Product Description
Nobody writes mysteries like Mickey Spillane and nobody solves them like MIKE HAMMER! The no-holds barred Private Eye returns! This time in fully dramatized theatre-of-the-mind audio adventures starring acclaimed actor Stacy Keach, complete with a full supporting cast, sound effects and music. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer
This program is a mystery with Stacy Keech who I enjoyed on Television and who stars in this CD.It is excellent

Replete with music and sound effects
Next to Sherlock Holmes, perhaps the most popular fictional detective is the late Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, a two-fisted guy who never goes anywhere without his faith Betsy (a snub nosed revolver). Of all the actors who have portrayed the Mike Hammer character in film or television, none were more definitive in the role than Stacy Keach. In this superbly recorded audio theater production, Stacy reprises his role along with a stellar cast in two Mike Hammer adventures, 'Oil and Water' and 'Dangerous Days'. Replete with music and sound effects, both stories are classic private eye adventures with plot twists and turns that keep the listener glued to these two stories as they unfold. Offering fully and expertly dramatized stories that will thrill and entertain dedicated mystery buffs, "Mike Hammer", with a total running time of 3 hours on 3 compact discs, is very highly recommended for personal and community library audio book collections. ... Read more

Product Description
Experience one of television’s greatest science-fiction series, The Twilight Zone® - fully dramatized for AUDIO! The Twilight Zone® Radio Dramas feature a full cast, music and sound effects and today’s biggest celebrities in modern radio dramatizations by Dennis Etchison of creator Rod Serling’s classic scripts. Hosted by Stacy Keach, The Twilight Zone® Radio Dramas will keep you glued to the edge of your seat whether listening in your home or while driving in your car. This collection features 4 stereo recordings.

"I Am the Night - Color Me Black" Starring John Ratzenberger. On the day an unpopular idealist is to be hanged for killing a racist bully, the townsfolk are mystified to see the morning sky is pitch black.

"A Stop At Willoughby" Starring Chelcie Ross. While commuting on a train, an ad executive dreams away his job pressures and finds himself back in time to the peaceful old fashioned town of Willoughby.

"Cavender Is Coming" Starring Andrea Evans. Klutzy-but-lovable Agnes Grep is "rescued" from poverty by Cavender, a guardian angel who will earn his wings if he can improve her life in a substantial way.

"Escape Clause" Starring Mike Starr. Hypochondriac Walter Bedeker sells his soul for immortality and indestructibility, only to find out that life might not be worth living if the thrill is gone. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

In defence of the radio version
After reading the review on Amazon entitled "Go watch the damn originals!" I felt compelled to add my opinion regarding this radio version of the Twilight Zone.

In the above mentioned review it makes it very clear that it is better to watch the Twilight Zone than to experience the audio only version. I disagree on several counts:

1. I prefer to listen than watch as it exercises my imagination and lets me create my own version of the images rather than have them force fed to me (all be it superbly done in the original TV version).

2. The Twilight Zone stories are ideal for audio only. Indeed, it is amazing that an audio only version has never released before as I can think of few TV shows that were more suitable for radio.

3. Sometimes a visual medium is not on option. For example if you are traveling down the freeway at 60mph you can enjoy these episodes of the Twilight Zone whereas to be watching it as you drive is neither practical nor recommended.

I found this series of the Twilight Zone to be highly entertaining and enjoyable. I did not find the acting to be below-par and felt that the producers had done an excellent job of being true to the original scripts whilst at the same time making it appropriate for a non-visual medium.

My only criticism would be the inclusion of the commercials. I felt this was intrusive and, to a small degree, made it that bit harder to lose yourself completely in the story. Other than that I think they are very enjoyable indeed.

Go watch the damn originals!
Let's just say that this set was not worth the [money]
I paid for it. Why listen to them if you can go watch
the originals on DVD or VHS? The radio versions are
pretty much nothing different from the originals, except
for a small amount of added dialogue here and there plus
some added sound effects. While listening to them, all
I could think about was how they were different from the originals. You can't top perfection, and that's what the TV series was. I ask, what's the point of doing them on radio??

"I Am the Night, Color Me Black" - in the original version starring Michael Constantine, Ivan Dixon, Terry Becker, George Lindsey, and Paul Fix, the actors make a rather mediocre story about a bunch of small-town rednecks who get their jollies by watching a man being hung. In the radio version, it sounds like the actors are all reading off of idiot cards. John "Cliff Claven" Ratzenberger sounds like he's bored to death and counting the minutes until he gets his paycheck.

"Escape Clause" - David Wayne is PERFECT in the original by Serling. Not the most imaginative of stories, and not the most Twilight Zone-ish, but Wayne makes the story ten times better than it is. In the radio version, Mike Starr puts us all to sleep.

"A Stop of Willoughby" - One of the best of the original series, and one of Rod Serling's best...it was a story about Rod himself, wanting to escape the pressures of the world. The radio version has some good sound effects for the sequences on the train, and the added bonus that Gart Williams (the main character) meets a girl onboard, one who's much better for him than his shrewish current wife.

"Cavender is Coming" - the original version with Carol Burnett was a mistake...Serling at his very worst. The radio version tries to [improve it], and it doesn't work. Movie theaters don't have usherettes anymore. The guardian angel gimmick works in "It's a Wonderful Life" and a select small number of other films.

Hopefully future series' will be better. I heard that some actors from the original series have done some of the in-production dramas...let's hope they do them some justice... ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (9)

beautiful book
I love the beach and when I can, bring home a glass vial of sand from any beach I go to here and abroad as an interesting and free souvenir.So I was intriqued by this book when I first saw it listed. Bought it and have been fascinated by it. The pictures are gorgeous; the text is fascinating. I recommend it.

fascinating
This book is an amazing adventure into an ordinary subject that is obviously taken for granted at face value.I never would have guessed the beauty of sand at the microscopic level.I love books that open my eyes to the truth and beauty that surrounds us everyday!

Beautiful book, you really need to see it.
I picked this up walking through the gift shop at the aquarium on Maui and fell in love with it immediately.

The microphotography in the book is amazing (the author's company makes the microscopes used) and the depth of field achieved through their hardware and software produces images with sharpness and clarity unlike anything I've seen before in microphotography.

The incredible richness and variety or the sand grains displayed in this book will give you a completely new appreciation for "sand".

I have no idea how I would have discovered this book if I hadn't run across it the way I did. If you've managed to run across this review somehow then I can strongly recommend ordering a copy of this book (the price is very reasonable) as I think you'll find it to be well worth it.

This is a pick not just for art libraries specializing in photography, but for science collections as well
All sand may look alike to most, but not to Dr. Gary Greenberg, whose microphotographic techniques outline and differences in each grain of sand. Sand from around the world is presented in a series of photos that reveal differences in colors, textures, sizes and shapes: accompanied by a detailed explanation of how each grain forms, this is a pick not just for art libraries specializing in photography, but for science collections as well.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

The Artistic Work of One of America's Great Scientists
Dr. Greenberg has captured the imagination and soul of many audiences with his endeavors in the microscopic world. His vision and art are framed in an extremely intelligent perspective about life, the world, and the human relationship to the environment.

What this book represents is the need for the human being to stop, look, listen, and wonder about the natural world. We must thank him for his artistic pursuits and consider how we may each pursue an investigation as simple as this.

I worked with Dr. Greenberg briefly to setup an artistic installation, and was responsible for the sound environment to compliment his exhibit, but have had the opportunity to enjoy his friendship for a some time. ... Read more

Product Description
The passion between a ship captain's long estranged daughter and a rough-hewn sailor takes a tumultuous turn when she confesses to a past of prostitution. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Modern Theater
O'Neill's play is an excellent piece of modern theater, combining themes of naturalism and adding the discontinuity of modern life. Anna Christie is a character dangling in a corrupt world, subject to fate in any form: the devil sea, God, mysogyny and double standards, and her own whims. A great read!

Anna Christie -- That Devil Sea
I read this play a few weeks ago and I must say it's fantastic. Of course there are some parts that are disappointing, but Eugene O'Neill draws the characters in such a way that you cannot help but relate to them.

Anna is so strong, so independent, so conflicted, and so human! Even if some people don't like the ending, I think it makes sense the way it is.

Great read, short play, and I think I like it better than Long Day's Journey Into Night, although it's usually regarded as O'Neill's best work.

O'Neill's first momentous play and its unforgettable heroine
With the 1921 production of "Anna Christie," O'Neill's skills as a dramatist finally reached maturity. Entirely revamped from an earlier play ("Chris Christophersen"), this four-act drama depicts a headstrong young woman, Anna, who renounces her life as a prostitute and tracks down the father who abandoned her as a child. Enamored of his new charge and unaware of her past, Christopherson (O'Neill changed the spelling for this version) tries to pamper and protect the daughter he had neglected during her formative years.

Yet Chistopherson has issues of his own: now a captain of a coastal coal barge, he, too, has lived a seafaring live of loose morals and social irresponsibility. Believing that the vigorous demands and easy temptations of a sailor's career have ruined his own life, he has abandoned the sea for good. Confronted with a daughter who initially enjoys life on the ocean, he swears to keep her both from its influence and from the men who make their living from it--with predictable results.

When Anna falls in love with Mat, a stoker for a steamer, she finds herself torn between her father's expectations and her lover's demands, and she discovers that both men, like the clients from her previous life, are buffoonish cads and patronizing bullies. The third act, which depicts the inevitable three-side confrontation between Anna and her two "protectors," is one of the most skillfully scripted clashes in American theater.

The final act, alas, succumbs to a conventional melodramatic mawkishness. Yet overall the play is saved by the faithful rendering of sailor's speech, the emotional depth of its characters, and the (for its time) forward-looking presentation of social ills.

Anna is one of the U.S. theater's most memorable characters
"Anna Christie," the play by the great U.S. writer Eugene O'Neill, won the Pulitzer Prize for the 1921-22 theater season. All these decades later, the play still packs an emotional punch. "Anna Christie" focuses on three characters: Anna, who has had a traumatic life in the United States; her father Chris, a Swedish merchant seaman; and Mat Burke, an Irish stoker who takes an interest in Anna. The play takes place in New York City and on Chris's barge.

"Anna Christie" is a compelling study of gender roles and expectations, ethnic conflict in the U.S., family ties and disruptions, the call of the seafaring life, and fatalism versus the embrace of free will. Particularly interesting is O'Neill's representation of various types of vernacular speech. Overall, a classic American play that deserves an ongoing reading audience.

Anna Christie
Amazing!!!The characters were wonderfully acted out and the relationship between father and daughter was such a gripping story. ... Read more

Product Description
Experience one of television's greatest science-fiction series, The Twilight Zone, fully dramatized for AUDIO!The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas feature a full cast, music and sound effects and today's biggest celebrities in modern audio dramas of creator Rod Serling's classic scripts.Hosted by Stacy Keach, The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas will keep you glued to the edge of your seat whether listening in your home or while driving in your car.

This collection features 4 stereo recordings: The Fear starring Jane Seymour and James Keach; The Dummy starring Bruno Kirby; The Parallel starring Lou Diamond Phillips; Of Late I Think of Cliffordville starring H.M. Wynant. ... Read more

Product Description

Before he gained wide fame as a novelist, Ernest Hemingway established his literary reputation with his short stories. Set in the varied landscapes of Spain, Africa, and the American Midwest, this definitive audio collection traces the development and maturation of Hemingway's distinct and revolutionary storytelling style -- from the plain bold language of this first story to his mastery of seamless prose that contained a spare, eloquent pathos, as well as a sense of expansive solitude. These stories showcase the singular talent of a master, the most important American writer of the twentieth century.

The Short Stories Volume III features Stacy Keach reading such favorites as: An Alpine Idyll, A Pursuit Race, Today is Friday, Banal Story, Now I Lay Me, After the Storm, A Clean, Well-lighted Place, The Light of the World, God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen, The Sea Change, A Way You'll Never Be, The Mother of the Queen, One Reader Writes, Homage to Switzerland, A Day's Wait, A Natural History of the Dead, Wine of Wyoming, The Gambler, The Nun, and the Radio, and Fathers and Sons.

ALL STORIES ARE UNABRIDGED ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Odd but Great
Hemingway has a powerful and commanding style.His stories often do not have a classical beginning, middle, and end.However, they are always quite moving.

A SONOROUS AND THOUGHTFUL READING
Acclaimed film actor Stacy Keach gives thoughtful and sonorous readingto the words of Ernest Hemingway in this the third volume of Hemingway's stories from Simon and Schuster Audio.For many listeners Keach, who has read the two earlier collections, has become the voice of the unforgettable author who seemed to be as large in life as he was in literature.The very timbre of Keach's voice can evoke the 1920s, the years that Hemingway chronicled so indelibly.

While many favorites are included in this collection, one is especially probing considering our world today - "A Clean, Well-lighted Place."First appearing in 1933, this is a brief, poignant account of an hour or so in a Spanish café.Two waiters, one older, one younger, serve a much older man who has become inebriated.The waiters discuss the older man's life, and seque into deeper opinions of the value of existence.

"After The Storm" is set in one of the author's favorite locations, the Florida Keys.It is the story of a sponge fisherman and the booty he almost commands.

Well chosen for their variety and reflections of Hemingway's style and ethos, the many tales included in this collection are well worth listening to again and again - especially when read by the estimable Keach.

- Gail Cooke ... Read more

Product Description
Another bestselling Mike Hammer mystery, in which Hammer encounters a mob of international thugs on the prowl for military secrets, but before he deals with them he must first placate a spoiled socialite. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

You need to know something about the red scare of the early fifties to understand it
Hard-hitting is the phrase that most accurately describes the character of Mike Hammer, he is as tough as they come in the private investigating business. The setting of this novel is the early 1950's, at the height of the red scare. Therefore, if you have little knowledge about the frenzy over communist infiltration of American society, then you will have trouble understanding the context.
When the story opens, Mike has just been chastised by a judge for his tendency to kill people and he wanders to a bridge. A frightened woman comes towards him and she is followed by a menacing man with a gun. Mike kills the man and the woman is so terrified that she jumps off the bridge to her death.
This involves Mike in infiltrating a communist cell, working behind the scenes to aid a decent politician and openly getting engaged to his secretary Velda. The dialog is fervent anti- communist, Hammer repeatedly describes them as vile, vicious and vermin to be killed without remorse. He succeeds in that mission, avenging many wrongs and using the combination of many wrongs to construct a major right.
It takes a specific kind of mentality or approach to enjoy the Mike Hammer stories authored by Mickey Spillane. If you find it difficult to absorb brutal killing and the toughest of tough guy dialog, then you will find this difficult reading. It is not spellbinding reading by any means, it is just about a hard man managing in a hard world.

Hammer and Spade Covered Our Coasts [46]
Mickey Spillane writes like Dashiell Hammett,his character Mike Hammer is like Hammett's Sam Spade, and the gloom and doom of their P.I.'s cases are similar. But, in some uncommon and difficult-to-explain way, the books of each are decidedly different.

First, the issues of "One Lonely Night" involve more thangreed - the impetus for murder and mayhem in Hammett's "The Maltese Falcon." This book involves stolen documents containing "information of destruction." Papers of mass destruction. Microfiche.

And, this book involves speeches, news alerts and fears about the Commies. The political hero tells the, ". . . nation of the calamity that had befallen it."Americans were warned ". . . with a special bulletin that told of all ports being watched, the roundup of suspected aliens . . . The world was in an uproar when the stuff was safe as hell . . . " Written in 1951, it may seem dated, but recent events are making it retro.

The fear mongers in this fictional account mirror those that administer our union today. Each has an agenda, each has a cause for its igniting a match to fear's kindling.But, in order to prevent ruining this novel - I tell you that the underlying reasons for the fear mongers of this book are hopefully different than those reasons of our political leaders. Oh, how I hope it is so.

Hammer is cool. He gets in on with women, he smokes Lucky Strikes, he measures his drinking by the bottle - not the glass, and he kills a lot of people. And, each of those people deserve death. Torturous death. Slow, painful, excruciatingly slow and painful death. But, for the most part they are blown away by his 45.

Like Hammett and others of this genre, the similes and hyperbole are wonderfully unique and blue collar.Occasionally, metaphors further color the writing which made Spillane rich and famous - probably two attributes he was not concerned to obtain, but felt no inhibition in accepting the former as it would increase his ability to womanize like his Hammer.

This book is good fun.

Ya Gotta Read At Least ONE Mike Hammer Book!
Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer was such a huge phenomenon in the early 50s that you'll miss out on all sorts of references in popular culture if you don't read him-- at least one of his inimitably gritty books.This is as good as any (though the first, "I, The Jury," is the most logical start).Mike is a full-bore psychopath who hears music in his head when he's gone nuts for violence, who relishes beating and blowing big holes in people whom he's identified as deserving it: commies mostly, but criminals and egg-headed pantywaists of all descriptions had better watch it too.This is beyond parody, since Spillane's writing is already so loopy that it can't be made fun of effectively.But the guy sold FIFTY MILLION BOOKS in a few years' time in the early fifties, so it's impossible to overestimate his effect on the culture of the time.

No joke: read one and see.It's good fun, though the plots are a bit transparent by contemporary standards.

Now I remember why I quit reading Mickey Spillane
This book came out when America was all aflutter with the Communist scare.China had gone Red.The Soviets had "the bomb."We were at war (correction, "police action") in Korea.And Tailgunner Joe was in his ascendancy.Mickey Spillane's earlier Mike Hammer novels had been apolitical for the most part.The villains were just hoods, gangsters, motivated by money.

With "One Lonely Night" Spillane went full-bore anti-communist, without much understanding of the threat beyond the Chicken Little the-sky-is-falling outcry.The reality was that American communists were self-styled intellectuals talking revolution in darkened Greenwich Village espresso shops.The laboring class Marx so adored were not having any of it, and the threat wasn't much of a threat at all.

But Spillane made straw men out of the commies and shot them down.And somehow Mike Hammer was the loser for it.As a young man in the 1950's I admired the prose in Spillane's first few novels--and then I came to this one and was weaned.He was way off the mark, but I forgot that until I picked this up again after a hiatus of five decades or so.

I will admit that the first chapter is a gem of writing, perhaps the best Spillane ever did.But one gem is not enough to get the book much praise.It's just barely enough to get it two stars from me.

One of the Greatest Detective Novel Ever Written
I know that my title may be an exaggeration, but Mickey Spillane's first and last chapters of this book, contain some of the best American prose, word for word, outside of Hemmingway. The narrative picks you up and carries you along in a stream of muscular, swift, clearing written words.Mike Hammer is having doubts about whether he is a mindless killer who deserves to live or a normal man with a quick temper. By the end of the novel Mike Hammer has the answer.

BTW, the "MVD" that Spillane constantly refers to is the Soviet Secret Police, this organization has been called the "CHECKA", "NKVD", and "SMERSH". Or to put it more international terms, its the USSR equivilent of the GESTAPO. ... Read more

Product Description
Leonard Lands is a gifted young pianist. His breadwinner mother makes sacrifices to help her son further his studies, eventually sending him to Europe to pursue his dream. Thirty-five years later Leonard is in London, at the pinnacle of a world-class career but with an alienated teenage son. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Another Time
Stacy Keach is magnificent.The rocky relationships in this production are so life-like!You can feel what's going on and you can relate to it. ... Read more

Product Description
High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Blue and the Gray is a television miniseries that first aired on CBS in three installments on November 14, November 16, and November 17, 1982. Set during the American Civil War, the series starred John Hammond, Stacy Keach, Lloyd Bridges, and Gregory Peck as President Abraham Lincoln. It was executive produced by Larry White and Lou Reda, in association with Columbia Pictures Television, then owned by The Coca-Cola Company. The plot revolves around the families of two sisters; Maggie Geyser and Evelyn Hale. The Geysers are southern farmers from Charlottesville, Virginia. The Hales own a small newspaper in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The Geysers are generally indifferent to the issue of slavery but are sympathetic to the Southern cause. ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: John Holmes, the Notorious B.i.g., Eazy-E, Denny Mclain, Roy Demeo, James Burke, Stacy Keach, Robert Chambers, Max Mermelstein, Nicholas Santora, Pitbull, Frank Lucas, Henry Hill, South Park Mexican, Salvatore Ruggiero, Barry Seal, Ivory Harris, Randy Lanier, Jeff Fort, Ricky Ross, Michael Registe, Rayful Edmond, Leroy Barnes, Ike Atkinson, Glen Stewart Godwin, William Leonard Pickard, Vito Genovese, Pete Rose, Jr., Eddie Nash, George Jung, Costabile Farace, Shawty Lo, Frederick Dinome, Frank Matthews, Rommie Loudd, Carmine Galante, Eliadah Mccord, Frank Polizzi, John Paul, Sr., 2 Pistols, Glasses Malone, Bumpy Johnson, Arnold Squitieri, Anthony Graziano, Manuel Benitez, Hakeem Abdul-Shaheed, Pee Wee Kirkland, Jamiel Chagra, Joe Valachi, Jose Miguel Battle, Sr., Thomas Ravenel, Felix Mitchell, O. G. Mack, Vincent Papa, Andrew C. Thornton Ii, Bam Morris, Erik Audé, Boris Nayfeld, Richard Dinome, Ron Gonen, Billy Hayes, Kenneth Mcgriff, Anthony Papa, David Jacobs, Ciro Mancuso, Jon Roberts, Robert "Bobby" Germaine, Genaro Ruiz Camacho, Howard Mason, Melvin Williams, Nate Newton, Gene Gotti, Andre Melendez, Lorenzo Nichols, Juan Vasquez, Henry Borelli, Javier Ovando, Guy Fisher, Marc Stevens, Lil' Troy, Carlos Vignali, Wallace Rice, Leroy Orange, Barry Mills, Ellie Nesler, Daniel Baransky, Sherman Williams, Clyde Apperson, Sharanda Jones. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 411. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 March 9, 1997), was an American rapper. He was popularly known as Biggie Smalls (after a character in the 1975 film Let's Do It Again) or simply Biggie, Frank White (after the main character of the 1990 film King of New York), and by his primary stage name The Notorious B.I.G.. Raised in the Brooklyn borough of New York Cit...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=142510 ... Read more

Product Description
High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Stacy Keach (born June 2, 1941) is an American actor and narrator. He is most famous for his dramatic roles; however, he has done narration work in educational programming on PBS and the Discovery Channel, as well as some comedy and musical roles. He is well known for his distinctive voice. Keach was born Walter Stacy Keach, Jr. in Savannah, Georgia, the son of Mary Cain (née Peckham), an actress, and Walter Stacy Keach, a theatre director, drama teacher, and actor. His brother James Keach is an actor and television director. Keach graduated from Van Nuys High School in June 1959, then earned two BA degrees at the University of California, Berkeley (1963), one in English, the other in Dramatic Art. He earned an M.F.A. at the Yale School of Drama and was a Fulbright Scholar at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. ... Read more

Product Description
Les achats comprennent une adhésion à l'essai gratuite au club de livres de l'éditeur, dans lequel vous pouvez choisir parmi plus d'un million d'ouvrages, sans frais. Le livre consiste d'articles Wikipedia sur : James Keach, Charles Coburn, Miriam Hopkins, John Charles Frémont, Hal Kanter, Stacy Keach, Mike Curb, Desiree Cousteau, Diana Scarwid, L. Blaine Hammond, Reginald Kernan. Non illustré. Mises à jour gratuites en ligne. Extrait : James Keach est un acteur, réalisateur, producteur et occasionnellement scénariste américain. Né à Savannah en Géorgie, aux États-Unis, le 7 décembre 1947. Fils de l'acteur Stacy Keach Sr. et jeune frère de l'acteur Stacy Keach (alias Mike Hammer). Marié trois fois, sa dernière femme est l'actrice Jane Seymour avec qui il eut deux enfants (des jumeaux). Les fils ont pour parrain Johnny Cash pour l'un et Christopher Reeve pour l'autre. Sa seconde femme était l'actrice Mimi Maynard, divorcé en 1993. ...http://booksllc.net/?l=fr ... Read more

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Simon Winter comes out of retirement to stop an anonymous killer from the past who is stalking Holocaust survivors in Miami--a Nazi ""catcher"" known as Der Schattenmann--and finds himself matching wits with an expert on death. Amazon.com Review
Simon Winter was once one of the best cops on the Miamihomicide beat, but now he's just another retired guy with norelatives. He sticks his trusty gun in his mouth--and just as he'sabout to squeeze the trigger, his neighbor Sophie Millstein pounds onhis door.

Sophie, a Holocaust survivor, says she's just caught sight of DerSchattenmann (the Shadow Man), who hunted down the Jews of Berlin. Hewas a "catcher," a Jewish man who worked for the Gestapo. Once youglimpsed the Shadow Man, nobody ever saw you again. But Sophie justsaw him, she's sure of it, right here in Miami!

Simon doubts it, but when Sophie is murdered, he doesn't believe thatLeroy "Hightops" Jefferson, the crack addict seen sprinting out of herapartment with her jewelry, did the deed. Why was Sophie's catstrangled? And when another Holocaust survivor dies, why does hissuicide note omit one letter of his wife's name? Did he write it atgunpoint? Simon and young sleuths Walter Robinson and Espy Martinezhunt the Shadow Man, and even Leroy winds up showing a streak ofheroism.

Besides a clever premise, Katzenbach--a Miami Heraldveteran--packs a lot of vivid local color into his Edgar-nominatedmystery about a town where drug killings are so common the cops callthem "felony littering." But the characters are simplistic and thenarrative pace sluggish by comparison with Katzenbach's World War IIPOW murder mystery, Hart's War. --TimAppelo ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Great Book
This is a great mystery dealing with holocaust survivors connecting events which occurred during WWII in Europe to current events in the USA. I found the book fascinating.

Too long, boring, badly written, not exciting, etc...
John Katzenbach is an accomplished author and I had previously read and enjoyed another of his novels (The Analyst), so I was surprised at how bad The Shadow Man was.The premise of the plot is that four very old Jewish people, survivors of the Holecaust, believe they have seen the "Shadow Man".The Shadow Man was a Jew who joined forces with the Nazis to find Jews that were hiding to avoid certain doom in concentration camps.These four old people feared the Shadow Man more than anything.When one of them is killed, a retired police detective named Simon Winter looks into who the Shadow Man is.Meanwhile, the Miami police are also investigating the death of the elderly Jewish woman and have young gangster as a suspect.

Eventually, Winter and the police and the District Attourney join to hunt the Shadow Man, a man of pure evil.As the book villian, it was hard to fear a villian who was a killer 50 years ago but was now in his 70s.Also, this book barely touches on WWII, yet purports at times to be a novel about WWII.I've read a lot of great WWII novels, and this book would have been great if it had been set in the 60s.But setting it present day with senior citizens and the main characters wasn't too exciting.It wasn't exciting primarily because I wondered where had the Shadow Man been all these years?Why was he starting to kill now?The Shadow Man had no motivation to kill.

Finally, I realized I didn't like this book when I was skipping paragraphs at a time during the last 20 pages.The entire book was like this with each character prone to long rambling inner thoughts that really added nothing to the story.If you take away the WWII angle, this novel is bad.The WWII angle adds some excitement, but there are probably thousands of books out there that relate the horror of WWII better than this one does.

The review from Publishers Weekly printed above summarizes my thoughts and deserves to be repeated..."Katzenbach (Just Cause) has some good Holocaust and WWII vignettes and pretty good cop-talk here, but the book is burdened by flat characterization, a slow pace, an odd, unsatisfying ending and a serious need for editing."

Excellent
This is the first book I have read by Katzenbach and I was very impressed.His characters literally jumped off the page and their voices were distinct.This is the first book I have ever read that made me want to turn back to page one and read it all over again as soon I was finished with it.I can't wait to read more of his work.

THE SHADOW KNOWS
This complex thriller offers one of the most heavily fleshed out characterizations in recent years; that may be the book's biggest drawback, however.The interesting premise of a Nazi "catcher" still on the prowl is fascinating, but at the same time, Katzenbach makes us plod through a lot of superfluous narrative, that overstates many of the characters' inner thoughts and slows the pace down a little too much.
Overall, though, characters like Simon Winter; Walter Robinson, and Espy Martinez, are glowing in their richness and intricacies.Even Leroy "F" Jackson, an ignoble druggie, turns makes an astounding turnaround in dealing with the horrifying murderer.
There are some riveting scenes, as well; early in the book, there's a scene where Sophie gets ready for bed, and it is laid out so slowly that it creates a tremendous aura of suspense, as you know the old lady is going to bite the bullet.Unfortunately, other lengthy scenes, don't quite have this edge.
The ending is quite well done, and it has one of those "ah no" endings.
All in all, despite is plodding pace, it's a very well written story.
RECOMMENDED.

Horrors From the Past
This is an excellent book of suspense and drama based on an interesting premise. For some, the war never ends and the hatred never diminishes. The joy of the hunt and the thrill of the kill must continue forever. Such is the mindset of the man known as The Shadow Man. For the elderly Jewish survivors who now live in Florida, their worst fears are realised as the horrors of their past come back to haunt them and, even worse, to kill them.

The Shadow Man was one of the people in Nazi Germany who was known as a catcher. A Jew who worked with the Gestapo identifying and flushing out Jewish citizens before sending them to the concentration camps. Seeing him and being seen by him was thought to be synonymous to death. Of all the catchers in Berlin, The Shadow Man was the most feared and most hated.

When one of the Miami Beach residents swears she has spotted The Shadow Man right there in the neighbourhood, the news is treated with some scepticism. But when the number of suspicious deaths begins to grow, the unthinkable possibility becomes more and more likely. The Miami police are up against a man who has had over 50 years experience. Okay, he may be a senior citizen now, but he's still very good at what he does and is just as determined as ever.

There are some remarkable characterisations in this story making it more than just a run of the mill suspense drama. From the suicidal ex-cop, Simon Winter, to prosecutor / avenger Espy Martinez and junkie Leroy Jefferson. All make vital contributions and at times provide some telling insights into what may motivate different people to act.

This is a fast paced thriller with a slightly skewed spin that manages to capture the attention from the opening page. ... Read more

Product Description
Experience one of television’s greatest science-fiction series, The Twilight Zone – fully dramatized for AUDIO!The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas feature a full cast, music and sound effects and today’s biggest celebrities in modern radio dramatizations by Dennis Etchison of creator Rod Serling’s classic scripts.Hosted by Stacy Keach, The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas will keep you glued to the edge of your seat whether listening in your home or while driving in your car.This collection features 4 stereo recordings.

"A Hundred Yards Over the Rim" Starring Jim Caviezel.The year is 1847.A wagon train has made the cross-country trek from Ohio to the deserts of Arizona and beyond – all the way into another century.

"The Lateness of the Hour" Starring Jane Seymour and James Keach.A young woman lives a life of comfort and easy, thanks to her father’s robot servants.The problem is, she may also be a prisoner in her own perfect home.

"A Kind of Stopwatch" Starring Lou Diamond Phillips.The world’s most talkative bore gets a magical stopwatch that can stop everything except him.But when he misuses it, a wonderful conversation piece becomes a real party killer.

"Mr. Dingle, the Strong" Starring Tim Kazurinsky.A mild-mannered vacuum cleaner salesman is given the strength of three hundred men in a scientific experiment conducted by two Martians. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Excellent collection, well acted. Serling was a genius.
This collection (the first of four) radio dramas, based on scripts by the late master of the strange, Rod Serling, presents four explorations of the dimension known as "The Twilight Zone".Narrated by Stacy Keach, who gives a certain eerie presentation as the narrator (though not in the same league as Mr. Serling, still eerie).The four stories presented are well acted, by James Keach, Jane Seymour, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Tim Kazurinsky.The "commercials" are kept to a minimum, which is good.Still, a fine collection (I look forward to listening to collections 2-4.) [Refers to cassette edition, bought also cd edition.]I contacted the producers of the series, and unfortunately, there is no print equivalent (as the scripts are owned by the Serling estate, which, one day, will [hopefully] publish them).Serling was a master and a genius.

"The Ads Kill It"
The stories are done well enough but the frequent, repetative commercials just kill the experience of the audio tapes.I turely resented having to sit through them and, as much as I love the Twilight Zione, I will not buy any more from this series beause of them.

A Complete Waste
When word got out that "The Twilight Zone" would make its move to radio with Stacy Keach filling in for Rod Serling as
host, the response was generally on the order of, 'Uh,
how can you go from TV back to radio? And why
Twilight Zone to make the regression?' Well, the producers
of the series obviously saw no problem with it...they
pay CBS their fees, get the product on the shelves,
and collect the cash from the sales.

This is, unfortunately, another example of an

over-commercialised, slapdash attempt to revive
and sequelize a classic masterwork....sort of like
taking Shakespeare and cutting out all the middle-English
so everyone on the planet can understand it in "plain"
English. Bad example...and call me a mindless dolt
for using it. But that's exactly what's happening
with these Twilight Zone radio dramas.

The producers hooked Dennis Etchison, an excellent
writer, to expand and water-down the great old stories
of Rod Serling (and yes, the stories of Richard Matheson,
Chuck Beaumont, and other writers are going to be
adapted for radio as well, sans a few segments
that don't work well on radio including Matheson's
near-silent "The Invaders" and Serling's highly visual
"Eye of the Beholder"). Sadly, it is all too apparent
that Etchison knows, deep down, that the work of
the old writers can't be topped. For a show like
"The Twilight Zone", whose domain was almost like
a world parallel to our own, with the entire universe
as its breeding ground,
to take its stories and bring them back to the mundane and the reality-grounded
as radio programs is pointless.These first two sets
really come off as no more than bland recitations of
old stories that fans know inside and out from the
original TV versions.

The actors for the first series of eight dramas
include Jim Caviezel, Lou Diamond Phillips, Tim
Kazurinsky, Jane Seymour, James Keach, Blair Underwood,
Kim Fields, Chris MacDonald, and Ed Begley Jr.
Of these, only Jane Seymour does a credible job
as star of Serling's episode "The Lateness of the Hour"
(which originally starred the late Inger Stevens).
Tim Kazurinsky and Lou Diamond Phillips do earn
their paychecks with fairly humorous performances
in episodes "Mr. Dingle the Strong" (originally
starring Burgess Meredith) and "A Kind of Stopwatch",
respectively. The rest of the actors quite obviously
have no clue as to what they were doing, reciting
all their lines as if read directly from a cue card
(which in fact is probably what they did!)

In the role of ersatz-Rod Serling, the narrator,
Stacy Keach pretty much mails in his performance.
His readings of the intro/closings are but
lacking the gripping sincerity and meaning that
Rod always imparted to each and every narration.

Further hampering the dramas is the inclusion
of sponsor commercials, which pop up several
times. The CD versions are all one continuous
42-minute track with no option of fast-forwarding
through the commercials unless done manually.

In short, this new radio series does not yet offer
anything that the original series didn't. The
days of good ol' radio are gone, never to return.
But there are many more of these dramas still yet to
be released. Collections 3 and 4 have already
been released and do offer some nice sound
effects and a fabulous performance by Morgan
Brittany in episode "The Passersby". So perhaps
there's hope. Brittany is the first actor who
appeared in the TV series, to star in these dramas,
and more celebrities are reportedly going to
appear in future installments. Stay tuned...but
keep the volume on low until the producers come
full circle and prove their worthiness to carry
Rod Serling's gauntlet.

You have to give these guys an "E" for effort!
Okay, So I was all geared to be disappointed with this whole package. And, unfortunately, the producers picked the weakest of the four stories to begin the set. The actor in "A Hundred Yards Over the Rim" sounds like he just walked out of some ivy league acting school and not like a hardened pioneer who has been wandering through the desert for months on end.

The next story, "The Lateness of the Hour," is ruined by a too-long explanation of the "daughter" being a robot at the end. Does it take that much explanation for today's "dumbed-down" society? I hope not.

But the next two shows blew me out of the water. Lou Diamond Phillips is superb in "A Kind of Stopwatch." His over-the-top performance is one of the greatest I've ever heard in any radio drama. Then "Mr. Dingle, the Strong" followed and it was wonderful, too.

Another plus is the original Twilight Zone soundtrack music which is used and other pains that are taken to maintain the flavor of the original classic TV series. I would suggest buying one collection and seeing if you like it before buying the second.

This is not everyone's cup of tea, but the people who put these dramas together did the best they could and it's well worth a listen. ... Read more