Robert Selden Duvall
(January 5, 1931 – February 15, 2026)
American actor and filmmaker.

Smokescreen by Dick Francis (1972)

Edward Lincoln has scaled the Himalayas, survived car chases and defeated scores of assassins. As a movie action man he’s even suffered stoically at the hands of sadistic directors.

After finishing his latest film, he visits South Africa to discover why a dying friend’s horses are suddenly failing on the race track. Lincoln’s attempt to help a friend soon puts him in harm’s way.

This story suffers from a very long buildup. There are only two incidents of intensity. And the one at the end could be predicted from the first scene. So not one of his best.

The 2026 Philip K. Dick Award nominees are:

• Sunward, William Alexander
• Outlaw Planet, M.R. Carey
• Casual, Koji A. Dae
• The Immeasurable Heaven, Caspar Geon
• Uncertain Sons and Other Stories, Thomas Ha
• Scales, Christopher Hinz
• City of All Seasons, Oliver K. Langmead & Aliya Whiteley

Slay Ride by Dick Francis (1973)

When a champion jockey disappears–right before a big race and the birth of his child–Investigator David Cleveland bets on foul play.

One of his earliest books. This lacks the drive and intensity of later and better written stories. It has the feel of an Agatha Christie mystery. But not a lot of interesting plot.

The latest StoryBundle “Undercover Aliens” features:

Kelvoo’s Testimonial by Phil Bailey
Eclipsing the Aurora by Peter J. Foote
Welcome to the Occupied States of America by Peter Cawdron
The World in My Hands by Nick Snape
Return of the Martians by Mark Hood
The Gunn Files Book 1: Culture Shock by M.G. Herron
Shadows of Divinity by Luke Mitchell
Invasion by Joshua James
Alien People by John Coon
Shadows of the Past by Eric Goebelbecker
Sleepers by Darcy Pattison
Contact Us by Al Macy

Not a lot to choose from this year, but the best were

Morgan Rice’s Kings & Sorcerers

David Wood’s Destination Series: Rio, Luxor & Sofia

The premise here is that sone ultra rich psychotic wants to record the sound of an Alien in pain. So what could be a short, simple story gets drawn out into an 83k novel that just goes on and on.

It took months to read this,

The Doomsday Brunette
Nuclear Bombshell #2
By John Zakour, Lawrence Ganem

The sequel to The Plutonium Blonde.

It’s the same stuff as the previous one. Witty dialogue, danger, last second saves and destruction. Unfortunately nothing new. And with all in invulnerability going around, nobody really suffers and it looses aby sense in tension.

Destination: Luxor:
A Dane Maddock Adventure
by Dane Maddock Destination Adventure
By Sean Ellis & David Wood

A Pharaoh’s curse reaches up from the grave.

Dane and Bones have traveled to Luxor, Egypt, and the historic Valley of the Kings to explore a sunken subterranean passage that just might/will lead to the undiscovered tomb of a forgotten Pharaoh. But someone else has beaten them to it.

Another highly improbable story, this time with the guys playing around with balloons in the final confrontation.