VAMP

 

VAMP

A Valentino Mystery

By Loren D. Estleman

Forge Books

230 pgs

 

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

 

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

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

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

EL TIGRE AZUL - Three Witches

 

EL TIGRE AZUL

Three Witches

By Duane Spurlock

Interrobang Tales

214 pgs

 

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

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

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

WARBIRDS OF MARS - Beast Incarnate

WARBIRDS OF MARS

Beast Incarnate

By Chris Samson

Paperstreet Entretainment LLC

214 Pages

 

From the popular science fiction action/adventure webcomic series created by Scott “Doc” Vaugn comes this terrific stand alone novel by Chris Samson. The set up involves Martians invading Earth during the middle of World War II amping the chaos and slaughter across the globe. Eventually, pockets of resistance spring up everywhere. In the United States, the freedom fighters are led by a team known as the Martian Killer made up Jack Paris, pilot, Josie Taylor, a nightclub singer/spy, Hunter Noir, a gun toting avenger right out of the pulps and lastly a half-breed martial arts master known as Mr. Mask. 

That’s the comic series which then led to a really fun prose anthology series of short stories. And now we have “Beast Incarnate.” 

In this tale, it is discovered that other half-breeds like Mask, has come together as a fighting force and are causing havoc within the Martian conquered territories. A sadistic Martian Command Officer, Kalen Tengel, known as the Fallen Angel, has been ordered to nullify this new army before it can ally itself with the human resistance. Obviously, the Martian Killers want the exact opposite. What ensues is a speeding action-infused thriller that never lets up. Samson’s battle scenes, especially the one aboard the underground bullet train are mesmerizing. He adds a great deal of drama to an already well established adventure pulp franchise. We’re hoping he has sequels in mind. Pulp fans, you don’t want to miss this one.