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!

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.

Pulp Reality 2 - Published by Charles F. Millhouse

   2021; 208 pages.  Full Title: Pulp Reality 2: An Action & Adventure Publication.  New Authors? : Mostly yes.  Book 2 (out of 2, so far) in the “Pulp Reality” series.  Genres : Action & Adventure; Pulp Fiction.  Overall Rating : 8½*/10.

 

   The blurb on the back cover of this book sums it up concisely: “Ten new short stories from today’s leading authors and illustrators in the New Pulp genre.”  Which begs the question:

 

What exactly is the “New Pulp genre”?

 

    Well, Wikipedia has an informative page on the “old” version, labeled “Pulp Magazine”.  The link is here, and even though its heyday was before my time, it still sounds pretty good to me.  It is by nature a collection of short stories, but they can be in all sorts of sub-genres, most of which I like to read anyway, such as fantasy, aviation, horror, science fiction, detectives, war, etc.  Nevertheless, regardless of which sub-genre is used, the prerequisite is always the same: there must be lots of action and adventure.

 

    Sadly, pulp magazines have largely disappeared from the shelves of bookstores, done in by comic books, paperback novels, and most devastating of all, according to Wikipedia, by the “widespread expansion of television”.

 

    But the times they are a-changin’.  Thanks to Stormgate Press, and its publisher, Charles F. Millhouse, you can relive the reading joys your father (or grandfather or great-grandfather) experienced by picking up a copy of Pulp Reality 2.

 

What’s To Like...

    Pulp Reality 2 is an anthology with ten short stories.  They are:

01. New Flesh on Old Bones by Marlin Williams

02. NightVision: Murder After Midnight by Charles F. Millhouse

03. To Race the Moon by Brian K. Morris

04. Snow Chase by Bobby Nash

05. Patently False: B-Man Returns by Clyde Hall

06. Legend of the Fancy Cat by Amy Hale

07. Kings of the Crustaceous Period by Scott Donnelly

08. The Wind-Up Kid by Ron Fortier

09. Ghost From the Past: A Capt. Hawklin Tale by Charles F. Millhouse

10. Ace Anderson & The Curse of Dr. Atomika by Kellie Lynn Austin

 

    Each story is accompanied by at least one piece of eye-catching artwork, usually serving as the title page, plus the front cover image shown above, which I find simply stunning.  The paperback version, which is the only format available for now, measures 8½”x11”, presumably to mimic the traditional size of pulp fiction magazines, which per Wikipedia, was 7”x10”.

 

    One of the ten tales is told in the first-person POV, and one is a continuation of a story from the initial Pulp Reality publication.  There is a minimal amount of cussing, which I gather is also typical of pulp fiction.  A couple of the stories feature heroes who also star in full-length series by their authors, which I thought was a clever way to give the reader a "taste" of those.

 

    I liked that no two stories had the same setting/sub-genre.  We won’t list the details here – it’s more fun to discover these by reading the book.  The back cover claims the magazine is “packed with Pirates, Private Eyes, Aliens, automatons, villains and vigilantes”, and I can attest that’s accurate, albeit not all-inclusive.

 

    There are no “weak links” among the authors here; each tale kept me entertained and turning the pages.  Here's a few things, without spoilers, that really stood out for me, one per tale:

    In Old Flesh for New Bones, the breathtaking “feel” for sailing back in the swashbuckling era!

    In NightVision, the deep character-development of the hero, in only 20 pages.

    In To Race the Moon, the twist at the end of the story.

    In Snow Chase, how well the “then/now” timeline technique worked.

    In Patently False, the refreshingly new super-power.

    In Fancy Cat, much better than The Shining, plus tons of plot twists.

    In Kings of the Crustaceous Period, why eating crab legs may shorten your lifespan.

    In The Wind-Up Kid, the technologically-believable mechanical hero.

    In Ghost from the Past, the insight into the oddly fascinating Hawklin father/son relationship.

    In Ace Anderson, the eerie concept of zombies on a submarine.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  x.x/5 based on 0 ratings.

    Goodreads: x.xx/5 based on 0 ratings and 0 reviews

 

Excerpts...

    The British officer now stood at the railing.  His tall stature was topped by a Bicorne hat and traditional powdered wig.  “I am Thaddeus Beaumont, Captain in the King’s Royal Navy.”  He squared his shoulders.  Through a pair of close-set eyes, he stared down his long nose.  “Captain Gosson Lefleur, as gentlemen, it is my hopes that you and I may discuss terms of surrender.”

    “Mine or yours?”

    Beaumont frowned.  “Do not mock me, sir.  Surrender and you’ll be taken back to England for a fair trial.”

    “I’ve heard tales of the king’s fair trials.”  (pg. 19)

 

    “Thomas…”

    “Yes, I’m still here,” his father replied.

    “Are you up to being a distraction?”

    “And get shot at…?”

    “I don’t think you will.”

    “You don’t think?”  Thomas held a laugh deep in his throat.  (pg. 189)

 

The first rule of assassination, Snow reminded himself, was kill the assassin.  (pg. 89)

    There are a couple of nits to pick.  As noted in a review for the first Pulp Reality book, the large size of the pages can be cumbersome at times.  Nevertheless, I kind of liked it, since I got to experience the "feel" of reading a pulp magazine way back in 1900.

 

    And while 208 pages might sound like a pretty short book, 8½”x11” is the size of a sheet of copier paper.  This means you get a lot more words-per-page than you would from a mass market paperback with the same number of pages.  True, there are a few full-page ads for other pulp-fiction-related events and publications in Pulp Reality 2, but they were also present in my boyhood comic books.

 

    The main drawback here is the significant number of typos, punctuation misuse, and outright mistakes throughout the book, often to the point where it became a distraction for a grammar pedant like me.  Some of the stories were more error-free than others, which makes me wonder if the proofreading and editing was left up to each author to do.

 

    Nonetheless, if grammatical hiccups don’t unsettle your inner reading mind, and you yearn for tales where buckles are swashed and thrills are spilled, then you’ll find Pulp Reality 2 to be a delightful read.  And some more good news: Pulp Reality 3 is due out in the fall of this year!

 

    8½ Stars.  Opening lines are important in any tale, but especially in a short story.  My favorite one from this set of tales: Corporal James Powell never saw a were-panther before and in three more minutes, never would again. (from “To Race The Moon”).