Robert B. Parker's Old Black Magic by Ace Atkins

© by Gerald So | 4:00 a.m.

Thanks to Katie McKee Clay of G.P. Putnam's Sons, I received a galley of Ace Atkins' May 2018 Spenser continuation.

My review is up today at So, You Want to Chat?

I like how that particular blog of mine shows off what's known as the "hero post" on the front page.

Immortality

© by Gerald So | 5:30 a.m.

My friend Bill Crider died early Monday night, having battled cancer since July 2016. Bill was a fellow fan of Robert B. Parker and short stories and a great supporter of countless writers.

Yesterday at SleuthSayers, Paul D. Marks asked why writers write and publish, wondering if it was to achieve a measure of immortality. Here's what Bill and others had to say about that from a Bouchercon 2016 panel, posted by Lawrence Block:



I replied to Paul's post that I'd like my writing to stand the test of time, but I have no way to know that it will. I only know that if I refrained from writing, wondering whether it would truly endure, I'd have less writing about which to ask that question.

Like Bill, it won't matter to me when I'm gone whether my work endures, but I spend my time writing and seeking to be published because maybe my work will inspire future readers the way my favorite things inspire me.

CBS's SEAL Team

© by Gerald So | 5:30 a.m.

I've been interested in the U.S. Navy SEALs for almost thirty years, going back to one of my first attempts at fiction. As I came to admire the SEALs' teamwork above all, I abandoned my protagonist, a typical lone-wolf fictional ex-SEAL.

The title of CBS's new show may sound generic, but the show does emphasize team over individual as the real SEALs do. The episodes also feel real in the training and work they depict, where many recent military shows have strayed too far to the away-from-work, personal side.

You may know this show was originally set to star Jim Caviezel before recasting with David Boreanaz. Having seen Boreanaz expand his acting range in twelve seasons on Bones, he strikes me as better in the role of Master Chief Jason Hayes than Caviezel would have been, but then I last saw Caviezel as Person of Interest's impassive Mr. Reese.

While CBS is known for its procedurals, the closest thing to formula on SEAL Team is that no mission goes exactly as planned, letting the characters show the flexibility that sets special operators apart from conventional forces.

SEAL Team has performed well enough to receive a full-season order.