THE GHOSTS OF KARNAK
By George Mann
Titan Books
271 pages
George Mann’s steam-pulp hero, the
Ghost, returns in this, his third outing. When Gabriel Cross’ girlfriend, Ginny
Gray, fails to return from her sight-seeing trip to Egypt, he is a bit
concerned. That feeling of tread is only magnified when his friend, police
detective Felix Donovan informs Garbriel that he’s been investigating a series
of gruesome murders wherein the bodies are left with ancient Egyptian symbols
cared into their flesh. Donovan suspects a group of fanatical cultists who
worship ancient gods.
At the same time, a local crime boss
whose enforcers wear mechanized armor is somehow involved and Gabriel and
Donovan soon discover there is turf war going between the mobster and the
cultist. The mystery continues to lead them in various directions, but all
eventually coalesces to the point where the Ghost discovers Ginny may be in the
hands of a madman who plans on using her body to host the spirit of a long dead
Egyptian diety.
As ever, Mann spins a fast pace
action tale with colorful characters who easily could have stepped out of the
pages of any classic pulp magazine. The Ghost series is one of his best and
something every pulp fan should pick up.
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