THE GHOSTS BRIGADES

THE GHOST BRIGADES
By John Scalzi
Tor Books
343 pages

I’ve always been a sucker for military sci-fi. A few years ago someone gave me a copy of John Scalzi’s book, OLD MAN’S WAR and I devoured it. Scalzi envisiones a future wherein man has reached the stars and found them populated by some truly hostile aliens Defending human colonists are the Colonial Defense Forces, made up of enhanced soldiers recruited from the ranks of the earth’s senior citizens population. Seniors are given the chance to have their consciousness transferred into new, stronger bodies genetically altered for peak performance. Their blood is made up of nano-bots for quick healing and each CDF soldier is implanted with a pea sized computer directly into their brain. These Brain-Pals aid the newly awaken warrior cope with his new form and the savage wars he or she is about to participate in.

Towards the end of that first book, we learned that even among CDF troops there existed an even tougher branch known as Special Forces. Many of the seniors who signed on to participate in the CDF actually died before they could be fully intergrated into their new bodies. From these deceased volunteers, the CDF had taken DNA samples. From these DNA samples they proceed to clone new, more advanced bodies. Unlike the CDF recruits who had their personal psyches transferred to their new host bodies, clone warriors are born without any past identities. During the cloning process, Special Forces are genetically engineered to be the most loyal, professional soldiers ever imagined. Yet they must evolve new personalities. Realborns call them the Ghost Brigades.

In this adventure, second of a trilogy, the CDF finds itself dealing with a traitorous scientist named Charles Boutin, an expert in consciousness mapping and Brain-Pals. For his own unfathomable reasons, Boutin flees his labs and seeks political asylum with an enemy alien race. Afraid of what Boutin might give this race, CDF generals are frantic to discover the meaning of his defection and how much secret data he escaped with. When it is discovered Boutin left behind a copy of his own consciousness, a daring plan is devised to imprint that very consciousness onto a newly hatched Ghost Brigade clone. Of course it is a double-edged sword. Will the clone really be able to access the scientists store of knowledge and solve their puzzle or will he evolve into a second traitor and betray them?

Once Jared Dirac is brought to life, the book kicks into high gear as we follow the newborn’s entry into the Special Forces excellerated training program. By the use of their hyper-fast Brain-Pals, Dirac and his team can communicate instantaneously, transferring huge amounts of data in micro-seconds. Jared is just a regular member of the squad until the day, after returning from a particularly harrowing mission, he suddenly has flashes of Charles Boutin’s memories. These are so vivid as to detail the traitor’s current whereabouts. Once Jared tells his superiors, a mission to retrieve Boutin is quickly conceived. Dirac will be a part of a Special Forces unit sent deep into enemy space to retrieve the turncoat scientist.

Scalzi never lets up on the suspense and action. His story is both exciting and stimulating as his delves into themes of personal identity in regards to manufactured people with only copies of consciousness. Do they possess souls apart from their originating DNA codes, or do such things as soul truly exist? What really makes up the mind? All of these ideas are brilliantly interwoven through this grand, all-out action saga. THE GHOST BRIGADES is one of the finest science fiction books I’ve ever enjoyed. Now it’s time to go find that third and final chapter of this truly fantastic series.

SPEAKS THE NIGHTBIRD

SPEAKS THE NIGHTBIRD
By Robert McCammon
Pocket Books
792 pages

Those of you familiar with this column will be aware that I’ve already reviewed the first half of this book. This strange chain of events came about when I’d purchased the paperback edition which contained only the first half, sub-titled Judgment of the Witch. At the time I bought the book, I was unaware it was incomplete. Again, I don’t want to retread old ground here as in that initial review I made my displeasure very clear to one and all. Here was a book I enjoyed immensely and was now forced to seek out its second half.

Several attempts to order on-line proved fruitless and I invariably resorted to visiting a local Barnes & Noble to order part two; Evil Unveiled. As it would turn out, the store clerk screwed up my request and put in a order for the trade paperback version which contained the entire novel! And they let me have it for the price of the smaller paperback. Amazing. So I came home with this volume and promptly took the incomplete paperback and threw it in the trash. Again, a pox on the publisher for releasing such a great read in so ridiculous a fashion.

That said, the remaining half of the book is just as powerful and the first. Young legal clerk Matthew Corbett is frantic to save innocent Rachel Howarth from being burned at the stake for witchcraft. Convinced there is a criminal mastermind plotting to destroy this new colony town, Matthew gambles everything, including his own future, in a desperate gamble to save the woman and unmask the true villain.

McMammon is one of the finest American writers working today. He breathes such life into this pre-American world of those struggling early colonists who daily wrestled a hostile, frontier environment to make a new world for themselves. His research is remarkable the cast of characters rich and captivating. SPEAKS THE NIGHTBIRD is the first in a new series from this talented tale-spinner and you should not miss it. But please, once more. Make sure you buy the complete novel and don’t go through the hell this reviewer traveled to finish it.

SOMEBODY OWES ME MONEY

SOMEBODY OWES ME MONEY
By Donald E. Westlake
Hard Case Crime
253 pages

Veteran crime writer Donald E. Westlake can write gripping, tough stories with the best of them. Hell, he is one of the best of “them.” But then again he can whip up a dandy mystery, infuse it with his own unique brand of humor and have you laughing out loud in no time flat. Such is the case with this comedy about a New York City hack named Chet (he despises Chester) Conway who, in one turn of destiny’s wheel, goes from being a lucky gambler whose horse came in to a desperate murder suspect hunted down by two very dangerous criminal gangs.

Chet’s long shot nag wins him close to a thousand dollars. A nice pay-offs for a fellow use to winning and losing tens and twenties. Believing his ship has finally come in, he arrives at his bookie’s apartment only to discover the guy has been shot to death and his money swiped. Chet does the right thing and cooperates with the police but that doesn’t stop two rival mobs from believing he’s somehow involved and is now a liability to their organization. Enter the dead man’s sister, a lovely, vengeance obsessed blonde named Abbie, (she despises Abigail) and suddenly Chet is not only scrambling for his life, but now he’s teamed up with a tough-as-nails beauty with a habit of attracting trouble.

By the time a bullet creases his skull, sparing his life by inches, our hero starts to wish he’d never made that bet in the first place. Caught in the middle between the gangs and the cops, with an unknown killer after him, our stalwart cabbie must become the hero and solve the murder or become the next dead body.

The laughs come as fast as the bullets in this gem of a mystery and the poker-game climax had me marveling at the cleverness of Westlake’s plot. This is just plain mayhem fun from a master story teller. Give yourself a treat and pick it up.

LAMPLIGHTER

LAMPLIGHTER
(Monster Blood Tatoo)
By D.M. Cornish
Putnam Books
736 pages

Last year I had the tremendous joy of discovering the world of Rossamund Bookchild, the orphan raised in a foundling home and at a young age sent out into a remarkable, alien world to seek his fortune as a royal lamplighter. Now if none of this makes any sense to you, it's because D.M. Cornish has invented an entire world to set his story in and it is a world like none you've ever encountered before.

The last time I enjoyed such a rich, complicated literary fabrication was J.K. Rawling's world of boy wizard Harry Potter. There's a lot of similarities between Potter and Bookchild. There's also a huge dose of Charles Dickens and lots and lots of J.R.R. Tolkien. Cornish has woven a unique world so rich in details that it completely swallows the reader with it's multiple layers of social, economic and political history. But the most important thing you need to know about the lad's world is that it has monsters; of all manner and variety.

In this second installment of what is to be a trilogy, young Rossamund arrives at the Lamplighter training hall to begin his training. Lamplighters are much like a national militia whose task it is to keep the empire's roadways well illuminated via a chain of lamppost that dot every single road in the empire, be they crowded municipal lanes or the off the map frontier paths. These brave men must keep the dark at bay, maintaining a tenuous grasp on civilization. Rossamund is proud to become one of them.

Yet as the story unfolds, he is witness to repeated monster attacks, their frequency puzzling to his superiors. He also discovers political corruption among the fort's command and a dark, terrible secret hidden within its walls. Fortunately he is not alone in his adventures being aided by a truly unusual group of physcially altererd characters. There is Thrednody, the young girl with the mental psychic abilities to hurt monsters, Sebastipole, the human lie-detector and the beautiful Europe, who can shoot lightning from her hands and is a famous monster-killer.

Like most readers, I'm always leery of long books by new writers. Having thoroughly enjoyed book one in this series, I was completely undadunted by this volume's 700 plus pages. I knew it would contain the maximum amount of adventure, thrills and wonder. I wasn't disappointed in the least. In fact, now that I've finished it, I can't wait for the final chapter and I hope it's even longer! You can never ever have too much of a good thing.

The Hair Club President

There use to be a popular television commercial for hair growth products on television that I always got a big kick out. The sales dude identified himself as the president of the company and at the end of each segment, he'd hold up a before picture of himself bald as a cue ball and say, "I'm not only the Hair Club president, I'm also a client."

Which is why the logo at the top of this column. You see, I am not only a reader and reviewer, I'm also a writer. But it would be inappropriate for me to ever review my own work here so I thought I'd merely announce the fact that they do exist and you might want to check them out.

For the past few years, artist Rob Davis and I have produced pulp novels and anthologies under the Airship 27 Production banner. All our books are published via Cornerstone Book Publishers of New Orleans, Michael Poll publisher. And they are all available through all the major distributors world wide, to include Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. etc. We even have our own on-line store (http://stores.lulu.com/airship27). Please, stop on by and check out our titles. If you enjoy fast paced, action packed fiction, then I think we have something special for you. Thanks ever, Ron.

THE FIRST QUARRY

THE FIRST QUARRY
By Max Allan Collins
Hard Case Crime
Available Aug. 08
206 pages

Max Allan Collins is one of those writers capable of turning a plot upside down in just a few short paragraphs and giving his readers an entirely new look at something old and worn. That he now does it with an entire series is simply terrific fun.

Back in 1976, the author of the NATE HELLER books and THE ROAD TO PERDITION, began a new series of crime thrillers about a professional hitman known as Quarry. He followed it up with six other volumes, the final being the aptly titled THE LAST QUARRY, published in 2007 by Hard Case Crime. As I reviewed in this very column, it was a great read and fitting end to this dark, always mesmerizing saga. And of course lots of us were sad that there just wouldn’t be any further Quarry tales to enjoy. Boy, we’re we ever wrong.

After telling us his professional killer’s last assignment, Collins flips the entire stage end over and end and now offers up THE FIRST QUARRY. Yup, it’s the juicy, razor blade to the throat hor douvere after we’ve already devoured the bullet blasting dessert. Collins is one manipulative S.O.B. God bless him.

Coming home from Vietnam, our hero finds his wife shacking up with a neighbor. When Quarry confronts him, the man laughs in his face. Quarry drops a car on him. He’s spontaneous and resourceful, if nothing else. Released by the police because the D.A. isn’t about to take a recently returned veteran to court, Quarry is approached by a very rich man who calls himself the Broker. He offers Quarry steady employment as a professional assassin, a trade he learned from the U.S. Army and became quite proficient at in the rice fields and jungles on ‘Nam. The pragmatic Quarry accepts and is there christened with the name Quarry. You really didn’t think it was his real name, did you?

Once these required preambles are done with, Collins serves up a truly twisted gem of a thriller for his freshly minted killer. Quarry’s target is an English professor at a small college. The fellow is writing an expose their customer does not want finished. By the time Quarry discovers their employer is actually a mob boss from Chicago, he’s already killed three people, made love to two beautiful women and become entangled in gang war. Just your typical day at the office for Quarry. There’s the adage that one should always save the best for last, but with THE FIRST QUARRY, that theory sinks like a body with cement boots. This is one of Collins’ most satisfying thrillers, deftly mixing action, suspense, sex and humor into a cocktail that will knock your socks off!!! Don’t miss it!

DOSSOUYE

DOSSOUYE
By Charles R. Saunders
Sword & Soul Media
193 pages

In 1978, writer Charles Saunders submitted a story entitled Abewe’s Sword to the paperback anthology, AMAZONS, edited by Jessica Amanda Salmonson and published by DAW books. With the then popularity of Conan and other sword and sorcery heroes, the conceit of this volume was to focus the spotlight on women warriors. No stranger to this genre, Saunders had by then given the world his greatest character, Imaro, the black hero who inhabited ancient Africa. Delving back into this setting again, he now envisioned a tall, brave and beautiful female soldier named Dossouye.

In the 1980s he added three stories more to this series, Gimmile’s Song, Shiminege’s Mask and Marwe’s Forest. In 2002, he saw the possibility of collecting these adventures and rewrote several while adding a fifth to round out the narrative; Obenga’s Drum. This volume is that collection.

Unlike Imaro, Dossouye grew up as a part of an elite fighting force, ahosi (female warriors) of the Abomey Kingdom. In this kingdom, all the ahosi eschew marriage and family for their service to the Leopard King, the ruler of the land. They wear ankle bracelets that identify them as his brides and only when those rings are broken by the King’s decree are they allowed to marry and go on with their own, personal lives.

As always, Saunders is a master of inventiveness and Dossouye and her battle sisters go into battle riding domesticated water buffaloes. Our heroine’s is a massive bull she calls Gbo. Rider and animal are inseperable and when in combat become an efficient team capable of devastating the enemy’s ranks.

In the opening story, Dossouye is chosen by the spirits of her ancestors to wield a magical sword which will save her people from an invading army. She accomplishes this feat but at great personal sacrifice. At tale’s end she is forced into self-exile, never to return home and she sets out to explore the vast, unknown lands to the East, where a great forest rises up out of the earth. It is in this alien world that the remaining four adventures occur and each is a gem of both action and human drama. Dossouye is a complex character and Saunders deftly explores her inner most thoughts and emotions as she adapts to her new life, alone in a new land filled with all manner of exotic peoples and creatures. This collection is clearly the set up for a proposed, full length novel which I pray is not too far in the writing. I am most eager to take up with this ahosi and her pet war-bull.

Final note, due to the lack good sense on the part of today’s publishing community; Saunders had to resort to self-publishing the terrific book. The only sure place you can get a copy is at (http://www.lulu.com/content/2322980). The book sports an absolutely gorgeous cover by one Mshindo Kuumba. If you truly enjoy sword and sorcery done right, you must get this book. You can thank me, later.

THE TALE OF URSO BRUNOV AND THE WHITE EMPEROR

THE TALE OF URSO BRUNOV
AND THE WHITE EMPEROR
Story by Brian Jacques
Art by Alexi Natchev
Philomel Books
45 pages

As a bibliophile, I truly love all books and have a real fondness for quality childrens’ books. THE TALE OF URSO BRUNOV AND THE WHITE EMPEROR is a gorgeous package with a marvelous adventure tale by the noted creator of the Redwall series.

Miniature bear chieftain, Urso Brunov, lives in a forest at the top of the world. When two young polar bears, a sister and brother, find themselves stranded on the shore of his kingdom, the little bear comes their rescue immediately. He bravely shoos off a pack of dangerous wolves and then promises the young polar bears he will see them safely returned to their home, the land of the Land of Rainbow Lights.

To achieve this goal, the crafty Urso calls on the air of animals both on the land and in the sea; from wild boards, fleet deer and a giant, friendly whale. In the end he brings the lost bears home and there is rewarded by their father, the noble White Emperor Blanco. The story moves at a fast clip and is never boring for a minute.

Add to this the beautiful art of Alexi Natchev. His work is simplistic and at the same time properly detailed. His pages are never overcrowded and his compositions are balanced and beautiful. He captures emotions with ease and brings these exotic creatures to life with his use of vibrant colors.

This is an excellent book for any child and adult willing to take a few minutes to explore its vivid, imaginative world where a tiny bear is truly giant-size hero. Here is hoping we haven’t seen the last of Urso Brunvo.

THE MAX

THE MAX
By Ken Bruen & Jason Starr
Hard Case Crime
222 pages
Available in Aug.08

Having read and enjoyed the first two books in this hilarious series, I was really anxious to get my hands on this one. It is the first continuing series Hard Case Crime has ever produced and they’ve set the bar extremely high. In BUST, Bruen and Starr introduced us to the most self-delusional shyster in New York entrepreneur, Max Fisher and his nymphomaniac secretary-lover, Angela Petrakos. The two, with the help of an Irish psychopath, plotted the murder of Max’s wife. Through a serious of mind-boggling snafus, they not only managed to do the dirty deed, but also escaped the clutches of the law in the process. Well, two of them anyway.

In the second installment, SLIDE, Max ends up becoming petty drug dealer with Al Pacino Scarface fantasies. Meanwhile, Angela, having fled to Ireland, returns with yet another killer and this time the body count really mounts quickly. In the end, Max’s luck finally runs out and he’s on his way to prison, while the lovely Angela has barely made it on a plane and for a second time gets away free and clear.

THE MAX begins with Angela having settled on a small Greek island and Max arriving at Attica where he is going to serve his sentence. After SLIDE, I honestly didn’t think these two writers could possible top the sheer insanity of that entry. By the end of chapter one, they had proved me completely wrong and I was laughing my fool head off. Max is perhaps the dumbest gangster ever created and how he manages not only to survive in the pen, but ends up running the Big House is sheer brilliant lunacy. Meanwhile the ever sexy Angela is once again up her neck in foul play and leaving a trail of bodies in her wake. She is caught and sent to a women’s prison on an island called Lesbo. All of which is just too funny to properly describe. Don’t worry, she manages to escape, as always.

The subplots in THE MAX, like the first two books, are many and each is deliciously twisted and evil. There isn’t a decent person in this entire book, yet each of them is so marvelously brought to life, I could care less. Bungling-crook tales are hard to write because most crime writers simply don’t understand the humor inherent in most criminal.

For sheer outright stupidity, the characters in THE MAX take the prize, as you will, if, on the other hand, you are smart enough to pick up this book.

UNDERGROUND

UNDERGROUND
By Kat Richardson
ROC Fantasy
341 pages
Availabe Aug. 2008

It seems like ever since Jim Butcher unleashed the Dresden Files on the world, we’ve become inundated with urban fantasies about Private Eyes with paranormal abilities. Kat Richardson’s Seattle based P.I., Harper Blaine is the newest member of this ever expanding club. In this, her third book, we quickly learn that Blaine was accidentally killed on a previous case and legally dead for two minutes. When she was revived, it was with the ability to see and move in the ghostly dimension she refers to as the Grey. The Grey is inhabited by all kinds of ghosts, zombies and mythological monsters, some friendly, others frightening and dangerous. With each new book, Blaine becomes more adept at dealing with her new sight and gifts but it certainly doesn’t make her “normal” life any easier.

At the start of UNDERGROUND, one of her friends, a street character with a genius for electronics, named Quinton, makes Blaine aware that someone or something is horrendously murdering homeless people who have settled in the mysterious underworld avenues of old Seattle. After a catastrophic fire at the turn the century, the people of this Pacific Coast metropolis reconstructed their city over the skeletons of the old, in the process sealing away an entire hidden urban landscape. The Seattle Underground has been featured in books, documentaries and even as a setting for several horror movies, the most popular being the NIGHT STRANGLER, the second Kolchak feature produced by Dan Curtis and starring the late Darren McGavin. It is an excellent background for a monster tale and that’s what we have here.

Blaine and Quinton soon learn that they are dealing with an ancient Indian monster said to inhabit the area and reappear ever few decades to feed. Because of her ability to cross the boundaries between our world and the Grey, Blaine is the only person with any chance of finding the legendary beast and stopping it. But to do so she will need Quinton’s help and that of several other close friends, all of whom could end up the creature’s next victim for their participation.

Harper Blaine is a likeable character, as are the supporting players in this adventure. Richardson draw’s heavily from her knowledge of the city and its history, much to the story’s enrichment. I’ve never been to Seattle, but after following Blaine through its streets, parks and amazing Underground, I’m ready to book a flight west. UNDERGROUND is a fast paced, edge of your seat fantasy adventure with many surprises and some new wrinkles in this fast growing sub-genre. If you get a kick out of things that go bump into the night, this book is just your ticket. Get it punched now.

OMEGA SOL

OMEGA SOL
By Scott Mackay
ROC Science Fiction
357 pages

I enjoy all kinds of science fiction but all too often am put off by the sub-category referred to as “hard” sci-fi. You know, the kind written by real Phds who’ve graduated from M.I.T. with degrees in quantum-nano-whatever. Nine out of ten times, these geniuses from academia, although brilliant in their respective fields, have absolutely no idea of how to tell a story. Their books are filled with pages and pages of scientific jargon and speculation (remember the what-if part that makes it sci-fi in the first place) with absolutely no concept of characterization or plot development. Of course, what you always hope for when hunting through this genre is that one out of the ten; where the author not only knows his science, he or she also understands how to spin a damn good yarn.

Dr. Cameron Conrad is a physicist and mathematician on the moon about to begin an experiment in hyper-dimensionality which he believes will help unlock the secrets of the universe. Suddenly a giant monolith from the deepest reaches of outer space suddenly appears over them. So strong is its gravitational pull, it wreaks havoc with the Conrad’s field and completely destroys all his equipment. Within the next few hours, everyone stationed at the Gettysburg moon facility is caught up in the monumental puzzle of who or what the monolith is? Where did it come from? Is it really an alien construct and why is it here, in our Solar System?

Conrad is convinced the monolith represents First Contact and attempts to reach out to Builders, as he comes to label them. In the process he is pulled into the monolith and his brain altered. Meanwhile, back on Earth, the military has launched a response force led by a gung-ho marine hero, Colonel Pittman. Pittman is a soldier’s soldier and he lives for combat. He honestly believes the aliens pose a threat and when they begin to siphon hydrogen from our sun, a process which will result in the earth’s total annihilation, Pittman launches a nuclear assault against the monolith.

Meanwhile, recovering in a hospital back on Earth, Cameron, who experienced a very faint contact with the Builders, is convinced they are completely unaware of our existence. He argues we are no more than ants to them and unless he can find a way to make them aware of us, the Earth is doomed. Much of Mackay’s story adopts elements and scenarios from other classic science fiction adventures, notably Arthur C. Clarke’s A SPACE ODESSEY. But what makes his tale unique is his willingness to expand the borders of accepted scientific thinking into areas considered taboo. Mackay proposes that pushed to its limits, physics will eventually come to grips with incalculable math wherein instinct, intuition and yes, even faith will be required to solve the riddles of life. He suggests quite boldly that there is even more to reality than what we can measure with science.

The horrors that befall Earth during the events in OMEGA SOL are devastating and Mackay doesn’t shy away from detailing them accurately in a cautionary example of how truly fragile a basket mankind has store all its eggs. There are times in the book when he narrowly avoids stereotyping Cameron and Pittman as the hero and villain. That he does so and enriches both of them with self-doubts and disbelief is small part of the overall excellence of this book. When I first picked up OMEGA SOL, I allowed myself one chapter to determine if I would finish it or not. That I couldn’t put it down, is why I’m here to give OMEGA SOL major thumbs up.

THE MURDERER VINE

THE MURDERER VINE
By Shepard Rifkin
Hard Case Crime
254 pages

This is one hell of a good book. Unlike a lot of crime titles that aspire to the label of noire, this one delivers. It is a hard edged, brutal look at America in the early sixties set against the backdrop of racial prejudice as it existed in the Deep South.

Joe Dunne is a Korean War veteran who makes a decent living as a private eye in New York City. He’s even got a cute, blonde secretary named Kirby, a former Georgia peach. The trouble with Dunne is he’s wants more and that greed is his Achilles’ heel. When the son of a wealthy industrialist goes missing in Mississippi while working on voter registration for blacks, his father believes he’s been murdered. He hires Dunne not only to prove that assumption, but to find the men responsible and kill them. In short order Dunne is promised half a million dollars to murder five men. He accepts the jobs.

Dunne meticulously plans the assignment by creating a bogus identity for himself and Kirby, who has convinced him to bring her along as proper Southern camouflage. She is not aware of his actual mission and assumes he’s only looking for the murderers. Of course once they arrive in the sleepy little community of Okalusa, Dunne must play the part of a bigot to ingratiate himself with the suspects, one of which is the town’s redneck sheriff. It is a repulsive role and he despises himself for having to assume it. Through Kirby, Dunne sees the South as it truly is, a divided land still nursing its wounds from a hundred year old war with the North.

Rifkin captures the atmosphere of the times perfectly and although it was easy to see the tragic ending half way through the book, that is what noir is all about. Noir stories are about being trapped on a runaway train whose tracks go off the cliff. You see the wreck coming and there’s nothing you, or the protagonist, can do about it. Noir is being a victim of fate and that’s the tragedy of Joe Dunne. It’s a fate he chose for himself.

This is one of the finest noir thrillers ever penned. Kudos to Hard Case Crime for bringing it back. It deserves a huge audience.

BATMAN GOTHAM KNIGHT

BATMAN – GOTHAM KNIGHT
Novel by Louise Simonson
Story by Jordan Goldberg
Ace Science Fiction
278 pages

A solid round of applause to Warner Brothers Animation for producing a truly marvelous new animated film in the continuing saga of Gotham City’s greatest detective. WB recruited several popular Batman comics scribes to contribute a story set during the interval time frame between BATMAN BEGINS and the soon to be released, DARK KNIGHT. The idea was to create a direct to DVD animated feature they could release while the sequel was playing in theaters around the world. What is truly exciting is that producer Bruce Timm opted to have each segment done overseas in Japan employing their brand of stylized cartooning known as anime. As a fan of animation, I’m most eager to see this movie when it debuts.

In the meanwhile, not one to miss a product opportunity, those same WB execs took the animation film script and had it novelized for the paperback market. They were also smart enough to assign it to Louise Simonson. Simonson, no stranger to comic scripting, took the separate elements from the movie and wove them together into a very neat, cohesive drama that effectively captures the somber tone of this Batman’s world.

It has only been a few weeks since the events depicted in BATMAN BEGINS and Jim Gordon and his team of detectives find themselves hard pressed to maintain law and order in the hell-hole that is Gotham. With the death of mob boss, Falcone, both the Italian and Russian gangs are battling each other to gain control of the city’s criminal underwold. Amidst carnage, the Scarecrow is still at large, directing an army of Arkham Asylum escapees, one of which is the mutant monster known as Killer Croc.

And if that wasn’t enough to keep billionaire Bruce Wayne’s alter-ego busy, a deadly super assassin, known as Deadshot, is responsible for several high profile murders. Word on the street is that his next target will be the Caped Crusader himself.

Novelizations are tricky as the writer generally has to pad the narrative to comply with normal book lengths that usually exceed film scripts. Still, the book should mirror the events of the movie it is based upon. Simonson not only attains that objective but also enhances the adventure with her own personal understanding of this truly iconic cultural hero. BATMAN GOTHAM KNIGHT is a good read and will appease even the most dedicated Bat-fans.

SPEAKS THE NIGHTBIRD

SPEAKS THE NIGHTBIRD
Vol #1 – Judgment of the Witch
By Robert McMammon
Pocket Books Fiction
483 pages

Will someone please tell me how you review half a book? That’s the dilemma I find myself in after having just finished SPEAKS THE NIGHTBIRD : Vol. #1 by Robert McMammon. Had I been aware it was only the first half of a longer story, I would have waited until I had both before reading it. This doesn’t excuse the publisher in the slightest. Part of me is very upset with all this and righteously so.

I would love to meet the editor who came up with the idiot idea of splitting this novel into two books. This is just another case of avarice and greed winning out over common sense. If this book is actually one half of McMammon’s actual manuscript, then we can deduce the entire narrative is approximately 966 pages long. I have dozens of books in my library (paperbacks no less) that are longer this. I had no qualms in purchasing them, nor any difficulties in reading and enjoying them. There is much to be said for a big book.

Little can be said for stupid editor/publishers who make us pay twice for one story. Shame on Pocket Books and all involved. It was a cheap, economic trick and one we find reprehensible. Especially when done to such a wonderful work of fiction.

The book is an historical murder mystery that takes place in the American Colonies of the Carolinas in 1699. McMammon describes an accurate, frontier world where survival was a daily struggle and the colonists were very much British in their sensibilities about law, justice and government. In the new settlement of Fount Royal two men have been murdered and their deaths appear to be the work of a witch. After locking her up, the Mayor, a pompous character with dreams of riches for his burgeoning village, sends a message to Charles Town asking for a Magistrate. He wants someone who will come and conduct a speedy, but proper trial so they can legally burn the accused woman and end her threat.

What he gets instead is Issac Woodard, a seasoned, intelligent judge who will not allow himself to be used as a tool for civil murder. Accompanying him is his astute and clever young clerk, Matthew Corbett. Matthew is the book’s protagonist and we quickly learn his childhood as an orphan on the wild streets of New York City was anything but pleasant. Rescued from a boy’s home by Woodard, Matthew matures into a quick thinking apprentice who loves to solve mysteries. The case of the Fount Royal witch soon has him playing detective, searching for clues and at the same time attracting the animosity of the town’s people. They want Rachel Howarth, the beautiful accused widow, put to death and are frustrated by Woodard and Corbett’s turtle like investigation.

By the end of this book, Woodard has fallen seriously ill adding to Matthew’s worries. The evidence they accumulate is all damning and it appears the Magistrate will have no recourse but to condemn the woman in his ruling. Believing her innocent, Matthew is all too aware his time to find the real killer is running out unless he can solve the various mysterious happenings in this swamp-infested world he and his mentor have come to.

SPEAKS THE NIGHTBIRD is a terrific first half. Still it only that and being fair, I cannot recommend it to anyone, by itself. I’m left with having to find the second half and it’s a predicament I do not appreciate at all. So, unless you’ve both parts in hand, save yourself this grief and pass on this book.

SPIDERWEB

Side B
SPIDERWEB
By Robert Bloch
Hard Case Crime
160 pages

(As promised, this week I’m reviewing the “other” side of the new Hard Case Crime double flip book. For my comments on Side A, see my preview entry below.)

Eddie Haines is a small time dreamer from Iowa who comes to Hollywood in hopes of hitting the big time with his good looks and radio trained voice. He wants to be TV announcer. When the harsh reality of Tinsel Town comes crashing down on him, he is left battered, penniless and completely disillusioned. Refusing to return home a failure, Haines opts to take a more final solution to his problems.

Just as he is about to commit suicide, someone slips a hundred dollar bill under his door. The owner of that C note is a small, fat and bald little German fellow calling himself the Professor. At first Haines thinks the odd fellow his lucky angel because the Professor has come to recruit him with the promise of immense fame, glory and riches. It is temptation the dejected young man cannot possible resist.

He soon learns that his mentor is a sophisticated confidence man with an amazing intellect; all of which is put to use robbing the wealthy. A polished manipulator with a silver tongue, the Professor convinces Haines that their activities are no more immoral than toothpaste commercials on television. If the rich are so gullible as to part with their money on any brightly packaged gimmick, then why shouldn’t they partake in the harvest?

The Professor sets about creating a fictional persona for Haines, turning into a psychological guru named Judson Roberts. The idea is for Haines/Roberts, to become an indispensable crutch to the varied Hollywood neurotics thus being allowed into their personal lives to learn their most intimate secrets. Secrets which the Professor then uses to blackmail them. By the time Haines realized just how evil his teacher is, he is eyeball deep in extortion and murder. He has become nothing but another sucker caught in his mater’s bloody web. Can he escape, or is he doomed to a life of crime?

SPIDERWEB is an intense, taut thriller that completely engrossed me from the first page. It is clearly one of Block’s finest works and a real joy to read. Combined with SHOOTING STAR, this double-book package is a real treasure for any fan of crime fiction.

SHOOTING STAR

Side A
SHOOTING STAR
By Robert Bloch
Hard Case Crime
154 pages

As a teenager in the early 1960s, one of my fondest memories is of the Ace Doubles. I don’t pretend to know the exact history of these paperback flip books, only that I bought many of them in all kinds of genres. Why the idea came up, again, I haven’t a clue. Maybe it was a marketing ploy to give the readers twice as much bang for their bucks. What they did was print two books together, usually by different authors, back to back in reverse with two separate covers. Thus if you held one side of the book, the second half would be upside down. Once you finished reading one novel, you merely “flipped” the book over to read the second.

Hard Case Crime has brought back this nifty little gimmick with two crime thrillers from the pen of Robert Bloch, the author famous for having written the film PSYCHO for Alfred Hitchcock. Each of the two books has its own cover and is printed back to back. My initial thought was to read both before doing my reviews, but I realized that wasn’t fair. Each novel should stand on its own despite the other it is paired with in this package. To that end, here’s my first review of what I’m calling side A. Next week some time, after I’ve finished it, come back to see my review for Side B.

In SHOOTING STAR, Block makes good use of his intimate knowledge of Hollywood and its eccentric citizenry by setting it as the backdrop to a story of murder and drugs. Mark Clayburn is a one-eyed literary agent who has fallen on hard times. All of which is explained as the narrative moves along. Clayburn, for his own personal reasons, also possesses a private investigator’s license and that is what snares him into an affair he really had no business getting involved with.

A famous western star named Dick Ryan was shot to death in his trailer out on the ranch set of his latest movie. In the process of investigating the case, the police find marijuana and suddenly Ryan’s name is sullied by this association with drugs. Which is where one-time producer Harry Bannock comes into story. Bannock tells Clayburn that he has bought the rights to all of Ryan’s old western melodramas and stands to make a fortune if he can package them for television distribution. The trouble is because of the drug connection, none of the major TV houses want to associate themselves with the late actor. Thus Bannock hires Clayburn not so much to find out who killed the star, but rather to prove his was not a drug addict and clean up his reputation.

Of course the second the eye-patch wearing Clayburn begins poking his nose on the month old case, he starts getting anonymous phone threats to drop the case. Then a beautiful young starlet is murdered shortly after telling Clayburn she has information for him. Soon the bodies are piling up, the cops are becoming very, very annoyed with the agent turned private eye and a twisted killer is still free and most likely ready to make him the next corpse.

Robert Bloch was an accomplished writer and his style is always entertaining. He plays loose with the entire noire genre, having fun with his hero at the same time delivering a really good mystery that kept me guessing until the final pages. SHOOTING STAR delivers on all fronts. Here’s hoping Side B is just as good.

DRAGONS WILD

DRAGON’S WILD
By Robert Aspirin
Ace Books
360 pages

(Well it’s been a month since my surgery and we’re back. Thanks to all of you who sent along cards, well wishes and most of all, your prayers. I really missed doing this column and sharing new and old books with you. So enough prattle and on to our latest review.)

Griffen McCandles has just graduated from college and is not overly concerned about his future. Griffen is a card sharp, having picked up the game early in his school career and discovered he has a talent for gambling. He is surprised by a summon from his uncle, a successful business man who raised Griffen and his sister, Valerie, when they were orphaned at a young age. The story his uncle tells him at this meeting is so fantastic, the new graduate begins to question the old man’s sanity.

Griffen is informed that shape-shifting dragons still roam our world. They are not myths but real beings who had to disguise their presence from humans as a matter of self preservation. What’s even more incredible is that Griffen and his sister are also dragons and will soon reach a stage in their lives when their latent nature will make itself known. He is also told that because they are from a lineage of very powerful dragons, there are other dragon clans very concerned with their development. Some will feel threatened by them and go to any means to nullify that threat, to include murder. While others will seek their alliance and support.

Griffen leaves the meeting convinced his uncle needs psychiatric help. Then he is approached by a well known senator wanting to know where his allegiance lies. Confused, Griffen attempts to confide in his long time girlfriend, only to discover she is actually aware of his supposed dragon nature. Before he can question her further, she disappears. Frantic to reclaim his grip on reality, Griffen decides to find Valerie and share his unbelievable tale with her in hopes she can make some sense out of it. On the road to her college, he is set upon by two assailants in pick-up trucks who attempt to run him off the road. Surviving the encounter, Griffen is more determined then ever to get to the bottom of things.

The early part of this adventure moves well but the plot really kicks into high gear when Griffen, via the advice of an old friend, goes to New Orleans, accompanied by Valerie, to meet an old black man named Mose. Mose is also a dragon and he manages an illegal gambling organization. He wants Griffen to take it over and become the new boss. Soon Mose is Griffen’s mentor and teacher and the young man begins to learn the amazing destiny he has inherited. Aspirin’s description of the city, in particular its notorious French Quarter completely charmed me and I really enjoyed following Griffen on his journey to self-dragon-discovery.

His relationship with Valerie is also a fun and Aspirin creates marvelous supporting characters that inhabit Griffen’s new Cajun world. So well, in fact, you can almost hear the jazz and smell the gumbo on every page. DRAGONS WILD is a fresh, innovative fantasy and a wonderful opening chapter to what is planned as a series. It builds a world I truly enjoyed visiting and very much want to go back to again really soon. Put it on your short list right now. You’ll be glad you did.

A LITTLE R & R

Dear faithful readers, please bear with me while I do a little Rest & Recuperation. I was in the hospital all of last week for a little lung surgery. No worries, I came through with flying colors. Now I'm home healing, and hope to get back to reading, and reviews, as soon as possible. Thanks
ever, Ron.

ZERO COOL

ZERO COOL
By John Lange
Hard Case Crime
221 pages

In reading through this excellent thriller, I couldn’t help but bemoan the fact that filmmaker, Alfred Hitchcock, is no longer with us. This would have been a terrific book for him to translate to film. ZERO COOL has all the elements of a classic Hitchcock experience. The protagonist is an educated, professional who inadvertently is sucked into a criminal enterprise and against his will, soon finds himself the target of several groups all intent upon bringing about his demise.

Radiologist, Peter Ross, is on a much needed vacation in southern Spain when he’s approached by a mysterious group of men to perform an autopsy on a body that has to be shipped to the United States for burial. Ross does his best to put them off, but when they threaten him, he relinquishes and performs the illegal procedure. Illegal because he is told to put a wrapped package into the cadaver’s chest before sewing it shut. Now he knows these criminals are attempting to smuggle an unknown object into the states.

Again, classic Hitchcock, in that whatever the mystery object is exactly is completely unimportant to the story as its very existence as a plot device to endanger our protagonist is only real purpose of being there. Soon poor Dr. Ross finds himself, beaten, shanghaied to Paris where meets another group of unsavory characters and then once again returned to Spain for shady adventures. All the while accompanied by a beautiful woman who, because of their flirtatious tryst, finds herself entangled in his dilemma.

ZERO COOL is a really fun thriller that has its share of surprises and twists, all done with a deft hand that never allows the pacing to lag. By the book’s finale, in a rather well known Spanish landmark, another nod to Mr. Hitchcock, I had been thoroughly entertained from start to finish. What more can you want from any book?

SPACE VULTURE

SPACE VULTURE
By Gary K. Wolf &
Archbishop John J. Myers
Tor Books
327 pages

When people ask me why, after a life time of reading, I still enjoy it so much, I am never hard pressed to answer them. All I have to do is hand them a book like this one. Born in 1946, I grew up in the 50s, when newspapers still carried the Flash Gordon strip and early television was offering up classic science fiction adventure melodramas like Tom Corbett; Space Cadet, Captain Midnight and Commando Cody; Sky Marshall of the Universe. It was a rich time for any kid with a vivid imagination.

Keep in mind this was not what fans would call “hard” science fiction that was being practiced by the likes of Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke and Robert Heinlein. Nope, this was pure, unadulterated space opera on a grand scale; the kind George Lucas would return to amazing popularity in the 70s with his debut of the Star Wars saga.

SPACE VULTURE harkens back to those early days when heroes were chiseled jaw, noble and always ready to come the rescue and villains were dastardly scoundrels capable of the most monstrous acts without blinking an eye. Such is the culprit in this wonderful, exuberant adventure. Space Vulture considers himself the epitome of the human race. He is the handsomest, smartest, most talented individual ever born and by that irrefutable logic, he should be the supreme ruler of the universe. Petty laws made for lesser beings should not impede his efforts towards that lofty goal and they don’t. He robs, pillages and destroys to his heart’s content, completely oblivious to the suffering he causes others.

When Space Vulture, and his zombie soldiers, raid a small farming colony on the fringes of the galactic empire, he not only nets hundreds of healthy, fit men and women to sell in the slave markets of unscrupulous worlds, he also, by sheer accident, captures his most ardent nemesis, Marshal Captain Victor Corsaire, the most famous and successful lawman known throughout the stars. Also among his prize catch is the beautiful widowed foreman of the colony, Cali Russell. By some quick thinking, Cali manages to hide her two sons, eleven year old Eliot and seven year old Regin, so that when the Space Vulture lifts off with his human cargo, they are left behind, still free.

The boys soon discover the insidious villain has left one other behind, a small time space con-artist and thief, Gil Terry. Terry’s only desire, having somehow managed to escape the Vulture’s clutches, is to find a spaceship and go his way, having no problem deserting the two helpless boys to whatever fate awaits them. Unfortunately for Terry, the boys aren’t as helpless and he believes and they trick him into accompanying them on a mission to find the Space Vulture and rescue their mother.

The book is filled with non-stop action and adventure as the boys, with the supposedly heartless Terry, manage to overcome and survive one disaster after another while chasing after the Space Vulture. With each new victory, the thief’s stoic nature slowly begins to thaw as he gradually comes to care for these likeable lads and against all his criminal rationale, he actually finds himself becoming their true ally and protector.

Meanwhile, aboard the Space Vulture’s magnificent spaceship, Cali and Captain Corsaire join forces to plot their own escape and somehow find a way to thwart the Vulture’s plans. In the process, Corsaire, a man dedicated to lady justice, begins to recognize in Cali Russell and exceptional woman as she stirs strange, new emotions in his lonely heart.

Believe me when I say Wolf and Myers pull out all the stops here and have woven a grand tale destined to be a hailed as a classic in the genre. It is bold in its unsophisticated narration, painted with the broadest strokes imaginable, yet deftly giving us characters so true to life, they become real from the moment you meet them. I love space operas and SPACE VULTURE is one of the finest I have ever read. It deserves to win awards, but more importantly, to find a huge audience, as I’m sure it will. Do not miss this one, that would be the biggest crime of all!!