MYSTERY OF THE MIDNIGHT SOLDIERS

 

MYSTERY OF THE MIDNIGHT SOLDIERS

By Darryle Purcell

A Buckskin Edition Western

181 pgs

 

In this latest outing, Monogram’s three amigos, Press Writer Curly Woods, chauffeur Nick Danby and western screen star Hoot Gibson are recruited by FBI Agent Jim Webber to investigate a senior facility for veterans located in the mountains. Webber suspects foreign agents are using the place to smuggle weapons intended for subversive Communist regimes around the world.  

Upon arriving at the facility, the boys discover that the doctor in charge is using a potent hallucinogenic gas to induce realistic nightmares on the residents. These scenarios having been culled from their combat experiences. His belief is by reliving their worst memories, the old patriots will be able to expunge them completely. Thus our heroes find themselves dealing with horrific midnight attacks by Nazis, Japanese soldiers and other past foes.  

They soon stumble upon a cache of hidden weapons only to be cut off by a violent mountain storm that washes out the only road to the home. At the same time, the saboteurs working at the retreat cut the phone lines thus starting an all-out assault on the residents and our heroes. Soon it’s a full-on battle, with Curly, Nick and Hoot in the middle of it. But can they hold out until the cavalry can come to rescue?  

Once again Darryle Purcell offers up a fast pace, fun actioner with some of the most likeable characters in pulp fiction today. This series is literary popcorn, once you’re read one of them, you have to go back and read them all.

LEVON'S SCOURGE

 

LEVON’S SCOURGE

(Levon Cade – Book Twelve)

By Chuck Dixon

Rough Edge Press

262 pgs

 

With this installment, writer Chuck Dixon stamps a finale on his terrific action series featuring a Marine veteran from the south named Levon Cade. From the first book, Cade was a man jinxed to collide with trouble due his inherent sense of justice and morality. He eventually becomes a wanted fugitive only because he dared cross savage criminal gangs from around the world.

In this final entry, Cade is determined to put an end to his personal war by going on the offensive. Tired of always being on the run and concerned for the safety of his daughters, he sets out to find the Asian crime lord who wants him dead. Through a series of events that lead him from Mexico to Saigon, Levon Cade becomes the lethal hunter we’ve all come to know in this incredible saga. Dixon’s prose is lean and hard. Hemingway would have loved it. At the same time, he touches the heart of the man and has us cheering wildly by beautiful homecoming that reunites him with his daughters.

“Levon’s Scourge” is a fitting ending. Now Hollywood, where’s that Levon Cade movie?

Merian C. Cooper's KING KONG

 

MERIAN C. COOPER’S KING KONG

By Joe DeVito and Brad Strictland

St.Martin’s Griffin

203 pgs

 

Our all-time favorite movie is the 1933 RKO production of KING KONG, produced and written by Merian C. Cooper, Edgar Wallace, Jack Creelman, Ruth Rose and directed by Ernest Shoedsack. We saw it as a child in the theater during a 1950s re-release and it imprinted itself on our psyche. Even as a child, we knew somehow intuitively that the giant gorilla, the supposed monster, was actuality the victim of the tale. We left the theater almost in tears at his demise. 

As the years rolled past and we matured, so did our affection for this amazing cinema classic. Our admiration and respect for its creators, to include special effects pioneer Willis O’Brien, grew as well. Over the subsequent years, we began picking up book novelizations whenever coming across them. Thus, we found ourselves owning a copy of this one, dated 2005. We were long familiar with the fact that artist Joe DiVito was a fellow Kong fanatic and while assuming co-writing duties on the paperback, he also provided the powerful cover painting and a handful of beautiful pencil illustrations. 

Some may ask what is the value in a book that repeats a story we’ve practically memorized scene for scene? The answer is simple; DeVito and Strictland have added character insights and in so doing given us another layer of drama. Their portrayals of showman Carl Denham, seaman Jack Driscoll and actress Ann Darrow are rich with understanding. King Kong is the story of man versus nature, of the civilized versus the savage and these three souls are caught at its center. We will always love the movie and now, thanks to this book, even more so.