THE WANDERING MAN

 

THE WANDERING MAN

A Charlie Doherty Thriller

By Terrence McCauley

Woldpack Publishing

272 pgs

 

Charlie Doherty’s best pal growing up on the streets of New York was Andy Carmichael. Carmichael entered the police academy while Charlie enlisted in the army and went off to fight in the First World War. Upon his return to civilian, Carmichael had risen in the ranks of the NYPD and encouraged Charlie to sign up. Now it’s 1927 and Carmichael is not only the Chief of Police, but he’s helped Charlie climb through the ranks and made him a detective. That’s a stretch, because all Charlie really is the Chief’s “black hand,” the nickname of boss’ gopher who does his menial errands without asking questions. 

But when Charlie witnesses a fellow detective gunned down in public in downtown Manhattan, everything changes. As if failing to chase down the audacious killer wasn’t bad enough, Charlie later learns from Carmichael that the slain officer was hunting a twisted serial killer who, for the past twenty years, had been targeting young boys from the various boroughs; all reported missing by their parents and their bodies never found.  Carmichael and his top cops kept the case out of the public eye aware its discovery would severely damage the department and create panic among the city’s millions of residents. 

Sensing Charlie’s frustration at not having captured the brazen psycho, Carmichael assigns him the task of picking up the hunt where the slain cop had left off. Initially Charlie is confounded, well aware he has no real experience in crime solving; but as he begins to pour over the files collected by the dead detective, he begins to see threads left unpursued. While methodically, going over those old records and witness accounts, a pattern emerges and Detective Charlie Doherty becomes obsessed with catching the twisted figure known only as the Wandering Man. 

Terrence McCauley is one of the finest new crime writers in the business today. His narrative style is clean, straightforward and succinctly paced. There isn’t a dull moment in this entire, gripping tale of an average guy challenged to be more than average.

VAMP

 

VAMP

A Valentino Mystery

By Loren D. Estleman

Forge Books

230 pgs

 

Valentino is a film archivist who works for UCLA in Los Angeles and at times does a little detecting work on the side. The character and series are both well known by mystery fans and after reading this entry, we can easily understand why. Valentino and his supporting cast of characters, while at times eccentric, are wonderfully charming and fun to hang with.

 

In this particular outing, Valentino is approached by an old set designer friend who is being blackmailed. The fellow, a fugitive from a ages old crime in Nebraska, has been posing as a Russian émigré in his new Hollywood career. Alas, the past has supposedly caught up with him.   

At the same time all this is going down, Valentino is approached by a retired cop from the Midwest named Jasper Grote claiming to possess two reels from the lost  silent film Cleopatra starring Hollywood’s first femme fatale, the legendary Theda Bara. When the hayseed copper arrives and proves to be Nebraskan, the coincidence with Valentino’s threatened associate is far too implausible. So, what’s the connection between the two stories and is Grote really who he says he is? 

If you like old movies and stories about the people who made them, Vamp is an enjoyable romp of a tale told by a master storyteller.

EL TIGRE AZUL - Three Witches

 

EL TIGRE AZUL

Three Witches

By Duane Spurlock

Interrobang Tales

214 pgs

 

It’s the 1970 and El Tigre Azul (the Blue Tiger) is a professional Mexican masked wrestler better known as a luchador. Aside from his ring career, he is also famous for fighting evil supernatural threats wherever they arise. In this first-in-print collection, Spurlock’s fun hero battles three over-the-top villains from Mexico to Paris, France. Thus the “Three Witches” sub-title. 

In the first tale, El Tigre Azul confronts a Mexican witch who has mesmerized a young wrestler to do her bidding. With his help, she turns an average game-cock into a giant, monster chicken that destroys the gambling den in a wild rampage. How El Tigre defeats it is wild and fantastic. This is followed by his trip to Paris where he confronts a water-witch living in the Seine River and callously drowns her victims. The Mexican warrior has his hands full when he seeks her out in her underwater lair. 

The final, and most amazing adventure has the Blue Tiger taking on an ageless elemental being without shape or form. It attempts to kill him by casting him back in time. To survive he has to continue fighting his way through one era after another. It is a grand, pulp adventure and a great finale to what is a truly wonderful book. Kudos, Duane Spurlock and please, give us more El Tigre Azul!