Lee J. Russell

Online Science Fiction Book Club: Robert Heinlein Society Panel interview, June 2018…

I’m feeling very pleased and honoured to have had one of my questions about the science fiction writer Robert Heinlein answered in a recent panel interview organised by the Online Science Fiction Book Club (https://www.facebook.com/groups/130411676997908/ ). Heinlein is one of my all-time favourite writers with published work spanning from 1947 to 1987, and posthumously inContinue reading “Online Science Fiction Book Club: Robert Heinlein Society Panel interview, June 2018…”

“Spectral” – Netflix (2016)…

Just finished watching ‘Spectral’ on Netflix – yep, it’s a 2016 movie that I just got around to watching. That’s actually pretty up to date for me, I’m usually 5-10 years behind! An ‘OK’ hokum entertainer of pseudo-baffle ‘science’ lashed together with soldier-dudes and plenty of gun play. Don’t let that mislead you though… asContinue reading ““Spectral” – Netflix (2016)…”

“Born with the Dead” – Robert Silverberg, 1974

I’ve just finished re-reading Robert Silverberg’s 1974 novella ‘Born with the Dead’ and loved it all over again… I first read this story in the early ’80s and it really stuck with me. I’ve probably given away around a thousand books over the past 30 years, including this one. However, Silverberg was my favourite sci-fiContinue reading ““Born with the Dead” – Robert Silverberg, 1974″

James Phelan – “The Hunted”…

Here’s my review of James Phelan’s “The Hunted” that I finished this afternoon… This was the first ‘Jed Walker’, and indeed the first James Phelan book, that I’ve read. The book had a reasonable plot that took some time to unravel and the closing sequences in St Louis, Missouri, clipped past quickly enough to keepContinue reading “James Phelan – “The Hunted”…”

Evil Eye – A Lissa Blackwood Thriller

Had a lovely afternoon walking with my daughter and spent some time brainstorming a title for my current work in progress… and I’m pleased to say it now has one! So… drumroll and fanfare please… the name of my next book will be… Evil Eye – A Lissa Blackwood Thriller I’m hoping to have theContinue reading “Evil Eye – A Lissa Blackwood Thriller”

Progress on writing “the BREXIT thriller”…

I really must find a title for my current project, a post-BREXIT espionage Thriller! That’s my goal this weekend… if I achieve nothing else, and I might not in the current UK heatwave, it would be great to get a title together for this story. Progress has been intermittent on this book. By Christmas IContinue reading “Progress on writing “the BREXIT thriller”…”

… but not every “le Carré” is a good “le Carré”…

As much as I enjoyed le Carré stories I shared in my first post, I have to say that I have very mixed feelings about “The Night Manager”. It started well and I had high hopes that I was about to be entertained with a masterpiece of observational writing. I have stayed at many hotelsContinue reading “… but not every “le Carré” is a good “le Carré”…”

Are “Ghost in the Shell” and “Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex” the perfect anime?

I’m not an expert on manga and anime, but there is something captivating about both of these stories. They are set in the fictional mid-21st Century Japanese city of Niihama, where a law enforcement agency called ‘Public Security Section 9’ are conducting counter-terrorism operations. So far, so normal, in our modern day world. But thisContinue reading “Are “Ghost in the Shell” and “Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex” the perfect anime?”

The best place to begin? John le Carré…

There was a singular character that sucked me back into Thrillers when I started reading them in earnest last year… George Smiley, created by John le Carré. Smiley is an odd character; to me he didn’t feel directly prominent but there was something about him that stuck in the back of mind, like he wasContinue reading “The best place to begin? John le Carré…”

Thrillers, Espionage and Nietzsche…

I was describing the progress on my latest work-in-progress (the post-Brexit espionage thriller, still untitled) to a colleague last week and stunned myself into silence when I made a connection that I hadn’t seen before… A few years back I read my way through some of the popular works of the most famous philosophers andContinue reading “Thrillers, Espionage and Nietzsche…”