Ray Bradbury will always be remembered and revered for his classic works of science fiction and fantasy – with novels like FAHRENHEIT 451, SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES, and the stories that make up such collections as THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES and THE ILLUSTRATED MAN.

But Bradbury wrote other kinds of genre stories, especially early in his writing career. Now, in celebration of Ray Bradbury’s centennial (1920-2020), his crime fiction stories are gathered together in KILLER, COME BACK TO ME. And the 20 stories demonstrate the imagination and creativity Bradbury brought to crime fiction.

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Look, here is everything I dislike about Austin Trunick’s The Cannon Film Guide: Volume I, 1980-1984:
• Volume II is not yet available.
• Volume III is not yet available.

Otherwise, this book is B-movie gold.

Anyone who has seen Mark Hartley’s amazing 2014 documentary, Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films, knows that when it comes to The Cannon Group — and Israeli cousins/co-owners Menahem Golan and Yoran Globus — no shortage of great stories exists.

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The struggle for women’s equality in the workplace is the theme of Erica Katz’s debut novel, THE BOYS’ CLUB. And despite a few minor flaws, Katz’s first novel is both entertaining and hugely relevant.

Fresh out of Harvard Law School, Alex Vogel considers herself lucky to have landed an associate position at the Manhattan office of Klasko & Fitch. The firm is considered “Big Law” and is one of the most prestigious law firms in the world. Now Alex must compete with her peers and be matched to one of the available slots. Everyone knows that the Mergers & Acquisitions department is the most lucrative, but it is also common knowledge that M&A sets women up to fail.

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SHILLS CAN’T CASH CHIPS is the 145th (!) entry in the Hard Case Crime series, an imprint of Titan Books. This Erle Stanley Gardner book (written under his pseudonym of A.A. Fair) features private detectives Bertha Cool and Donald Lam, and was originally published in 1961.

The duo is asked by an insurance company to investigate an auto accident. Everything seems pretty straight forward but the claim of the victim seems excessive. But stories seem to check out, everyone seems to agree on the details. Still, something is rubbing Lam the wrong way. And when he finds out what really happened, things get very dangerous indeed.

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As a first grader, I distinctly remember sitting by my dad in front of the stereo cabinet, as he recorded a friend’s borrowed Star Wars soundtrack LP to reel-to-reel tape for my brother and I to listen to whenever we wanted, which was always. My only regret at the time is I wouldn’t — and didn’t — have the cardboard sleeve to gaze at while reliving George Lucas’ movie through John Williams’ instantly iconic score. (This was before the VCR invaded American households, folks.)

Aaron Lupton and Jeff Szpirglas would understand. That’s the experience Planet Wax: Sci-Fi/Fantasy Soundtracks on Vinyl exists to commemorate and celebrate. A sequel to their last year’s Blood and Black Wax, Lupton and Szpirglas pivot from the music that fuels famous horror films to the tunes of that misunderstood genre’s more beloved big brothers of science fiction and fantasy. This follow-up is every bit the keeper.

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Although an Israeli and undeniably Jewish, Gabriel Allon, the protagonist of Daniel Silva’s long-running espionage series, has had many dealings with the Catholic Church and sometimes with the Pope himself. Perhaps no more so than in THE ORDER, Silva’s most recent addition to the series.

Allon, now the director-general of Israeli intelligence, finally takes a long-delayed holiday with his wife, Chiara, and their two twin children. But shortly after arriving in Venice, Allon is summoned to Rome. Pope Paul VII, Allon’s long-time friend, has died.

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Scott Edelman was a writer and assistant editor for Marvel Comics in the mid-1970s, and has spent the past 40 years spearheading/editing various sci-fi mags and writing short stories. But other than his (too) brief run as writer on the CAPTAIN MARVEL comic book, my familiarity with him was limited to his skilled interviewing technique on his podcast, EATING THE FANTASTIC.

Yes, I’m one of those people who has fallen down the rabbit hole of discovering and listening to podcasts. It’s a nice distraction from the pain in my lungs during my morning run, and also a reprieve from hearing Nirvana for the millionth time on the radio when I’m driving to pick up or drop off my son.

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Personal secrets buried in the past, and how they could re-emerge in the present, is the theme of Rebecca Reid’s second novel, THE TRUTH HURTS. And how Reid uses this theme to build suspense is one of the impressive features of this new work.

Poppy is fired from her job as nanny to the children of the Henderson family as the novel opens. While drowning her sorrows in a local Ibiza bar, Poppy meets a handsome stranger named Drew. Their conversation soon leads to a whirlwind romance, and a few weeks later Poppy and Drew are married.

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Dolores Hitchens wrote several mystery series, stand-alone novels and short stories throughout the 1950s, ’60s and just before her death in 1973. The two stand-alone novels gathered here by Stark House Press, FOOTSTEPS IN THE NIGHT and BEAT BACK THE TIDE, demonstrate Hitchens’s skill at presenting multiple characters within a single framework.

FOOTSTEPS IN THE NIGHT (1961) takes place in Dellwood, a town built on the Southern California land ownedfor many years by the Dronk family. After selling most of the land to developers, houses sprung up and families quickly moved in. The outgoing young daughter of the Bartlett family befriends the disabled son of the Dronk family. But when the daughter disappears one evening, most of the residents assume the son is to blame. But as local Sheriff discovers, most everyone in Dellwood has something to hide.

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Three novels from the early 1970s by the prolific Barry N. Malzberg, OVERLAY, A BED OF MONEY and UNDERLAY, are gathered together in this new Stark House Press edition and presented as THE HORSEPLAYER TRILOGY.

In OVERLAY (1972), planet Earth is declared a “clear and present danger to the cause of Galactic Unity” by an interplanetary Bureau. So the Bureau sends a galactic agent to implant disunity among the planet’s inhabitants. The agent chooses four gamblers from the world of the Aqueduct Raceway to carry out the mission – and then deal with the mixed results.

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