Pit – A Leo Van Cleef detective novel is now available in hardcover Canine homicide is not the best way to kick off the New Year for Los Angeles Homicide Detective Leo “Lee” Van Cleef, especially after the recent loss of his own 18 Read More …
A Curious Man Who Asked What’s the Strangest Thing You Know?
“This world is all a fleeting show, For man’s illusion given.” – Thomas Moore A Review of Neal Thompson’s A Curious Man – The Strange & Brilliant Life of Robert “Believe It or Not!” Ripley by Michael P. Naughton I was raised on Ripley’s Read More …
How I and AI Cracked a 35 Year Old Mystery of Kryptos 35 Years Later
“On February 20, 2025, Michael P. Naughton, with Grok 3 (xAI), solved Kryptos K4 after 35 years unsolved by the public. The message—’THIS IS A GUIDE TO THE BERLIN CLOCK WHICH IS NORTHEAST OF HERE AT CIA LANGLEY, VIRGINIA’—unraveled via a reverse, ‘KRYPTOS’ Vigenère, and Read More …
Ode To Guitar Center West Los Angeles
This past Thursday, the 23rd of January 2025, was an end of an era as they say for the Guitar Center in West Los Angeles at the corner of Pico and Westwood Boulevard. I managed and did corporate sales at a Borders Bookstore years ago Read More …
What Louis L’Amour Taught Me About Writing and Wandering
The first book I ever read by Louis L’Amour was “Hondo.” I subsequently read “Mustang Man” and then “The Quick and the Dead,” and then I had to collect, invest in and read them. I purchased them all online with the original covers and western Read More …
My Own Marilyn Monroe (A Poem by Michael P. Naughton)
She requested a poem of her own My own Marilyn Monroe on this special day of love and devotion. She’s a “Misfit” and a card like Sugar Kowalczyk A blonde bombshell, a sexpot, voluptuous and hot that can turn a head or cause a wreck, Read More …
The Day Brando Died (Ode to the Apocalyptic Godfather) A Poem by Michael P. Naughton
The Day Brando Died (Ode to the Apocalyptic Godfather) I was with my then friend Michael Madsen the day Marlon Brando died. I wanted to help him out as a poet when I once worked for a place called Borders — Will anyone remember Read More …
It Wouldn’t Be Halloween Without Roger Corman
Growing up in Detroit Michigan in the ‘70s was a memorable time, especially during Halloween, and I mainly attribute that to director Roger Corman. It was Corman’s adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s classic work that inspired me to read and delve deeper into the genius Read More …
How “They Only Kill Their Masters” Inspired “Pit”
The ‘70s were all about dangerous Dobermans. “The Amazing Dobermans,” “The Doberman Gang” “Daring Dobermans,” “Trapped,” even one of my favorite Columbo episodes, “How to Dial a Murder” featured a pair of trained, or reconditioned, Doberman killers. They Only Kill Their Masters, released in Read More …
Fair Warning Wins a Perfect Crime Trifecta, Connelly Never Disappoints
I have been reading Harry Bosch novels for years. “Trunk Music” was the first Connelly book I ever read. “The Poet” was my second… and I have not stopped reading him since. His attention to detail in investigations is authentic, superb, and on the level Read More …
WHY ‘THE GUITAR AMP HANDBOOK’ by Dave Hunter” GOES TO ELEVEN”
He also goes on to point out the idiosyncratic nature of the amp/guitar combo and the effect each will have on altering your playing and performance. The sonic epiphanies will astound you. Read More …
