• 133 · My Heart Cries for You · Bill Crider · nv *
• 154 · Colt .24 · Rick Hautala · ss Devils, ed. Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg & Charles G. Waugh, Signet, 1987
• 163 · Fine Chocolates · Jeannette M. Hopper · ss *
• 168 · The Virgins of Valentine · Edward D. Hoch · ss *
• 184 · Home for the Holiday · Susan Casper · ss *
• 188 · No Hearts, No Flowers · Barry N. Malzberg · ss *

As too often, still reading this one as the Friday morning arrives...various distractions and other tasks intruded, as we remember the folks we've lost since this Greenberg group anthology was published in 1988...the first anthology credited to Rosalind Greenberg, who has since become Martin Greenberg's widow. 

It also didn't help that the lead-off novelet by Talmage Powell is atrocious (which didn't stop Martin Greenberg from including it in several more anthologies afterward). Clearly paid by the word, Powell lards everything with unnecessary description, characters restating what has just been described, either by Powell as author or through another character's speech, infodumps about Louisiana history (real and story-specific), and has characters grow enraged at each other in the middle of dialog for no reason. The title is essentially meaningless, as well. Thirty pages of discouragement to continue. Powell was never the most precise writer, in what I've read over the decades, and he was usually at his best in writing about obsessed characters just when they've lost all self-control...his rationale for this as horror story and its villain of sorts is less utterly clumsy than most of the rest of the tale, but that's a very low bar.

Isaac Asimov's introduction is a pleasant-enough, if slightly perfunctory, rundown of the origins of the name Valentine (and its predecessors) and, very quickly, the emergence of modern Valentine's Day observation. The loving care with which the book was put together is indicated by no copyright notice for the Asimov introduction anywhere in the text, and a poor choice of typeface and even worse page layout, with "gutters" for the binding of the paperback original way too narrow and almost requiring breaking the spine to being able to read the stories.

However, things pick up immediately with a Sam McBride story by Ed Gorman, signing himself as he often would early on in horror contexts as "Daniel Ransom". The Rick Hautala entry is apparently his first published short story; as with Jane Gaskell and Samuel Delany and relatively few others, he was publishing novels for several years before his first shorter work. And I look forward to better things from such old pros as Bill Crider (the anniversary of whose passing was only days ago), Edward Wellen, Edward Hoch, Barry Malzberg, Steve Rasnic Tem, William Nolan, Nedra Tyre (whose story is the only other one reprinted here along with the Hautala...though sloppy traffic control lists the Hautala as an original here, as opposed to in another Greenberg anthology published the year before) and others. And Susan Casper, the briefly prolific short story writer Jeannette Hopper, Tyre and co-editor Greenberg help qualify this for the Women in Horror Month consideration, along with its obvious seasonal relevance.

More review to come.