I incorrectly said by Tower Books originally. Should have been by Titan Books. Corrected. David Young
Wow, that title would've made it a lot harder to replace the lead actor... That's amusing, since in the actual pilot episode, they toned Targo down to a safecracker. And his hands were crushed midway through, partly to complicate the plot, but probably due to network censorship standards requiring that he not be left free to continue his criminal career. From the additional info you provided to me on Facebook, it sounds like Geller's original idea involved Briggs reuniting his old Special Forces squad to perform these missions -- which reminds me of Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD turning Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos from Marvel's WWII comics into superspies. And it sounds like they would've been a consistent team throughout, whereas in the early days of M:I, they tried to have a rotating team composition with different mixes of regulars and guest agents every week. Indeed, in the very early episodes, the guest agents tended to be the primary focus of the drama. Better known to Trekkies as Rik Vollaerts, author of "For the World is Hollow...". He also wrote the Bookworm episodes of Batman '66. Sounds similar to DC's Human Target, and the short-lived 1992 TV series based on it (the later Mark Valley series abandoned the disguise element). Except there, Christopher Chance disguised himself as people threatened with death in order to draw out their aspiring killers, while this sounds like it was more about infiltrating the bad guys. That does sound pretty similar, though I guess it was coincidental. Disturbing story about Laurence Heath's background. Thanks for tracking this down again!
I finished another “quick read” book that had to get back to the public library today: Star Trek: Discovery: The Official Companion by Titan Magazines (2018). (That’s the title as written in the inside small print. The front cover adds The Making of Season 1 to the end of the title. And, just to make things more confusing, GoodReads brings this up as Star Trek Discovery Collector’s Edition 2. I read elsewhere online that this was released in both standard magazine and hardcover book formats, which might be why this hardcover I checked out would be considered “Edition 2”.) Like the Star Trek: Voyager 25th Anniversary Special (2020), this is largely (if not entirely) comprised of material previously released in Titan Magazines’ “Star Trek Magazine”. Brief interviews (two to four or five pages long) with Mary Wiseman (“Ensign Tilly”), Prosthetic and Special Make-Up FX Department Head James MacKinnon, and Alan Van Sprang (Section 31 operative, “Leland”)); an opening overview article on the making of season one (in actuality a bunch of brief interview segments, one right after the other, from the series producers, costume designer, property (props) manager, prosthetics and make-up artists, visual effects supervisor, and musical score composer); a short section of pictures of the U.S.S. Discovery and the U.S.S. Shinzhou and other tech items like hand phasers, tricorders, and communicators; and an episode guide of all season one episodes (each with a plot summary with pictures and a few more relevant quotes from producers, actors, costume designers, make-up artists, visual effects artists, etc.). Repeating what I said about the Voyager 25th Anniversary Special, this is by no means a must read, but it is an okay “quick read”. I didn’t bother reading the episode plot summaries, which made it an even quicker read. Some interesting insights here and there from the participants (of the original interviews either reprinted or quoted in this “Companion”) but most of them very brief due to the format here. I gave this three out of five stars on GoodReads.
WHAT IT WAS by George Pelecanos This is kind of a prequel to his books about private detective Derek Strange, set in 1972 Washington, where several threads converge around Red “Fury” Jones”, a small time street criminal trying to make a murderous name for himself. There’s no mystery element, as it’s not that kind of crime novel, it’s more a hard boiled pulp crime procedural (not a police procedural!) and has a good sense of time and place. Some of the characters are a bit flat and even one-note, but the biggest flaws are the padding of what people are eating/drinking/listening to, and the ultimate ending being third-hand and separated from the rest of the story- even more painful considering the convergence of stories leading up to where the natural climax should be. That said, it was mostly good, a tale told by Strange, so having a nice meta moment or two later on, but could have been leaner and could have had a more definitive ending. Pelecanos is a damn good crime fiction writer, so always worth reading, but this one wasn’t as good as the likes of Hell To Pay or Hard Revolution, which also feature the Derek Strange character, and I’d recommend more highly.
Just finished reading the third Legacies volume to my kid. Not sure if I enjoyed the landing on that one, but enjoyed it overall. We've started listening to the Discovery novel Wonderlands, and I've started Moments Asunder on my own. Non-Trek, I'm still plowing through Omoo.
I watched the restored “Metropolis” last night, so now I’m reading the novel by Thea von Harbou (the 1963 Ace paperback with Forry Ackerman’s exceedingly annoying foreword. But the Gaughan cover art is excellent, in that early 60’s Ace Books way.) The novel preceded the movie by a year, and von Harbou wrote the screenplay, so I’m not clear if it qualifies as a “novelization” or not — but the movie had a 15-month production schedule, and was in production when the novel was published in Germany. The movie is amazing. The book is interesting.
Okay, now I'm reading The Good That Men Do to the kid, while devouring the first Coda volume and listening to The Last Best Hope
Ever since I finished the Spock "autobiography," I've been reading Les Paul's autobiography. I knew he was a guitarist, and an inventor, but I never knew the scope of his accomplishments, or the breadth of genres in which he performed. Or what he had to deal with (a near-fatal electrocution, an automobile accident that required rebuilding his right arm with a non-movable elbow, two separate ear-boxings that left him dependent on hearing aids, and oh, yes, a heart attack that had been misdiagnosed).
Latest episode of the Positively Trek Book Club is up! We talk to the wonderful Una McCormack in our coverage of The Autobiography of Mr. Spock. Let us know what you think of the show! Currently reading Coda, Book I: Moments Asunder.
You Only Live Twice by Ian Fleming. I've been alternating male and female writers for a couple of years and actually it should be a female writer for the current recreational reading, but seeing No Time To Die made me need to reacquaint myself with some things in it....