Posts Tagged ‘Barbara Allan’

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True Noir Options, Fruitcake for Sale, Sour Grapes Extra

Tuesday, February 24th, 2026

As I put this together, I’m hoping my son Nate can help me share with you several good True Noir: The Assassination of Anton Cermak clips that have appeared here and there.

In the meantime – here, a week after our international distributorship for True Noir kicked in – an amazing revised version of our website, truenoir.co, has gone up, thanks to my pals and accomplices Phil Dingeldein and Mike Bawden. If you have even the slightest interest in my work, you need to click on that link and have a look around. Be sure to click on the photos of our voluminous, world-famous cast and crew, for full-color photos and bios.

You can access the whole damn thing (that is, True Noir: The Assassination of You Know Who) on Audible; if you have a subscription there, you can use a credit and receive our nearly five-hour effort – words, music, sound effects. I must salute another accomplice, the man who put it all together: director/editor Robert Meyer Burnett.

Now, if you’re not an Audible subscriber, your best bet is to go to:
Downpour (THIS IS WHERE YOU CAN BUY THE 4-CD SET as well as find other options)

Other available options are:
Spotify
Apple Books
Google Play Books
Chirp
Libro.fm

Potential Library readers should use Libby (by OverDrive). No link available.

* * *

Rob Merritt and the new DVD starring…Rob Merritt!

The other big M.A.C. release (both came out Feb. 17) is Death By Fruitcake, our little indie film bringing the “Barbara Allan”-bylined Antiques mystery series to life. Again, you can find it here:

AppleTV
YouTube Movies
Google Play
Amazon Digital Buy/Rent
Amazon DVD
Oldies.com

That last one has the DVD at a significantly cheaper price than Amazon, but if you’re a Prime member and get free shipping, Amazon is the better option. Oldies “free shipping” doesn’t kick in till you spend $75.

I haven’t done a giveaway on Death By Fruitcake because I received no comp copies and I have to pay full price per copy to get ‘em. I am a nice, generous and wonderful man to his readers; but not that nice, generous and wonderful.

We don’t have a Blu-ray this time, but the DVD looks fine. We supervised the packaging. Bare bones – no commentary (though I’ve been doing commentaries with Heath Holland on all kinds of movies by other people!); but the disc itself has a terrific fruitcake skull image.

On a related indie front, Mickey Spillane’s Cap City (based on the Spillane/Collins novella, “A Bullet for Satisfaction” in The Last Stand) won Best Scripted Feature at the Star City Film Festival in Des Moines. I co-scripted and co-produced with director David Wexler. Much more on that soon.


Red carpet at the Star City Film Festival (Barb and me in back)

Also, I’m directing a table read of my horror script, House of Blood, for a prospective indie movie based on my radio script for Fangoria’s Dreadtime Stories. It’s being presented at Muscatine (Iowa) Community College in the same Black Box space where we mounted Blue Christmas. The cast is mostly actors who were either in Blue Christmas or Death By Fruitcake or both. It’s at 7 on both Friday the 27th and Saturday the 28th of February. If you’re in the area, come. Otherwise, stay home and wait for us to turn it into a movie. (I’m talking to you, Mike and Jackie White!)

* * *

My birthday is coming in one week. I will be 78. I do not encourage gifts, but if you want to say something nice about me, write me at macphilms@hotmail.com, and I’ll share it here next week, on the big day. Of course, every day is a big day at my age.

Along those lines, I want to share a particularly nice missive I received from a reader. But, first, I will bitch about something. Anyone who invites nice comments about himself on his birthday obviously has a huge ego, but likely also a thin skin. As Bill Murray says in Groundhog Day: “Me…me…I am really close on this one.”

So I am going to carp about a certain kind of comment that appears on Amazon from readers who profess to be “really big fans” and then advise other readers not to buy this particular Collins book, because it misses the mark.

Okay, I am sure some of my work misses the mark (like this update, for example). One of those negative reviews appeared recently among dozens of overwhelmingly positive reader reactions to Return of the Maltese Falcon. It stung, and I stupidly replied (privately to the person) because I am a weak human being in this particular area.

I think it’s because there’s something personal about it. I generally shrug off bad reviews (and I’ve had my share) and have only very, very, very rarely responded to a pro reviewer. I enjoy good reviews but try not to take them to heart, because (I guess) if I take the good ones seriously, I have to take the bad ones too; good reviews are mostly just good press, as I see it. And some of the mixed or negative ones do point out flaws that I can work on.

But attacks from self-professed fans are different. They say, from one fan to the other, “Don’t read this one. He’s let us down.” That, my friends, is personal.

And it’s unkind. A really big fan would keep it to himself. A reader who says, “Sometimes Collins is good, sometimes, he’s bad, and this is a bad one” strikes me as fair. Or “I don’t know what the hell anybody sees in this hack Collins” – you know, that’s probably an opinion worth sharing.

The promise I will make to you is this: I will never phone it in, and never have. I’m in business to entertain, not just to be in business. But of course this is a business, and I don’t love it when someone who regularly does business with me discourages others from doing so. (Did I use the word “business” enough in that paragraph?)

I do enjoy it when readers step up to say, “I enjoy what you do,” and sometimes they have even been inspired (poor fools!) to go into fiction writing themselves. And now I will share a missive with you from David K.

M.A.C.

Hi Max:
You have been kind enough over the years to have emailed back and forth from time to time about the Nate Heller books which I started reading back in 1980’s along with your westerns, the Galena books and your non-fiction along with Quarry.

I read your newsletter weekly and saw where you asked for any pictures from bookstores featuring Return of the Maltese Falcon.

This picture is from a Barnes and Noble in suburban Milwaukee as they had one copy on hand. I took the liberty of taking it from the other books, moving a book by Michael Connelly and placing yours in a more prominent display. I am hoping that just having one copy is indicative of sales of multiple copies at the store.

Thanks for all the hours of reading enjoyment you have provided me over the years. Being now in my seventies, one joy of aging is I can go back and read the first Heller’s like The Million Dollar Wound or Neon Mirage and they are like new books all over again.

I am looking forward to reading this book and the final Heller when it comes out. And also planning on ordering True Noir but need one of my kids to help download it to my phone. A technical wizard I am not.

Anyway sir, thanks again for all of the work in your career. There will always be the critics but until they write a book or books and have had the success you have had, they really aren’t worth paying much attention to in my opinion.

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A Heaping Helping of True Noir and a Slice of Fruitcake

Tuesday, February 17th, 2026

Today – if you’re reading this when it was first posted – is a big one for us.

The fully immersive audio drama, True Noir: The Assassination of Mayor Cermak – all four and a half hours of it – becomes widely available for the first time. Skyboat is the publisher and Blackstone Audio is the distributor.

The three formats are:

Digital Download
CD (I believe that’s on 4 CDs)
MP3CD, the entire program is on a single disc.

The best place to order True Noir – particularly the physical media version – is via Blackstone’s sales site, Downpour.com, where all three formats are available, in fact the only place you can access all three.

If you are an Audible member, or just like to do your business there, go directly to Audible or to Amazon.

[And here’s B&N/Nook! — Nate]

Anyone who likes my work will, in my less than humble opinion, be delighted hearing this. Director Robert Meyer Burnett, working with casting guru Christine Sheaks (Boogie Nights), assembled an unparalleled company of actors headed up by Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville) as Nathan Heller. Mike Bawden and my longtime collaborator Phil Dingeldein were the behind-the-scenes producers.

Among the notable actors (take a deep breath) are David Strathairn as Frank Nitti, Jeffrey Combs as Mayor Anton Cermak, Anthony LaPaglia as Al Capone, Katee Sackhoff as Janey, Bill Mumy as Dr. Ronga and Patton Oswalt as Dipper Cooney. That’s just the beginning: the great Bill Smitrovich (Lt. Cramer on Nero Wolfe!) and Vincent Pastore (Big Pussy on The Sopranos) are just two more top names in a cast including Barry Bostwick (Rocky Horror Picture Show), PJ Byrne (The Boys), and Adam Arkin (A Serious Man).

With a great full score by Alexander Bornstein and incredible sound design supervised by director/editor/co-producer Rob Burnett, it’s truly a movie for the ears. That I was able to write the script myself – adapting the first Nathan Heller novel, True Detective – made this a dream-come-true project.

And Rob did a terrific job with the actors, and included me in the process of recording them in LA (I attended most of the sessions by Zoom from here in Iowa). I can truly say that this has been one of the best creative experiences of my career.

Here is a taste:

And please check out this terrific review of True Noir from Ed Catto.

* * *

By sheer coincidence – and I am not kidding – another big M.A.C. project goes into international distribution on the very same day as True Noir. The movie I wrote and directed, based on the Antiques cozy mystery series that Barb and I write as “Barbara Allan,” also is now available on DVD (from Amazon) and on various VOD services:

Here is where Death by Fruitcake can be accessed:

AppleTV
YouTube Movies
Google Play
Amazon Buy/Rent
Amazon DVD

Check out our page at our distributor, DeskPop Entertainment, right here (it includes the trailer).

The film was shot here in Muscatine, Iowa – specifically at New Era Lutheran Church, adjacent to which is a theater where most of our production was staged. It’s near scenic Wild Cat Den, seen in the climax of Mommy’s Day; but we were very much operating on the church and theater. It was an intense but fun two-week shoot, plus the usual second unit stuff, including some Wild Cat Den shots and scenes at Meg’s Vintage Collectibles, which became the Trash ‘n’ Treasures antiques shop from the Barbara Allan books.

We’re very proud of it, and Barb was involved every step of the way, a producer supervising the production. Is it a big-budget production? No, not unless you compare it to my previous film, Blue Christmas. Like that film, we are a micro-budget production dependent upon a good script and a solid cast.

We couldn’t have asked for a better Vivian Borne than Paula Sands, legendary Midwestern, Emmy-winning broadcaster; or a better Brandy Borne, played by Midwest super-songstress Alisabeth Von Presley. Brandy’s police chief boy friend, is portrayed by Rob Merritt, who looks suspiciously like the lead actor who played private eye Richard Stone in Blue Christmas. Their supporting cast includes many familiar faces from that previous production.

I am pleased to have Death by Fruitcake exist as a DVD release – we had several distributors interested in the film, but Twin Engines (actually DeskPop, a subsidiary) included a DVD release. And that sealed the deal for me.

* * *

Here’s a fun piece from the always great site the Stiletto Gumshoe, discussing why some readers won’t be able to see Sam Spade as anything but Humphrey Bogart when reading The Maltese Falcon…or Return of the Maltese Falcon.


A Barnes and Noble sighting!
* * *

Here’s a recent appearance on WQAD-TV channel 8 in Moline, Illinois. The interviewer, Shelby Kluver, is a delight. It’s about (among other things) the Star City Film Festival, in which a movie I wrote, Mickey Spillane’s Cap City, was entered. More about that next week!

M.A.C.

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Cap City in Des Moines – True Noir and Fruitcake Coming Soon!

Tuesday, February 10th, 2026

This coming Valentine’s Day weekend, Barb and I are Guests of Honor at the Star City Film Festival, being held this year at the Fleur Theater in Des Moines. It will include (on Saturday night) the first showing of the final cut of Mickey Spillane’s Cap City, which I adapted from the novella A Bullet for Satisfaction developed by me from an unpublished Spillane manuscript (it appeared in The Last Stand).

Here is the press release courtesy of Dr. Katie O’Reagan, the Star City fest director:

The Star City Film & Theater Festival Announces 9th Season opens at The Fleur Cinema Feb. 12th-14th

Feb. 12–14 at The Fleur Cinema & Café in Des Moines
DES MOINES, IA, UNITED STATES, January 21, 2026 EINPresswire.com — The Star City Film & Theater Festival returns for its 9th season with three days of independent film, live performance, and community engagement, running Thursday, February 12 through Saturday, February 14 at The Fleur Cinema & Café. The festival features more than 20 films, filmmaker talkbacks, live staged script readings, and special events in an intimate, curated setting designed to connect artists and audiences.

Founded and hosted by Katie O’Regan, the festival welcomes acclaimed author and filmmaker Max Allan Collins as Guest of Honor. Collins will participate in special programs throughout the weekend, including a live script reading and a feature film screening.

Festival proceeds benefit Lutheran Lakeside Camp in Spirit Lake, Iowa.

Festival Highlights
Independent feature films, documentaries, and short film programs
Filmmaker Q&A sessions following select screenings
Live staged script readings
Valentine’s Day Red Carpet Event
Special appearances by Max Allan Collins

Select Schedule Highlights
Thursday, February 12
4:30 PM – It Isn’t JUST Politics (Documentary, 71 min.)
6:30 PM – Short Films Program
8:15 PM – The Gray (Short, 32 min.)
9:00 PM – Skating on the Razor’s Edge (Feature, 89 min.)

Friday, February 13
3:00 PM – Shorts Program (including web series, music video, and themed selections)
5:45 PM – Live Script Read: The Dream Café — written by Katie O’Regan
8:00 PM – The Painter (Feature, 110 min.) + Q&A with director Michael G. White

Saturday, February 14
2:45 PM – Song & Dance (Feature, 103 min.)
5:00 PM – Valentine’s Day Red Carpet Event
6:20 PM – Live Script Read: True Noir with Max Allan Collins
7:00 PM – CAP CITY (Feature, 80 min.) — co-written by Max Allan Collins
Followed by Q&A with Max Allan Collins
8:55 PM – Art Is Work (Short, 23 min.) + Q&A with Stacy Barton
9:45 PM – Awards Ceremony

Tickets & Information
Full schedule and tickets available at:
www.sacrednoisesociety.org

Barb and I will be there all day Saturday (with time out for meals and a nap) (or two). Probably Friday afternoon, too.

Those of you who live close enough to attend – we hope to see you there! A slightly (slightly) different version of Cap City was shown in August last year at the Last Picture House in Davenport, Iowa, as part of the Alternating Currents Fest.

I can say that seeing Cap City on a big screen in a real theatrical setting was an entirely different experience than getting advance looks at it on a computer or my TV. Very pleased with what my co-writer, co-producer and director/co-star David Wexler did with the material.

This is a long-in-the making picture, starting with a screenplay written with a budget in the low millions in mind. When fund-raising fell through, and David faced the reality of having to move onto the next project, I used Blue Christmas as an example of how a noir mystery could be told in a single setting. He gave me the go-ahead and I rewrote the script into one that takes place almost entirely at the crime scene.

I’m an old hand at finding a way to make a movie on a (sometimes ridiculously) low budget.

* * *

The response to Return of the Maltese Falcon continues to be overwhelmingly favorable and wide-spread. The only disappointment has been the lackluster “support” from Barnes & Noble’s brick-and-mortar chain. I get sporadic reports both that a copy or two are in stock or not at all – the latter includes the Cedar Rapids Barnes & Noble, where I have done business for decades and have done numerous book-signings.

This is not the store’s fault – they simply were sent no copies by corporate. They have since, I’ve learned, ordered copies.

I am glad to say rival chain Books-a-Million (aka BAM!) are doing a better job of it. Note the two unbiased shoppers below at the Davenport BAM! These two, coincidentally, closely resemble my grandson Sam and granddaughter Lucy.

And the Davenport Barnes & Noble has ordered a substantial number, God bless ‘em.

Do please continue to send photos of Return of the Maltese Falcon seen “out in the wild,” particularly at Barnes & Noble.

Another reader sent this, spotted at a Texarkana, Texas BAM!.

* * *

The worldwide release of True Noir: The Assassination of Anton Cermak is imminent: Feb. 17. The 4-CD set can be ordered at Amazon.

* * *

Even for somebody prolific like me, it’s unusual when two major releases debut the same day. But True Noir comes out Feb. 17, as I said, and so does Death By Fruitcake, which will hit DVD on the same date. There will be no Blu-ray (that I know of), so this is your physical media way to get (and support) our little film, based on the Antiques series written by Barb and me.

* * *

In other Nate Heller news, we have a lovely little write-up from Ed Catto about the Hard Case Crime title, The Big Bundle.

I have just proofed, corrected and approved the typeset Quarry’s Return for editor Charles Ardai at Hard Case Crime. That doesn’t come out till November – the 50th anniversary Quarry.

And I’ve also just signed to do two more novels for Hard Case Crime – what they will be, I won’t tell you.

Finally, a few days ago Barb and I delivered Antiques Web to our publisher, Severn House.

M.A.C.

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Quarry on the Way, Return of the Maltese Falcon Here!

Tuesday, January 20th, 2026

Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings…and Max Allan Collins writes a book.

Ah, if it were only that easy, but the vagaries of publishing – writing books over time with several publishers printing the results in the same calendar year and even right on top of each other – mean that my efforts to make a living seem offensive to some.

This has been less of a problem lately, as much of my work has appeared either at Hard Case Crime or their parent company Titan; and the Antiques series is happily settled at Severn House (Antiques Web is the book I’m working on now, from my wife Barb’s first pass – we’re “Barbara Allan” together).

The announcement of Quarry’s Reunion, the 50th anniversary Quarry novel, has brought up the old question, “Is there anything we can do to stop this guy?”

At my age, I’ll be stopped soon enough. The point now is to get as many stories worth telling told while I’m still on the planet, and generate some income for what are inaccurately described as the Golden Years.

Quarry is fifty years old (actually older – dating to 1972 at the latest) because the first novel, Quarry (originally titled The Broker) came out in 1976. I did four books in the series and then was not invited back by Berkley Books. A hearty band of readers discovered the books and this led to a fifth novel, published in the ‘80s (Quarry’s Vote, originally titled Primary Target) and a handful of Quarry short stories. One of the latter got turned into a short film I wrote, “A Matter of Principal.” This led to the first Quarry film, The Last Lullaby, which I co-wrote. Quarry is called Price in that film because I didn’t want to allow any sequel rights. Here’s an article/assessment by Douglas Buck about all of that from 2020.

It also led to the novel The Last Quarry allowing me to pick the series back up on a more or less regular basis. The last few have each felt like the last book in the series, and Quarry’s Reunion is no exception. But he’s a hard character for me to shake off.

Incidentally, he’s not a sociopath, as he’s often referred to. If he were a sociopath, he’d be less scary or (or maybe I should say) not as disturbing.

Here’s the magnificent new Paul Mann cover.

Quarry's Reunion cover reveal

Right now I need to remind you that The Return of the Maltese Falcon is the main thing of the moment (month) (year) until November when Quarry’s Reunion comes out). We’ve had incredible reviews for Falcon, and most of the posted comments at Amazon have been favorable to say the least, though a few naysayers are among the gold.

The handful of complaints have included: it’s not a typical Collins book (agreed); Sam Spade gets beat up too much (actually, hit on the head twice, which is about P.I. par); it’s better that the falcon never be found (so a second book should end like the first?); and it’s generally “cheesy” (a complaint I’d take seriously if even just one example had been provided).

On the other hand, if you read Return of the Maltese Falcon, and like it, you’ll be doing it and me a great service by reviewing at Amazon and elsewhere. Reviews can be short – a couple of lines – or as in depth as you like.

Also, if you have a blog, a review there will be helpful. The Barnes & Noble site is useful, too.

It’s gratifying to get all these fine reviews. Here’s another by Scott Montgomery at the Hard Word.

But there are frustrations. Two trips to the nearby Quad Cities – to a Bam! and a Barnes & Noble – revealed no sign of the book on sale at all. Not on the New Releases, not in the mystery section, not even in local authors, the ghetto I wind up in, in this part of the world for having had the bad judgment to be born here and stayed.

If you spot Return of the Maltese Falcon out in the wild, take a photo with your phone and e-mail it to me at macphilms@hotmail.com.

I had such a great response to the book giveaway of Falcon that I was frustrated not to be able to send a signed copy to everyone who entered. What would you think about me getting a bookplate I could sign and send to anyone who requested one?

* * *

Here’s Crime Fiction Lover’s article on the forthcoming Quarry’s Reunion.

I appeared on You Tube on the popular Comic Book School show with hosts Buddy Scalera and Tom Fasolo, and with comic book and storyboard artist Jay Martin. It’s a fun show and you get to see Jay ink a page he drew based on a scene in The Return of the Maltese Falcon. This guy is good!

M.A.C.

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