High-quality English language analysis and editorial writing on the news.
The banking industry is just like any other: it’s full of competitors, perennially seeking to remain competitive with one another in order to survive. This competition drives innovation and progress in the industry. In the case of banking, this innovation is manifesting in an increasing demand for a digital banking experience (specifically a mobile one) […]
Much like this reviewer, NYSPD Homicide Lieutenant Eve Dallas is not a fan of Christmas or the season itself. Too many people, too many massive crowds, too much chaos. It is the final weeks of 2058 and now she is very annoyed to discover she is supposed to select gifts for other people, including her […]
It is 2058 as Vengeance in Death begins and Homicide Lieutenant Eve Dallas is wrapping up her latest case in New York. She thinks she is done for the day and is looking forward to going home to Roarke and a weekend off. That is until the strange phone call comes in on her tele-link. […]
Guilty Crime Story Magazine: Issue 2, Fall 2021, opens with “At Fury Crossing” by Brent Spencer. Hella, a homeless vet, put her military skills to work to help Cliff. It was a job and nothing more. Now as she watches him get increasingly agitated outside the hotel known as “The Smiling Orchid,” she realizes she […]
Robert B. Parker’s Stone’s Throw: A Jesse Stone Novel by Mike Lupica finds Jesse Stone missing drinking as well as Sunny Randall. They are in a relationship time out and she is out in Los Angeles working a case. That means she is far from home and working for an old boyfriend, Tony Gault. He […]
Mystery Weekly Magazine: September 2020 opens with “Cult of Personality” by Nick Legrand. John Fielding has a job interview with Mr. Roger Martin Mathis of the billboards and the giant smiling face with tag line, “WE’LL GET HIM FOR YOU!” A lot is riding on this interview and Mr. Fielding is feeling the stress from […]
A Good Day For Chardonnay: A Novel by Darynda Jones is the second read in the series that began in A Bad Day For Sunshine. It was in that book that readers were introduced to the quirky town of Del Sol, the newly elected sheriff Sunshine Vicram, and her family. While some things were resolved […]
Meta: Are you an experienced investor looking to teach others the secret of your success? Continue reading to find out how to do so via an investment blog. If you are considering starting a blog, investment may be a viable avenue for you. With more consumers than ever before turning their attention to investing, it […]
It has been fifteen years since Ike Randolph walked out of Coldwater State Penitentiary. He changed his life and built a business. He has a good life now, but he is still a black man in America with all that entails. Cops on the doorstep does not bode well. Their arrival means that his world […]
It is the middle of September 2019 as The Night Hawks: A Ruth Galloway Mystery by Elly Griffiths begins and locals are on a spit of land jutting out into the North Sea. It is dangerous to be out on the spit of land as the tide is coming in, but the group is out […]
A murder has happened again in the same areas as others as The Silenced Woman: A Violent Crime Investigations Team Mystery by Frederick Weisel begins. For Violent Crime Investigations (VCI) leader Eddie Mahler, the body on the bench in Spring Lake Park, Santa Rosa, California, is clearly yet another kill by a man he has […]
In my op-ed in The Washington Examiner, I argue that the Voice of America (VOA) in USAGM, the $800-million taxpayer-funded U.S. Agency for Global Media, gives a false sense of security to Afghan women with some of its one-sided reporting from Afghanistan that goes against the requirements of the VOA Charter, the 1976 bipartisan law […]
It is early September 2019 as Jordan’s Branch: A Willie Black Novel by Howard Owen begins. Reporter Willie Black knew that Stick Davis has been dead for quite a while when he sees the body. More than half a dozen times somebody shot the man. Once someone had thoroughly through ventilated Stick David, he or […]
DUKE: Inspector Mislan and The Expressway Murders by Rozlan Mohd Noor is the second in the series that began with 21 Immortals: Inspector Mislan and the Yee Sang Murders. This book is also set during a holiday. In this case, it is about to be the Eid or the Hari Raya holiday at the end […]
Mick Hardin, an agent in the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID), is back home in the Kentucky hills as The Killing Hills by Chris Offutt begins. Home on leave with a family problem that is not going to get fixed by drinking himself to sleep each night, he is at his grandfather’s place. That makes […]
On August 17, 2021, the Voice of America (VOA) primary English-language news website, VOANews.com, showed at the very top a large photograph of several Taliban leaders and the following headline: “Taliban Vow to Respect Women’s Rights ‘Within Islamic Law’“ The lead sentence in the report reads: ISLAMABAD/KABUL – The Taliban […]
Black Cat Mystery Magazine #9 opens with a brief word from Editor Michael Bracken and then moves on to the stories. First up is Stacy Woodson with “Last Rites” where Colonel Wilson and a few of his unit were lucky enough to survive an ambush. Several were killed. The survivors have suffered significant physical and […]
Painters Mill, Ohio, Police Chief Kate Burkholder has responded to a lot of crime scenes. The one at room 9 of the Willlowdell Motel as Fallen: A Kate Burkholder Novel by Linda Castillo begins is one of the worst she has ever seen in her career. From the carnage, it is clear that the woman […]
Maine Game Warden Investigator Mike Bowditch had a plan for the day as Dead By Dawn: A Novel by Paul Doiron begins. The plan is a vet visit for Shadow. The hybrid wolf/dog needs a vet visit as he continues to recover from recent events. Bowditch may also have to relocate Shadow from the acre […]
Zofia Korbońska, a Voice of America refugee journalist, was a remarkable Polish-American woman who fought against two of the 20th century’s deadliest totalitarian ideologies. She was a World War II anti-Nazi resistance hero during the German occupation of Poland, and later, she was my colleague for many years in the Polish Service of the Voice […]
With Cubans protesting against the communist regime, Cuba is again in the news, including news by the U.S. government-managed and tax-funded Voice of America (VOA) in the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). This graphic was produced by the Voice of America Latin American Division in 2016 after Fidel Castro’s death and was […]
For those who don’t know, online live dealer gambling is a thing. A thing that is developing faster than any other aspect of one of the most ancient human activities. At the moment, Evolution Gaming is the market leader, trendsetter and innovator, and they have a range of Blackjack games on offer. So, what is […]
Dead of Winter: A Novel by Stephen Mack Jones reflects the way things are changing in local neighborhoods all across the United States. Places that were ignored for years and residents were left to fend for themselves are now the cool place to be and rehabbers and others are snapping up properties. Some homes are […]
Guilty Crime Story Magazine: Issue 1, Summer 2021, opens with “Midnight At The Oasis” by Robb T. White. His uncle, Rexford Allan Roisch, likes to call himself, “the Notorious Double-R.” He also has mood swings, a prison rap sheet, and a plan. The plan tonight is for Uncle and nephew to grab stuff from a […]
Mickey Finn Vol. 1: 21st Century Noir, edited by Michael Bracken, is a dark read as one would expect. After all, as the title makes abundantly clear, this is an anthology of noir style short stories so one does not expect sweetness and light with sunshine and flowers with flying unicorns and rainbow kisses. That […]
A Good Kill by John McMahon marks the return of Detective P. T. Marsh first seen in The Good Detective and The Evil Men Do. Both books made my favorite of the year list. This is a series that must be read in order. This is especially true for A Good Kill as this read […]
Darkest Corners of Texas: An Al Quinn Novel opens with Al Quinn working on his boat at Lake Travis. He would rather be on the water fishing, but the bilge pump had other ideas. Fergie is at the boat with him and is the first to spot the boat coming at high-speed right to their […]
Professional sports are about competition, training, representing one’s team or country, as well as a desire to win. It is also about achievements, both individually and as a team. We see the joy of victory and the agony of defeat. In 1993 the Phoenix Suns and Montreal Canadiens made the championship game of the respective […]
As The Drummers: A Josie Gray Mystery by Tricia Fields begins, it is January in Artemis, Texas, and cold with overcast skies. The cold snap is not something Police Chief Josie Gray or any of the other locals want as they prefer the sunshine and warmth the rugged and of southwest Texas near the Big […]
Moonlight & Misadventure: 20 Stories of Mystery and Suspense opens with a powerful tale by Joseph S. Walker titled “Crown Jewel.” Keenan Beech has brother issues. Specifically, twin brother issues. Xavier has now taken something that rightfully belonged only to Keenan. Xavier knew how to stick the knife in–figuratively– and Keenan intends to restore balance […]
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