News, Entertainment, Enlightenment
Chester County writer Daniella Bova has written a short story for this Memorial Day and she is offering if for free. It is called “The Protest”. It is excellent and worth reading and can be found on her website here.
Daniella’s work can be found on Amazon.
Of Sound Mind Looms — Of Sound Mind by local author and former County Press (Pa) sports editor Jim Waltzer is being promoted by Medallion Press. The book will be available in April.
It’s a revision of Jim’s thriller Sound of Mind which has already appeared in French and English.
It is set in Philadelphia and concerns audiometry technician Richard Keene who possesses abnormally acute powers of hearing which leads him into trouble.
It’s an excellent noir thriller and Keene is one of the most unique characters to appear in recent fiction.
Local author and former County Press (Pa) sports editor Jim Waltzer has revised his thriller Sound of Mind and has a new publisher, Medallion Press. 
The books which has been published in French along with English is set in Philadelphia and is excellent.
The new title will be Of Sound Mind.
A movie deal had been in the works, although Jim says things are going slow on that front.
Call it a guilty pleasure but we got for Christmas a Star Trek book by best-selling Chester County author Greg Cox that was quite a pleasure.
The book, “Foul Deeds Will Rise,” involves the franchise’s original line up (Kirk, Spock, McCoy etc.)
The plot concerns the Federation via The Enterprise mediating a peace treaty between two warring planets and features Leonore Karidian –an old love and nemesis of Captain Kirk — as the wrinkle.
The story would have made an excellent episode in the original series. Kudos Greg Cox.
Greg lives in Oxford and is officially a New York Times bestselling author. He was Richard Matheson’s last editor.
Richard Matheson, one of the most influential writers of the last century, died June 23 at the age of 87. He was a graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism. In the name of courageous journalism we present this tribute:
Matheson, by the way, also gave us that Trilogy of Terror episode where the little voodoo doll chases around Karen Black, and, of course, zombies with his short story I Am Legend adopted to the big screen numerous times under several names.
Noir Newspaper Thriller Set In Philly — Delco resident J.M. Roman has crafted a nitty-gritty, politically incorrect thriller set circa 1970 in Philadelphia involving a crazed killer working for the city’s largest newspaper — which it should be noted is delivered in the afternoon.
We are reading it now.
“Ink in His Blood” can be purchased at amazon.com, bn.com and buybooksontheweb.com
Whistleblowers PTSD — Investigative journalist Michael Volpe’s latest book, The Definitive Dossier on PTSD in Whistleblowers, takes a close look at the pain and suffering that goes with blowing the whistle on corruption.
The whistleblower is a modern hero.
The book can be had for the Kindle at $3.95.
The “old” Atlantic City — long before casinos and NJ Governor Christie’s initiatives — had a financial code and structure that may not have been legal, but kept the bottom line healthy. Town boss Nucky Johnson ran the rackets and reigned as financial czar, enriching himself (and associates) and returning modest chunks of the loot to the poor.
For a sense of the downside of that system, visit this video here highlighting my novel “Brother’s Keeper.”
— Jim Waltzer
Brother’s Keeper By Jim Waltzer
By Jim Waltzer
The popular HBO series “Boardwalk Empire,” which will soon present fresh episodes on the small screen, is based on the Atlantic City history of the same name by Nelson Johnson, a superior court judge in Atlantic City. Mr. Johnson compiled research from numerous interviews and archival written materials to produce the most complete and penetrating account of the seashore town’s political history. The TV series captures the spirit of those rollicking vintage days along the Boardwalk, admittedly embellishing fact with entertaining fiction.
My novel “Brother’s Keeper” (on Amazon and Barnes&Noble) shares some of that timeline, as it presents the racial conflict between a black dishwasher and a white man of means, wrapped around a quirky murder mystery. It was a time when the indigenous and seasonal African-American population in Atlantic City provided the services that kept the town running, and a time rich with the color of the Roaring 20s.
If you’re headed down the shore this summer, fix one eye on the towering casino-hotels, the other on Atlantic City’s past of ornate architecture and ruling racketeers. And ride at least one wave for me (and maybe a rolling chair, too).
The finest shot on the planet at a time when marksmanship was prized as an international sport (second half of 19th century) was one William Frank “Doc” Carver, friend of Wild Bill Hickock and Buffalo Bill Cody — so say both the dime novels and authentic newspaper documentation. After establishing his dominance, Carver teamed with Cody to form the first large-scale Wild West show. But as an entrepreneur and personality, Cody was superior. He became the icon, Carver a footnote.
But Doc Carver created an enduring show biz act after splitting from Buffalo Bill: the Diving Horses, that quirky yet dramatic splashdown that became the calling card of the Steel Pier in Atlantic City. I’m researching Carver’s life for a new book. Interesting character. — Jim Waltzer
Jim Waltzer’s novel “Brother’s Keeper,” set in 1920s Atlantic City, has just been published.