The
Rockford Files returned to television in 1994 with a
made-for-TV movie, I Still Love L.A.
It switched networks, from NBC, which broadcast the original series from 1974
to 1980, to CBS. Another seven movies aired through 1999, and while they weren’t
the original, they were pretty good. Even better the success of the movies
encouraged Forge to release two original novels featuring the intrepid Jim
Rockford, and written by the accomplished Stuart M. Kaminsky.
The
Green Bottle was published 1996 as a hardcover by
Forge, but the edition that caught my eye is the 1999 paperback. It has the
glitter and glow of all the beautiful people (very Hollywood) with the added
bonus of a hotel in the background. The artist: Steve Chorney.
The first paragraph:
“It
was raining in Santa Monica, a cold, driving, California winter rain, and I was
crouched on the deck of a small but not inexpensive boat moored at the pier
along with a few hundred other boats being tossed by the Pacific.”
Devil
on My Doorstep was published as a hardcover by Forge in
1998, but the edition that caught my eye is the 2001 paperback. A wealthy
enclave across a golden sea bordered with an oh so 1990s woman. The artist:
Steve Chorney.
The first paragraph:
“The
sun was just about to come up and I was late. I must have hit the snooze button
on the alarm clock without knowing it. I turned the on the Weather Channel and
heated some of yesterday’s—or was it the day before’s—coffee in the microwave
while I drank a glass of orange juice. The coffee was awful, but it was coffee.”
A lot of people don't like to read or write about the weather in the opening paragraph. I quite like that approach. It sets the tone of the novel and probably indicates the writer's confidence in his story, if I may put it that way.
ReplyDelete