Welshrogue

From the Publisher

Romance author Sabrina Wright asks Archy McNally to find her missing husband. Archy learns Sabrina sent him to look for her daughter, who ran off when she learned Sabrina hadn’t adopted her, but is really her natural mother. That sent the girl looking for her real father, a Palm Beach blue blood who’d paid for anonymity. So it’s up to Archy to find the missing family members before local gossips start pointing fingers.

When I picked up the book I didn’t notice that although the book cover said in big bold letters Lawrence Sanders, it was actually written by Vincent Lardo who had contributed with Sanders on several books. Lawrence Sanders died 4 years before this book was published in 1998.

The book features Archy McNally who is a discret investigator, working out of his fathers office. He is called to meet a famous romantic author who says she is looking for her husband who came down to look to look for her adopted daughter but nothing is what it seems and there seems to be more than one little while lie spread around.

It’s difficult to judge Lardo’s writing style having never read an original Sanders book. I am guessing that it is written in the style that the previous books held. The style is, well, stylish but more flash than dash. It is a very lightweight book where thinking is optional. There is a lot of description of what McNally wears, probably in order to explain how McNally makes himself different to the rest of Palm Beach.

There are many witty lines and comments that are very enjoyable and almost make up for the lightweight fare. The plot is complex, a little predictable, yet very enjoyable. The plot is filled with many characters, all helping the story flow with style and fun.

This isn’t a bad book, but it’s perhaps a little too lightweight to make me want more. If I happen to pick up another one on the cheap, I won’t complain!

The Caparo T1.

Basic is the tale of six Rangers and their training officer go into the Pamana jungle on a training mission in the middle of a hurricane but only two of the trainees come out of the jungle alive, one badly wounded. When the un-wounded soldier is questioned he requests to speak to a Ranger off base. This brings in possibly disgraced DEA agent Tom Hardy. Hardy goes head to head with the camp Provost Marshal, Osborne. Hardy had once been a Ranger at the base under the missing training officer, drill instructor West. Once Hardy starts investigating, not everything is as it appears.

Basic is the first on screen pairing of Samuel L Jackson and John Travolta since Pulp Fiction. Travolta as Tom Hardy plays a similar role as he did in The Generals Daughter. Cool and calculating, he has the experience to handle the confusion created by the situation. Drill instructor West is more than capabaly played by Sam Jackson. All at once, Jackson owns the screen whenever he appears as the brash drill instructor, shouting at everything and everyone and generally acting evil. Provost Marshall Osborne is played by Danish actress Connie Nielson, sporting a Florida accent.

Smaller roles are taken by Tim Daly as the base commander Styles, Brian Van Holt yet again as a Soldier (after Blackhawk Down and Windtalkers), Taye Diggs as another soldier and Harry Connick Jr as Vilmer the hospital administrator. All bring good performances to the piece. Infact, the only questionable actor is the usually reliable Giovanni Ribisi who in role as the wounded gay soldier Kendall comes off sounding more like Nicholas Cage impersonating Noel Coward.

Since the action is set during a hurricane, there is a lot of rain, some simulated by rain hoses (realistic), some by visual effects (not so realistic). The biggest downside of having to having the movie set during a hurricane is a lot of lightening, which does become a little tedious after a while.

The plot is a Rashomon type affair with the different witnesses telling differing accounts of what happened to their drill instructor and fellow Rangers. In total three different accounts are told yet it is only after the movie is over that it becomes obvious which tale is possibly the true one.

There are movies and books that can go from good to great based solely on the ending of the story. Likewise, there are stories that go from great to terrible because of the ending, such as Sphere (Michael Crichton, come on down). Basic has a great ending, perhaps obvious to some but there again, some people try to work out the ending of a movie rather than enjoying the ride getting there. Its a twisty ride with a good ending twist. Perhaps its a little unbelievable but it is a movie and supposed to be an autobiography.

At the end of the day, Basic is a good military thriller that sometimes appears to be an action flick but is more intelligent than your normal action flick.

Where Eagles Dare

An allied commando force, parachute into Germany to rescue an American General who has been captured. This general knows when and where the ‘second front’ will take place, and if the germans get this information from him, the war will be extended by years.

Alistair MacLean wrote the screen play for this movie and then based a book upon it as compared to the other way around as with many of his other books. Movies based upon his writings also seemed to always get some of the best actors of their time to star in it. The Guns of Navarone starred Gregory Peck, David Nivan among others, Bear Island had Donald Sutherland and Richard Widmark. The sequel to The Guns of Navarone had Harrison Ford and Robert Shaw. Golden Rendezvous starred Richard Harris. Breakheart Pass had Charles Bronson. Future cannibal Anthony Hopkins starred in When Eight Bells Toll and Ice Station Zebra was filled with stars such as Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine and Patrick McGoohan.

Wether it was due to MacLeans writing, or a very good casting director, the action packed movies based upon MacLeans writings had this pull about them that seemed to have stars begging to be involved. Where Eagles Dare stars Richard Burton and a very young Clint Eastwood as a British commando and an American Ranger respectively.

Where Eagles Dare was directed by Brian G Hutton, an actor/director who would go on to direct another iconic world war 2 movie in Kelly’s Heroes. With filming taking place in Austria at the famous Austrian castle Hohenwerfen, the movie not only looks realistic but feels it too, with the snow piled high around the town of Salzberg.

As soon as the opening credits begin, Ron Goodwin’s stirring score gets the view straight into the mood for a military masterpiece. As we watch the Junkers Ju 88 flying between the mountains, you feel as if this is no ordinary war film. And you would be right. Not everything is what it seems, and betrayal may be just around the corner. Richard Burton as Major Smith, leads the way, seemingly a man with his own mission that may or may not correspond with the teams goal. Clint Eastwood as Lt Schaffer is well cast as the slow talking Ranger who throughout this movie kills approximately 50 enemy soldiers, a score that he only bests in his western movie, The Outlaw Josey Wales.

As you watch the movie progress, you cannot help but feel the chemistry between the wildly different lead actors. One, short and quick of speech, the other slow and tall. Its a great combination and one that works so well in Where Eagles Dare.

While a lot of the action is gun orientated, there is some great scenes upon a cable car and also on an alpine school bus. You don’t get bored watching the movie as not only there is always something going on, and you are trying to work out exactly what, but there is no place where the movie repeats itself, with each action scene differing from the last. The stunt work is second to none, especially on top of the icy cable car.

The book is one of my favourite books of all time, Schaffer has more of a role, and also falls in love with the curvacious Hiedi. The biggest difference between movie and book though is the lack of enemy soldiers killed. The heroes go out of their way not to kill everyone in sight and while it perhaps wouldn’t have looked good in the movie, in the book it works very well.

In the end, for a World War 2 action pic that lasts over 2 1/2 hours, Where Eagles Dare doesn’t disappoint at all and for a movie released in 1968, holds up very well to more recent movies in the same genre.

The potential end of the world from the view point of a newspaper reporter. The two world superpowers (US and USSR) detonate the biggest nuclear tests ever, unknowingly at the same time, with the effect being that the earths rotation changes.

As Sci Fi movies go, TDTECF is a strange one. It doesn’t have flying saucers or aliens or even killer robots, three of the staples of the wave of Sci Fi movies in the late 50s and early 60s. The main character, Pete Stenning, is played by Edward Judd in his first film role. Pete Stenning is a burnt out (no pun intended) newspaper reporter who is barely hanging onto his job. His best friend and college, Bill Mcguire (played brilliantly by Leo McKern) writes both his own and Pete’s articles as he tries to get through the the disillusioned reporter. The female lead, a temp switchboard operator at the ministry who helps Stenning discover what has happened is played by Janet Munro who unfortunatly passed away in her late 30′s. The strangest casting though was for the role of editor of the Express newspaper, who was played by Arthur Christiansen, the actual editor of the Express at the time. If you keep a close watch, you will see Michael Caine in one of his first speaking roles in the movies.

TDTECF was directed by Val Guest who unfortunatly recently passed away. He came to the project with good intelligent science fiction experience having written and directed both The Quatermass Experiment and Quatermass 2. After TDTECF Guest went on to direct such varied projects as the Space 1999 tv show and Casino Royale, the first movie based on a James Bond novel.

TDTECF was filimed in black and white and due to its low budget, is suplimented by stock footage of weather from around the world. Some of the scenes show the low budget but it isn’t distracting in the slightest. With no spectacular sets, the viewer gets caught up with the characters. There is stock footage of an anti nuclear demonstration in London that is used in one scene. Even though the cause of the worlds trouble is two nuclear explosions, you do not see a single mushroom cloud expect on the front page of the newspaper.

For all its short-comings, lack of money, small unknown cast, The Day The Earth Caught Fire works and works very well. The whole disaster angle is well played, and unlike the typical hollywood movie, doesn’t have spectacular explosions or dramatic life or death situations. This is a movie that is as much mental as it is visual. As the movie progresses and the government start to enforce more and more restrictions, you understand what might happen.

If you enjoy Science Fiction and black and white doesn’t put you off watching a movie, then give The Day The Earth Caught Fire a go.

A new female manager of an airline at Logan airport has to deal with unions, threats, and many secrets.

This book reminded me in part of Airframe by Michael Crichton (yes there is one book of his I liked) with unions running wild and airplanes being involved. It moves at quite a fast pace and brings into play areas of an airport that the average tourist never see. The villans are vile, the good guys good, the main character flawed yet likeable.

The action when it happens is well written and you never lose track of what is happening. With the descriptions of Logan Airport so well done, you can easily imagine what it must be like in the early hours of the morning, with the snow coming down.

I thought it was a very well written novel that kept my attention through the book. Very enjoyable.

I don't like the Mazda Miata or as its called in the UK, MX-5. I think it is sorely lacking in curves and just doesn't look good. But they have come up with the below design, and while I still don't like the curves, it is the first 'cheap' roadster to do this. It looks good as long as you don't want curves…

You know the stereotypical image of a geek is male, lives with his parents, still plays Dungeons and Dragons and can quote James T Kirk's birthday in Klingon. Well guess what, not every geek is like that. If you want to read the ramblings of a girl geek who loves Sci Fi as much as any42 yr old, stay at home, work at McDonalds in the morning so he doesn't miss Star Trek re-runs, geek, then head over to Closet Sci Fi Geek and join in the discussions on all things Sci Fi.

From the Publisher

During a bombing mission in the Soviet Union, First Lieutenant David Luger was killed in an explosion–or so his fellow crew members thought. Now they find out that he survived, and has been brainwashed by the KGB.

Perhap a little long and a little too detailed, the novel reads like a Larry Bond or Tom Clancy. A lot of action, quite a few lead characters and lots of heroic acts makes this a good book though. Set in a part of the world not normally read about, it uses its unique location to great effect. While this is the sequel to Flight of the Old Dog, with many of the same characters featured, I don’t think you needed to have read the first to enjoy this book.

Looking forward to the next one.