In MURDER AT CAPE THREE POINTS, Darko’s investigation of the death of an oil company executive takes him into a world of filthy rich oil magnates, anti-petroleum activists, well-heeled politicians and a beautiful young doctor who might just be the greatest challenge to Darko’s heretofore unbroken bond with his loving wife Christine.

There’s no news yet of a publisher for me, but even if that does not happen, this is the new world of publishing in which there are alternative ways besides the old models whereby books get to readers – primarily e-books, whose purchase has risen exponentially. Whatever format or formats that the novel ends up as, you’ll get to read it.

However, there are some logical reasons why this film may not have charged out the gate with as much gusto as expected. First, consumers who bought the Millennium novels are not necessarily the same ones who would clamor to see the movie. Remember that many readers like to keep the scenes of a novel where they first saw them: in their heads. It’s a crapshoot whether a movie version will be “better” than the novel or will completely ruin it. Readers don’t take kindly to their books being defiled by a film rendition.

Secondly, was the timing right? Some have felt that the release of an adult-themed film with a graphic rape scene was misplaced for Christmastime. It’s certainly not the family-friendly film you’re taking the kids and grandma to see.

Third, there have already been three Swedish movies based on the trilogy. There was some ambivalence toward the making of an English version. A bookseller I know expressed disgust at the idea of bringing the film to the American market “just to make money,” as he put it. “The Swedish version was just fine; now leave it alone,” he said. Along those lines, there may be “Millennium Trilogy” fatigue. Let’s face it, there was a long, long period in which the novels dominated first, second and third place on the bestseller lists. The reviews, debates and controversies over the series began to get a little exhausting.

Fourth, well, there’s fame and then there’s fame. Sure, publishers, booksellers and well-informed readers know who Stieg Larsson and Lisbeth Salander are, but ask random people on the street if they know those names, many of them won’t. “Steve who?” It’s a different story if you ask them if they’ve heard of Batman in any of his incarnations. It’s often a well-known name and a previous blockbuster with that name that creates another blockbuster.

Fifth, the marketing of TGWTDT was off-putting to some, especially to people unfamiliar with the novels or its heralded character Salander. One of the posters for the film, released in June 2011 and featuring a nude Salander, was too much for some sensibilities, and it was replaced later by a different version. Others might have found the multi-pierced Salander a little intimidating. “Repelling” is probably too strong a word, but if I recall correctly, even in the novel (which I never finished) Salander made a few people nervous. Rooney Mara, who played  Salander in this 2011 release, was interviewed on NPR just before the film’s debut, and clearly she is a thoughtful and intelligent actress. However, the discussion of the movie’s graphic rape scene made me squirm with some discomfort, and it certainly did not make me want to see the film.

But don’t dismiss TGWTDT yet. It has a couple nominations from the Golden Globe Awards including Rooney Mara, Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, so if it wins anything there and goes on to gain prominence at the 2012 Academy Awards, then Lisbeth Salander might come roaring back (on her motorcycle.)

From an author’s POV, Larsson’s novels made me wonder if I can now stop espousing to the rules I was taught about writing: keep exposition to a minimum, don’t go on and on in endless, didactic paragraphs, make your dialogue riveting and crackling, and so on. I think in general it’s still wise to stick to those rules, but I may relax them just a little.

War is a senseless exercise usually started and maintained by men, some of them crazy, megalomaniacal idiots. In war, women and children suffer disproportionately as innocent bystanders. But here’s a riddle for you in Jeopardy format: Over the thousands of years up to and including the First World War, this creature has taken an active part in war yet remains an innocent party. Answer: what is the horse?

War Horse, the Steven Spielberg movie released on Christmas Day 2011, tells the simple story of a bond between a boy and his horse that is severed by the tragic events of WW1. It is based on both War Horse, a children’s novel by British author Michael Morpurgo, first published in the UK in 1982, and the 2007 stage adaptation of the same name.

The failings of Spielberg’s movie are all on the human side. The dialogue, particularly in the first hour or so, is clunky and not very credible. Even though some of the German soldiers are played by German actors, I would have preferred those segments in German with English subtitles. Although many people do not like subtitles, the use of the actual language, not English spoken with the corresponding accent, does a world of good for authenticity. A segment involving a young French girl and her grandfather falls flat.

Strikingly, it is the nonverbal (and sometimes verbal in the form of dubbed sound) of the horses in the movie that communicates conversation and emotion with far greater subtlety than any human dialogue. Spielberg himself admits that time and again during direction of War Horse, the equine actors often injected some intangible element that Spielberg had not anticipated or even thought of. This is probably because horses are more instinctual, as against deliberative, animals. With all due respect to the great John Williams, the music in War Horse is often overbearing and unnecessary. However Spielberg’s strength is the conveyance of the power and terror of the cavalry charges. In one hair-raising and stunning scene that is a metaphor for the futility of war, Joey tries to escape at a flat-out gallop. It was not cowardice that made him run, it was courage. Being on the back of a galloping horse is the only way to appreciate the sheer, exhilarating physical power shown in this scene, easily the best in the film, which is a tear-jerker in many spots including the ending. By the way, we must give the filmmakers the benefit of the doubt when they assure us that no horses were harmed in the filming of the movie, but how it’s all done is quite amazing.

Showing emotion and conveying a message with only a glance is the best kind of acting in the world, whether equine or human. If one has not spent many years riding and being around horses as I have, one may miss the equine cues in War Horse, but for example, the eyes of a calm, confident horse are warm and dark, while those of an agitated, excited, fearful, distressed or furious horse flash the whites around the margins. Ears pointed forward = good. Flattened ears = get the hell out of the way. An unhappy horse can work itself up into quite a state.

WW1 marked the transition from horses to full mechanization. While tanks and motorized vehicles were coming online, they could not always handle muddy and other treacherous terrain, and this is where the horses came to the rescue, pulling artillery, supply wagons and ambulances. But the casualty rate for the horses was crippling. Hundreds of thousands died from starvation, sheer exhaustion, injury and illness. In some ways, it was better to lose a man in battle than to lose a horse because the latter was less immediately replaceable. These animals showed great courage as they were ridden again and again into oncoming enemy fire only be cut down in mindless, worthless slaughter.

From movies like The Black Stallion based on the novel of the same name by Walter Farley and multiple movie incarnations of Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty to more recent ones like Secretariat, several movies explore the relationship between humans and horses. Their historical role in the life of humans as pack animals, war horses, sport, land transportation is extensive. Other roles for horses in the modern day include crowd control, and of course horse-racing is still one of the world’s greatest gambling and entertainment events. To see an example of a magnificent racehorse with star power, check out Zenyatta.

In spite of this close association with people, horses will never have the emotional intimacy that dogs have with humans, although there are some horses that almost comically follow their owners around like dogs. From a purely teleological standpoint, it’s probably just as well that horses maintain something of an emotional distance. The kind of service they have provided over centuries is best not saddled (sorry) with sentimentality. The instincts that have built up in the horse in its long evolution remain so powerful that they must be redirected by training to make them useful to humans. Horses are prey in the natural world. Their instinct is to shy away and run. A police horse who remains completely calm in a crowd scene is the last thing its genes would normally tell it to do.

It is in fact this enigmatic and challenging nature of the Equus caballus that draws horse-lovers to an animal full of intriguing contradictions. We want to preserve its strength and fleetness of foot while taming it but not breaking its spirit. Just as in people, upbringing influences the behavior of an individual horse, whether it be obstinacy, sweetness, flamboyance, surliness, kindness, obedience, vice, or playful mischief.  It’s perhaps because we see our own best and worst traits on display in our equine counterparts that we continue to be intrigued by this magnificent creature.

On February 7, 2011, AOL acquired The Huffington Post for US$315 million making Arianna Huffington editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Media Group. The reach and breadth of the publication is impressive, with several subdivisions such as politics, business, entertainment, life & style, etc. Topics range from the serious to the light-hearted. In other words, something for everyone. HP’s political stance is leftward.

Today, Dec 6, 2011, HP has published my article Food of the Gods, which originally appeared in FPIF, about cocoa and its end-product chocolate. The story behind one of our most delectable treats is more complicated than you might think.

There are two reasons why I was flattered by the invitation to join FPIF. First, take a look at the caliber of the columnists I will be joining. They hold impressive positions like professors at various major universities or directors of national or international economic and political centers. Second, consider John Feffer, the co-director of FPIF who extended this opportunity to me. He’s the author of several books, he has studied in England and Russia, traveled extensively in Eastern Europe, East Asia – in fact, just returned recently from Korea, where he taught a graduate level course in Seoul back in 2001 – and he has lived in Poland and Japan. This is a very busy man indeed.

Traffic to FPIF has been steadily increasing over the last few months. I mistakenly told a few people that I would be blogging for the Huffington Post (HP), but more correctly, articles on FPIF are often reposted on HP. Founded in 2005 by Arianna Huffington and Kenneth Lerer, HP receives a very large amount of traffic: 15.6 million views per weekday, according to Quantcast. It publishes about 100 original pieces every day in its politics section alone and is one of the most influential online publications in the country.

Food of the Gods, my debut posting as regular columnist is available at FPIF.

Here are your three winners:

Bronze: The Black Gold Murders

Silver, tie:  The Land Nearest Nowhere, Two Bullets At Three Points

Gold: Murder At Cape Three Points

So Murder At Cape Three Points will be the working title of the novel. If it is used as the title for the final book (no guarantees, I’m afraid – publishers love changing book titles) whether as hardcover, paperback and/or e-book, those who voted for the title will win a free copy in whichever format they prefer.

The voters who chose the winning title are (first names only):

Alice, Audrey, Connie, Cooke, Dawn, Gillian, Kwadwo, and Stephen.

Some of you might be wondering what Cape Three Points (CTP) is all about. It’s important in many respects besides being a prominent feature in the next Darko Dawson novel. It is the southernmost point of Ghana and is sometimes called “the land nearest nowhere” because it is the closest spot (some 350 miles) from a point in the Atlantic Ocean’s Gulf of Guinea that is   0 latitude, 0 longitude and 0 altitude.

It is also the area off which large petroleum reserves in Ghana’s waters were discovered by Tullow Oil and Kosmos Energy in 2007. Oil production was begun only 40 months later in December 2010. Production hasn’t reached its full potential yet, but Ghana will become an important oil exporter in years to come, particularly as its crude oil is of the highly coveted “sweet, light” variety, i.e. it has low levels of sulphur, requires less processing than “heavy, sour” crude, and is commonly used for manufacture of gasoline (petrol.)

While in Ghana in July 2011, I set off with my driver to CTP. There is an eco-lodge there called Ezile Bay Village that I wanted to visit. It didn’t look that far on the map. Boy, was I wrong. Because the route has so many twists and turns and some sections of the road are unpaved and torturous, it takes longer to get there than one would think.

With the hour getting late and the looming prospect of arriving at CTP at 5 o’clock in the afternoon with barely more than an hour of daylight left, we turned back. Our consolation was the peaceful scenery and lush vegetation.

The lesson: start out early and use a 4×4 to get there. I later found out that there is an alternative and better route to get to CTP via Princes Town.

Murder At Cape Three Points is a mystery with the oil industry as the backdrop, not to mention family secrets, greed, jealousy, driving ambition, and a wonderful panoply of human failings.

Here are your three winners:

Bronze: The Black Gold Murders

Silver, tie:  The Land Nearest Nowhere, Two Bullets At Three Points

Gold: Murder At Cape Three Points

So Murder At Cape Three Points will be the working title of the novel. If it is used as the title for the final book (no guarantees, I’m afraid – publishers love changing book titles) whether as hardcover, paperback and/or e-book, those who voted for the title will win a free copy in whichever format they prefer.

The voters who chose the winning title are (first names only):

Alice, Audrey, Connie, Cooke, Dawn, Gillian, Kwadwo, and Stephen.

Some of you might be wondering what Cape Three Points (CTP) is all about. It’s important in many respects besides being a prominent feature in the next Darko Dawson novel. It is the southernmost point of Ghana and is sometimes called “the land nearest nowhere” because it is the closest spot (some 350 miles) from a point in the Atlantic Ocean’s Gulf of Guinea that is   0 latitude, 0 longitude and 0 altitude.

It is also the area off which large petroleum reserves in Ghana’s waters were discovered by Tullow Oil and Kosmos Energy in 2007. Oil production was begun only 40 months later in December 2010. Production hasn’t reached its full potential yet, but Ghana will become an important oil exporter in years to come, particularly as its crude oil is of the highly coveted “sweet, light” variety, i.e. it has low levels of sulphur, requires less processing than “heavy, sour” crude, and is commonly used for manufacture of gasoline (petrol.)

While in Ghana in July 2011, I set off with my driver to CTP. There is an eco-lodge there called Ezile Bay Village that I wanted to visit. It didn’t look that far on the map. Boy, was I wrong. Because the route has so many twists and turns and some sections of the road are unpaved and torturous, it takes longer to get there than one would think.

With the hour getting late and the looming prospect of arriving at CTP at 5 o’clock in the afternoon with barely more than an hour of daylight left, we turned back. Our consolation was the majestic scenery and lush vegetation.

The lesson: start out early and use a 4×4 to get there. I later found out that there is an alternative and better route to get to CTP via Princess Town.

Murder At Cape Three Points is a mystery with the oil industry as the backdrop, not to mention family secrets, greed, jealousy, driving ambition, and a panoply of human failings.