I had equal parts of anticipation and dread for this new adaptation of Patricia Highsmith‘s The Talented Mr Ripley especially as it was by schmaltzy Spielberg’s pal who wrote Schindler’s List and the film Hannibal. I take it all back: he read the book — or rather books as it became clear. Even better, he…
Tag: crime
FREE Hard-Boiled Witch #1
From the 27th to the 31st of this month get Book One of the HARD-BOILED WITCH series for free to celebrate Dundee Day–the home of the titular witch and her oversized cat familiar. Hecate Sidlaw eats punks like you for breakfast — at least that’s what her familiar Henry claims. When someone needs a protection…
#Noirvember – Gladys
GLADYS She was trouble. I didn’t even know how much trouble that gall was. I never suspected that she was behind the things that were going down for years. But then she made her presence known: well known. Put me in the hospital. At least then I knew who I was dealing with. Yet it…
Quarry by Jane White
Quarry Jane White (Boiler House Press: Recovered Books 2023) FULL REVIEW HERE! I was fortunate to be pointed toward this 1967 novel by Anne Billson, who wrote the introduction to this new edition. It’s a wonderful example of the flexibility of the crime genre. White employs familiar tropes to unfamiliar ends, brings in the mythic…
Crime Fiction Studies: Cornell Woolrich Issue
Crime Fiction Studies v4n1 Cornell Woolrich and Transmedia Noir Thanks Rob King for editing the collection which puts together a variety of topics, My essay: Transforming Black Alibi‘s Jaguar into The Leopard Man K. A. Laity 4(1), pp. 62–77 Abstract | Full Text | References | PDF/EPUB If your library doesn’t have access, let me know and I can get a copy of my…
#Tarot #Noir: William Lindsay Gresham’s Nightmare Alley – MARCH 2
TAROT NOIR: WILLIAM LINDSAY GRESHAM’S NIGHTMARE ALLEY (This time for sure!) It’s no surprise that Guillermo del Toro sought for years to make his own neo-noir version of Gresham’s novel. The heady combination of the occult, tarot, the carnival and grifters in the ‘spook racket’ made the original novel a bestseller and led matinee idol…
#Tarot #Noir: William Lindsay Gresham’s Nightmare Alley – Rescheduled!
TAROT NOIR: WILLIAM LINDSAY GRESHAM’S NIGHTMARE ALLEY rescheduled 2 Mar 2023! It’s no surprise that Guillermo del Toro sought for years to make his own neo-noir version of Gresham’s novel. The heady combination of the occult, tarot, the carnival and grifters in the ‘spook racket’ made the original novel a bestseller and led matinee idol…
Checking Proofs: Black Alibi & Leopard Man
In an email that looked surprisingly like a phishing attempt, I got the link to my proofs for the forthcoming collection on Cornell Woolrich. I get to jazz enthusiastically about Black Alibi, Leopard Man, Val Lewton and Ardel Wray so that’s fun. There’s not a whole lot of academic work on Woolrich (and some of…
#Tarot #Noir: William Lindsay Gresham’s Nightmare Alley – Jan 25
TAROT NOIR: WILLIAM LINDSAY GRESHAM’S NIGHTMARE ALLEY It’s no surprise that Guillermo del Toro sought for years to make his own neo-noir version of Gresham’s novel. The heady combination of the occult, tarot, the carnival and grifters in the ‘spook racket’ made the original novel a bestseller and led matinee idol Tyrone Power to risk…
Surreal Noir: 9 Nov 2022
Tonight at 2100 UK/1600 NY it’s another episode of SURREAL NOIR! Drop over to the NoBounds Radio mix cloud page to listen live. This month you get a sneak peek at my MAPACA presentation on IVY starring Joan Fontaine, based on the novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes. Noirvember gets Gothic! Also music from Finnish mystic…
K. A. Laity 