Book Cover & Blurb: Doctor Bob

New Biography Tells the Story of Internment-Camp-Captive-Turned-Cardiologist, Doctor Bob Gainesville, FL – The Japanese internment camps of the Pacific War were hardly the place where young hopes and dreams were nurtured. But one Dutch boy rose from the deprave depths of the concentration camps to prominence in the medical field. His miraculous journey is told in the new biography, Doctor Bob, published by Outskirts Press. Lodewyk H.S. Van Mierop was born in Java to Dutch parents and was later interned by the Japanese in concentration camps for two brutal years. There, he and his family suffered beatings, starvation and other physical deprivations. Deprived of an education during his internment, young Lodewyk completed high school and medical school in Holland and a seven-year surgical residency in Albany, New York.

Who's On Top: Graphic Novels

This Week's Spotlight:
Hardcover:

UNCANNY AVENGERS, VOL. 1 
by Rick Remender and John Cassaday

The Marvel Universe's greatest era starts NOW!, as the all-new, all-different Avengers assemble! Captain America creates a sanctioned Avengers unit comprised of Avengers and X-Men, humans and mutants working together...so why is Professor Xavier's dream more at risk than ever? The Red Skull has returned - straight out of the 1940s and full of hatred - and his rebirth will alter the Marvel Universe forever! What are the Skull's new powers? Can Havok and Thor defeat the spreading influence of Honest John, The Living Propaganda? As Rogue and Scarlet Witch find themselves trapped on the Isle of the Red Skull's S-Men, Wolverine and Captain America investigate the worldwide mutant assassination epidemic! Uncanny Avengers Assemble! Plus: from the ashes of AvX, the funeral of one of Marvel's greatest heroes!
COLLECTING: Uncanny Avengers 1-5

Book Cover & Blurb: The Molina Curse

New Travel Mystery thriller for review: The Molina Curse Author Charles Fields announces the release of his newest mystery thriller, The Molina Curse. The Molina Curse is the sequel to Tainted Dish and the fifth book in the Charles Stone Travel /Mystery /Thriller series. The protagonist faces several assassination attempts and a life threatening encounter in Australia’s Outback. His dog, Daisy is reintroduced along with characters from previous stories. The reader will be reminded of our country’s history through walks on Boston’s Freedom Trail.

Bad Guys Take Over the World

By JccKeith

Whatever happened to the good old days of television where the bad guys were always easy to spot because they wore the dark glasses and had sinister laughs?  I’m sitting here tonight watching Fringe and I can’t help thinking that Agent Francis is a bad guy. 

Agent Francis is a nice looking guy, he consistently helps the lead character in her investigations. He always does the right thing – or they portray him as a good agent I mean.   He has done nothing except be helpful and useful… and yet, something about his niceness, his devoutness, his good guyness, his always there to helpness – something about it just screams bad guy to me. 

Does this mean that I am cynical?  Am I suspicious of people who seem too good to be true?  Or is this my nerdiness coming through loud and clear?  Am I so versed in science fiction television shows that I recognize the signs of a bad guy no matter how bright and shiny they make him look?  I’d like to think so.  Now, I haven’t looked up the plot and whether or not Agent Francis is a bad guy, he may not be, I may be completely off base.  It’s happened before.

Fringe is a strange show.  Some of the people are easy to see through.  Most are not.  The show continues to throw little loops and kinks along the way.  I also have my suspicions about several other characters.  I just focused this post on Francis because I have my suspicions he or his character will at some point be used as a bad guy.

Maybe my suspicion of people who are a little too helpful, a little too always there, a little too nice is based on the world today.  Nobody is perfect and the world is full of bad people.  I read news story after news story about the terrible things people are doing to each other.  It seems never ending the atrocities committed every day.

I find the news channels like to focus on the most horrendous story available.  I rarely read stories about the everyday good deed.  I rarely find stories about heroes as much as I find them about villains.  It is a sad state of affairs we are in when news channels feature terror and murder more because they are more sensational – more appealing to the masses than feel good stories.

I suppose those reading this post might think I belong to the masses who find such terrible stories more appealing.  I am watching a show all about the evils of the world and the people in it.  I am suspecting several of the characters of having ulterior motives and bad intentions. 

The truth is – I watch this show because it is full of imagination and scientifically imaginative ideas.  I find them fascinating.  The blood and gore is what I don’t like about it.  I suspect the characters but deep down I hope that I am wrong.  I hope they turn out to be the good guys they seem to be.  I am somewhat of a dreamer in that way.  I like it when everything works out for the best.  I like happy endings.  I like fluffy, soft, sweet endings to tragic events.  And when that is not possible – I at least want the good guys to win. 

What about you?  Do you like it when good guys turn out to be bad guys?  What about when the bad guys turn out to be good?  Do you like happy endings?

Down In A Hole

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit"
 J. R. R. Tolkien

By: William G. Muir
Some  of our readers might recognize this as the opening line of The Hobbit. What you may not realize is that Tolkien got the idea for the book while he was grading student exams. He wrote that line down on a blank piece of paper. And as I heard it put on a NPR program I was listening, he then decided he needed to figure out what a Hobbit was.

I got to thinking about this when a friend of my told me she had an idea for a new story. At the time all she had was a character and a rough notion of what the first chapter was.. When she shared this with me I thought back to the day I was driving down the highway and the talk show host was discussing the upcoming The Lord Of The Ring movies.