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:

https://t.co/eKFZ03giKR?amp=1

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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:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09244XVYW/

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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:

https://t.co/2Gwb135V3m

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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 – Nuremberg (2025 movie & book):

Nuremberg

directed by James Vanderbilt,

written by James Vanderbilt,

based on the book The Nazi and the Psychiatrist by Jack El-Hai,

released at the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada on September 7, 2025.

Music by Brian Tyler.

Cast: Rami Malek, Russell Crowe, Richard E. Grant, Michael Shannon, Leo Woodall, Colin Hanks, John Slattery, Wrenn Schmidt, Lotte Verbeek, Andreas Pietschmann, Mark O'Brien, Lydia Peckham, Steven Pacey, Roderick Hill, Dan Cade, Paul Antony-Barber, Wolfgang Cerny, Donald Sage Mackay, Tamas Nadas, Alex Diehl, Jeremy Wheeler, Dieter Riesle, Tom Keune, Barney Taylor, Philippe Jacq, Gyula Mesterházy, András Korcsmáros, Billy Rayner, Ralph Berkin, Laura Bóta, Blake Kubena, Wayne Brett, Carl Achleitner, Brett Keating, Laurence Pears, Michael Sheldon, Fleur Bremmer, Sam Newman, Richard Kerékgyártó, Vazul Magyar, Szüle István, Adam Pelyhe, István Áldott.

Recommended reading:

The Nazi and the Psychiatrist

By Jack El-Hai.

Published by PublicAffairs.

First published 2013.

ISBN-10: 1610394631

ISBN-13: 9781610394635

Description:

The book is a page turner. – NPR.

In 1945, after his capture at the end of the Second World War, Hermann Göring arrived at an American-run detention center in war-torn Luxembourg, accompanied by sixteen suitcases and a red hatbox. Joining him in the detention center were fifty-one senior Nazis, of whom Göring was the dominant figure.

To ensure that the captives were fit for trial at Nuremberg, the US army sent an ambitious army psychiatrist, Captain Douglas M. Kelley, to supervise and evaluate them. To Kelley, it was the professional opportunity of a lifetime: to discover a distinguishing trait among these arch-criminals that would mark them as psychologically different from the rest of humanity. But evil has its charms....

On this day in movie history - The Fire Inside (2024):

The Fire Inside

directed by Michael Noer,

written by Barry Jenkins,

released at the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada on September 7, 2024.

Music by Tamar-kali.

Cast:

Ryan Destiny, Jazmin Headley, Kylee D. Allen, Brian Tyree Henry, De'Adre Aziza, Chrystian Buddington, Maurice Wayne Anglin, Teanna Weir, Idrissa Sanogo Bamba, Taytem Douglas, Olunike Adeliyi, Adam Clark, Shechinah Mpumlwana, Nendia Lewars, Sekhai Jayden Smith, Chidubem Rafael Echendu, Sarah Allen, Lanette Ware, Jason Weinberg, Richard Lewis, Chiamaka Glory, Bobby Daniels, Michael Brown, Tyrone Benskin, Tiandria Taylor, Marium Carvell, Jamillah Ross, Amanda Barker, Ivan Daniel Ossa, Kenya Salmon, John Kalbhenn, Jessica Grossi, Dorian Ouaton, Patrick Dussault, Cynthia Zhou, Charlene Wong, Tabitha Tao, Jennifer Huggins, Zak Farion, Ruth Tinker, Matthew Gorman, Matt Standish, Laura Vincent, Donovan Boucher, Neil Crone, Mark Simmons, Myrthin Stagg, James Finlay Fraser, Natasha Spence, Jordan A.K. Brown, Allen Adepoju, Jasmine Jones-Ball, Daniel Jordan Anthony, Nicole Drury, Christine Cleary, Laura Vuculescu, Melissa Karagianis, Amara-Grace Boyce, Za'Niyah-Rose Kirston-Reeves, Selina An, Jim Carey, J. Timothy Hunt, Jack Nguyen, Shubei Zheng.

On this day in movie history – Aniara (2018 movie & books):

Aniara

directed and written by Pella Kågerman & Hugo Lilja,

based on the epic book-length poem Aniara: An Epic Science Fiction Poem by Harry Martinson,

released at the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada on September 7, 2018.

Music by Alexander Berg.

Cast: Emelie Garbers / Emelie Jonsson, Bianca Cruzeiro, Arvin Kananian, Anneli Martini, Jennie Silfverhjelm, Emma Broomé, Jamil Drissi, Leon Jiber, Peter Carlberg, Juan Rodríguez, David Nzinga, Dakota Trancher Williams, Otis Castillo Ålhed, Dante Westergårdh, Enzo Westergårdh, Elin Lilleman Eriksson, Agnes Lundgren, Alexi Carpentieri, Mattias Appelqvist, Unn Dahlman, Laila Ljunggren, Thomas Lundgren, Malin Olsson, Susanna Salonen, Cornelia Sjöblom, Oskar Snickars, Max Stenerudh, Markus Waltå, Carl Kumlin, Masoud Owji, Andreas Wicklund, Jacob Stefansson, Malin Friis, Jörgen Hallqvist, Tobias Cronwall, Pau Boluda Hernández, Mats Plyhr, Ida Sandberg, Rabie Jirjis, Inez Kontio, Nicole Ardizzone, Nicklas Dahlin, Mikaela Stenström, Vinicio Skoog, Hans Svensson, Tobias Sondén, Sylvia Kren, Rudy Lindberg, Nandor Ingevald Hegedüs, Emmelie Ginste, Irene Duckert, Jonas Larsson Grönström, Mattias Königsson, Pablo Salvador N.G.

Recommended reading:

Aniara:

An Epic Science Fiction Poem

By Harry Martinson.

Published by Story Line Press.

First published 1956.

ISBN-10: 1885266634

ISBN-13: 978-1885266637

Description:

Aniara is a great space epic and a story of an inner journey of the soul – at once a warning of despair in the age of nuclear weapons and ecological threats, and perhaps the fullest expression of Harry Martinson's lifelong project to show us man's attempt to see himself and his role in creation. Aniara was first published in 1956 and received a great reception. But it is perhaps only today that the verse epic fully emerges as one of the most artistically and intellectually challenging works of our time.

Aniara

By Harry Martinson.

Introduction by Tord Hall.

Translated by Hugh MacDiarmid & E. Harley Schubert.

Illustrated by The Voice of Nick.

Kindle Edition.

ASIN: B0BTJTQGDT

Published by The Voice of Nick.

Published 2023.

Description:

"Who could foresee that just this flight, all in the day’s work as it seemed, was singled out to be unique and doomed to bear us all away from Earth and Sun, Venus and Mars, and life’s entire environment?"

Featuring 11 beautiful illustrations and dozens of hours of behind-the-scenes videos documenting the artwork's creation.

Nobel laureate Harry Martinson's 1956 sci-fi epic, translated by Hugh MacDiarmid and Elspeth Harley Schubert. A passenger ship is lost in space during a routine journey, and its 8,000 inhabitants must somehow come to terms with their new life. What awaits them in the bitter Galactic night?

On this day in music history:

A World Away by 2002 (2018)

Broadway by Renée Fleming (2018)

A World Away

Album by 2002,

released September 7, 2018.

Track list: Dream of Life; Finding You; To Live Again; Butterfly; Memory of Tomorrow; Stars and Moon; We Are Always; Stars Will Guide Us; The Space Between; Strings of Your Heart.

Broadway

Album by Renée Fleming,

released September 7, 2018.

Track list: Rodgers: The Sound of Music - From The Sound of Music; Guettel: Medley: Wedding / Fable - From The Light in the Piazza; So Big/So Small - From Dear Evan Hansen; Rodgers: Medley: Children will Listen / You’ve Got to be Carefully Taught - From Into the Woods & South Pacific; Lay Down Your Head - From Violet; Porter: Down in the Depths on the 90th Floor - From Red, Hot and Blue; Kander: Medley: Winter / Love and Love Alone - From The Visit; Bock: Dear Friend - From She Loves Me; Rodgers: A Wonderful Guy - From South Pacific; Rodgers: Loneliness of Evening - From South Pacific; Unusual Way - From Nine; Till There Was You - From The Music Man; Sondheim: The Glamorous Life - From A Little Night Music; Rodgers: Something Wonderful - From The King and I; Lloyd Webber: Tell Me on a Sunday - From Song and Dance; Weill: September Song - From Knickerbocker Holiday; Kern: All the Things You Are - From Very Warm for May; Sumner: August Winds - From The Last Ship.

On this day in movie history - Papillon (2017 movie & books):

Papillon

directed by Michael Noer,

written by Aaron Guzikowski,

based on the books Papillon and Banco by Henri Charrière,

was released at the Toronto International Film Festival, in Canada, on September 7, 2017.
Music by David Buckley.

Cast:

Charlie Hunnam, Rami Malek, Christopher Fairbank, Yorick van Wageningen, Roland Møller, Tommy Flanagan, Eve Hewson, Michael Socha, Brian Vernel, Ian Beattie, Nicholas Asbury, Nikola Kent, Slavko Sobin, Joel Basman, Luka Peroš, Demetri Goritsas.

Recommended reading:

Papillon

By Henri Charriere.

ASIN: B01N8YET21

Published by William Morrow.

First published 1969.

Henri Charrière, called "Papillon," for the butterfly tattoo on his chest, was convicted in Paris in 1931 of a murder he did not commit. Sentenced to life imprisonment in the penal colony of French Guiana, he became obsessed with one goal: escape. After planning and executing a series of treacherous yet failed attempts over many years, he was eventually sent to the notorious prison, Devil's Island, a place from which no one had ever escaped . . . until Papillon. His flight to freedom remains one of the most incredible feats of human cunning, will, and endurance ever undertaken. Charrière's astonishing autobiography, Papillon, was published in France to instant acclaim in 1968, more than twenty years after his final escape. Since then, it has become a treasured classic -- the gripping, shocking, ultimately uplifting odyssey of an innocent man who would not be defeated.

Banco:

The Further Adventures of Papillon

By Henri Charrière.

Published by Granada Publishing Limited.

First published 1972.

ISBN 13: 9780586040102

ISBN 10: 0586040102

ASIN: 0586040102

The sensational sequel to Papillon. Banco continues the adventures of Henri Charriere – nicknamed Papillon – in Venezuela, where he has finally won his freedom after thirteen years of escape and imprisonment. Despite his resolve to become an honest man, Charriere is soon involved in hair-raiding exploits with goldminers, gamblers, bank-robbers and revolutionaries – robbing and being robbed, his lust for life as strong as ever. He also runs night clubs in Caracas until an earthquake ruins him in 1967 – when he decides to write the book that brings his international fame.

On this day in movie history - The Place Beyond the Pines (2012):

The Place Beyond the Pines

directed by Derek Cianfrance,

written by Derek Cianfrance, Ben Coccio and Darius Marder,

was released at the Toronto International Film Festival, in Canada, on September 7, 2012.

Music by Mike Patton.

Cast:

Ryan Gosling, Craig Van Hook, Eva Mendes, Olga Merediz, Ray Liotta, Angelo Anthony Pizza, Mahershala Ali, John Facci, Ben Mendelsohn, Tula (the dog), Penny (the dog), Cynthia Pelletier-Sullivan, Mackenzie Trainor, Nicole Califano, Shannon Plumb, Tracey Agustin, Ean Egas, Bob Dieterich, Thomas Mattice, Adam Nowicki, Mark J. Caruso, G. Douglas Griset, Vanessa Thorpe, Gail Martino, Brian Smyj, Bradley Cooper, Dorothy Rutherford, Paul Steele, Gabe Fazio, Rose Byrne, Travis Jackson Campbell, Harris Yulin, Jan Libertucci, Robert Clohessy, Bruce Greenwood, Subrina Dhammi, Heather Chestnut, Greta Seacat, Luke Pierucci, Jessica Layton, James J. Gleason, Patrick Husted, Emory Cohen, Joe B. McCarthy, Jefrey Pollock, Lynette Howell Taylor, Sarah Curcio, Dane DeHaan, Ephraim Benton, Mark McCracken, Adriel Linyear, Kevin Green, Jennifer Sober, Melissa Mills, Alex Pulling, Dante Shafer, Kayla Smalls, Frank J. Falvo, Leah Bliven, Whitney Hudson, Breanna Dolen, Hugh T. Farley, Michael Cullen.