Posts Tagged ‘Too Many Bullets’

Two Events, A New Movie Script, Nate Heller News and More

Tuesday, February 13th, 2024

Two events are coming up that Iowa residents, particularly those in (or near) Des Moines may wish to attend.

The Fridley Theatre chain has reopened the great Fleur Theater and have booked me in for two events. Coming up this weekend (Saturday February 17) is a presentation of Chinatown that I will introduce. I will be discussing the importance of the film and how it has been a key influence on me and my work.

Then, just a week later on Saturday February 24, I will be there with a number of cast and crew members for the World Premiere of Blue Christmas.

Advance tickets for both events are available at the links.

As you may know, three more premiere events will present Blue Christmas to the public for the first time; it will not be made available (at least nothing is planned yet) until the Christmas season of this year:

Fleur Cinema/Des Moines, World Premiere; February 24th
Collins Road Theater/Cedar Rapids Premiere; March 13th
Palms 10/Muscatine Premiere; March 16th
Last Picture House/Quad Cities Premiere; March 22nd

I will be attending all four and at least some cast and crew will be at these events as well (with Q and A after).

* * *

After delivering the new Trash ‘n Treasures novel, Antiques Slay Belles, to our publisher Severin (who we are pleased to say loves it), Barb and I began work on a film script based on the novella “Antiques Fruitcake,” seen in our collection of three Antiques Christmas novellas, Antiques Ho-Ho-Homicides.

Even before the script was started, we had approached with some success several key actors (mostly from Blue Christmas) as well as secured the primary location for the shoot, which we project for late July or early August (that, of course can change).

Working from the novella, with Barb consulting and editing everything I wrote, I’ve produced a screenplay called Death by Fruitcake which I think successfully captures the feel and approach of the books. For one thing, it has a lot of talking to the camera by Brandy and Mother, breaking the fourth wall. The goal was to be very funny and yet a legit mystery (the way the book series does, at its best anyway).

Why another Christmas movie?

Well, the warm reception we got from not only the home video distributor but a major film chain in Iowa, and several independent theaters, showed the holiday aspect of Blue Christmas was hugely beneficial. We’d been looking for another low-budget film project to do, and doing Christmas again but in a completely different fashion made sense.

This project will be in process all year, so you’ll be hearing about it here.

* * *

I am pleased to announce what is almost certainly going to be the last Nathan Heller novel, The One-Way Ride, which I’ll be writing this year for Hard Case Crime. God willin’ and the crick don’t rise, it will appear in late 2025.

This will, at long last, tell the story of Heller, RFK and Jimmy Hoffa, which takes place in the ‘60s but with first and last sections that feature Heller at the end of his career – chronologically the farthest up I’ve gone (other than brief sections of the whatever-happened-to chapters in various of the books).

I both hate and love the thought of doing a final chapter in Heller’s saga. The love part is (a) getting to do another one, and (b) knowing that this saga has a definitive ending. The hate part is that I love to do them and consider Heller my key work (Quarry would disagree, but I’m not giving him a vote).

Several realities are at play here. First, at my age and with my health issues (which for now I’m keeping in check), doing a massive project like a Heller novel, with its soul-crushing research, is best put behind me. I have several other things I want to do, and speaking of Quarry, I may do more with him. I might also do an occasional Heller short story for the Strand and/or Ellery Queen.

Other factors are the way sales got impacted by the way a UK dock strike screwed up the publication of Too Many Bullets, which I consider to be a major book in the saga. That strike, as I’ve outlined here before, meant the 2022 publication of The Big Bundle effectively got pushed to the first quarter of 2023. That had the novel careening into Too Many Bullets, published early fall 2023, meaning two Hellers were published in one year (effectively). It led to the major trade publications (Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist, Kirkus and Library Journal) not reviewing Too Many Bullets (and in the past they have almost always reviewed the Heller novels). That cost us bookstore and library sales.

And it made getting Hard Case Crime to do another book in the series required a real sales job from me.

On the other hand, we’ve had several really terrific reviews lately for Too Many Bullets. Check out this one from the fine fanzine Deadly Pleasures (who tabulated how many “Best of the Year” lists various books appeared on – Too Many Bullets appeared on five):

Too Many Bullets
by Max Allan Collins
Hard Case Crime, $26.99, October 2023
Rating: A

Nathan Heller is body-guarding Robert (“Bob! Not ‘Bobby!’”) Kennedy on June 5, 1968, the night he won the California Democratic primary. As they walk through the crowded Pantry in L.A.’s Ambassador Hotel, a dozen or more shots ring out. Kennedy falls, as do five others, but he is the only one to die. A dazed Sirhan Sirhan, gun in hand, is slammed down by Roosevelt Grier, Rafer Johnson, and Heller. The LAPD muscles the FBI out of the investigation of the assassination, since it’s clearly an open-and-shut case against Sirhan. But months later, a now skeptical Heller undertakes his own investigation, first at the behest of columnist Drew Pearson, then Time/Life after Pearson’s death. After all, there weren’t enough guns and there were too many bullets in that room. And what of the mysterious woman in the polka-dot dress that several witnesses saw fleeing the scene?

Mystery Writers of America Grand Master and Private Eye Writers of America’s Lifetime Achievement “Eye” Award recipient Max Allan Collins’ first Nathan Heller novel, True Detective, was published in 1983. This latest novel marks forty years of some of the very best and most cohesive historical detective fiction ever written. Each book in the series has been meticulously researched, down to the smallest factual details, then tied together with a cleverly plotted and convincing fictional re-examination of events surrounding a murder, a kidnapping, a disappearance, extortion, assassination or other well-known crime. What’s more, there is a well-reasoned solution to previously unsolved or questionable cases. Collins uses real names whenever possible, adding to the authenticity. Each book also contains a wrap up of what happened to characters after the story has concluded.

Too Many Bullets follows that established pattern. Collins presents little known facts gathered from autopsy and police records, things that were conveniently overlooked in a rush to judgment. But it is the reasoned conjecture that he wraps around those facts that make for fascinating reading. Further, he faithfully recreates the politics of the late 1960s. Readers will almost come to believe that they were caught up in the panic in the hotel’s Pantry, so realistic is the writing. In today’s world, with crazy conspiracy theories abounding, this novel takes a deep dive into one that just might not be so crazy.

The author has previously explored other Kennedy family assassination (and near assassination) stories, but this may just be one of his best. No need to have read any of the previous novels in the series, since Collins doesn’t write them in chronological order anyway. The final two sentence paragraph sums up Heller’s dedication to the job perfectly. If this is the final Heller (and I sincerely hope it is not), the detective goes out on a very high note.

Well, Too Many Bullets isn’t the last Heller, if I can get The One-Way Ride written. But that’s a fine review.

As I’ve said here before, it’s no picnic for an old white guy to get a book sold in a marketplace filled with young Woke editors who have apparently slept through the history of noir fiction. I am lucky to still be in business at all.

For example, I have pitched (sometimes with Matt Clemens and sometimes on my own) half a dozen projects (full book proposals) to Amazon’s Thomas and Mercer, where the Reeder and Rogers trilogy sold hundreds of thousands of copies and my back list has flourished for over a decade. And they haven’t gone forward with a thing. In fairness, the second of my two Krista Larsen novels (Girl Can’t Help It, a book I love) has not earned out yet and maybe never will. Still, the royalties on that title and several dozen others keep coming in and I’m grateful to them (particularly to the initial editors at Thomas and Mercer who made Ian Fleming and Max Allan Collins among their first buys).

I am not complaining (exactly). I have a full plate of work for 2024. But with both Nathan Heller and Mike Hammer getting their series wrapped up, I have to be resilient and creative. (Hammer was always planned to be finite – no new novels written solely by me, strictly M.A.C. finishing up Mickey’s works-in-progress.)

That’s why I’m directing and writing indie movies again. It’s why I’m developing a Nate Heller podcast, bringing the books to life, collaborating with my buddies Phil Dingeldein, Mike Bawden and the great Robert Meyer Burnett, a genuine YouTube star. Recently Rob did a blisteringly funny, wickedly sharp takedown on Amazon (don’t mean to pick on them, and this isn’t Thomas & Mercer) putting out a statement with advice to writers (particularly screenwriters) that is so D.E.I. (Diversity Equity and Inclusive) as to be absurdly hilarious. Take a look. (His Robservations episodes always begin with promos for other stuff of his, so be patient. It’s worth it.)

Also worth a watch this week is Heath Holland and me talking about the latest Kino Lorber film noir Blu-ray boxset on his fine podcast, Cereal at Midnight.

* * *

Here is another lovely Too Many Bullets review.

This article discusses why Tom Hanks decided to do Road to Perdition.

Finally, Ron Fortier is back with a retro review of my The Hindenburg Murders.

M.A.C.

The Big News This Week and More

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2024
Spillane: King of Pulp Fiction cover
Hardcover:
E-Book: Kobo
Digital Audiobook: Kobo Libro.fm Google Play
Audiobook MP3 CD:

You may have already heard my big news this week, which is that Spillane – King of Pulp Fiction (by James L. Traylor and me) has been nominated for an Edgar by the Mystery Writers of America.

I am of course thrilled, if for no other reason than it’s a further indication that Mickey is finally being taken more seriously and reassessed. When Jim Traylor and I had One Lonely Knight: Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer nominated for an Edgar in 1984, we were told confidentially by a member of the committee that we would have won but for one committee member refusing to even read a book about the dreaded Spillane.

I’ve been looking at various YouTube shows about the great Kiss Me Deadly (the film, and mostly raves) but those praising the film routinely condemn Mickey glibly, while expressing opinions about Spillane that indicate they have read little or nothing by him. Mickey was so controversial that you didn’t have to be familiar with his work to condemn him. And even the great Eddie Muller, introducing Kiss Me Deadly at a Noir City screening, characterized Mike Hammer largely in terms of anti-Commie lunacy. Of the first seminal six novels, only One Lonely Night is about “Commies” (and Joe McCarthy is essentially the bad guy) and only The Girl Hunters and arguably Survival…Zero! Of the later Hammers touches upon Russian bad guys. That’s three of thirteen novels. Of the thirteen posthumous Hammer novels I’ve completed, only Compound 90 deals with Communism and Russia. The most respected noir expert that Eddie is (rightfully) should recognize the very noir theme of a detective in love with a woman who turns out to be the murderer of the army buddy who gave an arm for him in combat. That’s I, the Jury, and not a Commie in sight. The Arkin brothers discuss Kiss Me Deadly and the more liberal of the two makes the comment that Mike Hammer seems to be a WW 2 veteran – you think?

This is my roundabout way of saying I have no expectation that Jim and I will win the Edgar for this book, which I am very proud to have co-written. The Spillane stigma is still there. And I’m up against books about James Ellroy (don’t get me started) and Poe himself. But Barb and I are probably going to the awards dinner. It’s a chance to be seen as somebody who is still in the game.

Anyway, here are all the nominees in the various categories.

* * *

Barb and I have a novella coming out from Neo-Text that can be pre-ordered at Amazon right now in e-book format. (There will be a print version, too, but it’s not listed yet.)

Cutout cover

Here’s what our novella Cutout is about as described by the publisher:

A young woman from the Midwest, recipient of an unexpected college scholarship, is recruited into a lucrative courier job that shuttles her from Manhattan to Washington, D.C. There’s a slight drawback: the previous two “cutouts” died by violence.

Sierra Kane – who has bounced from one foster family to another – faces an uncertain future when she receives an unapplied-for scholarship to Barnard College specifically designed for orphans whose academic records are merely above average. A second unexpected boon comes her way when another recipient of that somewhat mysterious scholarship offers her a part-time courier job.

Soon Sierra is caught up in a whirl of espionage and murder, with a new boy friend who may or may not be part of a plot, a college mentor with a possible agenda of her own, and an FBI agent who rebuffs Sierra’s plea for help.

It’s a classic story of a small-town girl caught up in an overwhelming big-city world; but Sierra Kane is a young woman whose curiosity and determination will lead her to the truth…and into more than one deadly confrontation.

Married writing team Max Allan Collins (Road to Perdition) and Barbara Collins (Bombshell) – whose Antiques mystery series is a long-running mystery fan favorite under the name Barbara Allan – have crafted a novella that is at once as timeless as a fairy tale and as modern as a headline.

I am enormously pleased with the novella, although I really shouldn’t be taking top billing – the supposed value of my byline came into play and I was overridden. This book really is Barb’s baby. I did some plot consulting and did my usual punch-up draft, though her work needed little help.

For you e-book readers, here’s where you can pre-order it.

* * *

The enormously talented Heath Holland was kind enough to invite me on Cereal at Midnight for a freewheeling interview about my career. He has also pulled excerpts from our nearly two-hour talk that appear on YouTube separately.

We are discussing my making regular appearances on Cereal at Midnight (perhaps as often as monthly). Stay tuned.

Till then, here’s a link for that extensive interview.

* * *

At Lisa’s Book Critiques, Glen Davis was kind enough to list (and briefly discuss) Too Many Bullets as one of his favorite novels of 2023.

* * *

My new expanded version of Mike Hammer’s Mickey Spillane is available on several more streaming services, including Apple TV.

It’s on Roku, too, and Amazon Prime, Tubi and Vudu.

M.A.C.

So Long, Christmas! Hello Blue Christmas!

Tuesday, December 26th, 2023

I am writing this on Christmas Day 2023, still in the warm glow of a Christmas Eve with Barb, wherein party mix, little smokies in BBQ sauce, and champagne – combined with our annual gift-giving and a screening of A Christmas Story – added up to a wonderful evening.

The only drawback was not having our family (son Nate, daughter-in-law Abby and two grandkids, eight-year-old Sam and five-year-old Lucy) here to celebrate with us. They are in Texas with Abby’s family (we had an early “Christmas” with them a few days ago, before they headed out) and we missed them. But there’s something to be said for a couple sharing a cozy Christmas Eve.

Still, I hope next Christmas will be the usual family affair.

And I also hope next Christmas there will be a Blu-ray (or access via a streaming service) (or even a theatrical screening) of my latest film, Blue Christmas. This not-at- all lavishly budgeted feature has been completed by editor/producer Chad Bishop and myself, with our fellow producer Phil Dingeldein due to come down to Muscatine later this week for a look at the finished product and a final okay.

I returned, after a long absence, to indie filmmaking after last year’s Encore for Murder, the Gary Sandy-starring Mike Hammer Golden Age Radio style play that we shot and edited into something that might be called a movie. Whatever it is, it’s out on DVD from VCI Home Entertainment, and as a special feature on VCI’s Blu-ray of my expanded documentary, Mike Hammer’s Mickey Spillane. Both Encore and Spillane are also available on VUDU and Amazon Prime for streaming.

The Encore for Murder experience is what prompted me to get back into the indie game, and I’m glad I did because I’m proud of our little movie, Blue Christmas, and hope it will join the favorites on many of your Christmas Season video viewing lists next year at this time.

We are waiting for word from a video distributor (who had expressed a strong interest in the project) and I should know soon whether Blue Christmas will be available on Blu-ray and on streaming services before long or whether it will wait in the wings till next Christmas season. That will be up to the distributor. I do know we’re doing a handful of festivals early this coming year (tomorrow, as I write this!) (the year, not the festivals).

I have enjoyed collaborating with editor Chad and director of photography Phil on this project, as well as our talented cast, many of whom appeared in Encore. Our top-billed stars are Rob Merritt – a mainstay of Iowa independent film – and Alisabeth Von Presley, who appeared on both American Idol and American Songwriting Contest on network television. Also above the title is Chris Causey, who appeared as Norman Baker in Chad Bishop’s The Man in Purple. Very hardcore fans of mine may recall that real-life “cancer quack” Baker was the fictionalized subject of my early novel, No Cure for Death. That both Chad and I did projects about Baker indicates why we are kindred spirits.

Chad’s short, ambitious film can be seen here.

Chris Causey also appears as Mike Hammer’s cop pal, Pat Chambers, in Encore for Murder.

* * *

As is the case with a lot of physical media collectors, I usually buy a Blu-ray – or lately a 4K disc – of any movie I’ve enjoyed seeing in a theater. In last week’s update I discussed the 4K’s of the new Indiana Jones and Mission: Impossible movies. Since then we’ve watched at home Oppenheimer and The Equalizer 3 on 4K, having seen and liked them at the Palms Theater here in Muscatine.

Of the four movies mentioned above, the least discussed – the least taken seriously – is The Equalizer 3. On our second viewing of all four, I would rate The Equalizer 3 highest. I realize that’s not a popular view. And perhaps this very Spillane-derived film is one I would be destined to like, even prejudiced to rate highly, since it’s essentially a Mike Hammer vengeance reworking. But I would argue its direction and acting (particularly Denzel Washington and Elle Fanning) are superior examples of the craft. And the script is assembled as if by a Swiss watchmaker.

On second viewing, Oppenheimer continues to impress but the experience is now less overwhelming and its flaws start to reveal themselves. Christopher Nolan’s insistence on shuffling the narrative deck – which flashback am I in now, or is this a flashforward? – reveals the pretentious flaw in this gifted craftsman’s approach. He must be celebrated for getting terrific performances from all concerned. But the narrative’s weaknesses – ironically concealed somewhat by that pretentious deck-shuffling – are jarring.

What weaknesses am I talking about?

The depiction of Oppenheimer’s married life should either have been left out or depicted more fully. The worst realized character is Oppenheimer’s wife, Emily Blunt. The film indicates its protagonist’s womanizing without to any degree explaining it. The wife’s inclusion seems almost grudging.

More problematic is the structure. The last third of the film abandons Oppenheimer as protagonist and focuses on the efforts to paint him a left-wing risk by Lewis Stauss, well-portrayed by Robert Downey, Jr. The daunting length of the film is unnecessary – this whole final section could have been replaced by one of those cards that briefly discuss the ramifications that followed a preceding film. Making your protagonist a bystander for the last third of the movie is incredibly bad storytelling.

Is Oppenheimer a bad movie? No. It is worthwhile and intermittently brilliant. But badly flawed.

On the other hand – and I realize I am to some degree comparing apples and oranges – The Equalizer 3 tells its story in a straight-forward yet bold manner. It waits until the very end of the movie to reveal what motivated its hero to undertake his righteous mission. It makes the stakes that hero faces high indeed, endangering the very people he hopes to protect; but it resists giving us cheap-shot deaths of those people, just to throw more gasoline on the vengeance fire. This director – Antonine Fuqua – deserves the kind of attention someone, like, say, Christopher Nolan is getting.

I liked all four of these movies, by the way. I just think Oppenheimer is the most overrated of the four. And of course it has an obvious weight over the likes of Indiana Jones and Mission: Impossible. But a traditional narrative well-crafted, like The Equalizer 3, that accomplishes what it sets out to do will always please me more than one whose self-importance and ambition overwhelm the final product.

Let me say, too, a filmmaker who has never had to deal with a huge budget and all the difficulties that come with it, should tread lightly. I recognize the accomplishment of all four directors and their screenwriters – the degree of difficulty is immense.

I always hesitate to criticize movies, and I never criticize novels. Doing so lacks grace coming from a fellow storyteller. So I avoid discussing novels here, and don’t take money for my film opinions, having turned down opportunities to write reviews professionally; some may recall that I once wrote the Mystery Scene movie review column but stepped down after experiencing actually working on a film. This blog is the only place I allow myself to express these personal cinematic opinions, which I share with the readers who are good enough to follow my fiction and drop by here.

The next time I write you good people it will be, astonishingly, 2024.

* * *

The great J. Kingston Pierce, at the indispensable Rap Sheet, has chosen both Spillane: King of Pulp Fiction by Jim Traylor and me, and Too Many Bullets as among his best books of 2023.

M.A.C.

Too Many Bullets on “Best of Lists” and Spillane Cheap!

Tuesday, December 19th, 2023

Encore for Murder – for those of you who don’t have a Blu-ray player or already have a version of Mike Hammer’s Mickey Spillane that satisfies you – is available at a great price from VCI Home Entertainment. Such a deal.

For those who do have a Blu-ray player, and would like to partake of the newly expanded version of Mike Hammer’s Mickey Spillane (with Encore for Murder as a bonus feature), VCI has it on sale for $14.98! (Regularly $29.95.). They also have the double-feature Blu-ray of Mommy and Mommy’s Day for $17.48 (regularly $34.95). By the way, Mickey Spillane is an actor in both.

Also, Encore for Murder is available for rental on Vudu.

And so is my documentary (again, this is the new, expanded version) Mike Hammer’s Mickey Spillane.

Here’s a nice review two-fer of my novels Too Many Bullets and Dig Two Graves (with Mickey Spillane) from Jerry’s House of Everything.

Borg has a great review of Too Many Bullets right here. It’s terrific that Internet reviews are picking up the slack after the four trade publications completely ignored this Nate Heller novel.

* * *

I am pleased to report that Too Many Bullets has finally started popping up on some “best of the year” lists.

The very knowledgeable Kevin Burton Smith of the great Thrilling Detective website has Bullets on his list.

At Deadly Pleasures, both Ted Hertel (a longtime Heller booster) and George Wagner have Too Many Bullets on their “best of” lists. (You’ll have to scroll down to find these.)

Also, Stuart Shiffman at Bookreporter.com has the Spillane bio by Jim Traylor and me at the top of his list of best books. Here’s what he has to say about it:

SPILLANE: King of Pulp Fiction by Max Allan Collins and James L. Traylor
My review (linked here: https://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/spillane-king-of-pulp-fiction#) noted that “[g]reat biographies must capture the individual portrayed — his spirit, his accomplishments, and the times in which he lived and worked. SPILLANE does all of this so expertly that it reads almost as well as a Spillane novel.” A truly entertaining biography.
* * *

Blue Christmas has finally wrapped – in the sense that Chad Bishop and I shot our final Second Unit location shots this week, and have edited this new material into the movie. Son Nathan and grandson Sam both made it into the final product (and the revised trailer, below).


Sam Collins, in his film debut, with Chad Bishop, producer/editor.

(left to right) Nate Collins, Sam Collins, Chad Bishop, Max Allan Collins.

We hope to have a few screenings in early 2024 – a “sneak preview,” a Muscatine premiere, and a Quad Cities premiere, ideally. Whether it will stream earlier than Christmas season 2024 remains to be seen (and whether it is on physical media sooner than that is also as yet undecided). But I am very proud of this little movie, which we practically had to will in existence.

At his request, I showed my eight-year-old grandson Sam (who is in Blue Christmas, remember) the Alistair Sim Scrooge aka A Christmas Carol. He gave it a ten.

Barb and I also watched (having first seen both at the Palms Theater here in Muscatine) the new Mission: Impossible and Indiana Jones movies on 4K Blu-ray. We like both better than a lot of people, including a good share of critics. The Mission: Impossible is admittedly just one impressive action set piece after another, linked by a gibberish plot. But Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is getting a bad rap. While its one car chase scene is a bit of a yawn compared to anything in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (not exactly a snappy title), Indiana Jones is firmly rooted in Professor Jones’ love for archeology, and along the way examines how a hero can be battered down by age and tragedy but can fight his way back.

* * *

No card from Paul Reubens this year. But as Pee-Wee Herman will live forever, let’s pretend he sent one.

M.A.C.