Having interviewed him twice, and sought his advice on a true crime mystery in my hometown, author Gregg Olsen has proven his mettle both on the bestseller lists as well as in the realm of friendship. Gregg's books have run the gamut from the story of product tampering murderess Stella Nickell to teacher-gone-wrong Mary Kay Letourneau. He has reported firsthand on most of the cases he's written about and he's appeared on television everywhere from Snapped to American Justice. His work is lauded and praised by all who've read him.
Gregg has also proven his talents at fiction. His novels Victim Six, A Wicked Snow, Heart of Ice, and A Cold Dark Place have increased his fan base exponentially. With his next novel, Closer Than Blood, due out next year, Gregg is preparing himself and his audience for another unqualified success.
Gregg Olsen is a man of many tanets who tells a story, whether true life or fiction, with imagination and insight that sets his work apart from all others in his field. He's a true friend as well.
I'm not much of a horror fan. I've never minded a good scare but most movies that fall into this genre are nothing more than gore fests where blood and guts seem to be the main attraction. It takes a scary movie with a story and a good hook to get me into it. Movies are supposed to be stories that have a beginning, a middle, and an end. This is something that most horror films lack; the story that is. Or they become huge franchises like Saw, Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Friday the 13th, to name a few. Their allure for me is limited.
Conversely, the zombie movie genre is one that has always hooked me. George A. Romero's work with his classic films Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, etc is legend in the entertainment world. Something about zombies holds an irresistible sway for most people. What that sway is is debatable. Maybe it's the horror of what man can become under the wrong circumstances. Maybe it's the whole "end of the world" scenario; the one where most all of us think we'd be the ones to survive. Or maybe it's just a macabre fascination with life after death that mankind has always had and been fascinated by. Whatever, this is a genre of the horror category that always seems to score big with audiences.
Which is probably why AMC's new original series The Walking Dead is gobbling up viewers by the millions. This story of a policeman from a small Georgia town, almost mortally wounded, who goes into a coma in the hospital and wakes up a couple weeks later to find that the world has become infested with walking corpses intent on dining on warm flesh, is really attracting huge audiences. Starring British actor Andrew Lincoln, whose southern accent is quite convincing indeed, the show just keeps topping itself with each successive episode and has now been optioned for a second season by the network. It's that popular.
In the trailer from You Tube, one can see the attraction this series is exerting over its viewers. Not for the weak of heart - or stomach - this show has quickly become a favorite of mine by simply showing a human side to the horror and giving us heroes to get interested in while the zombies keep us fascinated. Whether or not this is your cup of tea, I dare you not to feel compelled to watch just a little.
Peter Cetera rose from being lead singer for the legendary group Chicago to become a solo star of the highest echelon. The voice on hit songs like You're The Inspiration and classic albums such as Chicago 17, Cetera bolted from the group in the mid 80's and immediately put himself on the pop map with hits like Glory of Love. His is one of those rare voices that people recognize as soon as they hear it and the lyrics of his songs become engrained in the minds of the public; so much so that you'll find yourself singing along to even muzak versions of his work.
In a clip from a Japanese television show, Cetera displays what made him so famous with a performance of his 1988 mega hit One Good Woman. The style is unique. The arrangement is excellent. The performance is sensational. No one can deliver a love song with the punch that Cetera imparts.
