This will be a light week, as son Nate (who runs this page) is away with the wife and kids, so I’m chiefly going to present some links to a one article and some bargains (possible stocking stuffers) from my shelf.

First, though, an important announcement. True Noir: The Assassination of Anton Cermak – the ten-episode, all-star almost-five-hour audio drama based on True Detective and written by me – has been picked up for distribution for Skyboat Media. Directed by Robert Meyer Burnett and starring Michael Rosenbaum as Nathan Heller, this is my favorite adaptation of my work…including the film of Road to Perdition.

Skyboat has been very supportive of my work, releasing audio books of, among others, Quarry and the Antiques series (by “Barbara Allan,” Barb and me). Here’s some of what they have available.

The great magazine True West has posted an article/interview about me from a while back, focusing on my Caleb York novels and my relationship with Mickey Spillane. I love the picture of Mickey and me (taken, I think, at San Diego Comic Con in 1994).

Now, in the stocking stuffer area…and you are free to stuff your own stocking with these as well as those of your friends and loved ones…Hamilton Books has some of my stuffable stuff, including the two most recent Heller novels (The Big Bundle and Too Many Bullets) at bargain prices.

Hamilton also has Spillane: King of Pulp Fiction, the bio by Jim Traylor and me, at a great price, also a Caleb York, and several Hammer novels. Spillane and the more recent Hammer hardcovers are not scheduled for trade paperback, so picking up a hardcover at a bargain price makes sense. Also, the trade paperback of Kiss Her Goodbye, available at Hamilton, is the uncensored version with a different ending.

Hamilton also has my micro-budget movie, Blue Christmas, on DVD and Blu-ray at the best prices I’ve seen.

Here’s where you can stream Blue Christmas.

Here are some viewer reactions to The Expert, an action movie I wrote based on the classic Brute Force. I replaced Larry Cohen (!) on the film, which is tricky to find on physical media.

You can stream The Expert here on Amazon Prime among others.

Matt Clemens and I have contributed “Moriarty’s Notebook,” a Sherlock Holmes story, to Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2026 edited by my old pal Bob Greenberger. If you dig pulpy tales, consider backing this Kickstarter campaign.

Our movie, Death by Fruitcake, will have a few theatrical screenings in December – I’ll announce dates later – but you can order the new Antiques novel right now. As I’ve said, these UK-published books can be elusive in American bookstores, so Amazon and Barnes and Noble are the best bet.

And please consider pre-ordering The Return of the Maltese Falcon.

I wish all of you and your families a happy Thanksgiving. I am thankful to all of you who stop by here and support my work. This time of year I think about friends and colleagues I’ve lost, grateful to have known the likes of my musician cohort Paul Thomas – with me through both the Daybreakers and Crusin’ – and actor Mike Cornelison – who was part of so many of my movie projects, notably the Mommy movies and Eliot Ness: An Untouchable Life. I’ve been blessed to know my pop culture heroes Chester Gould, Mickey Spillane and Donald E. Westlake as both mentors and friends.

And my collaborators, including (but not limited to) Matthew Clemens, Dave Thomas and Barbara Collins. They have all made me look good.

Thanks to the reviewers and bloggers who give attention to me and my work, a list I’m glad is too long to share. But I’ll single out J. Kingston Pierce at The Rap Sheet and the boys at Paperback Warrior (the graphic this week is theirs).

Finally, I’m grateful just to still be here, thanks to my family and doctors rallying to me when a routine operation had some unexpected side effects, including sending me into a hallucination right out of one of my own books.

I am not exaggerating when I say I made it back from madness thanks to my beautiful and talented wife, Barbara Collins. She is only six months younger than this ancient mariner, but she still looks like a pin-up girl.

M.A.C.

Tags: Caleb York, Deals, Nate Heller, Nathan Heller, Spillane: King of Pulp Fiction, The Big Bundle, Too Many Bullets, True Noir: The Nathan Heller Casebooks