OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN. Millennium Films, 2013. Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Robert Forster, Cole Hauser, Ashley Judd, Melissa Leo, Dylan McDermott, Radha Mitchell, Rick Yune. Directed by Antoine Fuqua. Available on Blu-ray and DVD and is streaming now on Netflix.

    For the first hour or so, Olympus Has Fallen is a kinetic, exceptionally violent action movie that grabs your attention. It’s a barrage of gunfights and explosions, choreographed to near perfection by action auteur Antoine Fuqua (Training Day). With an exceptional cast – including the late Robert Forster who portrays a general tasked with responding to a major terrorist incident – the movie initially feels like a solid piece of cinematic escapism.

    All that changes, however, by the third act. That’s when the viewer begins to recognize that what one is watching is essentially a Die Hard (1988) knock-off. But unlike Die Hard, this action flic is utterly bereft of character development, offbeat humor, and memorable one-liners. It’s all the carnage of Die Hard amped up to the max, but with none of the heart.

    Gerald Butler portrays Mike Banning, a Secret Service agent tasked with saving the president from North Korean terrorists, Banning is no John McClane; he has no witty dialogue to speak of. Truth be told, he has no wit at all. Just brawn and a propensity toward cruelty toward his enemies. And while that holds the movie together for a while, it eventually wears thin.

    The only character in the film who has any depth to speak of is Speaker of the House Alan Trumbull. This is largely due to the fact that he is portrayed by the always enjoyable Morgan Freeman, who imbues the role with necessary gravitas.

    It’s not that Olympus Has Fallen is a bad movie; it’s just a rather empty one. A facsimile. Fuqua has done much better, particularly in his collaborative efforts with Denzel Washington. What went wrong here? I suspect it was the screenplay. Or the reliance on audiences not noticing how very derivative it all is. That said, the movie fared well at the box office and did spawn two sequels. Make of that what you will.

BEN BENSON – Beware the Pale Horse. Captain Wade Paris #2. M. S. Mill, hardcover, 1951. Bantam #1070, paperback, 1953. Wildside Press, trade paperback, 2018.

   Competent, well clued and thought out police procedural starring State Detective Wade Paris. Paris’s difficulties stem not only from trying to find out who killed both a police colleague and oriental art collector, Charles Endicott, but also from the political pressures that are put upon him to wrap things up quickly and successfully.

   This political angle is brought in most convincingly and the investigation itself is logical and systematic. The clues are spread with care and cunning and the main one I should have spotted deceived me. Short on humour, but otherwise I can find nothing to complain of in this very professional job.

   A pity (from my point of view) as it’s the first I’ve read of half a dozen Bensons I own, and I was looking for an excuse to make a small reduction in the overcrowding on my shelves. Now I’ll be looking for even more Bensons!

   There is great news for fans of THE AVENGER. A 1941 episode of the WHN production featuring Richard Henry Benson has now been posted online:

   While this particular exploit has been on collectors’ shelves for years, it has not been widely circulated nor publicized. This rendition is from the earlier series that is much different than the Brandon version (a takeoff of The Shadow) which is most familiar to listeners. The WHN program is more loyal to the characters in the pulps.

   The YouTube presentation includes brief historical notes on both the Benson and Brandon series. The video was designed to stimulate interest in THE AVENGER and the BLOOD ‘N’ THUNDER journal.

BARBARA D’AMATO – The Hands of Healing Murder. Charter, paperback original, 1980.

   For a first novel, and a paperback original at that, this book turns out to have a surprising number of things going for it. It also succeeds in going against the current flow of action/suspense/horror fiction in being a decently presented work of detective fiction. (Note the emphasis.)

   The detective is Dr. Gerritt DeGraaf, a pathologist who happens to be there at the scene of the first murder. He also happens to be a close friend of Inspector Craddock, and this allows him to channel his bubbling enthusiasm for life and the challenge of the impossible into solving the case as well.

   The victim dies in a room where eight other people are playing duplicate bridge, although not in full view of any of them. The fingerprints on the murder weapon belong to none of them, however, and as it happens, no one else could have entered the room. In short, the impossible has happened.

   Some interesting discussion of the technology of fingerprints eventually takes place. A question of morality also comes up – that which underlies the constant pr0blem faced by doctors whenever they must decide who it is who lives and who will die in the confrontation of both limited time and limited resources.

   The story is obviously intelligently written, if not always imaginatively. It is Craddock who tells the story, and sometimes this is awkward, as there are parts of it which he can tell only as hearsay. It is also not quite clear when DeGraaf has the solution, and the hint of late-blooming romance (storywise) seems oddly out of place.

   Overall, however, a cozy, comfortable sort of detective story, which, coincidentally enough, I was exactly in the mood for when I read it. It’s certainly an above average debut, and one definitely not to be missed if Agatha Christie, for example, is your idea of a perfect “10.”

Rating: B plus.

UPDATE: There was to be only one more case to be solved by Dr. DeGraaf, that being The Eyes on Utopia Murders (Charter, 1981). Most of Barbara D’Amato’s mystery fiction came in the form of her Cat Marsala series, she being an investigative reporter based in Chicago, of which there were eight novels and one short story.

  ROBERT R. MILL “Murder on the Island.” Short story. “Tiny” David #1. [Corrected to #2. See Comment #1.] First published in Blue Book, May 1933. Collected in Murder on the Island and Other Stories of “Tiny” David and the Black Horse Troop (Black Dog Books, paperback, 2004).

   We don’t get to see any of the Black Horse Troop in this, the first story of 47 in all, all appearing in Blue Book magazine between 1933 and 1942. The Black Dog collection contains only four of them. The rest I imagine I’ll never get a chance to read, never having collected the magazine, and the ones I did own for a while are long gone.

   In this one, we meet only Trooper Edward David and his immediate superior, Sergeant James Crosby. The setting is somewhere in the Adirondacks in New York State, as Tiny and the sergeant are rowing to an isolated island where a wealthy man and his daughter are living, along with several servants. Disliking publicity, visitors are generally not welcome, but an urgent telephone call from Joseph Bahn has them heading that way in rowboat, and in a hurry.

   Once there they find the body of the Bahns’ butler, dead, having been shot in the head. Although six foot two and weighing 220 pounds, “Tiny” David may appear lazy and slow-witted, but he’s one observant fellow, a lot sharper than his sergeant, and when he senses that something is wrong with the scenario they’ve been presented with, you can count on his sense been exactly right.

   What this story turns out to be is a perfectly ordinary detective mystery, a rather light-hearted approach that even without a challenge to the reader, an equally observant reader can see and interpret the same clues that Tiny does.

   For more on the author and the series, here’s a link to Sai Shankar’s Pulpflakes blog and his essay on both:

https://pulpflakes.blogspot.com/2017/01/robert-r-mill.html

RAYMOND J. HEALY & J. FRANCIS McCOMAS, Editors – Famous Science-Fiction Stories: Adventures in Time And Space. The Modern Library G-31; hardcover, 1957, xvi + 997 pages. First published as Adventures in Time in Space, Random House, hardcover, 1946. Bantam F3102, paperback, 1966, as Adventures in Time and Space (contains only 8 stories). Ballantine, paperback, 1975, also as Adventures in Time and Space.

   Part 2 can be found here.

ERIC FRANK RUSSELL “Symbiotica.” Novella. Jay Score #3. The title gives the clue to the relationship between the natives and the vegetation of a newly-discovered planet; the idiots sent on the expedition could never grasp anything so obvious. (0)

Update: First published in Astounding Science-Fiction, October 1943. First reprinted in this anthology. First collected in Men, Martians and Machines (Berkley G-148, paperback, 1958). Also reprinted in The Great Science Fiction Stories Volume 5, 1943, edited by Isaac Asimov & Martin H. Greenberg (Daw, paperback, 1981). This story seems has a greater reputation among others than my opinion of it. Russell himself was a very prolific SF writer. This early work doesn’t represent the bulk of his work.

RAYMOND Z. GALLUN “Seeds of the Dusk.” Novelette. When Earth Is Old series #1. Luckily, very little dialogue disturbs this story of Mars’ final conquest of Earth far in the future, letting the description of the plant’s growth from spore to world-wide domination comprise the major part of the story. (4)

Update: First published in Astounding Science-Fiction, June 1938. First reprinted in this anthology. Also reprinted in Tomorrow’s Worlds, edited by Robert Silverberg (Meredith Press, hardcover, 1969), among others. Collected in The Best of Raymond Z. Gallun (Del Rey, paperback, 1978). Gallun certainly qualifies as a “forgotten” writer today, perhaps because he wrote relatively few novels as opposed to several dozen novelettes and short stories.

LEE GREGOR “Heavy Planet.” An inhabitant of a planet with a gravity a hundred times greater than Earth’s discovers a disabled alien spaceship which will solve the problem of space travel. (3)

Update: Lee Gregor was a pen name of Milton A. Rothman. “Heavy Planet” was first published in Astounding Science-Fiction, August 1939. First reprinted in this anthology. Also reprinted in The Expert Dreamers, edited by Frederik Pohl (Doubleday, hardcover, 1962). Collected in Heavy Planet and Other Science Fiction Stories (Wildside Press, softcover, 2004). For some reason I remember more of this story than some of the others in this anthology that I’ve reported on so far.

TO BE CONTINUED...

WILL THOMAS – Lethal Pursuit. Cyrus Baker & Thomas Llewellyn #11. Minotaur Books, hardcover, November 2019; trade paperback, December 2020. Setting: England, 1892.

First Sentence: The express from Dover was still coming to a stop when Hillary Drummond leapt onto the platform.

   A man is found murdered on a train newly arrived at Charing Cross Station. In his shoe is the key to a railway locker containing a satchel. It is 1892; the threat of war is in the air. Enquiry agents Barker and Llewelyn are tasked by the Prime Minister to deliver the satchel to Calais as it contains a document, an unnamed first century gospel. With the satchel sought by secret societies, political groups, and the German government, Llewelyn is perplexed by Barker’s delay in fulfilling their assignment considering it places them under repeated attack.

   Rarely are prologues necessary. However, Thomas’ prologue captures and captivates one immediately with suspense, danger, intrigue, and yes, death. With the receipt of an old brass key, stamped with the letter “Q,” the characters go— “Down the rabbit hole.” One cannot help but smile at their destination, and Llewellyn’s admiration of what he sees there is understandable.

   Thomas’ voice is enviable. Even during a serious scene, he makes one smile with the simplest line even when in a serious situation. It is only a part of what makes reading him such a pleasure. His dialogue is a pleasure to read— “The things you know, Thomas!” “Yes, well, the more I know, the more I know how little I know.”

   Characters are Thomas’ strength. It is nice to have a series with characters who have developed over time. Still, for those who have not read the previous books, one won’t feel lost as Thomas provides well-presented introductions to the characters. Llewelyn’s wife, Rebecca, deals with the conflict of being shunned by her family for being married to a gentile. Their marriage and commitment adds a nice touch and humanness to the story— “There was still something strange about being separated from Rebecca for more than a few hours. It was like slow asphyxiation.” A scene between Llewelyn and his father-in-law is particularly well done.

   Thomas conveys mood well, in this case, it is that of a man adrift. A significant change is made in the roles and responsibilities of Barker, Llewelyn, and others ensure a shift in future books.

   The backdrop of Victorian England makes the plot particularly effective. The drums of war are beating in the distance, the underlying anti-Semitism, and the inclusion of an Evangelical preacher from the United States advocating eugenics. There is action and suspense, but also serious subjects which require consideration.

Lethal Pursuit maintains one’s interest from the beginning to an ending that is clever in so many ways, including the ultimate question— “Why do evil men prosper?” This is more than an average historical mystery. Thomas is an author to add to one’s list.

Rating: Very Good.
   

      The Barker & Llewelyn series —

1. Some Danger Involved (2004)
2. To Kingdom Come (2005)
3. The Limehouse Text (2006)
4. The Hellfire Conspiracy (2007)
5. The Black Hand (2008)
6. Fatal Enquiry (2014)
7. Anatomy of Evil (2015)
8. Hell Bay (2016)
9. Old Scores (2017)
10. Blood Is Blood (2018)
11. Lethal Pursuit (2019)
12. Dance with Death (2021)

      Novella —

An Awkward Way to Die (2017)

   Even though I’ve been a devout Bob Dylan fan ever since I bought his first album way back in 1963, I think this version of “Highway 61 Revisited” may be even better than Dylan’s own, first released on his 1965 LP of the same title:

   And in case you’d like to compare:

Oh, God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son”
Abe said, “Man, you must be puttin’ me on”
God said, “No” Abe say, “What?”
God say, “You can do what you want, Abe, but
The next time you see me comin’, you better run”
Well, Abe said, “Where d’you want this killin’ done?”
God said, “Out on Highway 61”
Well, Georgia Sam, he had a bloody nose
Welfare department, they wouldn’t give him no clothes
He asked poor Howard, “Where can I go?”
Howard said, “There’s only one place I know”
Sam said, “Tell me quick, man, I got to run”
Oh, Howard just pointed with his gun
And said, “That way, down Highway 61”
Well, Mack the Finger said to Louie the King
“I got forty red-white-and-blue shoestrings
And a thousand telephones that don’t ring
Do you know where I can get rid of these things?”
And Louie the King said, “Let me think for a minute, son”
Then he said, “Yes, I think it can be easily done
Just take everything down to Highway 61”
Now, the fifth daughter on the twelfth night
Told the first father that things weren’t right
“My complexion, ” she says, “is much too white”
He said, “Come here and step into the light”
He said, “Hmm, you’re right, let me tell the second mother this has been done”
But the second mother was with the seventh son
And they were both out on Highway 61
Now, the roving gambler he was very bored
Trying to create a next world war
He found a promoter who nearly fell off the floor
He said, “I never engaged in this kind of thing before
But yes, I think it can be very easily done
We’ll just put some bleachers out in the sun
And have it on Highway 61”

JAMES A. LAWSON “Hard Guy.” Short story. “Hard Guy” Dallas Duane #1. First published in Spicy Western Stories, March 1937. Collected in Dying Comes Hard (Black Dog Books, softcover, 2015) under the author’s real name, James P. Olsen. Introduction by James Reasoner.

   â€œHard Guy” Dallas Duane was an oil range troubleshooter in the 1930s, a fact that fully qualifies him as a PI. His adventures took him all over Oklahoma and Texas, often working undercover. And under the covers, too, which you will have already recognized for yourself if you saw that this first one was published in Spicy Western, a pulp magazine which took its title very very seriously.

   This first of 20 adventures has Hard Guy tracking down the killer of the local county attorney, all the while beating himself up for being tricked into being in the arms of very friendly saloon singer by the name of Nancy. Then follows ten pages of non-stop action, punctuated by the stops to wonder over the pulchritudinous delights of both Nancy and another girl named Kate, both of whom look very good, even with their clothes off, and even while less frequently with them on.

   Great literature this is not, as a wise man once told me, but if that wise man never read this story, I’m one up on him. I just did! And note this: the Black Dog collection collects all twenty of Hard Guy’s recorded adventures.

ANNE MORICE – Scared to Death. Tessa Chrichton #11. Macmillan, UK, hardcover, 1977. St. Martin’s, US, 1978. Detective Book Club 3-in-1 edition, hardcover. Bantam, US, paperback, 1986.

   All but two of Anne Morice’s 25 mystery novels featured actress-amateur sleuth Tessa Chrichton and were strictly in the Golden Age of Detection traditions, albeit in solid contemporary (1970s-80s) surroundings. (You can find out a lot more about her on Curtis Evans’ blog here. He has been writing about her quite extensively lately.)

   Spurred by his reviews of her books, Scared to Death was the easiest for me to find. It was one of the three books in the Detective Book Club edition on the top of the bookshelf next to me as I type this. (You cannot make up coincidences such as this.) Unfortunately, let me put it this way, maybe I should have started with another one.

   This one begins as a elderly, eccentric, rich and quite controlling acquaintance of Tessa becomes strangely haunted by a doppelgänger of herself wherever she goes, and each time she sees her, her health takes another turn for the worst. No one else manages to see this double, so it is passed off as a curious fantasy on her part. Until, that is, she is completely bedridden and dies.

   No one thinks more of it but Tessa, whose inquisitive nature wants to know more. The police do not take part in any of her secret undercover investigation, which involves a boatload of relatives and close friends, a will that there may or may be the current one, and a fictionalized diary the dead woman was in the process of writing.

   There are a number of witty lines in the telling, but there aren’t enough of them to make up for the fact that the tale just isn’t all that interesting, nor are any of the possible suspects. The story goes from slow to slower and then even slower.

   Morice’s way of hiding clues is to hide them in a disorienting mix of clouds and confusion, which is not Agatha Christie’s usual method of operation: which is to leave right out in the open and dare you to spot them, which I almost never have. Even a table that matched up names in the diary with their real-life counterparts did nothing to brighten up Tessa’s explanation of how she solved the case.

   The end may prove worthy of the journey, but overall quite the disappointment, then. Your opinion may vary.