Been in a bit of a writing rut. I could blame all sorts of things: school restarting, ongoing pandemic, the news in general. Each is a valid and weighty distraction. I’m not trying to dismiss or ignore anything but I am trying to avoid magical thinking. This will all be over soon. Things will change. Things will get better. That’s not how it works. Even if we want it desperately to be that way.

Wishing and hoping does not change reality. Things are what they are. Life is what it is. Everyone needs to face that. And try to do with courage and conviction.

 

Here are 3 crime fiction links, 2 quotes, and 1 question for this week:

 

3 LINKS

• Some good news for genre television fans and if you’re looking for a show to binge. The well-received but rarely watched MR MERCEDES (it was stuck on a weird hodge-podge of small networks) is getting a new home. Lehane helped write and produce the first two seasons of the King crime thriller adaptation. You can check out the trailer as well.
  

• If the upcoming books by Grisham or Connelly have you hankering for more legal thrillers, ABR has a bunch of recommendations for you. Not my typical genre (beyond Connelly) but I recently discovered and really enjoyed Steve Cavanagh’s Eddie Flynn books.
  

• Crime Reads looks back at the Coen’s gangster pic MILLER’S CROSSING after 30 years. Is it the most un-Coen movie they’ve made?Might be my favorite Gabriel Byrne performance.
  

 

2 QUOTES

Two quotes from the Coen’s ‘Miller’s Crossing’ this week:

• “I’d worry a lot less if I thought you were worrying enough.”
• “You double-cross once – where’s it all end? An interesting ethical question.”

 

1 QUESTION

• Miller’s Crossing hit screens in the early 1990s during a renaissance for gangster pics at the cinema. Goodfellas. The Godfather Part III. Bugsy. What was your favorite from that time?
  

 

Until next Thursday, happy reading,

Mike

Author the Max Strong thriller series