Steven Helmer Publications

My wife was in the mood for BLTs tonight so, while I was at the store picking up some tomatoes, I decided to look for something to make as a side dish. This was something we had been wanting to try and I thought the cheese & bacon would be a good complement so I picked up a bag for $4.99. Overall, I have to say these were pretty good. It was probably because of the cheese, but had I not seen the bag, I probably wouldn't have known these were made from cauliflower rather than potatoes. Heck, I'm somewhat certain they would have even fooled the kids. I also thought the tots were surprisingly filling. I didn't think that would be the case because of them being made from cauliflower, but we were every bit as full as we would have been if they were made from potatoes. We even had a few leftover. I did think the tots were a bit lacking when it came to the bacon side of things. I could definitely taste the cheese, but really couldn't taste the bacon at all. In fact, had I ...

Synopsis: A set of "bad apple" twin sisters kill their school principal and go on a Halloween killing spree in a suburban cul-de-sac. Who's in it? The movie stars Brea Grant , Graham Skipper , Aly Fitzgerald , Heather Vaughn and Richard Riehle . Review: It had been a few days since my wife and I had time to sit down and watch a movie together. So, while she did her virtual kickboxing, I once again looked for one on VUDU. I wound up picking out this on because it looked somewhat intriguing. There are a lot of reasons why a movie in this particular genre may not live up to expectations. In this particular case, the film had a lot going for it but, ultimately, was doomed by some incredibly bad acting. Let me start out by saying I loved the killer twins. I thought they brought just enough of a mix of energy and creepiness to make them potentially memorable killers. And, while I did think they needed a slightly better backstory (other than they are evil because they were b...

Synopsis: When Perry Mason witnesses Sarah Breel being accused of shoplifting, he decides to intervene on her behalf. When she is later hit by a car and sent to the hospital, he eventually finds himself defending her against a murder charge. Complicating matters is the defendant's insistence the accident caused her to have amnesia and she has no memory of whether or not she actually committed the crime.   Review: To be honest, when I first started reading this book, I found it a bit hard to stay interested. In fact, there was a moment when I considered just skipping to the end to find out what happened. This is mostly because I thought the book took a little too long to get to the main mystery, leaving me in doubt as to who Mason was supposed to be defending and why. However, once the book finally got going, I have to admit, I did enjoy it.  There are a couple things about this book that I really liked. The main one was the seemingly insurmountable wall Mason had to overcom...

Synopsis: After traveling the world with his secretary, Della Street, attorney Perry Mason is anxious to get back to work as soon as the cruise ship docks at home. He doesn't have to wait that long, however, because another passenger, Mrs. Newberry, wants to hire him to investigate a possible embezzlement by her husband, Carl, and protect her daughter, Belle, from the possible scandal. Things get more complicated when Carl goes overboard and the police suspect his wife of murder. Review: Our local library re-opened today, meaning I can finally visit in person. But, in the mean time, I am still working my way through the books I got through the mail from them, including this Perry Mason mystery. At first, I wasn't really sure what to think of it, especially since I was able to correctly figure out at least part of what actually happened to the victim while on the cruise ship. But, overall, this did end up being an interesting mystery. I think the thing I liked best about this p...

Synopsis: In a dystopian future, a centuries-long war between humans and vampires has left the Earth in ruins. Humans now live in walled cities under the control of the church while vampires live on reservations and the warrior priests that won the war for the humans have been retired and reassigned to other jobs. When a vampire pack attacks his brother and kidnaps his niece, Lucy, a former priest is forced to go against the wishes of the church and attempt to rescue her only to discover he is facing something more powerful than he's ever faced before. Who's in it? The movie stars Paul Bettany , Lily Collins , Karl Urban , Cam Gigandet and Maggie Q . Review: The only reason why I considered watching this movie with my wife yesterday evening was I realized it had been a while since we had seen a vampire film. I had my doubts about it. But, it wound up being better than I expected. I'm going to start out by saying there was very little that was overly unique about this fi...

Synopsis : When Rita Swain asks Perry Mason to represent her sister, Rosalind Prescott, in a divorce matter, he isn't interested. However, he is curious about the seemingly injured canary Rita happens to be carrying and agrees to take the case in exchange for learning more about why. At first, he is disappointed by her story. But, when Rosalind's husband, Walter, is found murdered, he eventually winds up defending Rita against the charges. Review: When I decided to take advantage of our local library's COVID-related mail-order service, I opted to double down on Perry Mason and checked out this book as well as The Case of the Dangerous Dowager . After finishing the latter, I immediately started on this book and, overall, I have to say I enjoyed it. To tell you the truth, I did have a moment where I felt like I had to force myself to continue. The introduction of the book was a little on the dull side and I was admittedly a little confused about what, exactly, Mason was bein...

Synopsis : When Matilda Benson wants to hire attorney Perry Mason to help negotiate a payoff of her granddaughter Sylvia's gambling debt to Sam Grieb, he reluctantly agrees. However, when Grieb is eventually found murdered, Sylvia becomes the primary suspect with Mason facing charges as an accessory. The attorney must work quickly to prove his client's innocence before the police arrest him. Review: Our local library is still closed because of this COVID pandemic. However, they did start allowing people to have books mailed to them and I took advantage of that. Since I didn't really know what I wanted, I figured I would give Perry Mason another try. And, as it turns out, this book became one of my favorites from the series. Overall, this is a great locked-room mystery. There are a bunch of potential suspects, including Grieb's partner, Charlie Duncan. However, the fact there was only one entrance and eye witnesses laid out a timeline that implicated either Sylvia or M...

Synopsis: Three months after a blind date ended in disaster (and a dislocated ankle) Tim Morris is in a bit of a romantic slump and faces attending a Hawaiian company retreat without a significant other, something that could cost him a shot at a promotion. He thinks his luck is changing when he accidentally switches luggage with a former beauty pageant winner at the airport and they immediately hit it off. But, when he texts her an invite to join him in Hawaii, he accidentally sends the invitation to his insane former blind date instead. Who's in it? The movie stars David Spade , Lauren Lapkus , Nick Swardson , Molly Sims and Geoff Pierson. Review: When my wife and I wound up watching this Netflix original this past weekend, it was not without some skepticism on my part. The preview made the movie look like something we would want to watch. But, previews tend to be a bit misleading, especially when it comes to comedies, so I had my doubts. However, it turned out to be a funny f...