THE LAST LEGION

The Last Legion
by Valerio Massimo Manfredi
Washington Square Press
429 pages

Some times you just get lucky. Which is what happened to me a few weeks ago when I received an e-mail promotion from Barnes & Noble on-line that they were having an inventory clearing sale. Several hundred titles were marked down to ridiculously low prices, in some cases with savings of 80% or more. If you love reading as I do, then there is no way you are going to pass this up. I bought five books from them, four of which were by writers I was unfamiliar with.

I chose THE LAST LEGION because of the cover and the book’s write-up. It clearly appeared to be a sword and sandal adventure and I do like these, if they are well done. The writer was an Italian historian and the text was translated into English. I decided to take a gamble and am so happy I did.

The Roman Empire is crumbling and the barbarian hordes have conquered most their once proud civilization. As the book opens, the barbarian Chief, Odoacer, sends his war captain, the vicious Wulfila, to murder the last regent of Rome and kidnap his thirteen year old son, Romulus, the rightful emperor. Wulfila not only accomplishes this assignment, but his troops also massacre the last true Roman Legion that has been secretly assembled by Romulus’ father to act as his personal soldiers. A handful of these brave men are spared and sold into slavery, whereas one of them actually escapes and attempts to warn the regent of Odoacer’s treachery. He is Captain Aurelias, a man with a haunted past.

When Aurelias realizes he is too late to save the emperor and his family, he makes a reckless attempt to rescue the young Ceasar and his teacher, a wise man named Ambrosinus, from Wulfila’s clutches. The attempt fails and he is severely wounded making his escape. He then comes in contact with a beautiful Roman refugee warrior woman named Livia. She hides Aurelias, nurses him back to health and together they hatch a daring plan to free the exiled Romulus from his prison on the island of Capris. Aurelias seeks out those comrades from his legion, rescues them from the slavers and offers them the chance to redeem their honor by joining him and Livia on their foolhardy mission.

The Last Legion is extremely fast paced and wonderfully written. Manfredi knows his subject matter inside out and he brings an ancient world to vivid life. The story, once the young emperor is rescued, becomes a thrilling chase through a European landscape on the cusp of the Dark Ages. All of which ends in Brittania, where Manfredi’s real surprise is revealed in the final pages of the book. Ambrosinus is actually Merlin, the druid priest, and Romulus is the first ruler of this new island kingdom, taking the title of Son of the Dragon, or if you will, Pendragon. As the book closes, Ambrosinus tells us Romulus is a good king, he’s wed and has a son. The boy is named Arthur.

Two days after I received THE LAST LEGION in the mail, I was in a local movie house and spotted a poster on the wall with this title. I was stunned. Moving closer, I saw that it indeed was heralding a major Hollywood epic based on this very book. I’ve always enjoyed King Arthur books and movie, so I was thrilled to have found this book even by accident. If the movie is half as good, it should be lots of fun. The book certainly is.

DEAD STREET

Dead Street
by Mickey Spillane
Hard Case Crime
Available 30 Oct.
209 pages

At the time of his death, last year, writer Mickey Spillane left four unfinished manuscripts. Two were Mike Hammer stories, one was an adventure yarn and the fourth was this hard-nose cop thriller. Spillane’s long time friend and protégé, Max Allan Collins assembled and produced the finished book with the use of the late writer’s notes. It is fitting that this truly terrific mystery should be published by Hard Case Crime, a publisher Spillane applauded for recapturing the excitement and fun of the old post-war paperback pulps.

Whenever reviewing such a posthumous effort, the temptation is to spend time praising the life and career of the deceased. I’m going to do my best to avoid that snare, as there are plenty of other, more capable reviewers to do that. But I will add my own personal observations relating to this specific title at the end.

After twenty years on the force, New York City detective, Jack Stang, is retiring and his plans the future are vague. A visit from a stranger turns Stang’s life upside down with the news that the woman he loved and thought dead is still alive. Thus unfolds a bizarre story that Stang, although stunned by its revelations, knows instinctively is gospel. Tweny years earlier, his girlfriend, Bettie, had come across sensitive mob documents in her work for a computer company. For that, the mob attempted to kidnap her. During the ensuing high speed chase with the cops, the van Bettie was in plunged over a bridge into the Hudson river. Although her body was never recovered, it was assumed to have been washed out to sea.

Now Stang learns Bettie is not only alive, but the accident induced both blindness and amnesia. Through the benevolence of the people who rescued her on a New Jersey shore, Bettie was kept safe and out of harms way all these years. Now she has been settled in a retirement community for policemen and fire fighters in the sunny state of Florida. Trouble is the mob has also learned she is among the living and still a threat to their operations. Stang rushes to complex and establishes himself as a friendly neighbor.

We sympathize instantly for at the emotional roller-coaster Stang endures in Bettie’s presence. He can’t come out and reveal their amorous past for fear of frightening her, yet he must find a way to rekindle her memories before it is too late. This is a taut, fast pace thriller with allegories aplenty. Spillane was aware that the book might be his last and he takes advantage of every scene to communicate with his legion of readers what a good and righteous battle is all about. It is a terrific farewell from one hell of a pulp writer.

In THE SHOOTIST, John Wayne’s last movie role was of an aged gunfighter dying of cancer. It was obvious to all that the Duke was playing himself and saying so long to all his fans. Reading through DEAD STREET, I couldn’t help but think Mickey was doing the same thing with the character of Jack Stang. That he ended it with the ex-cop and his lady love reunited and happy was very much his final tip of the fedora to all of us. Rest in peace, tough guy.

CINNAMON KISS

Cinnamon Kiss
An Easy Rawlins Novel
by Walter Mosley
Warner Books
313 pages

The joy of having favorite authors is whenever a new book comes out, you feel as if you are about to get together with old friends. That’s exactly how I feel every time a new Easy Rawlins novel arrives. Walter Mosley has created the best California based private eye series since Raymond Chandler’s hardboiled Philip Marlowe stories. Whereas Easy is more southern fried. He’s a black man born and raised in Texas and ends up in Los Angeles after World War II.

The series, of which this is the tenth book, begins in 1947 and works its way to the mid-60s. The previous entry, LITTLE SCARLET (reviewed here) dealt with the Watts Riots and their aftermath. CINNAMON KISS takes place a few months later when things have started to settle down on the streets.

Easy’s daughter, Flower, has become ill with a rare blood disease. Easy’s lover, Bonnie, a stewardess, informs him of a clinic in Switzerland that can save Flower’s life. But the cost will be far beyond Easy’s current monetary situation. Easy is so desperate to save the child, he contemplates joining his psychotic friend, Alexander “Mouse” Raymond in robbing an armored truck. Luckily for our hero, before he can make that decision, he is offered a case by colleague. There is an eccentric, very famous private detective in San Francisco who requiring the services of a black investigator.

Easy and Saul, the friend who recruited him, fly to the city by the bay and meet the short but flamboyant Robert E. Lee. Lee has been hired by very powerful man to find a lawyer named Axel and his African American secretary, Cinnamon. Axel has come into possession of highly sensitive documents that Mr. Lee’s client want returned to them without any publicity. Axel and the girl have disappeared. His trail has gone cold but Lee has learned that Philomena Cargil, Cinnamon’s real name, is from Los Angeles; the black part of L.A. His needs of a black detective to take over the hunt.

Suspecting Lee to be a racist at heart, Easy is reluctant to take the job, but the money offered is enough to pay for Flower’s trip to the overseas hospital. He really has no choice. And once again Mosley sets us on a journey that is both entertaining and thought provoking. Before returning to his home turf, Easy spends a few days in Frisco and gets a quick schooling in the hippie movement and free love. To say it’s a cultural shock to his core beliefs would be an understatement. Rawlins is not a cynic, but he seen enough of life’s sour side to realizing the movement hasn’t a prayer of permanently altering American mores.

Mosley, like Chandler before him, is a social commentator and whether you agree with his politics or not, he presents them deftly with a writer’s subtle skills weaving them throughout the narrative. By the time Easy finds Cinnamon, he has uncovered a dead body and the reality that his simple case is a lot more complicated than presented to him. The missing papers are Nazis Bearer Bonds worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and the reputation of an elite San Francisco family. These are dirty secrets that only cold blooded murder can bury. Easy’s job is to find the missing girl without stopping a bullet first.

CINNAMON KISS delivers much more than you expect from a good mystery. Much, much more. Give yourself a treat and pick it up.

52 The Novel

52
(Based on the DC Comic Series)
by Greg Cox
Ace Books
359 pages

Comic book heroes are by necessity larger than life. The visual identity of the graphic story lends itself to modern myth building as laid out by a particular artist. Whereas a novel will explore the world of the fantastic through the use of pure imagination. For years comic fans have argued the relative value of each element and its importance to the whole. What is more important, the story or the art?

With Greg Cox’s novelization of DC’s mega series, 52, we are given an entirely different interpretation of a once told tale. It is an interpretation I found both insightful and wonderfully entertaining. Having not seen the year long comic series it was based on, I was able to enjoy this book on its merits alone. Thus is my review aimed and not on the comics.

For reasons explained in a previous storyline, the world’s three most famous superheroes, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, have taken a self-imposed leave of absence.
Their sabbatical is public knowledge and the criminal elements of the world seize upon this as a golden opportunity. One such villain, mobster Bruno Mannheim, using stolen alien weapons and black magic, launches a two-fold diabolical scheme. The first is to gain control of Gotham City. The second, more grandiose plot, is to recruit the god-like Arab dictator, Black Adam and turn his country of Kahdaq into a haven for criminals and terrorists. Meanwhile something strange is happening to the very fabric of time that threatens to destroy the universe.

These threats are met and challenged by three very different and unique heroes. Booster Gold, himself a time-traveler from the future, is perfectly suited to take on the enigma plaguing the time continuum. In doing so he encounters a brand new hero calling himself Supernova. At first Booster believes the new mystery man to be an ally, but events soon transpire that lead him to wonder if this new player is really the true menace he is attempting to uncover.

Meanwhile, a former Gotham City detective, Renee Montoya, is recruited, against her wishes, by a faceless entity in a trench coat and fedora known as the Question. It is this noirish truth-seeker who reveals to her Boss Mannheim’s plot to take over the city. No sooner do they begin their attack on the gangster’s beast-men soldiers then they are joined by a startling new fighter in an all too familiar get-up. Enter the beautiful and dangerous Batwoman, who Montoya soon learns is her former lesbian lover, socialite Katherine Kane.

At the same time, over in Kahdaq, Black Adam, a one-time foe of Captain Marvel, is undergoing tremendous psychological changes. He falls in love with a slave girl who is then transformed into the hero, Isis. Then he and Isis save her brother from the same slavers and the boy is transformed into a junior version of Black Adam, calling himself Osiris. For the first time in his immortal existence, Black Adam believes he has found true happiness. But his joy is short-lived when his new family becomes the target of a group of super-villain scientists under Mannheim’s employ.

To his credit, Cox juggles these complex and intertwining plots like so many glass balls, always keeping them moving and spinning at the same time without a single misstep. His handling of each of the many characters in this mega-saga is true to their illustrious backgrounds. He propels the action with an economy of words that I appreciated and what looks like a big book is easily devoured in no time. 52 is a terrific adaptation and stands on its own merits as a powerful tale of good versus evil. In the end, isn’t that what all good superhero adventures are all about?

SENTINELS : A DISTANT STAR

SENTINELS
(A Distant Star)
by Van Allen Plexico
White Rocket Books
311 pages

I generally wait at least a month before I return to a particular series. Whereas I had so much fun reading (& reviewing) the first book in this superhero saga, I decided to forego the usual hiatus and jump right into volume two.

A Distant Star does take up where When Strikes the Warlord left off. Earth’s mightiest heroes, Ultraa, Esro Brachis and Pulsar, are dealing with the aftermaths of their first encounter with the Warlord. The Warlord is a powerful entity from a parallel universe set upon the conquest of our universe. He almost succeeded but for the bravery of the Sentinels in a battle that took the life of one of their members. The team was also left with a sentient robot warrior calling itself Vanadium. Bachis, the genius scientist of the group, is still trying to unravel the mystery of this powerful alien machine man.

Immediately they find themselves in the middle of an Earth-side space war. A race of advanced spacefarers known as the Kur-Bai have come to Earth to save it from utter destruction at the hands of a giant killer robot called Xorex. No sooner has the battle started then Xorex attempts to flee and one of the Kur-Bai soldiers, a beautiful red-skinned fighter named Mondrian, flies in pursuit in Kur-Bai shuttle accompanied by armor wearing Esro Bachis. They are instantly thrown into a wormhole and vanish.

Meanwhile Vanadium, who supposedly is an ally of the Sentinels, found itself completely immobilized at the sight of Xorex. It becomes functional only after the threat has ended, much to the chagrin of Ultraa and Pulsar. And if all these issues weren’t enough to keep our heroes busy, the government agent, Jameson, has secretly begun assembling a new group of metahumans to replace the Sentinels.

A Distant Star is more space opera than superhero adventure and I appreciated the shift. It is also the second part of a trilogy, so I didn’t expect a neat wrap up at the end. Still, there are way too many subplots involving various godlike beings throughout the book that became confusing. Too many enemies, as the movie people discovered, can be a bad idea. The book works best when Esro and Mondrian take center stage as they attempt to escape a fantastic space station upon which they have become trapped. Their interaction and budding romance is humorous and made up for the multiple subplots. Still I’m hoping with book three, Plexico will clean house a bit and eliminates some of those unnecessary plot elements.

It would be difficult to enjoy this volume without having read the first, but again, it is a solid continuation of that mega story and lays the ground work for what looks to be an epoch making climax. Bring it on, Sentinels. I’m ready and waiting.

PURITY OF BLOOD

PURITY OF BLOOD
by Arturo Perez-Reverte
A Plume Book
267 pages

In this day and age there are far too few swashbuckling adventures available. I can remember growing up in the 60s being able to watch old Errol Flynn movies, or read wonderful costume classics like Dumas’s The Three Musketeers or The Man in the Iron Mask and the more modern pirate tales of Raphael Sabbatini. It seemed like the only such costume fiction being produced these days were those sugar-sweet Harlequin Romances. Thus I was overjoyed to discover this novel by Spanish writer, Arturo Perez-Reverte.

It is one of series featuring a master swordsman named Captain Diego Alatriste. This veteran of the Flanders War earns a peacetime living as a hired sword to whoever can pay him. Perez-Reverte does an excellent job of recreating historical Madrid and he populates it with both real and fictional figures equally well. Sometimes when a book is translated from its original language, its tempo and atmosphere suffer. That is not the case here, as translator Margaret Sayers Peden offers up a skillful interpretation which maintains the poetic ebb and flow of Perez-Reverte’s narrative.

In this adventure, Captain Alatriste is employed to help rescue a young woman from a nunnery where she is being sexually abused. Because of a debt of honor, Alatriste reluctantly accepts the assignment, despite his intuitive misgivings. Sure enough, during the execution of the mission, he and his companions are betrayed. Although he manages to escape, his ward, the thirteen year old Inigo Balboa, is not so lucky. The boy is captured by one of Alatriste’s deadliest foes and delivered into the hands of the Holy Inquisition. Locked in the dank dungeons of the Toledo by sadistic priests, the lad is framed and convicted of being Jewish; a crime punishable by death.

When Alatriste learns of his fate, he must call upon certain allies in high places to help him save Inigo. Unless he can produce a miracle within a few short days, the boy will be burned at the stake in the town square. PURITY OF BLOOD is a rollicking, old fashion adventure done with a new twist and set in an intriguing time and background. There are plenty of sword fights, back alley ambushes and cunning conspiracies at every turn. All of which test Alatriste mettle to the brink of death.

If you too long for these kind of long forgotten thrills, I strongly urge you to pick up PURITY BLOOD. I can almost guarantee, once you do, you will soon be hunting up the earlier books in this series. Just like me.

BLACKMAILER

BLACKMAILER
by George Axelrod
Hard Case Crime
202 pages

The covers on this book informed us that writer, George Axelrod, wrote some fairly well known movie scripts; The Manchurian Candidate, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and the Seven Year Itch. When I first read this, I wondered at the disparity of the genres. Consider they range from tense, no-nonsense political thriller to a lighthearted romance and an off-the-wall, goof-ball comedy.

What happens with Blackmailer is that Axelrod incorporates many of these unlikely elements and the result is a disappointing stew with little to recommend it. As a murder mystery, it begins well and introduces us to some colorful, New York socialites who may or may not be crooked. A Hemingway-esque author has died leaving behind one last, unpublished novel. Now a former gangster, a Hollywood movie sexpot and social dilettante all want to get their hands on it for one reason or another. Enter Dick Sherman, publisher and would be detective.

The pacing of the book is quick and it is an easy read, if unconvincing one. There are several problems with Blackmailer that are unredeemable. The book is terribly dated. Mysteries like this back in the 50s were common and figuring out who-done-it doesn’t require any effort at all. Never mind that that book’s actual cover serves to offer that solution immediately. Consider the tag line, “She Was Born Bad.” Since there are only two female characters in the plot, one blonde and the other a brunette…well. Were this a femme-fatale offering, that could be forgiven, but it is not. In this case it’s window dressing to disguise a lackluster offering.

It is extremely rare that any Hard Case Crime will miss the bulls-eye, bad sadly Blackmailer does.

SENTINELS - WHEN STRIKES THE WARLORD

THE SENTINELS
(When Strikes the Warlord)
by Van Allen Plexico
White Rocket Books
224 pages
Available from (www.whiterocketbooks.com/)

It is not often you find a book that is filled with exuberance for its subject matter. Such is the case with this amazing novel. That writer Plexico has a deep and abiding love for comic book superheroes is evident on every single page of this action packed look into the lives of a team of modern champions. In meeting the Sentinels, the heroes of this super powered adventure, I was instantly reminded of the early days of Stan Lee’s the Avengers.

Plexico is not so much interested in psychological terrain as he is in action, cause and effect. Much like the early golden age of comics, the characters of his cast come through when they are going toe to toe with the villains. In this particular case, a mysterious warlord from another dimension and a super android herald come to destroy our world.

It’s all grandiose storytelling done with gusto and panache and it captivated me. From Ultra, the powerful hero who has no memory of his past to Esro Brachis, the eccentric inventor who builds all the marvelous weapons used by the Sentinels, to Pulsar, a young college student suddenly thrust into this do or die world of the super fantastic.

As a opening chapter to a larger canvas, When Strikes the Warlord is a fantastic read and I am looking for to starting the second book in the saga. If you’ve fond memories of reading Justice League of America, X-Men or any other such team comics as a child, you would be very wise to pick this up. It’s very much like a long, overdue trip home.

SLIDE

SLIDE
by Ken Bruen & Jason Starr
Hard Case Books
224 pages (Available in Oct.)

This is a sequel to this team’s first collaborative effort. In that book, BUST, we were introduced to Max Fisher, a shiftless businessman who operated a small computer software outfit. He plotted with his secretary, a gorgeous blonde schemer named Angela Petrakos, half-Irish and Greek, to have his wife murdered so they could collect her inheritance.

Without going into details, the wife did end up dead, but so did Angela’s psycho killer boyfriend who did the dirty deed, as well a New York city detective who stumbled on the pair by accident. At then end of BUST, Max somehow managed to convince the authorities he was innocent and was set free. Meanwhile, Angela had fled to Ireland.

SLIDE picks up months later, and nothing much has really changed for both of them. Angela has unwittingly ended up living with as yet another sociopath serial killer and Max finds himself penniless in a seedy southern motel with no clues as to how he got there. The genius of Bruen and Starr is their ability to invent some of the most memorable characters you’ve ever met this side of Quentin Tarrentino territory, with a heavy dose of Elmore Leonard thrown in for good measure.

By the time Max returns to New York with a scheme to become a big time crack dealer and Angela flies home with her Irish pscho in tow, you know damn well the bodies are going to start piling faster than you can turn the pages. And they do, with such cold-blooded, black humor, you can’t help but laugh aloud with each new gunshot, razor slash and rocket launcher explosion. SLIDE is a masterpiece of dark comedy taken to side-splitting limits that left this reviewer dizzy with glee. Not to be missed if you like your noir flavored with a heavy dose of wry comedy.

TO KINGDOM COME

TO KINGDOM COME
by Will Thomas
Touchstone
275 pages

I love Sherlock Holmes and have enjoyed not only the original Conan Doyle stories but the hundreds of pastiches written over the years by various authors. What I have not relished are all the Holmes imitations that have tried to copy Doyle’s format. Several years ago I discovered a novel set in Victorian London that dealt with another Holmes’ contemporary but was refreshingly original. The book was SOME DANGER INVOLVED by Will Thomas and it was the beginning of a new detective series starring Cyrus Barker, agent of inquiry, and his assistant, Thomas Llewelyn.

It was a terrific book and the character of Barker a joy to discover. A former sea captain with a mysterious past, Barker always wears sunglasses, is a student of martial arts, eastern philosophy and enjoys gourmet foods. Alike the more cerebral Holmes, Barker relishes action and is not afraid to get his fists dirty in a good scuffle for queen and country.

In this, the second volume in the series, Scotland Yard is bombed by Irish terrorists and the Home Office wants the culprits found and brought to justice at the soonest possible opportunity. To that end, the Home Secretary opts to hire an independent investigator, Cyrus Barker, whose underworld connections are well known throughout the intelligence community. It is hoped that Barker’s expertise and radical methods will prove more successful over the more traditional police agencies.

Barker’s gambit is to disguise himself as a famous German bomb-maker, with Llewelyn, posing as his young, Welsh apprentice and then manipulate circumstances whereby they cross paths with the Irish sympathizers in Liverpool. His plan goes off like clock-work and soon he and Thomas found themselves part of a grandiose plot to simultaneously blow up half a dozen famous London landmarks, including the private residents of the Prince of Wales.

It is a suspenseful adventure, as Barker and Llewelyn must never let down their guard for a second, as they carry out their subterfuge in hopes they will have enough time to foil the bombings before the attack is launched. During the mission, Thomas finds himself falling in love with one of the Irish terrorist’s beautiful sister, and finds his own loyalties questioned. Is his duty to England greater than his love for this winsome, Irish lovely? And can he possibly save her when the final confrontation?

TO KINGDOM COME is a fun new chapter in this series and one I enjoyed from start to finish. There is a third in print and I will be eagerly picking it up soon. So, as stated earlier, if you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes and would like to meet one of his more original peers, you can do no better than reading TO KINGDOM COME. Cyrus Barker is a man the great detective would have certainly called an equal.

MISSING IN ACTION

MISSING IN ACTION
by Peter David
Pocket Books
392 pages

This is the 19^th book in the New Frontier series created and written by Peter David. It is without doubt the finest Star Trek book series ever produced thanks to David’s overwhelming passion Star Trek and his talent in telling great adventure stories. New Frontier centers around the exploits of the Starship Excalibur and her captain, the roguish former warlord, Mackenzie Calhoun and his populated by such a diverse supporting cast from so many Trek sources it is almost impossible to remember them all.

The only true flaw with the New Frontier books is the fact that they represent an on-going series and very few can stand alone. David writes in long, sweeping, and yes, epic, story arcs that some times take at least two or more books to complete. MISSING IN ACTION is the second half of a plot begun in AFTER THE FALL. So, if you wish to truly appreciated the complexities of this particular chapter, I would strongly recommend running out and picking up that first half.

Meanwhile, let me continue by commenting on the new book’s two strongest points. Over the course of his career, Peter David, has demonstrated a very poetic ability to create and write memorable female characters. In MISSING IN ACTION, this particular talent crystallizes when the action being played out comes to spotlight all the New Frontier’s unique and remarkable female cast. They are Admiral Elizabeth Shelby, Calhoun’s wife, to Kathrine Mueller, Captain of the Starship Ship, Robin Lefler, a Federation officer married to Si Cwan, ruler of an alien empire, Soleta, half Valcan/Romulan Captain of the Romulan spyship the Specter to name the major players. There are others.

When a bloody civil war erupts in Thallonian space, Calhoun suspects outside interference and attempts to uncover its source. In the process his ship is hurled into another dimension where he and his crew must deal with truly bizarre creatures to find a way home. Meanwhile, Admiral Shelby, and the others mentioned, are left having to deal with the escalating war. In the process, one of the New Frontier’s most endearing characters is killed. This single act brings the entire series to a new level of maturity and drama that loyal fans, though stunned by it, will come to applaud. David has proven he is not afraid to take Calhoun and the Excalibur to places no other Star Trek enterprise has ever gone before. Bravo!

MISSING IN ACTION is a terrific addition to what has become my all time favorite science fiction series. If Hollywood ever hopes to re-energize the Trek franchise, they need look no further than the New Frontier.

THE WOUNDED AND THE SLAIN

THE WOUNDED AND THE SLAIN
by David Goodis
Hard Case Crime
252 pages

In our modern world where no intimate subject is taboo, it is routine to see television commercials about erectile dysfunction or prescription drugs to whatever ails us from clinical depression to enlarged prostates. Although these same conditions were present in 1955, they certainly were not considered polite topics of social discussion. Which is why David Goodis’ writing is so bold and daring. Goodis was not afraid to confront social taboos and expose them for what they were, all too familiar traits of frail, imperfect people.

James and Cora Bevan are having serious marital problems. Soon after their marriage, he discovers his beautiful young wife is sexually frigid. Again, one has to remember, these were the 50s, and what happened in a couple’s bedroom was sacred. There were no therapists or marriage counselors ready, willing and eager to help solve these destructive, psychological quirks. Unable to cope with the problem, James finds himself having an affair with a timid streetwalker that ultimately gets out of hand. When Cora discovers the arrangement, James, not wanting to end his marriage, breaks it off. A few weeks later he discovers his mistress has committed suicide. Because he blames himself, and Cora is still no more affectionate than before, he begins to fall apart, verging on a complete mental breakdown. He seeks help from a doctor and is told to take a trip, a vacation from his normal routine.

The estranged couple travel to the sunny Jamaica, where their situation is no closer to be resolved than before. One night, while out drinking in the slums of Kingston, Bevan is attacked and in the process of defending himself, kills the mugger. Dazed and confused, he comes back to the hotel and the next morning confesses all to Cora. Before they can reach any kind of decision on what to do next, they are approached by a native who witnessed the crime and wants to blackmail them to keep his silence.

THE WOUNDED AND THE SLAIN moves at a relatively slow pace, which in this case serves it perfectly. Each scene seems to build one after another until what emerges is a very powerful tale of two lost souls struggling to find love in a world that is all too often cold and unsympathetic. How both James and Cora find redemption and each other is a poignant tale I will soon not forget. Kudos to Hard Case Crime for unearthing as yet another classic crime thriller.

BROTHER ODD

BROTHER ODD
by Dean Koontz
Bantam Books
364 pages

This is the third Koontz’s thriller starring the psychic fry-cook, Odd Thomas. He continues to be one of his best, most original characters and one with unlimited potential story-wise. Odd Thomas can see the dead, those spirits somehow still trapped in this reality and for whatever reasons, unable to move on to the next. All too often these visitations coincide with some horrendous evil about to occur and Odd finds himself racing the clock to both discover the threat and then thwart it.

In the first book, ODD THOMAS, it was a terrorist attack on a shopping mall. In the follow up sequel, FOREVER ODD, he dealt with a group of hippie Satanist who wanted to exploit his psychic abilities for their own ends. Now, months after that last adventure, Odd has sequestered himself in a bucolic monastery located high in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. He’s trying to get away from the world and his past in hopes of
coming to grips with the loss of his one true love. The monastery is also home to a mission school for disabled children run by a group of self-less nuns. It seems an isolated oasis far removed from his past, dark experiences.

Sadly, Odd simply cannot outdistance his own fate and when one of the brothers commits suicide by hanging himself from the bell tower, ominous signs begin to surface that can only spell something truly bad is on its way. Once again Odd is faced with discovering the source of impending doom, fully aware it is centered about the lives of the innocent children of the mission. Things go from bad to worse when a severe winter storm blankets the mountain top retreat trapping everyone. Odd, the monks and sisters, find themselves cut off from succor and having to relay on their own courage and faith to battle an unbelievable evil. Koontz’s villain is a truly bizarre and twisted creature with delusions of godhood; the veritable snake in the Garden of Eden.

BROTHER ODD is a suspenseful, expertly paced thriller that will satisfy even the most jaded reader. Personally, I’ve become addicted to young Odd and hope that a fourth chapter in his incredible life is soon to come our way.

A GENTLEMAN'S GAME

A GENTLEMAN’S GAME
by Greg Rucka
Bantam Books
481 pages

Greg Rucka first came on the scene back in 1996 with his debut novel, KEEPER. It was the first in a series starring professional bodyguard, Atticus Kodiak and it was an auspicious beginning. He followed it up with several new Kodiak books before getting into comics scripting where he wrote new Batman adventures for DC Comics. Rucka has a lean, tight prose style that made jumping between thrillers and comics an easy transition. Now comes a brand new series that emerges from that graphic media.

Several years ago, Rucka created British secret agent, Tara Chace for a comic series from Oni Press called; QUEEN AND COUNTRY. There have been several story arcs in this critically acclaimed series and now, at long last, he brings Chace to the world of prose drama. And quite honestly, that is where she belongs. Don’t get me wrong, I love comics and think the Q &C series is top-notch, but any comic can only go so far in character development, as it is a plot-driven, action orientated medium.

Now comes A GENTLEMEN’S GAME and for the first time, we readers are truly allowed into Chace’s mind and learn her fears, apprehensions and thoughts as she fights her way through a difficult, complicated assignment that almost marks the end of her career for Special Operations. The story opens with a group of radical Islamists blowing up subway trains in the greater London area leaving dozens death or badly injured. The British government is incensed and wants retribution fast. Enter the Special Operations section led by Paul Crocker, a tough spy-master who is completely loyal to his agents, here called Minders and led by Tara Chace. She is Minder One, and has two subordinates, Minder Two & Three. Polite names for assassins.

When the mastermind behind the bombings is discovered to be a radical cleric, a sanction is placed on his head and Chace given the mission. Safely holed up in his home in Iran, the religious mastermind is untouchable, until it is learned he is making a trip to Yemen to meet other Islamic leaders. Crocker is quick to deploy Chace and complete the mandate from his superiors. Chace, a courageous, lethal professional, manages to gain entry into the mosque where the target is holding religious services and there ends his life. In the process she also kills another man who was in conferences with her target. He becomes what is called collateral damage.

What Chace doesn’t know, until weeks later, safely back in London, is that the second man she killed was in fact a member of the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia. The Saudis are enraged by the prince’s murder and begin sending out their own intelligent feelers to determine the assassin’s identity.

It is at this juncture that Rucka turns the entire routine spy thriller on its ear by twisting the plot into a truly unique and totally believable new path. One that finds Chace suddenly betrayed by her own government and left to flee both England and her team. Labeled a rogue agent, she quickly becomes the target of every international assassin and it’s up to Crocker to figure out a solution that will both bring her in out of the cold, and exonerate her at the same time. What he comes up with had me flipping pages in a frenzy to reach the book’s slam-bang climax.

There’s a lot of Ernest Hemingway and Robert Ludlum feel to Rucka’s prose, with a healthy dollop of John LeCarre. A GENTLEMEN’S GAME is a solid winner in what I hope is going to be a long, long run for the lovely and lethal Ms.Tara Chace.

A KILLING IN COMICS

A KILLING IN COMICS
by Max Allan Collins
Illos by Terry Beatty
Berkley Prime Crime
257 pages

I’ve recently begun to think of writer, Max Allan Collins, as a Literary Master Chef with an overly generous disposition. It’s not enough that he serves up absolutely wonderful, tasty, delicious stories, but he always fills your plate to overflowing every single time. And this latest effort is no exception; A KILLING IN COMICS is filled with lots and lots of good treats.

Set in the post World War II publishing world of New York City, the backdrop is the all too familiar story of the birth of American comic books. This isn’t the first time Collins has used an historical period to stretch his imaginative canvas against. What is both interesting and amusing is his own connection with comics. For a long while, he wrote the daily exploits of the country’s most famous cartoon detective, DICK TRACY. He also, with the aid of graphic artist, Terry Beatty, invented one of the most endearing fiction crime solvers ever to grace a comic book page, the sweet and deadly, MS.TREE.

Knowing Collins’ background, I was very intrigued to see what he would do with this setting. Since this is a work of fiction, he shoves his tongue firmly in his cheek and then proceeds to describe a colorful list of characters that any comic buff worth his Superman tee-shirt would identify in a heartbeat. Here are, albeit thinly disguised, the Midwest duo who brought forth Superman, only now they are given slightly different names and their mighty alien hero is called Wonder Man. Instead of Batman and his real artist, Bob Kane, we find a vigilante named Batwing and his dapper, flamboyant owner, one Roy Krane. And so it goes, causing this reviewer to chuckle constantly from one page to the next. Collins’ is having so much fun here, it’s contagious.

Oh, and least we forget, there is a murder here and it does have to be solved. Employing the format of an old Ellery Queen and Rex Stout mystery, we are introduced to the entire narrative by one Jack Starr; a World War II veteran, now employed by his stepmother as a Vice-President (make that trouble-shooter) for the highly successful Starr Syndicate, which handles top-notch strips for newspapers around the country. Maggie Starr, his late father’s third wife, was once a famous striptease dancer before marrying the senior Starr and eventually inheriting the business. She’s a beautiful, smart cookie who appreciates Jack’s loyalty. They have a very good, easy going relationship.

When the head of Americana comics is murdered during his own birthday party, suspicion turns to the two creators of Wonder Man, known to have a legal proceeding in the works against Americana. At the same time the boys are also signing a new contract to bring another of their creations to Starr Syndicate. Maggie does not want her company associated with murderers and puts Jack on the case to help clear their names and find the real culprit. As always, Collins plays fair and the clues are carefully laid out as Jack begins his hunt through the world of the early burgeoning comic book community. It is done with such deft skill, a reader without any knowledge of how comics were started, will still enjoy this delightful book. It is full of colorful characters, clever plot twists and moves at a really good clip.

Comic fans will have the experienced heightened considerably, as I did, when recognizing those thinly disguised iconic figures who launched those amazing four-color magazines. An added bonus is Collins’ artist pal, Beatty, adds a handful of terrific comic illustrations to spice up the read. All in all, this is one of the most enjoyable Max Collins’ books I have ever read and, I for one, am keeping my fingers crossed we haven’t seen the last of Jack Starr and his sexy stepmother, Maggie. These two deserve to be brought back, and soon. And you deserve to do yourself a big favor and pick up A KILLING IN COMICS. You can thank me later.

SONGS OF INNOCENCE

SONGS OF INNOCENCE
by Richard Aleas
Hard Case Crime (Available July 7)
258 pages

This is not an easy book to review. Not because of the technical aspects, Aleas is a professional and knows what he’s doing. Nor because of the actual talent he possesses as a storyteller. No, the reason why this novel is so difficult to grapple with is the subject matter itself; the underworld of sexual enterprise that exists in big cities like New York. What with cheap hookers on street corners, all types of massage parlors from low end to high class that cater to prominent New Yorkers, to escort services and the elite of the world’s oldest profession, high priced call girls. Regardless of its veneer, it is a world of hedonistic depravity where, for the right amount, anything can be purchased, including a person’s soul. The Devil must love big cities.

Former private investigator, John Blake, is attending Columbia University and working in the Writing Department. That’s where he encounters the beautiful Dorothy “Dorie” Louise Burke, a young woman from Philadelphia, who has come to the Big Apple to make her fortune. Blake meets her as a student in one of his classes. Upon getting to know here better, he learns that there are cruel ghosts in Dorie’s past that ultimately steer her into the world of sex trade. She makes a living and pays for tuition by doing private “massages.” Having been raised in the city, Blake is non-judgemental. He thinks he’s seen it all and truly wants to be Dorie’s friend. When he finds her dead in her apartment, an apparent suicide victim, he refuses to accept the evidence. Blake is sure the woman he has come to love deeply was murdered by one of her perverted clients and thus begins his hunt into the depths of human cruelty.

The action and characters move quickly across the landscape of Blake’s hunt, but what is truly revealed isn’t so much Dorie’s past as Blake’s own inner demons. By the time he’s been shot at, kidnapped and framed for as yet another murder, John Blake slowly begins to understand he’s not as street savvy, or jaded as he perceived himself to be. As each new twisted, sick revelation is uncovered, his own spirit becomes mired in an unrelenting tragedy from which he has no escape. His footsteps lead him to a dead-end of the heart and a transformation that is both shocking and despairing.

There is little hope left in Aleas’ climax and that is the hallmark of noir thrillers. Noir is a pessimistic view of the world stripped away of false beliefs, without faith or any basic human decency able to stem the tide of darkness. If such turns out to be valid, then all of us had better start praying and fast. None of which lessens the end result here, SONGS OF INNOCENCE is a great book!

IMARO 2: THE QUEST FOR CUSH

IMARO 2: THE QUEST FOR CUSH
by Charles Saunders
Night Shade Books
210 pages

Hot on the heels of the first book in this epic saga comes the second volume relating the adventures of the warrior, Imaro, in ancient Africa. Book one introduced us the bastard child, Imaro, born of the herdsmen tribe known as the Illyassai. His mother abandons him to the village elders at the age of five and exits his life completely, taking with her the secret of his father’s identity. The child is abused and ostracized by his kinsmen, yet finding a inner strength to match his amazing physical prowess, he grows the be the strongest Illyassai of them all. Then at the moment of his triumph, he turns his back on them, and the land that nurtured him, to begin his quest of self-discovery.

Along the journey, Imaro encounters, saves, and falls in love with the beautiful Tanisha and becomes the leader of an outlaw band. By the end of book one, his enemies unite against him to bring about the destruction of his outlaw army. Tanisha is kidnapped by a rival and Imaro left for dead. Things look bleak, but as long as there remains a single breath in his body, Imaro is far from being defeated.

THE QUEST FOR CUSH begins with Imaro’s obsessed hunt to rescue the woman he loves. Along the way he joins forces with a wily, sophisticated pygmy named Pomphis. Upon learning Imaro’s history, Pomphis believes him to be the end of his own personal quest. He explains to Imaro that the Africans gods of good and evil are in a state of constant warring; that they act through human agents here on earth and that his queen, Kadista of Cush, has foreseen the coming of a mighty warrior who will be instrumental in the victory over the black sorcerers who represent evil. By the time Imaro, with Pomphis’s aid, rescues Tanisha and battles still more minions of black magic, he comes to believe the little man’s supposition and agrees to travel with him back to Cush.

Saunders writing combines the best elements of fantasy adventure’s two brightest stars. He marries the complex, intricate world and myth building of J.R.R. Tolkien with the frantic, non-stop action rousing exploits of Robert E. Howard’s Conan. The result is sword and sorcery taken to a brand new level of sophistication. The Imaro saga is classic stuff and I one for can’t wait for the next installment.

THE CONCETE BLONDE

THE CONCRETE BLONDE
by Michael Connelly
Warne Books
484 pages

Sometimes how one picks a book to read is as interesting as the book itself. Case in point, last weekend found me in Rochester, NY, to attend a family wedding. Thinking I’d only be there for a few days, I brought along a copy of THE VENGEFUL VIRGIN (see review below this one) with me. Alas a Spring storm barreled into the region on the day of the wedding and suddenly I wasn’t going anywhere fast. Having read my travel book, and knowing I’d be in the hotel for another night, I tried to find a bookstore in an area I’m completely unfamiliar with. My wife suggested I merely visit one of the retail outlets near the hotel. Now big chain stores like Walmart and Target do carry books, but in such a limited number, their criteria is strictly determined by a title’s status on the bestseller list. And of course what the rest of the masses choose to read most likely will not be your cup of tea.

Thus it was that I found myself browsing these “bestseller” titles in hopes of finding one book that would both appeal and ultimately entertain me. There were all the Stephen King, and Dean R.Koontz titles as expected, but amongst those I’d already read the titles that fascinated me and had no desire to peruse the others. Okay, so it was time to inspect writers I’d never tried. Which is how I came to pick up Michael Connelly’s THE CONCRETE BLONDE. I was familiar with Connelly’s name and the glowing reviews his police dramas starring Detective Harry Bosch had accumulated over the years. I had been mildly curious about them. But there were three Connelly titles on those racks. I picked this one because the title was the most dramatic and it hooked me.

Four years ago, Detective Harry Bosch, hunted and caught a serial killer known as the Dollmaker. In the confrontation, Bosch had to shoot the suspect and the case, upon review by the department, was ruled justified and closed. But for the family of the Frank Church, the man identified as the Dollmaker, the evident was not so conclusive and they have filed a wrongful death charge against Bosch in a civil suit. Bosch, as much as he finds the proceedings distasteful, begrudgingly submits to the department’s wishes and accepts a state appointed prosecutor to defend him against a very slick, and savvy female trial lawyer known as Money Chandler.

No sooner has the trial begun then a body is discovered, buried in concrete with the same tell-tale signatures of a Dollmaker victim. When forensics discovers the woman was killed several years after the death of Frank Church, everything about Bosch’s trail suddenly goes topsy-turvy. Once Chandler learns there have been other murders dated after the Church shooting, her victory is assured. But that isn’t what bothers Harry Bosch. He is more concerned with the fact that, if he did shoot the wrong man four years earlier, then the real Dollmaker is still on the loose and ready to kill again.

What begins as a run-of-the-mill trial drama quickly evolves into a fast paced hunt for a sadistic serial killer with inside knowledge about the police’s methods and files. Bosch soon begins to realize his prey may even be a fellow officer. It is a taut, well written thriller that keeps you guessing until the end, with plenty of red-herrings along the way. As is the case in such series, getting to know and like the hero is a major selling point. Why bother coming back for more, if you don’t empathize with the protagonist. I found myself liking Harry Bosch and by the end of this book was very predisposed to picking up more of his books. Maybe the next time I’m stuck in another town.

THE VENGEFUL VIRGIN

THE VENGEFUL VIRGIN
by Gil Brewer
Hard Case Crime
220 pages

In 1958, the world at large was still in a Post-World War mode, both socially and economically. Things were good for Americans, if they wanted to get ahead and make their dreams come true. The same can be said for those darker forces of the human soul and the drugstore paperback racks of the time were jammed full of garish murder mysteries. One of these was THE VENGEFUL VIRGIN, a femme fatale genre tale by Gil Brewer.

Jack Ruxton is the first person narrator who spins this yarn of lust, obsession and murder. An army vet, he has settled in Florida and opened up a very successful television repair shop. One day he is called to the home of furniture tycoon, Victor Spondell, to install a TV set in the man’s bedroom. Spondell is an invalid and being cared for by his eighteen year old step-daughter, Shirley Angela; a bored, sex-kitten ready for a better life. The second Ruxton lays eyes on her, the die is cast and the reader is all too aware of the road they will soon be going down.

From such classics as The Postman Always Rings Twice, the noirish tragedy of a good man done in by a bad woman has captivated readers and movie-going audiences. The fascination that keeps us turning the pages is trying to fathom where exactly the protagonist loses his way, his sense of right and wrong and then makes the fatal misstep that dooms him forever. Ruxton openly admits Shirley is not the most beautiful woman he’s ever met. Hell, he admits she’s still just a kid. Yet the second they recognize the mutual hunger in each other’s souls, can their sexual coupling be denied? Once he and Shirley have tasted each other’s passions, there is no going back. Ruxton wants Shirley to run off with him, but he also wants the old man’s money; all which Shirley inherits once he expires. But Spondell, in his present condition, could linger another five or ten years. Patience and waiting aren’t in the couple’s vocabulary. The sooner Spondell dies, the better and so they begin plotting his end.

As much as he thinks he has covered all his bases, Ruxton fails to take into account both his own ex-girlfriend and a very nosey neighbor. When one of them stumbles on the plot to kill Spondell, his well conceived plan quickly turns into a flimsy house of cards. Suddenly Shirley and Jack have blood on their hands and are on the run. The pacing of the book never lets up from page one and the further we are taken into Ruxton’s living hell, the more gripping the drama. I would dare anyone to put this book down once they’ve read the first half. Compelling to the bitter, surprise ending is how to best describe THE VENGEFUL VIRGIN. It is a small, quickly read book, but one that will stay with you long after you’ve put it down.

HOW THIS WORKS

Recently several writers have written requesting that I review their new books in this column.
As much as I would love to do that, unless they send me a copy, that will not happen. Folks, it is just a case of economics. I just don't have enough money to buy everything that is out there, so
I pick and choose the books I purchase according to my taste. Whereas when people are nice enough to send me a complimentary copy of their work, then it will certainly get reviewed here.
Just wanted to make that clear. Just drop me a line, tell me you have a book for me and I will in turn send you my mailing address. It's that easy. Thanks, and keep writing. Ron