Graves' End - Sean Patrick Traver

   2012; 353 pages.  New Author? : Yes.  Full Title: Graves’ End: A Magical Thriller.  Genres: Paranormal Fantasy; Thriller; Pulp Fiction.  Overall Rating : 8*/10.

 

    They make for an odd trio.  Tomas Delgado, aka “Black Tom” is a former necromancer.  Nowadays his specialty is entering as a spirit into cats of all sizes, from alley cat to panther.

 

    Lia is a child of the streets.  She picks locks and scrounges dumpsters for food and shelter.  She’s going to learn how to be a witch, with Black Tom as her mentor.

 

    Dexter Graves is a Hollywood detective.  Or more accurately, was one.  Sixty years ago, someone put a bullet through his skull.  He’s been dead and buried since then.  Until now.

 

    Their paths have crossed, and somebody’s noticed.  Mictlantecuhtli.  Aztec king of the Dead.  That name’s a doozy, so let’s call him Mickey Hardface.  He’s sending some of his cohorts their way.

 

    It won’t be a social call.

 

What’s To Like...

    Graves’ End is set in the greater northern Los Angeles area, primarily in the San Fernando and Hollywood neighborhoods.  That resonated with me, since I lived close to there for three summers many years ago.  The story's world is slightly paranormal.  You may encounter skeletons, witches, crouchers, archons, or a tzitzimime or two, but only on rare occasions.  And of course, there’s at least one ancient Aztec deity running around.

 

    The “present day” storyline takes place over a Halloween holiday weekend, starting on Halloween night, then on into All Saints’ Day, All Souls’ Day, and the all-important Dia de los Muertos.  There are also flashbacks to 1910, 1950, and 2000 CE, plus a brief stop in 1949 in the Epilogue.

 

    I loved the character-building.  Lia, Tom, and Dex are as diverse as a trio of protagonists can be.  The secondary characters and Mickey’s minions all have their own personality, and even the God of the Dead Himself has some redeeming qualities.

 

    You’ll learn a bunch of Spanish slang, including one or two a cuss-phrases, the oft-used “brujachica”, and the ultra-colloquial “esé”. The party-dance was way-cool, and I liked the artistic nods to Tolkien and Jackson Pollock.  I chuckled at the way palindromes and the value “pi” got worked into the storyline.

 

    The ending was suitably exciting, twisty, and heartwarming.  The climactic fight scene was appropriately epic.  Not everyone lives to fright another day (pun intended), yet all the plotlines get tied up and a new day dawns for the world outside.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Entoptic (adj.) : (of visual images) occurring or originating inside the eye.

Others: Melanistic (adj.).

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.3*/5, based on 107 ratings and 65 reviews.

    Goodreads: 3.74*/5, based on 186 ratings and 25 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    Graves looked down at his own fleshless phalanges.  “I keep forgettin’ I’m not as pretty as I used to be,” he said quietly, by way of apology.

    Lia felt guilty enough about her discourtesy to a guest that she began to protest automatically, in spite of her genuine consternation.  “No, no, it isn’t that,” she said, groping for words even though she wasn’t sure what she meant to say.  The man was a walking cadaver, after all, and Miss Manners was sure to be silent on subjects like these.  No index entry for ‘undeadiquette’,’ Lia would’ve wagered.  (pg. 84).

 

    There was nowhere left for him to go.  He held up his hands to fend them off, and he got them to pause before pouncing on him, which Lia found surprising.

    “Whoa, now—” he said.  Who the hell are you two?  What happened to those other ones, Hannah and Miss Lia?”

    “You will call me Lady Night,” the nightsky outline told him.  She indicated her static-filled friend, who was standing there beside her.  “This, my sister-daughter, is Lady Madness.”

    “Sister-daughter, huh?  That must make for some weird Thanksgivings.”  (pg. 122)

 

Kindle Details…

    Graves’ End costs $2.99 at Amazon right now.  A sequel, Red Witch: The Tales of Ingrid Redstone, which I gather is actually three novellas (364 pages total), is available for $2.99 as well.  Sean Patrick Traver offers three other novellas, unrelated to this setting, one for $2.99, the other two for $0.99 apiece.

 

 “After dark, all cats are leopards.”  (pg. 293)

    The profanity in Graves’ End wasn’t excessive—I counted just 12 instances in the first 10% of the e-book, albeit two of those were f-bombs.  The smidgens of Spanish profanity came later on in the story, and at one point there’s a brief reference to a “bag of mota” which brought back memories.  I don’t recall any "adult situations".

 

    At least one reviewer was turned off by the author’s use of “big” words (such as the two listed above) and sometimes “made-up” ones (such as “nightsky” used in the second excerpt).  I noticed that too, but I thought it worked rather well.  Other reviewers thought there weren't action scenes and thrills in the early going.  Maybe so, but I thought all the aim of the storytelling was for the reader to follow the characters around in their befuddlement, trying to figure out what the heck is going on, and which gets revealed nicely in the ending.

 

    Sean Patrick Traver calls Graves’ End a Magical Thriller; Amazon calls it Paranormal & Urban Fantasy, and I’d label it Pulp Fiction.  All are equally valid.  The book kept my interest from beginning to end, and that’s what matters.  Plus I loved the attention given to Mesoamerican mythology throughout the tale.

 

    8 Stars.  One last thing.  In the “Retrospective #2” section, Sean Patrick Traver gives a vivid description of the early beginnings of Los Angeles.  I was absolutely blown away by the “feel” of his research.  Maybe someday he’ll write a full-length novel set in that place and time-period.

Captain Hawklin At War - Charles F. Millhouse

   2024; 504 pages.  New Author? : No.  Book #11 (out of 11) in the Captain Hawklin Adventures series.  Genres : Pulp Fiction; World War 2; Military Fiction.  Overall Rating: 9*/10.

 

    It’s 1940 and Americans can smell the smoke of the second World War in the wind.  Which is not surprising since much of Europe and Asia are already embroiled in fighting.

 

    Captain Steven Hawklin’s friends and fellow Crusaders are scattered all over the globe.  Hardy Miller is in Crown City, California attending to the business affairs of Hawklin’s flight school.  Desa Wintergreen is in Paris, on some sort of mission so secret that she won’t even divulge the details to Steven.

 

    Who knows where Steven’s friend and fellow American Zane Carrington is?  He could be anywhere on the Pacific Ocean, hiding out so he doesn’t get arrested and put on trial in America for murder.

 

    And Steven?  He and his longtime friend Oscar “Oz” Lyman are presently in a plane over a very hostile Japan, carrying out an affair of honor, while a bunch of Japanese Zero fighter planes try to shoot them down.

 

    In other words, Captain Hawklin is just doing his usual stuff.

 

What’s To Like...

    Captain Hawklin At War is the latest entry in Charles F. Millhouse’s “New Pulp” Captain Hawklin Adventures series.  The book is divided into six sections, each one spanning a year’s worth of dashing deeds, beginning in 1940 and closing with 1945.

 

    For the most part we tag along on the escapades of the characters mentioned above, switching from one hero to another, with the happy result of a ton of thrills, spills, and nefarious conniving, without any slow spots.  If you’re new to the series, like I was, there are some very helpful “Character Bios” at the start of the book, including one for a baddie I was especially intrigued by, Maximilian Odenthal.

 

    Each section starts with a quick recap of the historical World War 2 events that take place that year, but keep in mind that Captain Hawklin At War is a work of the Pulp Fiction genre.  Although clearly on the side of the allies, Captain Hawklin and his associates are battling the Nazis in a different, lesser-known arena: Occult Mysticism.  It may surprise some readers that there is historical justification for this, but several of the leading Nazis did dabble in it.  The Wikipedia link about this subject is here.

 

    I loved the character development in Captain Hawklin At War.  Yes, the Crusaders are all Pulp heroes, but they can get on each other’s nerves at times, and Hawklin himself can be short-tempered, especially when around high military/government muckamucks and/or his in-laws.  The two main female characters, Desa and Juno, are not the sort you want to be condescending to.  And Hawklin’s Crusaders are integrated, much to the discomfort of the US Navy.

 

    There are a slew of characters to meet and greet, some of which I’m sure are recurring from the earlier books in this series.  The bad guys are just as resourceful as the good guys, and I always like that.  I’m a history buff, so I appreciated the tie-ins to World War 2 events, but I’m also a sci-fi/fantasy enthusiast, so the pterodactyls, tree people, lizard men, and zombies delighted me as well.  I thought the catacombs scene was particularly well done.

 

    Despite their far-flung starting points, the main characters eventually come together for an exciting, action-packed ending.  The #1 bad guy, Sykes Revan, is a formidable opponent, whose planning and anticipation skills are incredible.  Anyone foolish or brave enough to confront him does so, knowing the outcome will be costly.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: -.-*/5, based on 0 ratings and 0 reviews.

    Goodreads: -.--*/5, based on 0 ratings and 0 reviews.

 

Kewlest New Word…

    Cataleptic (adj.) : resembling a condition where the body is stiff, and stops moving, as if dead.

 

Excerpts...

    “What’s your business here?” another English soldier asked as Zane and the others came nearer.

    Keeping his pistol leveled to the ground, Zane said, “I’m the captain of the Fortitude.  Just wanting to get my ship and get the hell out of here.”

    “You should have left hours ago,” the first soldier said as he lowered his rifle away.  “You’ll be lucky if you can clear the harbor before you’re blown out of the water.”

    “That’s a chance I’m willing to take,” Zane said.

    “Why are you Americans so pigheaded, ay?”

    “We come by it natural,” Zane replied.  (pg. 194)

 

    “Don’t let it get to you.  It’s war.”

    Hardy stood.  “It’s war,” he said in a dark tone as he turned away from the boy’s body.  He regarded Demonte in a fever pitch of ferocity.  “That one simple word with so much power, that gives us immunity from committing the most heinous of acts.  It’s war will be a phrase that criminals hide behind, that soldiers will tell themselves when medals are pinned to their chest.  How many of the dead will be forgotten, whittled down to, it is war?  How will history remember this time?  ‘It was war’ they will say.  But how many more wars will we have to face, huh.  How many more innocents will die behind the phrase, ‘’it’s war?’”  (pg. 382)

 

“Why is it, Max, that every time there’s a castle around, I find you lurking in it?”  (pg. 291)

    The profanity is sparse in Captain Hawklin At War.  I noticed just nine instances in the first 20% (100 pages) of the book, and they were all of the milder ilk.  I don’t recall any “adult situations”, and the one racial epithet later on is given its proper comeuppance by Oz.

 

    My main issue is the number of typos in the book.  Some examples: Oman/Orman, Oaf/Oof, flower/flour, Metals/Medals, distain/disdain, fare-shear/fair share, and many more.  I’d suggest another round of editing before the next edition is published.

 

    But enough of the quibbling.  Captain Hawklin At War is an incredibly ambitious undertaking by Charles F. Millhouse to: a.) chronicle the efforts of at least seven major characters over the course of entire Second World War and in all parts of the world; b.) do so with utter clarity and no slow spots; c.) seamlessly blend Military History with New Pulp Fantasy; and d.) keep the reader turning the pages to see what happens next.

 

   Ambitious?  Yes.  Successful?  Yes, on all four of those endeavors.  Despite being 500 pages in length, Captain Hawklin At War was a quick read for me, mostly because I kept reading “just one more chapter” to see which Crusader was going to find himself/herself in what sort of new mayhem.  So if you’re looking for a “pulpy” action-adventure novel with a World War Two setting, this book is for you.

 

    9 Stars.  One last thing.  If you’re new to this series, and upon finishing Captain Hawklin At War, you want to read more stories about our hero, a section titled “The Captain Hawklin Timeline”, located at the end of the book, lists 10 more novels and 8 more short stories featuring him.  Happy reading!

Razzmatazz - Christopher Moore

   2022; 390 pages.  Book 2 (out of 2) in the series “The Tales of Sammy Two-Toes”.  New Author? : No.  Genres : Pulp Fiction; American Historical Fiction; Fantasy; Humor.  Overall Rating : 8½*/10.

 

    It’s 1947 in San Francisco and folks in Chinatown are on edge.  Two women in the gay-club area have been killed, in separate attacks.  One was bludgeoned and dumped in the bay, the other was offed via an ice pick to the head.

 

    The San Francisco Police Department is of little or no help; they’re more interested in discouraging their fine citizens from frequently these disreputable clubs.  If murders are occurring at those places, well, just stay away.

 

    So a bartender there, Sammy “Two Toes” Tiffin, takes it upon himself to investigate the slayings, even though he doesn’t know the first thing about being a detective.  But one of his customers, an alcoholic geezer nicknamed Fitz, is an ex-cop, and Sammy is counting on getting some sage advice from him.

 

    And happily, the Chinese dragon that resides in Sammy’s head has also volunteered to help.

 

What’s To Like...

    Razzmatazz is the sequel to Christopher Moore’s 2020 novel Noir.  I wasn’t aware it was part of a series, and I haven’t read the first book.  Based on the above intro, you’d think this means Razzmatazz will be a murder-mystery, and it is, but having a dragon and an extraterrestrial as supporting characters introduces fantasy and mythological slants to the tale.  Then throw in lots of the author’s trademark wacky humor, and you end up with what for me read like a fine piece of pulp fiction.

 

    The book is written in both the first-person POV (usually Sammy’s, but occasionally the dragon’s or a friend of Sammy’s named Stilton), and the third-person (mostly the narrator, but at times other characters).  This switching around of the viewpoint might sound like it'd make things confusing, but it works smoothly.

 

    There are secondary plot threads that keep things moving at a brisk pace.  The dragon wants a statue retrieved, a maroon Packard keeps showing up, and no one knows what happened to the former police chief, but they're pretty sure Sammy had something to do with it. The setting is the greater San Francisco area, and takes place in two times – the “present-day” 1947, and the “flashback” 1906.  Yes, that’s the year the earthquake hit.  I liked the “feel” of the Bay Area depicted in those two eras, especially the focus given to how the Chinese and the gay sectors fared.

 

    I enjoyed the smattering of Chinese vocabulary woven into the story, including gwai-lo and jook.  I was bummed that I didn’t recall them from when I took Mandarin in college, but it turns out Cantonese expressions are used here.  The Chinese transliterations of place names was also neat; among them were: The Glorious Location of Various Weeds, Flowery Arbor Mountain Booth, and Tall House of Happy Snake and Noodle.

 

    Be sure to read the author’s Trigger Warning at the beginning of the book, as well as his Afterword at the book’s end, the latter being where Christopher Moore tells what led him to insert into the story a visit by 30 hookers to a place called The Sonoma Hospital for Feeble Minded Children for a Christmas celebration.  Moore also reveals which details in the book are factual and which he made up.  The police-enforced “Three Article Rule” was hilarious to me until I found out it was real.  Wiki it.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Jamoke (n., slang) : an ordinary, unimpressive, or inept person.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.5*/5, based on 1,310 ratings and 82 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.11*/5, based on 3,526 ratings and 484 reviews.

 

Things That Sound Dirty, But Aren’t…

    “Flapjacks and willies, slam ‘em in the screen door!”

 

Excerpts...

    “He lost his statue forty-one years ago and all of a sudden it’s worth two grand to get it back?”

    “No.  Getting his business back is worth two grand.  The dragon is for another guy, the Squid Kid.”

    “Moo Shoes, do not try to run that phonus bolognus inscrutable Eastern mystic game on me.  You are highly scrutable.  I can scrute both you mugs five out of six days a week.”  (loc. 843)

 

    “Sit,” said the big guy.  “Wait.”

    So we sat.  We waited.  A half hour went by.  An hour.  We saw not a soul.

    “Were we supposed to take a number?” Moo asked.

    I peeked into the other rooms.  No one.  I said, “A guy who used to come in the bar told me once that if you go in someplace and they don’t pay any attention to you, then start stealing stuff.  They’ll either start paying attention or you’ll have something for your time.”

    “Wise.  What business was that guy in?”

    “Thief, I think.”  (loc. 4102)

 

Kindle Details…

    Razzmatazz presently costs $14.99 at Amazon.  The other book in the series, Noir, will run you $14.49.  Christopher Moore has about 15 other e-books to offer, most of them in the price range of $10.99-$14.99.

 

“That broad could hear an ant fart in a hurricane.”  (loc. 1627)

    I’ve been a Christopher Moore fan for decades, so finding things to gripe about in Razzmatazz is difficult.  If you’re new to his works, be aware that an abundance of cusswords is the norm for him.  Here, I noted 35 of them in the first 10% of the text, more than half of which were f-bombs.  There were also a couple of rolls-in-the-hay and one of the characters is obsessed with carrying out a rather extreme form of birth control.

 

    Also, it must be said that this is not a whodunit.  Yes, Sammy does eventually suss out who’s killing the gays, but this comes in the last chapter as a “great reveal”, and is not due to dogged sleuthing.

 

    Some reviewers were disappointed that Razzmatazz was not up to the level of zaniness found in earlier Christopher Moore efforts.  They have a point, but I think a pulp fiction novel is inherently darker and less snarky than a humorous satire, and personally, I was impressed that Moore could switch so seamlessly to a new genre.

 

    Overall, Razzmatazz was both an enlightening and entertaining read for me, shining the spotlight upon a time and place that I’m not all that familiar with.  So if you’re looking for “Moore of the same” (pun intended) type of humor this author is renowned for, you might give this book a pass.  But if you want to see him expanding his literary horizons, which shows just how skilled of a writer he is, you’ll find a pleasant surprise.

 

    8½ Stars.  One closing teaser.  Uncle Ho can talk to, and listen to, animals.  Particularly to pigs and rats, whose advice can be quite useful.  He can also hear what dragons have to say, a talent which just might get him killed.  I love stories with talking animals.

The Lost Adventures of Captain Hawklin, Volume 1 - published by Charles F. Millhouse

   2022; 308 pages.  New Authors? : No.  Genres: Anthology; Pulp Fiction; Action & Adventure; Short Stories.  Overall Rating : 8½*/10.

 

    Captain Steven Hawklin!

    His daring feats, which  have saved the world from an assortment of bad guys, are chronicled in Charles F. Millhouse’s New Pulp series titled “The Captain Hawklin Adventures”.  The series has reached ten full-length novels now, and it’s taken just ten years to do so, which is no small feat.  This calls for a celebration.  What shall we do?

 

    Hey, how about having five veteran writers from Stormgate Press (the publishing house that’s responsible for bringing Captain Hawklin’s exploits to life) each write a short story as tie-ins to the series?  It would be neat to see how other authors portray our hero.  All we need is a catchy title for the endeavor.  How about: The Lost Adventures of Captain Hawklin?

 

    That sounds good, but let’s add Volume One to the title as a hint that it would be neat to see more short story collaborations by the talents at Stormpress Press spring up about our intrepid  Captain. 

 

What’s To Like...

    The titles of the five stories (and authors) in The Lost Adventures of Captain Hawklin, Volume 1 are:

  1.) The Skyhook Remnant – Brian K. Morris

  2.) The Banshee Barnstormer – Clyde Hall

  3.) Smuggler’s Run – Bobby Nash

  4.) The World Asunder – Charles F. Millhouse

  5.) The Night Raiders – Marlin Williams

 

    The tales vary in length from just under 40 pages to just under 100 pages.  All of them are set in the 1930s, but there’s a nice range of settings, some real, some fictional, one over the Atlantic coast, another in the middle of the Pacific.

 

    Captain Hawklin does a lot of flying, sometimes in conventional aircraft for that time period, sometimes via his trademark jetpack strapped to his back (see the cover image above),  Our hero often gains the element of surprise advantage with that jetpack, but it doesn’t make him invincible.  Enemy planes can ram him or shoot him down, and some of the baddies are developing their own version of the rocket-propelled gizmo.  It adds a touch of realism to the adventures, and I like that.

 

    The writing is professional in all five tales, which came as no surprise since I’ve read short stories by all these authors in Pulp Reality 2, another anthology published by Stormgate Press.  A couple of the stories set up sequels, and one is a sequel of an earlier Captain Hawklin installment.  I read the fifth story, The Night Raiders, as an e-book single late last year and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Its review is here.

 

    Here’s a “non-spoiler” teaser for each tale:

The Skyhook Remnant:  not all Pulp Fiction adventures close with a “happily ever after” ending.

The Banshee Barnstormer: is Hawklin fighting a natural or a paranormal foe?

Smuggler’s Run: when you’re outgunned, try stealth.

The World Asunder: when you don’t have your jetpack, use your wits.

The Night Raiders: when’s the last time you saw Eva Braun cast as a feminist?

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  *.*/5 based on 0 ratings and 0 reviews.

    Goodreads: *.**/5 based on 0 ratings and 0 reviews

 

Excerpts...

    “So, what do you guys do for fun on these long, slow rides?” he asked.

    “Funny you should mention that, Steven,” Cannonball said.  “Mr. Brick and a couple of the boys are getting a poker game together.  Thought you might like to sit in.  It’s been too long since we had that big pilot money in the game.”

    Hawklin harumped again.  “What makes you think I’m going to lose?”

    “Because you don’t want to swim home,” Cannonball joked as they headed back inside.  (pg. 154)

 

    The second man snorted and spoke as if he had a cold in the back of his throat.  “He sounds like a dandy,” he said.

   “I took a wrong turn,” Hardy said backing up the way he came.

    “We’re on a train,” the boxer said.  “There aren’t no turns.”

    “That’s a metaphor,” Hardy explained.

    “What did you call us?” the second man said., as he snorted and spat on the floor.

    “Why is it, when a bad guy wants to hire thugs, they are always dimwitted?” Hardy asked.  (pg. 174)

 

“Did you call me in to hunt down a ghost plane?”  (pg. 59)

    Anthologies with different authors are usually up-and-down reads, but here the writing is consistently good.  The years within the 1930s and the plotlines are varied, but each author’s “take” on the Captain Hawklin character was remarkably consistent.  There’s plenty of thrills-&-spills in all five stories, and the secondary characters were surprisingly well-developed. 

 

    The cussing was sparse, which is the norm for Pulp Fiction: thirty-five instances in the whole book. Some authors employed it more than others, but there were no f-bombs and I don’t recall any “adult situations”.

 

    The biggest issue is the editing.  Some of the stories had very few typos; others were in dire need of another round of proofreading.  I’m not sure if each author was responsible for the editing of his manuscript or not.

 

    Enough of the quibbles.  This was my introduction to Captain Hawklin, and I enjoyed getting introduced to a new pulp hero.  Here’s hoping The Lost Adventures of Captain Hawklin, Volume 1 spawns annual sequels.  I had fun tagging along with him, especially when I was hanging on for dear life as he was soaring through the skies via his jetpack.

 

    8½ Stars.

The Rembrandt Stratagem - Kellie Austin

   2023; 288 pages.   New Author? : Yes.  Full Title: From the Paranormal Case Files of Bishop Kincaid: The Rembrandt Stratagem.  Genres: Pulp Fiction; Paranormal Fantasy; Superheroes.  Overall Rating : 8½*/10.

 

    What if lots of those creatures that you read about in fantasy novels really exist?  The good ones as well as the bad ones, the cute and fuzzy ones as well as the magical and threatening ones. Gnomes, and elves, trolls and vampires, centaurs and werewolves.

 

    Well, they’re all sentient beings, so chances are they’d interact and dwell among humans.  There’d be variants in each species – more than one type of vampire or werewolf; and they’d definitely be outnumbered by us humans, since we seem to reproduce at alarming rates.

 

    Because they’re visibly different from us, you’d almost certainly find hatred and bigotry among a subset of humans.  But that would be balanced by others of us who’d advocate mutual tolerance and cooperation.  And no matter what, all of us are mortal, we'll all die at some point.

 

    Well, not quite all, if you throw a few mythical figures into the mix—such as Prometheus—and a cosmic deity or two.  Then what kind of world would you end up with?

 

    In our case, you'd have the setting for From the Paranormal Case Files of Bishop Kincaid: The Rembrandt Stratagem.

 

What’s To Like...

    The Rembrandt Stratagem is set in and around an alternate New York City, and is the first book in a new Pulp Fiction series penned by Kellie Austin featuring a fascinating and enigmatic protagonist, Bishop Kincaid.  He’s blessed with some powerful talents, but he’s also got a rebellious streak and is presently in deep doo-doo with his supernatural superiors.  His character is definitely “gray”, which is how I prefer my fictional heroes.

 

    There are a bunch of interesting characters to meet and keep track of.  Gant, Bishop’s bodyguard and driver, is a Neanderthal; and Devin, one of Bishop’s fellow “grays”, is a Gorgon.  Kane and Abel are a pair of sentient knives.  Some of those who seem to be humans, aren’t; and even the Cosmic Spiral has a certain flair to its personality.  The main paranormal group in the tale, Vampires, come in several genetic variations.

 

    Like any good Pulp Fiction novel, the action starts in Chapter One, and the thrills-&-spills are nonstop from there on.  There’s plenty of intrigue as well.  Who’s targeting Bishop?  Where’s the governor?  Why’s someone killing mermen?  What’s with all the Moraturi disappearing?  And perhaps most important of all, how the heck do you kill a Moraturi Worm?

 

    There’s a smattering of romance mixed in with all the adventure.  Dani Darling is married to D.A. Dan Dickens, but she was previously hooked up with Bishop.  Dan and Bishop have to occasionally team up to accomplish mutual goals, and it is interesting to watch how they handle Dani, who by career is a reporter that’s always in search of a news story.

 

    Everything builds to an ending that’s full of exciting, to-the-death bloodshed on several fronts.  The world is saved, but it comes at a heavy cost.  The immediate evil is vanquished, but greater threats lurk in the shadows, waiting to manifest themselves in a sequel, which, I’m told, is in the works.

Ratings…
    Amazon:  *.*/5 based on 0 ratings and 0 reviews.

    Goodreads: *.**/5 based on 0 ratings and 0 reviews.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Precession (n.) : the slow movement of the axis of a spinning body around another axis due to a torque (such as a gravitational influence) acting to change the direction of the first axis.

 

Excerpt...

    “You mentioned silver.  We have a connection.”

    “What connection, Kincaid?” said the Commissioner.  “You mean silver and a true Vampire?  I graduated from high school.  Got a C- in Paranormal vs. Genetic aberration.  Even I know that silver kills a true Vampire.  Not on Genetics, you see, only on natural bloodsuckers.”  He beamed with a sense of accomplishment on knowing information that illustrated why he was in his new position.

    “Right.  You’re a smart man, Mr. Ross, truly befitting for a man in your stature,” replied Bishop, feeding Commissioner Ross’s ego.  (loc. 1841)

 

    “I shouldn’t be telling you these things.  I’m breaking a vow of the eternal library.  See, I just made a choice that was the right one, no matter the cost of that decision.  I will accept the punishment for doing so.  You are of the gray, Bishop.  Don’t be an avatar of heroism because you feel guilt over events of the past, be an avatar because you choose to be a light in this world of shadows, darkness, and death.

    “Bishop, it’s all about choice.”  (loc. 3018)

 

Kindle Details…

    Right now, The Rembrandt Stratagem sells for $3.99 at Amazon.  This is Kellie Austin’s debut full-length novel, but she has also contributed two short stories to Charles F. Millhouse’s fantastic “Pulp Reality” series.

 

“Oh my god,” she screamed again.  “I’m going to die horribly twice!”  (loc. 2449)

    The cussing is impressively sparse in The Rembrandt Stratagem, just 11 instances in the first 50% of the book; and I noted only one “adult situation”.

 

    A couple of the secondary plot threads, such as the governor’s whereabouts and the Dan/Dani/Bishop triangle, remain unresolved at the book's end, but I presume these will be addressed in subsequent books in the series.  Bishop is a long way from achieving redemption by the Cosmic Powers, and I doubt that will happen anytime soon.

 

    The book could use another round of copy-editing.  The punctuation needs work, the Glossary needs alphabetizing tweaks, and a couple character names have two spellings (Kane/Cain, Devin/Devon).  All of this can easily be corrected in the next edition of the book.

 

    Enough of the nitpicking.  The Rembrandt Stratagem is a fine debut entry in the Pulp Fiction genre by Kellie Austin.  It’s filled with lots of excitement, interesting characters, and a truly unique world setting.  Bishop Kincaid is a character I can empathize with: he made difficult choices a long time ago and now is steadfastly willing to live with the cosmic retribution that he knew would inevitably follow.  That might sound “dark”, but I think the book’s message is: despite all the hatred, bigotry, and violence we have to face every day, in the end, by choosing to confront and overcome it, we can make the world a better place.

 

    8½ Stars.

The Night Raiders - Marlin Williams

   2022; 96 pages.   New Author? : No.  Book 5 (out of 5) in the upcoming Pulp Reality digest “The Lost Adventures of Captain Hawklin”.  Genres : Action & Adventure; Pulp Fiction; Short Stories.  Overall Rating : 8½*/10.

 

    Captain Steven Hawklin rides again!  He flies again!  But most of all, he rockets again!  And he’s doing it all to protect a cargo plane carrying a valuable payload and flying way out over the Atlantic Ocean.

 

    There’s a lot Captain Hawklin doesn’t know about the operation.  Such as who might be trying to bring shoot down the cargo plane.  And what the precious cargo is.  But one thing he knows for sure.

 

    If the cargo plane doesn’t make it to its destination, the smuggler who owns the plane's consifnment will kill the someone especially precious to Captain Hawklin.

 

    Desa Wintergreen.

 

What’s To Like...

    The Night Raiders is a short story penned by Marlin Williams and, as shown in the fabulous cover image above, part of a soon-to-be-released anthology, The Lost Adventures of Captain Hawklin.  It will showcase Charles F. Millhouse's dashing hero, Captain Steven Hawklin, and five veteran Pulp Reality authors have contributed tales to it.

    The action in The Night Raiders starts immediately, and includes lots of furious fighting, damsels in distress, nasty Nazis, and even a femme fatale or two. There are plenty of plot twists, which keeps our hero off-balance and the reader turning the pages. I especially liked the situational ethics dilemma he finds himself in: how should he respond to an unsavory foe who's blackmailing him into aiding and abetting a shady operation?

 

    AFAIK, all the Captain Hawklin adventures are set in the 1930s.  Biplanes exist alongside personal rocket-packs (Captain Hawklin is an ingenious inventor.), and the story's historical details are well-researched.  For instance, I thought I had found a glitch when a Sopwith Camel's propeller shattered because it was made of wood, but it turns out these vintage World War One planes really were equipped with wooden propellers.  Kudos to Marlin Williams for this enlightening bit of historical accuracy.

Ratings…
    Amazon:  5.0/5 based on 1 rating and 1 review. (mine)

    Goodreads: 5.00/5 based on 2 ratings and 0 reviews.

 

Excerpt...

    “Whose dumb idea was it to fly out on a night like this anyway?”

    “It was the broad’s idea,” the pilot shot back.  “She insisted.”

    “I thought German dames were smart, but apparently not that broad.”  The copilot hiked his thumb and aimed it back toward the fuselage.  “She ain’t got a lick of sense.”

    Eva Braun, who was now standing just outside the cockpit spoke coldly.  “This senseless broad was wondering if she could get a cigarette from one of you gentlemen.”  (loc. 473)

 

“How’s a skyrocket strapped to your back supposed to protect us?”  (loc. 456)

    The Night Raiders held my interest throughout and I highly recommend it to any fan of Pulp Fiction. Thus far it's the only one of the five short stories I've read, but thanks to an earlier anthology titled Pulp Reality 2, I'm familiar with the works of all these writers. The others are Brian K. Morris, Bobby Nash, Clyde Hall, and Charles F. Millhouse and I've found all five to be talented storytellers.

 

    Now the only question is whether to buy the other four entries as singles at their present great price (99 cents apiece), or wait for the bundle to come out, which is slated for January 2023. It's a pleasant problem to have.