These Mean Streets, Darkly


Book Description

THESE MEAN STREETS, DARKLY the prequel to the cyberpunk detective series, Liquid Cool. It’s a world of colossal skyscrapers. Hovercars fly above in the dark, rainy skies and gray people walk below on the grimy, hard streets in the “Neon Jungle.” Uber-governments and megacorporations fight for control of the supercity, but so does crime. An average woman, Carol—hardworking and decent in every way— loses her daughter to the psycho Red Rabbit. Can Police Central find the girl in time—alive? And is it really a random, senseless kidnapping in the fifty-million-plus city? There are a million victims and perpetrators in this High-Tech, Low-Life World. This is one of those stories…before we meet our private eye (and unlikely hero), Cruz, in the debut novel, Liquid Cool!




The Liquid Cool Series Box Set


Book Description

A Cyber-Noir Thriller Series To Keep You on the Edge of Your Seat! "It's Blade Gunner Meets The Maltese Falcon." Liquid Cool is the action-packed (and funny), cyberpunk/sci-fi detective series. Over 1000 pages includes These Mean Streets, Darkly (prequel), Liquid Cool (Book 1), Blade Gunner (Book 2) and NeuroDancer (Book 3)! In the sci-fi/cyberpunk detective series, author Austin Dragon shows why you never want to meet a cyborg in a dark alley. There is plenty of gritty action, suspense, thrills, and even a few laughs. It’s cyberpunk reimagined—an ever-rainy world of colossal skyscrapers, hovercars, flashy neon streets, and futuristic mechanization. Metropolis isn’t a bad place, but it isn’t a good one either. Uber-governments and megacorporations fight for control of the fifty-million-plus supercity, but so does crime. We meet Cruz, our private eye (and unlikely hero), in this super-city with a million victims and perpetrators. Watch out for tech-tricksters, analog hustlers, and digital gangsters—psychos, samurais, and cyborgs aplenty. Visitors have a way of becoming permanent attractions. Welcome to the high-tech, low-life world of Liquid Cool.




Women of the Mean Streets: Lesbian Noir


Book Description

Women. Crime. Justice. At least the search for it. On the mean streets, the back allies, the dark corners. These are stories of tough women in hard places. The nights are long, the women are fast, and danger is always a short block or quick minute away. Edited by award winning author/editors J.M. Redmann and Greg Herren, Women of the Mean Streets is an anthology of some of the top, tough women crime writers today, noir stories with a lesbian twist.




Anthony Mann


Book Description

Classic study of a filmmaker's career, now including every Mann film. Back in print—new and expanded edition. Director of such often-revived films as Winchester '73, The Glenn Miller Story, and El Cid, Anthony Mann enjoyed a lasting and important career as one of Hollywood's premier filmmakers. Mann's Westerns, noir pictures, and epics are admired and studied by fans and scholars alike, and he was an expert in the fundamental elements of cinema (movement and placement of the camera, composition in the frame, and careful editing). Jeanine Basinger's Anthony Mann, which places the director's visual style at the center of its analysis, was among the first formal studies of any filmmaker, and it set a standard in the field over twenty-five years ago. Long out of print and much in demand, this pioneering book is now available again, featuring complete coverage of those Mann films not discussed in the original work, as well as over fifty rare film stills. Wesleyan is proud to issue this expanded edition of an essential text, making it available to new generations of filmgoers and readers.




Men of the Mean Streets: Gay Noir


Book Description

Noir has always been one of the most popular—and darkest—sub-genres of the mystery field. Following in the footsteps of such masters of the form as James M. Cain, Raymond Chandler, and Dashiell Hammett, some of the top writers of gay mystery explore this territory of amoral tough guys with a cynical view of the world by giving classic noir a gay twist. Edited by award winning author/editors Greg Herren and J.M. Redmann, Men of the Mean Streets changes the face of gay mystery—and the reader may never look at gay life and culture in the same way again.




A Scanner Darkly


Book Description

Bob Arctor is a dealer of the lethally addictive drug Substance D. Fred is the police agent assigned to tail and eventually bust him. To do so, Fred takes on the identity of a drug dealer named Bob Arctor. And since Substance D--which Arctor takes in massive doses--gradually splits the user's brain into two distinct, combative entities, Fred doesn't realize he is narcing on himself. Caustically funny, eerily accurate in its depiction of junkies, scam artists, and the walking brain-dead, Philip K. Dick's industrial-grade stress test of identity is as unnerving as it is enthralling.




Mean Streets and Raging Bulls


Book Description

Classic film noir was Hollywood's 'dark cinema' of crime and corruption; a genre underpinned by a tone of existential cynicism which stripped bare the myth of the American Dream and offered a bleak, nightmarish vision of a fragmented society that rhymed with many of the social realities of forties and fifties America. Mean Streets and Raging Bulls explores how, since its apparent demise in the late fifties, the noir genre has been revitalized during the post-studio era. The book is divided into two sections. In the first, the evolution of film noir is contextualized in relation to both American cinema's industrial transformation and the post-Depression history of the United States. In the second, the evolution of neo-noir and its relation to classic film noir is illustrated by detailed reference to representative texts including Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974), Night Moves (Arthur Penn, 1975), Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976), Blood Simple (Joel and Ethan Coen, 1984), After Hours (Martin Scorsese, 1985), Sea of Love (Harold Becker, 1989), Resevoir Dogs (Quentin Tarantino, 1992), and Romeo is Bleeding (Peter Medak, 1994).




Liquid Cool


Book Description

The Sci-Fi Detective Thriller Gets Cool...Liquid Cool! Liquid Cool Book #1 is the FIRST-IN-SERIES action-packed (and funny) sci-fi detective series. Meet a private eye with a cool hat, laser gun, and attitude. But don’t touch his red hovercar -- or you could get shot! Watch him face off neon gangsters, sinister cyborgs, corporate samurai soldiers, and laser-gun shootouts while solving his cases in the rainy supercity of Metropolis. More gritty action and dark humor than you can handle. In the debut novel author Austin Dragon shows why you never want to meet a cyborg in a dark alley. Liquid Cool is a mix of Blade Runner and the Maltese Falcon. It’s cyberpunk reimagined—an ever-rainy world of mega-skyscrapers, speeding hovercars, dangerous neon streets, and futuristic mechanization. Metropolis isn’t a bad place, but it isn’t a good one either. Governments and megacorporations fight for control of the fifty-million-plus super-city, but so does crime. It's here we meet Cruz, our private eye (and unlikely hero), in this supercity with a million victims and perpetrators. Welcome to the high-tech, low-life world of Liquid Cool.




The Electric Sheep Massacre


Book Description

The Cyberpunk Detective Series Goes to London! But in The Electric Sheep Massacre does our detective come back? And, is that before or after someone tries to kill him in the world of virtual reality?! Liquid Cool is the action-packed (and funny), debut cyberpunk detective series. Liquid Cool is Blade Runner meets the Maltese Falcon. In the next installment of the sci-fi/cyberpunk detective series, author Austin Dragon takes our private detective from the wild, concrete wastelands outside the supercity Metropolis across the Great Ocean to London Prime (that’s what they call it in the future) to the most dangerous place in the world—virtual reality, where all of a sudden people are killing and dying. It’s the cyberpunk novel reimagined—an ever-rainy world of colossal skyscrapers, hovercars, flashy neon streets, and futuristic mechanization. Metropolis isn’t a bad place, but it isn’t a good one either. Uber-governments and megacorporations fight for control of the fifty-million-plus supercity, but so does crime. Welcome to the high-tech, low-life world of Liquid Cool.




Be (Liquid) Cool


Book Description

Want to improve? Whether it’s something specific or overall aspects of your life, character or personality? Want to end bad habits? Reverse bad choices? Go beyond the tired perennial New Years’ Resolutions? Or just do something new for the year! Begin visiting all those countries around the world you’ve been putting off? Do something crazy like switch to a completely new career? Do something big? Feeling blue, bored, or aimless? Want to roll up your sleeves and take control of your life? If so, then BE (LIQUID) COOL: 52 Weeks of Witty, Pithy, and Profound Sci-Fi-Based Inspiration For Positive Thinking, Planning, and Action! may be exactly what you need. Based on the author’s popular Liquid Cool: The Cyberpunk Detective Series, which has ten main novels, a mini-series of three novels, four box sets, another companion case short story, and two new novels and another box set on the way, the book takes inspirational life lessons from our favorite sci-fi detective with an attitude, Cruz and all his family, friends, and associates. The never-ending, age-old human quest to improve isn’t just for sci-fan fans. Most people want to improve for the better, continue to grow in life as a person, help others and make a positive impact on those around them, have a more rewarding relationship with family and friends, or be more successful in life, work or career, or any endeavor you’re interested in. Be productive, happy and content with your life in the universe. This book is a fun life planner for 52 Weeks, divided into twelve months, from plan to action packed with quotes from popular sci-fi characters, successful sci-fi creators, and even a few renown scientists who inspired all kinds of great science fiction. Be (Liquid) Cool is an easy-to-read practical guide to help you reach your self-improvement goals in a straightforward method. Book sections include: · The Pre-Launch Mindset · The Action Mindset · The Attitude Mindset · Don’t Be Your Own Arch-Enemy · Don’t Panic. Life’s Supposed to Be Unpredictable · Give Back (When You Can) · Don’t Forget the Fun ...and much more. Book chapters include: · Know the “Why” · Pick Your Associates Wisely · Have the Right Tools · Have a System · Hard Work · Avoid Drama · Resist the Urge to Be Stupid ...and much more. So, this book is much more than a no-date planner to be used as a daily planner, weekly planner, yearly planner, and personal time-management organizer towards achieving your goals. It’s your guide in your self-development, self-help, self-growth journey. It is your 52 Week guide with stories, quotes, and humor to become the best version of you! That’s what personal transformation or achievement should be all about.