THE BLACK PRINCE

 

THE BLACK PRINCE

By Terry Mark

(@authorTerryMark) Instagram

348 pgs 

Two Viking brothers, Edward and Alistair, are slaves trained to become warriors. On one of their many journeys to the East, they encounter the magic land of Scoria where exist the Vim. A bizarre metal from the stars, the Vim stones provide people with superhuman abilities to include immortality. Possessing these amazing crystals, the brothers attempt to flee Scoria, return to the West and create their own everlasting empire. But as such dreams often do, the fates intervening and in one final battle with opposing oriental forces, Edward and Alistair are thrown into separate time vortexes and separated for hundreds of years. 

Once again, Terry Mark, a master of high fantasy has woven an original tale of wonder and adventure unlike you’ve ever read before. Be on the look out for this, and his subsequent novels in the Vim-Hood series.

MONACO HEIST

 

MONACO HEIST

By Van Allen Plexico & Alan J. Porter

White Rocket Books

306 pgs

 

We’ve always loved “caper” crime novels. It is always fun watching professional thieves overcome near impossible challenges to abscond with whatever prize they are focused on stealing. Award winning pulp writer, Van Allen Plexico is also a fan of this crime sub genre and has created an on-going series featuring two really likeable thieves, Harper and Salsa. He put them through their paces in their first two outings, “Vegas Heist” and “Maimi Heist.” Both are highly recommended, if you haven’t read them yet. 

In this third outing, Plexico is joined by another veteran scribe, Alan J. Porter, who is a racing car affectionato. You see, dear readers, this entry takes place in the colorful principality of Monaco where our guys are out to steal six priceless diamonds mounted on the hood of a racing car as it winds its way through the city’s narrow street in this annual International Grand Prix. 

The diamonds are owned by a wealthy shipping tycoon with plans to take over the small little country. But he’s also heavily in debt to a mysterious criminal organization. Hoping the publicity generated by the audacious racing gimmick will allow him to sell the diamonds for enough money to satisfy his creditors; at the same time have enough left over to continue his own nefarious schemes. Into the twisted scenario, our protagonists, along with their respective girlfriends, Lois and Connie, arrive totally unaware how complicated their plans are about to become. And if all this wasn’t enough to keep one guessing, Plexico and Porter throw in two deadly secret agents in a weird spy versus spy subplot. 

“Monaco Heist,” is one of those fast-paced books that keeps the reader mesmerized from the first checkered flag to the last. There are almost as many twist and turns in the plot as there are in racecourse itself. By the conclusion, we felt as if we were romping through a madcap Pink Panther movie without an Inspector Clouseau. Although Salsa comes very close to filling that role. Honestly, this is a fun read. and we are thrilled to learn there are more Harper and Salsa capers on the way. You should be too.

QUARRY'S REUNION

 

QUARRY’S REUNION

By Max Allan Collins

Available 10 Nov. 2026

Hard Case Crime

217 pgs

 

Grand Master mystery writer Max Allan Collins has created a number of series during his long career. He’s given us professional thieves, historical private eyes, retired secret agents and a wonderful small town female sheriff among many others. All were brilliantly written, but we do have our favorites. Topping our list is the Quarry books that tell the story of a Vietnam veteran and his evolution into a contract killer. Why it remains our favorite is primarily because, like Collin’s deadly protagonist, we too are veterans of that Southeast Asian conflict and are now well past calling ourselves middle-age. 

Collins allows his fictional character to age like the rest of us. With the past few entries in the series, it has been fun to watch a 70-year-old tough guy deal with new, and always dangerous situations. Never quite sure his body will respond to whatever threats he will encounter; Quarry has to rely on his experience and hard earned survival skills. 

In this new story, he is summoned back to his home town of Fair View, Ohio, by his long ago high-school sweetheart, Mary Ann Kemper. After he had left home to join the US Marines, Mary Ann married Bobby Means, the son of the town’s wealthiest family. They had a beautiful daughter named Jenny. After the marriage ended in divorce, Bobby married another local girl, Suzanne Shaw, and together they had a son, Alex. Soon after, Suzanne followed Mary Ann’s history and left him. Despite the scandalous divorces, Bobby’s mother, Virginia Means, refused to abandon her grandchildren and set up a trust fund for them. When turning 50, both Jenny and Alex would receive half a million dollars. 

Now, as each is nearing that particular birthday, Jenny is nearly killed in three separate incidents. The police believe them to be nothing by random events, but Mary Ann disagrees. Convinced someone is trying to kill her daughter, she reaches out to Quarry. How and why she does this would involve writing our own lengthy dissertation. Suffice it to say, our protagonist agrees to help her. All this occurs during the weekend of his 50^th High School Reunion.  Among his surviving classmates are several possible suspects with motives for wanting Jenny terminated. 

“Quarry’s Reunion” is a fun read watching Collins juxtapose his mystery over the all too familiar nostalgic torture that these gatherings become. It offers us a rare glimpse into Quarry’s origins, his life and aspiration before the world turned upside down and he found himself lost in a jungle half a world away. Again, it was all too easy for this reviewer to nod time and again, as we share quite a few of the old soldiers’ memories. This Quarry is a different character, attesting to the reality that change is the only true constant. Thanks Max, for not being afraid to grow old with us.