Monday, October 13, 2025

The Breaker - series. Books 1 - 3:

 


The Breaker


ISBN: 9781656281517

Description:

How do you know the one you love won’t hurt you?
Or even try to kill you?
In many cases … you don’t.
How do we choose our path and purpose in life?
What makes us who we are?
When Seth Egan starts working as a private detective, he knows he’ll make enemies.
It goes with the territory.
As Seth works on a murder case and hunts down the killers, he becomes the target.
Some people have no conscience, shame, empathy, or remorse.
To get their own way, to get what they want, to take everything, they will do anything.
Even murder.
In the end, they will drag you down to hell with them.
Sometimes, our enemies are those closest to us.

Amazon link:


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Bad Blood

ISBN: 9798682203192

Description:

No one is paying Seth Egan for his latest case.

He keeps this one unofficial.

Pro bono publico.

Off the books.

For him, this one is personal.

A matter of bad blood.

A woman with a grudge of her own leads Seth to a place where people vanish without trace.

Money is the motive.

Greed is the motivator.

Scores that can only be settled in blood.

A dark underworld of illegal gambling, prostitution, drugs, violence and murder.


Amazon link:

 

https://t.co/e0XiS8crAr?amp=1


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Mall Maze

ISBN: 9798729917235


Description:


Friday the 13th.

Unlucky for many.

What should have been a routine adultery case ends with Seth Egan fighting for his life.

Cut off from the world.

With no way to call for help.

Trapped in a place where the walls are coming down around him.

Seth is running out of places to hide.

As chaos reigns and the city burns … the hunters close in.


Amazon link:
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Themes:
Abuse by proxy, Adultery, C-PTSD, crime, detective, domestic abuse, enabler, flying monkey, gaslighting, hardboiled, heist, infidelity, murder, narcissism, narcissist, narcissistic abuse, neo-noir, personality disorder, psychopath, sociopath, suspense, thriller, vigilante, violence.

Books available in hardcover, paperback and Kindle.

A percentage from sales of my books is donated to Multiple Sclerosis (MS) research.

What’s On?


What’s On?

A Guide to Movies and TV Shows


Hardcover

ISBN-13: 9798342696098

Paperback

ISBN-13: 9798341177307

Kindle

ASIN: B0DJTZ8T58

Back cover description:

What’s On? … is the timeless question we have all asked ourselves almost every day of our lives, as we reach for the remote control and settle in front of the TV screen.

Jack Kost, a life-long movie buff and coffee addict, offers his choice of favorite movie and television masterpieces.

Providing possible answers to the question of What’s On? with over 1,900 titles, from golden oldies and timeless classics, to more recent releases, all meticulously logged and summarized.

An invaluable and collectable go-to source for discovering new favorites and revisiting old ones.

Perfect for film enthusiasts and casual viewers alike, this guide will spark conversations, bring back memories, and help you navigate the ever-evolving world of screen entertainment.

A wealth of recommendations and insights from a passionate movie buff to enrich your viewing experience, complete with personal reminiscences and nostalgic reflections, told with a world-wise critical eye, sardonic dry wit, a healthy dose of cynicism, biting observations, and a well-founded rant here and there.

Just don’t challenge or get him started on his personal favorites, like The Shining, Point Blank, Jaws, The Exorcist, The Duellists, Romeo Is Bleeding, or The Ninth Configuration. His opinions on these and other iconic titles are as intense and unyielding as the movies themselves.

All compiled by an author who not only watched the movies, but also read the books on which they were based, did his research, drank a lot of coffee in the process, and advocates for the importance and value of reading.

A glimpse into the over-caffeinated mind of a writer with a passion for great stories.

What’s On? is a celebration of the intersection between page and screen, and a reminder that great on-screen adaptations often start with a great book and a strong cup of coffee.

Kick back, grab your coffee, and enjoy the show!

As author Jack Kost says:

“Happy viewing … and do yourself a favor … read the books.”

Slipped Masks:


Slipped Masks

ISBN: 9781719330640

Description:

I can’t call you because if he hears me talking on the phone he’ll hit me again. He scares me. I know sooner or later he’s going to kill me. I’ll text you again when I can. I love you, Casey. I’ll spend the rest of our lives proving to you how much I love you. Please come. Please save me …

With only text messages to guide him, Casey Byrne is on the hunt, racing across five states to save his ex-girlfriend, Madison.
Casey loves Madison deeply and wants desperately to save her life and rekindle their relationship.
But the closer he gets to her, the more surreal his journey becomes as the dead bodies pile up in his wake.

Clinical Lycanthropy: the delusion that a human can physically transform into a wolf.


If you were insane, would you know it?


How would you see the world if you were convinced you could transform into a wolf?


The hunter … and the hunted.


Slipped Masks is a dark neo-noir thriller about how the need for love and companionship becomes twisted into obsession, possession, jealousy, violence and murder.

A horrifying portrait of Clinical Lycanthropy.

Amazon link:


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Themes:
Sociopathy, narcissistic abuse, personality disorder, Clinical Lycanthropy, crime, murder.

Book available in hardcover, paperback, and Kindle.

A percentage from sales of this book is donated to Multiple Sclerosis (MS) research.

Work in progress:


My next books are Triangulation and Stinger.

Books 4 and 5 in The Breaker series.


Set in the year 2001, the story continues from Mall Maze.



Themes:


Crime, detective, hardboiled, heist, murder, narcissism, narcissistic abuse, neo-noir, psychopath, sociopath, thriller, vigilante.

 

A percentage from book sales is donated to Multiple Sclerosis (MS) research.


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The Breaker is an on-going series.


I’m outlining other stand-alone thriller novels.

Several coffee table books on my photography and my wife’s artwork.

A humorous book, based on the antics of our crazy pet Ragdoll cat, entitled: It’s That F****** Cat Again!



Here’s a GIF I made of our cat, settling down for another of his daily naps:

On this day in movie history - Warning (2021):


Warning

directed by Agata Alexander,
written by Agata Alexander, Rob Michaelson and Jason Kaye,
was released at the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival in Spain on October 13, 2021.
Music by Gregory Tripi.


Cast:

Thomas Jane, Tomasz Kot, Toni Garrn, Rupert Everett, Przemyslaw Wyszynski, Alice Eve, James D'Arcy, Aleksandra Zagrodzka, Billy Howerdel, Kylie Bunbury, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Jakub Wypler, Annabelle Wallis, Alex Pettyfer, Annabel Mullion, Richard Pettyfer, Garance Marillier, Izabela Kuna, Izabela Perez, Sebastian Perdek, Karolina Adamczyk, Benedict Samuel, Blu Mantic, Olga Boladz, Alma Asuai, Charlotte Le Bon, Janina Pruszkowska, Piotr Polak, Stephen Mao, Cybill Lui Eppich.

On this day in movie history - Phantasm IV: Oblivion (1998):


Phantasm IV: Oblivion

aka Phantasm: Oblivion,
directed and written by Don Coscarelli,
was released in the United States on October 13, 1998.
Music by Christopher L. Stone.


Cast:

A. Michael Baldwin, Reggie Bannister, Bill Thornbury, Heidi Marnhout, Bob Ivy, Angus Scrimm, Christopher L. Stone, Chloe Kay, Sylvia Flammer, David Gasster, Sasha Kassel, Aidan Kassel, Eric Avary, Andy John, George A. Craig, Steven C. Kassel, Robert Gates, Todd Mecklem, Jason Jacobs, Michael Perkins, Colin Jessup, Stanley Potter, Roger Avary, Bret Schweinfurth, Robert Tomaszewski.

On this day in television history – Moll Flanders (TV mini-series & novel):


The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders

4-part mini-series directed by David Attwood,
written by Andrew Davies, Dominic Minghella,
based on the novel Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe,
released in the United States on October 13, 1996.
Music by Jim Parker, Mark Springer.


Cast:

Alex Kingston, Daniel Craig, James Bowers, Trevyn McDowell, Patti Love, Colin Buchanan, Nicola Walker, Roger Morlidge, Nicola Kingston, Geoffrey Beevers, Sam Halpenny, Tom Ward, Anthony O'Donnell, Lucy Evans, Jenna Hodges, Diana Rigg, Anthony Bessick, Matthew O'Neill, Lucy Fitzmaurice, James Fleet, Struan Rodger, Dan D. Fough, Claire Keepie, John Savident, Bill Thomas, Chrissie Cotterill, Jonathan Weir, Brian Rawlinson, Peter Jonfield, Anna Welsh, Neville Phillips, Will Tacey, Alison Lomas, Maureen O'Brien, Guy Scantlebury, Irving Czechowicz, Ronald Fraser, Catherine Keis, Anthony Milner, Ian Driver, Ruth Mitchell, Caroline Harker, Anya Phillips, Dallas Campbell, Milton Johns, Dawn McDaniel, David Burston, David Norman, Ken McDonald, Mary Healey, Elizabeth Skelton, Jeff Nuttall, Philip Fox, Caroline Trowbridge, Victoria Scarborough, Jeffrey Robert, James Larkin, Christopher Fulford, Michael Johnson, Andrew Mayor, Roger Ashton-Griffiths, Evie Garratt, James Helm, Colin Alltree, Sarah Dorsett, Alistair Donkin, Alex Brown, Tim Jefferis, David Mitchell, Maia Lucas.

Recommended reading:


Moll Flanders

By Daniel Defoe.

First published 1772.
Published by Random House Publishing Group.
ISBN 13: 9780375760105
ISBN 10: 0375760105
ASIN:0375760105

Description:

Written in a time when criminal biographies enjoyed great success, Daniel Defoe’s Moll Flanders details the life of the irresistible Moll and her struggles through poverty and sin in search of property and power. Born in Newgate Prison to a picaresque mother, Moll propels herself through marriages, periods of success and destitution, and a trip to the New World and back, only to return to the place of her birth as a popular prostitute and brilliant thief. The story of Moll Flanders vividly illustrates Defoe’s themes of social mobility and predestination, sin, redemption and reward.

On this day in movie history - Jade (1995):


Jade

directed by William Friedkin,
written by Joe Eszterhas,
was released in the United States on October 13, 1995.
Music by James Horner.


Cast:

David Caruso, Linda Fiorentino, Chazz Palminteri, Richard Crenna, Michael Biehn, Donna Murphy, Ken King, Holt McCallany, David Hunt, Angie Everhart, Kevin Tighe, Victor Wong, Robin Thomas, Victoria Smith, Jay Jacobus, Bud Bostwick, Darryl Chan, Ron Ulstad, Buddy Joe Hooker, Bobby Bass, Sandy Berumen, Dick Ziker, Ron Yuan.

On this day in music history - Arie Antiche: Se tu m’ami, by Cecilia Bartoli (1992):


Arie Antiche: Se tu m’ami

Album by Cecilia Bartoli,
released October 13, 1992.

Track list:

Già Il Sole Dal Gange; Son Tutta Duolo; Se Florindo È Fedele; O Cessate Di Piagarmi; Spesso Vibra Per Suo Gioco; Caro Mio Ben; Pur Dicesti, O Bocca Bella; Intorno All’Idol Mio; Nel Cor Più Non Mi Sento; Il Mio Ben Quando Verrà; O Leggiadri Occhi Belli; Quella Fiamma Che M’Accende; Selve Amiche; Sebben, Crudele; Tu Ch’Hai Le Penne, Amore; Se Tu M’Ami; Chi Vuol La Zingarella; Amarilli; Delizie Contente; Sposa Son Disprezzata; Vittoria, Vittoria!

On this day in television history - Space 1999 (1975):


Space 1999

Season 1. Episode 7.
Episode entitled: Alpha Child.
Released October 13, 1975.
Directed by Ray Austin.
Written by Christopher Penfold.
Series created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson.
Music by Barry Gray.

Cast:

Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, Barry Morse, Julian Glover, Cyd Hayman, Prentis Hancock, Clifton Jones, Zienia Merton, Anton Phillips, Nick Tate, Wayne Brooks, Tony Allyn, Sarah Bullen, Loftus Burton, Gerry Crampton, Andy Dempsey, Vincent Wong, James Fagan, Raymond Harris, Alf Joint, Rula Lenska, Quentin Pierre, Suzanne Roquette, Michael Stevens, Maureen Tan.

On this day in movie history - Double Indemnity (movie & books):


Double Indemnity

directed by Jack Smight,
written by Steven Bochco, Billy Wilder, Raymond Chandler,
based on the novel by James M. Cain,
released in the United States on October 13, 1973.
Music by Billy Goldenberg.
Cast: Richard Crenna, Lee J. Cobb, Robert Webber, Samantha Eggar, Arch Johnson, Kathleen Cody, John Fiedler, John Elerick, Joan Pringle, Gene Dynarski, Ken Renard, Joyce Cunning, Arnold F. Turner, Rand Brooks, Tom Curtis, John Furlong.

Recommended reading:


Double Indemnity

By James M. Cain.

Filmed as:

Double Indemnity (1944), directed by Billy Wilder.
Double Indemnity (1973), directed by Jack Smight.

Published by Vintage Crime/Black Lizard.
Published 1943.
Paperback.
ISBN-10: 9780679723226
ISBN-13: 9780679723226

Description:

“An American masterpiece.” – Ross Macdonald.
“No one has ever stopped reading in the middle of one of Jim Cain’s books.” – Saturday Review of Literature.
Walter Huff was an insurance salesman with an unfailing instinct for clients who might be in trouble, and his instinct led him to Phyllis Nirdlinger. Phyllis wanted to buy an accident policy on her husband. Then she wanted her husband to have an accident. Walter wanted Phyllis. To get her, he would arrange the perfect murder and betray everything he had ever lived for.
Tautly narrated and excruciatingly suspenseful, Double Indemnity gives us an X-ray view of guilt, of duplicity, and of the kind of obsessive, loveless love that devastates everything it touches. First published in 1935, this novel reaffirmed James M. Cain as a virtuoso of the roman noir.


Double Indemnity: The Complete Screenplay

By Billy Wilder, Raymond Chandler, Jeffrey Meyers.

Published by University of California Press.
Published 2000.
ISBN-10: 0520218485
ISBN-13: 9780520218482

Description:

On every level -- writing, direction, acting -- Double Indemnity (1944) is a triumph and stands as one of the greatest achievements in Billy Wilder's career. Adapted from the James M. Cain novel by director Wilder and novelist Raymond Chandler, it tells the story of an insurance salesman, played by Fred MacMurray, who is lured into a murder-for-insurance plot by Barbara Stanwyck, in an archetypal femme fatale role. From its grim story to its dark, atmospheric lighting, Double Indemnity is a definitive example of World War II-era film noir. Wilder's approach is everywhere evident: in the brutal cynicism the film displays, the moral complexity, and in the empathy we feel for the killers. The film received almost unanimous critical success, garnering seven Academy Award nominations. More than fifty years later, most critics agree that this classic is one of the best films of all time. The collaboration between Wilder and Raymond Chandler produced a masterful script and some of the most memorable dialogue ever spoken in a movie.
This facsimile edition of Double Indemnity contains Wilder and Chandler's original -- and quite different -- ending, published here for the first time. Jeffrey Meyers's introduction contextualizes the screenplay, providing hilarious anecdotes about the turbulent collaboration, as well as background information about Wilder and the film's casting and production.