What grabs you and keeps you hooked in a book?
I need an intriguing plot to grab my interest right from the start. Additionally, I prefer a protagonist who elicits strong feelings, whether I like or dislike them, just enough for me to care about their well-being throughout their journey. Detailed descriptions are essential for me. Lastly, there should be at least one good twist to keep me turning the pages.
The Chinese animated film, The Kung Fu Kid, found its way into the digital realm, ready to be bought or rented on digital platforms as of August 18th, courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment. Mark your calendars, folks, because it’s set to hit Blu-ray™ and DVD, exclusively on Amazon, on September 15. Initially released in China in 2024 under the title I Am What I Am 2, this flick is a sequel to Sun Haipeng's I Am What I Am (2021). It features an English voice cast crafted for American ears.
I had zero inkling that The Kung Fu Kid was part of an existing saga; to me, it felt like a standalone film or perhaps the beginnings of a new franchise. So, you can imagine my surprise when I unearthed its origins and the existence of the original film just before writing this review. It’s not too shocking, though, considering how Chinese films often undergo a makeover to align with American sensibilities.
The story pivots around a village boy named Juan (or is it Gyun?), whose desperation to save his ailing father drives him to seek fortune and pay off insurmountable medical debts. His journey leads him to the bustling streets of Shanghai, where he’s scooped up by the Qiu Zhen Kung Fu Gym to partake in a grueling tournament known as Shanghai Fight Night. The gym’s soul has faded away with its owner’s death, leaving his daughter, Xiaoyu, to navigate the stormy seas of business to keep the doors from closing. Both she and Juan are chasing the same elusive prize money; one for survival, the other for love. With training from the former champion Zhang Wate, who now grapples with blindness, Juan is thrust into a world where elite fighters of diverse techniques clash. It’s a haunting theme of tradition, sacrifice, and the relentless pursuit of victory, wrapped in the essence of martial arts.
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Why do some characters embed themselves so deeply in your psyche, leaving you craving more adventures? That's precisely how I felt after reading The Last Gunfighter: Ambush Valley by William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone. If you're curious, you can check out my review by clicking here. The characters that captured my imagination and heart are Conrad and Rebel Browning. Conrad is the son of the legendary gunfighter Frank Morgan, also known as The Drifter from The Last Gunfighter series. Why do father and son have different last names? The twist is that Frank played no role in raising Conrad; in fact, after Conrad’s mother remarried, he adopted his stepfather's surname. Following the murder of his mother, which Frank avenged, Conrad became the heir to the Browning fortune. Think banks, railroads, mines. In short, Conrad is the picture-perfect businessman, while Frank is the rugged gunfighter. They’re two sides of the same coin, that is, until everything crumbles in The Loner, the first book of J.A. Johnstone's spin-off series. I was aware of the series thanks to Western Fiction Review, and had even heard whispers of a certain dramatic death from another blog that I now cannot recall, much to my chagrin. There are fifteen books in The Loner series, and my impatient self scoured for the remainder after settling into the first installment.
In The Loner, Conrad's newlywed bliss is brutally shattered when a wretched group of thugs kidnaps his spirited wife, Rebel, with a ransom demand of $50,000. His immediate instinct is to reach out to his father for assistance, but alas, Frank Morgan's whereabouts are unknown, so it falls squarely on Conrad's shoulders to rescue his beloved. Armed with cash and guns, he plunges into the canyons outside Carson City, Nevada, for a perilous exchange that turns sinister. Just when you think he has the upper hand, the gang leader catches him off guard. Spoiler Alert! Rebel meets her tragic end!
Labor Day weekend often means road trips, family gatherings, festivals, and longer hours on the road. It can also mean increased traffic enforcement. Police departments may conduct additional patrols, sobriety checkpoints, and traffic stops during busy holiday periods.
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Today, I’m shedding light on my latest reading foray: The Yellow Hair, the 10th entry in Dwight Holing's Nick Drake Mysteries. This series flew under my radar until now, but it hums with a vibe reminiscent of C.J. Box’s Joe Pickett books, albeit with a wildlife ranger-turned-sheriff instead of a game warden.
Nick Drake isn’t just any lawman; he’s a Native American Vietnam War veteran. The story takes place in the haunting backdrop of late 1979 or early 1980, and I've deduced this from the brand-new 1980 Cadillac Sedan de Ville referenced on the first page. Now, while the book is marketed as a "Contemporary Western," I'd argue it straddles genres better suited for a breezy mix of Joe Pickett and Tony Hillerman's Leaphorn & Chee novels. Sure, there are Western elements, but don't expect gunfights at high noon or dusty saloon brawls. This isn't the Wild West.
Now, let’s talk about the plot: Nick’s tenure as sheriff gets off to a brutal start with a double homicide; a couple found dead in a scene so meticulously fabricated to resemble a tragic murder-suicide that it’s almost a paint-by-numbers tragedy. Convenient, isn’t it? A smooth lie crafted to soothe the masses, but Nick’s far from fooled. As he begins peeling back the layers of this rotten onion, he finds himself embroiled in a two-front battle.
On the internal front, he’s grappling with a motley crew of green deputies who’d need more than just a badge and a uniform to keep the peace. On the external front? A ruthless political machine, fueled by shadowy figures hell-bent on burying him before the truth sees the light of day. Outmaneuvered and isolated, Nick is caught in a high-stakes game, and he must strike first and strike hard.
Do you follow book trends and bestsellers, or do you prefer hunting down lesser-known titles?
Nope. I don't pay attention to book trends; I don't have time for it. I occasionally check out the current bestseller list on Barnes & Noble and Amazon. Typically, I just keep an eye on upcoming releases from familiar authors and anything else that looks interesting to read.
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Lately, I’ve developed a strange fascination with autobiographies and biographies, especially those chronicling the lives of pulp-era authors. It’s like my aging mind is reaching back to the frontier of literature, drawn to old stories of grit and creativity. Among those who pique my interest is the Western author Ben Haas, born Benjamin Leopold Haas (1926 - 1977). A prolific writer, he churned out the first sixteen books in the Sundance series, as well as the Fargo and Culter series, under the pen name John Benteen. His 1968 Double D Western, Big Bend, written under Richard Meade, sits proudly on my shelf in hardcover.
Recently, I stumbled upon A Hack's Notebook: An Autobiography by Ben Haas, published as an eBook by Piccadilly Publishing for a mere $1.99. This autobiography was originally released in paperback back in 2020 by Lulu Press. “Wait a minute,” I hear you saying, “Didn’t you mention that Ben Haas passed away in 1977?” Rest assured, you’re not losing your grip on sanity. Tragically, Ben did indeed pass away at the age of 51. However, his family unearthed an unfinished autobiography that contained six chapters. After rummaging through his papers, they couldn’t find the rest of it, leaving us with a patchwork of his life. They decided to publish those fragments alongside Jim Henderson's memoir—Henderson being Ben’s long-time friend—and a scrapbook filled with samples of Ben's artwork, family photographs, and a bibliography. The 2026 edition is lovingly edited by Joel Haas, Ben’s son, who added a nostalgic touch with his personal introduction, Remembering My Father.
When I started reading Rathuun: King of the Prairie by David Fitz-Gerald, I didn't anticipated what I was about to embark upon. Calling it historical fiction seems a bit of a stretch, given that it’s from the perspective of a buffalo named Rathuun. Yes, you read that right: a buffalo. And let me tell you, if you want to grasp the essence of this tale, you’ll need a passport into the peculiar realm of buffalo linguistics. The author himself nudges readers toward a website full of buffalo terms like a guide trying to teach a language on the brink of extinction. Call it a quirk of mine, but I can’t help but feel slightly irked when a book requires a mini-lexicon. Yet, like a stubborn bull, I pressed through my annoyance to see what awaited me across the prairies.
Rathuun isn’t just any buffalo calf; he’s marked by a splash of white on his chin, which somehow makes him feel like a prophet of misfortune from the get-go. Born in a serene canyon, his world plunges into chaos instantly: his twin is murdered by a grizzly bear. The plains are filled with wagons rolling westward in a relentless procession, telegraph wires tattooing the sky, and locomotives roaring like angry beasts across polished steel. All the while, the specter of extinction hangs over Rathuun and his fellow buffalo, as hunters turn the prairie into a veritable slaughterhouse. You’ve got native hunters armed with arrows, herds being driven off cliffs, and an obsessed assassin on a misshapen personal vendetta against the species. You can practically hear the rifles barking, each shot a grim reminder that Rathuun’s days could be numbered. Will he become just another story buried in the dirt of history, left to rot under the relentless sun?
Is there a book you keep coming back to, reading it more than once?
It has been a while since I last reread a book, but the ones I have revisited multiple times include: The Shining by Stephen King, Pet Sematary by Stephen King, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin, and Psycho by Robert Bloch.
Hello, fellow Friday 56ers!
For this week's Friday 56 pick, hosted by My Head is Full of Books, I am featuring the 2009 Western novel The Loner by J.A. Johnstone. It is the first book in The Loner series and a spinoff of The Last Gunfighter series by William W. Johnstone, who passed away in 2004. William was the sole credited author until the 12th book, after which Fred Austin finished writing Savage Country, the 13th entry. The rest of the series credits J.A. Johnstone as a co-author, with later installments including a Publisher's Note explaining how the family estate selected authors to complete William Johnstone’s unfinished works and create new ones. I’m curious about the niece's involvement in this process. Could someone with more knowledge clarify this for me?
The hero of The Last Gunfighter series is Frank "The Drifter" Morgan, whose name is feared throughout the West due to his deadly gun skills. He has an adult son named Conrad Browning. You might wonder why they have different last names: Conrad's mother remarried, and he took his stepfather's name. Conrad has a complicated relationship with his birth father. Then Frank Morgan reappeared years later, shortly before leaving to avenge Conrad's mother's death. Conrad has inherited an empire from his mother, including railroads and banks. Unlike Frank, he is a businessman and is newly married to the spirited Rebel. This is where the spinoff, The Loner, begins, being the first of fifteen books in the series.
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