Gretel’s Big Bad Wolf: Chuck Cave’s Burlesque Part 1

The latest short story appearing under my C.C. Blake pseudonym, “Gretel’s Big Bad Wolf,” is available for purchase. On this Self-Promotion Sunday, I invite you to take a look at the first entry in a series. There’s even a promotional price for 1 week at many retailers. So, between January 25, 2026 and January 31, […]

Celebrating the Destruction of the Unwanted: The Chamber (1996)

When an explosion rips through the Indianola, Mississippi law offices of Marshall Kramer (Seth Isler) in 1967, it takes the lives of the lawyer’s two children, Josh (Sid Johnson) and John (Blake Johnson). The Klan marches, extolling the virtues of destroying Jewish folks and stopping their activism efforts, supplanting states rights with so-called civil ones. […]

Miranda Keen Can’t Lose: James Patterson and Keir Graff’s The Double Trouble Puzzle

Miranda Keen’s life is coming apart at the seams. Her beloved Detective Club at Jane Byrne Middle School, has been invaded by new faces. One of these is a teacher advisor, which is okay since it’s Miranda’s favorite Language Arts teacher, Mrs. Clair Voyant. The new student, however? Not so welcome. Zoe Quick is a […]

Feminine/Masculine: The Stendahl Syndrome (1996)

Anna Manni (Asia Argento) has come to Florence in search of a serial rapist and murderer. While there, she finds herself in a museum, where she is overwhelmed by the exhibited masterpieces. Soon enough, she is thrown into a trance state, losing track of time, getting lost in art that seems to swallow her up […]

Everyone Is a Suspect: Lindy Ryan’s Dollface

When the military moves Jill Marshall’s husband Rob from Texas to New Jersey, she and their son Tanner’s lives get uprooted as well. It’s the challenge of being married to a serviceman. This summer, she’s already had the headache of getting a new novel pitch to her editor, and that’s gotten upset with moving all […]

Father, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me? 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026)

When we last saw him in the final scenes of 28 Years Later (2025), Spike (Alfie Williams) was getting saved from a mess of infected by a crazily grinning Sir Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell) and his army of Jimmys (seven youths rechristened Jimmy something or other), only to be asked to join the gang. As […]

You Can’t Close, Then Hit the Bricks Pal Because You Are Going Out: Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)

Four shady real estate salesmen struggling to get by with lousy leads are about to be given a new incentive to nail signatures on a rainy night. Only office manager John Williamson (Kevin Spacey) has a heads up about this, and he’s been instructed to keep information close to the chest. So far as wunderkind […]

Who’s In Control? Linette King’s Ward No. 13

Dr. Damien Voss is a generous soul, operating a psychiatric program that is intended to bring criminal offenders to their senses with a bleeding-edge approach to medical methodologies. He hopes to bring the troubled back to a productive lifestyle. His latest patient is a killer, named Destiny Cooper. She’s looking at a twenty years sentence, […]

Not a Good Day to be a Bad Guy … or a Castle Guard: Descendant of the Sun (1983)

When the black snake demon threatens to escape the prison he has been resigned to for the last 500 years, the master of the celestial kingdoms must do whatever it takes to stop him. Unfortunately, simple mystical fisticuffs fail to stop the evil, instead sending it rocketing to Earth. the master must abandon his kingdom […]

Finder of the Lost: Walter Mosley’s Gray Dawn

Easy Rawlins is living in a nice house, rented to him for cheap by a former, grateful, and wealthy client. His daughter Feather is in France with his ex-girlfriend (and a woman who’s more a mother to that child than anyone ever was). His son Jesus has a fair fishing business, which he shares with […]