MOONLIGHT SERENADE

 

MOONLIGHT SERENADE

Book Three of the Vim Hood Chronicles

By Terry Mark

285 pgs  

With this volume, writer Terry Mark continues his thrilling alternate history series featuring some very famous personalies. He picks up the narrative in Europe shortly after the Normandy invasion by allied troops. We find General Patton leading his armored command across France at such speed as if to threaten his own gas supply lines. Meanwhile in the South Pacific, Amelia Earhart, is alive and operating as an island spotter for the U.S. Navy observing the movements of Japanese warships. When that mission is completed, she recruits a young Navy flier named Paul Newman to accompany her to Europe and a rendezvous with Patton.  

Meanwhile a frightened young teenage Anne Frank has escaped her family’s hiding place and while on the run encounters a trio of savage Nazis werewolves. All of which has to do with Hitler’s attempt to find the source of the mysterious Vim gems that grant people arcane powers and the ability to make super weapons of mass destruction.

Once again, Mark weaves real history with his daring alternate world supernatural storyline to achieve the maximum in spills and thrills. Oh, and did we mention a certain trumpet player named Glenn Miller also has a part to play in the adventure. Just like his first two books in the series, “Moonlight Serenade” is pure pulp from start to finish. We urge you not only to pick it up but do yourselves a favor and also latch on to those first two books, “Kill the Night” and “And the Sun Goeth Down.” Really, you’ll be glad you did.

QUARRY'S BLOOD

 

QUARRY’S BLOOD

By Max Allan Collins

Hard Case Crime

205 pgs  

Max Allan Collins has been writing stories about his Vietnam veteran hitman since 1976. It was obvious from the start that the author and his creation were the same age making it easy enough for him to place the stories in time. Collins did a few Quarry books and then walked away from them. When Hard Case Crime came along, publisher Charles Ardai, a fan of the character, urged Collins to bring Quarry back.” Collins, obviously older, as was his hero, realized he had a golden opportunity to write a finale.  

What his crystal ball couldn’t predict was how successful “The Last Quarry” would become among his ever growing audience. And there was Ardai wanting more. Collins pulled a very neat hat-trick and went backwards with “The First Quarry.” Which of course meant dusting off his own memories of those long ago times and their social environs. All of which he did making it seem effortless.  

Having thus given us the alpha and omega, it seemed we mystery/crime fans had seen the last of Quarry. Again we’ve been proven wrong in this new “Quarry’s Blood.” It’s pretty much a gripping fast paced epilogue and so much fun. We catch up with an aging Quarry, almost about to reach seventy and widowed for the second time. He’s content with living a quiet, if lonely life, until a very savvy female writer named Susan shows up on his doorstep. As it turns out she’s the author of a bestselling true crime novel that was clearly inspired by Quarry’s lethal career and she’s convinced he is the real hitman she researched in her book. 

Unnerved by all this, he maintains his false innocence and sends her packing. The following day, while taking a pre-dawn swim at a nearby indoor pool, he’s nearly killed by two professional assassins. No way is it a coincendence and Quarry finds himself once again being pulled into his old world of hunter/prey, kill or be killed. But what’s the connection to Susan? And who, after so many long years, wants him dead and why?  

This is one of the best Quarry books ever. Maybe we think that because we’re seventy-five, a Vietnam veteran and often times think about all our brothers who never made it home to their families and loved ones. Who never got to drink another cold beer or read a damn good book like this one. Thanks, Max, for all of them.

MEN'S ADVENTURE QUARTERLY Issue # 4

 

MEN’S ADVENTURE QUARTERLY

Issue # 4

Edited by Robert Deis & Bill Cunningham

Pulp 2.0

148 pgs   

When repeating an operation several times, you can be assured of one of two results. One, the action is lessened and the quality diminishes with repetition. Or, two, the process becomes refined and the quality increases exponentially. With this series, there’s no doubt it is the second of theory that becomes instantly evident. Each new issue of “Men’s Adventure Quarterly” is unbelievable better than the last. How that is possible is obviously the work of editors Robert Deis and Bill Cunningham. Both are masters at their respective interests and merging of those two publishing sensibilities is sheer genius.   

Deis is the consummate MAM’s expert and his knowledge of that subject is only equaled by his love for it. As with the previous four installments, issue 4 has a theme; one near and dear all fans of this literature – Jungle Girls. From the opening page to the last, we are presented with a cornucopia of intriguing articles, action packed fanciful fiction and several captivating photo features.  

The 148 page magazine is book-ended by two segments spotlighting two very different women and their particular connection with the world of Men’s Adventure Magazines. The first is a series of new and reprinted articles about Jane Dolinger, a globetrotting beauty who was both a gifted writer and lovely cheesecake model. Deis’ presenting this little know adventuress to the world is worth the price of the issue. Ms Dolinger was a one of kind character just as sensational of those she invented in her fiction. Her pictorials also display a natural beauty completely comfortable with her own sexuality. We were much impressed with Deis’ interview with writer Lawrence Abbott who wrote Ms Dolinger’s biography; “Jane Dolinger : The Adventurous Life of an American Travel Writer.”  

The book’s middle section features four MAMS reprint stories about white men caught in lost jungle cities from the Amazon to Borneo and confronting lethal but sexy female warriors. Each is a gem and much fun. All are gorgeously illustrated by classic art from various MAM artists of the past, from Gil Cohen to Mort Kunstler.  

And then the volume wraps up with a huge photo tribute to the late German actress Marion Michael who came to stardom by starring in two internationally celebrated jungle movies in the mid-60s, “Liane – Girl From the Jungle” and “Nature Girl and the Slaver.” In the former she was billed as the German Sheena. A pretty blonde sweetheart, she was also compared to Brigette Bardot. Of course this is where the other half of the editing team, Bill Cunningham, shines. Once again, Cunningham’s skill at page layouts and his use of the art and photos is spot-on. He knows instinctively how to make every single page a dramatic presentation and joy to simply behold.

Deis’s articles are tremendous and Cunningham gives them the stunning visual stage they so richly deserve. “Men’s Adventure Quaterly # 4” is truly a wonderful treasure to any love of MAMS and pulps in general. Honestly, we can’t wait to see what they come up with next.

RELIQUARY

 

RELIQUARY

By Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

Forge Fiction

264 Pgs  

Way back in 2002 a good friend sent us a copy of the book, “The Cabinet of Curiosities” by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. In was in this book that we first encountered FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast. What we didn’t know at the time was it was the character’s third appearance in a book by these two writers. Later we would learn he had first appeared in “Relic,” (1995) a horror thriller that was later adapted into a feature film. Now we hadn’t read “Relic” but we had seen and enjoyed the movie. Sadly, in the process of bringing the story to the screen, the screen writers opted to trim the large cast of characters and Pendergast was one of the casualties of those cuts.   

Buoyed by the success of that first collaboration, Preston and Child wrote a sequel, “Reliquary” (1997) and once again brought back Pendergast as part of the original cast of characters from the previous thriller. Again, at the time, we were totally oblivious to any of this. Or the fact that Pendergast role slowly growing even though he was still part of an ensemble of players. With the arrival of “The Cabinet of Curiosities” he took center stage and quickly gathered a huge fandom. Soon the series became the Pendergast books and each continued to expand his popularity. It remains our personal favorite such.  

Recently we found a new paperback edition of “Reliquary” and immediately picked it up. We were amused at the sub-title indicating it was “The Second Novel in the Pendergast Series.” How things had changed. Being familiar with the movie version of “Relic” we had no trouble digging into this story and realized quickly that it is most assuredly a follow up. In fact one might rightly call it a Part Two of the same tale. In “Relic” a scientist returns from a trip to the Amazon infected by an exotic plant. Upon his return to New York City and the Natural History Musuem, it transforms him physically into a monstrous beast that then terrorizes and murders lots of people before being vanquished.  

In “Reliquary” several of his museum colleagues have discovered the truth behind the monster and begin expirementing with what remains of the alien plant. These secret expirement leads to creation of as yet another mental and physical altering drug and they begin testing it on the homeless “moles” that live beneath the streets of the city. Soon these poor souls are turned into horrible creatures and begin killing people at random. When a rich young debutant becomes one of their victims and her headless corpse is discovered in the river, the police begin to investigate and eventually Lt. Vincent D’Agosta and Dr. Nora Kelly, a museum curator, are once again teaming up to solve the grisly murders. It is no surprise when, a quarter into the book, Agent Pendergast appears we readers are once again enjoying another fast paced, fantastic thriller like no other.  

Being Pendergast fans, we’re happy to have had this chance to read one of his earliest appearances and as ever cannot wait for his newest book.

THE MANY LIVES OF JIMMY LEIGHTON

 

THE MANY LIVES OF JIMMY LEIGHTON

By Dave Thomas & Max Allan Collins

Neo Text

328 pgs   

Considering his past works, writer Max Allan Collins is the last person we’d ever associate with science fiction. But that’s exactly what we have here in this thriller co-written with Dave Thomas. “The Many of Lives of Jimmy Leighton” is half sci-fi and half crime mystery. Jimmy Leighton is a young thief living in Boston’s notorious South-End. He’s in debt to a sadistic Vietnamese gangster and decides to rob the house of a scientist. In the man’s cellar, he discovers a quantum machine and accidentally activates it at the same time he is shot in the back of the head by a second intruder.  

And just like that there are two Jimmy Leightons. One who collapses from the gunshot wound and the second who simply vanishes? That Jimmy’s consciousness is transported to another earth and into the body of a duplicate Jimmy Leighton; one who is rich and lives in Chicago. As our dimension hopping protagonist tries to comprehend his dilemma, his other self is rescued and taken to a Boston hospital where surgeons save his life but leave him in a coma. Enter detectives Sam Neer and Taylor Farr, assigned to the case. Who shot the thief in the scientist’ basement and why? From this point the book jumps, much like our hero, back and forth between the story of the cops trying to solve the shooting and Jimmy’s quantum identity jumps. Through the course of the story, he’ll find himself as a boxing prize-fighter, a bank robber, an infantry soldier in Afghanistan and even a hometown Catholic.

The balance between both narratives is really well handled; with both writers maintain a truly enjoyable rhythm throughout the story. They bring it all to a very satisfying conclusion for all the characters. This is obviously a one shot as we can’t envision any sequels. Yet we’d really like to see Neer and Farr again. Perhaps in a more traditional cop mystery in the future? Regardless, “The Many Lives of Jimmy Leighton” is a fun read one not to be missed.

THE SHADOWED CIRCLE # 2

 

THE SHADOWED CIRCLE # 2

Editor/Publisher Steve Donoso

A Resonance Arts Press Publication

62 pages

 

Last year pulp enthusiast were treated to the premier of this excellent new magazine devoted to arguably the great pulp hero of them all, The Shadow. The magazine was crammed pack with excellent, informative articles, great artwork all beautifully designed. Now comes the second issue equally as good only with an additional 12 pages. Talk about making a good thing better.

The first article “Stories of World History and The Shadow” kicks it all with a look at the greatest Shadow graphic adventure ever published, Marvel’s “Hitler’s Astrologer” as written by Denny O’Neil and illustrated by artists Michael Kaluta with gorgeous inks by Russ Heath. We think so highly of this book, we own two copies.   

Next Will Murray offers up memories of his time working with Tony Tollin on the Sanctum Shadow reprints series. Murray’s anectodes are always fun and sometimes eerily revealing. 

Editor Steve Donoso then ushers in a truly wonderful pictorial of old New York by photographer Berenice Abbott that showcases a 1930s landscape that was clearly the landscape for many of the Shadow’s adventures. It is a nostalgic treasure we greatly enjoyed. 

Tim King’s “The Dark Avenger in Military Heraldry” was really fascinating stuff. 

Donoso then reviews Will Murray’s “Master of Mystery : The Rise of the Shadow.” Something we did as well when the volume was first released. 

Todd D. Severin and Keith being their history of the character with “The Shadow – Mysterious Being of the Night – The Pulp Years – Part 1.” Again informative and fun. Will be eagerly awaiting future segments. 

“The Shadow and the Explorers Club” by Julian Puga is a short two-page article and nice finale to a wonderful issue. 

If you’re a Shadow enthusiast by any degree, visit their on-line website and pick up a copy…of both issues. You’ll be richer for it. Tell them the sun is shining but the ice is slippery.  (www.theshadowedcircle.com)

 

TROUBLE IN THE BROWNSTONE

 

TROUBLE IN THE BROWNSTONE

A Nero Wolfe Mystery

By Robert Goldsborough

Mysterious Press

246 pgs.

Every now and then we readers discover fictional characters and become totally enamored with them. Enough so that when their creators pass on, we hope other writers will take on those heroes and continue their adventures; most of which we refer to as pastiches. (Note – a term we totally dislike.) Now, regardless of your attitude towards continuations, it is all too clear some of these characters have come to belong to the world at large. When thinking of such, Sherlock Holmes immediately takes the number one spot. Since his creator’s passing, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of his new adventures have been written. Why? Simple, because his world wide fans demanded more. 

Thus is the case with Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, the irascible characters created by the late Red Stout as his take on the Holmes/Watson duo. It was no surprise that they quickly became the darlings of mystery fans everywhere and when Stout passed away in 1975 it seemed the end for this delightful pair. Happily such was not the case when journalist/author Robert Goldsborough arrived to reopen the door to the famous Brownstone on West 35th St. and began writing new Nero Wolfe mysteries. In the past fifteen such, he’s related the first ever meeting between Wolfe and Archie, taking us on a visit to Archie’s hometown and even had Wolfe come to Inspector Cramer’s rescue on a tricky case. It is these forays into the established character’s background that have made all of Goldsborough’s books a pure delight. Book # 16, “Trouble in the Brownstone” is no exception.

It begins with Wolfe’s orchid expert Theodore Horstmann being savagely beaten weeks after having left his rooftop apartment for new digs. Left in a coma from which he may never recover, Wolfe and Archie devote themselves to finding the perpetrators and bringing them to justice. This leads to McCready’s an Irish bar near the docks of the Hudson River. Archie soon learns the bar is frequented by foreign seamen most of whom reside at a five story hotel across the street from the pub. Set in the months after the end of World War Two, Goldsborough’s plot centers around the plight of thousands of Displaced Refugees desperately hoping to immigrate to America. Thus the opportunity arose for unscrupulous opportunists in providing smuggling avenues for those people with the money to pay. How this connects with Horstmann’s fate is part of the complicated knot the rotund sleuth must unravel if the villains are to be exposed. 

“Trouble in the Brownstone” is, as its previous entries, a terrific Nero Wolfe story and as always, is a genuine homage to Mr. Stout. Here’s hoping Goldsborough has lots more stories coming our way. We eagerly await each and every one of them

DEATH TRIP

 

DEATH TRIP

By P.J. Thorndyke

https://pjthorndyke.wordpress.com/

238 pgs   

It is the summer of 1968 and a girl name Alice has fled her past life and moved to California. Fate decrees her arrival to coincide with a deadly train derailment that unleashes an experimental gas created by the war department to enhance violent emotions in combat soldiers fighting in Vietnam. Soon locals are infected and begin attacking each other with incidents of violent bloodshed spreading rapidly. The papers call the infected souls The Changed.

 

On her own, Alice tries to flee Southern California and in a roadside diner encounters a young man named Cody. Both of them barely manage to escape another bloody encounter and end up joining a group of bikers for protection. In turn the bikers come across a busload of drug-addled free-love hippies. The two groups agree to band together in an abandoned old west town on the edge of the desert. Here they can be safe from The Changed and hopefully wait out the disaster until the world returns to normal. Regrettably as time goes by, one of the charismatic hippy leaders named Chuck manages mesmerize everyone into believing the outside world is doomed and they are the only hope for mankind’s future. All too soon Alice and Cody find themselves trapped in a cultish compound being led by a madman.  

P.J. Thorndyke is an excellent writer and unfolds his story in a logical step by step manner so as to detail the thin line between civilization and savagery. His characters are doomed from the start; unable to alter the swift descent into horror that ultimately engulfs them all.

FANCY ANDERS GOEST TO WAR

 

FANCY ANDERS GOES TO WAR

By Max Allan Collins

Illustrated by Fay Dalton

Neo Text

118 pgs

During World War Two, so many of America’s sons went off fight a war, it fell on America’s daughters to keep the homefront afloat. Now for those mothers and wives living on farms and ranches, none of this was new as they already knew what hard labor was all about. Whereas their city-cousins who had only punched a clock behind a store counter or handled a typewriter, they were not at all prepared for the noisy, sweaty, production factories they were required to keep working. The war effort needed lots of planes and tanks and lots of other vital military equipment. Thus in the thousands these gals put aside their lipsticks for head scarves, high-heels for work boots and rolled up their sleeves to do their part. Thus was born Rosy the Riveter.  

Considering the five long years the war lasted, we’ve always been amazed that Hollywood for the most part has ignored this phenomenon of a woman dominated America and only given us two major productions centered on the period. The first being the horrendous 1984 “Swing Shift” directed by Jonathan Damme and starring Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. Its intentions might have been good, but the story was bland and boring. As for the second, we’ll get to that eventually. 

Now mystery writer Max Allan Collins has turned his always active imagination to that subject matter in “Fancy Anders Goes To War,” and delivers a short, fun and exciting tale debuting a wonderful new character. Francine Anders’ father operates a private investigation business out of Los Angeles. When he is called away to Washington to help with the establishment of the military’s new intelligence department, he leaves Fancy behind to manage the office. What he assumes will be simple record keeping and maintenance stuff.

What Anders senior couldn’t foresee was the death of a young woman at the Amalgamated Aircraft Factory.  Although reported as an accident, the owner of the firm has suspicions to the contrary. Being a good friend of the family, he suggests that Fancy investigate. With the help of a city detective, she agrees and soon goes undercover as a new employee. Once again, Collins sets the stage with detailed historical accuracy as Fancy finds herself working with other patriotic, self-sacrificing women unafraid to get their hands dirty and willing to take on any job that will help America win the war. Yet working side by side with these women, and their male supervisors, might be a murderer. Fancy’s challenge is not only to uncover the killer but at the same time the motive for the crime.

It’s a dandy mystery and Fancy and her friends are wonderfully realized. We’d also like to tip our pulp fedora to artist Fay Dalton who provides not only a great colorful cover but some equally beautiful interior illustrations. Something we don’t get enough these days. Finally, we did mention there was a second movie about women during wartime; Penny Marshall’s delightful “A League of their Own” starring Tom Hanks and Gena Davis. Which only makes us wonder if maybe Fancy might return in a sequel? “Fancy Anders Strikes Out” has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?

SAHARA SIX

 

SAHARA SIX

(A Mace Bullard Patrol)

By James Hopwood

Pro-Se Press

126 pg

Adventure tales of the French Foreign Legion were a staple of the classic pulp magazine titles. These were hardy stories of brave men who for whatever reasons were societies’ cast-offs and banded together under the French flag. It was a brotherhood where loyalty was demanded and survival never guaranteed.

 Writer James Hopwood wonderfully captures both the non-stop action and pure essence of those early action yarns with his Mace Bullard series. Bullard is a man with no past, suffering amnesia after having been mugged on the streets of Rabat. Thus he joins the local Legion troop and is accepted by them without so much as a shrug. Soon he finds himself stationed at Fort Granuille. There, while on patrol under the command of a tough by-the-book Sgt. Le Pen, Bullard sees combat against a group of Malaci Arab raiders. When Le Pen is knocked unconscious, Bullard takes command and saves the patrol but refuses to follow the remaining enemy into the hellhole desert known as The Sun’s Anvil.  

Because of this decision, Le Pen charges him with insubordination and Commander Renault has no option but to punish Bullard by assigning him to a distant outpost called Sahara Six. There Bullard finds a dilapidated fort occupied only but three men, one woman and a dog. The captain is a drunk, the cook a woman, the mechanic has only one hand and the remaining rookie legionnaire is Sgt. Le Pen’s own nephew. All the other soldiers had long since deserted leaving this motley group behind. And if that wasn’t bad enough, shortly after his arrival, the outpost finds itself under siege by another band of Malaci following the orders of their leader, the fanatical El Hakim. 

From the first page to the last, “Sahara Six” propels the reader along with reckless panache expertly showcasing one action sequence after another. All of which are brilliantly described in glorious pulp bravura. There is nothing slow or boring about this tale and fans of the old pulps are in for a rousing treat. New Pulp has never been better.

CUTTHROAT DOGS

 

CUTTHROAT DOGS

(An Amos Walker Mystery)

By Loren D. Estleman

A Forge Book

196 pgs

Loren D. Estleman has been writing stories about Detroit P.I. Amos Walker for a while now, as the inside list shows this new offering is nearing thirty published mysteries. Obviously we’re late to the party, but when “Cutthroat Dogs” dropped onto our review stack recently, we knew it was time to meet the guy.    

In the grand tradition of classic private eye heroes, Walker is a fast-talking wise guy who knows his city’s streets, the nice and the mean. He’s got a history with the boys in blue as well. A shooting in a local bank gains him a little press coverage which in turns attracts a young lady to seek his help. Her brother, Dan Corbeil, is serving a life sentence in prison for having murdered his college girl-friend, April Goss, twenty years earlier. Walker takes the job only to discover there are some powerful people who do not want the case reopened. First of among these is Ms. Goss’ father, Chester Goss, a TV celebrity who host a reality show entitled “Cutthroat Dogs” that uses the media to pursue lawbreakers.  

It becomes obvious to Walker that Goss’s prestige is due to the death of his only child and his public crusade inspired by it. But if Dan Corbeil is really innocent, then the real killer is still at large and despite Goss’s antagonism, Walker is chasing the truth wherever it leads him. All well and good until someone mugs him in his own office.

“Cutthroat Dogs” fires on all cylinders. It’s a fast paced mystery with a likeable, wise-cracking tough guy hero who loves his city. Classic stuff, mystery lovers and a solid read. Thumbs way up.

THE TITANIC MURDERS

 

THE TITAN MURDERS

By Max Allan Collins

Thomas & Mercer Books

251 pgs

 

Born in 1875, Jacques Futrelle was a journalist turned mystery writer. He is best known for writing the short detective stories featuring Professor Augustus S.F.X . Van Dusen known at The Thinking Machine for his use of logic. While on a European tour with his wife, May, in 1912, Futrelle became melancholy missing their two teenage children. Shorty after his 37^th birthday on April 9, he opted to cut the trip short and return to America. He booked passage for both of them on the newly christened cruise ship R.M.S. Titanic. Six days later, after assuring May’s safety in one of the few lifeboats, Futrelle become on hundreds of victims to drown as the unsinkable ship sank into the frigid waters of the North Atlantic; one of the most notorious tragedies in world history.   

A fan of the late writer’s works, Max Allan Collins makes him the hero “The Titanic Murders.” Once again employing meticulously researched data, Collins takes us back in time to a different age where people thought anything was possible. He details not only the magnificent ship, a true marvel of engineering, but introduces us to a small group of the some of the most famous and powerful people in America at that time. Among them is a pair of unscrupulous blackmailers who have hatched an audacious scheme to extort money from these rich celebrities.  

Meanwhile Jack, as he preferred to be called, and his beautiful May, are seduced but the opulent luxury that surrounds them and lovelingly envision the trip as a second honeymoon. We’ve been fans of Collins work for many years and have always been impressed by his ability to bring his characters to life. Whereas he has never been more sensitive and astute than in his portrayal of these two people. Their love for each other is endearing.

When one of the blackmailers is found murdered, ship owner J.Bruce Ismay and Captain Smith ask Futrelle to investigate considering his background as a journalist and mystery writer. With each passing day of the voyage, he, with May’s assistance, begins to interview his list of elite suspects. Much like his fictional character, Futrelle collects the evidence and soon closes in on the killer by staging a phony séance. All in all, the mystery is expertly laid out and its solution satisfying. 

Yet it is not what elevates the story. Rather it is the somber reality of all those lost lives. By the finale, we found ourselves moved especially at the end of Collin’s epilogue wherein he chronicles the actual last minutes of each of the characters. He ends appropriately with May and Jack’s final farewell. Crying, we put down the book.

Gary Phillips' HOLLIS P.I.

 

GARY PHILLIPS’ HOLLIS P.I.

Edited by Gary Phillips & Morgan McKay

Pro Se Press

169 pgs    

From Pro Se Press comes this six story collection featuring Los Angeles private eye, Nate Hollis. Created by veteran pulp writer Gary Phillips, Hollis is a street savvy detective with the usual assortment of colorful supporting characters ala his grandfather Clutch Hollis who owns the Hideaway Bar and Irma “Deuce” Ducett, a one time female cop turned bounty hunter. All of them are terrific players and in this volume, Phillips not only pens two of the six tales, but invited four other new pulp writers to play in his sand box. The result is a treat for all lovers of hardboiled private eyes.   

Phillips kicks off the collection with “The Chuckles Job” wherein Hollis is kidnapped and severely beaten by an old foe. He manages to escape and investigate who and why he was targeted. All of which leads him to uncover a bizarre series of events that include a long forgotten heist, a young man with an eidetic memory and a single engine plane crash into an apartment house. The twist and turns are crazy in this one.  

Bobby Nash steps up to the plate next with “Naomi.” Hollis investigates the murder of a young woman caught up in the soulless porn business. It’s an emotional roller coaster for Hollis and by the tale’s finale; he’s managed to give the girl’s tortured parents some justice. Our favorite story in the book.

“Belly of the Beast” by Juliet Blackwell is the book’s third entry. In San Francisco for a few days, Hollis is contacted by an old flame. A billionaire business man into kinky sexual practices is found ritually murdered and a local Wicca practitioner arrested for the crime. Hollis’ job to prove her innocent and find the real killer. Having him operate outside of his usual L.A. haunts works extremely well in this fast paced, really well written story.  

“Twilight of El Perro” by Aaron Philip Clark has Hollis investigating the murder of one of his deceased father’s old informants named Fletch. Thing is Fletch died being ravaged by two trained pitbulls owned by El Perro, a sixtyish killer most people think is dead. Whereas this senior is anything but in a well plotted tale concerning greed and corruption.  

Number five is “Baby Daddy” by the late Derrick Ferguson. When a wealthy hustler tries to con a young actress with a phony murder scam, Hollis gets called into the matter to help unravel the real purpose behind the convoluted extortion. Another example of what the New Pulp community lost with Derrick’s passing.  

Finally Phillips wraps it all up with an Irma Deuce story, “Last Stand at Echo Villa.” She’s hired to find someone only to then discover she’s been set up. She and the prey have to fend off two hired guns in an abandoned shopping mall – apartment complex. Different kind of story that works extremely well.  

All total, “Gary Phillip’s HOLLIS P.I.” is an excellent collection of crime stories with some memorable characters. Worth your time and dime.

CAMELOT FOREVER - Lancelot's Redemption

 

CAMELOT FOREVER – Lancelot’s Redemption

By Robert W. Hickey & Bill Nichols

Published at Amazon

333 Pgs

Morgan LeFay is using her magic immortality to hunt down the descendants of King Arthur’s fabled knights in modern day England. Her chief killer in charge of her devil hounds is none other that her son, Mordred. Among this evil duo’s targets is a young woman named Elizabeth recently become a mother. She is also the great-great granddaughter of Sherlock Holmes. Somehow Holmes, over the years, became aware of the LeFay’s murderous quest and to thwart her began amassing magic arcane artifacts to protect his beloved Elizabeth.  

All of that is the basic plot and is dumped on the reader without much preamble. Rather  the authors throw us off into the deep end of the pool without much warning. As we read through the book, so much is related in flashbacks. We couldn’t help but think this was not the first in the saga as indicated but the second. Then to add more confusion to the tale, at the book’s end, the authors offer up what they call a “prequel-story” which actually details events we’d already been informed of in the character’s flashbacks. We really wish before publishing, Misters Hickey and Nichols had given thought to simply offering the “prequel” as the first chapters in the books. It would have certainly made their narrative so much easier to follow and thus enjoy.  

There is a good story somewhere in this book and with a more cohesive plotting, would have been doubly exciting. Sadly the execution left a lot to be desired.

LEVON'S HUNT

 

LEVON’S HUNT

By Chuck Dixon

Wold Pack Publishing

304 pages

 “Levon’s Hunt” is the eight entry in writer Chuck Dixon’s Levon Cade series. The stories revolve around a Marine Veteran living in rural Alabama with his daughters, one adopted. He’s a widower, having lost his wife to cancer. Like most returning combat veterans, Cade just wants to go back to living a normal life with his family and be left alone. Whereas trouble has a way of regularly intruding as it did in the previous chapter, “Levon’s Home” wherein Cade uncovered a sophisticated underground network of pedophiles. They were operating out of back woods homes where kidnapped boys and girls were kept as sex slaves.

 

This new book picks up with Cade using the intel he captured from the house he raided in the previous novel’s action packed finale. Now, with this new acquired data, he starts to climb up the chain of sickos. He targets molesters posing as one of them via their dark web sites. From those he ensnares, he discovers their members include high ranking officials in both local and state governments throughout the country. So powerful are these men, they include federal police officials, judges and elected congressmen and senators. It is a foul network that honest cops cannot effectively battle as their hands are tied in legal redtape allowing the guilty to skate away free and clear. 

There are several subplots within the bigger picture ala Cade finding another Afhan vet living up in the hills near his home and he befriends him. Then there’s the female U.S. Marshal investigating the dead bodies he leaves behind. She soon suspects Cade is involved, but before she can fully pursue her hunch, the FBI swoops in and takes charge of the investigation thus confirming her own suspicions in regards to corrupt bigwigs.  

Chuck Dixon cut his writing teeth on both the Batman and the Punisher, ergo he knows his way around the moral tightwire of vigilantes. What makes them tick. In Levon Cade’s case, it’s a deeply rooted love of country and family. He’s a patriot who will fight to protect the innocent and see justice done. Even if he has to do it alone. If you like action packed thrillers with believable heroes and villains, you have to meet Levon Cade. He’s a character you will not soon forget.

SHARPE'S ASSASSIN

 

SHARPE’S ASSASSIN

By Bernard Cornwell

Harper Books

320 pages

 This is the 23^rd entry in the Sharpe saga; a series of historical fiction adventures by British writer Bernard Cornwell centered on the character of Richard Sharpe. The inspiration for the books came from C.S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower novels about a Royal Navy officer’s career from midshipmen to Admiral of the Fleet during the time of the Napoleonic Wars. Because he could not find a similar series for the British Army, Cornwell decided to write it himself.

His novels and short stories chart the career of a young London orphan who enters the army rather than go to jail. It begins in “Sharpe’s Tiger” with Sharpe a private in the 33^rd Regiment of Foot who is continually promoted until he finally rises to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in “Sharpe’s Waterloo.” The books were so popular as to inspire a British TV series which starred actor Sean Bean.  

We are fairly certain Cornwell’s legion of readers will need no coercion from this reviewer to pick up this new chapter in Sharpe’s fantastic life. As this is our first exposure to the character, we trust our thoughts will inspire other novices to the fold.  

“Sharpe’s Assassin” begins only a few short days after the historic battle of Waterloo and Napoleon’s defeat. The French army is in tatters and fleeing south to Paris followed by the victorious British and Prussian troops. When the Duke of Wellington learns of a conspiracy among French officers to have him assassinated in retaliation for the defeat, he assigns Sharpe to proceed to the capital and there ferret out the assassins. Sharpe and his companions, junior officers under his command, begrudgingly take on the mission though all of them sick and tired of war that seems endless in their eyes.

Once in the City of Lights, Sharpe eventually finds evidence of a French battalion under the command of a skilled officer known as the Monster. From the reports he uncovers, this fellow named Lanier may very well be his equal in military tactics and ferocity. With days of the British Army’s arrival, Sharpe foils a plot to blow up the mansion in which Wellington and his staff are residing. Ultimately he confronts Lanier face to face and confirms his opponent is a very real threat and their eventual conflict will most likely leave one of them dead.

Writer Cornwell’s genius is terrific depiction of combat scenes. His knowledge of period weaponry is perfect and his ability to pull the reader into the action itself is masterful. By the books final battle sequence, we found ourselves cheering Sharpe and his men as they rally under his banner for one final, glorious victory. “Sharpe’s Assassin” is delight to anyone who appreciated good historical adventures. It made us wish we’d met Richard Sharpe a whole lot sooner.

 

DEAD JACK and The Old Gods

 

DEAD JACK and The OLD GODS

By James Aquilone

Homunculous House

255 pgs

Unlike the overwhelming majority of our colleagues in the pulp community, we have never been fans of writer H.P. Lovecraft. His elaborate myth of the Cthulu and the Old Gods always seemed too grandiose a concept to be effective as good old fashion, gut wrenching horror. Gives us a creepy Edgar Alan Poe tale anytime. Obviously we are the minority and over the years have had to endure countless stories wherein various popular occult detectives battled the cosmic deities with their giant batwings and elephant snouts ad infinitum. Everyone one of those left us bored silly.

Which brings us to James Aquilone’s third Dead Jack adventure in which, you guessed it, our cynical Zombie detective and his Pillsbury Doughboy homunculus pal Oswald, must save the world of Pandemonium from the Ancient Gods. Apparently someone has gotten their hands on the dark magic tome known as the Necronomicon and is all set to open up a dimensional portal by which Cthulu and company will make their appearance. At this point we were ready to stifle a yawn. That never happened in this instance is due to Aquilone’s brilliant solution to the whole Lovecratian mythos; make it funny. Which is exactly what does work.

Amidst their quest for the book, Dead Jack and Oswald are attempting to work out some very serious relationship issues left over from their last adventure. It seems Oswald has swallowed a magical Jupiter Stone which gives him amazing powers. Though unwilling to admit it, Dead Jack is envious. Succumbing to that emotion, he begins to verbally abuse his little buddy to the point they seek out couples-therapy. Somewhere in the middle of this merging of insane plots, it suddenly dawned on us who the two of them brought to mind. Jack and Oswald are the horror/fantasy versions of the classic Hollywood comedy team of Bad Abbott and Lou Costello. It’s all there, from their sniping attitudes towards each other in the midst of danger, to the underlying true sense of friendship and loyalty.

All of which plays itself out by the book’s cataclysmic no-holds-barred battle between their unified avatar and the alien God of Doom. Honestly, Aquilone surprised us again with another entry twice as much fun as the first two. With Dead Jack, things are never dull for a second. Oh, and before we forget, the writer offers up two bonus short tales that are mini gems. The hardest part of reading a Dead Jack novel is reaching the end and having to wait for more. Now that’s cruel.

MYSTERY AT WINCHESTER HOUSE

 

MYSTERY AT WINCHESTER HOUSE

(A Hollywood Cowboy Detectives Mystery)

By Darryle Purcell

A Buckskin Edition Western

163 pgs

This is the twentieth offering in this fanciful series starring many of the classic movie cowboy stars of the 30s and 40s. The primary characters featured throughout most of the adventures are Sean Curly Woods, public relations flack for Republic Pictures, Nick Danby a studio chauffeur and younger brother to Excecutive Producer Rick Danby and  one-time cinema western hero, Hoot Gibson. The three often work as the studio’s trouble-shooters heading off whatever problems might arise to plague a particular production.

In this outing, the studio has rented the supposedly haunted Winchester Mansion in which to film their new Man of the Mist cliffhanger starring the once Singing Cowboy, actor Dick Foran. A few days before shooting is to begin, the Mr. Danby receives a threatening note warning of disaster should Republic go ahead with their filming at that locale. Undaunted, Danby sends his Hollywood Cowboy Detectives to oversee the production. Which is when Curly is contacted by a ghost from the future. In fact it is the ghost of Dick Foran. Considering his past experiences, Curly takes this appiration in stride though he has a bit of trouble accepting the fact that ghosts can travel through time.

Foran’s ghost not only adds his own warnings but tells Curly the recent Winchester hauntings have become infested with alien beings from another dimension. See what we mean by complicated. Curly does his best to keep his head above water, while vainly relating these facts to Nick and Hoot who are never far away from a fresh bottle of beer.

Purcell’s imagination is unique to say the least and in this caper he pulls out all the stops. He even has a lovely young Dolores Cansino show up to add some exotic loveliness to the weird goings on. Needless to say, but the time our three roustabouts get to the bottom of things, they are knee deep not only in ghosts and monsters, but also a sinister Nazis plot to employ powerful occult forces to attack America. Did we say this one has it all, including the kitchen sink?  “Mystery at Winchester House” is a madcap fun ride with a colorful cast and is chock full of non-stop action. Once again Purcell hits the bullseye square.

EPITAPH - A Novel of The O.K. Corral

 

EPITAPH

A Novel of The O.K. Corral

By Mary Doria Russell

ECCO books

577 pgs

All nations have their cultural myths. Fantastic stories from their histories that helped define their national personas. In the Scandinavian countries it was the myths of the Norse Gods that inspired the Vikings. Great Britain was founded on the tales of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table whereas in America, the post Civil War era of the Wild West would forever shape our future character. And no single event from that period was more poignant in myth-making that the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

From books to movies, that thirty second gun battle on a dusty street in Tombstone, Arizona on Oct 26, 1881 has continued to spellbind us a hundred and forty years later. In her long and brilliantly written novel, Mary Doria Russell paints an all encompassing narrative of both the characters and the tumultuous times in which they lived. Her primary character through most of the tale isn’t either the Earps or their Cow Boy enemies, but one Josephine Sarah Marcus who would eventually become Mrs. Wyatt Earp.

Born in 1862, Josephine, called Sadie by her Jewish immigrant parents, grew up in Brooklyn and then San Francisco where the family moved when she was a teen. Her father was a baker and she learned the skill from him. Still Sadie had an obsession with the stage and at the age of 16 ran away with a theater group. It toured hundreds of cities throughout the west and ultimately landed her in Tombstone where she soon became the mistress of the Irish Town Sheriff, Johnny Behan.

In reading “Epitaph” we were constantly reminded of scenes from the wonderful film “Tombstone” which starred Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp and Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday. Yet Russell’s story rips away the sanitized Hollywood version for a more historically accurate portrayal of the Earp wives to include Sadie. She also delves into the psychological backgrounds of Wyatt, a quiet solitary figure, and the tragic melancholy Doc, a dentist turned gunfighter. In doing so she fills in so many gaps no mere two hour movie could ever reveal and offers up a very real, haunting story. One we thoroughly enjoyed and won’t soon forget.

THE NINE NATIONS - Book One - The Sliding World

 

THE NINE NATIONS

Book One – The Sliding World

By Jim Beard

A Becky Books Production

192 pgs

The truth is we are not big fantasy readers. Oh sure, being involved with pulpdom, we’ve read our share of Robert E. Howard’s Conan and Charles Saunders African mythology books but not a whole lot more. In fact, we tend to avoid the genre these days in the place of masked avengers and noir mysteries. So why this one? Well, in all honesty because the author is someone of unusual talent whose past efforts have always entertained us. We opted to give it a go.

At the start of the tale, we learn that things are rather bleak in the world of the Nine Nations. Apparently the land mass upon which the varied countries are situated is actually sliding over the edge of a bottomless abyss. It’s as if Mother Nature has decided to destroy human kind and nothing can stop this slide to oblivion. Amidst this dismal predicament, something happens in the land of Complin that predicates an unusual quest. A notorious thief has stolen a pendant that is somehow mystically connected to the land and its retrieval becomes King Green’s singular goal. To that end he assigns his General Ketch to put together a small group of warriors and take the Warrior’s Road through other nations on a quest to find the pendant.

Ketch chooses an odd assortment of male mercenaries and a group of fierce maiden Horse Wardens of Uzzlin.  As this is transpiring, the King orders his chief law enforcer, High Warrant Jon Torck to accompany a magician named Stoan and a separate mission. It is the King’s belief that the mage may be able to divine a way to end the slide and save civilization. Torck, who abhors any kind of idol worship and mumbo-jumbo, is reluctant but acquiesces due to his staunch loyalty. Their journey leads them to the mysterious uninhabited zone known as the Graylands where nothing lives; not animal, vegetation or human. There, Torck will meet his destiny head on.

As ever, Jim Beard has woven a totally original story unlike any other sword and sorcery adventure. It is filled with intriguing, complex characters and the pace is relentless from beginning to end. Oh sure, there are the required fantasy elements, but it is how he weaves them into his narrative that we found refreshing. Like all good sagas, Book One ends on a cliffhanger and we are looking forward to it with relish. Don’t let us down now, Mr. Beard. We’re having too much fun.