Book Review: Carlucci's Edge

Book Review: 'Carlucci's Edge' by Richard Paul Russo

4 / 5 Stars

'Carlucci's Edge' (295 pp.) was published by Ace Books in June, 1995. The cover design is by Viktor Koen.

This is the second volume in the so-called 'Carlucci' trilogy. My review of the first volume, 'Destroying Angel,' is here. 

Probably the best way to acquire the trilogy is to pick up the 'Carlucci' omnibus edition, a trade paperback issued by Ace in 2003. 

The events in 'Carlucci's Edge' take place three years after those in 'Destroying Angel.' Twenty-first century San Francisco is just as hot and humid, as littered with garbage and human detritus, and as dangerous, as it was in the first adventure. Carlucci, now firmly positioned in middle-age with all its cynical glory, is approached by a Riot Grrrl named Paula Asgard. It seems that Chick, a close friend and confidante of Paula's, has been murdered - shot in the head by assailant(s) unknown - and the SF police department isn't all that keen on investigating the murder. 

Sensing a cover-up, but reluctant to get into trouble with the SFPD leadership, Carlucci agrees to conduct his own, semi-clandestine inquiry into Chick's demise. At the same time, Carlucci is burdened with another homicide case, one with a much higher profile. A murder case whose investigation is subjected to considerable pressure, not just from the department brass, but from politically influential people.

As Carlucci makes his way through the chaotic alleys and streets of the Tenderloin district, interviewing all manner of deranged street characters and outcasts, he discovers that not only are the two cases related, but that the deceased had been crossing paths with powerful elites....elites who have considerable pull with the SFPD's upper echelon, elites with few scruples about eliminating any meddlers. 

Will Carlucci pursue his investigation, at the risk of permanent damage to his career ? Or will he take the safer path and shelve the case ? Carlucci walks the 'edge', with his future as a cop at stake.....

'Carlucci's Edge,' like 'Destroying Angel,' expertly mixes the cyberpunk and police procedural / private eye / noir genres. The chapters are short, and the prose crisp while never over-indulging in hardboiled diction.

Where 'Edge' loses a step is in its emphasis on documenting the emotional and psychological travails of its characters, which in turn relegates figuring out Whodunnit to a supporting role.  At times, I found myself wishing that author Russo would spend less time on the angst of Paula Asgard, and more time on getting the plot progressing towards a resolution. When the resolution does come, it has an ambiguous nature that is disappointing in light of all the crime-solving logistics that precedes it.

I'm at ease with giving 'Carlucci's Edge' a Four Star rating. It will be enjoyed by fans of the cyberpunk and crime genres.

'Rock and Roll Christmas' by George Thorogood and the Destroyers

MTV Christmas Party, December, 1983

Ahh, yes.....according to shatterdaymorn's 'MTV Programming Week' webpage, the week of December 21, 1983, saw George Thorogood's video, 'Rock and Roll Christmas,' at slot 61, a 'medium' ranking (three plays a day).

 

You can watch the video here. It  was recorded at the MTV studios as part of the channel's annual Christmas party; perhaps the most memorable of these parties being the one in 1986 when the Monkees participated. 

 

In all of the Thorogood video's grainy, lip-synched glory, you can see Veejays Martha Quinn, Alan Hunter, and Mark Goodman rockin' and rollin' with all the other MTV staffers, in their early 80s holiday finery. That's how they did it, 41 years ago !

National Lampoon December 1972

National Lampoon

December, 1972

December, 1972, and the number one song on the Billboard Hot 100 is the immortal soul classic, 'Me and Mrs. Jones,' by Bill Paul. Other soul / R & B classics also are on the charts, such as 'If You Don't Know Me By Now,' 'You Ought To Be With Me,' and 'Papa Was A Rollin' Stone.'

 

The rascally boys at the National Lampoon have decided to celebrate Easter, rather than Christmas, on the cover of the December issue.

 

As always, looking through the advertisements in this issue is a trip into the pop culture / music culture as it was 52 years ago. The advertisement for Boone's Farm Apple Wine certainly suffused me in nostalgia, although I'm sure that, were I to drink some nowadays, I would be seriously hungover.

Record albums........does anyone remember Marjoe Gortner ?! Actor, musician, writer, and all-around talent. You can listen to the folk-rock stylings of Bad But Not Evil here.
 

The full-page ad for George Carlin's LP Class Clown and the Firesign Theatre's Not Insane Or Anything You Want To, reminds us that back in the 1970s comedy albums were a big part of the music and media landscape. You can listen to side one of the Firesign LP here. I find it pretty lame, but remember than back in '72 you couldn't go to websites and listen to comedy tracks. What you saw in the record stores, was what you got.

Speaking of ad parodies, this December issue has one for a cake mix. It's prescient, given that the safety of our food was an issue in last month's Presidential campaign.

Cartoonist Bernard Kliban, of 'Kliban's Cats' fame, contributes some funny cartoons about farting. That's Lampoon humor for you !!

Charles Rodriguez takes aim at 'Men's Liberation,' which, as he depicts it, refers to acts of malevolence directed against nagging wives.

Neal Adams, one of the hottest artists in comics in '72, illustrates a 'Son O' God' episode that seeks to offend Catholics, Jews, black people, and Southerners. The Lampoon never did things half-way........the only people who are going to 'get' this comic, are those over the age of 60.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris Miller contributes one of his stories, which, as always, is both funny and gross. I won't say much more, but point out that at one point in 'Magi,' there is an allusion to 'Marie's Merkin Mart'...........

 

'Foto Funnies' gives Lampoon readers what they want: boobies ! That's editor Doug Kenney sitting on the right. 

Then we have the traditional black-and-white comics at the back of the magazine. The Jeff Jones 'Idyl' piece is a stellar example of draftsmanship, and for now, devoid of the 'pregnancy' creepiness that would appear in future 'Idyl' installments.

 

 

 

 

And so, let's sit back and remember with fondness those long-ago days of yore, Christmas-time, 1972........

Book Review: Red Moon and Black Mountain

Book Review: 'Red Moon and Black Mountain' by Joy Chant 

3 / 5 Stars

 

'Red Moon and Black Mountain' first was published in the UK in 1970. This mass market paperback edition (268 pp.) was issued by Ballantine / Del Rey in April, 1977, and features cover art by the brothers Hildebrandt.

 

Joy Chant is the pseudonym of the English author Eileen Joyce Rutter. 'Red Moon' was her first novel, and is succeeded by 'The Grey Mane of Morning' (1977), and 'When Voiha Wakes' (1983), the three books making up what is known as the 'House of Kendreth' trilogy.

 

I picked up 'Red Moon' after spending a good eight weeks reading nothing but horror fiction, in association with the custom of highlighting such literature at this blog, during the Fall months. A steady diet of horror content can be a little depressing, so with 'Red Moon' I was hoping for something a little lighter in tone.

 

'Red Moon' starts off on a fine early Spring day in the UK in the early 1970s. The three Powell children, Penelope, Nicholas, and Oliver, are enjoying a walk in the woods when suddenly a mysterious entity transports them to the world of Vandarei, a fantasy world where life operates at a medieval level and supernatural and magical phenomena are commonplace. 

 

Oliver, the eldest Powell sibling, winds up in the company of a tribe of plains nomads (modeled on American Indians) called the Khentorei. For their part, Penelope and Nicholas are set down amid a group of nobility called the Harani.

The reader quickly learns that Vandarei is threatened by a Dark Lord called Fendarl. A fearsome personage, Fendarl has spent years strengthening his power, and now he intends to conquer and enslave all who dare defy him. Both the Khentorei and the Harani are among the polities mobilizing to resist the rise of Fendarl.

I won't reveal any spoilers, but I will disclose that the three English children have their roles to play in the efforts by the free peoples of Vandarei to resist subjugation. Oliver in fact may be the incarnation of a mythical warrior who, it is foretold, will bring the battle directly to the Dark Lord. But Oliver has his doubts and fears about fulfilling prophecy; is a teen-aged British lad indeed destined to be the savior of an entire world ?

I read 'Red Moon' aware that it is a Young Adult novel and not necessarily designed to appeal to adults. The author is very earnest about imbuing her narrative with emotional depth and resonance. The problem is, the excursions into melodrama and characterization so encumber the narrative that the first moment of true action doesn't come along until page 146, almost half-way through the novel. 

 

It doesn't help matters that the world-building gets ponderous. For example, there is the land of Kendrinh, ruled by Kiron, on which reside the tribe of the Khentorei, also referred to as the Khentors, whose adversaries are the Kelanat; then there is another tribe called the Kunoi; and somewhere, I read about someone called Kendretheon.........

The plot does pick up momentum once the final confrontation with Fendarl draws near, and the description of this confrontation has the quality of the best corresponding moments in 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy. However, the final quarter of the novel abandons this 'widescreen' presentation of epic fantasy, and focuses instead on a personal dilemma involving one of the protagonists. There is much angst and emoting, but the closing chapter subverts all of this drama with a pat, almost glib, ending.

I give 'Red Moon and Black Mountain' a Three-Star rating. In a real sense the Young Adult audience it was appropriate for in 1970 has become greatly attenuated, having been transmogrified into a postliterate generation that will find the novel difficult going. 

Deathlok four issue series 1990

Deathlok

1990, Marvel Comics

I've been a fan of the Deathlok character since he first appeared in the Spring of 1974 in issue 25 of Marvel's 'Astonishing Tales.'

Deathlok was offbeat, not your usual Marvel hero. His storyline took place in a dystopian, future USA of 1990, one independent of the 'Marvel universe.' Deathlok was as much an antihero as a hero; he had no qualms about killing people, either with firearms, or via throwing a knife into their midsection:

This was transgressive stuff in '74, when the Comics Code Authority still was in power and depictions of death in comic books had to meet the CCA's standards.

 

The Deathlok franchise lasted for 12 issues of 'Astonishing Tales' before being discontinued. He popped up here and there over the next two decades, in books like 'Captain 'America' and 'Marvel Team-up.'

In the summer of 1990, with the Great Comics Boom going on, Marvel decided to reboot the character as a four-issue miniseries in 'prestige' format, meaning square-bound books, printed on a higher quality of paper that was less marred by the flexographic printing presses then in use at World Color.

 

The four issues are compiled in the graphic novel 'Deathlok: The Living Nightmare of Michael Collins.' 

As scripted by writers Dwayne McDuffie and Gregory Wright in issue one, the new Deathlok started out as the computer scientist Michael Collins, who worked for Cybertek Systems, a subsidiary of the malevolent Roxxon corporation. After a series of misadventures, Collins had his brain encased in the body of a cyborg designed for military operations.

 

Wresting control of the cyborg from Cybertek and its amoral CEO, Harlan Rykker, Collins at first is devastated to realize he is consigned to life in a cyborg body. Later, he decides to use his considerable powers to fight injustice and perhaps find a way to reacquire human form.

The remaining three issues in the series see Deathlok combating various adversaries in the employ of Cybertek, while working to reestablish his relationship with his wife and son, who have been told that Collins is in a coma and receiving care from the company.

While Luther Manning, the human inside the 1974 incarnation of Deathlok, was caucasian, Michael Collins was black, as were the 1990 writers McDuffie, and penciller Denys Cowan. With the launch of the Deathlok yearly series in 1991, McDuffie would work racial issues and concerns into his plots.

 

Reflecting an intention to convert the four-issue miniseries into the launcing point for a formal series, and using tie-ins with other characters for marketing purposes, this incarnation of Deathlok took place in the Marvel universe. Thus we see guest appearances by Nick Fury, and Z-list X-Man 'Sunfire.'
 

I was, and am, always happy to see the Deathlok character appearing in the Marvel publication schedule. However, the 1990 reincarnation, while it featured some great artwork by Butch Guice, was not as good as the original Deathlok. The Michael Collins character abhorred killing, and thus one of the edgier aspects of the franchise was neutered. Placing the new Deathlok in the present-day Marvel Universe may have been sensible from a promotion and marketing standpoint, but it removed the existential, almost nihilistic quality that made the original series memorable. 

 

If you're a Deathlok fan, the 1990 edition is worth reading, but be aware it lacks the imaginative quality of its first incarnation.