Tuesday, June 30, 2015

IDW Publishing form Diamond Distributors for July 1, 2015

IDW PUBLISHING

FEB150413    CORTO MALTESE GN BEYOND THE WINDY ISLES    $29.99
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APR150424    MICKEY MOUSE #1    $3.99
APR150416    MIKE ZECK CLASSIC MARVEL STORIES ARTIST ED HC    PI
APR150483    MONSTER MOTORS TP    $17.99
MAY150370    MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDS FOREVER #18    $3.99
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APR150390    X-FILES SEASON 10 #25    $7.99
MAY150413    ZOMBIES VS ROBOTS #7    $3.99

Dark Horse Comics from Diamond Distributors for July 1, 2015

DARK HORSE COMICS

MAY150038    AGE OF REPTILES ANCIENT EGYPTIANS #2    $3.99
MAY150091    ANGEL AND FAITH SEASON 10 #16 MAIN CVR    $3.99
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MAY150086    BALTIMORE CULT OF THE RED KING #3    $3.99
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NOV140118    GAME OF THRONES FIGURE HODOR & BRAN    $39.99
MAR150098    LONE WOLF & CUB OMNIBUS TP VOL 09    $19.99
MAY150025    NEVERBOY #5    $3.99
FEB150046    USAGI YOJIMBO LTD HC VOL 29 TWO HUNDRED JIZO    $59.99
MAY150065    WITCHER FOX CHILDREN #4    $3.99

Image Comics from Diamond Distributors for July 1, 2015

IMAGE COMICS

APR150499    8HOUSE ARCLIGHT #1 (MR)    $2.99
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APR150688    ZERO #18 CVR A LOTAY & MULLER (MR)    $2.99
APR150689    ZERO #18 CVR B MULLER (MR)    $2.99

Comics, Magazines and Books from Diamond Distributors for July 1, 2015

COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS

APR151683    A CENTAURS LIFE GN VOL 06 (MR)    $12.99
MAY151121    ARCADIA #3    $3.99
APR151049    ARCHIE COMICS DOUBLE DIGEST #262    $4.99
MAY151467    ASTERIX OMNIBUS SC VOL 09    $22.99
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MAR151061    BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA #12    $3.99
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MAY151212    BOBS BURGERS ONGOING #1 CVR C SCHROEDER WORK OF ART    $3.99
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APR151627    BUNKER #12 (MR)    $3.99
APR151295    CAPTAIN CANUCK 2015 ONGOING #2    $3.99
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JAN150971    CAVEWOMAN CASTAWAY ONE SHOT CVR B    PI
APR151004    CAVEWOMAN THE RETURN #3 CVR A DURHAM    $3.99
APR151005    CAVEWOMAN THE RETURN #3 CVR B DURHAM    PI
MAY151123    CLUSTER #5    $3.99
APR151503    COMPLETE PEANUTS TP VOL 03 1955-1956    $22.99
MAY151795    COOL JAPAN GUIDE FUN IN LAND OF MANGA LUCKY CATS & RAMEN SC    $14.95
MAY151006    CROSSED BADLANDS #75 CALGARY ART DECO (MR)    $9.99
APR151299    DAMOCLES GN VOL 01 BODYGUARDS    $11.95
MAY151322    DF SECRET WARS #1 DF EXC & BONUS BOOK PK    $19.84
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APR151888    GFT TALES OF TERROR #12 A CVR QUALANO (MR)    $3.99
APR151889    GFT TALES OF TERROR #12 B CVR EHNOT (MR)    $3.99
APR151890    GFT TALES OF TERROR #12 C CVR ERIC J (MR)    $3.99
APR151894    GFT WONDERLAND TP VOL 07    $15.99
APR158446    GIANT DAYS ORIENTATION EDITION    $3.99
APR151140    GOD IS DEAD #37 (MR)    $3.99
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MAY151408    GRANT MORRISONS 18 DAYS #1 COSMIC KRISHNA CVR    $9.99
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APR151490    LAST MAN GN VOL 02 ROYAL CUP    $9.99
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MAY151245    LOOKING FOR GROUP #4 CVR A HAWK    $4.99
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APR151302    LUCKY LUKE TP VOL 52 BEAUTIFUL PROVINCE    $11.95
MAY151451    MANSPRESSIONS DECODING MENS BEHAVIOR GN (MR)    $9.95
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MAY151602    X-O MANOWAR #38 CVR D BLANK INVITATION CVR    $4.99
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MAGAZINES
MAR151795    AMAZING FIGURE MODELER #59    $10.00
APR152055    CINEFEX #142    $12.50
MAY151845    COMIC SHOP NEWS #1463    PI
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FEB151879    HOBBY JAPAN MAY 2015    $18.00
JAN151881    MEGAMI APR 2015    $18.00
JAN151882    NEWTYPE APR 2015    $18.00

BOOKS
APR151916    BATMAN CLASSIC 5 MINUTE BATMAN STORIES HC    $12.99
MAY151745    BEST OF CLINT LANGLEY ART BOOK HC    $29.95
MAY151747    BEST OF MIKE RATERA ART BOOK HC (MR)    $29.95
MAY151746    BEST OF MIKE S MILLER ART BOOK HC    $29.95
MAY151748    BEST OF PAUL RENAUD ART BOOK HC (MR)    $29.95
MAY151749    BEST OF VINCENZO CUCCA ART BOOK HC (MR)    $29.95
MAY151791    BRICK VEHICLES FLEXIBOUND    $18.99
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SEP141604    MIKE DEODATO JR SKETCHBOOK DLX HC    $29.95
MAY151771    ON THE GRAPHIC NOVEL HC    $60.00
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APR151954    PRINCESS & THE PONY YR HC    $17.99
MAY151796    PSYCHO GIRLS IN BONDAGE CLASSIC FETISH ART & FICTION SC (MR)    $27.95
MAY151438    SCIENCE OF ATTACK ON TITAN MMPB    $10.99
MAY151783    SCIENTIFIC SECRETS OF DOCTOR WHO HC    $19.99
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APR151797    SKY LONGING FOR MEMORIES ART OF MAKOTO SHINKAI SC    $34.95
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APR151844    SWORD ART ONLINE NOVEL PROGRESSIVE VOL 02    $14.00
MAY152739    WARHAMMER LORD OF THE END TIMES TP    $16.00
MAY151792    WE DONT NEED ROADS MAKING OF BACK TO FUTURE TRILOGY    $17.00

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Review: CASH LANDING

CASH LANDING
HARPERCOLLINS/Harper – @HarperCollins

AUTHOR: James Grippando – @James_Grippando
ISBN: 978-0-06-229545-3; hardcover (June 2, 2015)
384pp, B&W, $25.99 U.S.

Cash Landing is a 2015 crime novel from author James Grippando, the second book by the author to be released in 2015 (following January's Cane and Abe).  Cash Landing is based on real-life crime that occurred during the fall of 2005.  Grippando's novel focuses on a band of amateur thieves that is successful in pulling of an airport heist, but is less successful in dealing with all that money.

Cash Landing introduces Karl “Ruban” Betancourt, a guy who has always played by the rules.  Being a goodie-good didn't stop the bank from taking his house, nor did it stop his restaurant business from going bust.  Ruban thinks that he and his wife, Savannah, deserve more than what life has given them.

Every week, a hundred million dollars in cash arrives at Miami International Airport.  That money is shipped by German banks to the Miami branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, and only a select group of trusted workers moves the bags through customs and loads them into armored cars.  These commercial jets pregnant with bags of U.S. currency are called “money flights.”  Ruban plans on “catching” one of those flights in order to get the money he believes he deserves.

In November 2009, Ruban makes the big move with his crew:  Jeffrey Beauchamp, Ruban's coke-head brother-in-law; Craig “Pinky” Perez, Jeff's uncle who is also an ex-con; Octavia Alvarez, Ruban's longtime friend who came over from Cuba with him; and bit-player, Marco Aroyo.  Their target is Lufthansa flight 462 (a Boeing 747), and Ruban and company pull off a successful heist, speeding away with $7.4 million in cash.  However, FBI Special Agent Andrea “Andie” Henning believes the best way to catch these thieves is to follow the money, but there are actually several interested parties looking to follow the money.

Cash Landing is the fourth James Grippando novel that I have read.  I loved the first three, but I am disappointed in Cash Landing.  It really isn't a heist novel so much as it is a crime drama.  The problem is that the drama is boiler plate and the characters are mere shadows, unable to become fully developed characters, even by the end of this novel.

Honestly, I don't like the characters in this book.  I don't care about their motivations, and I took only a little more interest in their conflicts.  Even Andie Henning, who has been an exciting character in other Grippando novels, is flat here.  Spoiler alert:  Jack Swyteck, the star of several of Grippando's novels, makes a cameo appearance in Cash Landing.  I squealed when he was revealed; yes – squealed.  I did not know that I liked this fictional dude so much.

Anyway, Cash Landing is not so bad that it is unreadable, but if an unknown or unpublished writer tried to sell this book to Harper, he or she would receive a form rejection letter from the publisher.  Die hard fans of James Grippando may be the only ones who want to read Cash Landing.

C

www.JamesGrippando.com
facebook.com/jgrippando

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux; support on Patreon.


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