Saturday, May 23, 2026

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 - Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story (2015):


Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story

a documentary directed and written by Daniel Raim,
was released at the Cannes Film Festival in France on May 23, 2015.
Music by David Lebolt.


Cast:

Lillian Michelson, Harold Michelson, Bill Krohn, Stuart Cornfeld, Mel Brooks, Danny DeVito, Jim Bissell, Norman Newberry, Rick Carter, Francis Ford Coppola, Gene Allen, Alfred Hitchcock, Gabriel Hardman, Marc Wanamaker, Thomas A. Walsh, Alan Michelson, Anahid Nazarian, Tom Waits, Richard Sylbert, Patrick Mate, Tish Hicks, Will Vought, Dennis Michelson.

On this day in movie history - Synecdoche, New York (2008):


Synecdoche, New York

directed and written by Charlie Kaufman,
was released at the Cannes Film Festival in France on May 23, 2008.
Music by Jon Brion.


Cast:

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Sadie Goldstein, Tom Noonan, Peter Friedman, Charles Techman, Josh Pais, Daniel London, Robert Seay, Michelle Williams, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Samantha Morton, Hope Davis, Emily Watson, Dianne Wiest, Frank Girardeau, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Amy Wright, Paul Sparks, Jerry Adler, Lynn Cohen, Deirdre O'Connell, Kat Peters, John Rothman, Amanda R. Phillips, Frank Wood, Deanna Storey, Elizabeth Marvel, Laura Odeh, Mark Lotito, Daisy Tahan, Erica Fae, Raymond Angelic Sr., Cliff Carpenter, Timothy Doyle, Amy Spanger, Nick Wyman, Portia, Dan Ziskie, Chris McGinn, Robin Weigert, Gerald Emerick, Alvin Epstein, Rosemary Murphy, Tim Guinee, Kristen Bush, Greg McFadden, Barbara Haas, William Ryall, Joe Lisi, Alice Drummond, Michael Higgins, Stanley Krajewski, Tom Greer, Christopher Evan Welch, Michael Medeiros, Pete Brennan, David Collihan, Brie Eley, Alan Gary, Don Gomez, Brigitte Hagerman, Scott Hatfield, Takako Haywood, Kyle Knauf, Brittany Krall, Amelia Martin, Rebecca Merle, Brenna Palughi, Sal Rinella, Tomasz Smolarski, Misha Zubarev.

On this day in the Star Trek universe:

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1994)
Star Trek: Voyager (2001)
Star Trek: Discovery (2024)


Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 7. Episode 25.
Episode entitled: All Good Things…
Released May 23, 1994.
Directed by Winrich Kolbe.
Written by Ronald D. Moore, Brannon Braga, René Echevarria, Naren Shankar.
Created by Gene Roddenberry.
Music by Dennis McCarthy.
Cast: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Clyde Kusatsu, Patti Yasutake, Denise Crosby, Colm Meaney, Pamela Kosh, Tim Kelleher, Alison Brooks, Stephen M. Garvin, Majel Barrett, John de Lancie, Andreas Katsulas, David Keith Anderson, Teda Bracci, Cameron, Tracee Cocco, Marijane Cole, Nyra Crenshaw, Brian Demonbreun, Holiday Freeman, Keith Gearhart, Bill Hagy, Fumiko Hamada, John Kennedy Hayden, Rick Ryan Kiesau, Lauren Kim, Geri Lee, David B. Levinson, Pauline Olsen, Jerry L. Quinn, Joyce Robinson, Richard Sarstedt, Leslie Stump, John Tamaki, Guy Vardaman.


Star Trek: Voyager
Season 7. Episode 24.
Episode entitled: Endgame.
Released May 23, 2001.
Directed by Allan Kroeker.
Created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor.
Written by Kenneth Biller, Robert Doherty, Rick Berman, Brannon Braga, Michael Taylor, Phyllis Strong, Michael/Mike Sussman.
Based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.
Music by Jay Chattaway.
Cast: Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson, Robert Duncan McNeill, Ethan Phillips, Robert Picardo, Tim Russ, Garrett Wang, Jeri Ryan, Dwight Schultz, Richard Herd, Vaughn Armstrong, Manu Intiraymi, Lisa LoCicero, Miguel Pérez, Grant Garrison, Alice Krige, Amy Lindsay, Matthew James Williamson, Joey Sakata, Richard Sarstedt, Iris Bahr, Ashley Sierra Hughes, Majel Barrett, Craig Appel, Michael Bailous, Chelsea Bond, Ivory Broome, Yvette Callum, Irina Davidoff, Tarik Ergin, Glen Hambly, Ben Hisoler, Trey King, Joyce Lasley, Alicia Lewis, Brock Lumarque, Christian Maguire, Louis Ortiz, Stephen Pisani, Jim Portnoy, Erin Leigh Price, Linnea Soohoo, Lisa Vanasco, May Wang.


Star Trek: Discovery
Season 5. Episode 9.
Episode entitled: Lagrange Point.
Released May 23, 2024.
Directed by Jonathan Frakes.
Created by Bryan Fuller, Alex Kurtzman.
Written by Sean Cochran, Ari Friedman, Brandon Schultz, Lauren Wilkinson, Carlos Cisco, Eric J. Robbins.
Based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.
Music by Jeff Russo.
Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman, Wilson Cruz, Blu del Barrio, Callum Keith Rennie, David Ajala, Chelah Horsdal, Annabelle Wallis, Tara Rosling, Eve Harlow, Patrick Kwok-Choon, Orville Cummings, David Benjamin Tomlinson, Christina Dixon, Victoria Sawal, Natalie Liconti, Zahra Bentham, Dorian Grey, Kenzie Heaven Grist/Makenzie Heaven Smith, Tony Ofori, Perrie Voss, Jordan Collalto, Jordan Francis, Jordan L'Abbé, Eli Martyr, Dayton Sinkia, Elias Toufexis.

On this day in movie history - Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984):


Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

directed by Steven Spielberg,
written by Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz,
based on a story by George Lucas,
was released in the United States on May 23, 1984.
Music by John Williams.


Cast:

Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw, Ke Huy Quan, Amrish Puri, Roshan Seth, Philip Stone, Roy Chiao, David Yip, Ric Young, Chua Kah Joo, Rex Ngui, Philip Tan, Dan Aykroyd, Akio Mitamura, Michael Yama, D.R. Nanayakkara, Dharmadasa Kuruppu, Stany De Silva, Ruby de Mel, Denavaka Hamine, Iranganie Serasinghe, Dharshana Panangala, Raj Singh, Frank Olegario, Ahmed El Shenawi, Arthur F. Repola, Nizwar Karanj, Pat Roach, Moti Makan, Mellan Mitchell, Bhasker Patel, Arjun Pandher, Zia Gelani, Debbie Astell, Maureen Bacchus, Corinne Barton, Carol Beddington, Sharon Boone, Elizabeth Burville, Marisa Campbell, Christine Cartwright, Andrea Chance, Jan Colton, Louise Dalgleish, Lorraine Doyle, Vanessa Fieldwright, Brenda Glassman, Elaine Gough, Sue Hadleigh, Sarah-Jane Hassell, Samantha Hughes, Julie Kirk, Deirdre Laird, Vicki McDonald, Nina McMahon, Julia Marstand, Gaynor Martine, Lisa Mulidore, Dawn Reddall, Rebekkah Sekyi, Clare Smalley, Lee Sprintall, Jenny Turnock, Ruth Welby, Steven Spielberg, Yash Agnihotri, Dickey Beer, Kenneth Coombs, Sidney Ganis, Billy Horrigan, Kathleen Kennedy, Brad Kesten, Alex Klaus, Patrick Loh, George Lucas, Frank Marshall, Anthony Powell, Guy Standeven, Ron Taylor.

On this day in movie history - The Gong Show Movie (1980):


The Gong Show Movie

directed by Chuck Barris,
written by Chuck Barris and Robert Downey Sr.,
was released in the United States on May 23, 1980.
Music by Milton Delugg.


Cast:

Chuck Barris, Robin Altman, Brian O’Mullin, Jack Bernardi, Satisfaction (Singing Group), William Tregoe, Harvey Alpert, Mabel King, Lillie Shelton, James B. Douglas, Harvey Lembeck, Ed Marinaro, Murray Langston (The Unknown Comic), Melvin Presar, Steve Garvey, Jamie Farr, Patrick Cranshaw, Cathleen Cordell, James Winburn, Bella Bruck, Starr Hester, David Sheiner, Mae E. Campbell, Kate Howard, Milton Delugg, Mark Z. Stevens, Ray Neapolitan, Bill Neale, Norman Blankenship, Donna Garrett, Phillip Simms, Pat McCormick, Patty Andrews, Jaye P. Morgan, Gene Patton (Gene Gene The Dancing Machine), Gary Mule Deer, Rip Taylor, Darvy Traylor, Ron Carr, The Bait Brothers, Roosevelt Grier, Ed Holland, Pat Francisco, Merry Kay Cote, Della Barris, Bill Bridges, Rod Haase, Augie Tribach, John Monks Jr., Nora Denney, Tony Randall, Cloyce Morrow, Cynthia Szigeti, Suzanne Kent, Phil Hartman, The Vatican Four, Betsy Lynn Thompson, Carol Gwynn Thompson, Kurt Abell, Barry Cutler, H.B. Haggerty, Trixie Dejonge, Danny DeVito, John Dorsey, Bobby Findley, Dana Glover, Joe Howard, Lanny Morgan, Kitten Natividad, Steve Nave, Taylor Negron, Nicki Rae, Larry Spencer, Manny Stevens, USC Trojan Marching Band, Walter Wonderman.

On this day in movie history - The Shining (1980 movie & novel):


The Shining

directed by Stanley Kubrick,
written by Stanley Kubrick and Diane Johnson,
based on the novel by Stephen King,
was released in the United States on May 23, 1980.
Music by Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind.


Cast:

Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers, Barry Nelson, Philip Stone, Joe Turkel, Anne Jackson, Tony Burton, Lia Beldam, Billie Gibson, Barry Dennen, Lisa Burns, Louise Burns, David Baxt, Manning Redwood, Robin Pappas, Alison Coleridge, Burnell Tucker, Jana Shelden, Kate Phelps, Norman Gay, Pauline Chamberlain, Ina Clare, Maxwell Craig, Paul Desbois, Lynda Fisher, Charlie Gray, Aidan Harrington, Alan Harris, George Holdcroft, Barrie Holland, Vivian Kubrick, Aileen Lewis, Bertha Lynn, Derek Lyons, Peter McNamara, Cathy Munroe, Eddie O'Dea, Jennifer O'Neill, Chris Parsons, Glenn Rinker, Bunny Seaman, Guy Standeven, Reg Thomason, Brian V. Towns.

Recommended reading:


The Shining

By Stephen King.

Filmed as:
The Shining (1980), movie directed by Stanley Kubrick.
The Shining (1997), TV miniseries directed by Mick Garris.

Published by Hodder.
First published 1977.
ISBN 13: 9780340920930
ISBN 10: 0340920939
ASIN: 0340920939
Paperback.

Description:

Danny is only five years old, but he is a 'shiner', aglow with psychic voltage. When his father becomes caretaker of an old hotel, his visions grow out of control. Cut off by blizzards, the hotel seems to develop an evil force, and who are the mysterious guests in the supposedly empty hotel?

Somewhere, somehow there is an evil force in the hotel and that too has begun to shine...