THE DIGEST ENTHUSIAST

THE DIGEST ENTHUSIAST

Book One  Jan 2015

Edited by Arkay Olgar

Larque Press LLC

116 pages

Growing up in the 50s and 60s, we were lucky enough to enjoy all the wonderful little magazines available on the newsstands during those decades.  They were called digest and they covered every genre imaginable.  We fondly remember having subscriptions to both The Worlds of If and Analog; two of our favorite sci-fi monthlies.  Every now and then we’d pick up a mystery digest like Alfred Hitchcok and Ellery Queen as well.  It seemed whenever any particular mystery series made it big in the paperback field, invariably there would be a digest monthly. I can still recall picking up copies of The 87^th Precinct Mystery Magazine and Shell Scott Mystery Magazine.  Both were short-lived, but not so the popular Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine that, as best I can remember, was around for a long time.

Today the digests are all but gone save for a handful.  Which is why we were delighted to see the arrival of a brand new title that is actually devoted to those great little monthlies; The Digest Enthusiast.  Issue number one is an eclectic treasure of both factual article on specific digest titles of old, a review of another little series, The Paperback Parade, and three really excellent short stories done in various lengths by writers Joe Wehrle Jr, Lesann Berry and Richard Krauss.  We hope this inclusion of short fiction will be permanent feature and offer new pulp writers another market for their tales.

Among some of the digest title histories examined here are Coronet, Galaxy Science Fiction and Photo-rama to name a few.  We have to confess, our favorite article was the interview with Canadian fan/writer Matthew Turcotte in regards to his collection of Archie Digests which he claims is well over thousand issues strong.  Just amazing.

The Digest Enthusiast is extremely well produced, with clean layouts and clear, expertly printed articles about a lost American publishing format.  We recommend it highly to all our pulp readers.

KILL ME, DARLING

KILL ME, DARLING

By Mickey Spillane & Max Allan Collins

Titan Books

Available in March 2015

241 pages

Every now and then the universe offers up such an unexpected surprise, we are left with such a euphoric rush as to describe the feelings as miraculous.  That was our experience just a few short weeks ago when the mail delivered this lost Mike Hammer thriller into our hands.  As most mystery enthusiasts are already well aware, for the past few years Mickey Spillane’s pal and protégé, writer Max Allan Collins, has done a wonderful job of completing those unfinished Mike Hammer books Spillane had left behind from bits and pieces found in the late writer’s files.

In his introduction to this particular novel, Collins reiterates that mission and goes on to explain how he, his wife Barbara, and Spillane’s widow, Jane, conducted an exhaustive search which led to discovery of as yet more Hammer material.  From these lost treasures, Collins plans to fashion three additional Mike Hammer novels, “Kill Me, Darling,” being the first.  And what a way to start!

It’s the 1950s and private eye, Mike Hammer, is sinking in an alcoholic stupor.  All because the one and only true life of his life, Velda, has left him.  Without a single word or hint of her intentions, she simply leaves a short note and vanishes.  Confused, bitter and decidedly angry, Hammer takes to the bottle to drown the pain of loss.  Then he learns that his one time mentor, Wade Manley, a veteran police officer, was gunned down in a seedy part of town and the papers are calling it a random shooting.  But even in a drunken haze, Hammer can’t buy the scenario.  Manley was an experienced cop who never let his guard down, especially to any nervous street punk.  He suspects there’s a whole lot more to the shooting.

His suspicions are quickly solidified by his friend, Detective Pat Chambers, who also has some information on Velda’s whereabouts.  Chambers has learned through police grapevine that the beautiful brunette is in Miami and supposedly involved with an up-and-coming mobster named Nolly Quinn.  Quinn has the reputation of being a ladies’ man with a sadistic streak.  Several of his past paramours have disappeared without a trace.  Chambers also suggest a connection between Manley’s death and Velda’s abrupt change of scenery.  Velda had once worked for the seasoned copper as part of his vice squad and there’s a chance Manley may have recruited her to go to Miami and infiltrate the deadly Romeo’s organization.  Word on the street is Quinn wants to bring in drugs through Cuba and setting up a base of operation in Magic City is the logical step in that progression.

Without any further ado, Hammer packs up his meager belongings, jumps in his car and heads south.  Once in Miami, he sets about finding both Velda and her new beau but as always happens with Hammer, violence and death have accompanied on his trip.  The welcome mat is bloody from day one and unless Hammer can sober up fast, his vacation in the sun may be a permanent one.

Spillane & Collins’ Mike Hammer stories are as fast paced as a hot Tommy Gun spitting lead and they never miss their target; that of thrills, suspense and mystery.  They’ve been imitated time and time again, but nothing ever comes close.  The Hammer novels are classics and “Kill Me, Darling,” proves to be no exception.

BLOOD ON THE COBBLESTONES

BLOOD ON THE COBBLESTONES

By Robert Ricci

Create Space Independent Pub.

126 pages

One of the things that we’ve always loved about good mystery writers is there ability to convey the settings in which their stories are set.  Robert Parker was extremely deft at this with his Boston based Spencer novels.  Now we have a new writer, inspired by the old classic pulp crime thrillers, who is taking us down those same familiar Bean Town Streets.

Jenna Coyne is a recent college graduate doing her best to get by while having to put up with an amorous, married boss, who won’t leave her alone.  When she finally has no recourse but to verbally rebuff his uncouth advances, she worries about being fired.  Or how much should she fight to keep was is really an awful job?  Then, upon returning to her quaint, comfortable apartment, she is attacked by two black drug dealers who have mistaken her for the girlfriend of their white pusher who lives across the hall.  Apparently Kyle, the opportunistic pusher, owes them a great deal of money and they plan on getting it by threatening his girlfriend.  Lucky for Jenna she has a bat-wielding Hispanic friend named Edna who lives nearby with her daughter, Marta; Jenna’s former college roommate.

Edna soundly whacks the two hoodlums and chases them off.  In the aftermath, Jenna confronts both Kyle and later his actual girlfriend, Vicky Robinson.  Jenna is none too happy with having been accosted for someone else.  Still she believes there is more to mix-up than Kyle is letting on and she befriends the mixed-up, drug-addicted Vicky.  As this relationship takes hold, Vicky confides in her that Kyle worked for her father, an abusive loser who makes a living reposing cars.  Eventually the two girls stumble upon a stash of hidden cash worth forty thousand dollars and from that point onwards things turn very, very ugly.

Ricci’s storytelling style is crisp and flawless.  Most of his principle characters in this book are female and he writes them extremely well.  They are fun, intelligent and above all believable.  Whereas Jenna’s tenacity and ultimate courage rises logically to the surface as the book speeds to a brutal finale that is nothing less than savage.   We believe “Blood On The Cobblestones,” is Robert Ricci’s first book and such is one hell of an impressive debut.  We can’t wait to see what he offers up next.

THE EXECUTIONER'S HEART

THE EXECUTIONER’S HEART

A Newbury & Hobbes Investigation

By George Mann

Tor Books

349 pages

George Mann is quickly becoming one of our favorite writers.  In fact, we actually nominated one of his two Ghost novels for the Pulp Factory Awards a few years ago.  He’s a bonafide writer of steampunk whereas we were unfamiliar with this other series of which “The Execustioner’s Heart” is the fourth entry.  Let me add, after reading it, we’ve every intention of finding those previous three books. 

It is obvious the saga of Sir Maurice Newbury and his associate, Miss Veronica Hobbes, is an on-going narrative but Mann is skilled enough to give his readers the pertinent facts from those earlier adventures to both understand and enjoy this volume on its own merits.  Like all good steampunk, Sir Newbury and Miss Hobbes live in a world that has both science and active magic.  In fact Newbury’s profession is that of a supernatural investigator.  It is with this expertise that he assist Scotland Yard and the British Secret Service.  Both value his assistance.

In this tale, a skilled assassin believed to be immortal has begun killing the Queen’s agents and then she cuts out their hearts as trophies.  When the Prince of Wales comes to Newbury seeking his help, he confides in the detective that he believes his mother, the Queen Mother, maybe suffering from senility and thus endangering the empire she rules.  There are rumors of foreign agents in London plotting to steal a new heat powered weapon developed by the British Military.  As Newbury and Hobbes work to unravel the mystery with their friend, Sir Charles Bainbrdige, Chief Inspector of Scotland Yard, the primary question remains; do the murders have any connection with the spies or are they the result of an entirely new threat from another quarter? 

Mann’s writing is flawless and he pulls his readers in with a very fine prose that is a joy to read.  His characters are likeable and his villains as unique and captivating.  In fact, the Executioner of the title is one of the most original, and deadly, personages we’ve ever encountered in fiction.  She is a lethal lovely no reader will soon forget.  “The Executioner’s Heart” is a terrific, fast paced thriller steampunk fans are sure to applaud.

We are only too happy to join in that rousing cheer.

ATHENA VOLTAIRE - COMPENDIUM

ATHENA VOLTAIRE – COMPENDIUM

By Steve Bryant

Dark Horse

240 pages

When’s the last time you were able to buy a terrific comic book hardback for $20? You’re probably scratching your head right now and coming up with squat.  That’s because it’s been that long a time since a superb, quality comic package like this was made available at such a great price. Okay, enough of the sales pitch and no, we don’t work for Dark Horse.

Steve Bryant’s Athena Voltaire is a gorgeous female version of Indiana Jones.  And that’s really all you need to know about the character to jump right into her adventures; all of which read like they could easily have been adapted as Republic Studio cliff-hanger serials starring Linda Stirling.  And now that we’ve said that, I think Stirling would have made a great cinematic Athena.

Athena’s father was a famous stage magician, she grew up traveling the world with her parents, became a stunt pilot and eventually began her own flying services.  It is the 1930s and the Nazis are popping up all over the globe looking for arcane artifacts their Fuehrer can use to rule the world.  In the five colorful graphic adventures collected between these covers, Ms Voltaire travels from Tibet to Mexico and lots of other exotic locales to thwart these agents of the Third Reich from allying themselves with all kinds of demons and monsters.  Trust us, her adventures are always fast paced, thrilling and action packed. 

In this era of the New Pulp Movement, Athena Voltaire shines as one of the finest pulp heroes ever created.  If you truly love pulp, you owe it to yourself to pick up this book.  Then once you’ve have, buckle up for adventure.  With Athena Voltaire it never stops!

THE ADVENTURES OF FORTUNE McCALL

THE ADVENTURES OF FORTUNE McCALL

By Derrick Ferguson

Pro Se Press

149 pages

One of the problems faced by any reviewer is simply not having enough time to read all the books delivered to us over time.  In our attempts to examine a wide variety of pulp fiction, we often make choices that relegate even our favorite authors to the back of the line when it comes to deciding which title to read and review next.  We say this because this particular review is one of those we have, much to our own dismay, put off way too long. 

Derrick Ferguson is one of the finest writers of new pulp fiction out there.  If you are aware of the genre at all, then you know him as the creator/author of Dillon.  Dillon is one of the finest pulp hero series on the market today.  Whereas a few years ago, Ferguson went and invented another great character in Fortune McCall for a shared-world put together by Tommy Hancock at Pro Se Press.  The idea was that a handful of new pulp writer would all create original pulp heroes that would operate out of the same fictional locale; Sovereign City.  In this set up Hancock gave us Doc Daye, Barry Reese invented Lazarus Gray and as noted above, Derrick Ferguson whipped up Fortune McCall who makes his appearance for the first time in this book which collects four of his adventures.

From the offset we learn McCall is the royal heir to a powerful family that rules the North African kingdom of Khusra.  Without divulging much of his actual background, Ferguson let us know that Fortune eschewed a pampered life for one of travel and adventure.  This he accomplished by having an amazing seagoing palace built called the “Heart of Fortune,” a combination casino/ hotel on which he resides along with a crew of Otwani warriors from his native land and his personal team of fellow adventurers.  Each of these is as colorful and appealing as our hero; one of which is his own cousin, Tracy Scott, a diminutive beauty who acts as his personal bodyguard and is quite proficient at the job.

Of course the star is Fortune and he is an educated man who is loyal to a fault, loves good food, action and beautiful women; the latter being his one Achilles heel.  In this first volume,  McCall and company battle a twisted brother and sister team who have kidnapped a British agent, attempt to stop a madmen from unleashing a deadly virus on the city, search for a missing stage magician and finally go about retrieving a lost fortune in gold.  Each story is a whirlwind of action with brilliantly painted characters, both heroes and villains and, as ever, Ferguson delivers quality pulp adventure at its best. 

After having finished “The Adventures of Fortune McCall,” we spent a few minutes banging our heads against the wall.  To have waited so long to enjoy these fantastic stories again points out the pitfalls we reviewers do our best to avoid.  Sometimes we fail but that’s no reason you should.  Go pick up this book now!!  You can thank us later. 

AWESOME TALES # 1

AWESOME TALES # 1

Editor Rich Harvey

www.boldventure.press

As regular readers of this column know, ever once in a while we will look at publications other than your typical pulp novel or anthology.  In the past we’ve occasionally cocked a critical eye towards graphic novels or, when applicable, magazines devoted to pulp fiction.  Of course the number of such periodicals is almost non-existence since the demise of Pro Se Productions excellent magazine series, Pro Se Presents.  Obviously producing magazines has its own unique challenges the average New Pulp publisher would rather avoid altogether.

Thus there was no way we weren’t going to talk about Rich Harvey’s new venture, AWESOME TALES.  The first issue is a slim affair with only three stories, two featuring female pulp heroes and a third revolving around office politics in the Pentagon that was clearly added as filler material. 

Whereas we rarely mention art or packaging in our regular reviews, this format demands we do so.  It is the highlight of the issue, as Harvey designs an iconic pulp cover around artist Ed Coutts art that has both the Domino Lady and Wicca Girl squaring off against a Nazi femme fatale.  The interior of the issue is also well laid out and we liked that Harvey mixed Coutts original art with some original Domino Lady illustrations from her earlier pulp appearances.

We only wish the stories were up to the quality of the packaging.  “Pretenders to the Throne,” by Harvey, teams Domino Lady and Wicca Girl as they take on the job of protecting the British Crown Jewels from Nazis agents working for Hitler.  Even though there is plenty of action here, Domino Lady was always meant to be a crime-fighting character that used her sexuality as a weapon.  Sure, there’s plenty of overt titillation here, but there are also elements of fantasy magic and that derailed our enjoyment. 

Magic is the Wicca Girl’s forte and that is proven readily enough in the “The Warlock Murders,” by her creator, R. Allen Leider in which he has her hunting down a 300 year old serial killer for Scotland Yard.  This was our favorite of the stories in this premier issue.  We already mentioned the short-short in the middle, “The Seven Pictures” which is really and odd piece that might have worked better in a twisted issue of “True Confessions.”

In the end, “AWESOME TALES” is a good looking pulp magazine and we’re happy its here.  Our fervent hope is the quality of the contents will improve with succeeding issue.

QUARRY'S CHOICE

QUARRY’S CHOICE

By Max Allan Collins

Hard Case Crime

227 pages

If you’re a fan of hard-hitting crime novels, a new Quarry book is always a case for celebration.  “Quarry’s Choice,” is no exception.  In this one, Collins takes us back in time to the early 70s when our Vietnam vet hero was establishing himself as a killer for hire.  When someone tries to shoot the Broker, the man who employs him, Quarry is sent south to Biloxi, Mississippi to repay the favor in kind.  Finding himself in land of the notorious Dixie Mafia, he must thread carefully, finding himself very much a stranger in a strange land.

At the same time Quarry is saddled a young stripper/prostitute named Luann who manages to wiggle her way through his pragmatic, hard-shelled exterior and do what few people have ever done, reach his heart.  Thus, while attempting to complete a difficult job, discern who his real enemies are and survive a savage ambush, Quarry must also grapple with his own feelings towards this naïve blond beauty.  Is she a liability he can ill afford?  And if so, in the end, will he be forced to see her as just another target?

“Quarry’s Choice,” moves at a speed just slightly over the limit like a smooth oiled literary machine with enough pick up and power to carry the reader to a damn satisfying finale.  Trust me, like his hero, Collins never misses.

MOONLIGHT WEEPS

MOONLIGHT WEEPS

(A Dick Moonlight Thriller)

By Vincent Zandri

In & Out Books

236 pages

Dick Moonlight is Private Eye working in Albany, New York.  At one time he tried to take his own life by blowing his brains out.  Against all odds, he survived only to learn that the bullet had lodged itself in those self-same brains and could cause him all kinds of grief unless removed one day.  Until that delicate surgery can be performed, Moonlight can faint without warning, have sudden memory lapses or simply drop dead; thus completing the act he began years ago.  Living with a constant death-threat has a caustic effect on Moonlight’s character adding a twisted dark humor to his already cynical world view.

In this tale, Moonlight is hired to chauffeur a rich brain surgeon who, because of multiple DUI convictions, has had his license revoked.  Upon taking the gig, he learns the doctor has another job for him; to help clear his son of a rape conviction and possible reckless homicide charge.  The young lady the boy is accused of having raped later committed suicide because, after the assault, he took pictures of her naked and posted them on Facebook.  It doesn’t take special detecting skills for our hero to realize he’s gotten embroiled with a sleazy father and son team.  It also doesn’t help matters that the victim was the daughter of a well known state senator.

Unfortunately Moonlight’s bank account is hovering over the minus zone and he can’t afford to be choosy as to which clients he takes on.  The doctor is not only rich but being aware of Moonlight’s condition, suggest that if he successfully aids in clearing his son from all charges, he would then be willing to operate on the P.I. and remove the bullet in his head.

And that is the gist of “Moonlight Weeps.”  Of course there are several subplots to include the sudden appearance of Moonlight’s dead lover, a fat Elvis Presley imitator who ends up being his assistance and police narcotics detective who has a personal vendetta against his client.  Oh, and let’s not forget the two Russian mobsters who love to quote Clint Eastwood movies.  “Moonlight Weeps” is an overflowing goulash feast of classic PI tropes all blended together marvelously from the first taste to the last mouthful.  And like all good meals, it left us satisfied but still wanting more. 

THE GODS OF GOTHAM

THE GODS OF GOTHAM

By Lyndsay Faye

Berkley Books

427 pages

One of the joys of reading any Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes mystery is their settings.  It is unlikely Doyle’s purpose was ever to offer an historical travelogue but nonetheless we are given such in each and every tale.  Whereas Lyndsay Faye, following in Doyle’s footsteps, which she does incredibly well in “The Gods of Gotham,” is decidedly intent on showing us the astounding world of New York City in the nineteenth century.  The burgeoning metropolis on the Hudson is as much a character in this epic saga as its struggling inhabitants battling to eke out a living from day to day against overwhelming odds.

Timothy Wilde and his older brother, Valentine, are the orphaned sons of two Irish immigrants.  Val works as a firefighter and is active in the Irish Democratic Party while Tim manages a bar and is saving his money to propose to Miss Mercy Underhill, the daughter of a protestant minister he has grown up loving.  When a horrible fire destroys both his business establishment and his apartment building, Tim is suddenly destitute without a penny to his name.  Without conferring with him, Val enlists them both into the newly formed New York Police Department being assembled by Judge George Washington Matsell.  Like all good historical novels, fiction and fact have to work together smoothly and the birth of the New York Police is deftly handled here as it depicts the aversion to its creation by New Yorkers who saw it as just another gang in a city riddled with such.

Tim begrudgingly accepts his “copper star” until something better can come along.  Then one night he bumps into a runaway child prostitute covered in blood.  It is she who tells him of a mysterious black-cloaked man responsible for the murder and mutilation of over a dozen children; all of them employed at various brothels throughout the city.  All of which leads to the discovery of a gruesome gravesite in the woods north of Twenty-third Street.  As these events come to light, Matsell sees in Tim a moral stubbornness in his desire to pursue the case while at the same time exhibiting a keen mind for puzzle-solving; the type of skills required in this post-crime situation.  Tim, much to his own surprise, is becoming a detective; a role that will lead him down the dark, depraved alleys of the human psyche.

“The Gods of Gotham,” is a truly remarkable writing achievement. It would not surprise this reviewer if Lyndsay Faye did not have a working time-machine hidden in her New York apartment as the scenes she describes are so brilliantly real. In every sense they transport the reader back to a world that, until now, only existed in dusty museums.  She brings that past to life and in doing so enriches us all.

THE SHOTGUN ARCANA

THE SHOTGUN ARCANA

By R.S. Belcher

Tor Books

396 pages

One of our favorite books of last year was “The Six-Gun Tarot,” by R.S. Belcher which we reviewed at that time as one of the most original, audacious weird western novels ever written.  Now comes its sequel and we totally need to find new, better adjectives worthy of this amazing follow up tale of the most haunted town on the frontier, Golgotha, Nevada.

The Mormon mayor possesses a magical sword and golden armor left to his father by the Prophet John Smith.  The richest man in town, Malachi Bick, is a fallen angel. The Sheriff, Jon Hightower, was once hanged; it didn’t take and now is considered some kind of immortal whereas his chief deputy is a shape-shifting half-breed named Mutt.  The widow Maude Stapleton is the three times grand-daughter of the pirate queen, Ann Boney and the town blacksmith, Clay Turlough is a frustrated scientist attempting to raise the dead with the blood from unholy worms. These are but a handful Golgotha’s colorful citizenry.  There are many more, all of whom eventually play a role in the story’s central plot. 

Raziel, another fallen angel calling himself Ray Ziel, has come to Golgotha to find the skull of the first mortal ever murdered.  Within this aged relic has been imprisoned the essence of destruction.  Should the skull be destroyed then this malevolent spirit would be released and infect all humans; turning them into mindless creatures of death.  This is Raziel’s goal and to achieve it he sends out an ethereal call throughout the world calling only the most savage, cruel, monstrous people to heed his summons and come to Golgotha. 

Thus Bick must ally himself with Sheriff Hightower and his supernaturally gifted associates in finding a way to battle Raziel and defeat his army of butchers before they can lay waste to the town and capture its treasure, the possessed skull. 

The action never lets up for a second and Belcher juggles all his wonderful characters with a master’s touch, allowing each ample time with their various subplots while moving the main narrative forward.  It is an unrelenting pace and the suspense mounts rapidly until upon reaching the final battle between good and evil, the reader is transfixed; mesmerized in such a skillful way unable to stop until the final page has been devoured.  Weird westerns are easily one of the most popular genres of new pulps today and no one writes them better than R.S. Belcher.  “The Shotgun Arcana” is a fantastic book lovers of the macabre are going to applaud long and hard.  Miss this one to your  regret.

DOCTOR OMEGA & THE SHADOWMEN

DOCTOR OMEGA AND THE SHADOWMEN

Edited by J.M. & Randy Lofficier

Black Coat Press

278 pages

Earlier in the year we saw the cover to this anthology and were greatly intrigued by it. Till then we had never head of Doctor Omega.  This was obviously a sequel of sorts to the book “Doctor Omega” by Arnould Galopin that Black Coat Press had published several years ago. Then, much to our delight, our good friend, Lucas Garrett provided us with a copy of that old French science fiction adventure thus familiarizing us with this hero.  We read the book; enjoyed it immensely and wrote up an enthusiastic review in which we noted many of the similarities between Doctor Omega and another highly popular Doctor, this one of British origins on the telly.

Then we happily went out and bought a copy of this title.  It is a collection of thirteen brand new Doctor Omega stories as penned by some of the best writers in the New Pulp field today; from G.L. Gick, Chris Roberson, Stuart Shiffman and Matthew Baugh to name a few.  Let me add that every story in this volume is excellent, though they vary in theme and length considerably, there is in each a spark of gleeful imagination and twisted perspectives on daring-do.

From wonky vampires to cowboy heroes, Prof. Moriarity and the Bride of Frankenstein, the good Doctor’s adventures are peppered with classic fictional characters easily recognizable and handled with deft interpretations.  And though it seems unfair to single out one particular entry, we must applaud the fateful meeting between Omega’s ship the Cosmos and a tiny little craft from the planet Krypton.  You can pretty much figure out what happens next.

“Doctor Omega and the Shadowmen” is one of the best anthologies released this year and it is guaranteed to entertain fans of the fantastic.  Do yourselves a big favor and pick up copy.  You can thank us later.

GIDEON SMITH & THE BRASS DRAGON

 

GIDEON SMITH & THE BRASS DRAGON

By David Barnett

Tor Books

352 pgs.

Last year we discovered a truly marvelous steampunk title, “Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl,” by David Barnett.  It was so audacious in its alternate-steam world presentation mixing original characters with figures from various literary classics.  It was such a joy to read, we nominated it for Best Pulp Novel of that year and, as with all fun reads, we fervently hoped that Barnett would grace us with a sequel.  That he has is a cause of much celebration and proving himself a genuine fantasy adventure master, he delivers a follow-up tale twice as grand as its predecessor.

It is months since the events chronicled in the first book a young Gideon Smith, the native of a small fishing village, has been named the Hero of the Empire by the Queen and has become an agent of the Foreign Service.  Accompanying him on his adventures is the corpulent journalist, Aloysius Bent, and the lovely airship captain, Ms Rowena Fanshawe.  After returning from an assignment in the South Pacific, they are ordered to British America to retrieve Apep; the mechanical dragon stolen by the Texas outlaw Louis Cockayne along with Maria, the clockwork girl.  This is a personal mission to Smith as he has fallen in love with Maria and is determined to rescue her from Cockayne.

But this America is primarily an untamed land with only its coastlines having been settled; the British in the east, the Japanese in the west and the Spanish to the south.  Upon their arrival in New York, they learn that Cockayne is hiding in the free Texas town of San Antonio now called Steamtown and run by Thaddeus Pinch; a cyborg gunfirghter named more machine than man.  Pinch is a sadistic fiend who operates the coal mines of Steamtown through the pain and suffering of hundreds of kidnapped slaves.

To save Maria and retrieve the Brass Dragon, Gideon and his friends have to battle a private army of cutthroat mercenaries and battle a prehistoric monster.  But as in their first adventure, they manage to recruit new allies among which are a genius Japanese inventor, an immortal freedom fighter known as Nameless and a beautiful Zorro-like senorita whose prowess with a rapier is deadly.  The action is non-stop, the locales both familiar and strange and all of it populated by some of the most colorful characters ever put down on paper.  “Gideon Smith and the Brass Dragon” is a rollicking adventure and for David Barnett’s second winner in a row.  We can only wonder what he has up his imaginary sleeve for book number three.

ADONIS MORGAN - Nobody Special

ADONIS MORGAN

(Nobody Special)

By Frank Byrns

115 pages

Pro Se Press

There are several respected writers in the New Pulp movement who specialize in tales of realistic superheroes.  One of the best is writer Frank Byrns as he amply demonstrates in this paperback collection starring his metahuman character, Adonis Morgan.

The five stories here detail the adventures of a man riding the unpredictable rollercoaster that comes with having super strength.  Early on we learn that Morgan went the traditional cape and mask route upon attaining his powers but the world being what it is, he gave up that romantic calling fast.  He then tries his hand at being a movie stuntman; being impervious to most kind of traumas does have advantages.  But when he’s framed for murder by a fellow metahuman with a long-held grudge, even that quickly sours.

Next he’s a nighttime taxi-driver and eventually a bodyguard for a campaigning senator assigned to protect the man’s younger, trophy wife.  When she’s kidnapped, Morgan is once again the public patsy.

As you can see, Byrns’ doesn’t offer up any rose-colored views; proving all too often that the fun stuff does indeed only happen in the comic books.  A world with real super powered people would, by the mere premise, be a complicated place.  One which he deftly portrays with ease.  From the first page, we dropped smoothly into this world and could easily empathize with Morgan.  Sometimes being a superhero just isn’t all it’s cracked up to me.  On the other hand, these stories are original and insightful and offer up a unique look into a little explored sci-fi pulp genre.  If you’ve never read superhero prose before, this is the place to start.

WAIT FOR SIGNS

WAIT FOR SIGNS

Twelve Longmire Stories

By Craig Johnson

Viking Penguin

183 pages

We reviewers are always trying to come up with fancy descriptions that will instantly cue the reader into exactly what kind of experience awaits them in the title we are reporting on.  It’s that tight-wire routine of giving away just enough of the idea without spoiling the actual contents.  With any Craig Johnson Longmire title, that’s not all that difficult.

Like the best fictional detective series ever put to pen, the joy in these mysteries is always the characters themselves with the actual who-dunnits really only an excuse to visit them time after time.  And the Longmire books are no exceptions.  Rather they excel at this process and every time a new one comes out, we can’t wait to spend more time with Sheriff Walt, Deputy Vic, George Standing Bear and all the marvelous characters who inhabit Johnson’s Absaroka County, Wyoming.

Over the past years, since beginning the series, Johnson has written a dozen short stories dealing with this series.  Some are poetic epilogues to certain novels while others are simply stand alone vignettes that do not require any real familiarity with the books.  What they all have in common is Johnson’s grasp of humanity with all its foibles and his unique homespun humor.  Here’s the bottom line, if Mark Twain had written mystery stories, they would have read a whole lot like the dozen between the covers of “Wait For Sign.”  That’s the best compliment this reviewer can offer.

LEGION III : KINGS OF OBLIVION

LEGION III – KINGS OF OBLIVION

By Van Allen Plexico

White Rocket Books

335 pages

For those of you who haven’t been keeping up, this is the third and final volume of Van Plexico’s THE SHATTERING trilogy. It is a mind-blowing, action packed finale far greater than anything we could have imagined.  Which is no small feat as we’ve been fans of Plexico’s writing since he burst on the scene with his superhero series, SENTINELS.

With THE SHATTERING books, Plexico’s love 80s and 90s science fiction comes shining through so that we can actually feel the influences of such writers Roger Zelazny and Larry Niven resonating throughout these adventures. 

KINGS OF OBLIVION picks up where all the multi-cliffhangers from book two, SONS OF TERRA, left off.  There are three levels of existence, the Above where the gods dwell, the Middle, or our reality, if you will and the Below where dwell all manner of hellish demons.  One such evil entity has been attempting through various devious manipulations to extend his control to mankind’s level and thereby become the lord and master of the known galaxies.  To achieve this end, the Man in Black has recruited the aid of several alien species and begun an all out assault on the universe.  Gone are the subtle, Machiavellian ploys of the first two books.  This foul beast, having been constantly thwarted by a handful of brilliant and tenacious soldiers, is now determined to totally shatter what he cannot possess.

Standing in his way are Legion Generals Agrippa and Tamerlane who in turn have allied themselves with members of an alien warrior race, the Dyonari and several of the last remaining gods from the fabled Golden City.  Together, this small ragtag group has overcome overwhelming odds while at the same time avoid killing each other in the remnants of a political coup wherein one of their own, General Iapetus, attempted to usurp the royal throne.

If you like rousing space battles, desperate last stands and daring heroes, you are not going to do any better than LEGION III : KINGS OF OBLIVION.  We said it before and it bears repeating, Van Plexico is the Master of Space Operas.  This latest entry cements that beyond any doubt what-so-ever!

SLOUCHING TOWARD CAMULODUNUM

SLOUCHING TOWARDS CAMULODUNUM

(And Other Stories)

By Micah S. Harris

Mino Profit Press

188 pages

Micah Harris is one of the finest adventure fantasy writers working today.  So we were thrilled when this little book popped up in the mail a few weeks ago.  It contains three new tales of the fantastic by Mr. Harris and each of them is a well-crafted gem.  One has to wonder, what with the lack of fiction magazines today, if any of these would have ever seen the light of day had it not been for the ease of self-publishing.  We are daily grateful we live in such an age when writers of this talent can follow this path and effectively make their efforts available we eager readers.

In the first tale, from which the book takes its title, a company of occultists hunt an inhuman villainess attempting to open a portal to our world so as to allow her demonic sire to enter.  Joining this stalwart group is the lovely Becky Sharp, a recurring character in Harris’ stories who has her own agenda.  The woman they are chasing kidnapped her baby girl and Becky is determined to rescue her no matter what the cost.  This story moves like a greyhound chasing a rabbit, from one marvelous scene to the next and even though many readers won’t recognize many of the classical references to these characters, it doesn’t dampen the enthusiasm in which Harris spins his story.  The climax is sheer over-the-top pulp genius.

In “The Anti-Pope of Avignon,” Harris channels Robert E. Howard the Puritan travels to Avignon to put an end to threat posed by the beautiful Fausta, the bastard love child of the late Pope Alexander VI and Cesare Borgia.  He has been hired by a community of French Hugenots who see her as a mortal enemy to their way of life.  But the Puritan is captured and thrown in a dungeon where he uncovers the presence of an unholy spirit called the Horla.  It is this demonic being that is the real villain and only his sword, wielded in holy righteousness, may save the day.  Any fan of the Solomon Kane stories should feel right at home with this delightful yarn.

“May the Ground Not Consume Thee…” is the last of this triple treat.  None other than Alexander Dumas’ Count of Monte Cristo comes to the aid of a tortured French maid whose vile and sadistic husband has made it impossible for her to see her own daughter. To resolve the woman’s plight, the Count plots an elaborate scheme which includes duping a cruel, ageless vampire into being his pawn.  Once again Harris demonstrates his insane plotting genius.

In the end, it would impossible to pick which of these three pieces we enjoyed the most. All are equally well written, captivating and sheer reading treasures.  For a little book, this one packs a wallop and we strongly urge you to seek it out.  This is what good pulp writing is all about.

DNA

DNA

By Raven Bourne

Self-Published

Available at Amazon.com

405 pages

Long ago, after Star Trek had become a huge media success, the book world jumped on the profit-bandwagon and we were suddenly flooded with new Trek novels written by multitudes of recognized sci-fi authors and eventually others by amateurs entering the field.  Always intrigued by how others viewed characters we enjoyed, we picked up lots of these and for the most part those by veteran sci-fi scribes were enjoyable while others were outright entertaining.  Then one day we picked up one particular paperback written by two ladies and within the first two chapters had to put it down as the tale was so steeped in juvenile romanticisms, it was as if someone had turned a classic space opera series into a Harlequin Romance.

Which was when we realized that there are writers, regardless of their skills or life experiences, unable to disguise their respective genders in telling a story.  We are not saying that is a bad thing, only that it is a recognizable facet among some writers.  Case in point, had we not known Raven Bourne’s gender before digging into her book, we would have easily identified it as having been penned by a woman within the first few chapters.  How so?  Because there is unavoidable romantic fantasy lens that shades every single aspect of this novel from plot to pacing and characterization.  This is clearly a female perspective and it is so pervasive, we doubt many of our pulp action-loving readers would be able to honestly appreciate it.

With that disclaimer out of the way, let’s look at what this DNA is all about.  Dr. Raen McNeil, a beautiful, sensitive genetic biologist, uncovers a secret relating to the evolution of mankind.  In fact this revelation argues against the accepted principles of known science and hints at alien manipulation.  What if mankind’s tendencies towards violence and all the baser, savage instincts were never suppose to be the norm?  What if a particular genetic code was purposely excluded from our ancestors locking us into a fate of perpetual destruction?

No sooner does Raen uncover this missing gene then she is abducted by a humanoid alien who believes she is his intended soulmate.  Meanwhile a major pharmaceutical company hires private eye, Jacob Fourth, to find her.  Jacob is a no-nonsense pragmatic character with an ego to match.  His search for Raen, although interesting in the locales it takes him, is the book’s weakest section and could easily have been shortened.  Once Jacob finds Raen and her alien-lover, both of them are whisked away way on a starship and sent on an amazing journey at the heart of which lies either the salvation of mankind or its demise.  Bourne’s aliens are fun as well as fascinating and it is their interaction with Raen and Jacob that is most rewarding. Whereas most space opera sagas are filled with ray-blasters, starship encounters and hostile environments, DNA is more a fantasy forum to explore religion and philosophy and their relevance to the human condition.  In the end, DNA puts forth some interesting theories and examines who we are as race while suggesting a peaceful future as a genuine alternate path…if we are wise enough to choose it.

We hope to see more from Ms. Bourne but humbly suggest her next project be leaner and less ambitious allowing her to improve her skills while trimming the extraneous fat.  The shorter lessons are usually the ones we remember best.