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Movie Review: The Dark Knight The Entertainment Critic Movie Review www.theentertainmentcritic.com www.theentertainmentcritic.net www.theentertainmentcriticmagazine.com In Theatres Now Review Opened July 18, 2008 By James Myers Rating: 9 of 10 Director: Christopher Nolan Writers (WGA): Jonathan Nolan (screenplay) and Christopher Nolan (screenplay) Release Date: 18 July 2008 (USA) Genre: Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller more Tagline: Why So Serious? Plot: Batman and James Gordon join forces with Gotham's new District Attorney, Harvey Dent, to take on a psychotic bank robber known as The Joker. Plot Keywords: One Man Army | Scarred Face | Based On Comic | Evil Clown | Ice Cream Parlor Numbers Show 'Dark Knight' Will Smash Several Box-Office Records (From Rope Of Silicon. 19 July 2008, 2:40 AM, PDT) Cast: Christian Bale ... Bruce Wayne / Batman Heath Ledger ... The Joker Aaron Eckhart ... Harvey Dent / Two-Face Michael Caine ... Alfred Pennyworth Maggie Gyllenhaal ... Rachel Dawes Gary Oldman ... Lt. James Gordon Morgan Freeman ... Lucius Fox Monique Curnen ... Det. Ramirez Ron Dean ... Detective Wuertz Cillian Murphy ... Dr. Jonathan Crane / The Scarecrow Chin Han ... Lau Nestor Carbonell ... Mayor Eric Roberts ... Salvatore Maroni Ritchie Coster ... The Chechen Anthony Michael Hall ... Mike Engel MPAA: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and some menace. Runtime: 152 min Country: USA Language: English Sound Mix: Dolby Digital | SDDS | DTS | Sonics-DDP (IMAX version) Certification: Norway:15 | New Zealand:M | Finland:K-13 | Singapore:PG | Canada:14+ | USA:PG-13 | Australia:M | UK:12A | South Korea:15 | Ireland:15A Filming Locations: Battersea Power Station, Battersea, London, England, UK more Company: Warner Bros. Pictures Every summer there is that one blockbuster that is the marquee event of the summer, the 'Jaws' type blockbuster that film buffs are willing to stand in line to see. The Dark Knight is 2008's top blockbuster, and by the time its run ends, it may be the most pervasive blockbuster ever. Dark, mysterious, and foreboding, this is an edgy, gripping thriller. The performance by the late Heath Ledger more than meets the hype, and it alone is worth the price of admission. The Dark Knight is a 2008 American superhero film co-written and directed by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is a sequel to Batman Begins (2005). Christian Bale reprises the lead role. Batman's primary conflicts in the film include his fight against the Joker (Heath Ledger) and his strained friendship with district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). For his conception of the film, Nolan was inspired by the Joker's first two appearances in the comics and Batman: The Long Halloween. The Dark Knight was filmed primarily in Chicago (as was Batman Begins), as well as in several other locations in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong. The director used an IMAX camera to film six major action sequences, including the Joker's first appearance in the film. The Batsuit was redesigned, with a cowl allowing Bale to move his head. The film also introduces a recreation of the Batcycle, known as the Batpod. The film begins with the Joker robbing a mob-owned bank, and double crossing his accomplices so he can have all the money. That night, multiple Batman impersonators interrupt a meeting between mobsters and the Scarecrow. The real Batman shows up and subdues everyone, but injuries suffered during the confrontation force him to acquire a new, more functional suit of armor. Batman and Lieutenant James Gordon (Gary Oldman), contemplate bringing new district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) in on their plan to eradicate the mob, and the possibility that Dent will become the hero to the people that Batman cannot be. At the same time, Bruce and Harvey are both competing for the love of Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal). The mob bosses meet to discuss how to handle Batman, Gordon, and Dent, while a Chinese mobster accountant, Lau (Chin Han), lets the gang leaders know he has taken their money to Hong Kong to prevent the police and the district attorney from seizing it in an imminent bank raid. The Joker arrives and proposes to kill Batman for them, and also tries to convince them that Lau will give them all up to the police if he is caught. After Batman successfully abducts Lau in Hong Kong and delivers him to the Gotham City police, the mobsters agree to pay the Joker half of their money in return for killing Batman. The Joker tells all of Gotham that if the Batman does not unmask himself and turn himself in to the police, then he will kill innocent people every day. When the Joker begins killing off public officials despite the best efforts of the police and Batman to thwart him, Wayne decides to give in and turn himself in to the police. However, before he can do so, Dent publically admits to being "the Batman" to draw the Joker out of hiding. The Joker attempts to kill Dent during transport, but Gordon and Batman arrive in time to stop and arrest him. With the Joker in custody, Batman interrogates the Joker, physically beating him until he reveals that Rachel and Dent have been taken to opposite sides of the city, far-enough apart that Batman does not have time to save both of them. Batman speeds off to save Rachel, while Gordon and the police head after Dent. Unknown to them, the Joker has switched the locations of both, sending Batman after Dent and Gordon after Rachel. With the help of a pre-planted phone bomb, the Joker escapes with Lau in tow. Dent and Rachel awaken to find themselves tied to chairs with barrels of explosive material surrounding them. Dent attempts to free himself, but accidentally immerses the left side of his face in turpentine when he falls on the floor. Batman arrives and rescues Dent just as both buildings explode; the left side of Dent's face is burned during the explosion. Gordon does not reach Rachel in time and she dies in the explosion. In the hospital, Dent is driven to madness over the loss of Rachel, which he blames on Batman, Gordon and the Joker. The Joker sets up another elaborate plan; first he convinces Harvey to exact revenge on those responsible for Rachel's death. While "Harvey Two-Face"(Aaron Eckhart) confronts the corrupt cops and the mobsters one by one, flipping a coin to decide their fates, the Joker burns Lau at the top of the clown's share of mob money, stacked into a tower. The Joker then declares that he will rule the streets and that anyone left in Gotham at nightfall will be subject to his rule, but also suggests the outbound bridges and tunnels are booby trapped which makes the ferries the preferred method out of the city. Knowing the large ships would be filled to capacity, the Joker plants explosives on two ferries and gives the passengers on board the chance to destroy the opposing vessel, one full of prison convicts and another with civilians, in order to save their own lives. Batman tracks the Joker to an uncompleted skyscraper turning all the cell phones in Gotham into a giant sonar system and prevents him from blowing up two ferries when both vessels' occupants decide they would rather die than kill innocents. Dangling from a wire, the Joker acknowledges that Batman really is incorruptible, but that Dent was not and he has unleashed Harvey's madness upon the city. Batman finds Gordon and his family with Dent at the building where Rachel died. Harvey proceeds to judge Batman, himself, and Gordon's son through the chance of coin flip, which he sees as the only fairness left in the world. Harvey shoots Batman in the stomach but before he can determine the boy's fate, Batman tackles him over the side of the building, saving Gordon's son. As Dent lies motionless on the ground, Batman and Gordon decide that the Joker would win if anyone found out about Dent's corruption and madness. In order to uphold Dent's vision, Batman convinces Gordon to blame all of Dent's murders on him to preserve Dent's image as Gotham's hero and give the city hope. As Gordon destroys the Bat-Signal, a manhunt is issued for Batman. The competing themes in the movie make the dark, sinister backdrop even more persuasive. Does the vigilante have to abandon his code of helping law enforcement within some set of rules to rid the world of uncontrollable evil? Bruce Wayne as Batman longs for 'a normal life' with Rachel, who he has lost to the larger that life DA Harvey Dent. As long as he remains the Batman, he cannot have a normal life; he cannot have Rachel. The Joker, a "psychopathic, mass murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy," played expertly by Heath Ledger ("I believe whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you... stranger."), is reminiscent of Alex (Malcolm McDowell) in a Clockwork Orange. He seems to want only anarchy and chaos, existential disaster to prove his paradigm of life: all goodness is corruptible and men are innately evil, contemptible beings. ("Introduce a little anarchy... Upset the established order... Well then everyone loses their minds!") If you have ever read Mark Twain's 'The Man Who Corrupted Hadlyburg' you get the idea. Man is cable of only good or evil; the Joker's real mission is to prove man is capable of only 'ultraviolent' evil, particularly the Batman. His mission is to put his adversaries in impossible ethical and moral dilemmas that have no real solution and where the problem solvers do not know the truth behind their choices until it is too late. And once they choose, the inadvertently commit acts of evil violence. Humiliation, exposure, and dominance motivate the Joker. Micheal Caine as 'Alfred' says it best: "Some men aren't looking for anything logical. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn." Unknowingly, it is his desire to exposure Batman as evil by performing acts of incredible violence that keeps Bruce Wayne from achieving his goal of acceptance and 'a normal life.' This tension is incredible throughout the movie, buttresses by living and vivid action sequences that simply have to be seen to be believed. The writing and direction in this film is first-rate. The background and sets are incredibly gritty and urban. Chicago provides much of the locale in the film. The acting for a comic book movie is truly surprising, and the special effects are memorizing. The score and the music for the film make the dark sets seem even darker. But the glue that truly holds this film together is Health Ledger's amazing performance. His obsessive performance of a complex and inexplicable criminal make this story more than just a comic book crime thriller, but a study of the intricacies of a serial killer that rivals Charles Manson. This is a performance that may well rate an Oscar nomination. Emotionally, you may leave the theatre feeling drained. This is an involving film that requires your attention. Don't be surprised if your neighbors tell you to see it twice. Complex, dark and disturbing, this is an intense film that has moments when you are startled right out of your chair, and may be too intense for young viewers. The Dark Knight is clearly this summer's best film so far and maybe the best grossing summer film ever. The Dark Knight opened on July 16, 2008 in Australia and July 18, 2008 with midnight screenings in 3,040 theaters. From the first midnight screenings, the film has earned $18.5 million and has set a new midnight debut record beating Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith which earned $16.9 million. The Dark Knight set a single-day box office record of $66.4 million, breaking a record of $59.8 million previously held by Spider-Man 3. This weekend as I write this, it has been widely reported that all 4000 theatres nationwide are sold out. An ambitious film, this one is this summer's must see. Almost perfect, I give this one an enthusiastic recommendation. Movie Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M_dzsvEfyM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2efmHXjCwc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vWRDs-jEto http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Reo19mW5p7w

NEW INTERVIEW FROM THE ENTERTAINMENT CRITIC: ROY AND IRIS JOHANSEN, CO- AUTHORS OF SILENT THUNDER Please check out the new interview by James Myers, The Entertainment Critic, of Co-Authors, Roy and Iris Johansen, about their New NY Times Selling Book, Silent Thunder. From The Publisher: "Bestseller Johansen (Quicksand) and her Edgar-winning son, Roy (Deadly Visions), collaborate on their first thriller with entertaining results. Hannah Bryson, a top-notch submarine designer, and her brother, Conner, must make sure that a Russian nuclear submarine, the Silent Thunder, recently purchased by the U.S. government for use as a maritime museum, is safe for visitors. Working alone on the sub in a Maine harbor, the two make a strange discovery that's swiftly followed by a deadly attack. Others, both Russian and American, want what the Brysons have uncovered and will stop at nothing to obtain it. One Russian, Nicolas Kirov, has a special interest in the submarine as well as a growing interest in the feisty, beautiful Hannah. The constantly bickering Hannah and Kirov are forced to work together for a common goal as they fight various enemies and, of course, fall in love. The romantic subplot threatens to take over the action, but is thankfully reined in at the exciting finale. 12-city author tour. (July)" Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. This interview is available exclusively on The Entertainment Critic Magazine, found at http://www.theentertainmentcriticmagazine.com. To listen to the interview: To access the interview, look under the Interview section, and then click on the MP3 player in the lower left corner. You'll see the interview listed, click on Roy and Iris Johansen name in the player, the interview will take a moment to download and then will begin playing Enjoy the interview, and please drop us a line at james@theentertainmentcriticmagazine.com and let us know how you liked the interview and if there is anything we can do to improve our process. You Tube Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x0ifFX0hzc Iris's Official Website: http://www.irisjohansen.com/

NEW INTERVIEW FROM THE ENTERTAINMENT CRITIC: DEBORAH CROMBIE, AUTHOR OF WHERE MEMORIES LIE Please check out the new interview by James Myers, The Entertainment Critic, of Author Deborah Crombie, About Her New Top Selling Book, Where Memories Lie. From The Publisher: "Erika Rosenthal has always been secretive with her friend and neighbor, Detective Inspector Gemma James, about her past, except for one telling detail: She and her long-dead husband, David, came to London as refugees from Nazi Germany. But now the elderly woman needs Gemma's help. A unique piece of jewelry stolen from her years ago has mysteriously turned up at a prestigious London auction house. Erika believes the theft may be tied to her husband's death, which had always been assumed a suicide. Gemma has a tough challenge. She must navigate the shadowy and secretive world of London's monied society to discover the jewelry's connection to David's murderer. However, the cold case needs to be put back on the books and possibly into the hands of her partner, Duncan Kincaid. When a second, present-day murder kicks the investigation into high gear, Gemma becomes more determined to exact justice for Erika in a case that will have lasting repercussions." This interview is available exclusively on The Entertainment Critic Magazine, found at http://www.theentertainmentcriticmagazine.com. To listen to the interview: To access the interview, look under the Interview section, and then click on the MP3 player in the lower left corner. You'll see the interview listed, click on Deborah's name in the player, the interview will take a moment to download and then will begin playing Enjoy the interview, and please drop us a line at james@theentertainmentcriticmagazine.com and let us know how you liked the interview and if there is anything we can do to improve our process.

Hold Tight THE ENTERTAINMENT CRITIC BOOK REVIEW, BY JAMES MYERS www.theentertainmentcritic.com www.theentertainmentcritic.net www.theentertainmentcriticmagazine.com HOLD TIGHT By Harlan Coben Published by: Dutton, a Division of The Penguin Group (USA) Publication Date: April, 2008 Price: $26.95 416 Pages ISBN-13: 9780525950608 Five Star Rating ***** HARLAN COBEN (BORN JANUARY 4, 1962) IS A JEWISH AMERICAN AUTHOR OF MYSTERY NOVELS. THE PLOTS OF HIS NOVELS OFTEN INVOLVE THE RESURFACING OF UNRESOLVED OR MISINTERPRETED EVENTS IN THE PAST (SUCH AS MURDERS, FATAL ACCIDENTS, ETC.) AND OFTEN HAVE MULTIPLE PLOT TWISTS. BOTH SERIES OF COBEN'S BOOKS ARE SET IN AND AROUND NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY, AND SOME OF THE SUPPORTING CHARACTERS IN TWO SERIES OF NOVELS HAVE APPEARED IN BOTH. HIS NOVELS ARE MOST POPULAR IN THE UNITED STATES AND FRANCE LAST 7 NOVELS HAVE APPEARED AT THE TOP OF ALL MAJOR BEST SELLER LISTS, INCLUDING THE NEW YORK TIMES, BOOK SENSE, THE TIMES (LONDON) LE MONDE, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, USA TODAY, & THE WALL STREET JOURNAL THE WOODS WAS ON THE BEST SELLERS LISTS ACROSS AMERICA AND ALONG WITH PROMISE ME WAS NAMED ONE OF THE BEST THRILLERS OF THE YEAR BY LIBRARY JOURNAL HIS BOOKS HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED IN 38 LANGUAGES AND OVER 40 MILLION COPIES HAVE BEEN SOLD WORLDWIDE HOLD TIGHT PUBLISHED IN THE US ON APRIL 15, 2008 QUICKLY ASCENDED TO THE TOP OF THE NY TIMES BEST SELLER LIST THE WEEK OF MAY 1-8, 2008 AWARDS: 2001-TELL NO ONE: NOMINATED FOR EDGAR, ANTHONY, MACAVITY, NERO, BARRY, AUDIE, # 1 HARDCOVER ON BOOK SENSE 76 LIST, MOST DECORATED THRILLER OF 2001 2003-NO SECOND CHANCE FIRST EVER INTERNATIONAL BOOK OF THE MONTH FOR BOOKSPAN SINCE 1995: WON AN EDGAR, SHAMUS, AND ANTHONY ---FIRST WRITER TO WIN ALL 3 ON THE SHORTLIST FOR THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS AUTHOR OF THE YEAR (OSCAR OF THE BOOK TRADE). THE 1ST AMERICAN TO MAKE THE LIST FILMS: TELL NO ONE RELEASED AS A FILM IN FRANCE IN 2006, GROSSED OVER $32 MILLION; TO BE RELEASED IN US IN THE SUMMER OF 2008; VARIETY CALLS THE FILM, "A SHARP, EFFICIENT PACKAGE." TELEVISION: FOX TV HAS PURCHASED THE RIGHTS TO THE POPULAR MYRON BOLITAR SERIES FOR A PILOT BY BONES "The van was white with tinted windows. The back doors were open like a mouth waiting to swallow her whole. And standing there, right by those doors, now taking hold of Marianne and pushing her up inside the van, was the man with the bushy mustache. Marianne tried to pull up, but it was no use. Mustache tossed her in as if she was a sack of peat moss. She landed on the van's floor with a thud. He crawled in, closed the back doors, and stood over her. Marianne rolled into a fetal position. Her stomach still ached, but fear was taking over now. The man peeled off his mustache and smiled at her. The van started moving. Straw Hair must be driving. "Hi Marianne," he said. She couldn't move, couldn't breath. He sat next to her, pulled his fist back, and punched her hard in the stomach. If the pain had been bad before, it went to another dimension now. "Where's the tape? he asked. And then he began to hurt her for real." "HOW MUCH SHOULD PARENTS REALLY WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THEIR KIDS?"---Dutton Publishing One of the greatest thriller writers in history is back with a provocative new novel, Hold Tight. Harlan Coben weaves of tale that combines intrigue and technology in this incredible page turner. Seemingly divergent plots weave a tale of sex and death in the best edge of your seat story of 2008. Coben has a knack for taking the mundane occurrences in life and turning them upside down into scary thrillers that are among the most compulsive page turners in writing history. He singled handedly has invented what has been referred to as "the family thriller." The family thriller involves tingling situations where ordinary people are forced to confront modern day fears when they are placed in situations that rapidly become beyond their control. You always have that, "but for the grace of God, there go I," feeling when you read Coben's books. His newest effort, Hold Tight is just such a book. Coben boldly expands on the family thriller in this joyride of a book. Hold Tight asks the simple questions: what would you do to keep your kids safe? Are you willing to spy on your kids to keep them for harm? How far is too far? How far is not far enough? Are there things you do not want to know about your children? In this book, Coben takes unforeseen events and weaves multiple plots into an amazing climax, all the while asking the question: How do you weigh your child's privacy against the parent's right to know? Do parents have 'the right or the duty' to spy on their children to keep them safe? How can you tell what is normal rebellious teenage behavior from an out of control cry for help? In his 15th novel, Coben addresses these questions and scares the dickens out of us, in this well-crafted thriller. Tia and Mike Baye have a normal family, (kinda like Ward & June Cleaver) complete with an 11 year old precocious daughter, and a hockey loving teenage son. But sixteen year old Adam suddenly becomes distant and sullen after his best friend, Spencer Hill suddenly commits suicide. The parents become more and more concerned. Finally, out of desperation, they install a spyware program on Adam's computer, the will appraise them of every e-mail, IM, and text message he sends and receives. When a message comes to their attention, "Just stay quiet and all safe," they are jolted. Spencer Hill supposedly died alone, but Spencer's mother, Betsy Hill, discovers that Adam may have been with Spencer the night before his death. Before anyone can get to the bottom of just what Adam knows about Spencer's death, Adam disappears. Mike Baye, a doctor and Tia Baye, a lawyer, are not the types to just sit around, so action is taken to find Adam. Long hidden secrets in the neighborhood and among its children begin to surface. At the same time, one woman is found dead and another is missing, and somehow the police suspect all of these matters are connected to Dr. Baye and his missing prescription pads. This could cost Dr. Mike everything. As if Mike Baye isn't dealing with enough, he also learns that Lucas Loriman, the sweet kid who grew up next door, is in urgent need of a kidney transplant. As the boy's doctor, Mike suddenly finds himself in possession of an explosive secret that threatens to rip the Loriman family apart. Eleven year Jill Baye is sticking by her best friend Yasmin after a teacher at school made such a devastating remark to her, that her classmates have teased her to the point where Yasmin and her hard-luck, single parent father are considering moving away. This is something Jill does not want to happen. Mike's best hope is to track Adam by using the GPS on his phone. Somehow Adam is connected to a strange teen club in Manhattan and a killer who is on the loose named Nash who takes a little too much pleasure in his work. Randomly, yet selectively killing women in the neighborhood, the police seem to think these women knew each other. "We're not even sure what he's trying to accomplish: just that he's very, very good at it; and very, very scary." Nash is the scariest character I've read so far this year. This is by far and away Coben's best book to date. He spins several plotlines that at first seem disconnected and then slowly weaves them into a tale that is frightening, and intriguing at the same time. In this book, we are witnesses to a master storyteller who takes us on a giant thrill ride from start to finish. This is the freshest family thriller of 2008, and Coben is clearly at the top of his game. Don't let anyone interrupt you when you read this one. There is too much going on to answer the phone. Gripping and thrilling, this one is masterful. Harlan, clear off a few spots on that award shelf at home, you're about to collect some more hardware. Nearly a perfect book, this one is almost a 6 star effort. The inventor of the family thriller is at the top of his craft, and if you read only one book this summer

The Whole Truth THE ENTERTAINMENT CRITIC BOOK REVIEW, BY JAMES MYERS www.theentertainmentcritic.com www.theentertainmentcritic.net www.theentertainmentcriticmagazine.com THE WHOLE TRUTH By David Baldacci Published by: Grand Central Publishing Publication Date: April, 2008 Price: $26.95 406 Pages ISBN-13: 9780446195973 Four Star Rating **** BALDACCI RECEIVED A B.A. FROM VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY AND A LAW DEGREE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA. AS A STUDENT, BALDACCI WROTE SHORT STORIES IN HIS SPARE TIME, AND LATER PRACTICED LAW FOR NINE YEARS NEAR WASHINGTON, D.C. WHILE LIVING IN ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA, BALDACCI WROTE SHORT STORIES AND SCREENPLAYS WITHOUT MUCH SUCCESS. IN DESPAIR, HE TURNED TO NOVEL WRITING, TAKING THREE YEARS TO WRITE ABSOLUTE POWER. IT TOOK BALDACCI TWO YEARS TO GET THE BOOK PUBLISHED, BUT WHEN IT FINALLY DID HIT THE SHELVES IN 1996 IT WAS AN INTERNATIONAL BEST SELLER. IT WAS MADE INTO A FILM, ABSOLUTE POWER (1997), STARRING CLINT EASTWOOD AND GENE HACKMAN BALDACCI HAS GONE ON TO PUBLISH FOURTEEN MORE NOVELS: TOTAL CONTROL, THE WINNER, THE SIMPLE TRUTH, SAVING FAITH, WISH YOU WELL, LAST MAN STANDING, THE CHRISTMAS TRAIN, SPLIT SECOND, HOUR GAME, CAMEL CLUB, THE COLLECTORS, SIMPLE GENIUS, STONE COLD, AND THE YOUNG ADULT NOVEL FREDDY AND THE FRENCH FRIES: FRIES ALIVE! HE HAS ALSO PUBLISHED A NOVELLA FOR THE DUTCH ENTITLED OFFICE HOURS, WRITTEN FOR THE NETHERLANDS' YEAR 2000 "MONTH OF THE THRILLER". BALDACCI ALSO AUTHORED A SHORT STORY, "THE MIGHTY JOHNS", AS PART OF A 2002 MYSTERY ANTHOLOGY. BALDACCI HAS AUTHORED SEVEN ORIGINAL SCREENPLAYS, AND HIS WORKS HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED IN MAGAZINES, NEWSPAPERS, AND JOURNALS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. ALL OF HIS BOOKS HAVE BECOME NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERS, TRANSLATED INTO OVER 37 LANGUAGES AND SOLD IN MORE THAN 85 COUNTRIES. OVER 40 MILLION COPIES OF BALDACCI'S BOOKS ARE IN PRINT WORLDWIDE. DAVID BALDACCI SERVES AS A NATIONAL AMBASSADOR FOR THE NATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY AND PARTICIPATES IN NUMEROUS CHARITIES AS WELL AS FOUNDING HIS OWN FAMILY FOUNDATION FOR LITERACY, WISH YOU WELL FOUNDATION. "AT PRECISELY ZERO HOURS UT, or midnight Universal Time, the image of the tortured man erupted onto the world's most popular Web site. The first six words he spoke would be remembered forever by everyone who heard them. "I am dead. I was murdered." He was speaking Russian on the screen but at the bottom his tragic story was retold in virtually any language one desired with the press of a key. Secret Russian Federation police had beaten "confessions" of treason out of him and his family. He'd managed to escape and make this crude video. Whoever held the camera had either been scared to death, drunk, or both, for the grainy film vibrated and shook every few seconds. The man said if the video had been released that meant he'd been recaptured by government thugs and was already dead. His crime? Simply wanting freedom. "There are tens of thousands just like me," he told the world. "Their bones lie heavy on the frozen tundra of Siberia and in the deep waters of Lake Balkhash in Kazakhstan. You will see evidence of this soon. There are others who will take up the fight now that I am gone." He warned that while the world had focused on the Osama bin Ladens of the world for so long, the old evil, with a destructive force a million times greater than the combined Islamic renegades, was clearly back, and deadlier than ever. "It is time the world knew the whole truth," he shouted at the camera, then broke down in tears. "My name is Konstantin. My name was Konstantin," he corrected. "It is too late for me and my family. We are all dead now. My wife, my three children, all gone. Do not forget me, and why I died. Do not let my family perish in vain." As the man's image and voice faded from view, a mushroom cloud lit up the screen, and superimposed on the bottom of this horrifying visual was the ominous tagline: First the Russian people, then the rest of the world. Can we afford to wait? " "Wars are the easiest things to start and the hardest things to end." ---David Baldacci, The Whole Truth The versatile David Baldacci is back with his new political thriller, The Whole Truth. This novel asks a unique question: What if the entire world, governments, leaders, and citizens around the globe were united on a crusade to stop an evil that doesn't exist, was completely fabricated, and promulgated in a savvy public relations ploy through mass communications and the Internet. In his 15th legal thriller, Baldacci asks, how would we respond to an imaginary global crisis? Baldacci has elected to take us one step beyond 1984, by giving us a look behind the curtain at the wizard himself. Nicholas Creed, owner and operator of the Ayres Corporation, is a billionaire military weapons manufacturer who has no boundaries for his ambitions. Creed wants to restructure the world in his own image, and he has the wealth, power and knowledge to do it. He can control world order by manipulating not only people, but entire countries. He wants to take the focus off the Mideast, and bring back The Cold War to put the world's ire back where it belongs. He hires Dick Pender, former White House staffer and spinmaster, founder of Pender and Associates, a highly profitable perception magician who specializes in "perception management." ("Dick, I need a war.") Perception management does not spin facts or stories; it prefers to manufacture the facts and sell them to the na ve public as true. ('Why waste time trying to discover the truth, when you can so easily create it?') Creed needs a war to boost sagging arms sales; Pender produces a fabricated "You Tube" type video, consisting of doctored news footage, and an actor, Konstantin, who claims thousands are being killed by a "Secret Russian Federation." The actor on the video speaks, 'It is time the world knew THE WHOLE TRUTH.' The result is that the world condemns Russia as mass murderers. A build up of arms between Russia and China begins in earnest. The smear campaign works, enabling Creed to push and escalate an arms race, making his company wildly profitable. Shaw, a mystery man with no past, working for a super secret agency of the US government, has lived many lives outwitting terrorists, drug lords, skinhead and international wrong doers. He is a James Bond-like figure, and Baldacci's most intriguing character. As a hired gun, it is his job to find out who and what is behind this great fabrication. He works for this agency under duress (they've planted an explosive tracking device in his arm). He'd like to retire and settle down with his fiancee, Anna Fischer, who works for the Phoenix Group think tank. Unfortunately, the think tank is one of the pawns in the Creed/Pender network. The book really begins to heat up, when Anna sends an e-mail critical of the invented Russian story to an Internet blogger. By accident she has put her man into the dead center of this controversy. A team of supposed Russian hit men invade the Phoenix Group and kill everyone in the building --- including Anna. When Shaw learns of this, he re-ups with his agency and vows to find and destroy the people behind this massacre. A fourth figure in this novel is Katie James, a journalist, who has written a story that turns out to be completely false, and return from Afghanistan an alcoholic barely able to handle her new assignment, the obit column. A two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner, disgraced and demoted, she is determined to get back into the limelight by landing a major story. Inadvertently, she stumbles on to an operation involving Shaw, who saves her life, but condemns her to life on the run with him. She may have finally found the biggest story of her life; that is if Shaw can keep them both alive. She and Shaw are on the run throughout the U.S. and Europe, just a half step ahead of the killers while trying to work out just what is the whole truth. Baldacci's tale is striking on several levels. Well written, great prose, spy-like dialogue and breathtaking suspense make this a great political thriller. The Shaw is a character we hope to see a lot more of. I get the feeling that Baldacci could create a whole series of thrillers around this guy. Baldacci is the master of engrossing political tomes that are centered on frightening modern realities. The ease that the communications made through the 'Net can be misused to mislead is a disturbing thought-provoking concept. Video is so easily distributed to your MySpace and Facebook pages, that mass movements, commercial and political, can be created overnight. No one is better at warning about the modern day Big Lie like David Baldacci. Big Brother meets You Tube in this one of kind international thriller. Bond and Bourne have nothing on Baldacci. This is an international spy thriller that you just cannot put down.

Hollywood Crows THE ENTERTAINMENT CRITIC BOOK REVIEW, BY JAMES MYERS www.theentertainmentcritic.com www.theentertainmentcritic.net www.theentertainmentcriticmagazine.com HOLLYWOOD CROWS By Joseph Wambaugh Published by: Little, Brown & Company Publication Date: March, 2008 Price: $26.99 343 Pages ISBN-13: 9780316025287 Four Star Rating **** JOSEPH ALOYSIUS WAMBAUGH, JR. (BORN JANUARY 22, 1937, IN EAST PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA) IS AN AMERICAN WRITER KNOWN FOR HIS FICTIONAL AND NON-FICTIONAL ACCOUNTS OF POLICE WORK IN THE UNITED STATES. SERVED 14 YEARS IN THE LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT WAMBAUGH'S UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE ON THE REALITIES OF POLICE WORK LED TO HIS FIRST NOVEL, THE NEW CENTURIONS, WHICH WAS PUBLISHED EARLY IN 1971 TO CRITICAL ACCLAIM AND POPULAR SUCCESS. THE SUCCESS OF THE EARLY BOOKS HAPPENED WHILE WAMBAUGH WAS STILL WORKING IN THE DETECTIVE DIVISION. HE REPORTEDLY REMARKED "I WOULD HAVE GUYS IN HANDCUFFS ASKING ME FOR AUTOGRAPHS." SOON TURNING TO WRITING FULL-TIME, WAMBAUGH WAS PROLIFIC AND POPULAR STARTING IN THE 1970S, MIXING NOVELS (THE BLUE KNIGHT, THE CHOIRBOYS, THE BLACK MARBLE) WITH NONFICTION ACCOUNTS OF CRIME AND DETECTION A.K.A. "TRUE CRIME" (THE ONION FIELD). LATER BOOKS INCLUDED THE GLITTER DOME (A TV-MOVIE ADAPTATION STARRED JAMES GARNER AND JOHN LITHGOW), THE DELTA STAR, AND LINES AND SHADOWS. HIS TRADEMARK IS GRITTY POLICE CHARACTERS THAT HAVE HEROIC FLAWS MANY OF HIS BOOKS WERE MADE INTO FEATURE FILMS OR TV-MOVIES DURING THE 70S AND 80S. THE BLUE KNIGHT, A NOVEL FOLLOWING THE APPROACHING RETIREMENT AND LAST WORKING DAYS OF AGING VETERAN BEAT COP "BUMPER" MORGAN, WAS MADE INTO AN EMMY-WINNING 1973 TV MINISERIES STARRING WILLIAM HOLDEN AND LATER A SHORT-LIVED TV SERIES STARRING GEORGE KENNEDY. HIS REALISTIC APPROACH TO POLICE DRAMA WAS HIGHLY INFLUENTIAL IN BOTH FILM AND TELEVISION DEPICTIONS (SUCH AS HILL STREET BLUES) FROM THE MID-70S ONWARD. WAMBAUGH WAS ALSO INVOLVED WITH CREATING/DEVELOPING THE NBC SERIES POLICE STORY, WHICH RAN FROM 1973 TO 1977. THE ANTHOLOGY SHOW COVERED THE DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF POLICE WORK (PATROL, DETECTIVE, UNDERCOVER, ETC.) IN THE LAPD WITH STORY IDEAS AND CHARACTERS SUPPOSEDLY INSPIRED BY OFF-THE-RECORD TALKS WITH ACTUAL POLICE OFFICERS. AT TIMES THE SHOW'S CHARACTERS ALSO DEALT WITH PROBLEMS NOT USUALLY SEEN OR ASSOCIATED WITH TYPICAL TV COP SHOWS, SUCH AS ALCOHOL ABUSE, ADULTERY, AND BRUTALITY. THE SHOW HAD A BRIEF REVIVAL ON ABC DURING THE 1988-1989 SEASON. WAMBAUGH WAS ALSO INVOLVED IN THE PRODUCTION OF THE ACCLAIMED FILM VERSIONS OF THE ONION FIELD (1979) AND THE BLACK MARBLE (1980), BOTH DIRECTED BY HAROLD BECKER. IN 1981, HE WON AN EDGAR AWARD FROM THE MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA FOR HIS SCREENPLAY FOR THE LATTER FILM. THIS WAS AFTER THE CHOIRBOYS FILM ADAPTATION HAD MET WITH VERY POOR CRITICAL AND AUDIENCE RECEPTION A FEW YEARS EARLIER. INTERESTINGLY, ALL THREE FILMS FEATURED PERFORMANCES BY THEN YOUNG UP-AND-COMING ACTOR JAMES WOODS. ONE OF WAMBAUGH'S MOST FAMOUS NONFICTION BOOKS IS THE BLOODING, WHICH TELLS THE STORY BEHIND HOW AN EARLY LANDMARK CASE INVOLVING DNA FINGERPRINTING HELPED SOLVE TWO MURDERS IN LEICESTER, ENGLAND, RESULTING IN THE ARREST AND CONVICTION OF COLIN PITCHFORK. IN 2003, FIRE LOVER: A TRUE STORY BROUGHT WAMBAUGH HIS SECOND EDGAR AWARD, FOR BEST CRIME FACT BOOK, AND IN 2004 HE WAS THE RECIPIENT OF AN MWA GRAND MASTER AWARD. HE RETURNED TO FICTION WITH HOLLYWOOD STATION (2006), HIS FIRST BOOK DEPICTING LIFE IN THE LAPD SINCE THE DELTA STAR (1983). HOLLYWOOD STATION WAS HIGHLY CRITICAL OF CONDITIONS CAUSED BY THE FEDERAL CONSENT DECREE UNDER WHICH THE LAPD HAD TO OPERATE AFTER THE RAMPART SCANDAL. IN THE 2000S, WAMBAUGH ALSO BEGAN TEACHING SCREENWRITING COURSES AS A GUEST LECTURER FOR THE THEATER DEPARTMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO. "Dude, you better drop that long knife," the tall, suntanned cop said. At Hollywood Station they called him "Flotsam" by virtue of his being a surfing enthusiast. His shorter partner, also with a major tan, hair even more suspiciously blond and sun streaked, dubbed "Jetsam" for the same reason, said, sotto voce, "Bro, that ain't a knife. That's a bayonet, in case you can't see too good. And why didn't you check out a Taser and a bean-bag gun from the kit room, is what I'd like to know. That's what the DA's office and FID are gonna ask if we have to light him up. Like, 'Why didn't you officers use nonlethal force?' Like, 'Why'd that Injun have to bite the dust when you coulda captured him alive?' That's what they'll say." "I thought you checked them out and put them in the trunk. You walked toward the kit room." "No, I went to the john. And you were too busy ogling Ronnie to know where I was at," Jetsam said. "Your head was somewheres else. You gotta keep your mind in the game, bro." Everyone on the midwatch at Hollywood Station knew that Jetsam had a megacrush on Officer Veronica "Ronnie" Sinclair and got torqued when Flotsam or anybody else flirted with her. In any case, both surfer cops considered it sissified to carry a Taser on their belts. Referring to section 5150 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, which all cops used to describe a mental case, Flotsam whispered, "Maybe this fifty-one-fifty's trashed on PCP, so we couldn't taze him anyways. He'd swat those darts outta him like King Kong swatted the airplanes. So just chill. He ain't even giving us the stink eye. He just maybe thinks he's a wooden Indian or something." "Or maybe we're competing with a bunch of other voices he's hearing and they're scarier," Jetsam observed. "Maybe we're just echoes." They'd gotten nowhere by yelling the normal commands to the motionless Indian, a stooped man in his early forties, only a decade older than they were but with a haggard face, beaten down by life. And while the cops waited for the backup they'd requested, they'd begun speaking to him in quiet voices, barely audible in the unlit alley over the traffic noise on Melrose Avenue. It was there that 6-X-46 had chased and cornered him, a few blocks from Paramount Studios, from where the code 2 call had come. The Indian had smashed a window of a boutique to steal a plus-size gold dress with a handkerchief hemline and a red one with an empire waist. He'd squeezed into the red dress and walked to the Paramount main gate, where he'd started chanting gibberish and, perhaps prophetically, singing "Jailhouse Rock" before demanding admittance from a startled security officer who had dialed 9-1-1. "These new mini-lights ain't worth a shit," Jetsam said, referring to the small flashlights that the LAPD bought and issued to all officers ever since a widely viewed videotaped arrest showed an officer striking a combative black suspect with his thirteen-inch aluminum flashlight, which caused panic in the media and in the police commission and resulted in the firing of the Latino officer. After this event, new mini-flashlights that couldn't cause harm to combative suspects unless they ate them were ordered and issued to new recruits. Everything was fine with the police commission and the cop critics except that the high-intensity lights set the rubber sleeves on fire and almost incinerated a few rookies before the Department recalled all of those lights and ordered these new ten-ouncers. Jetsam said, "Good thing that cop used flashlight therapy instead of smacking the vermin with a gun. We'd all be carrying two-shot derringers by now." Flotsam's flashlight seemed to better illuminate the Indian, who stood staring up white-eyed at the starless smog-shrouded sky, his back to the graffiti-painted wall of a two-story commercial building owned by Iranians, leased by Vietnamese. The Indian may have chosen the red dress because it matched his flip-flops. The gold dress lay crumpled on the asphalt by his dirt-encrusted feet, along with the cut-offs he'd been wearing when he'd done the smash-and-grab. So far, the Indian hadn't threatened them in any way. He just stood like a statue, his breathing shallow, the bayonet held down against his bare left thigh, which was fully exposed. He'd sliced the slit in the red dress clear up to his flank, either for more freedom of movement or to look more provocative. "Dude," Flotsam said to the Indian, holding his Glock nine in the flashlight beam so the Indian could observe that it was pointed right at him, "I can see that you're spun out on something. My guess is you been doing crystal meth, right? And maybe you just wanted an audition at Paramount and didn't have any nice dresses to wear to it. I can sympathize with that too. I'm willing to blame it on Oscar de la Renta or whoever made the fucking things so alluring. But you're gonna have to drop that long knife now or pretty soon they're gonna be drawing you in chalk on this alley." Jetsam, whose nine was also pointed at the ponytailed Indian, whispered to his partner, "Why do you keep saying long knife to this zombie instead of bayonet?" "He's an Indian," Flotsam whispered back. "They always say long knife in the movies." "That refers to us white men!" Jetsam said. "We're the fucking long knives!" "Whatever," said Flotsam. "Where's our backup, anyhow? They coulda got here on skateboards by now." When Flotsam reached tentatively for the pepper-spray canister on his belt, Jetsam said, "Uncool, bro. Liquid Jesus ain't gonna work on a meth-monster. It only works on cops. Which you proved the time you hit me with act-right spray instead of the 'roided-up primate I was doing a death dance with." "You still aggro over that?" Flotsam said, remembering how Jetsam had writhed in pain after getting the blast of OC spray full in the face while they and four other cops swarmed the hallucinating body-builder who was paranoid from mixing recreational drugs with steroids. "Shit happens, dude. You can hold a grudge longer than my ex-wife." In utter frustration, Jetsam finally said quietly to the Indian, "Bro, I'm starting to think you're running a game on us. So you either drop that bayonet right now or the medicine man's gonna be waving chicken claws over your fucking ashes." The greatest writer of cop stories is back. Joseph Wambaugh has written his 18th novel, Hollywood Crows, completed with greedy business owners, lusty wives and conflicted cops. The femme fatale in this one is Margot Aziz, the beautiful stripper, soon to be ex-wife, of Ali Aziz, owner of a strip club on Sunset Boulevard. Margot firm desire is to be rid of her husband and all of his shady business deals. She wants his money and that's all. Aziz wants her dead. Margot has his fortune in hand and custody of his son. The issue in the book is how far will the lady go to get what she wants, since it is very apparent that she knows how to use what she has to get anything she wants. Because she suspects the husband wants to take their 9-year-old son out of the country to live, the stripper is planning to kill her husband. She connives to try to get a CROW to kill her husband by seducing the cop and setting him up to be the fall guy. Nate Weiss, nicknamed 'Hollywood' is a cop "hungry for stardom and looking for love." He and his partner Bix Rumstead, think Margot is just a socialite going through a divorce that is a little messy. They don't know she is setting them up. They don't know that outside forces are at work to eliminate them. Nate wants Margot, but then again who doesn't? He works with a squad of surfer cops, tough women, and a few veterans known as the 'Hollywood Crows.' The title refers to a special division, the community relations officers, whose members are called the CROWS by the police in other divisions. They deal with calls like noisy neighbors, domestic disturbances, parking problems and other minor crimes. Spouses that want to kill each other are just a little bit out of their league. Typical of a Wambaugh book, Crows delves into love, passion, and deception with the men in blue, trying to protect and serve while trying to stay alive. Bad guys are indeed evil, but incurably careless, practically arresting themselves. Are the new cops up to the task? Is the old guard a better group? The writer leaves it to the readers to figure that one out. Wambaugh's style reads like a screenplay. Lots of gritty realistic dialogue and twists and turns fill up this realistic modern police novel. Lots of nasty police dialogue. Lots of nasty police situations. Lots of gruesome, gross scenes and descriptions. Revisiting the cops he introduced in his warmly received 2006 Hollywood Station, this sequel lives up to its advanced billing. Plenty of old Wambaugh characters parade through this one, full of plot twists and turns that cannot help but to hold your attention. The master and the inventor of the modern police novel, Hollywood Crows is gritty truth, bawdy humor, brilliant characters, cool plotting, and irreverent humor that mark all of his books. The rhythm of this book about cops has the realistic feel that mark of all of Wambaugh's efforts. Nobody knows or writes cops better than Joseph Aloysius Wambaugh. A vivid cop tale, this is the best police story of 2008; it is impossible to put down.